November 17, 2009

The Putnam County School Board voted in a new chairman and vice chairman at its annual reorganization meeting Tuesday. C.L. Overturf was unanimously named chairman, replacing outgoing chairman Lisa Parsons. John Milton was voted in unanimously as vice chairman.

Also at the meeting, regular board meeting times were changed to 4:30 p.m., starting with the Dec. 8 meeting and running through meetings in 2010.

November 3, 2009

Superintendent Tom Townsend urged school board members at Tuesday’s meeting to support open enrollment for the district’s health insurance plan. The board, while not voting up or down, was asked its view of making enrollment open.
Townsend told the board he thinks instituting open enrollment would benefit district employees more than the current system in which they are permitted enrollment once a year.
Board members Lisa Parsons and Terry Wright indicated they would vote in favor of it at this time. C.L. Overturf and John Milton cited the fiscal climate as a reason they would not currently vote for it and Joann Barber said she favors keeping the current system.

Townsend said given the inclination of the majority of the members, he will wait until next fiscal year to propose open enrollment to the board.

Associate Superintendent Sam Foerster told board members at Tuesday’s meeting that the district needs a new custodial equipment fleet and they should expect a purchase proposal by January’s meeting.
Scott Gattshall, a district maintience consultant, said there is “a lot of equipment in the district that’s at the end of its life cycle”

Needed renovations include district restrooms, the square footage of which he said parallels thirty-six 2,500 square ft homes. Foerster said with the recession, the district is getting great prices on contracted work and told the board to expect proposals for $300,000 to $400,000 over the next 6 months for equipment and renovation costs.

A representative from the Putnam County Health Department told the board all but a few district students wanting the H1N1 vaccine have gotten it. On Saturday, Nov. 7, the health department will have a vaccination clinic from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for students who did not get the vaccine when first offered. Townsend commended the health department’s work. “Hopefully we’re going to keep a lot more kids healthy because of your effort,” Townsend said.

Putnam County Commissioner Nancy Harris said the county is eligible for a portion of $31 million in federal stimulus money to install broadband capability in areas it does not reach. The county is one of eight Florida counties sent to Washington to be reviewed for receiving money for the initiative.
As part of the effort, Harris asked Putnam County residents to fill out surveys that are available at www.nfba-fl.org/survey.asp

October 6th, 2009

Local principals spoke at Tuesday’s school board meeting, praising the new district wide curriculum program, “Success for All.” Beasley Middle School Principal Sandra Gilyard said implementing the new plan, which includes students forming groups for classroom exercises, took adjustment. But now, she said, the hard work of putting SFA in place is paying off in student success. “The children are learning and actively engaged,” Gilyard said. “Now, you walk through the halls and hear them talking in complete sentences. Everything is practical. It makes sense and it is student-centered.”

Crescent City Jr / Sr High School Principal Randy Hedstrom said SFA staff has done a good job evaluating student progress. Hedstrom said SFA streamlines the ability to cull information about students. “Before, I’d be looking all over the place for it,” Hedstrom said. “It’s cut our time down tremendously.” Gilyard said one Beasley teacher who struggled initially with implementing the new curriculum has come full circle in his outlook. “One of our teachers who was kind of struggling and kicking … he’s setting up a parent night,” Gilyard said. “He wants parents to come in now and see what we’re actually doing.”

Also at the meeting: Superintendent Tom Townsend said parent consent forms for the H1N1 Flu vaccine are going out. The Health Department is funding the vaccines, which the district expects to be available later this month. Townsend announced that Carolyn “Punky” Radtke, principal at Middleton-Burney Elementary School, will retire this fall.

A group of the district’s Curriculum Resource Teachers were honored. “They are really the glue that holds the instructional support together,” said district administrator Tammie Driggers. Among CRT’s responsibilities are reading coaching and data collection.

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