Steel+Valley+schools+press+on+despite+cuts

=By Stacy Lee= =//Published by the McKeesport Daily News//= =//8/23/11//= = = = = = = =Staff changes will be the biggest difference when students return to classrooms at Steel Valley School District.= =Students will return to school on Thursday.= =While some school district employees were furloughed, others had position changes because of the layoffs.= =Six paraprofessionals and six custodians were furloughed in March. Over the next two months, 16 district support personnel and 40 district teachers were furloughed.= =In June, staff started getting callbacks from furlough with one full-time teacher and two part-time teachers being reinstated. Callbacks continued in July with two teachers being appointed to full-time positions and two more being given part-time positions. One full-time teacher was furloughed. There also were seven part-time paraprofessionals rehired.= =Administrative changes in July included high school principal Jeffrey Soles being furloughed and then-Park Elementary principal Bryan Macuga being appointed to a newly created director of federal programs/high school principal position.= =Diana Borges, director of pupil personnel and special services/elementary education was named Park Elementary principal in addition to her other duties. She'll be assisted by Ed Colebank, the district director of academics, information and technology.= =Seven paraprofessionals and three teachers were brought back from furlough this month.= =Steel Valley school board and administration blamed the furloughs on declining enrollment.= ="We're at tremendously low class sizes," superintendent Dr. William Kinavey said.= =While the district got about $2 million less from the state this year, Pennsylvania School Code doesn't allow districts to furlough teachers because of financial issues.= = Kinavey said this school year's class size averages are 23 in the elementary school, 24 in the middle school and 25 in the high school. = = As far as bringing back more teachers, Kinavey said, "It depends on class size. If we need to bring back more, we will." = =Colebank said dismissal times for many schools had to be adjusted because of the teacher contract.= ="We took a few minutes off the end of the day and put them at the beginning of the day," he said. "It's required of the contract and due to the district losing some teachers."= =Barrett and Park elementaries will begin classes at 8 a.m. and dismiss at 2:50 p.m. The middle school will begin at 8:13 a.m. and end at 3 p.m., while the high school will start at 7:48 a.m. and dismiss at 2:35 p.m. Franklin Primary Center will continue its 8:15 a.m. start and 2:15 p.m. dismissal.= =Steel Valley has special start times for the first few days of school. Franklin Primary students will report at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, sixth-graders will begin at 8 a.m., seventh- and eighth-graders at 10 a.m., ninth-graders at 7:30 a.m., and 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders at 9:45 a.m., all for orientation.= =Students who attend Steel Center Area Vocational Technical School will report to the high school at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday and Friday. SCAVTS will begin Monday and Steel Valley students should report to the high school at 6:30 a.m. that day for a meeting and transportation to the technical school.= =Kinavey said the district is working closely with the Consortium for Public Education's Middle-High Forum. It is presented in cooperation with Duquesne University School of Education.= =The Middle-High Forum allows educators to better their districts by concentrating on the major transitions students make during their education.= =Meal prices in Steel Valley for the 2011-12 school year will remain the same with $1 breakfast for elementary and secondary students. Lunch for elementary students is $1.75 and $2 for secondary students. Parents or guardians can put funds in their child's account with the automated payment system.= = Read more: [|Steel Valley schools press on despite cuts - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] [] = = = =News= =home=