Huron Expositor, 2007-11-21, Page 2Page 2 Tie Huron Expositor • November 21, 2007
News
Principal shuffle, caused by new `system principal
for school effectiveness' creates closure concern
Stew Slater
Parents of students at East
Wawanosh Public School, concerned
about the possible long-term reper-
cussions of a twinning of the school
with Blyth Public School, have
been offered reassurances that it's
only a temporary measure.
The twinning of the schools, the
result of a series of cascading job
changes among principals and vice
principals in the Avon Maitland
District School Board, was outlined
to trustees at a regular meeting
Tuesday, Nov. 13.
"I attended the school council
meeting when this was announced,
and they're not happy at all,"
reported North Huron trustee
Colleen Schenk.
"They look at it at as an accommo-
dation issue — that their (school) is
going to be closed. I assured them
that's not the case, and that this is a
short-term measure."
The twinning of the
which became effective
Nov 5, sees Blyth prin-
cipal Jane Morton take
on additional duties as
top administrator at
East Wawanosh.
Morton will spend
most of her time at
Blyth, however, so
Wendy. Armstrong -
Gibson has been moved
from her vice principal
position at Clinton
Public School to take
over the VP role at
East Wawanosh.
schools,
very comfortable with this arrange-
ment. I am very confident it will be
effective."
The changes stem
from the appointment
on Oct. 15 of Seaforth
Public School principal
Kim Black to the
board's administrative
offices, in a newly -cre-
ated position funded
by the Education
Ministry's Literacy
and Numeracy
Secretariat.
Black's official title is
"system principal for
Ileen elementary school
`I attended the
school council
meeting when
this was
announced and
they're not
happy at
North Huron trustee
"Jane is the principal CO
but, in fact, Wendy will
oversee the day-to-day operations of
the school," explained human
resources superintendent Jim
Sheppard. "I have spoken with both
Jane and Wendy and they are both
Schenk / effectiveness," and her
work involves training
principals and teachers about up-to-
date methods for boosting student
success.
"The Secretariat has given us
money for a person to work with ele-
mentary schools
on their school
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improvement
plans," explained
education direc-
tor Geoff
Williams. "What
(Black) will be
doing is helping
principals and
teachers look at
what's happen-
ing in the class-
rooms now, and
what changes
might be possi-
ble."
Black's exper-
tise in this area was developed over
the past three years, when Seaforth
Public School was singled out for
participation in a specially -funded
"Turnaround School" program.
The program — which was credited
with helping improve the school's
standardized test results - brought
Ministry of Education personnel
into the school to observe and
advise both Black and the school's
teachers.
In the weeks following her
appointment, Black did double duty
as principal until the recent staffing
changes were initiated.
Replacing Black is Cheryl Peach,
who was brought in from her posi-
tion as principal of Wingham Public
School. Peach's post was then taken
by East Wawanosh principal Frank
Stretton, necessitating the twinning
with Blyth.
According to Williams, the board
won't know until next year whether
funding will be renewed for Black's
"school effectiveness" position.
If it isn't, Black will be brought
back into the principal pool. Either
way, he stressed, a full-time princi-
pal will be named for East
Wawanosh Public School for 2008-
09.
Armstrong-Gibson's relocation
from Clinton led to another series of
changes. Kerry Carlyle has moved
from the vice principal position at
Huron Centennial Public School to
Armstrong-Gibson's former role in
Clinton. •
And teacher Charlene Stein takes
on the role of acting vice principal
at Huron Centennial.
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