Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Furloughs

On another post Anonymous wrote:


"Furloughs? (new topic)
Does anyone have details about the upcoming furloughs? Is it by hiring date--or specific category-- i.e. language teachers? Does this seem -out-of-the blue?"

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jul 15, 2014, 2:03pm EDT

Pittsburgh Public Schools could furlough 20 teachers, 19 paraprofessionals

"Pittsburgh Public Schools has sent provisional furlough notices to 20 teachers and 19 paraprofessionals, a spokeswoman for the district confirmed Tuesday.
District spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said the preliminary notices were sent July 8 to employees throughout PPS's system of schools due to a declining enrollment and budget.
The school's board is expected to take action at its meeting Aug. 27. Pugh said the district expected the number of employees furloughed will be fewer than the 39."

Anonymous said...

I kind of understand the process with teachers at the high school level when it comes to furloughs. it is by discipline, right? The report did not say at what level we will be seeing any layoffs, should any really occur. But, paras, holy cow, more paras in the classrooms is what we should be striving for.

Anonymous said...

Pittsburgh school board appoints 3 principals
July 16, 2014 8:33 PM

By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The board of Pittsburgh Public Schools tonight appointed three principals.

The new principal of Pittsburgh Fulton PreK-5 in Highland Park is Karen Arnold, who was a learning environment specialist at Pittsburgh King PreK-8 on the North Side. The previous principal, Kevin Bivins, was named assistant superintendent last month.

The new principal of Pittsburgh Faison K-5 in Homewood is Russell Patterson, who last month was named interim principal and has served as assistant principal at Faison. The previous principal, LouAnn Zwieryznski, was named principal of Westinghouse 6-12 in Homewood last month.

The new principal of Pittsburgh Colfax K-8 in Squirrel Hill is Jamie Kinzel-Nath, who will leave her job as principal of Pittsburgh Montessori K-5 in Friendship. The responsible teacher in charge at Montessori is Kellie Meyer until a new principal is named. The previous Colfax principal, Adam Sikorski, was hired as a principal in Peters Township School District.



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2014/07/16/Pittsburgh-school-board-appoints-3-principals/stories/201407160191#ixzz37irxfmG1

Anonymous said...

Are there now ten individuals with "Superintendent" as part of their title and responsibility in PPS?

Linda Lane, Donna Micheaux, Dara Ware Allen, David May-Stein, Connie Sims, Alison, Huguley, Kevin Bivins, Wayne Walters, Melissa Friez, and Monica LaMar?

Anonymous said...

Yes Linda!!! Let's furlough teachers but keep your bloated staff on Bellefield Avenue.
Outrageous. What a political hack you are.
You have no business being in charge of a school district.

Anonymous said...

Are they going to appoint new principals for Allderdice and Obama? That makes a difference in what Frieze and Walters are really going to be next year -- actual principals, actual asst. superintendents or some strange mixture.

Was Monica Lamar's position changed? I don't see anything on the PPS website indicating that she's any sort of superintendent in addition to being a principal.

Anonymous said...

Why would ten assistant superintendents be needed in an ever shrinking district? This proves to me for once and for all that most of the people on the board are NOT
qualified for their positions.
They seem to have no real idea what needs to happen here and it is certainly not to hire more administrators. This district is a disgrace. Why haven't they fired Linda Lane?

Anonymous said...

Linda Lane is just following orders from Bill Gates. His Microsoft is cutting 18,000 (yes, eighteen thousand) positions next year. And remember, his employees have no retirement health care. (This is what he wanted mark Roosevelt to do here.) They don't have union contracts. (He has been trying to run ours deeper into the ground.)At least we can say Gates is consistent and practices what he preaches. This by the way was reported in this mournings Post Gazette.

Anonymous said...

Sorry! 7:14 is correct. Monica LaMar is not listed among those named to Assistant Superintendent.

So there are only nine, instead of ten among the top leaders at Central Office.

Frankly, five would be too many.

Anonymous said...

When will Pittsburgh Public Schools release the academic achievement results for students?

They have had the results since early June.

One parent on this blog stated that she had her child's results. Yet there are PPS teachers who do not have their students' results.

Maybe the strategy is to wait until the next school year begins so that parents will not transfer their children to other schools. Is that fair or equitable?

Anonymous said...

The district is beginning to look ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Beginning to look ridiculous? PPS has been on a downhill slide since 2004. Effective veteran principals and teachers took the high road and retired ASAP. We could no longer stomach the thought of those that were "in charge" were clueless and without experience in regards to educating children. These money hungry, power seeking folks have all but destroyed the reputation PPS had developed nationally. PPS is a revolving door of upwardly mobile greedy folks who have turned our city schools into the laughing stock of the State of PA.

Anonymous said...

2:55 - It is so so sad that what to speak about is all too true. PPS needs prayer and lots of it. Do you think the ministers and pastors across the city, especially those in the most "urban" of communities could be rallied, given the real facts, then sent forward to engage their congregations in a united effort to return PPS to education, educators, knowledge, expertise and experience, stability, commitment to educating all children, etc.?

This is happening on a small scale but to no avail since the impact is easily thwarted. Advocacy for good schools must become the concentrated focus of all who care about the future of our kids and our city!

Anonymous said...

Its a forgone conclusion that both Walters and Friesz will be "mentoring" their replacements this year. It should be interesting at Obama. Walters is the only administrator in this district who knows and understands IB. In a similar sense, Friesz, a 'Dice grad, understands the landscape at her school.
Can't wait to see who the "principals in waiting" will be. If they are PELA-types, then it is no understatement to say that these two schools will nosedive quickly.