| McMinnville School
District No. 40 April 20, 2000
Dear Key Communicator:
Since our last communication in January, several exciting
events have happened. First the District has published its Annual Report. A brief summary
has been enclosed for your review. The original document includes profiles for all of our
schools. If you would like a copy of the full report, please contact the District Office
and a copy will be sent to you.
The next major focus for our efforts has been the
development of the budget for the 2000-2001 school year. Last Thursday evening, the
members of the Budget Committee convened to hear the budget message and to receive a copy
of the proposed budget. For those who are interested in the budget process, a copy of the
budget message has been enclosed. The budget document is also available to you upon
request.
The third set of events pertains to the District’s
reassignment of administrative staff. Due to the retirement of Kathy Samsel, principal at
Memorial Elementary School, the District had the opportunity to hire a new elementary
principal. We selected Pattie Waltz, who had previously served our students as a teacher
and curriculum specialist during her fourteen-year career in McMinnville School District.
After reviewing the assignments of current elementary
principals, the decision was made to reassign Bruce Waltz to Memorial. Bruce has worked
his entire 13 years in the District as principal of Columbus Elementary School. The next
move was for Mary Ringer, who was completing her ninth year as principal of Cook
Elementary School, to be assigned as principal at Columbus. Patty Waltz was then placed at
Cook.
In addition, some secondary administrators were just
reassigned this week due to the departure of Rob Saxton, principal of McMinnville High
School. Since it is difficult to conduct a full search for a permanent placement this late
in the school year, two administrators and one teacher have accepted one year appointments
for next year. Specifically, Mickey Toft has been assigned as the "acting
principal" for McMinnville High School. Tony Mann, the assistant principal at Duniway
Middle School, has been moved to the principal position at that school. Finally, Cathy
Carnahan has accepted the assistant principal position at Duniway. Currently she is a
language arts teacher at Duniway. The district intends to advertise the high school
principal’s position next January and conduct a full search for the permanent
replacement for the following school year. A letter to parents has been enclosed which
provides more information about these one year reassignments.
The fourth and final event has not yet happened. In fact,
I would like to close this letter by extending a special invitation to you to participate
in one of several school activities sponsored during "Back to School Week". This
statewide event is being promoted by the Oregon Business Council, Oregon AARP, retired
teachers and other civic groups. The celebration week is April 24-28. A schedule of
activities at our elementary school has been enclosed.
Sincerely,
Elaine Taylor
Superintendent |
