It is easy to think of teachers when you think about a school, but did you know about all of the classified employees who create the conditions for student success? We have bus drivers, bus mechanics, instructional aides, a technology coordinator, cooks, secretaries and clerks, custodians, and maintenance personnel.
Many of these valuable employees are the first and last school people your child may see during the day. It is the bus driver who first greets your child in the morning and the last to say goodbye in the afternoon. Our bus drivers hold commercial driver's licenses with additional training in school bus procedures. In addition to their annual training, they are under similar rules as truck drivers in that they must have periodic substance tests and have limits placed on the number of hours of driving time. Our transportation supervisor and bus mechanic keep all of the buses in working order. This includes inspections every sixty days plus a full annual inspection. Safety is our highest priority in transporting students. School bus transportation is the safest method of transporting students; even safer than parents driving their own children to school.
Our instructional aides provide numerous services for students and other staff members throughout the school year. These individuals provide one-on-one and small group instruction under the supervision of a certified teacher, recess and lunch room supervision, and individual speech therapy under the supervision of a contracted speech-language pathologist. Each of our instructional aides must meet the high standards of the No Child Left Behind act which includes at least two years of college and/or passing an extensive battery of general education assessments.
Our technology coordinator provides essential services to keep our computer systems operating for the benefit of staff and students. In addition to maintaining over 200 computers, a large bank of servers, and many peripherals, he insures that we meet state and federal law, such as the Children's Internet Protection Act. Then there are software updates, repair of hardware and future technology planning. The services of a qualified technology coordinator have become critical in school today. We are fortunate to have an individual with a bachelor's degree in information technology with extensive education experience.
Our cooks arrive early daily to prepare meals for the students. Before a meal can be prepared however, they must plan the menu which includes meeting federal nutrition guidelines. Our kitchen operates under similar rules to restaurants and employees must have on-going training so that we meet all of the requirements. The cooks are also responsible for inventory and budget plus serving meals to students.
When you call the school, you are likely to be greeted by a member of our secretarial staff. The secretaries in the school office must answer the telephone, communicate via radio to the bus drivers, provide band aids for students, call home when students are ill, and maintain student records including data entry. Their duties can include student supervision, helping teachers enter their grades, maintaining the student database, tracking purchase orders, accounting for student body account funds, paying bills and much more. The Clerk of the Board handles all Board business including minutes, elections, legal advertising and documents plus she is responsible for accounts receivable, accounts payable, and payroll. She also handles our attendance reporting, federal grant reports and helps the superintendent complete his work.
The District employs two full-time and one part-time custodian. These people work hard each afternoon and evening cleaning the school and conducting maintenance so that the building is ready for children and staff every morning. During holidays and summer break, they conduct heavy cleaning and maintenance so that the facility will last well into the future. Recently, they have been conducting additional sterilization to protect against the swine flu.
Facility maintenance requires significant expertise to keep all the sophisticated systems operational and safe. These include the HVAC system which is computer operated for efficiency, electrical, plumbing, refrigeration and other mechanical systems. Much of this work must be conducted during non-school hours in the evenings or on weekends to minimize the disruption to student learning. Grounds maintenance, including snow and ice removal and landscape maintenance, is another important aspect of this department. We want patrons to be proud of their investment in their schools.
As you can see, we have a myriad of classified employees working hard to support our important work and make school a safe and welcoming place for our students. You may not always see them or their work, but understand how important their contributions are to the proper functioning of an effective learning environment and say thank you when you get a chance.
Showing posts with label labor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label labor. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Retirements and new staff
We have been very busy with end of the year activities in school and at the district level. The legislature finally concluded their session and we have been working our way through preparation of the final budget.
We have several staff members retiring this year:
Along with retirements, comes the need to hire replacements. With Mr. Caldwell moving into the 7-12 Principal/AD position, we hired Kristen McMullin as his replacement. Ms. McMullin recently earned her master's degree in music education from the University of Idaho. She student taught at Genesee School several years ago. Originally from Rathdrum, Ms. McMullin brings continuity and new ideas to our well respected music program.
Casi Allington, a recent graduated of WSU, has been hired to teach 7-12 science. Ms. Allington student taught at Garfield-Palouse this spring. Originally from Wyoming and more recently from Spokane, Ms. Allington comes very highly recommended by her colleagues at Garfield-Palouse and her college supervisors.
We hope soon to fill the School Psychologist and instructional paraprofessional positions. We have been fortunate to have good pools of candidates to select from which can be difficult in science, music and school psychologists. We like to think that the positive reputation of the Genesee School and education-minded community helps us to attract the best and brightest to teach and work in Genesee.
Goodbye Dave, Sue, Loretta and Karen. Hello Kristen and Casi.
We have several staff members retiring this year:
- David Aiken, 7-12 science teacher
- Karen Hagen, Instructional Paraprofessional
- Loretta Stowers, K-12 Principal
- Sue Bull-Pelfrey, School Psychologist
Along with retirements, comes the need to hire replacements. With Mr. Caldwell moving into the 7-12 Principal/AD position, we hired Kristen McMullin as his replacement. Ms. McMullin recently earned her master's degree in music education from the University of Idaho. She student taught at Genesee School several years ago. Originally from Rathdrum, Ms. McMullin brings continuity and new ideas to our well respected music program.
Casi Allington, a recent graduated of WSU, has been hired to teach 7-12 science. Ms. Allington student taught at Garfield-Palouse this spring. Originally from Wyoming and more recently from Spokane, Ms. Allington comes very highly recommended by her colleagues at Garfield-Palouse and her college supervisors.
We hope soon to fill the School Psychologist and instructional paraprofessional positions. We have been fortunate to have good pools of candidates to select from which can be difficult in science, music and school psychologists. We like to think that the positive reputation of the Genesee School and education-minded community helps us to attract the best and brightest to teach and work in Genesee.
Goodbye Dave, Sue, Loretta and Karen. Hello Kristen and Casi.
Monday, May 4, 2009
May 5 - Teacher Appreciation Day
May 5 is Teacher Appreciation Day.
We have outstanding teachers in the Genesee School District. They are well qualified, appropriately state-licensed and highly qualified as defined by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Perhaps, more important, our teachers, and all of the staff who work for the school district, care about students and our community.
These are dedicated employees who work hard to prepare all of the students for success. Being a public school, we do not have the opportunity to select our clients. We take everyone who walks through the doors and work diligently to provide each student with an education that meets the needs of the individual student and society.
American schools, and thus our educational professionals, are often compared to those from other countries such as Japan, India and China. One huge difference between our educational system and their systems is that ours is egalitarian. All students attend the same school regardless of innate ability and knowledge. In the United States we believe all students can learn and all students must learn to insure that our democracy flourishes. In public school, we do not send the brightest to one school and the average to another. We want them to learn together so that, as a society, we can all share in the benefits of our democracy. Comparisons are never "apples to apples."
It is interesting to note that when parents are asked to "grade" their school they always seem to give it a higher grade than the schools in the next town or down the street. Generally, parents appear to be satisfied with the job their schools are doing. That is not to say that we should not continue to seek improvement. Schools will change as society changes and we must constantly be willing to reform so that we are looking forward and not backwards. We can ill afford to live with success made yesterday.
Working with students day in and day out is satisfying but tiring work. Students sometimes bring "baggage" from outside of school that we have no control over yet we must educate all children regardless of what each brings to school on a daily basis. We do so with enthusiasm and hope.
So if you get a chance, thank your child's teacher, bus driver, classroom aide, cook, secretary, principal, etc. They care and they do their job every day so that your children's future will be bright.
We have outstanding teachers in the Genesee School District. They are well qualified, appropriately state-licensed and highly qualified as defined by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Perhaps, more important, our teachers, and all of the staff who work for the school district, care about students and our community.
These are dedicated employees who work hard to prepare all of the students for success. Being a public school, we do not have the opportunity to select our clients. We take everyone who walks through the doors and work diligently to provide each student with an education that meets the needs of the individual student and society.
American schools, and thus our educational professionals, are often compared to those from other countries such as Japan, India and China. One huge difference between our educational system and their systems is that ours is egalitarian. All students attend the same school regardless of innate ability and knowledge. In the United States we believe all students can learn and all students must learn to insure that our democracy flourishes. In public school, we do not send the brightest to one school and the average to another. We want them to learn together so that, as a society, we can all share in the benefits of our democracy. Comparisons are never "apples to apples."
It is interesting to note that when parents are asked to "grade" their school they always seem to give it a higher grade than the schools in the next town or down the street. Generally, parents appear to be satisfied with the job their schools are doing. That is not to say that we should not continue to seek improvement. Schools will change as society changes and we must constantly be willing to reform so that we are looking forward and not backwards. We can ill afford to live with success made yesterday.
Working with students day in and day out is satisfying but tiring work. Students sometimes bring "baggage" from outside of school that we have no control over yet we must educate all children regardless of what each brings to school on a daily basis. We do so with enthusiasm and hope.
So if you get a chance, thank your child's teacher, bus driver, classroom aide, cook, secretary, principal, etc. They care and they do their job every day so that your children's future will be bright.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Reduction-in-Force
The Genesee School District has a labor agreement with the Genesee Education Association which identifies the manner in which a reduction-in-force would be completed for certified teachers. The wording for that agreement can be found on our web site at: http://www.sd282.org/genesee_school_district_reductio.htm
The agreement outlines what condition or conditions must exist before the Board may declare a RIF. Once one or more of the five conditions exists, the Board of Trustees can conduct the RIF. As with RIF provisions in other school districts, our provision utilizes seniority as the primary factor while also taking into account other factors. A seniority list, using the mechanisms identified in the agreement, is developed and checked and in place should a RIF be necessary. This is a very objective process that both parties to the labor agreement must follow.
The Genesee School District has experienced an enrollment decline for several years. Added to the enrollment decline this year is a reduction in state funding for K-12 education. Both of these factors will be taken into consideration when a school budget is produced for the 2010 fiscal year.
The agreement outlines what condition or conditions must exist before the Board may declare a RIF. Once one or more of the five conditions exists, the Board of Trustees can conduct the RIF. As with RIF provisions in other school districts, our provision utilizes seniority as the primary factor while also taking into account other factors. A seniority list, using the mechanisms identified in the agreement, is developed and checked and in place should a RIF be necessary. This is a very objective process that both parties to the labor agreement must follow.
The Genesee School District has experienced an enrollment decline for several years. Added to the enrollment decline this year is a reduction in state funding for K-12 education. Both of these factors will be taken into consideration when a school budget is produced for the 2010 fiscal year.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Labor Negotiations
Annually, the District enters into labor negotiations with the Genesee Education Association which represents all certified professional employees except administrators. The GEA is affiliated with the Idaho Education Association and the National Education Association. This process takes place annually each spring.
Historically, the District is represented by the superintendent and one trustee while the Association is represented by a committee of teachers. The labor agreement must be ratified by the full Board of Trustees and a vote of the Association membership.
There are two parts of the labor agreement. The first part is the procedural agreement which specifies the parameters for negotiations. The second part is the actual negotiations agreement. Generally, it is this second part which is subject to annual negotiations. The negotiations agreement includes leave, working conditions, insurance, a salary schedule, and an extra-curricular salary schedule. Negotiations have historically been held in executive or closed session.
Every school district in Idaho is a separate local government entity. Even though districts receive the majority of their funding from the State, each district has different agreements with their employees. The Idaho school funding system uses a salary-based allocation model. In addition to the discretionary funding based on support units, the largest amount of funds are derived from a formula that looks substantially like a salary schedule. Some districts have negotiated salary schedules that are identical to the Idaho salary allocation grid. Genesee's CPE salary schedule has evolved over time as the District and GEA have worked to craft a schedule that meets District needs. That schedule is posted in the employment section of our web site.
Normally we would have already entered into negotiations, but given the long Idaho legislative session and the lack of financial information, the two sides have agreed to wait until the legislature substantially completes their work.
Historically, the District is represented by the superintendent and one trustee while the Association is represented by a committee of teachers. The labor agreement must be ratified by the full Board of Trustees and a vote of the Association membership.
There are two parts of the labor agreement. The first part is the procedural agreement which specifies the parameters for negotiations. The second part is the actual negotiations agreement. Generally, it is this second part which is subject to annual negotiations. The negotiations agreement includes leave, working conditions, insurance, a salary schedule, and an extra-curricular salary schedule. Negotiations have historically been held in executive or closed session.
Every school district in Idaho is a separate local government entity. Even though districts receive the majority of their funding from the State, each district has different agreements with their employees. The Idaho school funding system uses a salary-based allocation model. In addition to the discretionary funding based on support units, the largest amount of funds are derived from a formula that looks substantially like a salary schedule. Some districts have negotiated salary schedules that are identical to the Idaho salary allocation grid. Genesee's CPE salary schedule has evolved over time as the District and GEA have worked to craft a schedule that meets District needs. That schedule is posted in the employment section of our web site.
Normally we would have already entered into negotiations, but given the long Idaho legislative session and the lack of financial information, the two sides have agreed to wait until the legislature substantially completes their work.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
The Quality School
William Glasser, M.D. made the case in his seminal work The Quality School that one of the major reasons why so few students are involved in high-quality honors or advanced-placement classes is that schools historically use boss management. Students, just like teachers and other adults, have a quality world where they place things that are important to them. A student may place a specific teacher or subject in his quality world. Once this occurs, he will be intrinsically motivated to excel in that subject or for that teacher. This is what Glasser calls Control Theory.
No human is unmotivated. Boss-teachers and administrators might lament that students are not motivated but what they are really saying is that they do not know how to persuade students to work. And as long as they believe in coercion, they never will. It is always what we want at the time the causes our behavior. If keeping quiet is in the student's best interest, he will do so.
Managers can count on coercion to achieve only the simplest tasks. The same goes for reward. It isn't the reward that motivates; it is the individuals perception of how much he wants the reward that determines his behavior. What happens to us from outside has a lot to do with what we choose to do, but the outside event does not cause our behavior.
Lead-managers and lead-teachers prefer to give the workers or students the kind of information that will persuade them to do as they are directed because it is as much or more to their benefit as it is to the teacher's. Students will do things for a teacher they like and care about that they would never do for a teacher they do not care about.
Why are some students so motivated in their extra-curricular (sports, music, drama, etc.) activities? Students will tell you they feel important in these activities. Ask them and they will tell you that in these situations where they work together as a group or on a team, they work harder and accomplish more because they help each other and have more fun. This same type of work ethic can occur in academic classes as well, when students are actively engaged in their learning in a supportive and enjoyable environment.
It is not always easy to conduct school business in this fashion. Sometimes we do not have enough time or outside interests or pressure dictate what we must do, but the more we can help each student to place school into his quality world, the more effective we will be and the more the student will derive from his education.
No human is unmotivated. Boss-teachers and administrators might lament that students are not motivated but what they are really saying is that they do not know how to persuade students to work. And as long as they believe in coercion, they never will. It is always what we want at the time the causes our behavior. If keeping quiet is in the student's best interest, he will do so.
Managers can count on coercion to achieve only the simplest tasks. The same goes for reward. It isn't the reward that motivates; it is the individuals perception of how much he wants the reward that determines his behavior. What happens to us from outside has a lot to do with what we choose to do, but the outside event does not cause our behavior.
Lead-managers and lead-teachers prefer to give the workers or students the kind of information that will persuade them to do as they are directed because it is as much or more to their benefit as it is to the teacher's. Students will do things for a teacher they like and care about that they would never do for a teacher they do not care about.
Why are some students so motivated in their extra-curricular (sports, music, drama, etc.) activities? Students will tell you they feel important in these activities. Ask them and they will tell you that in these situations where they work together as a group or on a team, they work harder and accomplish more because they help each other and have more fun. This same type of work ethic can occur in academic classes as well, when students are actively engaged in their learning in a supportive and enjoyable environment.
It is not always easy to conduct school business in this fashion. Sometimes we do not have enough time or outside interests or pressure dictate what we must do, but the more we can help each student to place school into his quality world, the more effective we will be and the more the student will derive from his education.
Monday, March 16, 2009
How employee compensation is determined in the Genesee School District
The District expends 78% of its maintenance and operations funds on salaries and benefits of teachers, classified staff and administrators. That is actually slightly less than the average which ranges from 80-85%.
There are three distinct groupings of employees in the District. The instructional staff includes all certificated professional employees (CPEs) with the exception of the Principal and Superintendent who would be considered administrators. The classified employees include all non-certified employees like bus drivers, secretarial staff, cooks, instructional aides, maintenance, custodial, technology, etc.
The determination of salary differs between the three distinct groups. However, benefits are identical as required by Idaho Code. The District provides a $380 defined contribution toward health insurance for each full time employee per month.
CPEs are paid on a salary schedule that is negotiated annually between the Board of Trustees and the Genesee Education Association. The current salary scheduled is located on the District web site at: www.sd282.org/Employment/0809_sal.pdf. A CPE's actual salary is primarily a function of their educational attainment (degrees and additional credit hours) and years of teaching experience. Nationally Board certified teachers receive an additional stipend of $1,000. The standard Idaho contract is for 190 days. There are a few CPE positions which require a longer contract such as the agriculture teacher, librarian and counselor. In this case the teacher would receive 1/190 for each additional day of their contract.
Classified employees have a compensation schedule approved by the Board of Trustees. The District does not conduct labor negotiations with classified employees, but we do "meet and confer" annually to discuss compensation, benefits and other areas of concern. The classified compensation schedule is located at www.sd282.org/Employment/class_wagescale.pdf.
There are two administrators in the District. The salaries of these employees are determined by the Board of Trustees when each administrator's contract expires. A district is allowed to enter into a two-year contract with principals and a three-year contract with superintendents. As in the case of CPEs, administrators are licensed professionals. While there is no set salary schedule, the Board utilizes comparability studies with surrounding districts to determine the compensation levels for these employees. The Principal is on a 210 day contract and the Superintendent is on a 260 day contract. The Principal earns 9.4% more per day than the highest paid teacher whereas the Superintendent earns 11.3% more per day than the Principal. In the most recently reported State Department financial information, the Genesee District expended $1,081 per ADA for all school and district administration expenses. Only one other similarly sized district (Whitepine) in the area expended less, including those districts who employ half-time district administrators.
It continues to be the philosophy of the School District to recruit and retain the highest quality staff possible. Compensation is one element of maintaining a competent and high quality staff.
There are three distinct groupings of employees in the District. The instructional staff includes all certificated professional employees (CPEs) with the exception of the Principal and Superintendent who would be considered administrators. The classified employees include all non-certified employees like bus drivers, secretarial staff, cooks, instructional aides, maintenance, custodial, technology, etc.
The determination of salary differs between the three distinct groups. However, benefits are identical as required by Idaho Code. The District provides a $380 defined contribution toward health insurance for each full time employee per month.
CPEs are paid on a salary schedule that is negotiated annually between the Board of Trustees and the Genesee Education Association. The current salary scheduled is located on the District web site at: www.sd282.org/Employment/0809_sal.pdf. A CPE's actual salary is primarily a function of their educational attainment (degrees and additional credit hours) and years of teaching experience. Nationally Board certified teachers receive an additional stipend of $1,000. The standard Idaho contract is for 190 days. There are a few CPE positions which require a longer contract such as the agriculture teacher, librarian and counselor. In this case the teacher would receive 1/190 for each additional day of their contract.
Classified employees have a compensation schedule approved by the Board of Trustees. The District does not conduct labor negotiations with classified employees, but we do "meet and confer" annually to discuss compensation, benefits and other areas of concern. The classified compensation schedule is located at www.sd282.org/Employment/class_wagescale.pdf.
There are two administrators in the District. The salaries of these employees are determined by the Board of Trustees when each administrator's contract expires. A district is allowed to enter into a two-year contract with principals and a three-year contract with superintendents. As in the case of CPEs, administrators are licensed professionals. While there is no set salary schedule, the Board utilizes comparability studies with surrounding districts to determine the compensation levels for these employees. The Principal is on a 210 day contract and the Superintendent is on a 260 day contract. The Principal earns 9.4% more per day than the highest paid teacher whereas the Superintendent earns 11.3% more per day than the Principal. In the most recently reported State Department financial information, the Genesee District expended $1,081 per ADA for all school and district administration expenses. Only one other similarly sized district (Whitepine) in the area expended less, including those districts who employ half-time district administrators.
It continues to be the philosophy of the School District to recruit and retain the highest quality staff possible. Compensation is one element of maintaining a competent and high quality staff.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Staffing a School
The most important controllable factor leading to increased student achievement is the quality of the teaching staff. This is not to say that the support staff members (instructional aides, cooks, custodians, secretaries, bus drivers, technology directors, etc.) are not vital to the proper functioning of the school or that the administration doesn't play a vital role in the overall success of the school operation, but research has proven time and again that teacher quality is paramount in improving achievement.
So how does the administration (Principal and Superintendent, in our case) staff the school with high quality teachers?
Certainly the recruitment and selection process for new teachers is one way. Unfortunately this has become more and more difficult during the past fifteen years. As more opportunities have opened up for women and minorities, as teacher pay has not kept pace with other professions and as the respect teachers once had has withered under intense political criticism, the pool of high quality candidates has shrunk. We are fortunate in Genesee to be within a 25 mile radius of three colleges or universities which enhances our pool of available teachers, but even this factor will not guarantee our ability to hire the top of the class. In the mid-1990's we averaged 150 applications for every elementary position advertised. Now we are lucky to receive twenty. For some hard to fill positions, we might get two or three applications. Hiring the best and brightest will continue to pose a challenge for the district as the "baby boomers" retire from the profession.
Retention of the teaching staff is another important factor in putting a quality teacher at the head of each classroom. Once we hire a quality teacher, we need to retain his or her services for as long as possible. Providing professional development opportunities here or at professional training and conferences out of the District is one way to not only retain quality staff members; it also directly benefits students. Teachers need adequate time to plan individually and with their colleagues in order to provide quality service to students and for professional satisfaction. Giving teachers the opportunity to impact the educational process can enhance job satisfaction.
The mechanics of determining the number of teachers needed to carry out the educational program is a function of many factors including curriculum, class size, training and qualifications, and finance. When do we split an elementary class? While it might be intuitive that a smaller class size would improve student achievement, the research does not bear this out. Certainly there are limits and guidelines; factors which the administration and Board take into account. In most cases, the teacher/student ratio in all classes in Genesee is smaller than it would be in districts like Moscow or Lewiston. Idaho pays for 1.1 certified professional staff member per support unit. A support unit is 19 students at the elementary level and 12 students at the secondary level (based on attendance, not enrollment). This provides for classroom teachers, ancillary staff, counselors, specialists, librarians, etc. Genesee has chosen to hire additional staff which has been supported through the supplemental levy election.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires districts to employ Highly Qualified Teachers in all core subject areas. This poses an interesting challenge because Idaho's licensing requirements and NCLB regulations differ. I am happy to report that all of our teachers meet or exceed both the state and federal regulations for the classes they are assigned to teach.
We have a significant number of Nationally Board Certified teachers and several more working on this designation this year. National Board Certification is a highly structured, time consuming process that benefits both the professional educator and the students he or she teaches. The District supports teachers who choose to work on this level of certification.
We will continue to staff our classrooms with the highest quality individuals we can. We will continue to supervise and evaluate our staff to help them become the best they can be for the benefit of the students we serve. If ever you have a specific concern or question regarding your child's education, please contact the teacher directly. If you continue to have concerns, contact the Principal.
So how does the administration (Principal and Superintendent, in our case) staff the school with high quality teachers?
Certainly the recruitment and selection process for new teachers is one way. Unfortunately this has become more and more difficult during the past fifteen years. As more opportunities have opened up for women and minorities, as teacher pay has not kept pace with other professions and as the respect teachers once had has withered under intense political criticism, the pool of high quality candidates has shrunk. We are fortunate in Genesee to be within a 25 mile radius of three colleges or universities which enhances our pool of available teachers, but even this factor will not guarantee our ability to hire the top of the class. In the mid-1990's we averaged 150 applications for every elementary position advertised. Now we are lucky to receive twenty. For some hard to fill positions, we might get two or three applications. Hiring the best and brightest will continue to pose a challenge for the district as the "baby boomers" retire from the profession.
Retention of the teaching staff is another important factor in putting a quality teacher at the head of each classroom. Once we hire a quality teacher, we need to retain his or her services for as long as possible. Providing professional development opportunities here or at professional training and conferences out of the District is one way to not only retain quality staff members; it also directly benefits students. Teachers need adequate time to plan individually and with their colleagues in order to provide quality service to students and for professional satisfaction. Giving teachers the opportunity to impact the educational process can enhance job satisfaction.
The mechanics of determining the number of teachers needed to carry out the educational program is a function of many factors including curriculum, class size, training and qualifications, and finance. When do we split an elementary class? While it might be intuitive that a smaller class size would improve student achievement, the research does not bear this out. Certainly there are limits and guidelines; factors which the administration and Board take into account. In most cases, the teacher/student ratio in all classes in Genesee is smaller than it would be in districts like Moscow or Lewiston. Idaho pays for 1.1 certified professional staff member per support unit. A support unit is 19 students at the elementary level and 12 students at the secondary level (based on attendance, not enrollment). This provides for classroom teachers, ancillary staff, counselors, specialists, librarians, etc. Genesee has chosen to hire additional staff which has been supported through the supplemental levy election.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires districts to employ Highly Qualified Teachers in all core subject areas. This poses an interesting challenge because Idaho's licensing requirements and NCLB regulations differ. I am happy to report that all of our teachers meet or exceed both the state and federal regulations for the classes they are assigned to teach.
We have a significant number of Nationally Board Certified teachers and several more working on this designation this year. National Board Certification is a highly structured, time consuming process that benefits both the professional educator and the students he or she teaches. The District supports teachers who choose to work on this level of certification.
We will continue to staff our classrooms with the highest quality individuals we can. We will continue to supervise and evaluate our staff to help them become the best they can be for the benefit of the students we serve. If ever you have a specific concern or question regarding your child's education, please contact the teacher directly. If you continue to have concerns, contact the Principal.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Kelly Caldwell hired as new Principal
The Board of Trustees approved the hiring of long-term Genesee educator Kelly Caldwell to fill the principal position being vacated by Mrs. Stowers after she retires this summer.
Mr. Caldwell received a B.A. in Music Education and an M.Ed. in School Administration from the University of Idaho. He has taught K-12 music in Genesee for 17 years. His accomplishments as a music teacher are well known locally and throughout the State of Idaho. Mr. Caldwell has served as President of the Idaho Music Educators, a board member on the IHSAA and District Music President. He has been the athletic director at Genesee as well as holding several coaching positions. He was named 1A Athletic Director of the Year in 2007.
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