NORWALK, Conn. Norwalk.DailyVoice.com accepts signed, original letters to the editor. Letters may be e-mailed to [email protected].
To the Editor,
Reducing assistant principals at the middle school level from 12-month to 11-month employees seems to be a simple cost saving option on the Norwalk Board of Education's part. Upon closer review, it is not so simple, and the people who will be affected the most are the Norwalk students.
The summer months are a very busy time for all schools. Principals, assistant principals, and the limited number of office staff (only one 12-month secretary at middle level) are busy closing out the previous school year's activities, and at the same time planning and preparing for the upcoming school year.
Besides the normal daily operations that occur, let me share some other important responsibilities handled by assistant principals during the summer months.
- Plan staff development and staff meetings for the year
- Modify student schedules
- Plan and organize back-to-school packets for mailing
- Organize CMT data for data team and faculty
- Plan for school-wide strategies to meet target goals as part of the school growth plan
- New for 2012-13: Organize student success plans as directed by state of Connecticut
- Plan and schedule student/parent meetings to develop for students with behavior concerns, "Student Behavior Success Contracts" (different from the state plans)
- Schedule meetings and give tours to new students and their parents
- Assist with scheduling of new students
- Plan and schedule off-site evacuation drills for each grade level, to neighboring sites
- Reset combinations and repair 1,000 student lockers for the upcoming school year
- Develop and prepare 2012 CMT packets for faculty use
- Update emergency evacuation kits and emergency plan
- Plan and schedule Junior Achievement volunteer speakers for every homeroom.
If the assistant principals' summer hours are cut, then the middle schools will not be ready to open in the fall. What seems on the surface to be a simple savings option is a major setback when dealing with preparing schools for smooth openings in August.
I ask the Board of Education: Please do not reduce the months of work for assistant principals. This will only lead to more problems for our students, teachers and Norwalk schools.
This is a statement read by Joe DeVellis at the May 9 Board of Education Finance Committee meeting
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