Holiday Wishes

by Robert "Bob" Lewandowski

Wishing you the best this holiday season!

Quality School Grant Underway

 by Superintendent Robert "Bob" Lewandowski 

 On April 26, 2013 Governor Bullock signed house bill HB 15 into law. HB 15 appropriated the funds for the Quality School Grant Program for the 2015 biennium for public infrastructure projects.

Our district was awarded a portion of this competitive grant for $534,590.00. We were able to win this grant by first being awarded the Planning Grant for $25,000.00 through the Montana Department of Commerce in 2012. Planning Grant allowes our district to obtain the needed facility assessments and scores to competitively apply for the Quality Schools Grant.

This has been a long process, but is much needed by our district. I am extremely happy that we were able to win and secure this grant for our students and community. A half-a-million dollars is a lot of money. The Quality Schools Grant will allow our district to address the envelop needs of the middle and high schools. The much needed funding will fix roof problems, window and many of the exterior needs of our school.

The pictured rendering shows the planned construction that will begin early this spring and is set to be completed before the 2014-2015 school year.

Board Agendas Now Available on Line

 by Superintendent Robert "Bob" Lewandowski 

 Even though the School District has been paperless for the past three years, it is leveraging the power of the Internet to radically improve the governance process while saving time, taxpayer dollars and the environment. This new eGovernance initiative is a remarkably powerful, easy-to-use solution that enables the District to maximize the effectiveness of board meetings with increased transparency, providing a basis for better and more open communication with the public, while dramatically increasing productivity and saving thousands of dollars annually.

The paperless meeting solution is a 100% Web-based service. By making meeting agendas and supporting documents available on the Internet, St. Ignatius Schools will be able distribute documents associated with board meetings more quickly and efficiently, at a dramatically reduced cost to the organization.

Electronic distribution will not only save time and resources, but it will also provide unprecedented public access via the St. Ignatius School’s Web site to agenda items and other governing body-related information. This process will allow interested parties to review information prior to board meetings. All documents associated with the meeting are automatically archived and can be accessed by meeting date or by using the system’s comprehensive search feature.

The new eGovernance features can be accessed via the District’s Web site at http://web.stignatiusschools.org/ under the “School Board” tab, or for direct access to the District’s Board Agendas go to: http://www.boarddocs.com/mt/sisd28/Board.nsf/vpublic?open.

We hope you find this new tool useful and informative.

INDIAN EDUCATION REPORT 2013

 by Superintendent Robert "Bob" Lewandowski 

 On December 5, 2013 the Administrative Team presented the Mission Indian Education Report to the Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribal Council. The report was well received by the Council. The following video outlines the content presented. Please share and enjoy!

MAKING THE DIFFERENCE

 by Superintendent Robert "Bob" Lewandowski 

 It was a privilege to honor District Clerk, Neil Easter at the Homecoming Assembly last Friday afternoon. He is definitely a "rock." The entire school district, K-12, gave Neil a standing ovation for his loyal dedication and unwavering commitment to Saint Ignatius Public Schools!

We thanked Mr. Easter for his outstanding contributions toward our school over the past 29 years and for making it stand above the rest.  

Once again, thank you NEIL EASTER, for MAKING THE DIFFERENCE!

STRATEGIC PLANNING: Mega Issues Reviewed

Mega issues are issues of strategic importance, which represent choices the school district will need to make in defining the ultimate direction of its long-range plan. These issues represent potential impediments to achievement of the Envisioned Future, and form a basis for dialogue about the choices facing the school district. These questions can serve as an ongoing "menu" of strategic issues that, using a knowledge-based approach in gathering insights relative to St. Ignatius Public Schools’ strategic position and directional choices for each of the issues, can be used by the Board to create regular opportunities for strategic dialogue about the future issues facing the school district.

Note: The mega-issue questions are not necessarily arranged in priority order. 

v Mega-Issue Questions for consideration by the District:

• How can we effectively engage the support of the community to enhance parental support of the educational system and subsequently improve student outcomes?

• How can we broaden the awareness to all employees of the District the importance of delivering a consistent, high quality education to the students regardless of background or capabilities?

• What can we do to encourage and support at-risk students to become fully engaged in (completing) their educational program?

• How do we instill the value of education?

• What can we do to decrease the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs (ATODs)?

• As a district, what do we need to do to stay in front of the continued advancements in technology and science as it pertains to the culture of our students?

• How do we adjust with the possible sequestering of federal funding?

• MEGA ISSUES: Reviewed and updated on February 26, 2013.

Knowledge-Based Decision Making Questions

The Board should prioritize the above-referenced mega issues and decide which of these issues require immediate attention on the part of the Board.  Once the identified mega-issues are prioritized, the Board will set aside time at scheduled meetings to analyze a particular mega issue. At such meetings, the Board's primary focus will be on the mega-issue at hand.  All other business (routine or otherwise) will be conducted at the end of the meeting once the dialogue and deliberation on the mega-issue has been concluded for that meeting.  When analyzing mega issues, the Board will utilize a knowledge-based decision making process.  This will keep the focus of the Board on relevant factors to consider as it develops strategies to overcome particular impediments/barriers that may impact the Board's strategic direction.  The Board will analyze mega-issues by answering the following questions:

1.              What do we know about the wants, needs and preferences of our constituents that are relevant to this decision?

2.              What do we know about the current realities and evolving dynamics facing our constituents/community that is relevant to this decision?

3.              What do we know about the capacity/strategic position of our school district that is relevant to this decision?

4.              What are the ethical implications of our choices? 

Calendar Meeting - Setting a Heightened Desire for Achievement

by Superintendent Robert "Bob" Lewandowski

At the last calendar meeting on January 31, 2011 there were 56 in attendance that discussed our district's calendar needs. A lot of ideas were brought to the table by our stakeholders (students, teachers, parents and community members). I was very pleased with the interest and input by all. This type of  attendance certainly indicates a heightened desire for achievement. With this kind of input I believe we will be able to develop a better school calendar that best serves our students.

Our next meeting will be February 28, 2011 at 6:30 PM in the Multi-Purpose Complex (elementary cafeteria). At this time, we will review the survey data that has been recently collected from parents, students and teachers. We will also review other types of data like academic, attendance, discipline, graduation,  as well as demographic information. There will be a rough draft of the 2011-2012 Activity Schedule from the Activity Director, Alan Pule for addition calendar consideration. Upon data review we will break into groups for discussion and then strategically outline changes we need to consider. We will then use the base calendar as a starting point for change considerations.

This has been an exciting process that has been very student focused. I hope everyone will be able to join us.