Core Values

Today I want to share with you work that the staff has done over the summer as they have worked to align building goals with the goals of the School Board.  Business gurus such as Peter Senge and Jim Collins have spent decades studying how effective organizations operate.  One the insights they have gained is that an organization must all be “heading in the same direction”.  In other words, there must be a clear vision and path that the entire organization is working toward. At Penn-Trafford this process started with the School Board developing theirnon-negotiable goals for instruction and achievement.  The school district continued the process this summer with all the teachers from every school meeting to develop their mission, purpose, and values as they align to the School Board goals.  The work has been magnificent.  You will be able to view the final product for each school on their individual web sites in the upcoming weeks.  

As the staff worked on their mission, purpose and values I began to notice a common thread in all of their work.  What is more amazing about this observation is that every building met separately and many on different days!  Today I want to share with you the common “core values” of the district as distilled from my observations.  These values are reflected in the work of all of the buildings and will be the basis for the work that the school does for our children.

Core Values

• ·       Instruction empowers students in their own learning
• ·       Learning is relevant to student’s lives
• ·       Instruction engages students
• ·       Education is customized for Learners
• ·       Critical thinking and problem solving are essential skills in the 21^st Century

These simple core values send a powerful message to all members of our community that the school district is serious about providing the best educational experiences possible for our children.  Penn-Trafford is changing education to prepare our students to thrive in the 21^st Century!

The State Budget Passes!

Today I want to talk about the State budget and how it affects our school district.  Through the hard work of our local legislators (particularly George Dunbar) the State budget reflects an additional $210,000.00 to our budget.  The State reinstated the Accountability Block Grant (ABG) which the Governor had eliminated from his budget proposal. The ABG was started under the Rendell Administration and can only be used for certain activities.  Traditionally, Penn-Trafford has used ABG for classroom reduction purposes (to help defray the cost of smaller class sizes in the primary elementary grades).  The amount of money the district gets from ABG is relatively steady from year to year (unless the Governor has his way and it disappears altogether).  As the school district’s budget was built we considered the fact that there was a good chance for the ABG to be reinstated and that it would equal about $250,000. Therefore, the budget was built with a deficit spending amount equal to the amount of money that the school district considered we may get from ABG.   Thus, the school district’s budget calls for $250,000 to be taken from the fund balance to balance the 2012-2013 budget. Because ABG came in at $210,000 the school district will now only have to take $40,000 from the fund balance to balance the 2012-2013 budget.  As in past years, the money will be spent to defray the cost of keeping the primary elementary class sizes reasonably low.  

The bigger problem in school budgeting is the fact that school districts can only guess at the amount of money they will receive from the State.  Pennsylvania is one of the few States in America that does not have a steady, formula-based subsidy system for schools.  In other words, every year the politicians in Harrisburg can make the decision about how much (and where) the money will be spent.  The fact that school districts are creating budgets without any hard numbers or dollar amounts can be trying at times.  In the upcoming years as school districts have to “adjust up” the contributions for retirement costs (a topic I covered in another blog entry) the fact that school districts cannot accurately predict their funding will create further challenges.  However, I am not one to complain.  I do wish that the politicians in Harrisburg would be able to create a funding formula so we can do the most important job the State is charged to do…educate our future citizens.  That may be a dream for the foreseeable future.  

 With all that being said, I am so excited and optimistic about the future of our school district.  We are living in a time and place in history where future generations will look back and say “They saved public education”.  We (our community, our schools, our citizens) can (and will at P-T) innovate, change, and create new learning environments that will prepare our students to thrive into the 21^st Century.  We will be able to fundamentally change what it means to go to school in America.  After all, the system we are in now has not fundamentally changed since it was created in the 19^th Century!  Through enhanced instruction, customized learning and a curriculum meant to address the challenges of living in the 21^st Century, Penn-Trafford will lead the way in a new educational environment.  Budgets, money and politics will always be a part of the equation, but only a small part.  The most important facet is improving educational experiences for our students. Our school district is focused on student instruction and achievement and creating the best learning environment for all students.  Again, what a great time to be at Penn-Trafford!