FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2002

Chair and Trustees agree, “Job well done!”
It was good news around the table as the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board's Trustees gathered to hear the results of the Board's first ever in-depth performance appraisal of the Director of Education.

In the spring of 2002, Trustees gave direction to Mr. Burle Summers, a former Director of the Hastings County Board of Education and, now, an educational consultant, to assist in the development and implementation of a senior/school-level administration performance appraisal model. The first to be off the mark in this evaluation process was Larry Langdon, the present Director of Education, first appointed to the position in September of 2000. Mr. Langdon’s prior appointments include Director of the Prince Edward County Board of Education and Director of the Operations and Field Services Branch, Ministry of Education.

The evaluation reviewed Mr. Langdon's directorship for the period of October 2000 to October 2002 and included confidential surveys, follow-up phone calls and selective interviews involving more than 55 people. Included in that sample were trustees, senior and school-level administration, federation/union representatives and parents.

Mr. Summers noted, "The response was excellent resulting in the creation of a comprehensive amount of information that could be utilized to form the basis for this in-depth performance appraisal. I have no doubt," added Summers, "that this is indeed a very accurate picture of the Director's performance."

The Board was presented with the final report in their Committee of the Whole session on October 28 that included recommendations for the consideration of the Board to adopt. Trustees, in the Public session of the Board meeting, recognized and commended Langdon "for his excellent effort through out the period of the review.” "He is making a conscious effort at communicating...with all levels of the educational community and the school board" says Board Chair, Judy Edgar and "is commended for his willingness to go first in this process."

Director Langdon responded, "The appraisal was a very valuable learning experience for all who were involved, including myself. The 360 degree nature of the data collection is an important part of the senior/school-level administration performance appraisal process as it ensures that information is gathered from a representative sample of a wide spectrum of opinion." Future evaluations will be done on a regular, three year basis as outlined in the appraisal document.

The Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board was one of the first in the province to do an in-depth evaluation of its Chief Executive Officer. The Ministry of Education, who is trying to develop such a performance appraisal scheme for the province, has asked for a copy of the Board's Senior/School-Level Administration Performance Appraisal document to forward to its developers.

Media Contacts:
Mrs. Judy Edgar, Chair of the Board, HPEDSB, (613) 332-1480
Mr. Burle Summers, Educational Consultant, c/o (613) 966-9491 x2201
Ms. Kerry Donnell, Communications Officer, (613) 966-9491 x2354