Dr. Mark P. Holtzman
Superintendent
RATIONALE
As a new superintendent in the McKeesport
Area School District, it is important to understand
the history, the culture, and the desires of the
organization. Also, developing and maintaining
relationships with its students, its parents, and other
constituents is my highest priority. Dr. Tia Wanzo
and I conducted a series of interviews, surveys, and
visits to our schools over the last several months.
Through this process, we were able to clearly
identify the organizational values and determine
what the stakeholders see as the future of the
McKeesport Area School District. The information
gathered was used to create an accurate five-year
plan that focuses on both strengths and areas of
improvement for the school district. Our school
directors recently approved our five-year plan
during the December school board meeting.
PROCESS
During the first few months of our tenure, Dr.
Wanzo and I focused on interviewing key members
of the school district, surveying teachers to gain a
better understanding of the culture of the schools,
and creating a database of information to begin
planning for the future of the district. To begin the
process, we created specific interview questions
to be answered by members of the school board,
32 McKeesport Area
central office administrators, middle management
personnel, and union officers. All responses have
been kept in the strictest confidence. No names
or other identifying information were used or
shared outside of the interviews. The answers were
collected and presented to the school board at two
recent meetings in a generalized format.
The second component of the entry plan was
creation of the survey for the teaching and support
staff. The development of this survey was done
in conjunction with all central office and middle
management administration. The survey was sent
electronically to all the staff for responses. Again,
the responses were anonymous and all information
shared with the school board and the community
did not have any identifying information.
The following pages include the McKeesport
Area School District’s five-year plan which outlines
resource utilization, financial consideration, and
a detailed academic agenda. We will be focusing
on several initiatives over the next five years to
promote rapid growth within our teaching and
learning process.