News for Superintendents and Board Members: April 26, 2007
New Superintendent Election
Congratulations to Gary Hamilton on being elected Superintendent of the Ringgold School District.
Convention
I would like to congratulate Mr. Andria, Mrs. Herring, Mr. Krause, Mrs. Repepi, and Mr. Safin on their reelection to the IU1 Board. We appreciate the board members and the superintendents who attended and participated in the convention.
IU1 Service Catalog
The administration has been working over the past year to delineate the array of services that we provide to our school districts, non-public schools, and other entities. We have conducted analytical discussions about how we do business, how we can be more efficient, more cost-effective, and better meet the needs of school districts. Our goals have been to create a catalog of services, articulate how those services are funded (e.g., General Operations, Special Education, etc.), set a fee structure for services, and to establish a system that can more equitably deliver services to our educational clients. The preliminary draft of the catalog will be finalized in June for the 2007-08 school year. The information has been shared with the Superintendents Advisory Council, Curriculum Coordinators Council, and the Board of Directors.
Testimony
Last month, I was invited to present to the PA Senate Communications and Technology Committee on the KITS RWAN. The committee members were interested in hearing from various stakeholders associated with the Act 183 e-Fund. I presented the perspective of an Intermediate Unit that was able to establish a regional wide area network among a set of school districts and career and technology schools. I emphasized the benefits of the KITS network and gave examples of how teachers and students are using the network as a learning tool. View a copy of the testimony.
I also presented to the State Board of Education on the proposed Chapter 14 Special Education regulations. As an Executive Director and the Chair of the PAIU Special Education Committee, I presented our collective response to the draft regulations. In light of the pressure being placed on the State Board of Education to include more onerous provisions by various advocacy groups, I believe the first draft is favorable to students with disabilities and school districts. The PAIU Special Education Committee will continue to monitor the adoption process and provide feedback to the State Board of Education at opportune times. A copy of the testimony can be viewed here.
