‘A juggling act.’ Bald Eagle Area adds head teachers as principals split schools
Every morning, Jason Bair waits outside Mountaintop Elementary to greet the 102 students filing in for the day. Then he may have administrative duties to help with, alongside his duties as a third grade teacher.
It’s part of a change that happened last month when Bair was appointed head teacher at one of the schools in the Bald Eagle Area School District that no longer has its own principal.
“It’s just when you teach it’s always a juggling act,” Bair said. “And so I just added a couple more things to juggle.”
Following the departure of principal MaryBeth Crago last month, the Bald Eagle Area School District has been splitting its two remaining elementary principals across four schools. James Orichosky is principal of Mountaintop and Wingate Elementary School, which is 11 miles away. Nevin “Skip” Pighetti is principal of Howard and Port Matilda elementary schools.
With principals taking on the additional responsibilities and duties of another school, the district and the teachers union looked for how to fill the administrative gaps.
The solution? Bringing back the head teacher position.
Head teachers serve as a contact point between administrators and staff for day-to-day tasks, helping find coverage for teachers, handling minor discipline issues and keeping the principal informed when outside the building.
“My main job is to make Mr. O’s life easier,” Bair said. “So I’m in constant communication with him. If something comes up, and I can handle it, I try to help him out by handling it. If it’s above what I know what to do, then I obviously will reach out to Mr. O. So they do put a lot of trust in the head teachers, but it’s not like I’m running the boat.”
Orichosky said the position not only provides support for him as a principal but also for the 18 other staff members at Mountaintop.
“When we put the head teachers back in place, it really raised my comfort level, knowing if I need to spend my day somewhere else because there are situations I need to handle, I know that the other schools are handled,” Orichosky said. “There’s a partner, there’s somebody that I know that understands what goes on.”
Split principals are not new to Bald Eagle Area. Prior to her departure, Crago was principal of both Howard and Mountaintop schools. But due to declining enrollment, the district decided to reshuffle its elementary administrators rather than hiring an additional principal. Superintendent Curtis Whitesel said the $120,000-135,000 that would go to a new principal’s salary will instead be used to increase paraprofessional and custodial wages.
“We just felt with declining enrollment, the need for an actual full-time administrator may or may not be necessary right now,” Whitesel said. “We have two strong leaders that we feel can cover the area and we put four strong people as head teachers that will handle mundane day to day stuff.”
Bair is one of four head teachers, alongside Ron Guenot at Wingate, Jalynn Woleslagle at Howard and Jennifer Gilbert at Port Matilda Elementary. Bald Eagle Area is the only Centre County school district that splits principals between schools.
Teachers with at least five years of experience within their building were invited to apply for the position at each Bald Eagle Area elementary school and will receive an extra $2,800 annually. Bair has been at Mountaintop for 24 years and was head teacher in the 2000s before the position was dissolved. He said his long-term experience at Mountaintop as both a third grade and former kindergarten teacher has given him the chance to get to know many of the students and families at Mountaintop.
“I’ve always learned that if you get the kids to have a relationship with you, then you can get the kids to do whatever you want,” Bair said. “So you’ve got to make those connections.”
