The MDT would like to update the community on four activites:

I. Principal's Search

II. $100K from Mayor Fenty

III. Incentive Money $95,000

IV. Future MDT meetings

I. Principal's Search

The Interview Committee for the principal candidates has been formed. The committee consists of:

3 Parents: Karen Beiley, Varnell Washington, Maureen Freshour, with Anne Morin and Liz Geltman as alternates

3 teachers: Tim Welsh, Norah Rabiah, Nancy Martell Stevenson with Kathleen Bergin as alternate

1 member of the support staff: Victoria Rivera

1 MDT rep: Vicky Otten

1 HSA rep: Martha Saccocio

1 Building Union Rep: Jessica Franklin

2 community members: Brenda Smith and Edie Hessel, with alternates Valerie O'Connor and Nimmi Damodaran

1 administrator: Scott Cartland

1 Assistant Superintendent: Patricia Tucker

The MDT has also developed a list of questions that the committee will ask the principal candidates in the interviews.

For those of you who attended the community meeting right after Principal Albert-Garvey announced her resignation, you'll recall that we asked our regional superintendent if the usual process could bend somewhat to accommodate requests of the community, and it appears that two of those requests will be granted.

We expect that the interview committee will be able to review 15 or 20 recommended candidates for Murch and choose from among that pool the 6 that will be interviewed. Usually the 6 are chosen by DCPS. Secondly, if the committee feels it is warranted after the interviews are completed, we may be able to "call back" a subset of the 6 candidates for second longer interviews.

The timing of the interviews is still unknown, although they are expected to be within the next two weeks.

II. $100,000 from Mayor Fenty

Mayor Fenty awarded every school in the District $200 additional funds per student. For Murch this amounts to $100,000 and there has been much recent debate about how it should be used.

Originally slated for an AP position to be filled by Ms. Jackson, the issue was reopened when both the Principal and the Assistant Principal decided not to stay. The options supported by many parents through email messages and at last week's community meeting is a third sixth grade class; others support retaining the Assistant Principal position, or hiring a math resource specialist.

The MDT appreciates the strong feedback from parents and teachers. We've received 23 pages of email messages and will be considering all of this feedback, and the comments madeat the community meeting, when we meet to make a final recommendation.

III. Incentive Money $95,000

On Thursday, we received word that Murch would be awarded $95,000 in Incentive Money from DCPS. These funds are awarded to the schools across the district with the highest performing students. All students, teachers, and parents should take pride in the fact that Murch received this award.

We have received Incentive Money in past years, so the MDT had discussed in February how it would use these resources, assuming we received the award again. These funds cannot be used for personnel. The bulk of these resources will be used for professional development to ensure the full implementation of Responsive Classroom throughout the school. Information on this program, which has already been adopted by the school, is at www.responsiveclassroom.com. Remaining funds will likely be used for technology -- either training, hardware & software, or a combination.

IV. Future MDT Meetings

The MDT will meet on Tuesday June 5th at 5:00 to arrive at a recommendation to the Principal on items II and III. The final decision will be the Principal's. We are also reserving time for a meeting on Tuesday June 11th at 4:30 in case we need it.

As always, please contact your Parent MDT representatives with questions or comments. The recent MDT election does not take effect until the 2007-08 school year, so your representatives continue to be:

Amanda Broun: arbroun@aol.com

Susan Banta: bantaberg@starpower.net

Pam Joos joos@wis.edu

Linda Singer lindajsinger@comcast.net

Thank you.

Submitted by Amanda Broun, MDT co-chair