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President
Vincent Sherpinsky
Vice President
Josie Charnock
Members
Edward Diasio
Timothy Kerr
Suzan Leonard
Patrick McGee Jr.
Frank O'Donnell
Theresa Prykowski
John T. Schilling
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| Meetings in Review |
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NPSD Board of School Directors Meeting
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| Upcoming Meetings |
February 27, 6:00 PM, ESC
Support Services Committee Meeting
February 27, 6:30 PM, ESC
Finance Committee Meeting
March 7, 7:30 PM, ESC Work Session Meeting
March 13, 6:00 PM, ESC
Safe Schools Committee Meeting
March 13, 6:30 PM, ESC
ECP Committee Meeting
March 16, 7:30 PM, ESC
Action Meeting
To access the list of
meeting dates scheduled for 2017, please click here.
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Summer Work at Elementary Schools Hits a Delay
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nstallation of air conditioning at Gwyn-Nor, Knapp and Oak Park elementary schools hit a delay this month when no electrical contractors bid on the work scheduled to begin this summer. The Support Services Committee will discuss next steps at its meeting on Monday, February 27 at 6 pm at the ESC.
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Dear Community,
I hope everyone got to enjoy a long weekend as we celebrated President's Day. In a few weeks, spring will arrive and the nice weather with it. I would like to thank the NPSD facilities staff who worked so hard on February 9th when we had to close school because of snow.
Due to that missed day, changes to the 2016-2017 school calendar were approved at our board meeting last week. The revised calendar can be found
here.
Whenever the superintendent considers closing school his top priority is the safety of our students and staff. Dr. Dietrich consults with many people including other superintendents and NPSD facilities staff members, and he somehow manages to make sense out of the varying weather forecasts. It is not an easy job, nor one that any superintendent enjoys, but is a very important one.
A major impact on whether we can have school or not is the condition of the roads in the eight municipalities that make up NPSD. A huge thank you also goes to the staff of these municipalities who work through the night salting and plowing roads and clearing bus stops so that, whether or not school happens, this community is safe.
It's this kind of teamwork within our schools and with our community partners that helps to make North Penn the premier school district and community that it is known to be.
Sincerely,
Vincent Sherpinsky
President
NPSD Board of School Directors
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The NPSD Educational Foundation met on February 1 and discussed the following items.
Foundation February is underway and 12 of our schools, plus the ESC, are participating. From raising money through super hero day to taking donations to toss a pie in the face of a favorite teacher, our schools have come up with creative and fun ways to get everyone involved. The Foundation has received only a small amount of what has been raised so far but already have about $2,000 from Foundation February events. Pennbrook is hosting a Dine and Donate Fundraiser for Foundation February. All you have to do is visit Panera bread on Tuesday, February 28 from 4 to 8 p.m. and bring with you a printed or digital copy of the flyer (
click here to view flyer) and the Foundation receives a percentage of your purchase.
As reported last month, the Foundation is also in the beginning stages of preparation for its annual online auction. This year the event will be held from April 24th to May 1st. If you are a local business that would like to get exposure to all of our families and staff by donating an item, the Foundation would be happy to include you in the auction.
February has also been busy in terms of grant implementations. Super Bowl of Reading in our elementary schools and Lit Fest at NPHS are just two that occurred in the past couple of weeks. Additionally, Yolanda Wisher, a 1994 graduate of North Penn High School and Philadelphia's 2016-2017 Poet Laureate, spoke at NPHS thanks to a grant from the Foundation. She also spent the day talking with students.
In exciting news, at last month's meeting, the Foundation agreed to finacially support the NPHS students travelling to London in March to present their nanotechnology and engineering research at an international science convention. The Foundation has long supported this program through Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program funds. The Foundation wishes the best of luck to these students and can't wait to hear all about this incredible experience.
For more information about the NPSD Educational Foundation, please contact Executive Director, Christine Liberaski at liberacd@npenn.org.
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The ECP Committee held a meeting on February 13 at the ESC. Several topics were presented at the meeting.
Several student travel items were reviewed by the committee. Also, the committee received an overview of the secondary humanities subjects which include ESL, English, Social Studies, World Language and Reading. Information pertained to the incorporation of technology and digital age learning, updating curriculum and assessments, and working on closing the achievement gap.
In addition, the committee received an update on the recent roll-out of the digital learning initiatives. Google Classroom was implemented during the first marking period/trimester. Through Google Classroom and using their Chromebooks, students are able to complete and submit assignments, communicate online with their teacher and classmates and receive grades on submitted work from their teachers.
Committee members were able to experience Google Classroom first-hand by logging on and navigating the application using Chromebooks. A component of Google Classroom, "Go Guardian," allows teachers to monitor students to ensure that they are staying on task in Google Classroom and follow-up with them if they need explanation or assistance with an assignment. The committee enjoyed the opportunity to experience how our students are utilizing technology in the classroom and at home to complete assignments and enhance their learning.
The next ECP Committee meeting will be held on Monday, March 13th at 6:30 p.m. at the ESC.
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The Finance Committee held a meeting on January 30 at the ESC. The monthly financial reports were reviewed with additional discussion on the following items:
2017-2018 Extended School Care Rates & 2017 Summer Rates
Marjorie Scott, NPSD Extended School Care Coordinator, gave a presentation on the finances of the Extended School Care Program. This enterprise fund has a solid financial position and, as a result, will be recommending no increase for the 2017-2018 year. The fee payment schedule will change from nine and one half months to nine months. There is a recommended 5% increase to 2017 summer camp fees due to the increased cost of field trips.
Tax Collector Compensation
Steve Skrocki, NPSD Director of Business Administration, reviewed the necessity to establish tax collector compensation for the next four years. Skrocki reviewed a proposal to increase the tax collector compensation by $0.05 for years one and three. After discussion it was decided to recommend that installment payment number 2 and 3 will receive $2.00 per bill. Payment for interims and liened properties will not change.
Architect/Engineering Services for Roofing & AC Projects
Skrocki reviewed the proposal from Bonnett Associates for these two capital projects.
Bus Camera and GPS Systems
Chris Gray, NPSD Coordinator of Transportation, presented information and provided a demonstration about the bus camera and GPS systems and how the systems are helping with disciplinary investigations as well as cost savings.
Property Tax Elimination
Skrocki made a presentation on the pending proposal to "eliminate" property taxes. He discussed the major components of the tax shift, the ability to continue taxation for existing debt and the commercial property impact.
The next Finance Committee meeting will be held on February 27 at 6:30 p.m. at the ESC.
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The held a meeting on January 30 at the ESC. Several topics were presented at the meeting.
The committee reviewed two change orders for the Hatfield Elementary School project and two change orders for the Montgomery Elementary School project.
Kevin Manero, North Penn High School baseball coach, presented a proposal to install a new scoreboard at the varsity baseball field. A donor is offering to purchase the scoreboard and the Extra Innings Club is offering to fund a portion of the installation costs.
An update on the air conditioning project was provided. Only one electrical contractor has requested the bid documents. In order to find more electrical contractors for this project, the bid opening date was changed to February 9, 2017.
The roofing bidding schedule was discussed. The roofing bids will be received on Wednesday February 22, 2017 and reviewed at the February 27, 2017 Support Services committee meeting.
The next Support Services meeting will be held on February 27 at 6:00 p.m. at the ESC.
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