July 2012 Notes From The Wicomico County Board Of Education

Board Notes provide an unofficial summary of business conducted at recent meetings of the Wicomico County Board of Education. The Board of Education at its monthly meeting held on July 10, 2012:

Board Reorganization

Conducted its annual reorganization, re-electing Ron Willey as President and Dr. Tyrone A. Chase as Vice President. Willey thanked Board members for their confidence in his leadership, and pledged to serve with a continued desire to have the school system build strong, cooperative relationships with the Wicomico County Council, County Executive and others involved with supporting public education. “We can accomplish much more if we join hands than we can by pointing fingers,” he said. The Board will continue to be open and transparent in its budget process, with more information than ever before available online to the public. The Board and Superintendent welcome questions, comments and concerns at any time.

Administrative Appointments

Appointed Lavion Bratten as Assistant Principal for Wicomico High School, Courtney Lewis as Assistant Principal for James M. Bennett High School, and Thomas Ferretti as Instructional Data Analyst, effective immediately.

As part of the approved budget for Fiscal Year 2013, the Board approved converting one of two Dean of Students position at Wicomico High and JMB to an Assistant Principal position, to better serve each school’s needs for administrative duties including the new evaluations that will be required under Race to the Top. All three city high schools now have the same administrative structure of a Principal, three Assistant Principals, and one Dean of Students.

Bratten had been serving as a Dean of Students at Wicomico High School. She had been part of the Wicomico High team since 2005, serving as senior class advisor, Instructional Leadership Team member, MDS3 team administrator and Professional Learning Community leader. She served on a Maryland State Department of Education team to help revise the Business Education curriculum. Bratten earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Education from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and master’s degrees from Walden University (Middle Level Math & Language Arts Concentration) and Wilmington University (School Leadership).

Lewis had been serving as a physical education and health teacher at Parkside High School, where since 2003 she has been a physical education teacher, athletic trainer and health teacher. She has conducted annual coaches’ clinics for the school system, worked with university interns, served on the Instructional Leadership Team, and was the professional development coordinator working with UMES and Salisbury University. Lewis earned a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and Athletic Training and certification in Administration from Salisbury University, and a master’s degree in Health Education from the University of South Carolina.

Ferretti holds a bachelor’s degree in Financial Economics from Binghamton University, and master’s degrees in Teaching in Adolescent Education in Mathematics from Stony Brook University and in Applied Mathematics from Delaware State University. He has taught high school mathematics and engineering, and most recently served as a research assistant at Delaware State University, with responsibilities that included teaching undergraduates. He is the author of “Descriptors of Topographical Depressions: A Dimension Reducing Approach.” His research work, involving extensive use of statistics and data analysis, makes him well suited to fulfilling the duties of Instructional Data Analyst for Wicomico Schools.

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