John Baughman Tussey School Director

02/05/2024

Thank you to Ron Morgan for the special tribute to John. It was so uplifting to read his reflections when I opened my newspaper yesterday.

12/01/2023

Shared by Deb Baughman

Share memories & support the family

12/01/2023

Share memories & support the family

08/20/2018

School is starting up. Let’s keep our children safe!

12/03/2017

For most Tussey residents, the most important calendar item has been the opening of deer rifle season. This may be truer for men than women, although my wife hunts with me. Another less noticed, but important item on the calendar is the School Board reorganization meeting on December 6. New Board members will be sworn in and the Board’s officers will be selected. Because I won both Area III seats, a seat will be declared open. I won the four-year term vacated by Tom Arnold and my two-year term. As much as I enjoyed campaigning (that may sound weird) I will choose the four-year term. By going door to door, I met and got to know people I never would have had the pleasure of meeting.

How the vacant seat will be filled is still up in the air. That is up to the new Board. Whatever method is used, it will be a challenge, as the Board must advertise the position and the meeting where the selection will take place. The holidays crowd the calendar and the selection must take place within thirty (30) days of the vacancy. The thirty (30) day period is dictated by the school code.

What type of person do we need? The Board needs a mix of people with various types of knowledge, experience, good thinking and problem-solving skills, a primary interest in providing a quality education for our children, the ability to see beyond a special interest group’s or their own agenda, and the time and energy to do more than attend two meetings a month.

Is this REALLY important enough to compete with the attention given to Christmas, New Years and bowl games? After all, it is the running of a $17 million dollar business and the biggest employer in the Broad Top. Yes, the Tussey Mountain School District is a business. It is a business and needs to be run as a business, balanced with the understanding of how that service translates into the third most important experience of children’s lives. I place only family and faith ahead. Schools are a service business and so much more. A school should, at a minimum, be a place of learning, a place of nurturing, a place of social interaction and growth, a place of community identity, and sometimes a place of refuge. -John

11/26/2017

At the Board’s voting meetings, it may puzzle you why members vote the way they do. Often, there is no rationale given for a particular vote. You may be wondering about my vote about not renewing the position of head football coach. First, I moved to table the motion until next month. That failed because there was no second. On the vote to open the position, I was the sole “No” vote. Why was that? Doesn’t it make sense to “throw the bum out” after another losing season?

First, some background information I was surprised to learn, and you may not know:
• No TM coach has received any kind of evaluation, directives, or feed-back about their performance from their boss (the Board) or any other supervisor for several years. No improvement guidelines.
• There is an Athletic Committee, but its responsibilities are not outlined anywhere. In fact NONE of the Board’s committees have written charges. The Board’s athletic committee made no recommendation to the Board because it has not met.
• NO ONE is assigned the task of evaluating current coaches’ performance. There is nothing in District job descriptions or Board policies. The athletic director is tasked with supervising coaches regarding safety, interscholastic policies, procedures and rules of the PIAA but NOT performance. The AD’s job description says he is to evaluate coaching applicants, but not after they are hired.
• No one met with the coach in question prior to board action except to inform him on the day of the vote that the Board would be taking action that evening.
• There is nothing requiring the Board to take public action to advertise for the position of coach. Most districts simply inform a coach their contract will not be renewed and then advertise the position. To do otherwise, is public humiliation.

At the Board meeting on Monday night was the first time I heard about the football coach agenda item. My “No” vote was a protest to the lack of information available to make an informed decision and the failure of any kind of process for supervising our coaches. If the District had been doing their job and working with the football coach in previous seasons, and before and during this season to improve performance and convey expectations, would the season have been so dismal? The Board has to take responsibility for the District’s lack of supervision of coaches. In the end, if a coach can’t meet expectations, the Board has a responsibility to seek other applicants. Athletics should be a positive experience for both our students and their fans.

The coaches deserve better. Taxpayers deserve better. Our athletes deserve better. -John

11/23/2017

I hope all of our students and staff enjoy their Thanksgiving break and wish all our Tussey families some enjoyable time together. It is a time to remember all our blessings and be thankful. -John

11/19/2017

2017 has been a year of major change and decisions for the school district: building consolidation and the resulting changes to how we educate our students; a new superintendent; and replacing four out of nine school board members. I believe every challenge creates opportunity.

Decisions were made this year to avert the financial collapse of our school district, but that is only the beginning. We are not out of the woods, and serious work needs to be done with our budget over the next few years. For taxpayers to get the most from their education dollars, the Board MUST make sound and informed financial decisions. That takes work. The Board simply has to have a better financial plan. I have been dissecting each aspect of our budget. At our meeting tomorrow, I will propose transferring money between budget categories to reflect our actual spending. I find it hard to believe as 2017 nears its end, we are only two months away from the first state-mandated deadline for the 2018-19 General Fund Budget.

In addition to financial changes, we also have the opportunity, and the need, to reinforce and develop a high-quality education program. With a new superintendent at the helm, and with the ongoing commitment of our staff, we must do better for our students. We need to replace outdated materials (i.e., we need a new reading program), we need to improve our curriculum (i.e., realign and beef-up our math program K-12) and we need to improve our instructional delivery through differentiated supervision and peer mentoring. Leadership begins at the top, and our Board must have high expectations for ourselves, our superintendent, our administrators, our teachers, and our education support personnel. Our students are depending on us.

I am thankful for the strong support I received during the election from the voters in Area III. I will work diligently to earn the respect and trust of residents throughout the Tussey Mountain School District and will continue to share my thoughts with you through FB. I encourage two-way communication and also encourage you to attend monthly Board work sessions and general meetings. Not everything gets reported in the newspapers. Please stay informed. -John

11/08/2017

Thank you to all who voted for me today! I have all results except Saxton Borough (machine issues again!) and can announce I won both Board seats. I look forward to working hard for the next four years on your behalf. It is my honor to serve this community. -John

11/07/2017

It is ugly voting weather today! I am working to keep dry and drinking coffee at the polls. There are two people in Area III doing write-in campaigns, so turnout will matter today. I would appreciate your vote for both the 2 and 4 year seats.
Thank you. - John

Please share.

11/07/2017

I am asking you to vote for me TWICE again today. Once for the four year seat and once for the two year seat. If I win both seats, I will choose the four year seat and then a good community-minded person will be appointed to the two-year seat. Thank you for your help. -John