Fairmount Park Elementary hiring teachers

Fairmount Park Elementary, one of five schools in Pinellas County facing state intervention, has posted a job advertisement looking for teachers. Maximo Elementary, another of the five, posted a similar advertisement earlier this month. 

Teachers at the five schools have been asked to reapply for their jobs, if they want to stay for the 2013/14 school year, as part of a state-mandated turnaround plan. District officials selected the plan - called the district-managed turnaround option - which requires the selection of a new principal and the reassignment of teachers whose teaching can be linked to the poor performance of students. (How they do that is something to be debated.)...

Lew Williams Project prepares for fall opening

The Pinellas County School District is getting ready to open the new Lew Williams Center for Early Learning in the 2013/14 school year.

The center, which will target children ages 1 to 4, is to open at pTEC St. Petersburg. The School Board approved Tuesday a new job description for an administrator - executive program manager - to oversee the center's daily operations. That job will need to be filled soon. District officials are submitting an application to the Department of Health in Pinellas County for a license to open. (The health department oversees childcare centers.) And renovations at pTEC St. Petersburg are expected to start June 1 and finish in mid-August. ...

New top school administrators named in Pinellas

LARGO — The Pinellas School Board on Tuesday approved several changes to the district's top administrative team. Bill Lawrence, associate superintendent of teaching and learning, was demoted. He has been appointed director of student demographics, assignment and school capacity. Pamela Moore, executive director of pre K-12 core curriculum, will move into Lawrence's role as associate superintendent. Seymour Brown III, principal of Plumb Elementary, has been named director of human resources. Superintendent Mike Grego recommended the changes....

St. Petersburg SRO named Officer of the Year

Officer Dan Carvin, a long-time school resource officer at Tyrone Middle School, will be honored by the Pinellas County School Board tonight for his dedication and service.

Carvin, who is a St. Petersburg police officer, has served at Tyrone Middle for 18 years. He has been selected as the district's School Resource Office of the Year. The School Board will celebrate his accomplishments during its 5:30 p.m. meeting at the district offices, 301 4th St, Largo....

Seven Pinellas schools could get pilot merit pay plan

After promising to improve its merit pay plan for teachers, the Pinellas County School District is poised to roll out a pilot plan at seven schools. The plan could solve one of the biggest complaints about merit pay - that many teachers were evaluated based on students they never taught.

Under the proposal, teachers would be evaluated based on student growth and instructional practice, both worth 50 percent. Student growth will be based on the FCAT for teachers with FCAT-tested subjects and on unit assessment scores for teachers who don't have applicable state tests. Instructional practice will include three components - professional evaluations, "deliberate practice," and "planning, reflecting and professionalism."...

Pinellas cuts 100 to 115 ESE classroom aides

Superintendent Mike Grego announced in late April that he was changing staffing levels in special education because Pinellas County Schools spends far more, on average, than other schools districts.

To cut those costs, Grego consolidated the special education centers - repurposing Hamilton Disston - and combined the school-based VE liaison and the district-based CED job. He said the district was staffing some classrooms to the most intensive teacher to student ratios and grouping students by disability rather than severity level....

Pinellas puts out list of principal reappointments

The Pinellas County School Board is expected to sign off on a slew of principal reappointments at its meeting next week.

The biggest changes already have been announced, with superintendent Mike Grego "walking in" principal changes a week ago for the five schools facing state intervention. The list on the agenda for Tuesday's School Board meeting is below. Note that a couple principals, such as Robyn Witcher from Pinellas Park Middle, have been reappointed but no school is listed. Those people still are in the running for administrative jobs....

Some Pinellas administrators still looking for positions

Pinellas County school superintendent Mike Grego announced in April that he would cut 13 jobs in the administration. Of the 13 jobs he planned to eliminate, five were administrators. Three were "professional/technical/supervisory" and five were support positions.

Most of the "cuts" were made to pay for a few positions he did want, such as deputy superintendent and upgrades to the directors of elementary, middle and high school education. The resulting shake-up is occurring now. Grego named his deputy and an associate superintendent of student and community services. He changed the associate superintendent of teaching and learning. And he's reappointed a bunch of administrators. That leaves a few administrators still looking for a place for the 2013/14 school year....

Principal of Plumb Elementary taking district HR job

Seymour Brown III, principal of Plumb Elementary, has been appointed director of human resources, leaving a vacancy at the school.

Brown has worked for the Pinellas County School District since 1993. He was principal of Maximo Elementary for three years before taking over at Plumb in 2010. He began his career as a guidance counselor.

The School Board will consider his appointment during its meeting Tuesday. Board members must approve administrative appointments, in most cases, unless the job candidate is unqualified. ...

Seminole High principal to lead private school

Walt Weller, principal of Seminole High School, will lead Indian Rocks Christian School in the 2013/14 school year, the private school announced this week. The school calls his role "superintendent."

Weller has worked in the Pinellas County School District since 1985, as a teacher, coach, athletic director, assistant principal and principal. He graduated from Clearwater Central Catholic High School in 1981 and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida in 1987. He received a master's degree from Nova Southeastern University in 1995....

Grego changing top administrative team at Pinellas County Schools

After seven months on the job, superintendent Mike Grego is shaking up the top leadership at the Pinellas County School District.

He named a deputy superintendent last week - promoting William Corbett from area superintendent - and has submitted a bunch of administrative reappointments for the School Board to approve Tuesday. The most obvious change is in the curriculum department. Bill Lawrence, associate superintendent of teaching and learning, has been demoted. He has been named the director of student demographics, assignment and school capacity. (See the organizational chart here.)...

Pinellas County Schools holding a job fair for teachers

The Pinellas County School District is holding an invitation-only job fair for teachers as part of its effort to recruit the best teachers. 

The job fair is scheduled for June 13. To get an invitation, job candidates need to fill out a job fair "interest form" and an application. Both are available online here. Candidates also will be asked for two letters of reference, college transcripts and a copy of their out of state teaching certificate, if they're coming from outside Florida....

Pinellas creating team for disruptive students

Pinellas County Schools is assembling a team to provide support for schools dealing with chronically disruptive students.

The team will do "triage and training" and should provide a faster response time to schools than systems currently in place, district officials told the School Board Tuesday. It will start this fall and will include current employees who have been reassigned. 

"This is a significant increase in support for these schools," said Bill Lawrence, the district's head of curriculum....

Pinellas County Schools getting $37 million more in 2013/14

The Pinellas County School District is getting about $37 million more in state funding this year, including about $18 million set aside for raises for teacher and school-based administrators.

That's an increase of about $402 per student, bringing the per student allocation for the coming school year up to $6,723. The state added just more than $1 billion to the state education budget this year, with about 28 percent of that going to workers' retirement. ...

Pinellas County Schools hiring administrators

The Pinellas County School District has posted job openings for some of its top administrative positions, including area superintendent, executive directors of elementary, middle and high school education, and principal of Clearwater Fundamental Middle School.

The jobs are the result of changes superintendent Mike Grego has made. William Corbett was promoted last week to deputy superintendent, leaving vacant an area superintendent job. Dave Rosenberger was moved to Pinellas Park Middle School, leaving open his principal job at Clearwater Fundamental Middle....