O'Gorman to become associate supt in Berkeley

News from Aiken includes this school personnel change, as reported by the Aiken Standard: Associate Superintendent Kevin O'Gorman will leave in June to begin work in Berkeley County.

Like many other educators throughout Aiken County, Wagener-Salley High School principal Pat Keating was surprised to learn that Kevin O'Gorman, the associate superintendent for instruction, is leaving in June for a similar position in Berkeley County.

Keating became a first-time principal in 2008, the same year Superintendent Dr. Beth Everitt appointed O'Gorman to his current position.

"Kevin was a big help, teaching me about data-driven instruction and curriculum," said Keating. "He showed me how to build an initiative that was manageable in moving our students so they would get meaningful instruction."

Over the last four years, O'Gorman has spearheaded the district's new literacy model and has been coordinating the transition to national Common Core academic standards.

In Berkeley County, O'Gorman has been appointed as the chief academic officer. He will work in the Office in Instructional Accountability with duties related to special education, federal programs, instruction, curriculum and professional development.

"I've thought long and hard about this," O'Gorman said. "I see it as a chance to grow professionally. I've learned a lot in Aiken and have developed a lot of close friends and good working relationships with people. I'll have nothing but good memories of my time in Aiken."

He came to Aiken in 2002 as the Schofield Middle School assistant principal, then spent four years as the North Aiken Elementary School principal. He initially asked the staff to express their vision for the school.

"We wanted to bring up test scores and build up the reputation of North Aiken," O'Gorman. "Students deserved to have a great education when they walked out the door."

When he arrived at North Aiken, the school had received two major federal grants with a focus on reading. That gave O'Gorman the opportunity look at best practices, many of them now incorporated into the district's literacy program model.

Everitt took office as superintendent in January 2008 with the associate superintendent's position later becoming vacant.

"I was looking for someone who had successfully led a school to improve student achievement by looking at improving instruction by using data," Everitt said. "Kevin had done all that and had led a lot of professional development with his staff. I was impressed with his leadership and thought he could bring something to the whole county."

The literacy model, O'Gorman said, focuses on immersion in specific strategies to address strong and struggling readers in a variety of ways. Teachers now focus more on small-group and individual instruction to help students with a wide range of abilities.

From the start, O'Gorman was pleased with Everitt's focus on instruction and student achievement. Both have emphasized the need to include special education students along with general education students when making instructional decisions.

"I couldn't be more thankful to Dr. Everitt," O'Gorman said. "I appreciate the guidance and the opportunities she has given me. She taught me a lot."

Congratulations to the public schoolchildren of Berkeley County

Berkeley County's public schools clearly are serving students well, as 36 of these have been recognized as Duke TIP Scholars and more than 150 others have been named South Carolina Junior Scholars -- a district record.

Every year, Duke University’s “Talent Identification Program” (TIP) identifies academically qualified seventh-graders and invites them to complete college entrance examinations (SAT or ACT) alongside high-school students. They are provided with detailed information about their test scores and abilities, and are introduced to a variety of academic resources, such as summer programs, field studies and scholar weekends.

“The purpose of the program is to recognize students with exceptionally high intellectual ability, and to provide opportunities for them to broaden that ability,” said Merrie Fisher, Coordinator of Academic Programs. “We are thrilled with the number of students who achieved Scholar status this year.”
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The Berkeley County School District also named 156 students as Junior Scholars, a district record. Scholars are invited to participate in the district’s free Junior Scholar Institute, taking place July 11-21 at Westview Middle School. This rigorous summer program offers courses such as physics, world issues, language immersion, creative writing and technology. They also receive an ‘Award of Merit’ certificate from the South Carolina Department of Education, and may be invited to attend summer opportunities at participating South Carolina colleges and universities.

Here's to the fine classroom teachers and education support personnel who bring great educational opportunities to Berkeley County's public schoolchildren every day: Congratulations.

Berkeley parents given false choice between academics, arts

The question that Berkeley County school leaders, namely Superintendent Rodney Thompson, is asking parents is this: In order to cover a projected deficit in school funding next year, choose which of the following options you'd like us to adopt:
(a) cut funding for art and music;
(b) cut funding for extracurricular activities;
(c) cut funding for sports program "that don't bring in money";
(d) cut funding for classroom supplies;
(e) increase class sizes;
(f) require teachers and administrators to take unpaid furlough days;
(g) charge fees for drivers education; and/or
(h) charge fees for participation in sports programs.

This, of course, is the wrong question to ask of parents.

The right question to ask of parents is a two-parter: First, what do you want your child's school to be? And second, are you willing to elect lawmakers who will fund what you want your child's school to be?

I discussed this already here, but it bears repeating often:

Does the state wants its public schools to meet the intellectual needs of its students -- to meet those students wherever they are, from wherever they've come, with whatever baggage they bring and whatever circumstances they suffer -- and to deliver such instructional services to those children as are necessary to help them, all of them, grow into bright, creative, curious, productive, critical thinkers and analysts, capable of reading with purpose, writing with clarity, speaking with confidence, collaborating and competing with the best minds of our global neighbors and partners, offering leadership for the next era of our state's growth and development?

If that IS what South Carolina wants from its public schools, then the next logical step is to examine what the state is investing -- not investing in our public schools alone, but investing in the lives of the children who haven't yet arrived at school -- and confirming that the investment is sufficient to bring those children to the schoolhouse door ready to learn.

This, really, is the question before Berkeley County's parents now, all those parents who want their children to have a music program available to them, and a "non-income-generating" sports program, and small class sizes, and sufficient classroom supplies, and a full complement of qualified, capable teachers and adminstrators, etc. The Post and Courier reports that more than 800 of them have attended budget presentations across the district, but what I understand parents have taken away is the menu of cuts I described above, not the fundamental principle that once you decide what you want, you have to elect leaders who share your commitment.

The newspaper identified a single family that will be adversely affected by any of the cuts that Superintendent Thompson outlined.

Carrie Wittchow is a sophomore at Hanahan High School who loves to play tennis and participate in the drama program. She's especially worried about tennis, which is a "non-revenue-generating sport," she said. "I don't want to see my favorite activities cut. They keep me going."

Her mother, Heide Wittchow, is a Berkeley County elementary school teacher. She worries at the mention of furloughs. "I live week to week," she said, adding that she's grateful to have a job in this economic climate.

What do we say to this family? Too bad, so sad, maybe you should move to North Carolina or Georgia? Or do we say to them, public education is a priority in South Carolina, and if it takes calling in some corporate tax revenues from mammoth corporations who pay literally nothing to South Carolina in taxes, then that's what we'll do?

The first option is easy: Our present legislature is adept at telling folks to take what they're given and be happy with it. The second option is harder, because we've dug a hole pretty deep and it's going to take time -- and an election cycle or two, or three -- to get out of it.

But God knows, now is the time to start that process. It's tough today, but tougher times are coming.

Thompson said that next school year will be tough, but the budget shortfall in the 2012-2013 school year likely will be worse. To compensate for that shortfall, the district might have to force employees to take multiple unpaid furlough days, cut some positions, place more students in each class and consolidate schools.