The Norris Board met March 14th and accepted the retirements effective end-of-year for Middle School teacher Barb Minch and Elementary teacher Doreen Droge.  Barb and Doreen are also participants in our Voluntary Severance Program.  We will continue to accept applicants for the VSP through April 14th.  

 

Barb noted in her written statement to the Board that "While I look forward to new opportunities, I will miss the Norris School District family very much . . . I cannot think of another place that would have been a better place for me to work for the past 33 1/2 years.  Norris has seen many positive changes over those years and will continue to flourish in the future." Barb has been a leader in our district and throughout the state in assessment development and standards work in language arts for years. 

 

Doreen noted in her written statement to the Board that she taught one year in a combination classroom of first and second graders, 17 years in third grade, one year in the Media Center, another decade in third grade, and then five years as the World Cultures and Languages teacher.  Doreen notes that Norris highlights during her career include watching the building of the middle school, elementary additions, the addition of trees (twice!), but declares that the friendships with students, their families, and fellow educators have been the favorite things about her career at Norris.  One of Doreen's noble retirement goals include helping establish a public library in southern Lancaster County.  

 

School Nurse Jodi Derks has also submitted her resignation effective end of the year.  Nurse Derks expresses her appreciation for the professional growth opportunities which have been provided to her during her career with Norris.  Jodi has been an instrumental force on the district Safety and Security Committee, having largely authored the district Safety Manual in addition to providing ongoing trainings in everything from AEDs to CPR to asthma and allergy awareness.  Jodi is not only talented at serving the health needs of what often seems like an endless procession of students in the MS Health Office, she has been a great consultant and training provider for district health policy and procedure. 

 

We commend the careers and the accomplishments of these dedicated Norris educators and express our gratitude towards them for their many years of service to our students.  

 

In other Board action:

 

The Board established program capacities for Option enrollment applicants for the 11-12 school year.  Norris receives over $700,000 in Net Option funding through the state aid formula.  The deadline for receipt of Option applications for 2011-12 is March 15th.  

 

The Board approved the purchase of a van and suburban using IDEA ARRA dollars set aside for special education transportation.  Acquiring these vehicles reflects the use of funds identified for these purposes, dollars which must be spent and have been authorized exclusively for Special Education transportation.  

 

The Social Studies Department presented an excellent curriculum report, led by Josh Murtaugh and Kara Savage.  Thanks to Scott Harrington and Rick Koenig for their expertise in helping to create the presentation and offering interactive demos featuring Google Earth.  We will share the presentation through google docs.  

 

The Board meets March 29th for a special meeting to approve a resolution to reduce which will authorize administration to enact budget cuts positioning us for the 2011-12 school year and the anticipated decline in state aid.  The regular April meeting is April 14th. Information on budget is available through the Budget tab off my page on the Norris website and will be updated to include materials from the community forum and last night's Board meeting.