Centennial Appoints Superintendent of Schools

The Centennial School Board met Tuesday evening to broach a number of issues that will affect the district over the next several years. 

First on the agenda was the appointment of Dr. Jennifer E. Foight-Cressman as Superintendent of Schools.   

The unanimous decision by the board to appoint Foight-Cressman was met with a long round of applause from the assembled crowd.  Her first term will begin Wednesday, Feb 23 and run through June 30, 2014.   

“I couldn’t ask for a better team of people with whom to work,” said Foight-Cressman, referring to the school board, the district faculty, and the district’s students.  “Our children are the best and we have a teaching faculty without parallel.” 

Foight-Cressman has served both in a teaching capacity and as assistant superintendent to the district for the past fifteen years.  She was appointed acting superintendent in December 2010, after . 

A , while Foight-Cressman served as acting superintendent.  The district paid $11,900 to the Pennsylvania School Boards Association for assistance in that search, but it ended where it began: with Foight-Cressman assuming the permanent duties of superintendent.  

“We wanted to make sure we had the best person possible for the job,” said Board President Andrew Pollock.  “Whether the candidate was in-house or outside the district, we owed it to the community to cover everything.  You never know until you look.” 

Pollock was quick to point out that the district was able to recover half of the money they had allotted to the search - roughly $6,000 - due to the speediness of Foight-Cressman’s appointment. 

Following the appointment of Foight-Cressman, the board approved William Gretton to serve as the assistant to the superintendent for the same term. Gretton recently served as the interim business director for the district.

At the meeting, the board also approved a redistricting plan to provide for new elementary school attendance boundaries.   

The redistricting plan was the only motion of the evening not to pass unanimously, as it met with one opposing vote from Board Member Jane Schrader Lynch. 

Lynch used Madison and Evergreen avenues in the Warminster speedway as an example for her dissent.  Under the new redistricting, those two roads will effectively be cut in half along the intersection of Fir Street.  As such, friends that grow up on the same road could potentially be placed into different schools. 

“I’m sure this [redistricting plan] will pass tonight,” said Lynch.  “I just want to say publicly that it’s not fair to Madison, to Evergreen, to split those streets up like that.  There has to be a better way.” 

The motion to approve the redistricting plan passed with a vote of 8-1.   

Foight-Cressman assured the public that under the plan, fewer than 900 students will occupy each school.  The board plans to revisit the case periodically to assure that student attendance does not dramatically increase due to any unforeseen influx of students.    

In Other Centennial School Board News: 

- The Board granted final approval for the William Tennent Key Club’s trip to Hershey and for a William Tennent student trip to Salamanca, Spain.  The cost to the district will be $828.57 for the Hershey trip and $241 for bus transportation to and from the airport for the trip to Spain.  

-Preliminary approval was granted for a trip to Hershey for William Tennent’s Future Business Leaders of America to attend their state competition.  The trip should cost the district an estimated $11,570 which will cover registration, lodging, transportation, and substitutes.        

-The Board approved entering into a three year agreement with Archbishop Wood High School for use of the William Tennent High School stadium.   

-William Tennent High School senior, Kevin T. Bazzel was honored by the board for obtaining the rank of Eagle Scout within the Boy Scouts of America.  Bazzel completed a restoration of a section of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Southampton as part of his requirements for obtaining the rank.