April 16, 2018 – School Board Meeting
Community Concerns
The School Board membership stands at 8. No announcement for when the court might choose a replacement for Linda MacDonald.
Crystal Mulada announced that she is working with a lawyer to come up with a contract to ensure the Bushkill Firehouse will host the polling place for at least 10 years. Once she has that she plans to take it to the Election’s Board. No comment from Dr. Riker about what the school district will do about voting at Kenneth Butz Elementary on May 15th. The primary election is less than a month away.
Student Achievement
Lois Helmick, a first grader at Butz Elementary, won the School Board Art Award. Her drawing will be displayed in the hallway at the administrative building.
Mrs. Silimperi’s class from Shafer Elementary were recognized for their writing opportunity.
Intermediate School students were recognized for their achievements in the Spelling Bee, Odyssey of the Mind, the Regional Computer Fair and the Regional STEM Design Challenge. Six students who participated in the Math Con will be traveling to Chicago to compete on the national level.
Aiden Koch from Troop 74 plans on doing his Eagle Project in the Environmental Center behind Butz Elementary. He plans on installing 15 signs with QR codes which can be scanned by people as they ride by on the train.
School Budget
The board voted 5 to 1 (Stubitz voted no) to adopt the proposed final annual budget for 7/1/18 – 6/30/19. Board members Glaros and Mammana were absent. The budget has an increase of 4.50% over the current budget with an increase in real estate taxes of 2.35%. (The increase allowed under ACT I is 2.4%)
Financial Director Whiteleather explained that increases are due to the rising costs of health coverage and the fact that the Dept. of Education will stop calculating tuition rates for charter schools. Charter schools are trying to include federal expenditures in their rates–something which was previously excluded from the calculation.
The board will take the final vote on the budget on May 21st.
Agenda Items
Items V, VII & IX passed. Kenneth Butz was appointed to serve as the representative on the Intermediate Unit Board of Directors. You can find a link to the agenda here: https://www.nazarethasd.k12.pa.us/Page/1024
Becky Bartlett covers these meetings because citizens have a right to know what their government is doing.
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