HOWELL — Each elementary school in the Howell K-8 School District will have a vice principal by September in a move that will cost the district as much as $250,000. The vice principal will replace the lead teacher position in each school.
Vice principal positions will be available at the Adelphia, Ardena, Greenville, Newbury, Ramtown and Taunton elementary schools, according to district officials.
The Aldrich, Griebling and Land O’ Pines schools currently have a vice principal, according to Assistant Superintendent of Schools Joseph Isola.
The recommendation for a vice principal to replace the lead teacher was made by the Education Committee on April 28 and approved by the Board of Education on May 7.
“The reason for the position is that we are dealing with the new AchieveNJ teaching standards, which require a lot of teacher observations, more than we have had before,” Isola said. “Vice principals will be able to do these evaluations while lead teachers cannot. There are also other educational mandates that will be coming up that having vice principals would help with as well, so the positions are worth it.”
Isola said funding for the vice principals is included in the district’s 2014-15 budget.
“Lead teachers will be invited to apply for the [vice principal] job, of course,” he said. “No one should assume that lead teachers are a slam dunk, case closed, for the job. It will be an extremely thorough and thoughtful process for us where we will select the candidates we believe are the best for the job.”
Isola said if lead teachers do not apply for the position, or if they apply and are not offered a vice principal’s position, they will remain as teachers.
“The vice principals will be operating on an administrative certificate and will be able to do evaluations for teachers, conduct observations and dispense discipline,” he said.
In other news, the Education Committee’s recommendation to the board to eliminate the district’s transitional first-grade program was unanimously approved at the May 7 meeting. This will be the final year of the transitional first-grade program.
“Transitional first grade was a transition between the half-day kindergarten program and first grade. It was for social and emotional reasons for the students. It had nothing to do with [a pupil’s] intelligence,” Isola said.
He said that with full-day kindergarten now being offered in Howell, the Education Committee and the board found the transitional first-grade program to be redundant for students. He said the full-day kindergarten has proven to be a better preparation for students entering first grade.