The first news is that beginning on July 1st, 2012 Dr. Harris will become an assistant superintendent. Currently, he is an assistant to the superintendent. By changing job titles, Dr. Harris becomes commissioned by the State as an assistant superintendent in the school district. Dr. Harris has picked up the majority of Mr. Smith's duties as related to instruction, curriculum and mandatory information gathering for the State.
Also at the meeting, Mr. Lago (our business manager) received a new five year contract. Mr. Lago's contract was due to expire soon and the Board signed him to a new 5 year contract. Besides his existing duties, Mr. Lago has picked up Mr. Smith's old duties as the administrator in charge of buildings and grounds. In this capacity he works closely with Mr. Leonard our supervisor of buildings and grounds. This is a large responsibility for Mr. Lago.
The Board also approved moving the school district's two elementary assistant principals to full principals starting on July 1st, 2012. Mrs. Coiner will become the principal at Sunrise Estates and Mr. Dinapoli will become principal at Level Green. The reasons for this change are threfold:
- As the school district moves toward customizing educational experiences for students, the schools need a full time educational leader who is dedicating 100% of their energy to help students, families and staff at their building.
- The school district is moving toward a new teacher evaluation system that will require much more time and energy by the principals. The new evaluation system (developed by teachers and administrators within the school district) is a research-based approach to teacher evaluation that is very rigorous.
- Principals across the district will be dedicating much more time working with teachers to support them in their jobs. As teachers customize educational experiences for children, principals will help teachers customize their own professional learning plans centered on improving student learning.
Does Dr. Harris' new position entail a change in pay, or just in title?
ReplyDeleteand likewise for the elementary school principals? Are there additional changes in their salaries as a result?
DeleteThere is a pay increase for both Dr. Harris and the elementary principals. The principals are governed under what is called an Act 93 agreement which sets the salaries and benefits for all of the principals in the school district. The starting salary for an elementary principal is between $93,000 and $95,000 a year. Dr. Harris will now have a contract and not be under the Act 93 agreement. His salary on July 1st will be $115,000. It is important to note that even with these increases in salaries the school district is still sending significantly less on administrators this year and in upcoming years because the district did not replace a central office administrator (the retirement of Mr. Smith).
DeleteWhen is the first day of school that the kids will report for in 2012-2013?
ReplyDeleteMay I ask if all was going well, and the schools/administration functioning appropriately, then why was it necessary to make the changes and consequently pay them more for the same duties they were performing? If your argument was that they are now having different/more duties as a result, then someone, as a result, is having less since it was made to work prior to their promotions/title changes. Which brings about another question of the necessity of Ms. Pope as HR director. For years, the assistant to the Super handled those issues and it seems rather unnecessary and a complete was of money (and may I add, A LOT OF IT) to pay her salary for a job (that as proven) could be handled effectively by another member of administration??
ReplyDeleteWow, that's great...eliminate the first HR director and 1st minority administrator, great insight.
DeleteIt will be wonderful to have a Principal that is dedicated solely to Sunrise! In the last 7 years since my children have been attending there, we have seen principals come & ago. And while it has been great since Mr. Marasti & Mrs. Coiner have been there, it will be even better for the students (and us PTO members who need to get approval for things). We will miss Mr. Marasti, but congrats to both him and Mrs. Coiner. And thank you Dr. Butler. This is a great decision!
ReplyDeleteAll of the schools now have an exclusive principal who can direct his/her attention to the needs of those children --- except for Trafford Middle and Elementary. Even though the numbers of students are lower at the two schools, the responsibilities are still the same. Mrs. Garner fulfills every duty of every elem principal as well as the middle school principal. It just seems to be too much. If the job cannot be split (perhaps with TES and LG being led by the same principal), then at least can her principal responsibilities (such as kindergarten fair, etc.) be reduced in light of her added duties?
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with the above poster. Just maybe, TMS students would get some of the same opportunities (eg. clubs) like PMS students do. Since Mrs. Garner doesn't have the time to entertain such things with her responsibilities split like they are. hmn. . .maybe this would help the Middle Schools be a little more even. . .
DeleteWell said, I agree. If one middle school has a principal with a dedicated focus to those 3 grades...what a difference.
DeleteAbsolutely no offense to Mrs. Garner, she is incredibly hard working and cares about those students, but the situation is untenable.
I agree with the above two bloggers. Mrs. Garner is fabulous, but the two levels/buildings need dedicated principals.
ReplyDeleteThe middle schools could even use assistant principals if this is going to be as intense a change as you say. Could you look at the number of teachers in each building? What are the teacher to teacher ratios from Level Green to Penn Middle School? Level Green to TMS/TE? McCullough to PMS? I don't know, but the numbers seem skewed. Is it fair that one principal has 30-40 teachers and another has 12-15? Are they are required to complete the same rigorous training with the teachers?
Maybe it shouldn't be looked at in terms of buildings, but in terms of the number of teachers being supervised. I am happy that Sunrise and Level Green have dedicated principals, don't get me wrong. Congratulations to them!!!
I appreciate your points about Trafford elementary and middle school. I should have been more clear in explaining exactly what will happen next year. Mr. Dinapoli will be available to help Mrs. Garner out on an "as needed" basis...much like he is doing now. During certain times of the year (testing time, report card time are two examples) when the office gets a little hectic, Mr. Dinapoli has helped Mrs. Garner as she leads the building through these busy times. This support will not only continue but become more in-depth because of the change. I know that Mrs. Garner is extremely capable of running the building, as evidenced by the performance of the school over the past several years. I have every confidence that this excellence will continue under Mrs. Garner. Mr. Dinapoli will be one more support for Mrs. Garner.
ReplyDeleteDr. butler why do you respond to some prompts but not all? It is very disheartening and quite frankly comes off flat out rude. Individuals take the time to post, the least you could do is have the decency to address them!
ReplyDeleteDr Butler-
ReplyDeletePlease forgive the previous post - your time at Penn Trafford has already shown great dedication to opening lines of communication with the families of this district. There are so very many of us whole-heartedly disagree with the rude and harsh previous post. Thank-you for making time in your incredibly busy schedule to read and respond as often as you do. Your time is much better spent focusing on the education of our children - not to the posts of every person, world wide, who may decide to leave you a message. Thank you for all that you do!
No forgiveness needs to be given on your behalf. I stand by what was said, Dr. Butler initiated this blog, and if he doesn't have the decency to uphold the responsibilities that accompany it, then that should be addressed. You can oppose my beliefs, but PLEASE do not offer some sort of forgiveness for my very accurate portrayal of what goes on in this blog and on behalf of Dr. Butler's actions.
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