Budget
Development Web Site
Dr. Gantman wanted
to share his recent message to the staff of the
Mount Baker School District
Great Hope in
Mount Baker
Greetings Mount Baker Staff and Happy
Spring!
Last night I opened the window and
realized that the frogs were singing!
And this morning, while the birds were
not yet singing when I got up, they were
well into song when I walked out to the
car. Soon the frogs will be so loud I
will have to close the window to be able
to sleep and the birds will definitely
wake me up long before I plan to get
up. Spring is here!!
Jim Frey and I are visiting schools and
programs to discuss the development of
the budget and will continue throughout
the spring. While we bring news of the
serious financial challenges in front of
us, we find staff concerned and yet
confident that we will continue to
provide an excellent experience for our
students no matter how trying the
times. Mount Baker is a very strong
professional community, deeply
interconnected and committed to each
other's success.
Spring is a time of renewed hope and I
see great hope for the future in Mount
Baker staff and therefore, in Mount
Baker children. I am so honored to
serve Mount Baker. Thank you for every
thing you do for children and the
support you provide for each other in
this important and difficult work we do.
March 20,
2009 -
React/Respond to "Great
Hope in Mount Baker"
Budget
Discussions
A question was asked last
night at the school board meeting regarding
the process of communication about the
development of next year's budget. I
appreciate the question and the suggestion
that I get information out more frequently.
I'll start with this entry by giving an
overview of the seminars - discussions that
are planned.The
philosophy we have committed to is to start
the budget discussions by providing
background information about school funding
and the MBSD budget. This information has
been offered during two evening seminars.
The next step is to provide detailed
information about the projected budget for
next year. We anticipate this information
being offered in another seminar in about
two weeks when the Legislature releases its
budget. In the mean time, Jim Frey, our
Assistant Superintendent, and I are visiting
each school for voluntary meetings to
provide current information and to engage in
dialogue. We will continue these meetings
on a regular schedule throughout the
spring. As more information becomes
available from the State, these school based
discussions will focus on program priorities
and possible modifications. Additional
evening school-based meetings will be
scheduled for parents and community
members. Our philosophy is to continue the
dialogue about program priorities throughout
the process until the needed program
modifications become clear.
Denise Ellis, our business
manager, will be posting budget information
on our district website in the upcoming
weeks. I will make at least one S.L.O.G.
entry each week about current budget
information and process. Please check back
frequently and consider attending the
upcoming seminars and school-based meetings.
March 13,
2009 -
React/Respond to "Budget
Discussions"
AUDIO PODCAST
Snow and Floods - Will There Be School Today?
After the snow of December
2008 and the flooding and landslides of January
2009, Dr. Gantman shared the decision-making
process that goes into the decision of whether
to delay the start of school, change bus routes,
run schools on time or close schools altogether.
February 25, 2009 -
Download the Podcast -
"Snow and Floods - Will There Be School Today?"
Note - this .mp3 file is 13+ MB in size, 28+
minutes long - not recommended for dial-up
connections.
February 25,
2009 -
React/Respond to "Snow
and Floods - Will There Be School Today?"
AUDIO PODCAST
School Improvement
Process in the MBSD
Dr. Gantman discusses the
Continuous School Improvement process in the
school district that leads to improved student
achievement.
February 25, 2009 -
Download the Podcast -
"School Improvement Process in the MBSD"
Note - this .mp3 file is
8+ MB in size, 19+
minutes long - not recommended for dial-up
connections.
February 26,
2009 -
React/Respond to "School
Improvement Process"
Systems Thinking and
Business Operations
Today I met with Jim Frey,
Assistant Superintendent and Denise Ellis,
Business Manager for a regularly scheduled
business meeting. Along with the usual
agenda items of the technical business and
budgeting tasks that we routinely address,
we spent time working on a "systems view" of
teamwork, business functions and budget
development. Mount Baker has excellent
examples of teamwork throughout the district
and Jim Denise and I are working together to
provide a "big picture road map" to the
financial work in the district. I greatly
appreciate Denise and Jim in their
commitment to excellence and their
willingness to examine our processes for
improvement.
February 13,
2009 -
React/Respond to "Systems
Thinking and Business Operations"
|
A Person’s
Capacity and What Really Matters – a
personal reflection
I have neglected the
superintendent’s log (affectionately
called the SLOG) that I began last year.
Although I have drafted several entries
throughout the fall, I never did
complete the process by editing the
drafts and sending them to our
Webmaster. A recent personal
experience has helped me to revisit my
circumstance… some of you know that my
house was one of the ones hit by a
landslide on January 7th.
Brenda and I are fine
but the house and property sustained
significant damage. We were
displaced for two weeks and moved back
in last week. I have taken many
vacation days in the past weeks to begin
the repairs and reorganize. As you
can imagine, being at work only part
time has been as much a struggle for
Brenda and me as the physical and
emotional parts. Brenda, in her
role as a principal in the
Burlington-Edison School District, and
me here in the Mount Baker School
District are dedicated to doing the best
job we can in supporting our staff and
students.
Having to be out of the
office has made me take a close look at
what are the most important things I can
do in the limited time (and with limited
capacity) I have had available for the
job. One effort that I have
redoubled my efforts towards is “sense
making” for the Educational Leadership
Team in making sure our systems work is
easy to understand and useful at the
application level (more on that in a
future SLOG entry). And renewing
this blog is another… communicating is
SO important!
The message that I want to
communicate right now is how much I appreciate
my coworkers’ and neighbors’ concern for Brenda
and me. I cannot find the words to express
my appreciation for the help we have received.
We chose our profession because we believe in
helping people learn and grow; and we chose to
live here because of the relationships between
people in a small community. Of course, I
never thought we would need help and that so
much would be offered. It is amazing and
deeply humbling. Deming is a wonderful
place to live and MBSD is a wonderful place to
work; we truly love our neighbors.
Here are a few pictures just in
case you are curious. |
Click on
the pictures below to see larger
versions
 |
January 30,
2009 -
React/Respond to "A
Person's Capacity and What Really Matters"
SUPERINTENDENT'S
WEB LOG
