Share This Article
The Combined Facilities Director (CFD) is responsible for the facility planning, renovation, construction, sustainability, maintenance, and repair of all Town-owned buildings including the K-8 school buildings.
Sandra Duran was hired to do that job in May 2022. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Town and Sudbury Public Schools (K-8) which has been in effect since 2012, provides for the CFD’s services to be split between the two.
By most accounts Ms. Duran has done an excellent job in the 2+ years she has been here, particularly with improving facilities to comply with ADA regulations. This year she received a positive performance review from Town Manager Andy Sheehan. However, SPS Superintendent Crozier is not satisfied with the sharing arrangement which worked for over 10 years and he has suggested to the School Committee the MOA should be terminated.
Of course, this would mean the schools and the town would need to hire their own facilities directors, a huge duplication of staffing and overhead expenses.
The school committee has spent considerable time on this issue, talking about whether to vote to terminate the MOU and Ms. Duran’s services, since they are linked to the MOU. However, documentation of reasons for the Superintendent’s displeasure, in the quantity or quality of her work, is lacking. On Sept. 24, when asked by the School Committee why critical documentation that was provided by Duran was not included in their packet, the Superintendent had no answer.
Coincidentally, on Sept. 24 both the Select Board and the School Committee had Ms. Duran in attendance. Her answers at both meetings were straightforward and complete. No one suggested her work was anything less than satisfactory, and she received several compliments, particularly from the School Committee.
When asked questions about a specific project, the HVAC at Curtis and Haynes, Ms. Duran carefully explained, point by point, costs had increased because of new standards, unavailability of replacement parts, and most of all a lack of a valid cost estimate and lack of a plan when she inherited the project after taking the job two years ago. There were other factors at SPS that hindered Ms. Duran from doing her job, such as denying her access to rooms that held equipment she needed to see. There may be bottlenecks at SPS facilities, but they are not of Ms. Duran’s making. They are the responsibility of the Superintendent.
So why does the Superintendent want to end the MOA? Whatever his reasons may be, the School Committee has not been made aware of them. The Committee must have a sound basis for voting to end the MOA, leaving the Town in the lurch, and adding a full-time director position to the school payroll. For now, it does not have that basis.
Other issues have arisen on Superintendent Crozier’s watch, such as: 1) dramatically falling MCAS scores, especially when compared to other districts, 2) questionable management of the extended day program, and 3) failing to reach an agreement on the school nurses contract to give them pay parity with teachers, like other comparable districts.
While Duran receives consistently high marks for her performance, SPS leadership has a problematic track record. There is a clear pattern of questionable management decisions and declining outcomes for students. If there is a problem, let’s address the root cause, rather than firing a valued employee without known cause.