USC names new superintendent

Timmy didn't make the cut.
Upper St. Clair names new superintendent

Upper St. Clair Superintendent announces his retirement

From: "Upper St. Clair School District" <potoole@uscsd.k12.pa.us>
Date: Jan 23, 2018 6:40 AM
Subject: Important Message from Dr. O'Toole

January 23, 2018

Dear Upper St. Clair Families:

After 39 years in education, the past 11 of which I have served as superintendent at Upper St. Clair, I officially notified the Board of Directors last evening of my intent to retire. My retirement is effective at the end of my present contract, which concludes on June 30, 2018.

It has been the greatest honor of my career to serve USC as an educational leader. I never imagined having this opportunity to work with such talented faculty, support staff and administration.

I will do everything possible to ensure that there is a smooth transition to a new superintendent. I have confidence that the future of our district is bright because of our exceptional staff who deliver such a terrific educational experience for our students and community.

Below is the full text of the press release, which is also posted on our District website.

Sincerely,

Patrick T. O'Toole
Superintendent of Schools


Following a career in public education that spans 39 years, Dr. Patrick T. O’Toole, superintendent of the Upper St. Clair School District, announced his pending retirement, effective June 30, 2018. The school board approved his retirement during its meeting on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018.

“It has been the greatest honor of my career to serve the community of Upper St. Clair,” Dr. O’Toole said. “I never imagined having this opportunity to work with such talented educational leaders, faculty, support staff and students.”

Serving as Upper St. Clair’s superintendent of schools since March 2007, Dr. O’Toole has provided effective leadership of numerous projects and programs. He focused the district’s vision for these initiatives on a new tagline: “Customizing Learning, Nurturing Potential and Delivering Excellence.” Throughout his tenure he led two strategic plans; the expansion of STEAM opportunities through the district’s 1:1 initiative and the creation of the Innovation Hubs at the middle and high schools; the enhancement of the Professional Learning Communities model in all six USC schools; the renovation of Boyce and Fort Couch middle schools; and the current capital project effort.

Dr. O’Toole also led the district through its most difficult financial times brought on by the 2008 recession. A result of this work is the district’s advancement initiative that secures private and grant funding for district programs.

“I cannot find adequate words to thank the board members who took a chance when hiring me in 2007 and those who have supported me through the years,” Dr. O’Toole said. “Most of all, I thank my wife and son for their many sacrifices throughout my career.”

Members of the Upper St. Clair School Board expressed their appreciation for Dr. O’Toole and the impact he has had on the school district.

“Dr. O’Toole often shares how fortunate he is to work at Upper St. Clair School District; in fact, it is our community, our staff, our school board and, most importantly, our students who have been fortunate to have benefited from his leadership for more than a decade,” Amy Billerbeck, school board president, said. “He has led Upper St. Clair with vision, integrity, and professionalism. We wish him well in his retirement.”

For Mrs. Billerbeck, Dr. O’Toole’s most impactful initiative was leadership development. During his first few years at Upper St. Clair, he implemented the “Total Leaders” program bringing in nationally known education innovator, Charles Schwahn to work with the district’s administration. The program quickly expanded to include teaching staff and sparked innovative leadership programming for students at nearly all grade levels.

“Dr. O’Toole’s vision of developing and nurturing leadership throughout the district has been transformational,” Mrs. Billerbeck said. “Through his efforts we are extremely fortunate to have strong, highly capable leaders at every level of our organization.”

Upper St. Clair School District has garnered national praise for several innovative programs initiated under his leadership. In 2013, Upper St. Clair School District was recognized with the National School Boards Association Magna Award for its Student Leadership Academy that helps students at all levels understand how they can change the world through their leadership. This program was an outgrowth of the leadership initiative started by Dr. O’Toole. The district earned another Magna Award – this time a Grand Prize Winner – in 2017 for SHOP@USC, a student-run business within the high school’s Innovation Hub that operates fully through the collaboration between students with significant disabilities and their same age peers without disabilities.

In November 2017, Upper St. Clair High School was named one of only 25 schools nationwide to be selected as a national model of Innovative Successful Practices by the Successful Practices Network and AASA, The School Superintendents Association. Upper St. Clair High School ranks among the top high schools in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report’s list of 2017 Best High Schools. For the second year in a row, Upper St. Clair School District was named among the nation’s 2017 Best Communities for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation.

Personally, Dr. O’Toole earned numerous honors for his leadership and contributions to the field of education. The Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators honored him with the 2010 Service to the Professional Award and named him the 2012 Pennsylvania Superintendent of the Year. Also in 2012, he received the Distinguished Educator Award from the Tri-State Area School Study Council.

In addition to his duties as superintendent, Dr. O’Toole has provided leadership to the greater education profession. He served as president of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators during 2016-17; president of Tri-State Area School Study Council from 2013 through 2015; and treasurer of the South Hills Area School Districts Association from 2009 through present. He has also served as a presenter on numerous educational topics including best practices, student achievement, customized learning, flexible scheduling and student leadership at regional, state and national level conferences and institutes.

Prior to joining the leadership staff at Upper St. Clair, Dr. O’Toole served as superintendent in the South Butler County and Shenango Area school districts. In addition, he has served as a high school principal, assistant high school principal and elementary teacher.

A graduate of Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Dr. O’Toole holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. He earned a master’s degree in educational administration and a doctorate in administration and policy studies from the University of Pittsburgh. In 2016, Clarion University honored him with its Distinguished Alumni Award.

Dr. O’Toole resides in Cranberry Township with his wife, Tracey, a chemistry teacher in the Seneca Valley School District, and their son, Patrick.

The school board is now tasked with naming Dr. O’Toole’s successor – widely considered the board’s most important duty. Planning for this decision began with the district’s 2015-2020 strategic plan and related board goals, which were adopted in February 2017. In accordance with the board goals, officials have been evaluating the district’s leadership succession plan throughout the past year.

“We have been very intentional with succession planning over the past several years, and have the utmost confidence in our Upper St. Clair administrators and their ability to lead,” Mrs. Billerbeck said. “The board has already begun the work of evaluating a successor to Dr. O’Toole. We are very fortunate to have strong, committed leaders in place, and will not need to undertake an external search.“

According to Mrs. Billerbeck, the school board could appoint the next superintendent early this spring to ensure a seamless transition in leadership.

Right on top of things UPDATED

I think Timmy had his evaluation by now. If not, here is something for the school board directors to think about. Why is Timmy's latest School Board Report dated April 18, 2017? Here is a list of his reports.

Will Timmy ever meet Governor Tom Wolf? Upper St. Clair's superintendent did.

Update August 10, 2017 11:10 AM I embedded Timmy's Twitter feed last night on Lebo Citizens. Notice how many of his Tweets were just retweets. Considering how behind he is on his School Board reports, I wonder what exactly he does with his time. From prior Lebo Citizens posts, he doesn't know names of special ed teachers (see Free at last), wasn't sure if we had five or seven elementary schools during the municipal hearing for the high school project, has no idea as to who changed the job posting nine months after Elaine Cappucci's son was hired, knew that Elaine Cappucci had to resign from the school board due to the conflict of interest with her son, had a complete understanding that the school board president is the executive director of Outreach and is quoted as saying, “The Mt. Lebanon School District has developed an extraordinary partnership with Outreach Teen & Family Services."

Voters will get more of the same if they vote for Elaine Cappucci, Mary Birks, Dan Remely, and Katie Caste.
 

Is this what they mean by 21st century learning?

The latest entry on the Superintendent's food blog, "My Monthly Breakfast with High School Students," just above "Lunch with Mellon Middle School 8th Grade Students" is:

My monthly breakfast with high school students turned into a quick tour of the renovated 6th floor. After seeing some of the completed work they realize that this temporary inconvenience will result in some great learning spaces. Several of the students mentioned that it has been very interesting watching the construction close up. Thanks to our students for reminding us why we are doing this work.

After seeing some of the completed work they realize that this temporary inconvenience will result in some great learning spaces.  Say that again? Aren't they standing in the...the...bathroom?

Remember Ben Franklin's quote? “Eat to live, don't live to eat.” As someone wrote to me, "Does he eat to work or work to eat?" 

Laura Pace Lilly wrote for lebomag.com making progress back in October,

Ironworkers wearing safety ropes traipse along steel supports, a sight that often transfixes Steinhauer, he says. Students with the luxury of window seats in their classrooms also report daydreaming while watching the men at work.

I get chastised for comparing USC to Mt. Lebanon, but come on. Their superintendent writes budget summaries while ours writes about eating, watching the men at work, or some great learning spaces in our bathrooms.

Yes, he is very deserving. UPDATED

The Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Linda Lane turned down her raise for a second year in a row. So far, she has declined $35,000 in pay.

After the vote, Ms. Lane said that she and the top academic team will forgo pay raises.

The decision comes as the district has made unprecedented teacher furloughs and tackles a budget deficit.

Ms. Lane said the decision is in recognition of the serious fiscal problems the district face and a statement of support "for the district and those who aren't with us. We lost a lot of good folks."

Ms. Lane's contract calls for a raise of $5,000 each year as well as a bonus of $10,000 each year if certain performance goals are met. For 2012, she was eligible for the full $15,000. But for 2013, she was not eligible for the bonus amount because state test scores dropped.

Back to the bubble, our super Super gets raises every year. Dale Ostergaard concluded, "I am also normally conservative when it comes to raises, but I think in this particular case with a single individual Dr. Steinhauer is very deserving."

Yes, he is very deserving. As I commented in my last thread about grinding and a 16 year old girl who was carried off the dance floor and taken to St. Clair and then later to Children's Hosptal because she was drunk, the PG story was the number one emailed story according to the PG.

Just last month, Mt. Lebanon School District was recognized in the PG story, PSSA results come up short in Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park.  Goal number four 4. Student Achievement – The Superintendent will maintain or improve student achievement. We can get another warning label from PA and Timmy will be maintaining student achievement. Yes, he is very deserving, Dale.

The number one superintendent in the state, Dr. Patrick O'Toole voluntarily froze his salary as well as the financial director's salary. Certainly Dale, O'Toole is very deserving.

I guess I shouldn't be so harsh with Dr. Steinhauer. I actually got a response from his office the other day to an email I sent.

Fwd: Your website

From	egillen476 egillen476@aol.com
To	schoolboard schoolboard@mtlsd.net
Cc	TSteinhauer TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net, CBowman CBowman@mtlsd.net

While I never received a response from ANY of the eleven of you, I see that the Board reports were updated and the goals have been posted. Thank you. Why would you remove the existing reports? Would you please include all of the reports for the year?

Still nothing for the Extra Mile Award. If you just cut and paste from
the Board President's Reports, my request is a rather simple one to
fulfill.
Elaine Gillen

-----Original Message-----
From: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
To: schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>
Cc: TSteinhauer <TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net>; CBowman <CBowman@mtlsd.net>;
EGillen476 <EGillen476@aol.com>
Sent: Wed, Oct 17, 2012 3:56 pm
Subject: Your website

When do you plan to update your website?

Extra Mile Award is from January 2012.
Superintendent Board Reports are from April 2012.
Board President Reports are from March 2012.
Superintendent Goals are from last year?
The agenda for Monday's meeting was finally posted on Monday morning.

Is this Cissy Bowman's responsibility?

Elaine Gillen

Finally, I got a response from an email I sent to the board.
Response from Tim Steinhauer While all hell was breaking loose over grinding at dances, Tim is enjoying his very deserving additional vacation days. Does an automated response from his office satisfy goal number five, Superintendent Performance Goals 2012-2013? Tim is well on his way for an increase next year.
Update October 25, 2012 1:30 PM Timothy Steinhauer's contract is available here. It is from June 8, 2009. It does not reflect his current salary, contract extension or additional vacation days. Article V permits him to undertake consulting work during his vacation days or with prior written approval from the Board. In other words, any time he wants.

USC Superintendent is at it again

From Upper St. Clair Patch:

USC School Administrative Changes Represent Savings

Take a look at who's who for 2012-13 and some positions that have been eliminated.

The following restructuring of the Upper St. Clair School District administrative team represents approximately $100,000 in salary savings for 2012-13, according to information provided by Dr. Patrick O'Toole, superintendent:

• Dr. Sharon Suritsky was officially appointed as assistant superintendent after serving as acting assistant to the superintendent/supervisor of special education since 2009.
• Melissa Garvin started her assignment as the supervisor of special education in February. She came to USC from Wesley Spectrum Services, where she was director of academics and instruction.
• Patrick McClintock-Comeaux returned to USC as principal of Baker Elementary School, from Stephen C. Foster Elementary School in Mt. Lebanon. He was a teacher and curriculum leader at USC from 1995 to 2001.
• John Rozzo, who has served as assistant principal at Fort Couch Middle School since 2005, became the academic principal for both Boyce and Fort Couch middle schools.
• Lou Angelo, who was recently named the Pennsylvania Assistant Principal of the Year, was promoted to associate principal of Upper St. Clair High School. He had been the assistant principal at the high school since 2006. Christine Mussomeli was hired to replace him as assistant principal, effective Aug. 15.
• Amy Pfender was named assistant principal at Boyce and Fort Couch middle schools, effective March 1. In her role as special education curriculum leader, she has assisted principal Karen Brown at Boyce Middle School since 2009.

As part of the reorganization, two district office positions (director of human resources and director of operations, community relations and special projects) and one building-level position (director of high school guidance) have been eliminated.

********

Here in Mt. Lebanon, we pass out administrative raises left and right. Has there been a complete turnover in school principals in Mt. Lebanon? I lost track.

http://upperstclair.patch.com/articles/usc-school-administrative-changes-represent-savings