Ahead of his first performance review, several School Board members credited Superintendent David Moore with straightening out the district’s finances and keeping the board abreast of progress in his first six months on the job.
“I think board members are briefed well,” said School Board member Teri Barenborg. “I have never felt more briefed than I did in the last couple of weeks, especially, so I appreciate that.”
Since arriving in December, Moore has reworked the African American Achievement Plan – long a thorn in the district’s side – negotiated a new contract with the teachers union, reorganized the district and updated its strategic plan.
In addition, Moore lead the district’s response to the COVID-19 crisis and the pivot to virtual instruction, including the distribution of thousands of electronic devices to students.
The School Board is preparing to give Moore his first performance review in July, but without data from student test scores and school rankings that typically is factored into a superintendent’s review. The state canceled standardized tests for the 2019-2020 school year because of the pandemic.
Consequently, several school members said they wanted to provide Moore with written feedback on seven areas of performance for his first evaluation.
Moore has already proposed strategic goals for all Indian River County schools to receive an A grade from the state by 2025 and for all three high schools to achieve a 95 percent on-time graduation rate.
The graduation rate was 85.5 percent for the 2018-2019 school year, records show, and just eight of the district’s 28 schools received an A from the state.
School Board member Tiffany Justice praised Moore’s performance since starting work in January.
“You have never shied away from a question, you have always been willing to receive constructive criticism and you have shown you have walked the walk,” Justice said.
