Tacoma schools Superintendent Art Jarvis received his first annual performance evaluation this week, scoring near-perfect marks for his financial leadership in tough economic times.

In all other areas, board members agreed Jarvis met or exceeded expectations – notably in his dealings with the community and with school district staff, an area that vexed his predecessor, Charlie Milligan.

School Board President Kim Golding met with Jarvis to go over his evaluation Tuesday.

The board hasn’t decided whether to award Jarvis a raise based on the evaluation, Golding said. She said she plans to bring the topic up for discussion at today’s School Board meeting. Jarvis’ current base salary is $240,000.

In written forms, School Board members said Jarvis took thoughtful cost-saving measures that prevented teacher layoffs in the district of 29,000 students. Four of the five school board members gave Jarvis a perfect score in the area of financial control, while member Jim Dugan gave the superintendent a 3.75 out of 4.

“Exemplary on the budget,” wrote board member Debbie Winskill, adding that Tacoma was the “only district in the region that took action early and saved us from huge cuts.”

Meanwhile, board members seemed to agree that Jarvis worked hard to forge relationships in the community.

“Great with people,” Dugan wrote in his evaluation of the superintendent. “Well versed and sensitive and compassionate while always focused.”

Board member Connie Rickman wrote that Jarvis went above and beyond when it came to reaching out to community groups, “which makes his day extraordinarily long.”

Board members also praised Jarvis for implementing new programs such as all-day kindergarten, the Lincoln Center project at Lincoln High School and the Science and Math Institute (SAMI), a specialty high school scheduled to open this fall on the grounds of Point Defiance Park.

“He works to bring about needed change,” Golding wrote. “SAMI, All Day Kindergarten and Lincoln Center are examples of the ‘new territory’ in our students’ world.”

Golding said Jarvis could improve in keeping the School Board informed about the activities of school district committees, which address myriad issues such as providing gifted education and preventing sexual harassment.

Board member Kurt Miller echoed those sentiments in his written comments about Jarvis.

“Not kept up-to-date on Finance Committee,” Miller wrote.

Jarvis also received relatively low marks in the area of teaching and learning, which deals with classroom and teaching resources.

Golding said she’d like to see aides added to all-day kindergarten classrooms. Miller saw a more widespread problem, writing that “all schools need to be fully staffed and students enrolled sooner.”

Tuesday’s evaluation was the first Jarvis has received since he was named permanent superintendent of Tacoma Public Schools last July.

Prior to that, he served as interim superintendent for 11 months, earning an “above expectations” job rating from the school board in June 2008 for his performance in the temporary role.

School board members’ evaluation of Jarvis’ first year contrasted with their one-year review of Milligan, who left the district after just more than one year on the job.

Eight months into Milligan’s first year, a majority of School Board members said in an executive session that he was doing a “satisfactory” job.

But when it came time to complete Milligan’s annual evaluation three months later, board members criticized his relationship with community members and staff and ultimately recommended that he leave the district. Milligan subsequently negotiated a $418,000 severance package.

Jarvis said in an interview Tuesday that he’s tried to focus on students’ needs and shift attention from the politics of the school board and what’s going on with the administration.

He said the district as a whole had a successful year, especially when it came to managing finances and starting new programs such as SAMI.

“We met expectations and exceeded them,” he said. “I’m very pleased to be here and it feels good to have the support of the board.”

Jarvis said the next step for the district is to develop a strategic plan establishing a common vision for the school district, which will incorporate feedback from the community as well as board members.

“We want to get in the position where literally all of us are working on a common plan,” he said.

Melissa Santos: 253-552-7058

melissa.santos@thenewstribune.com

How Jarvis scored

Each member of the Tacoma School Board rated Superintendent Art Jarvis’ performance in five areas as part of his first annual review. According to the scale they used, a rating of “1” indicates “needs improvement;” “2” indicates “meets expectations;” 3 indicates “above expectations;” and 4 indicates “exemplary performance.”

Here’s Jarvis’ average score from all five board members in each area:

2.6: Teaching/learning

2.6: Board communications

3.4: Parent/community/professional involvement

3.4: Human resources/administration/operations

3.9: Financial control

3.2: Overall