School board picks $$ advisor, assistant principal / By Martha Knight

Port Allegany school directors sandwiched a public meeting between two executive sessions, Monday night, and managed to arrive at several important, strategic decisions.

One decision saw the board agreeing to engage Public Financial Management, Inc. (also known as the PFM Group) as its financial advisor. The motion was added to the agenda after a presentation by Jamie Doyle, managing director of the firm.

Business manager Judy Bodamer urged the board to act at once on getting a financial advisor in place, so as to move forward with refinancing of some of the district’s debt. Doing so could result in substantial lowering of the district’s debt service costs, because of the low interest rates prevailing now, according to Jamie Doyle, managing director of PFC.

PFC has served the district in a number of borrowings and refinancing moves in the past.

The same motion named Rhoads & Sinon LLP bond counsel. They will work with the board’s solicitor, Christian T. Mattie III. There will be a “competitive interest auction with a recommendation to utilize the approach that produces the best economic benefit to the District.”

The motion specified a minimum net savings target of 2 percent. It was carried by the board with no negative votes. Rod Howard and Ingrid Lapp were absent.

A team of presenters from SmartEdge, an energy management company, outlined a guaranteed energy saving program to the board. The company, which serves a number of public school systems, in the area, including Bradford School District, proposes to oversee some upgrades in energy use and equipment, while saving the district money. No competitive bidding would be required, and there would be no change orders in the contract once the board approves a specific agreement.

There would be savings to the district, in the SmartEdge program, it was explained. In a harsh winter the savings would be greater than in a mild winter.

Superintendent Gary Buchsen also delivered an overview of the workings of the Pennsylvania Public Entity Energy Consortium (PPEEC). The alliance is modeled after a program in use in Michigan. There would be no fees to the district for PPEEC services, which would assist in the bulk purchases of fuel and electricity.

The PPEEC agreement will be studied by Mattie, who will advise the district as to the legalities. Bodamer said the district does bulk purchases of natural gas, at considerable savings. It is believed PPEEC would not restrict the district’s options to maintain agreements that have been useful.

The board voted unanimously to hire Erica Emmerick, of Austin, as assistant principal. Nineteen applicants had responded to advertising. The board had discussed the finalists and apparently reached consensus, in the executive session preceding the 7 p.m. public meeting. Emmerick’s salary will be $70,000, pro-rated to reflect a beginning date of September 22.

The assistant principal assists principals in both the elementary and the secondary schools, as needed.

Derrick Francis was appointed girls’ junior varsity basketball coach, on a split tally. Voting Yes were board president Dave Mensch, Jason Stake, Scott Moses and Mark Carlson. Dan Kysor and Dee Buchanan voted No, and Sean Lathrop abstained.

Discussion indicated that some board members would have liked to see more candidates considered, perhaps through advertising.

Buchsen explained that such supplemental positions usually are filled by posting vacancies to current district employees. If no qualified applicants step forward, such a position then would be advertised. The position pays $3,033, as established in the current professional agreement.

The board agreed to have Taylor & Armstrong seal cracks in the front parking lot of the school at a cost of $790. Buchsen acknowledged that the parking lot had been blacktopped only last year, but the harsh winter had brought damage. The contractor had provided a partial credit because of the cracks.

High school principal Marc Budd said the blacktop had been applied over cracked pavement. The project had not called for removal of the old surface. Board members agreed that not sealing the cracks invites further damage and more costly repairs.

The board approved a new contract with IU9 for provision of the Virtual Academy cyber school. Buchsen said about half a dozen Port Allegany students are enrolled in the program. The cost to the district was not stated.

Also approved was a motion directing Buchsen to cast the board’s single vote for Kathy Swope as president of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, with fellow officers to be Mark Miller as vice president, Otto Voit III as treasurer and David Hutchinson as at-large representative.

The board met in another executive session, said to be about personal matters, after the public meeting. Its next regularly scheduled meeting will be at 7 p.m. October 13, in the high school library.