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PV School Superintendent Search Focuses on District Issues and Qualities Desired in Next Superintendent
District receives Ford Foundation Award for participation in BOCES
by Margaret Sternberg
During the February 1, 2007 meeting of the Putnam Valley Board of Education, Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES Superintendent Jim Langlois and Assistant Superintendent Tom Higgins presented their findings from the focus groups with whom they had met on the search for a new superintendent.
The findings were divided into two basic categories: district strengths and issues and what qualities the new Putnam Valley School District Superintendent should possess.
Among the identified positives within the district were the new high school, technology, including the laptop initiative, the strength of the staff, the quality - particularly the attitude and behavior - of the students, and the sense of involvement by the superintendent in the district and the community
Challenges the new superintendent will face, they reported, would include taxes and the school budget, an understanding of the responsibility to provide quality programs in the district balanced with cost, growth and space needs, and the ability to balance different views and focuses within the community.
According to the responses, the new superintendent should be a highly effective communicator, be a strong leader and have a collaborative approach, be community oriented, have a strong finance background, be willing to make a long-term commitment to the district, have a sense of humor, and be able to focus on education.
It was expected that there would be about 26 - 28 serious applications for the position.
In another BOCES-related action that evening, the PV Board of Education, among a number of other schools in the area, received a certificate from the Ford Foundation for the district's participation in Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES Technology Center, which the Foundation had described as "the most outstanding Tech. Center College program in the country."
A short film was also shown on the vast array of programs BOCES offers. PV Superintendent Tutty narrated the film, which included several Putnam Valley students. Tutty spoke warmly about BOCES' contribution to the education of their students and BOCES' many programs, extolling how critical BOCES has been in the success of many students, who had fared better outside of the traditional educational model.
In a short preview of the full discussion to be held on March 29, the district's Reading Initiative with the PTA was presented. The Initiative's importance appeared to be for the educational opportunities it provides in lieu of the district having full-day kindergarten. The district had observed that many of the youngest children were lacking letter/sound recognition and the district is hoping to equip parents with strategies in order to assist parents in making their children more literate.
From the past summer's reading program, 15 of the incoming kindergartners had no letter/sound recognition, and 16 of the incoming first graders had "very little" letter/sound recognition.
During the summer program, there had been weekly "outreach" to parents as well as newsletters sent home providing parents with strategies to help their children. In addition, parents had come to the school to see what the school was doing to help the children learn. These strategies resulted in the children making significant strides, and the district is hoping to continue the parental involvement.
The Board also spent considerable time in dealing with the budget timeline, ultimately making some minor modifications, which should be made final in the next two weeks.
The next meeting of the Putnam Valley Board of Education will be Thursday, February 15, at 7pm.
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