North Tama Welcomes New Staff Members to the Redhawk Family

This blog post has been submitted for publication in the Friday, September 9 edition of the Traer Star Clipper.

The 2016-2017 school year started on August 24, and the first couple of weeks of school have been GREAT!  On our first day, we were joined by the members of American Legion Kubik-Finch Post 142 for our annual K-12 flag raising ceremony. I want to thank these veterans for their service to our nation and for their role in our annual flag raising. Thanks also to senior class president Carlee Feisel and Retired U.S. Navy Captain Maurice McWhirter who were our speakers for the event.  Our speakers both had a great message for us, giving us suggestions and ideas on how to make the most of every day this school year.

One of the best things about being part of North Tama is the tremendous amount of support we enjoy from the community. Throughout the year, I am continually amazed by all of the ways that our North Tama alumni, parents, area businesses, individuals, and community organizations show their support of our school. We’ve had a great start, and we’re looking forward to a great new school year in the days, weeks, and months ahead!    

We are pleased to welcome ten new certified staff members and a few other support staff members to the North Tama Redhawk family for the 2016—2017 school year: 

Brady Swenson will teach Junior High science and social studies, replacing Judy Boerm who has become the district’s Student Success Coach as part of North Tama's new Teacher Leadership System. Mr. Swenson previously taught Junior High science and social studies as well as High School Industrial Technology at Gladbrook-Reinbeck.

Austin Pink will teach secondary Physical Education and is our new varsity football coach. He replaces Brandon Clubb who will be teaching and coaching at Clear Creek Amana.  Mr. Pink previously taught and coached at Forest City and was a coach at Independence. 

Mike Runge will teach secondary math, replacing Judy Morrison who retired last year after forty years of service to the district.  Mr. Runge previously taught secondary math at Valley Lutheran Schools in Cedar Falls. 

Matt Walston is a familiar face at North Tama, as he completed his student teaching here last year in the classroom of Phil Moss. Mr. Walston, a recent graduate of UNI, will be teaching secondary social studies classes as Dan Oltman moves to a classroom in Cedar Falls.

Tyson Roberts will also teach secondary social studies, replacing Phil Moss who is moving to Cedar Falls to teach and coach.  Mr. Roberts is an experienced social studies teacher, having taught and coached at Waterloo Christian School which is in the same athletic conference as North Tama.

Mark Reeves is a first-year teacher who completed his student teaching in the Des Moines area and has substituted in various districts.  Mr. Reeves is replacing Shane Wetzel, who has moved to Virginia to pursue other opportunities. He will teach Junior High special education. 

Alex Tagtow replaces Logan Mork as a secondary science teacher at North Tama.  Mr. Tagtow is a first-year teacher with recent basketball and baseball coaching experience in the Wapsie Valley school district. 

Alivia McClain is the new 5^th grade teacher at North Tama Elementary. Mrs. McClain is also a familiar face at North Tama, having served as a daily substitute and long-term substitute here last year after completing her student teaching in 4^th grade with Jana Monat.  This position was created as a result of Patti Lorenzen’s retirement at the end of last school year. 

Katie Wedeking will teach Junior High and High School English/Language arts, replacing Susan Johnson who has become the district’s K-12 Instructional Coach as part of Iowa’s new Teacher Leadership system.  Ms. Wedeking’s previous experience includes serving as a long-term substitute teacher and a daily substitute in several districts, primarily at Clarksville where she has also coached. 

Maegan Meister is North Tama’s new part-time curriculum director, replacing Matt Switzer who has moved to the Cedar Falls district. Mrs. Meister, who holds a master’s degree and has completed training to be a principal, previously taught and held multiple leadership roles it Kingsley Elementary School in Waterloo. Mrs. Meister’s position is shared with the Gladbrook-Reinbeck school district.

In addition to our new certified teachers, we also welcome North Tama Alumnus Amy Monat to our nurse’s office as our new part-time nurse, and Roxann Lazenby to our kitchen staff.

While North Tama has outstanding facilities and great technology, I’ve always felt that it is the PEOPLE that truly make our school great. This new group of Redhawks has been carefully selected for the skills, abilities, and aptitudes that they will bring to our educational community. We’re excited to have these new team members on board, and I encourage everyone in our educational community to help them to feel welcome and supported in the important work that they do.

Once again this school year, I intend to publish a newspaper column about once each month as a tool for communication as a shared superintendent. My blog and Twitter feed are other strategies that I will use for increased communication and interaction. I encourage your feedback, questions, and other interactions. You are welcome to visit my blog at http://redhawksupt.blogspot.com/ where you can read all of my Star Clipper columns and leave comments if you wish. You are also welcome to follow me on Twitter, where my handle is @DavidRobertHill.  Let’s have a great school year!  

NEW CERTIFIED STAFF MEMBERS AT NORTH TAMA:

Kneeling (left to right): Brady Swenson (JH Science and Social Studies), Austin Pink (HS PE)

Standing (left to right): Mike Runge (JH and HS Math), Matt Walston (HS Social Studies), Tyson Roberts (JH and HS Social Studies), Mark Reeves (JH Special Ed), Alex Tagtow (HS Science), Alivia McClain (5th grade language arts), Katie Wedeking (JH and HS Language Arts), Maegan Meister (Curriculum Director, shared with GR).

New Teacher Leadership System to Begin at North Tama

This blog post has been submitted for publication in the Friday, July 29 edition of the Traer Star Clipper.

In 2013 the Iowa legislature passed a law establishing the Teacher Leadership and Compensation system. The goals of this legislation were to: 1) Attract promising new teachers by offering competitive starting salaries and offering short-term and long-term professional development and leadership opportunities; 2) Retain effective teachers by providing enhanced career opportunities; 3) Promote collaboration; 4) Reward professional growth and effective teaching by providing pathways for career opportunities that come with increased leadership responsibilities and involve increased compensation; and 5) Improve student achievement by strengthening instruction.

According to the Iowa Department of Education, “the overriding philosophy of the system is multi-pronged, but boils down to this: Improving student learning requires improving the instruction they receive each day. There is no better way to do this than to empower our best teachers to lead the effort.”

A team of teachers, administrators, and representatives from the North Tama community and school board spent nearly a year contemplating and making plans for how a system of teacher leadership could be used to improve student learning in the district. The North Tama team submitted an application last fall, and we learned this spring that the district has been selected to participate in this initiative for the coming year and beyond. In the first year, grant funds will be provided to fund the program; in future years, North Tama’s Teacher Leadership System will be funded through an additional annual per-student allocation from the state.

The additional funding we will receive from this program will primarily be spent on salary and training for teachers who assume new and/or additional roles, designed to help foster collaboration between colleagues as a means of improving student outcomes. Our plan called for the creation of a full-time Student Success Coach position, a full-time Instructional Coach position, several lead teachers, and as many mentors as might be needed to serve new teachers. We have also set aside a portion of these funds for professional development related to the TLC program. It was a requirement of the program (and the TLC law) that those hired for these positions had to have previously been teachers in the district.

Judy Boerm and Susan Johnson have been hired for the two full-time roles in our Teacher Leadership System. Judy will be our Student Success Coach and Susan will be our Instructional Coach. These two teachers will no longer have their own classrooms, as their Teacher Leadership positions are full-time. Their role, in part, is to support teachers throughout the district through collaborative inquiry, analysis of student data, supporting teachers’ professional development, implementation of research-based strategies, and leading district-wide professional development efforts. Judy’s role also will include working with individual students and families as well as teachers to help students who may be at risk of failing or not graduating with their class to find pathways to success. 

Our Lead Teachers for the coming year will be Amy Lidgett, Becky Adams, Connie Courbat, Levi LaRue, Lisa Chizek, Kristi Martin, and Vonna Watson. These teachers will assume their Lead Teacher duties while remaining in the classroom full time. They will serve as a point of contact for specific professional development initiatives, and working with the full-time teacher leaders they will provide leadership for district-wide professional development efforts. Their classrooms will be open for teachers to observe the implementation of new strategies or instructional methods, and they will lead teachers in reflective discussions to aid them in their own implementation of new strategies. In addition, they provide an extra layer of support between the teachers and the full-time coaches, to ensure that professional development needs are identified and supported.

Finally, we will have a number of mentors as part of the Teacher Leadership System. The mentors are veteran teachers who agree to support teachers who are new to the profession. They work with the new teachers on many facets of the job, with the intention that they help the new teacher acclimate to the position, allowing them to be successful and, therefore, increasing the likelihood that they will stay in the field long term. New teachers will be assigned mentors for their first two years in the profession.

We have received several questions about having certain teachers being “pulled” from the classroom to assume a teacher leadership role. While no one wants to see an outstanding teacher removed from their classroom, it’s important for us to realize that as Teacher Leaders, these teachers will be able to use their skills and expertise to benefit ALL North Tama students. Remember, these teachers applied to be a Teacher Leader because they felt that moving into a new position would be an advancement for them professionally and an opportunity to have a larger impact.

While the state funding for our Teacher Leadership System will be ongoing, the law requires for all of the Teacher Leadership positions to be one-year appointments. Those in a leadership position can apply to continue in their present role. If they decide to return to the classroom after spending time in a leadership role, we certainly support that and have a policy in place that allows them to do so.

Teacher Leadership represents a significant change in our school system and one that has the potential to significantly impact student learning at North Tama. 

Do you have a comment or question about our new Teacher Leadership System? You are welcome to visit my blog at http://redhawksupt.blogspot.com/ where you can read all of my Star Clipper columns and leave comments if you wish. You are also welcome to follow me on Twitter, where my handle is @DavidRobertHill.

Our Most Limited Resource...Time

This blog post was submitted for publication in the Friday, July 8 edition of the Traer Star Clipper.

In my columns this school year, I’ve shared a lot of information about how the North Tama district is making the most of our limited financial resources and taking steps to keep North Tama financially stable in times of declining enrollment and inadequate state funding. Today, we’ll focus on another limited resource: TIME.  

I’ve always felt that TIME, not money, is our most limited resource. There are only 24 hours in a day, and there’s nothing that any of us can do to change that. While a school district may be able to make small adjustments to lengthen their school day or add to the number of days in a school year, there are limits to what can be added due to funding issues, employee contracts, and the fact that students and school employees have other obligations in their lives besides school.

A couple of years ago, the state of Iowa changed the way instructional time is counted in our schools. Schools are no longer required to offer 180 days of instruction; now, Iowa schools must offer a minimum of 1080 hours of instruction over the course of a school year. While most schools can (and do) schedule many more hours than this over the course of the year, there are still limits to the amount of instructional time that can be scheduled due to limited funding, employee contracts, and the fact that some employee time must be spent on state-required tasks such as professional development. Because of these limits, many districts have experimented with different approaches to using the limited time that they do have, rather than just adding time to their calendars.

The “Plus One” calendar which has been implemented at North Tama over the past two years is an example of how the school has worked to use the limited resource of time in a different way. When the school first decided to implement the Plus One calendar, it was decided that the impact of this change would be evaluated after two years to help determine whether Plus One would become a long-term addition to the North Tama calendar. An evaluation of Plus One data recently took place as part of the planning process for the coming school year. Data sources used in the evaluation included parent surveys, student surveys, faculty surveys, a listing of Plus One class offerings, and Plus One attendance/participation data.

Fourteen days this school year were dedicated to Plus One, with a variety of enrichment classes being offered to all students during the morning hours and teacher learning (professional development) taking place in the afternoon. While Plus One days have provided amazing opportunities for enrichment and hands-on learning, a relatively small number of students were taking advantage of these opportunities. Especially at the secondary level, the small number of students showing up for Plus One has led us to the conclusion that Plus One has not been the best investment our time. It was a GOOD investment, but not the BEST way to invest our time. As a result of this data analysis and the input from all parties involved, the North Tama board recently voted to end the Plus One calendar for the 2016-2017 school year.  

With the additional instructional days that will be added back to the calendar due to the elimination of Plus One, next year’s calendar will provide more periods of instruction and additional learning opportunities for ALL STUDENTS.  At the elementary level, a new program called “Above & Beyond” will take place at various times throughout the year as part of the regular instruction for all K-6 students. “Above & Beyond” will provide enrichment experiences similar to Plus One, but for ALL K-6 students as part of the regularly-scheduled school day.

As part of next year’s calendar, we will also see a small change in our starting and ending times each school day. Classes will begin at 8:15 a.m. for all students in grades K-12.  The school day will end at 3:20 p.m. for elementary students and 3:25 p.m. for secondary students.  

I applaud the board and staff for their willingness to explore various approaches to the use of time -- our most limited resource -- in order to best meet the needs of North Tama students.  

The 2016-2017 school calendar has been posted on my blog at http://redhawksupt.blogspot.com/. I encourage you to view this calendar and use it as you plan your family trips, appointments, and other dates for the coming year. While Plus One days won’t be taking place, we will still have occasional days off for holidays and professional development, and these would be great days to schedule your child’s doctor appointments and other obligations.  This will help you to make the best use of your limited resource of time.

View the 2016-2017 School Calendar by clicking the image above.

Thank You, School Board Members!!!

This blog post was submitted for publication in the Friday, May 6 edition of the Traer Star Clipper.

May is School Board Recognition Month in Iowa, honoring the men and women who serve on the of Boards of Education in school districts across the state. These dedicated public servants become school board members because they are committed to improving public education and their communities.

Our board members devote many hours to making sure North Tama is a safe and efficient place to work and learn. Their actions ensure that the dedicated educators are North Tama have the resources and instructional programs needed to educate children to their fullest potential.

School board members face complex and demanding challenges. Yet few people fully understand the scope and far-reaching implications of board members’ responsibilities. I hope that all North Tama citizens appreciate the vital contributions of our board members for the crucial role they play in the education of our children. Their job entails an endless string of meetings and school functions to attend; reams of reports, agendas, proposals and other information to read and study; and a host of difficult decisions to make.

These volunteer leaders also are responsible for formulating school policy, approving curricular changes, maintaining school facilities and adhering to ever-changing state and federal education laws. Legal concerns and the complexities of school finance, including budgeting and taxation, require them to spend many hours in board meetings and personal study to enhance their understanding of these issues.

As elected leaders, school board members are accountable to the voters who elected them. This isn’t always easy, but our board members show again and again that they are up to the task. They each work tirelessly to do what’s best for all of our students. Although they may individually disagree on certain issues, their role as a board is to keep the district moving forward in achieving our goals.

North Tama’s current school board members are Trisha Kennedy, Tiffany Feisel, Gretchen Pargeon, Robert Young, Cheryl Popelka, Rod Zobel, and Doug Dvorak. When you see these leaders, please thank them for their dedication and their service to our school. They deserve our recognition for a job well done! 

To our school board: we appreciate your dedication and hard work on behalf of our students, staff, and community. Thank you.

The Benefits of Sharing, part 2

This blog post was submitted for publication in the Friday, April 8 edition of the Traer Star Clipper.

In last week’s column, I listed the three basic types of sharing arrangements available to schools: 1) Whole-grade sharing; 2) Program & Staff Sharing; and 3) Operational Sharing. In my column, I emphasized that North Tama is NOT headed toward a whole-grade sharing agreement or merger with any other school district. However, the district is currently benefitting from other types of sharing, and we are investigating more possibilities for sharing for the benefit of our students.

Last week’s column focused on two types of sharing -- Whole Grade Sharing and Program/Staff Sharing -- and described the current staff & program sharing agreements that we have in place with some of our neighboring districts as well as the sharing arrangements that are being considered for next year.

This week, we’ll continue with a description of the third type of sharing arrangement, called operational sharing. If you happened to miss last week’s column and would like to read these two columns together, you can find the article on my blog at http://redhawksupt.blogspot.com/.

OPERATIONAL SHARING

As a way of encouraging school districts to share certain operational positions, the state of Iowa offers a major financial incentive. The state allows districts sharing certain types of positions to count “extra” students in the district’s enrollment, resulting in additional spending authority (funded partially through local property taxes and partially through state aid). Districts involved in operational sharing receive two financial benefits: 1) The SAVINGS that come with sharing the cost of the individual’s contract; and, 2) Additional REVENUE in the form of the ability to count more students in their enrollment.

The law lists certain positions that qualify for the incentive and the number of students that can be counted as an incentive. The following table lists the positions and the number of students allowed as an incentive:

Superintendent (8 students)

Business Manager (5 students)

Buildings & Grounds Director (5 students)

Transportation Director (5 students)

Human Resources Director (5 students)

Guidance Counselor (3 students)

Curriculum Director (3 students)

Districts are allowed to count up to 21 additional students as an incentive for operational sharing agreements. Some of our surrounding districts have been “maxed out” on operational sharing for years, counting 21 additional students year after year and receiving the associated funding. This additional funding has been a large part of the financial solution for many smaller Iowa districts over the years.

While many other districts are making the most of operational sharing, these incentives have largely been an untapped resource at North Tama.  North Tama currently counts just three additional students through operational sharing, as a result of our sharing a curriculum director with GMG, BCL-UW, and Gladbrook-Reinbeck. While our superintendent is also shared, our arrangement doesn’t qualify for the operational sharing incentives because I’m a principal at Union and the superintendent here -- the law requires that the person hold the same job function in both districts.  

We are currently having discussions with two other districts that could allow us to count an additional 13 students by sharing our superintendent and transportation director. The North Tama board recently approved a sharing agreement with the Gladbrook-Reinbeck district to share me as the superintendent of both districts. If this agreement is approved by the G-R board at their next meeting, I will officially become the superintendent of both districts starting on July 1.  We are also having discussions with another area district about sharing North Tama’s transportation director in the coming year.

If these two operational sharing agreements become a reality, North Tama will count 13 additional students in next year’s enrollment, resulting in nearly $86,000 in additional income annually for our district.  We’ll still have a superintendent in the district about half of the time, so the students, staff, and school community really won’t see much of a change in that respect. As for our transportation director, we will all need to get used to the idea of sharing his time with another district. While this will be an adjustment, these types of opportunities are exactly what we need to be looking for! They will save our district money AND bring in additional revenues, while not limiting any opportunities for our students. I see it as a “win-win” for North Tama.

We will continue to look for further opportunities for program/staff sharing and operational sharing, as both of these types of arrangements have the potential to help us achieve our overall goal of financial stability and viability for the long term. I would like to thank those who took time to contact me with your questions and concerns about sharing, and I encourage others to do the same. Perhaps you have a question, a concern, or even an idea to help the North Tama district as we move forward. You are welcome to visit my blog at http://redhawksupt.blogspot.com/ where you can leave comments or suggestions if you wish. You are also welcome to follow me on Twitter, where my handle is @DavidRobertHill, or of course I can be contacted at the school. I appreciate your interest in the future of North Tama Schools!  

The Benefits of Sharing, part 1

This blog post was submitted for publication in the Friday, April 1 edition of the Traer Star Clipper.

Recently, I was contacted by a few of our school district’s patrons that were concerned by something they had read in the school board minutes. Specifically, they had read that North Tama has been having discussions with neighboring school districts about sharing opportunities. These folks were concerned because they had interpreted the use of the term “sharing” as whole-grade sharing, which from the viewpoint of most students and parents is essentially the same thing as a merger.

Your school board’s number one goal is to maintain the financial stability of the district and retain existing programs so that North Tama will remain a viable K-12 school. North Tama is NOT headed toward a merger or whole-grade sharing situation with any of our neighboring districts. However, the district IS looking at some other types of sharing possibilities to help us achieve our goal of long-term financial stability without limiting opportunities for our students.

There are three basic types of sharing arrangements available to schools: 1) Whole-grade sharing; 2) Program & Staff Sharing; and, 3) Operational Sharing. In my column this week and next week, I’ll explain these three types of sharing arrangements, and provide an explanation of the various types of sharing that we are engaged in at North Tama as well as the sharing arrangements that are being considered for next year.

WHOLE-GRADE SHARING

Whole-grade sharing arrangements are usually a precursor to a school merger. While the two districts involved in whole-grade sharing maintain their individual school boards and have separate taxing authority, students are usually transported to another community to attend classes -- at least for some grades. Often times, one district has the high school while a middle school or junior high is located in the other district. Elementary grades may also be combined.

While whole-grade sharing arrangements have the potential to provide greater opportunities for students in small districts, this is NOT the type of sharing that North Tama has been considering. We are, however, making major strides with the other two types of sharing. I’ll describe one of these types of sharing in the next few paragraphs, and will provide an in-depth description of the other type in next week’s column.   

PROGRAM & STAFF SHARING

North Tama and Gladbrook-Reinbeck have successfully shared the GRNT RebelHawks wrestling program for many years.  More recently, North Tama began a sharing agreement with Union for girls’ soccer. In another sharing agreement, students from Hudson wanting to take Family & Consumer Science classes and Business classes are able to enroll in classes here at North Tama. In all of these programs, we are sharing coaching/teaching staff and resources in order to provide opportunities that students may not otherwise have.

For the coming year, our board has approved a new agreement to share our agricultural education teacher and FFA advisor with Gladbrook-Reinbeck. Mr. Cibula will teach two periods each day at G-R before coming to Traer to finish his day at North Tama. He will also advise separate FFA chapters at North Tama and Gladbrook-Reinbeck. While Mr. Cibula will remain an employee of North Tama, the two districts will split the cost of Mr. Cibula’s contract, saving both districts money. What’s great about this arrangement is that no student opportunities will be eliminated; in fact, North Tama’s students will be able to enroll in the exact same agriculture courses that they were able to take in previous years.  

We have also had similar discussions with other districts related to other staff sharing opportunities, and it is possible that other sharing agreements may be enacted for next year or in the coming years. Any time we consider staff or program sharing, the following criteria will be considered: 1) “Will it save money?” and, 2) “Will it provide additional opportunities for North Tama students, or will it at least not take away opportunities for students?”  If the answer to either of these questions is “no” then we most likely won’t pursue sharing. If the answer to both is “yes” then sharing will strongly be considered.  

As many of you know, this year I have been shared between North Tama and Union, serving as a principal in Dysart and the Superintendent at North Tama. This sharing agreement has allowed both districts to realize a financial savings by sharing the cost of my employment contract. While there has been an adjustment period for everyone getting used to having the superintendent in the district less often than before, it has still been a positive move for the district because it reduces our costs and student opportunities have not been limited in any way.  While our sharing arrangement with Union has been beneficial, it does not qualify the district for the OPERATIONAL sharing incentives offered by the state of Iowa, which leads us to the final type of sharing, known as Operational Sharing. We’ll discuss operational sharing in next week’s column.

These Star Clipper columns as well as my blog and Twitter postings are part of my plan for open communication with the community. As a part-time superintendent that also has duties in another school district, I believe that open and clear communication is more important than ever before. If you’ve missed any of my columns or would like to re-read or share them with your friends and family, you are welcome to visit my blog at http://redhawksupt.blogspot.com/ where they are all posted. You are also welcome to follow me on Twitter (@DavidRobertHill) where I will occasionally post updates or other information not found on the blog.

NEXT WEEK: Operational Sharing: What is it, and how can it benefit our school?  

Let's Not "Short-Change" Iowa's Most Important Investment

This simple graphic from the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) shows the cost per student, per day for each of the current proposals for Supplemental State Aid for schools. Whether the final result is the Iowa House of Representatives proposal of 2%, the Iowa Senate's 4% proposal, the initial 2.45% mentioned by the governor, or something in between, this graphic does a great job of illustrating the relative costs:

If you are a parent, ask yourself this simple question: "Do I expect the cost of raising my child to increase more than $1.43 per day in the coming year?" Even if you are not raising children...do you expect your own cost of living to go up more than $129 to $258 in the coming year?  If your answer is "YES," then consider the cost of educating a child. Just as your family's bills seem to increase each year, a school's cost of operation also keeps increasing. Whether it is the cost of maintaining school buildings and keeping them clean, fueling buses, purchasing instructional materials and supplies, or paying our utility bills, our costs seem to keep increasing.

The largest single cost any school has is the cost of paying the wages and salaries of the teachers and other school staff. Yes, teachers generally receive a raise each year and I would argue that in general they do deserve a raise. Even if school boards and superintendents DIDN'T want to give teachers a raise though, this really isn't possible due to Iowa's collective bargaining laws. When the cost of employing staff keeps increasing and school funding either doesn't increase or doesn't increase enough, schools have few options other than to cut staff.

School districts in Iowa have been cutting, cutting, cutting over the past few years in order to keep their schools operating in times of inadequate state funding, declining enrollment, and increased costs. Schools have become leaner, more efficient, and more creative in their approaches to meeting students' needs. But cutting, efficiency, and creativity will only go so far...we need the leaders of our state to INVEST in our children and INVEST in our future.

Iowa's educators and education supporters aren't "whining" when asking our state's leaders to support our schools. Educators and supporters of Iowa's schools aren't "greedy" when they ask for an increase in funding. Providing a world-class education for Iowa's students isn't free and it isn't cheap. It is an INVESTMENT in our children and the future of our state. Let's not "short-change" Iowa's most important investment.