SFASD Continues Discussions on Western Center

Discussions continued concerning the at Monday night's school board meeting and the board wants to make strides toward taking action with the Joint Operating Committee.

Since the last meeting in June, the board has had time to reflect on a few things, including the hiring of the new principal at the Center, Robert Weneck.

"While I appreciate board members that are very active with this, I think we have an opportunity with a new principal there," said board member David Shafer. "To me, it would seem that this person would have some attention or some full-time effort aimed at generating something that goes beyond just Spring-Ford and how we are recruiting our students."

Members of the board, specifically Julie Mullin and Edward Dressler commented on recruitment. The role of the principal was redefined by the Joint Operating Committee, giving him 32 "bullet point responsibilities." Dressler noted that of those 32, four had to do with disciplinary measures and six had to do with outreach and recruitment.

Overall, the board was decisive in the fact that both ends of the stick need to step up and take recruitment of Spring-Ford students into their own hands.

"Would it be unreasonable to ask at some point that principal come to the school board meeting and present the efforts that they’re doing collectively?" Shafer said. "I’m all for chiming in opinions and everything like that, but to me that’s the person that would own it, so let’s have that person come and share with us some points."

As of June, the tentative number of Spring-Ford students attending the Center was about 105, which is well below the 10-to-12-percent average expected of most sending schools under collective studies done across the nation. Board member Mark Dehnert brought up problems with the brochures being sent out too late and proposed a "documented formal plan" from the Spring-Ford administration on recruitment.

"If we continue to do what we’ve done for the last 10 years, we’re going to get the same results – 110 to 120 kids," said Dehnert. "So, if we want to continue getting the same numbers, we should continue doing the same things. If we want to get improvement, we need to look at something different."

According to Dressler, the brochures got sent out in bulk three times to three different target groups. The third group may not have received the brochures in time for enrollment. Mullin said that while the timing of the brochure is still in question, the goal of the summer programs that were administered for fifth to eighth graders was to "track" the students and target them later to come to the Center when they are ready to enter 10th grade. Mullin said she would have an answer on what "tracking" entailed at the next meeting.

Despite having the tentative number of roughly 105, board president Joseph Ciresi was unhappy with the response given to Dressler, which was that the final enrollment numbers weren't being released until October.

"I know this has been back and forth for a long time and the official number comes out in October, but we would like to know how many Spring-Ford kids are going," Ciresi said. "I’d like to go back and look at what the board had set forth for the number of students in that building and make sure we are meeting our numbers."

Ciresi also noted that compared to the other two sending districts, Pottsgrove and Upper Perkiomen, Spring-Ford's enrollment was miniscule and that when the original study was done, the board was told that 200-300 kids should be enrolling in the Center's programs from Spring-Ford alone. He said that is what helped the board to make the decision to invest more than $20 million over the course of 20 years.

“I don’t attribute this to anyone, so don’t get upset," said board member Donna Williams. "I am saddened when we compare costs to educate those Western Center kids versus our kids here. To me, it is a large investment, what isn’t a large investment though? I think we can do everything in our power. I think there should be a committee of three board members, the high school principals of the sending schools and the three superintendents and the executive director. We need to light a fire.

"I’m not looking at specific numbers," Williams continued. "I can’t project where a child is going to go or where their interest is going to take them. But, I can say that if we can expose enough children to this, we at least know we got the message out. That’s what our job is."

Another big concern for the board was the "mothballing" of the dental hygienist studio, which didn't garner enough interest from prospective students. Overall, sending schools invested $500,000 in the studio, with Spring-Ford investing 40-percent. While the board has consistently tried to push the JOC to recruit outsiders to rent the facilities to gain some money back, they have received plenty of "push back" according to Ciresi.

The board encouraged participating members of the public to come to a JOC meeting and see for themselves. The next meeting is on Sept. 12 at 7 p.m.

Superintendent Dr. David Goodin weighed in on the topic, saying he's spoken to the ninth grade home principal to discuss efforts to raise awareness with ninth graders. He also heard from student liaison Elizabeth Brady, who suggested an open house at the school.

"There is a demographic issue involved and I think that certainly plays into it, but I think we can market the programs out there and let kids know that having hard skills is where this economy is really hiring right now," Goodin said. "We want to market that as best we can. That conversation has been happening with the ninth grade house principal and Elizabeth has chimed in and given a suggestion on what we can do and we’re going to move with that."

Additional bullet points reported from Dressler on the Aug. 8 JOC meeting

• 150 students attended a three-week summer program. Participating students were in grades five through eight and enrolled in: culinary arts, police academy, carpentry and cosmetology. The auto-tech program was cut due to a lack of interest. The cosmetology program was the most popular of the group.
• A Perkins Grant of $109,000 was given for special needs and instruction.
• $30,000 is being spent on a current project to complete diversion of storm-water runoff so that water goes directly into the creek by the school and avoids some of the property owners along the route.