Found: Principal for Truman

The Independence School District announced that David Gordon will be the new principal at Truman High School.  Mr. Gordon was the longest serving principal at Lexington High School in Lexington, Nebraska.  He announced his retirement in December 2009 and then retired at the end of the 2009-2010 School Year.

(The Examiner indicates that Gordon is currently the principal at Lexington High School.  This is not the case.  The current principal is Kyle Hoehner.)

New Administrator Announced for Truman High School (from District email)

David Gordon has been selected as principal of Truman High School. He comes to Truman with 33 years of experience in education, most recently serving as principal at Lexington High School in Lexington, Nebraska. Gordon received his Bachelor’s Degree from Huron College in South Dakota, and his Master’s in Education Administration from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

“It is with great pride and enthusiasm that I am the high school principal of Truman, a school with a rich history of successful academics and activities,” said Gordon.

Gordon added that he is excited to lead the Truman High School faculty in the use of Missouri’s Common Core State Standards, and the use of technology within all classrooms and subject areas. He has high expectations for students to excel as they pursue their choice of college, career, technical education, the military or the workforce.

Gordon is married to Dr. Tammy Gordon, who has her degree in Educational Leadership and Curriculum/Instruction. They have two children and grandchildren living in Nebraska. Their son is an eight year veteran in education and their daughter is a recent graduate from nursing school with an emphasis in surgery.

Gordon will move to Independence in July to get a head start for the 2013-2014 school year.

LINK to Independence School District announcement.
WIKIPEDIA article on Lexington, Nebraska.  (Very interesting about the town's large Hispanic population.)
SCHOOL LINK

Some related articles:
DECEMBER 2009
JANUARY 2010

FEBRUARY 2010

"Don't be like Kansas City"

The Independence School District is not unique in its efforts to present a united front to its constituents.  However, like your mother always said, you don't jump off a cliff just because everyone else is doing it.

Board members likely are told to avoid "micromanaging" because we don't want to end up "like Kansas City."  (As if the extensive problems of that district were solely caused by over-involved school board or community members.)

New board members are probably told that "Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made."  (Or something like that.)  (The quote is actually from Otto von Bismark.)

The School District is part of the Missouri School Board Association (WEBSITE).  They pay over $11,000 as dues to this Association.  As part of the package, school board members can attend MSBA's annual forum where they could hear - along with other school board members from around the state - about their appropriate "role" - as defined by the superintendents.

Here's an interesting nugget from the past.  The Columbia Tribune sent a reporter to the annual forum back in 2009 and he quoted our superintendent, Jim Hinson.  ARTICLE

"Independence Superintendent Jim Hinson even praised his school board for not paying close attention to the district’s spending habits. Board members are welcome to talk about long-term goals, he said, but shouldn’t get into details of the day-to-day spending. 'The school board hires me to operate the school district, and that’s what I’m going to do,' Hinson said, responding to a question from an attendee about boards that 'micromanage.'

Independence has thousands of budget codes that school board members 'don’t want to know,' he bragged. And, while board members are welcome to ask about district bills in private, they shouldn’t do it at a public meeting, Hinson advised. Apparently, there are 'more important things to do at board meetings' than scrutinize district expenditures.

'The board doesn’t get involved in the daily operation of the school district, absolutely not,' Hinson said. 'If they did, I wouldn’t work there.'"

I don't think that people would argue that point.  The board should not get involved in the daily operation of the District.  However, that being said, it does not mean that school board members should merely be bobble-heads.  There has to be a balance.  As Reagan famously said, "Trust, but verify."  And yes - that verification has to happen sometimes in public.  This is a democracy.  It isn't always pretty - but it is necessary to conduct business in the "sunshine" so that the public can be properly informed.

For added interest, here is a link to a blog post about the Joplin superintendent talking about how he and their board are "joined at the hip."  LINK  

Something baaaaaad

In the comments, we've noticed a refrain by some that the issues and questions raised here are ... overstated.  Surely - these comments seem to say - surely things are not nearly so bad.  Surely - these comments seem to imply - surely these issues are only in the minds of disgruntled parents and employees.

Perhaps.  Then again, this song has something to say about bad things happening "under the surface, behind the scenes."  In the musical Wicked, the main character Elphaba says that if something bad is happening, "someone's got to tell the Wizard.  That's why we have a Wizard."

Yet, it seems that people have tried to tell our Wizard that something bad is happening in Oz.  Hmmm.  And the significance of the imagery of Animals who have lost their powers of speech should not be lost on anyone.

Here's a link to YouTube video:  Something Bad

Here are the lyrics:

Doctor Dillamond:
(spoken) Oh, Miss Elphaba - The things one hears these days.
Dreadful things.
(sung) I've heard of an Ox
A professor from Quox
No longer permitted to teach
Who has lost all powers of speech
And an Owl in Munchkin Rock
A vicar with a thriving flock
Forbidden to preach
Now he can only screech!
Only rumors - but still -
Enough to give pause
To anyone with paws
Something bad is happening in Oz.

Elphaba:
Something bad?  Happening in Oz?

Dillamond:
Under the surface
Behind the scenes
Something baaaaaad.
(spoken) Sorry, "Bad".

Elphaba:
(spoken) Doctor Dillamond - if something bad is happening
to the Animals, someone's got to tell the Wizard.
That's why we have a Wizard.
(sung) So nothing bad ....

Dillamond:
(spoken) I hope you're right.

Both:
Nothing all that bad:

Dillamond:
Nothing truly baaaaad.
(spoken) Sorry, "Bad".

Elphaba:
It couldn't happen here
In Oz.

Sports Fever - It Comes Naturally

Given the basketball fever in Kansas, the following - from Dr. Herl's biography on "Independence Patriots Basketball" website - is actually quite impressive:

Dale started his career as a teacher and coach in Kansas .  He was the head boys basketball coach at Stafford (KS) H.S., Jetmore (KS) H.S., and Little River (KS), H.S.  His teams consistently ranked in the top ten in the state within their classification.  Prior to coaching in the high school ranks, Dale was the top assistant coach at Colby Community College (KS).

Dale's playing experience included two years at Colby Community College where he was an all-Jayhawk Conference performer.  He continued his playing career at the University of Nebraska - Kearney where they were ranked in the top 20 in the nation.

Prior to playing collegiately, Dale was a two time all-league, all-area, and all-state player as well as being the Kansas Class 1A Player of the Year at Wheatland High School in Kansas.  He currently holds the Kansas state record for most three pointers made in a season (111) and is one of the top scorers in Kansas history for a single season (769) and career (1624).

Dale holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Nebraska-Kearney, Master's Degree from Fort Hays State University (KS), and his Doctorate from Wichita State University.

National Search for Supe.. Principal

A national search has been conducted for the new superintendent  principal at Truman High School.

See JOB POSTING.

We actually came across this looking for the job posting for any other administrative position in the District.  We hadn't heard much about what was going on with the position.  There is nothing listed on the district website for the Truman position and any other open principal positions.  So it took a Google search of "truman high school principal job opening" to find something.

Good to see that the District conducted a national search for arguably its "flagship" high school.  Hopefully the Board made a decision at their meeting on Tuesday. 

According to the job posting, the successful candidate for this position will be:

1. Experienced in building leadership.
2. Have demonstrated the improvement of student achievement using data to drive the development of a successful building improvement plan. 
3. Have experience and expertise in staff evaluation, student discipline, and building management.
4. Display the following leadership characteristics:  approachable to all in the school community, ability to create and maintain a positive school climate to facilitate teaching and learning, and ability to implement systems by which to hold staff members accountable.
5. Ability to be fully certified in Missouri as a high school principal.

And of course, the candidate must be willing to establish residency within the District.

SCHOOL BOARD MEETING - June

The School Board will have their regular monthly meeting tonight beginning at 6:00 p.m. at Central Office.

Here are the highlights of what will be discussed:
Approval of the contracts with various employee groups
Approval of the district health insurance

HOW TO MAKE A STATEMENT TO THE BOARD:

At the beginning of the meeting, there are 30 total minutes reserved for public comments.  The comments can be about anything related to the schools - not just those specific things on the agenda.  Any school district citizen or employee may speak.  No one individual can speak more than 5 minutes.

Before the meeting, go up to the platform and ask to speak with the Board secretary, Annette Miller.

Let her know that you would like to speak to the Board.

You do not need to tell her why you wish to speak.

She should put your name on the list - to make sure that you are not forgotten.

Mrs. Miller may tell you that you needed 2 weeks notice prior to speaking to the Board.  That is not true.  That requirement is related to a request to place something on the agenda.  As a citizen, you have the right to request that something be placed on the Board's agenda - but that request must be received 2 weeks in advance of the meeting.  Then the superintendent and the board president determine whether or not to include in the agenda.  (Hah - like that would actually happen!)  You do NOT need to give 2 weeks notice to speak during the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting.

Mrs. Miller may also try to get you to meet privately with the superintendent.  That may or may not be a good thing.  Your decision.  However, it is your RIGHT to address the school board.  If you want to do so without making an appointment with the superintendent, then you may do so.

A review of the past month

A review of this blog's statistics is in order.  You know - it's all about the data.  Since May 9th:

Average number of page views per day: 1136
Total number of page views: 35,216

Please note that a page view is not necessarily the same as a unique visitor.  A person may visit the blog and view a single post, multiple posts, or a single post multiple times - all in a single visit.

Worth a second look:

Average page views per day:  1136

So - we are getting consistently good traffic.  What remains to be seen is whether or not this blog will increase the transparency of the school district.  We are hopeful.  There are more people "tuned into" district matters than ever.  People are talking and asking good questions.

Arranging the deck chairs - Central Office edition

While most of the focus has been on the turnover in building principals, it should not be forgotten that the Central Office Administration will be largely be new in 2013-2014.  

5 out of 11 administrators, or 45%, will be new to their position from last year.

4 out of 11 administrators, or 36%, will be new to the District in 2013-2014.

CENTRAL OFFICE ADMINISTRATION - 2013-2014

Superintendent

Dale Herl - Promoted from Deputy Superintendent (5th year in District and position)
(Former superintendent of Burrton, Kansas, schools)

Deputy Superintendent

Lance Stout - Former superintendent of Liberal, Kansas, schools

Deputy Superintendent

Dred Scott - Remaining in position (6th year in position / 7th year in District)

Assistant Superintendent - Secondary

Brad MacLaughlin - Former superintendent of Lexington, Missouri

Assistant Superintendent - Elementary
?????Does anyone have information whether or not this position was created and filled?????

Assistant Superintendent - Curriculum

Beth Savidge - Remaining in position (6th year in position / 12th year in District)

Assistant Superintendent - Human Resources

Linda Gray Smith - Remaining in position (3rd year in both position and in district)

(Former superintendent of Chillocothe, Missouri, schools)

Director of Human Resources

Cindy Grant - Remaining in position (2nd year in position / 16th in District)

Director of Special Services

Sherry Potter - remaining in place (*2nd year in position*)

(Note:  Cindy Konomos announced her retirement last year, but stayed on for one year.  She and Sherry Potter were "co-directors" during 2012-2013.)

Director of Public Relations

Nancy Lewis - Remaining in position (5th year in position and District)

Director of Technology

Blake Zachary - Former Director of Technology at South Montgomery Community Schools (Indiana)

"I didn't go looking for this job"

The High Plains Dealer, a local paper that covers Liberal, Kansas, published a story about ISD's new deputy superintendent, Dr. Lance Stout.  Sounds like he was well-liked and respected in that community where he was part of the Liberal, KS school district for over 20 years.  No reason to question any of that.

There were some interesting tid-bits in the article.

“The decision was very hard,” he said. “I didn’t go looking for this job, and almost didn’t consider it. I love Western Kansas.” Having grown up in Sublette from 1968 to 1987, when he graduated high school, Stout only left the area to attend college at the University of Oklahoma. Then he and his wife, Jill — also a Sublette native — headed back to familiar territory.

Stout’s decision to accept the deputy superintendent job in Independence grew out of his professional friendship with newly-installed superintendent Dr. Daryl [sic] Herl.  “He’s a very good friend of mine, and earlier this year, he was hired for that position, with full latitude to hire a staff. He said, ‘Hey, I’d like you to consider coming in here as my right-hand man,’ and I said, ‘I don’t know. I love Liberal and I love my job.’ He said, ‘Well, just come take a look.’”

Here's the link to the ARTICLE.

We suppose that it is not unusual for a superintendent to be given wide latitude to gather his leadership team. Herl and Stout became friends as part of the same doctoral cohort at Wichita State.  However, the same courtesy is not extended to building principals.  Central Office administrators often dictate to building principals who can be hired as assistant principals or move them around without a principal's foreknowledge and approval.  Central Office also interferes regularly in the hiring and discipline of staff at the building level.  This makes it very difficult for a building principal to develop the leadership team that he or she wants to have at the school.

Interestingly, we found a link to Dr. Stout's doctoral dissertation at Wichita State University.  It is entitled, "Seeking Funds of Knowledge: Perceptions of Latino Families in a Rural School District in the Midwest United States."  Hopefully, some of that experience can help with the demographic changes occurring in Independence, especially in western Independence attendance areas.  PDF - Dissertation.

Other stuff:

ARTICLE about when Stout was selected as Superintendent of Liberal schools.

CONTROVERSY about whether or not the high school should have permitted a returning airman (22 years old) to escort (but not attend) the prom.  Afterwards, Stout said, “We are willing to work and find a remedy to this,” Stout said. “It is impossible to go back, but what we can do is make it better for the future.”  This is a welcome attitude - hopefully it continues.

Arranging the deck chairs - Elementary edition

The failure to “grandfather” or exempt the existing administrators has not decimated the ranks of elementary school principals in the same way as it has the secondary level staff.  However, we do not know how many looked for other jobs but decided to remain – for now – with the District. 

Nevertheless, the turnover still is unprecedented.  There will be 8 principals either new to their building or new to the District.  8 out of 19, or 37%.  Only 2 were expected retirements – Marlowe at Proctor and Mallums at Luff.

Benton

Leslie Hochsprung - STAYING

Blackburn

Laura LaCroix - GONE to Liberty

Sara Terril (Teacher – ISD) will be her replacement.

Bryant

Jon Pye - STAYING

Fairmount

Jeff Anger - STAYING

Glendale

Todd Siebert - STAYING

Korte

Ron Albertus - STAYING

Little Blue

Jeffrey Williams - STAYING (first year as principal)

Luff

Antoinette Mallums - RETIRING

Melissa Carver from Lone Jack will be her replacement.

Mallinson

Susan Barnes – NEW (Principal from Seneca, MO)

Mill Creek

Kathy Butler - GONE to Lone Jack

Anthony King (Asst. Principal at Korte) will be her replacement.

Ott

Ronnee Laughlin - STAYING

Procter

Debbie Marlowe - RETIRING

Amy Hawley (Teacher – ISD) will be her replacement.

Randall

Christy Compton - STAYING (first year as principal)

Santa Fe

Janet Gibbs - STAYING

Southern

Kathy Ambrose - ???(first year as principal)
(We've heard that she'll be leaving from several sources - but haven't been able to confirm anything.  Post in the comments if you have any information - and we'll correct.)

Replacement unknown.

Spring Branch

Janet Richards - TRANSFERRED to Bridger

Aaron Kirkhoff (Principal at Sugar Creek) will be her replacement.

Sugar Creek

Aaron Kirkhoff - TRANSFERRED to Spring Branch (first year as principal)

Shellie Dumas (Teacher-ISD) will be his replacement.

Sycamore Hills

Anne Pye - STAYING

Three Trails

Robert Streich - STAYING

Adidas - updated

It was a concern recently raised in an Examiner guest column:  Is the District focusing too much attention on sports?

You might have missed the article about the District's new relationship with Nill Brothers Team Sports Apparell (a KS company) and Adidas.  See ARTICLE.

From the official ISD Sports website:  "The Independence school district has adopted the Adidas stripes and signed an agreement with the athletic apparel company to sponsor the districts’ athletic teams."  See WEBSITE.

All you may want to know about Adidas but were afraid to ask:  WIKIPEDIA

UPDATE -

For those interested in such things, the University of Kansas just renewed their relationship with Adidas.  Here's the ARTICLE in the KC Star which also mentions Adidas' recent trouble with labor practices.  Apparently, the University of Wisconsin and others dropped Adidas in protest.

With all these konnections to Kansas, maybe Dr. Hinson moving to Shawnee Mission is the first step in annexing that district.

Trust Based Relational Intervention

Most District parents and students are probably familiar with BIST - even if they don't know what the acronym means.  (Behavior Intervention Support Team was developed locally by Ozanam.)

At the beginning of 2012-2013 school year, the District quietly ended its contract with BIST.  We say "quietly" because it was not discussed at an open Board meeting.  However, it does remain a Board goal that BIST or Love and Logic be fully implemented in the District.  See District website for Board goals.

In its place - at some elementary schools - BIST was replaced with another acronym - TBRI - or Trust Based Relational Intervention.  This is about the extent of what we know.  An internet search really didn't produce much information - or at least any information that seemed related.

TBRI was developed at Texas Christian University.  See website.  "It is a family-based intervention that is designed for children who have experienced relationship-based traumas such as institutionalization, multiple-foster placements, maltreatment, and/or neglect."  We couldn't find any information about TBRI in schools - but that may just be our Googling skills!

A Missed Story

We don't claim to be journalists - but we are curious why the Examiner would not have covered the accident at Bridger Middle School back on May 18, 2013.  We have no information than what is presented in the media coverage.  Again - just curious why the Examiner wouldn't cover or follow up on this.  (Or was the story only in the print edition???)

Here's the link to the story on KMBC:  STORY
Even the raunchy Tony's KC blog mentioned it:  STORY

The dinosaur media need to figure out their purpose - and that purpose needs to be more than just republishing press releases.

Rearranging the deck chairs - secondary edition updated

The failure to "grandfather" existing administrators from the new residency requirements has taken the biggest toll on the secondary schools. 

Of the head principals, 4 out of 8, or 50%, will be new to their buildings.  If you only consider who remains as head principal, only Becker and Weishaar remain from last year.  The other two head principals (Layden and Playter) are internal promotions.  Think about that:  only 1 high school principal and 1 middle school principal remain in place at the end of 2012-2013.

Of the assistant principals, 13 out of 22, or 59% will be new to their buildings.  Only 1 middle school assistant principal remains in the same place for 2013-2014 as 2012-2013.

ALL but one of these changes was a retirement (Bungart at Nowlin).  The rest are resignations.

(Note:  For the purposes of this post, we are not differentiating between assistant and associate principals.)

Truman – 60% turnover

Principal – Unknown

Asst #1 – Boatright

Asst #2 – Loewe

Asst #3 – Unrein (new / teacher and coach from Blue Valley (KS) schools)

Asst #4 – Unknown

Chrisman – 40% turnover

Principal – Becker

Asst #1 – Clemons

Asst #2 – Madison

Asst #3 – Maglinger (transferred from Truman)

Asst #4 – Hastings (new / assessment manager for KCKS schools)

Van Horn – 33% turnover

Principal – Layden (promotion within building)

Asst #1 – Kline (new / teacher at Van Horn)

Asst #2 – Woods (transferred from Chrisman)

Independence Academy – 50% turnover

Principal – Unknown

Asst #1 – McBurney

Bridger – 67% turnover

Principal – Richards (transferred from Spring Branch)

Asst #1 – Painter

Asst #2 – Dorris (transferred from Pioneer Ridge)

Bingham – 67% turnover

Principal – Playter (promotion within building)

Asst #1 – Tempel (new / teacher at Nowlin)

Asst #2 – Morton (new / teacher in Fort Osage)

Pioneer Ridge – 67% turnover

Principal – Wieshaar

Asst #1 – Drinkwater (new / teacher at Chrisman)

Asst #2 – Tauveli (transferred from Bridger)

Nowlin – 80% turnover

Principal – Nowak (promoted from Van Horn)

Asst #1 – Henson

Asst #2 – McGhee (new / teacher at Van Horn)

Asst #3 - Unknown

Asst #4 - Unknown

Baby Step!

Maybe we can claim a small victory for transparency!

In the May 16th post "Transparent as mud", we complained that the Board minutes on the District website had not been updated since September 2012.

Well, if you access the District website now, all the agenda and minutes have been updated and neatly organized.  Much better viewing!

Or this may just be mystical coincidence.