Video Description:

In the blue background on the left side of the brief animation of the motion of PSD logo of yellow hands open with white roof and columns, yellow roof and door come out. On the right side, the Yellow lettering of “PB’s Corner July 2022”

Blue mat padding background. Peter  wears a blue polo shirt. He is standing by the front of the PSD podium. There is a PSD logo on the bottom right corner: a Blue and yellow PSD logo with 50% opacity.

Hello everyone. This is the update for July. We are starting a new fiscal year and a new school year. Financially speaking, that new year starts July 1st. The new school year is, of course, this fall. Last month there was some information shared about the board’s plans for my replacement. Since then there has been an update. The board has made the announcement that they have selected Melissa Draganac-Hawk to be appointed as the Interim Head of School starting July 1, 2023. The reason for a two-year term for that appointment is to give one year for either Melissa to decide it is not a good fit for her, or for the board to decide they want to make some changes. That would allow for a second year to conduct a search if needed. I am hoping, personally, that that won’t be needed and after Interim melissa will stay on as a permanent Head of School. There are also some implications on the process for the coming year and the transition. I think we have a good plan in place. Melissa will start as Interim Head of School on July 1, 2023. In the meantime I have appointed her as Interim Associate Head of School for this year. This is to allow her to take on some responsibilities and begin that transition. Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion), as well as Operations will now report to Melissa. I will continue supporting IA, HR and the Finance department. That means fundraising, new buildings and all of those projects will be under me. Melissa and I will work closely together. I anticipate in the middle of the school year that the rest of those departments will report to Melissa instead of reporting directly to me. This way we can continue that transition for her to take on supporting them all. Some people have been asking about the fact that the position was never posted. That has a lot to do with the Board’s process. They talked with different search firms and, in looking at the situation nationally with many vacancies for Heads of School, they determined there was not a reason to look externally when we have Melissa here. She is committed, a hard worker, familiar with my work, familiar with the school. I am thrilled they have selected her for this position. She and I have worked together for the last 6 years and in our 7th year together I am confident that she will take on this leadership role and continue the excellence of the school.

I also want to talk about what that means for the school year. There are several staff positions that are changing as well as new appointments in other positions of leadership. Rather than sharing them one at a time I will announce all of those together in my next update for you. It is a very exciting time and will be an exciting school year. It is sad for me, personally, because I do have to move on. It is a bit hard but I know that it is part of the journey and I will be moving on to my next chapter. Melissa will do a great job and continue with the school’s work. See you next month.

End with a blue background. Top PSD logo of yellow hands open with white roof and columns, yellow roof and door. White Lettering “Pennsylvania School for the Deaf”

Four social media outlet logos on the bottom of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube logos. Yellow lettering “@psd1820”