USD 496
PAWNEE COUNTY
SOURCE
Leadership changes at Pawnee Heights
PAWNEE HEIGHTS USD 496 100 W. Grand, Rozel, KS 67574 620-527-4212 www.phtigers.net Pawnee Heights USD 496 in Rozel and Burdett has a tradition of excellence. A low student to teacher ratio (7 to 1) provides for more one-on-one instructional opportunities in the classroom. The staff encourages academic excellence in the classroom and good sportsmanship in extracurricular activities. The Kansas State Department of Education’s 2019-2020 accountability report notes that the district received Kansans Can Star Recognition at the bronze level for high school graduation and for ensuring that students are academically prepared for postsecondary education.
Brian Spencer, Superintendent Renee Buntain K-6 Principal Mark Pywell, 7-12 Principal Phil Martin, Attorney Traci Nuckolls, Board Clerk The Board of Education meets at the district office. Board of Education: Candi Polson, President; Laurie Josefiak, Cindy Colglazier, Carrie Reece, Tracy Hands, Jeff Holste, Kelcee Pelton
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awnee Heights USD 496 started the 2021-22 school year with a new superintendent of schools and a new principal for the K-6 elementary grades. The new superintendent will work half-time and the new principal at the elementary level will fill a position that last year was accomplished on a part-time basis. The new superintendent, Brian Spencer, brings 19 years of experience as a superintendent to the job. He retired in 2020, but after a year of trying other things, found that he missed the school experiences and decided to work again on a parttime or temporary basis. That level of participation was exactly what the Board of Education at Pawnee Heights was wanting and needing. Previous to his retirement, Spencer was the superintendent at Central Heights
USD 288 in Richmond for five years and before that was the superintendent for 11 years at Lyndon. Spencer plans to spend Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the District Office in Rozel but admits, “This whole thing is changeable. We are changing the model of how things have been done but we are open to changing to what is needed at the time.” He also stated, “of course, things come up and I will have to adjust to what is needed but we all learned over the past couple of years, due to COVID, that a lot can be accomplished with Zoom meetings and other remote methods.” The new principal of the K-6 elementary is Renee Buntain of Great Bend. She comes to Pawnee Heights with 31 years of experience in the education field, most of it in the elementary levels. For the past two years she worked for the Kansas Department of Education, serving western Kansas in MTSS Literacy training. She has a Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction. These changes at Pawnee Heights will make the education process more “kid focused,” Spencer said. “We are excited about these new things for Pawnee Heights and look forward to a great year.”
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