NORTH ALLEGHENY SCHOOL DISTRICT

E-REPORT

Special Meeting/Work Session

March 19, 2008

The Board of School Directors of the North Allegheny School District convened for a Special Meeting/Work Session on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 in the Board Room of the Central Administrative Offices.

NORTH ALLEGHENY BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS

BOARD MEETING

March 19, 2008

AGENDA

7:30 p.m. SPECIAL MEETING/WORK SESSION

- Speakers (Agenda Items)

- Special Meeting Voting Items

- Community Relations

- Diversity Report

- Review Board Folder

- Speakers (Non-Agenda Items)

Prior to the meeting, the Board interviewed candidates for Administrative positions.

The NASD Board of School Directors named Ms. Rachel Fields to the position of Assistant Principal of McKnight Elementary School and Ms. Amanda Mathieson as Assistant Principal at Marshall Elementary School at their Special Voting Meeting on Wednesday, March 19, 2008.

Ms. Fields was appointed at an annual salary of $79,500, prorated due to date of hire. The effective date of hire shall be June 20, 2008. Ms. Fields holds her B.S. in Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University and her M.Ed. in Educational Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. For the past two years, Ms. Fields has been employed by North Allegheny as a First and Second Grade Teacher at Peebles Elementary School. Prior to joining North Allegheny, she was employed by the Duquesne City Schools as an Elementary, Math, Science and Reading Teacher and served as the Middle School Science Department Head. Ms. Fields is certified in Elementary Education, and as a Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction, and K-12 Principal.

Ms. Mathieson was appointed at an annual salary of $78,500, prorated due to date of hire. The effective date of hire shall be determined upon release of her present employer. Ms. Mathieson holds her B.S. in Elementary Education and M.Ed. in Reading from Slippery Rock University and is pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Pittsburgh. She has served the Deer Lakes School District since 2004, first as an Instructional Support Coordinator, then as a Title I Math Teacher. Previous to that assignment, she was an Elementary, Math and Reading Teacher in the Greenville Area and Reynolds School Districts. Ms. Mathieson is certified in Elementary and Special Education and as a Reading Specialist, Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction, and K-12 Principal.

Kelly DiBiasi – FES parent who informed the Board of serious concerns she had with children with food allergies, her young son among them. She would like the Wellness Policy to be revised to include some of her suggestions.

Diana Radford – a nurse and parent of a young child who also has multiple food allergies. She supported Mrs. DiBiasi in her sentiments and said that we need to promote health and wellness in our schools. With all the health issues that are beginning in our younger children, we need to be informed and proactive.

Mrs. Bishop commented that we will take their comments into serious consideration and discuss them with the proper personnel. Mr. Shuckrow thanked the ladies for speaking and caring and said that it takes courage to speak out and they are making a difference.

Mrs. Bishop said that the Diversity Report began in 1992 and Dr. Marcia Martin, former CMS Principal and the first champion of the committee, was instrumental in the establishment of the Diversity Committee. Dr. Martin recently passed away after a long illness and she and her work will be greatly missed. Mrs. Bishop asked for a moment of silence to honor Dr. Martin.

Dr. Green said that she was renaming the committee the Marcia Martin Unity/Diversity Committee to honor Dr. Martin for her groundbreaking work to advance the issues of diversity here in North Allegheny. Everyone was sincerely in favor of this tribute.

Dr. Green introduced this report and the two presenters, Dr. Timothy Steinhauer and Mr. Craig Slaubaugh. Other contributors to the report included Dr. Alice Hirsch, Dr. Arleen Wheat, Mr. Robert Devlin, Ms. Joy Ed and Mr. William Young. Mr. Slaubaugh drew the attention of the audience to the display of winning entries from the Annual Diversity Expression Contest, which was located at the back of the room.

Dr. Steinhauer indicated that diversity is deeply embedded in our processes and the school culture at North Allegheny. We continue to see growth and development in the area of Diversity with a full range of activities, strategies and results that signify that North Allegheny is being successful in its efforts.

· Diversity continues to be an area of focus for the District and has a prominent position in professional development, publications, and student and staff activities.

· Administration and staff continue to improve their professional understanding and ability to address issues of Diversity.

· Student participation and submission of written works and fine arts design to the Diversity Expression Contest continues to demonstrate student interest in the area of Diversity. The quality of student art, music, poetry, multimedia presentations, and other forms of artistic mediums show high levels of artistic excellence.

· The Diversity Puppet Show continues to be an effective avenue to communicate with our young students regarding the relevance of Diversity in our District.

· The District continues to explore and develop increased Diversity opportunities for students and staff.

· Partnerships and collaboration with parents and the community are evident at the Building and District level.

· The recruitment and hiring of qualified minority administrative and staff candidates continues to be a priority for the District.

· The number of student incidents of harassment remains at a very low level. Administrators and staff have become effective in responding to reported incidents.

According to North Allegheny School District’s School Board Policy #2560, “The North Allegheny School District shall establish and continually promote an educational environment that is enriched by its diversity. The District shall foster mutual respect and affirmation for diversity as it prepares all students to enter and participate in an increasingly global society.”

To reinforce this policy, the Diversity Committee recommends the continued endorsement and support of the Diversity initiative. The following actions must occur in order to ensure that the Diversity initiative continues.

· Offer the Diversity Expression Contest and associated activities for K-12 students.

· Sponsor the Diversity Puppet Show for all District second graders and invite guests from surrounding School Districts.

· Communicate with the community regarding the activities of the School District regarding Diversity through newsletters and publications and consider new venues of communication.

· Monitor differences in student academic performance based on gender on the various assessments administered in the District. Implement improved pedagogical strategies as appropriate to ensure comparable levels of high performance.

· Explore additional avenues and venues for the recruitment of qualified minority administrative, teaching, and staff candidates. Continue to maintain a Minority Recruiter to assist with the District’s efforts.

· Provide Professional Development opportunities for staff regarding Diversity.

· Provide and expand opportunities for students and staff to participate in activities dealing with Diversity.

· Provide School District Administrators and staff with training regarding the North Allegheny School District’s Respecting Human Diversity Policy.

· Maintain an up-to-date directory of Multicultural and Diversity resources for administrative and staff reference.

The presentation was concluded with one of the winning submissions of this year’s Diversity Expression Contest.

“We really are all the same inside. Thanks for making NA a place where even a lion can be a tiger.” Joey Feniello, 3^rd Grade, McKnight.

There was an array of comments including strong support for our hiring practices, which will begin at a much earlier timeframe this spring so that we will be in a better position to hire the best candidates. Due to retirements, we will be having a number of openings at the secondary level, so moving forward with an early recruitment timeframe will be very beneficial to the District. Mr. Bob Devlin and our Minority Recruiter, Ms. Tammy Nelson, will participate in the largest educational recruitment consortium coming up next week and they feel confident that we will be able to fill many vacancies.

The Harassment Tracking Form was also discussed. The question was asked of what was the highest number of incidents that occurred and in what category and the answer was “Intimidation.” It was explained that intimidation could entail verbal harassment, bullying or physical threats. Dr. Steinhauer explained that although the number of incidents is low (29) in a student population of 8,354, even one is too many. The good news is that there were no repeat offenders. Mr. Slaubaugh explained that our Bullying Prevention Program has helped to keep the numbers low. Dr. Green said that both the reporting component and the educational component that is followed with the Tracking Form aid in bringing about a resolution. Everything is documented and the parents are always notified. The Principals do a great job of reporting and following up on these incidents.

Board Members commented that it is very important to keep our students connected in some extracurricular activity and it is key to keeping kids feeling good about themselves. It was also suggested that the Multi-Cultural Day at NASH be advertised better in the future so that people can attend and perhaps add a link to the website so that people can see when these types of special activities occur. It was asked if coaches receive the same training as other District personnel and Dr. Green responded that the training that is done involves everyone in all areas, across the board. Dr. Green also commented about the involvement that District personnel and Board Members participate in every year for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast and how well represented the District is at this event. The fact that 400 students submitted entries to the Diversity Expression Contest was also important and the hard work of the Committee shows that we are doing something very right in the District.

The Board thanked the presenters for the report and gave them a round of applause for all the positive things that are being done on a daily basis.

The Board reviewed all items that were contained in the Board Folder of March 26, 2008. There was a minimum of discussion.

Our Student Representatives, Lisa Czerniewski and Ross Hackett, commented on the huge success of the musical, Bye Bye Birdie. It was a very well-done production and enjoyed by all. There are a number of events that are upcoming like “Music in Our Schools,” which should be another outstanding event. The Chorus, Band and Orchestra are looking forward to a trip to Disney World and the seniors are looking forward to the Senior Banquet on the Gateway Clipper.

School Spirit is alive at NAI. The students decorated the main hall at NAI for St. Patrick’s Day and green shamrocks covered the walls with the names of every student which they turned into a contest. They also began a new tradition with the Drawing & Painting classes at NAI in which 32 paintings of tigers were hung in the main hall and one painting will be chosen through the students’ votes as a permanent picture for the hallway. They call it the “Tiger Walk” and this contest will be done each year.

NASCO is hosting “Harm’s Way Bracelets,” which is a major community service project involving all our secondary Student Council members (NASH, NAI, CMS, IMS and MMS) in the making of bracelets for the troops in Iraq.

Dr. Green gave her Good News Report and said how proud we all are of the impact that Mr. Woten has made in his role as the 2008 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year.

ì Mr. David Woten, the 2008 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year, has continued to accumulate awards and honors as a result of his recognition by the Governor. He has had, and will have, opportunities throughout the year to be a positive voice for education on behalf of all teachers across the state. To date, they include the following:

 Being chosen to receive the 2008 Slippery Rock University Young Alumni Award on April 19

 Receiving an invitation to be the keynote speaker at the Milliken Family Foundation Educator Awards on March 10

 Receiving an invitation to be the guest speaker at Slippery Rock University for the TEACH Program on April 5

 Receiving an invitation to be a guest speaker at the Governor’s School for Education at Millersville University on July 12

 Being chosen for a feature interview with the Post-Gazette during the week of March 10

Additional good news that Dr. Green had to report was on the recent ASCD Conference she attended over the weekend in New Orleans which included Mrs. Maureen Grosheider and Mrs. Barbara Hutchinson, all three of whom were presenters. Their presentations were very well attended and very well-received as they spoke about the Board/Superintendent Relationship and the Board/Administration/Federation Relationship in relation to high achievement at North Allegheny. Dr. Green was extremely complimentary of the outstanding work that Mrs. Grosheider and Mrs. Hutchinson did at this conference, and Mrs. Grosheider said the same was true of Dr. Green. There were many people that they met who are planning to follow-up with them because there is a need for the information that they imparted. They were particularly impressed with the number of Board Members who were in attendance and who coveted the information they had. It was a great opportunity for North Allegheny to put our name on the map.

The next meeting of the NA Board of School Directors is scheduled for Wednesday, March 26, 2008 in the Board Room of the Central Administrative Offices.

Prior to this meeting the Board met in Executive Session to interview candidates for Administrative positions. There was no Executive Session following the meeting.

Display copies of Board Books are available at each building and department office. Copies of the complete Board Report folder and minutes are available through the Board secretary’s office, as well as copies of the various reports presented.

For information about the Board meeting schedule, please refer to the NA website www.northallegheny.org.