As we approach the summer months, the signs of the new season are becoming more and more visible. We see flowers blooming, the trees finally becoming full with leaves, and the weather becoming warmer each day. After months of cold weather and very few symbols of nature’s beauty, summer’s first signs always provide us with a time to think about the past and approach our new season from a fresh perspective.
Likewise, the Pennsauken Board of Education enters into the summer months by looking back over the last year, taking into account what we have learned during the past 12 months. This usually begins with the adoption of our budget for the fiscal year 2015-2016, which will serve as a guideline for the Board of Education’s and administration’s goals for the upcoming school year.
Our formal budget hearing was conducted on May 5, at which time we finalized and adopted the next school year budget. The priorities that are set forth in the budget have shifted this upcoming year, with enhancing our instructional program as the main focus of our resources within the District.
In conjunction with the formulating and adopting the Pennsauken School District’s budget, the Board of Education has also adopted a new District Mission Statement, Board Beliefs, and Board Goals for the upcoming year. These highlight the priorities of the Board, which include: improving achievement for all of our students; creating a cost-effective budget that supports the entire District, including our educational resources and facilities; and enhancing communication and outreach between home, school and the community at large.
Over the last several months, the Board and the administration have focused a great deal of attention on fulfilling these goals. For example, through careful study of the programs we currently offer and our student performance, our administration believes that we must look at not only improving our programs, but also providing support to improve instruction of our students. Guided by our budget and this goal, the Board has approved the use of District resources to purchase a new literacy program for grades K-8 to help increase student achievement. This program is aligned with the Core Curriculum Standards and offers consistency and continuity across the grade levels. This literacy program was recommended to us by our superintendent and supervisor of language arts, after the administration and staff surveyed various programs to assess which would work best for our District. Additionally, the administration, recognizing that changes to our program were needed to also support this goal, will be focusing on enhancing the instructional program by hiring more subject area coaches, whose role will be to support our teachers by helping them utilize effective strategies in the classroom environment. Also at our May 5 meeting, the Board of Education approved a motion to explore the possibility of restoring the magnet school format by creating a specialized school within the District.
We have also improved our facilities by adding air conditioners in our oldest buildings, Roosevelt and Longfellow Schools, which helps to create a comfortable learning environment for students and teachers as we enter into the warm, summer months.
Last but not least, we are working towards changes on the School District’s web site to increase our communication with the community. Our first major change will be to post all of the policies that have been revised during the last 15 months. This will ensure transparency between the Board and the Pennsauken community.
The Board of Education’s focus on this new perspective will motivate many changes within the Pennsauken School District and the community at large. The Board is committed to working diligently, in cooperation with the administrators and staff of the District, to ensure that our schools are successful. We invite the Pennsauken community to offer any suggestions or advice at our monthly meetings, as we embark on this challenging endeavor.
Board Bit Of The Month
Did you know… the Board of Education’s operating budget for the 2015-2016 is over $100 million? Approximately one-third of that budget comes directly from tax revenue collected from citizens and property owners in Pennsauken.
The members of the Pennsauken Board of Education are Nick Perry (President), Dung Nguyen (Vice President), Armando Diaz, Mike Hurley, Diane Johnson, Dr. Allyson Meloni, Leona Moss, Meg Snyder, and Joann Young. For more information on the Board of Education, visit Pennsauken.net.
