HR Corner
When we know it, you know it
Recent Developments
Welcome back and I hope everyone is settled in to the school year! As you may or may not be aware, there have been some recent changes in our administrative office. Perhaps most important is that Kevin Wegner, our Assistant Superintendent for Business, is on leave for the foreseeable future. As you might imagine, that creates an unenviable situation for us in trying to fill his position for the near term. Luckily, we have had Hillarie Siena and Pat McAndrews, both retired Chief School Business Officials, helping us part-time to keep the business office going. In addition, Fil Mastandrea and Sharon Maloney are stepping in to help with Pat and Hillarie. Any health insurance, FSA or 403 (b) questions can go to Sharon, and any payroll questions can go to Fil. Finally, I am overseeing everyone in the business office right now, so if you have any questions I can help with, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Heard Around the District
1) How do we get these permissive transfer students in our building?: Great question! Did you know Board policy http://www.woodridge68.org/files/_weDM3_/55274152f1dbbd1c3745a49013852ec4/5100_Student_Assigment_REV_2013-14.pdf explains how the permissive transfer process works? The classroom size numbers for allowing a transfer are smaller than when the classes split, so there is very little conflict between the class size policy and the transfer policy. Having said that, I try not to allow students into a receiving school if it could result in a class section being in danger of splitting. Please click on the link above for the Board policy.
2) Mold Issues and Remediation: It's no secret that this summer has been one of the hottest and wettest on record. With heat and moisture comes mold, and there is no way around it. Add to that the fact that our buildings are vacant during the summer, and there is a perfect recipe for mold. The good news is that the buildings and grounds crew, led by John Erickson, make mold remediation their top priority. When we are aware of mold, John and his crew immediately take steps to remediate the mold by cleaning all areas affected, checking for humidity, testing for mold, and then retesting after clean-up is complete. There have been times when we have ripped up carpet and replaced with tile. In fact, we are concentrating on replacing carpet where needed this year and replacing with tile. Fortunately, the mold we are seeing is typically penicillin, and none of the mold we have found is harmful to anyone. If you see mold, please contact your principal immediately and we will take care of it!
3) New Kindergarten Teachers: In light of the news that Full-Day Kindergarten will be implemented in 2017-18, I have been receiving questions concerning the process for filling those new positions. Because they are new positions, we most will be placing currently existing teachers in those positions, as we have six "third" sections currently and seven (including a bilingual kindergarten) new kindergarten positions, so I will be working with the principals to set up how they will approach the interview process, or whether they would be looking to transfer internally within their buildings. Most likely we will begin this process in late March or early April. Of course, staffing is a fluid concept, so it may change slightly before March, but this is the most probable scenario.
4) Early Start Calendar for 2017-18: Just a side note to be prepared that it will be more than likely that the District will adopt some form of early start calendar for the 2017-18 school year. That means it will be a short summer for many of us, but just wait until we get out in the last week of May in 2017-18!
Patrick Broncato
Email: broncatop@woodridge68.org
Website: http://www.woodridge68.org
Location: 7925 Janes Ave, Woodridge, IL, United States
Phone: (630) 967-2033
Twitter: @BroncatoPat