PKM HIGHLIGHTS
May 11-15, 2020
Dear Bill, Darin, Michelle, Todd & Pat
FEDERAL PROGRAM MEETING
This week I met with the members of Department of Federal Programs, Betty Anne Powell, Penny Cave and Karen Burkhart along with Dave Banks, Don Dellinger to discuss the CARES Act Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief Funding (ESSERF) Stimulus Grant awarded to the state. This supplemental grant is to improve continuity of educational services during and after the Covid-19 Pandemic. Central Office Administration along with input from building leadership and the Advanced Planning Team will use data obtained from surveys and needs assessments to determine the best use of this federal funding. Critical areas of concern are: academic support for students; technology including devices for students and teachers as well as ensuring multiple methods of connectivity; professional development in the area of online remote learning to ensure student learning will continue should the need for closure arise again; health and well-being of students and staff including emotional needs, physical health and safety and cleaning and sanitization of buildings and transportation. Planning now for how these funds will be used over the summer through September 2022 will allow us to better support and provide needed resources in a timely way and get those resources in the hands of students and staff so the funds are utilized in a timely and efficient manner.
Annual Statement of Employee benefits
Coming soon to your mailbox… watch for your 2019-2020 Annual Statement of Employee Benefits.
This personalized and confidential statement is new for 2019-2020. It details the value of the compensation and benefits package you receive as a valued Berkeley County Schools' employee. The front side provides the value of your salary and benefits. The reverse side of the statement is a benefits summary. This report will be provided to regular professional and service employees on an annual basis.
We recognize that public school employees have many employment options, and when making decisions that are best for you or your family, all factors should be considered. In addition to the cost of commuting, is the time on the road away from your family and community, a cumulative look at salary and benefits can help solidify the great decision you have made to join and stay with the BCS family. A benefit package provided by your Board of Education is valuable to you as the employee, and with some benefits, to dependent members of your household.
We hope that your annual statement provides pride and satisfaction to you and your family for the great work that you do supporting the children of Berkeley County.
A SAMPLE ANNUAL STATEMENT OF BENEFITS IS ATTACHED BELOW.
COACHING ASPIRING LEADERS
As a result of the Aspiring Leaders Seminars earlier this spring, initiated by Dr. Veronique Walker, several members of the seminar have reached out for additional resume coaching sessions. On Monday of this week, I met with Dr. Jeannine Strum, from Spring Mills Middle who is working on her administrative endorsement. She is also in the process of revising her resume which was part the Aspiring Leaders session and our most recent coaching conversation. Dr. Strum as part of her endorsement going to complete her internship experience at Spring Mills Middle School with Dr. Ponton. In looking at her resume she has a wealth of experiences in K12 and higher education. Her challenge is going to be to consolidate her experience and highlight her leadership roles as she pursues an assistant principal role as a next step in her career. I also worked on how she might use data to illustrate and accentuate the work that she has done over the course of her career highlighting her skills as potential candidate during the interview process.
Meeting with Miss West Virginia Candidate
Sr. Staff Plus Pandemic Meeting-May 13TH
Earlier this week the Senior Staff Plus Pandemic group met to discuss upcoming plans for the remainder of the year. Providing meals to BCS students continues to be a priority for the summer. Weekly meals continue through August 1 on Bulldog Blvd. through South Middle. Our schools are looking to wind down the year with online instruction ending this week. While new online learning is ending, students can continue to submit assignments and teachers are available to support students and assignments have been given out throughout the remainder of the year. All schools are scheduling dates in the next weeks to have students return materials and pick up personal items. School nurses will ensure safe and healthy practices are in place are monitoring these deliveries. Going forward, discussions and plans continue to ensure our buildings and buses are being sanitized as well as setting protocols for future needs. Several departments are working in collaboration to plan for summer learning for students.
PRINCIPAL ADVISORY MEETING
On Wednesday, we meet with Principal Advisory group to include Trent Sherman, Elizabeth Adams, Jim Holland, Beth McCoy, Amanda Billmeyer, Erica Propst, Tana Burkhart, Brent Sherrard and Sr. Staff. The first item of discussion included the closing of school for students and staff based on the guidance from the local health department and procedures outlined above lead by Ron Stephens. We also touched on summer learning plans at all level with a focus on continued learning through special education extended year program services summer reading K-5, literacy and mathematics skill programs K-11. As part of the summer planning we also touched on professional development and training programs for teachers on the Schoology platform and for substitutes. Finally, the group forecast possible scenarios for preparing to open school in August and what steps will be needed to prepare for the different alternatives that need to be in place depending on the current state of restriction surrounding the pandemic and families being ready to send students back to school. More planning is going on in relationship to this planning for the fall and is part of the Advance Planning Team’s work who will be meeting next week to outline specific plans for consideration and action.
Meetings with Martinsburg High Schools(MHS) and Visit
As a follow-up to our meetings last week and my tour of MHS facility we met with Trent Sherman, principal, LSIC Chair Renee Haines, Rhonda Foreman, Student Council Sponsor and teacher, Megan Troppman, Student Council President, Tyler and Xavier Jenkins, graduate and current student at MHS, Katie and Stephen Schram, teachers at MHS, Michelle Martin, CEFP Facilitator for MHS Region, Dave Banks, Don Mitchell, and Don Dellinger. Trent Sherman who is leading the group reported on steps that are being taken to address cleaning the building, ADA issues and access and overall condition of bathrooms and interior facility issues at the school (e.g., auditorium, choral and music room, and hallways). We heard also from the group and needed to circle back on some of the topics discussed to make sure all areas of concerns are being addressed. The next step at this point is to take a section of the building and do a deep and thorough cleaning along with making improvements to two of the bathroom facilities in the building. Once those steps are completed we will invite the advisory group in to assess the completed work and how to move forward. In addition, Don Mitchell is looking into the ADA concerns along with facility issues in the band and chorus areas. Finally, Trent Sherman is drafting a communique to send out to the school community to update them on what plans are in motion and how we are proceeding forward addressing these facility concerns. The next follow-up meeting with the advisory group is scheduled for Friday, May 29.
CEFP PROJECT PLANNING
Heather Williams, Berkeley County Planning Director, Dave Banks and I met to talk student projections in relationship to planning connected with the CEFP. Heather’s skills and knowledge of county planning, development and potential growth are an asset to the CEFP. She has also been helpful in looking for potential future school sites based on properties that are and might be for available for sale. As part of the projected planning, we shared with Heather bus route information from our routing software. The thinking is that this data could be very useful for us to examine closer for (1) determining student population by housing type, (2) projection of student transitioning from elementary through high school and (3) areas of new housing for increases in student population density. Heather is looking at one set of data to determine next steps before she considers all of the bus routing information in building a projection model. More to come and very helpful part of the planning process.
Service and Professional Staff Weekly Conference Calls
On Wednesday, May 13, 2020, a meeting of service and professional representatives was held that included - Jana Woofter, Mallory Painter, Justin Mauck, Jessica Salfia, Georgiana Lang, Debbie Sloat, Rick Mason and Mark Weisenburg along with the Human Resources team of Dr. Justin Schooley, Karen Hensell, Lewis Mullenax and myself. The goal of this meeting is to update the association leadership on recent happenings and development related to COVID-19 as well as hear any questions/concerns from their members. Dr. Schooley discussed the Summary of Benefits flier that will be sent out to every Berkeley County Schools employee. He stressed the importance of every individual being knowledgeable of the benefits that are included as a Berkeley County Schools employee. Many of the representatives expressed that things were going well, and a discussion was held about being cautious and taking the necessary time to make informed decisions about how we move forward. Georgiana Lang expressed that the schedule/plan for returning buses was going smoothly. She stated that the bus drivers were following a schedule and social distancing. Mark Weisenburg expressed that many custodians are wanting to return to their buildings.
Lewis Mullenax stated that the Virtual Job Fair was currently occurring and that 132 jobs were posted or reposted and are currently open. He reminded the group that we are all recruiters for BCS. Karen Hensell was happy to announce that 6 out of 9 employees that were on the transfer list have been place. She stated that she was working with Dr. Schooley to develop a plan for hiring new service employees and provide a safe means for testing current and future new hires. The group appreciates of the weekly updates and have agreed that the check-ins over the next few weeks remains activity they wish continue. The next meeting of the group is May 20, 2020 at 12pm.
Hanover's Superintendents Leadership Council
I was invited to participate in a Zoom conference call on Thursday evening with four other superintendents from across the country in California, Michigan and Washington states to discuss how we are school leaders are preparing for summer school and the start of the upcoming school year. The conversation with facilitated by one of the sponsors from Hanover Research and over 50 other participants listened in on the conversation and asked questions on related topics. While many of the topics we discussed and shared were similar some that stood out to me and I want us to consider included: hosting open office hours for parents to contact schools and leadership in the district regarding questions they might have about future plans; continuing to provide a broad memu of communication venues to share and engage staff, students and families (BTW, I believe this is one of our strong suits); focusing on what is important for students to know (Power Standards) and focus on those particular skills and knowledge; recognizing the priority around the social and emotional issues of being out of school, pending date of return and how that transition will occur so support systems are in place; and identifying and continuing to recognize issues around access and equity and the differences that might exist among students, families and staff and being able and prepared to address this issues. Taking the different perspectives and knowledge provided through these types of learning activities I believe to be very beneficial and help us prepare for the many, “what if . . .” scenarios. We often receive some critical advice about education and how we as an institution and organization are slow to change. One of the superintendents in reaction to that shared, “look what we have done in a very short period of time in changing the learning environment and look how we are continuing to prepare to continue to change for the future.” All of this has happened in the last 8 weeks. Very impressive – the challenge is to continue to evolve.
Essential Activities to Close Schools
Ron Stephens lead a group and worked with principals and central office staff in designing and implementing essential activities for closing schools for students and staff. The procedures were designed, reviewed and established for closing schools for how staff will enter buildings and students will retrieve their personal belongings from lockers and classrooms. The procedures must be accomplished in accordance with social and physical distancing guidelines. The health and well-being of our employees, students and community continues to be the number one priority at all times, and especially during this pandemic. Please see the attachment belong that provides the steps for how this will be accomplished (see attachments below).
CONGRATULATIONS TRANSITIONS (RETIREMENT & INTRODUCTION)
Today we had a number of leadership position announcements that we shared with schools and staff. First, I want to congratulate two recent retirees, Jim Holland, principal at Musselman Middle and Kim Agee, principal at Bedington Elementary. On behalf of Berkeley County Schools, we want to thank you for your years of services to our students, families and community and wish you well with your new adventures in life. Don’t forget about us and hope to see you back with us in some way in the future.
Dr. Schooley and I met via Zoom with the Bedington staff with Kim and congratulated her while briefly informing them of next steps in selecting a new principal. We will be reconvening with the group on May 26 to review the process and ask them to identify those individuals from the school who will serve on the panel interviews.
Earlier in the day, I introduced Ian Hillman as my recommendation for principal at Musselman Middle School. Thank you to the staff for convening via Zoom to meet to thank Jim Holland and meet Ian Hillman. Ian shared with the group information about his career experiences and family to help them begin to get to know him. He also briefly touched on highlights of his principal entry plan and how he would like to begin to meet and talk with staff in planning for next year. Ian is scheduled to take the helm of Musselman Middle as of July 1.
At the end of the day, Dr. Schooley, Ron Stephens and I met via Zoom with members of the Transportation Department to introduce Eric Keesecker, the new Executive Director of Transportation to the bus drivers and aides, mechanics and staff. Eric shared with the group his preliminary entry plan that was part of the hiring process and touched on key points from the staff survey that he will be working with the team on moving forward.
Congratulations again to Kim and Jim and to my recommendations for principal and executive director, pending board action on Monday evening in their new leadership roles.
Thought for the Week
This week’s, TOTW is an oldie and goodie and for some you might need to consult your parents for context. Let me ask this question first, did you have The World Book or Encyclopedia Britannica in your home growing up as a child? For those of you who say what, The World Book and Encyclopedia Britannica, they were in a period of time mid-century, before the internet and many sources of information at our fingertips today. This was a huge decision for families at that time and in many cases the only source of available information outside the library that you could use to complete homework and get resource information. The Encyclopedia Britannica as my memory serves me with very detailed and thorough with the information available and actually at that time quite sophisticated. Conversely, The World Book was more general and not as detailed with the information it provided. BTW, this was a big expense and took considerable debate in our family about which one to add to our library for schoolwork. As I recall the tipping point was, The World Book provided annual updates that were available as supplements to append information to the set that was purchased. It is hard to imagine today that much of your work in elementary and middle school relied solely on this one source. So, when we are Zooming or we cross paths I am always interested to know which it was in your home in answering the question above and why.
So, how does this all relate to TOTW? It is about access, availability to information and how we leverage information. Today, especially we are going to need to keep our equity lenses on as we look at the decisions we are making and how they will affect the lives of others, students, staff, family and community. As a child our family was fortunate to have the financial ability to purchase The World Book. Some families did not even have the choice or option. Access to information can be a building block for making a difference in the trajectory of a child. In the book Malcom Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point,Bill Gates had access to a computer lab during his early high school years. What if he did not have that opportunity? The availability of information and how we use it also becomes essential as well to how we grow and learn. It will be incumbent upon us to keep that focus as we make decisions about the future depending on our different learning environments that will require us and students to think and learning in different ways.
We have so many resources available as compared to the past. Google has become my substitute for The World Book, as it has for many. But there is even a better resource that was present then and even more so today and that is us. I encourage all of us to teach students to us primary resources, seek out expertise and hear first-hand how they could address an issue or problem – that can be family members, teachers, leaders in the community. Networking and connecting is evening going to be more important moving forward in our world. We are going to need to highlight and emphasize that choice, or it may be lost on a generation because of our current situation. For me, this is also an issue of equity. How are we as educators, going to include the elements of a human social and emotional connections in an environment that is currently constrained by quarantine and social distancing.
We have come a long way in only eight weeks. Thank for that remarkable achievement. It can be done, and the future offers more opportunities. Continue to use the resources around us, the one most valuable being YOU, for all of us!
PKM Calendar for upcoming week: May 18-22, 2020
Mon.May 18th
Staff Meeting
WV Ambassadors via Zoom
Strategic Planning
Routine Meeting
Board Meeting
Tues., May 19th
Strategic Planning meeting
Covid Advisory Zoom
Wed., May 20th
Sr Staff Pandemic Meeting
HS Instructional Mtg
Service & Prof rep meeting
Comms Dept Mtg
BCEA Mtg
Thurs., May 21st
Strategic Planning Mtg
K-2 Principals Mtg
County Council Mtg
EPIC Mtg
Fri., May 22nd
Advance Team Mtg
Routine Meetings
PKM Highlights
Meal Count to date - 183,860
Week of March 16: 10,266
March 23rd: 31,354
April 1st: 34,810
April 13th: 20,510
April 20th: 22,670
April 27th: 23,520
May 4th: 21,210
May 11th: 19,520
Please view the following attachments and Pat's Picks:
Parent Connectability Survey
School Polling Locations
Closing of Schools Schedule
Guidance for Retrieving Student Items
Patrick K. Murphy, Ed.D., Superintendent
Email: patrick.murphy@k12.wv.us
Phone: 304-582-0880
Twitter: @PKMSupt