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Superintendent's Message
Dr. Steven Lowder, Superintendent Hello Everyone, Welcome back! It's been an exciting and busy summer. I hope that you had time to rest and recharge your batteries. While the weather belies a traditional fall start of school, it is always an exciting time when our students return! Our M&O staff has done an amazing job of getting ready for your return. Top priorities included cleaning, checking HVAC systems and remodeling at the Santa Fe site. Our Bond dollars are at work and due to great pricing on bids, Hemet High School's performing arts theater is well under way. This is a project that was financially out of reach just two years ago. I would like to let you know about some other exciting news, where we have been and where we are going this year. The good news is that we are staying the course with a district-wide focus on student learning! Our budget could be better but it is stable due in large part to staff planning, concessions made by employees, and the oversight of our dedicated Board. I am pleased to tell you that every classroom teacher who was laid off in the past two years has been offered a teaching position back in the District. We were able to restore two working days for our teachers, management team, and confidential employees. The classified staff will NOT have a salary reduction of .62% that was part of their contract for this year. Just to be clear, teachers and management will receive additional pay for the two work days and it will be distributed over the year. If the budget is as strong as Sacramento's projections, we will talk about adding additional working days during negotiations in January. At our school sites, we will continue to develop our focus on student achievement data and the implementation of data teams via the development of Professional Learning Communities. Last year we adopted the web-based Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment and this year site staff will develop Common Formative Assessments (CFA's) which will help benchmark student progress against State standards while keeping an eye on the pending Common Core Standards. I am excited and pleased to report that all of our K-5 classrooms have an additional seven computers housed in a lockable storage cart with wireless internet. Students will be able to access the new web-based Compass Learning Odyssey system that works with the MAP assessments. Every eight weeks our students will be tested and new information downloaded to the Compass Learning site and a newly diagnosed set of lessons will be prepared for each student. These computers are for connecting to the Compass Learning program and later possibly to the Mind Institute program, a program to develop understanding of math concepts. These computers will not be used for general word processing, etc. MOST importantly, you should know that the money used for the programs and hardware came from categorical funds and could not have been used to return working days or staff who have been furloughed. These are difficult and uncertain times, but with uncertainty comes an unparalleled opportunity to make significant positive changes in our profession! Clearly, we are lucky to be in education at this time. We will be able to say that we were a part of the great change. I am pleased to be associated with you, a group of highly skilled and dedicated professionals. Sincerely Steven A. Lowder, Ed.D. Superintendent, Hemet USD
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Governing Board Meeting Summary
February 7, 2012 (must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view)
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Superintendent's Office Contact Information
Hemet Unified School District Office 1791 W. Acacia Avenue Hemet, CA 92545		Fax Number: 951-765-5115
Name	Position	Extension
Steven Lowder, EdD	Superintendent	1000
Karen Ashman	Executive Assistant	1001
Stephanie Harmon	Confidential Secretary	1002
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HUSD's Superintendent