From this mornings Republican-American
FALLS VILLAGE
Teachers head to Florida for PowerSchool training
Training to provide for increased competency for elementary schools in the use of Power-School, the data-based student information system, is continuing.
Region 1 Business Manager Samuel Herrick told Board of Education members Monday that $25,000 is part of the proposed 2014-15 central office budget for that purpose.
Between half and two/thirds of the funding will be shared between the six elementary schools and the rest divided up to be available for individual support needs.
“The principals feel this is so new that some are sending staff to PowerSchool training using grant money. The schools are at all different levels and they hope to be on the same level next year,” he said.
Some staff will be attending the PowerSchool University in Florida next week. Of the $25,000, $10,000 will come from the in-service line in the central office budget.
While I’m all for training in power school, this is one more example of the incompetence of the superintendent in not having a a common sense plan in place to roll out this new DISTRICT-WIDE program at its initiation. Anyone, with even a modicum of common sense, would have carefully planned training programs for all the staff in the district who were designated in each school to operate the program PRIOR to instituting it. Because that wasn’t done there now exists the highest level of frustration in almost all schools because the folks in charge of the program have had to attempt to teach themselves how to operate this complex system virtually w/o any expert assistance. Talk about lousy learning and teaching practices! The district spent thousands sending 2 people, only one of whom as I understand it, was going to deal directly with the system to training in CA last June. Why the other person was sent is a mystery to me. Seems like someone should have had common sense enough to send an individual who was actually going to be routinely operating the system. Both left the district within weeks of the training and the district did not get the benefit of what they learned. I am glad that finally the right people are getting trained. I am more than a little concerned though, that there hasn’t been a common sense approach to this and so much else which comes under the supervision of the superintendent resulting in the wastefulness of the taxpayers’ money.
Region One Report thinks this is one of the MOST insightful comments ever made of the top administrators in Region One….
Agreed! But c’mon, if they carefully implemented Powerschool, they might not have had time for all their “yay rah rah” meetings where they pat themselves on the back and make every staff member at the high school obey their every command (does anyone sense my sarcasm?).
it would make more sense to have someone do an inservice here. I would think you would get more for the taxpayer money spent
You could hire a team to come and train the entire region for what these trips cost. On the plus side, at least people who need it and will use it are getting trained. Also, the training will be just in time for next year’s scheduling as well as sending out final (hopefully correct this time) transcripts.