Springfield High School PTO Minutes ~ April 27, 2010
Attendees: Terry & Adrienne Andrews, Candace Mueller, Christine Stahly, Jim Bremhorst, Marguerite Simon, Pat Reyhan, Beverly Bunch, Tracy Norwood, Mark Vasconcelles, Carmel Fratianni, Nancy Rosse, Susan White, and Amy Gelber
The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Pat Reyhan, president. All present introduced themselves.
Secretary's Report: Amy Gelber presented the minutes from the March meeting for review. Adrienne Andrews moved to approve the meeting minutes. Terry Andrews seconded and the minutes were unanimously approved.
Treasurer's Report: Beverly Bunch presented the treasurer's report. The current bank account balance is $4702.78. Expenses this month included the National Honor Society reception and the Be A Senator program.
Teacher Grants: A teacher grant request from Mr. Mittelstaedt was submitted for purchase of 30 copies of The Kite Runner at a cost of $360.00. Some discussion of where money comes from for purchase of novels used in literature classes took place. Mrs. Stahly informed all that only text books are budgeted items. Classroom books are not funded. In the past teachers have held classroom fundraisers to purchase books. Scholastic book fair profits may be used in the future for purchasing classroom books. There remains $1400 in the teacher grant budget. Candace Mueller moved to approve the $360 grant to Mr. Mittelstaedt. Adrienne Andrews seconded. All present voted in favor.
Principal Selection Process: Pat Reyhan informed the group that Mrs. Stahly will be retiring at the end of the 2010-11 school year. The PTO invited Dr. Alexander Ikejiaku, Director of Human Resources and Development for District 186 to the meeting to explain the process of hiring principals. He informed the group that 3 methods of replacing administrators are commonly used. Two methods involve the superintendent appointing an administrator on either a temporary or permanent basis. These are usually used when a position opens on short notice or there is an urgent need, such as the re-structuring that occurred two years ago in the district. The third method is an open process which includes input from the community and stakeholders. A vision process takes place first, in which individuals meet to form a list of qualities that are desired in the administrative position; then a search committee is organized. Human resources screens qualified applicants and presents 8-12 candidates to the committee. They scrutinize the applicants and narrow the group to 3-5 candidates. Finally 1-3 are selected and recommended to the superintendent and school board. The superintendent makes the final approval.Then the school board votes on the appointment.
Dr. Ikejiaku explained that the district would probably use the open process in the case of replacing Mrs. Stahly because ample time is available to employ that method. He expects the visioning process to begin this summer. He would like to have parent input in that step. The PTO expressed an interest in being included in the visioning process. The SEA leadership is involved in appointing teachers to sit on the selection committee. Community business representatives may also be involved in the visioning process.
Nominating Committee: Candace Mueller spoke on behalf of the PTO officers nominating committee. A search for volunteers was conducted by email. The slate of officers presented includes:
Pat Reyhan, President
Jim Bremhorst, Vice President
Marguerite Simon and Amy Gelber, Co-Secretaries
Beverly Bunch, Treasurer
A vote will take place at the May meeting. More volunteers are needed to fill committee chair positions.
President's Report: Christine Stahly reported that she is checking into the possibility of using the mass phone calling system to send emails to parents.
Scheduling of classes for next year is underway. The process is done by hand and is very tedious. An attempt is being made to provide common collaboration time among core teachers. Staff is looking at the times of day when most students are pulled out of class for athletic, music, etc. events so an attempt can be made not to schedule AP classes at those times. Staffing for next year is very tight. There will be the same number of staff members as this year. Schedules are being reviewed with students to try to decrease the number of changes. This year there were over 800 changes made and that number will need to decrease. Alternative programs are also needed to assist students in graduating on time. Evening programs at Lawrence are often used to help students who have failed classes to catch up. Those programs are in jeopardy of being cut. Only approximately 30 student transfers to SHS have been approved for next school year. The number of slots for SHS students at Capital Area Career Center has been significantly reduced for next school year.
New Business: Mrs. Stahly and Mrs. Greco expressed concerns over student cell phone usage at school. The number of cell phone referrals has doubled this year. Students are allowed to use phones at lunch time, but they are often trying to use them during classes.
Announcements: Golden Laurel reception for seniors in NHS will be held May 12 at Southeast High School.
Senior Recogniton night will take place May 19 at 7:00pm in the SHS auditorium. PTO provides a reception after. A volunteer is needed to organize this. Please contact Pat Reyhan if interested in helping.
PTO will provide a teacher appreciation breakfast June 1 for staff.
Breakfast is being provided for juniors taking the PSAE April 28 &29.
Nancy Rosse moved to adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully submitted by Amy Gelber