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Jan. 20, 2010
By Stephen Schmidt
NORTH LIBERTY LEADER
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Iowa City school board members Sarah Swisher and Michael Shaw.
(Stephen Schmidt) |
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IOWA CITY- A search firm it is.
The question now is - which one?
At its Jan. 12 meeting, the Iowa City School Board kicked off the new year with the next step in the search for a new superintendent, with board members unanimously deciding to tap a search firm to find a replacement for departing Superintendent Lane Plugge.
On Jan. 19, the board was scheduled to meet with three search firm candidates: McPherson and Jacobson of Omaha, School Exec Connect of Highland Park, Ill., and Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates of Glenview, Ill. From those firms, the board will select one to quickly search for a replacement for Plugge, who is departing after the school year to become the chief administrator of the Green Hills Area Education Agency in Council Bluffs.
The board chose to use a search firm to conduct the search after deciding the resources and nationwide connections of a firm outweighed the hands-on benefits of the board using an independent consultant or conducting the search as a board.
"Obviously, we as a board do not have the expertise to conduct a national search for a position like this," board member Tuyet Dorau said. "I foresee us going through 20 or 30 resumes, whittling that down to three or four, and bringing them in for interviews"
Board member Sarah Swisher said that even though the school board is seeking outside help for the search, board members will be very involved the search and receptive to community input.
"I would not want the community to think that it is a consultant that is assuming the process of the responsibility," Swisher said. "This discussion has certainly been very public and people can reach out to board members if they want to"
In another unanimous board decision, board members approved the district signing an application with the Iowa Department of Education for a federal grant called Race to the Top. Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Race for the Top is a national competition for $4.35 billion in federal aide to stimulate reform and improved performance in schools.
Superintendent Plugge told the board that the 1.7 to 2.1 million in federal funding that the Iowa City School District could receive from the program over the next four years could be the "carrot" preceding further federal requirements in the near future. He said that he expected most school districts in the state to also sign on as well, but not without reservations of what it could mean down the line.
Plugge said he gave applying for the grant his blessing, because in addition to providing the district much needed funds, the requirements of fulfilling the grant could move the district in the direction of changes that could very well happen anyway.
"The things we're seeing in Race to the Top will probably be in the reauthorization," Plugge said. "We're definitely moving more in a federal direction"
In other board news, school board members Tuyet Dorau and Mike Cooper, along with Plugge, gave the board an update on the redistricting committee that had last met on Dec. 14. They said that an additional meeting had been added on Jan. 28 due to concerns from committee members that they did not know exactly recommendation they were supposed to produce and they were feeling rushed through the process.
"The biggest contention was the people wanted to have the information in a timely enough manner so they can digest the information," Dorau said.
Plugge said that one thing he had to clarify for committee members was the concern that they would have to make a decision on whether to build a new high school.
"That decision is not the committee's decision," Plugge said, noting that the board has already expressed a desire for a third school to be built. "Their task is to help us with the transition of how to get there"
Plugge said that a third high school will be built when the district has enough enrollment and money in the budget to support it. Judging by recent trends, the enrollment part of that equation seems on its way.
In a presentation concluding the meeting, Assistant Superintendent Ann Feldmann gave a presentation on the district's enrollment trends. Her summary of the trends?
"Enrollment is going up, and enrollment is going to keep going up," Feldmann said.
According to Feldmann, kindergarten enrollment in the district has exceeded 1,000 students for the first time. Meanwhile, live births in Johnson County hit a record high of more than 1,700 children in 2008, and the district administrators expect an even higher proportion of these children to attend schools within the district.
At the high school level, City High School's enrollment is still declining, with only three of the last twelve years showing an increase in enrollment. Even though West High's enrollment increases have tapered of for the moment, Feldmann said enrollment trends show that this might not last for long.
"The West side is still taking the lion share of the elementary increases in enrollment," Feldmann said.
Currently, 60.4 percent of kindergarten students and 56.7 percent of all elementary students attend west side elementary schools. Buford Garner Elementary School, set to open in North Liberty in August, was designed to mitigate these large classes on the west side of the district.
Buford Garner Elementary updates
By Stephen Schmidt
The North Liberty Leader
Things are moving right along in the new year for Buford Garner Elementary.
The school, on schedule to open in August, now officially has a new principal. Mindy Paulsen, who has served as principal at Roosevelt Elementary for 10 years, began the transition to her new position over the winter break.
Paulsen is still technically the principal for Roosevelt, but her duties will be reduced and she will eventually base her office out of Van Allen Elementary School. Celeste Shoppa, Van Allen's assistant principal, will be the interim principal at Roosevelt and Paulsen will assume Shoppa's assistant principal duties during the transition.
This arrangement will continue through June of this year. In July, a new principal will be hired at Roosevelt Elementary who will then go on to become the principal at the new elementary being built at the Crossings that is set to open in the Fall of 2011.
Superintendent Lane Plugge said Friday that this transition strategy will allow Paulson to get a head start for her job as Garner's principal.
"The district believes this will present an excellent opportunity for Ms. Paulson to develop relationships with students who next year will attend Garner," Plugge said.
Before coming to Iowa City, Paulsen hailed from the Muscatine and Webster City Community School Districts, where she also served as a principal.
Also during the break, parents of future Garner Elementary students received letters from the district informing them that the hiring of 12 teachers, a teacher librarian and a guidance counselor will be completed soon.
A map of the current Garner attendance area was also enclosed in the letter. The letter also stated that children who are now in fifth and sixth grade, and are slated to attend Garner, could choose to stay at their current schools if they notified the district by Jan. 11.
Garner, when it opens, will join Penn and Van Allen as the third North Liberty elementary school in the Iowa City School District.
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