It is my pleasure to announce a recent administrative realignment that has taken place in the District over the past few months. In light of a number of impending directives from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, changes in legislation, and unprecedented economic challenges facing PA public schools, the Bethel Park School District made a decision to strategically place strong leaders in a number of key positions, while saving significant tax dollars.

Rather than fill the position of Assistant Superintendent, the responsibilities are now shared among various administrators.  Mr. Matt Howard, Assistant to the Superintendent for Finance and Operations, will assume all of the non-instructional responsibilities formerly assigned to the Assistant Superintendent.

Ms. Janet O’Rourke and Dr. Dorothy Starkwill assume responsibilities for K-12 instruction. Former Neil Armstrong Principal Ms. O’Rourke has been named Director of Secondary Education, focusing on grades 5-12. She will be based at Central Office, where she will to continue to advance our secondary education initiatives. Lincoln Principal, Dr. Stark, has accepted the added responsibility of Director of Elementary Education (K-4) in addition to her responsibilities as Principal. These two new positions will allow the district to provide a strong focus on the curriculum, instruction, and assessment goals of the district.

Neil Armstrong Assistant Principal, Mr.Michael Brookie, has been promoted to Principal at NAMS, replacing Ms. O’Rourke. NAMS Fifth Grade Teacher, Mr.Robert Garvey, joined the administrative ranks as the NAMS Assistant Principal.

In another exciting development, BPHS Assistant Principal, Mr.Brian Lenosky was named to the newly created position of Director/Principal of Cyber and Alternative Learning Programs. The position will enable the District to begin to offer full and part-time cyber and distance learning options to BPSD students, as well as students from other school districts, through the BP Online Academy. The Academy will provide a variety of customized options to students whose needs aren’t fully met in the traditional brick and mortar school setting.

Mr. Lenosky’s position at the High School has been filled by former William Penn Principal, Mr.Jay Johnson. Long-time BPHS Assistant Principal Jerry Roman retired in November, and the District will not fill his position. The high school administrative team now includes Dr. Zeb Jansante as Principal, and Mrs. Sheryl Graff and Mr. Johnson as Assistant Principals.

Memorial Principal Mr.Eric Chalus and Washington Principal Mr.Fred Pearson were given additional responsibilities to serve as Co-Principals at William Penn in addition to their responsibilities at Memorial and Washington.

We are extremely pleased, not only with the recent administrative realignments, but also with the fact that we were able to fill all of these positions with current Bethel Park School District staff. Our veteran team has been working together collaboratively to advance the educational goals of our District for several years with much success. We look forward to that continued spirit of teamwork and cooperation to keep the District moving forward during this exciting period of change and growth.

The administrative realignment, along with streamlining various support positions at the new high school, will save the School District approximately $400,000 annually!

This message appeared in the May 2012 issue of the Bethel Park Chronicles.