North Penn New ‘Chief Academic Officer’ Post Created

Dan Sokil | The Reporter•

An administrative reshuffling is now on the books in the North Penn School District.

Board members voted unanimously last week to create a new "Chief Academic Officer” post, replacing an administrator spot that had been vacant for over a year.

"The transition from having a single director of special education and student services, to two directors of special education and student services, will start once the director of elementary special education and student services has been hired,” said superintendent Todd Bauer.

Prior to the school board’s Feb. 15 meeting, the district had been structured with directors of elementary education, of special education, an "administrator for secondary education and renovation” who is helping oversee renovations to North Penn High School, and two assistant superintendent positions, one of which has been vacant since Bauer was promoted from that position to superintendent in summer 2022.

The board action approved on Feb. 15, and effective the next day, amends North Penn’s Act 93 plan for administrators to establish the position of "Chief Academic Officer,” in the same administrative position group as the high school principal and the secondary administrator, then modifying the directors of elementary and special education to add student services to their titles.

The board’s personnel items list for Feb. 15 puts names to the positions. Current Director of Special Education Megan McGee-Heim shifts from "Director of Special Education and Student Services” to "Director of Secondary Special Education and Student Services” maintaining her current salary of $164,000; Mike McKenna, the current Director of Elementary Education, becomes the new Chief Academic Officer with an increase in salary from $171,000 to $183,000, according to personnel documents posted by the district. As the board approved the motions, Bauer pointed out McKenna in the audience of the board’s meeting, for a round of applause from the board and fellow administrators.

During the subsequent Feb. 20 finance committee meeting, Bauer added a clarification, in response to a public comment questioning whether the administrator position was an addition.

"That is inaccurate. As a matter of fact, we did not fill the position when I left the assistant superintendent seat, and in lieu of replacing an assistant superintendent, we added a director position. That is a cost savings to the school district,” Bauer said.

"We have not added an administrator, I don’t believe, since I’ve been at the central office,” for roughly six years: "We’ve recategorized, and reallocated responsibilities, but adding a whole new position, I don’t believe that to be the case…this most recent hire was not a new position, we have the exact same number of administrators that we did a year ago, and two years ago. It is just a reallocation of responsibilities, and in turn a cost savings.”

Bus Contract Extended for Two Years

The board also voted on Feb. 15 to approve a two-year contract extension with private carrier First Student to provide private bus runs for the district.

"This, I think, really represents us doing the most responsible low bid, because one of the crucial factors was that whoever was the successful bidder had to be in closer proximity to our district,” said board member Cathy Wesley.

In January the board’s finance committee heard that staff were vetting responses to a request for proposals seeking a new five-year contract for a private bus hauler, meant to handle certain school bus runs that aren’t covered by district staff and district-owned vehicles.

During the Feb. 6 finance committee meeting, district staff recommended an extended contract with First Student largely because two other responding firms did not have space to park or maintain their buses locally. North Penn’s transportation center is currently located on the campus of North Penn High School and district staff have said they are working to secure a new site for the bus garage, dispatch center, and propane fueling station, which could also provide space to park both district-owned and private buses.

LC Stadium Rental Gets OK

The school board also unanimously approved a contract with Lansdale Catholic High School to rent North Penn’s Crawford Stadium for football games in fall.

"We took a look at the entirety of the facility use, here in the district” when scheduling those dates, said Bauer.

January’s facilities and operations committee brought talks on a request from LC to rent the stadium for four football games, with a reduction in the fee that would be required under the district’s current fee schedule. At that time, staff said an initial rental request from LC had come in prior to the fall 2023 sports season, and the facilities and ops committee voted the rental request ahead for full board approval.

"We did not schedule any conflicts, we have our schedule first and then we scheduled Lansdale Catholic in,” Bauer said.

Dates when LC would hold games at Crawford will be 6 p.m. on Aug. 24 and Sept. 14, and at 7 p.m. on Oct. 4 and 11, according to the contract document.

North Penn’s school board next meets at 7 p.m. on March 12 at the district Educational services Center, 401 E. Hancock Street. For more information visit www.NPenn.org.

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