School board hires teachers, hears reports / By Martha Knight

The Port Allegany School Board held its first “regular” business meeting since June 9, Monday night (Aug. 11), and its first in the junior-senior high school in many years. A committee-of-the-whole meeting and two special meetings had been held during the summer break.

The board, short three members, made a number of decisions in preparation for the new school year.

Penny Amacher was hired as a high school English teacher, and a high school mathematics teacher position was filled by hiring Vince Berrettini. Each will receive a salary of $40,451, based on their Step I status on the salary scale.

Continuing as volunteer coaches and advisors will be Scott Bowser, Gair Terrette, Matthew Burr, and Kaci Daniels, for volleyball; Scott Johnson and Derrick Francis for basketball; Patricia Babcock as a volunteer cheerleader advisor; Christopher Ernst for golf; and Sarah Lindsay for color guard.

The board approved the addition of Kyley Mickle as a volunteer basketball coach and Ben Osani as a volunteer soccer coach.

Food service decisions saw the board approving cafeteria bids and authorizing meal price increases.

Business manager and food service coordinator Judy Bodamer recommended Schneider Valley Farms Dairy as the milk provider, and Bimbo Bakeries USA for bread. The board concurred.

The cafeterias will be paying about 11 percent more for foods this year, Bodamer explained. She outlined the analyses of costs and pricing required by the federal government of school systems that participate in the free and reduced price meal programs, and meal price increases.

The board followed Bodamer’s recommendations by raising breakfast prices five cents each, bringing them to $1.05 in the elementary school cafeteria and $1.15 in the secondary school. Lunch prices will go up 10 cents, to $1.70 and $1.80. Adult lunch prices will increase 10 cents as well, to $2.75.

The board voted to renew its contract for KTO (Keystones to Opportunity) Services, with IU9 to provide staff training at a rate of $125 per module, the same rate as has applied in the past. Superintendent Gary Buchsen pointed out that most staff members already have received the training, which is required in connection with the grant-funded program.

Buchsen said the administration has just received news of the approval of an entrepreneurship training grant from the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development agency. As applied for by high school social studies teacher Aaron Clark, and approved by the agency, the grant will provide $5,000 for start-up costs, $1,000 for field trips, $1,000 as a stipend for the teacher, and $200 for a scholarship for one student participant.

Elementary principal Tracy Kio briefed the board on “raw numbers” data from the latest round of Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA)  testing. More detailed scores will be provided to the district later.

The preliminary numbers show a drop of nine points in the percentage of elementary students who are adjudged proficient or advanced in math, and seven percentage points in those proficient or advanced in reading.

Kio said the preliminary numbers tend to be lower than those based on the more detailed analyses that will be received later. Growth from year to year is now seen as more significant then achievement levels, Kio explained.

Buchsen said that No Child Left Behind, when adopted, called for 100 percent of students to be proficient in reading and math by 2014. “That went by the wayside,” he added.

In his regular update to the board Buchsen outlined facilities improvements, including the creation of a soccer field at Moose Park, and removal of gravel from the area in front of the bleachers at Gator Field.

Buchsen also mentioned a plan to give teachers more collaboration and planning time by using substitutes once a month to give grade teams a change to meet half a day.

The board approved renewal of a purchase-of-service agreement with Beacon Light Behavioral Health Systems, Bradford, whereby the corporation will continue to provide alternative education services in the 2014-15 school term. It will charge daily rates of $105.43 for education of disruptive youth, $133.34 for special education, $159.21 for life skills, and $215.45 for autism classroom.

Also approved were bus routes and bus driver lists as presented by Muccio Transportation.

The board named Scott Moses chairman pro tem, in the absence of president Dave Mensch and vice president Denise Buchanan. Also absent was Dan Kysor.

Moses mentioned highlights of the state legislative material he monitors, with the most prominent topics being pension reform, health care coverage costs and charter schools. “we need to get a little more vocal” about those issues, Moses suggested.

The board held an executive session following the public meeting, “to discuss personnel and Act 93.”

The next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m., August 25, in the junior-senior high school library.