Senior Associate Commissioner Strategy, Monitoring and Compliance

The Senior Associate Commissioner of Strategy, Monitoring and Compliance is a senior level position, serving on cabinet, and reporting to the Deputy Commissioner.

The Senior Associate Commissioner of Strategy, Monitoring and Compliance will be responsible for three large offices at DESE: the Office of Public School Monitoring, the Office of Problem Resolution and the Office of Planning, Strategy, and Research. The role will be to coordinate efforts across these three offices to align the fiscal and programmatic monitoring efforts of DESE, to implement the DESE’s research agenda aligned to the Commissioner’s strategic vision, to oversee DESE’s federal grants office, and to coordinate DESE’s response to general education complaints made to the Problem Resolution system.

This position will be responsible for providing cabinet-level oversight of DESE’s statewide monitoring activities to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. For the Office of Public School Monitoring, this is done through reviews of special education and civil rights policies, procedures, and practices in order to support district efforts to build equitable and inclusive educational systems that meet the diverse needs of all students.

For the Office of Planning, Strategy, and Research, this is done through programmatic and fiscal monitoring of district’s federal entitlement grants and district plans associated with the implementation of the state Student Opportunity Act.

This role requires supporting the reporting offices in interpreting and applying complex federal and state requirements consistently across diverse educational settings; identifying areas of noncompliance, issuing findings, and developing corrective action plans that address both procedural and systemic issues; and providing targeted technical assistance and guidance to support districts in achieving sustained compliance and improving outcomes for students.

This role will provide cabinet-level oversight of non-special education complaints and complaints against DESE itself filed with DESE’s Problem Resolution System. The Problem Resolution System ensures that students, families, school districts, and other community members have easy access to information regarding learners’ rights and educational options and to a forum for the resolution of disputes that is prompt, accurate and fair.

The Senior Associate Commissioner will be asked to implement systems and practices to respond to complaints in a timely and efficient manner.

Coordinating with the Senior Associate Commissioner of Special Education, the Senior Associate Commissioner of Strategy, Monitoring and Compliance will support coordination with OSEP as the Department develops and implements improvements related to General Supervision that OSEP will review during a scheduled onsite monitoring visit in 2026.

This role will align the Department’s research agenda with the Commissioner’s strategic vision by partnering with the education research community to evaluate DESE initiatives, identify specific areas of value-add, and identify areas of future collaboration. Finally, the Senior Associate Commissioner of Strategy, Monitoring and Compliance will direct specific interoffice initiatives that require a high level of oversight and coordination to implement the strategic vision of the Commissioner.