Spring Ford Area School District: The Business of Educating
Corporate Spotlight
Written by Meghan Flynn   
Thursday, 01 May 2008
Spring Ford Area School District: The Business of Educating-American Executive - RedCoat Publishing
This school district handles extraordinary growth with a collaborative environment and detailed planning.
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Since 2003, the number of students in the Spring Ford Area School District has grown by about 300 every year, and the district projects it will grow from 7,600 students this year to 10,000 by 2013. This fantastic leap will test the limits of the district’s formidable ability to plan and adapt.

“I say that this growth is a mixed blessing because the challenges it presents are positive. I’d much rather be the superintendent of a district that is growing than one that is not,” said Dr. Marsha Hurda, superintendent.

Spring Ford Area School District: The Business of Educating-American Executive - RedCoat Publishing
Dr. Marsha Hurda, Superintendent
The Spring Ford district encompasses a once-rural region between Philadelphia and Allentown, Pa. that has proven to be a prime location for business. Currently housed within the district are two major pharmaceutical companies, a power plant, and the newest addition, a 150-store premium outlet mall. Combine that with solidly performing schools and an excellent housing market, and the area became a magnet for new residents, mostly young families.

The surge changed the region’s dynamic considerably, making it a suburb of Philadelphia with a suddenly large number of five-, six-, and seven-year-olds who strained the district’s resources.

Luckily, the leadership of the district knew what they were doing. “In our planning, we’ve been looking 10, 15 years down the road. We have been able to put money away and accommodate many of the changes we’ve experienced without having to blindside our taxpayers,” said Hurda.

This is critical because a recent state law, known as Act One or the Pennsylvania Taxpayer Relief Act, prohibits school districts from raising taxes higher than the yearly cost of living index without approval from the residents in the form of a referendum.

So far, Spring Ford has been able to avoid that while still improving service to its families. In the past 10 years, the district has commissioned eight construction projects, four of them the construction of new buildings. The most recent addition to the district’s facilities was an 850-student capacity elementary school. Its opening resulted in a large-scale redistricting of elementary school-aged children. To meet demand, the district has increased its teaching staff by 50% in the last five years.

Furthermore, in the last two years, the district has initiated two new programs. The first, Connect-ED, is a notification system that enables Hurda to call and e-mail all the parents in the district within approximately 10 minutes of an emergency, or to simply cancel school as a result of inclement weather. The second is Skyward, a new software application for the district that integrates everything from payroll to each teacher’s electronic grade book.

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Each of these programs has worked well and received high praise from both staff and parents, reported Hurda proudly, adding that Spring Ford hasn’t missed a beat in the meantime.

“We have created an environment where everyone is engaged,” she explained. “We are transparent, we share information with all our employees and our community, we are available to ask questions, and we always tell the truth.”

Spring Ford uses a variety of tools to maintain this collaborative atmosphere. Hurda has a monthly television show on the local cable channel and posted on the district Web site, giving her a platform to answer questions parents have written and to talk about any upcoming projects in the district. Each month, she holds a superintendent advisory meeting where residents can voice their questions or concerns in person.

Hurda emphasized the importance of maintaining personal relationships with district employees and the lengths Spring Ford has gone to attract and retain teachers. The district has a three-year professional development program, as opposed to the state-mandated one year of teacher induction, and has recently improved its retirement incentive for long-time teachers in the district.

“While we do offer a competitive salary, Spring Ford is not the highest paying district in the region by any means,” said Hurda. “But people come here and stay here because they like being a part of our team.”

Since Hurda became the district’s superintendent three years ago, the average years of experience of its teachers has risen from seven to 10.5 years, which means Spring Ford teachers are liking what they’ve found and staying around. And in the 2006/07 academic year, the district met all of the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Adequate Yearly Progress objectives.

Hurda attributes the district’s success to the district-wide attitude the staff has in delivering quality education. “Today people buy a house and invest in not only that property, but also the school district,” she said. “Our parents are buying our education system, and we want to make sure it is a good one.”
 
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