BOARD SEAT OPEN

At the December 20, 2018 meeting of the Board of School Directors, Mr. Jerold Grupp (Region #5- Northampton Township, Districts #9, #14, and #16) submitted his letter of resignation, with the intent to officially resign on January 6, 2019. As such, applications are being accepted to fill the pending vacancy.

To be considered as a candidate, the following process and requirements apply:   

1. The candidate must be an elector of Council Rock School District Region #5 and be eligible pursuant to Sections 3-322 and 3-323 of Public School Code 1949, as amended;

2. The candidate must submit a letter of interest by US mail, personal delivery or email to:

Dr. Robert Fraser, Council Rock Superintendent of Schools

The Chancellor Center

30 North Chancellor Street, Newtown PA 18940 

OR

rfraser@crsd.org

Letters of interest and any supporting documentation submitted may be distributed to the public and should not include information the applicant considers confidential.

Letters of interest must be received by Dr. Fraser by January 24, 2019.

The Board will review candidate applications with the intent of interviewing candidates and appointing a new board member at a Special Board Meeting to occur on January 31, 2019.

REGION 5 BOUNDARY MAP

REDISTRICTING TRANSITION

Council Rock redistricted families will receive personalized communication during the week of January 14, 2019, via US mail. Communication will include both a redistricting transition message from Dr. Fraser and the building principal to whom redistricted families are being assigned. A redistricting transition FAQ sheet will be posted to the CR website in the Redistricting Transition Hub on Friday, January 11th. The Office of Community Relations will update the FAQ sheet accordingly and communicate new FAQ information as it is posted. The CR community can also look to the CR website beginning Monday, January 15th to view an updated electronic school locator map. This interactive map will allow CR community members to view school boundary lines for 2018-2019 and newly redistricted boundaries for 2019-2020. The school locator map also has an address search feature that allows families to type in an address and conveniently see their 2019-2020 sending school. The Office of Community Relations will send out communication on January 15th when the school locator map is activated. 

SAFETY 

Council Rock School District was recently named a recipient of a Pennsylvania Department of Education 2018-2019 Safe Schools Targeted Program Grant totaling $20,000. The district will use the funding to train the entire CR staff on the ALICE active shooter prevention method. Full district training will take place on February 15th, Council Rock's next professional development day. A Community Safety Forum is scheduled for Tuesday, March 19th at 7 PM in Newtown Middle School's Auditorium. The forum will provide the CR school community with a comprehensive overview of the ALICE active shooter prevention method and updates on other pertinent CR safety initiatives underway. 

BUDGET PROCESS

The 2019-2020 budget process has already started. District Administrators are currently preparing their 2019-2020 budget requests and estimating staffing needs levels for next. Last month, the Board of School Directors was updated on this year’s Act 1 Index timeline at the December 13th Finance Committee Meeting. Later this month, the Board will be taking action to either commit to not raising the property tax millage rate to be more than the Act 1 Index of 2.30% or passing a Proposed Preliminary Budget that will allow the District to exceed the Act 1 Index.

The first draft of the 2019-2020 budget document is scheduled to be published in March. The March Finance Committee Meeting will be dedicated to providing a detailed review of the budget. Final adoption of the budget must occur by June 30, 2019.

ALUMNI SURVEY 

In fall 2018, Council Rock Administration disseminated its first ever Alumni Survey to better understand the way in which we serve our students while with us and after they graduate. We are pleased to announce that 3,353 alums completed the survey. Results will be shared at the January 24th Academic Standards Committee Meeting.  An executive summary of  Alumni Survey results will be posted on the district website along with a corresponding slide presentation. Both will be available for public review on January 25th.  

INCLEMENT WEATHER NOTIFICATIONS

With the winter season upon us, please take a moment to review Council Rock School District's inclement weather notification methods. 

Blackboard.Comm Robocall: placed to all phone numbers provided and housed in our parent and staff portals. FYI- provider issues can sometimes interrupt or delay individual robocall delivery. Please refer to other notification methods if you do not receive your call as expected. Also, robocalls are ALWAYS re-communicated with a repeat email message. When in doubt, check your email.    

Blackboard.Comm Mass Email: sent out to all parents/guardians and staff. 

Blackboard.Comm Texting (Parents/Guardians Only): the Office of Community Relations will begin utilizing texting as a parent/guardian notification method for inclement weather situations starting this winter season. Texts are sent to parent/guardian mobile numbers provided and housed in HAC.  Parents/guardians can opt out of CR text messaging by typing STOP to the initial text received. Not to worry - If you opt out of texting, you will still receive district phone calls and emails!

Council Rock Website Pop Up Message: high visibility inclement weather message posted on district homepage and all school homepages.

Council Rock Official Facebook Page: all inclement weather messaging is posted on the district’s official Facebook page and updated accordingly. Like /Follow us @CouncilRockSchoolDistrict

Council Rock Official Twitter Feed: all inclement weather messaging is tweeted out via the district's officialTwitter Feed. Follow us @CouncilRockSD

Television Notification: ABC 6, CBS 3, NBC 10 alerts and KYW News Radio