NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. by: John Gerow (RVO) – By unanimous vote, the Redbank Valley School Board re-elected Dr. Chad Shaffer and Mr. Bill Reddinger as President and Vice President for 2019. The brief re-organizational meeting took place before the Board’s regular monthly meeting on Monday evening, December 3. More than a dozen teachers and community members attended the meeting. Ms. Carrie McIntire brought about 20 members of the Junior and Senior Choir and Chorus to perform several songs from their upcoming concert scheduled for December 18 at 7 PM at the high school. The girls’ rendition of “Mary Did You Know” was powerfully moving. Ms. McIntire and the young ladies are to be complimented for the performance.

Title I Reading Teachers Carrie Darr and Cassandra Faulk gave a “mini-burst” presentation on the Wilson Fundations phonics reading program that they are using in K-3 with Title I students. The teachers gave a very thorough explanation of the program and how it teaches reading through a multi-modal approach using sound and sight to reinforce the learning. They report that they are having good success and that much of what they are doing in the Fundations program will become part of the reading and language teaching in the future.

Primary and Intermediate Principal Cheryl McCauley reported to the Board on the successful Parent-Teacher conferences that have just concluded. She said that she was very pleased with the number of parents that took time to meet with teachers. In a continuing effort to get parents and families involved in the schools, Mrs. McCauley told the Board that she and her staff are planning several “Family Nights” at both the elementary and intermediate schools. “Family Movie Night” at the elementary school in November was a great success with 52 students and their parents attending. The intermediate school’s movie was canceled due to ice, but there are more events being planned. On Tuesday evening December 4 there will be a “Family Story Time” at the elementary school beginning at 6 PM and on Thursday, December 6, the intermediate school will host a “Family Board Game Night” beginning at 5:30 PM. Mrs. McCauley also reported that she was asking the Board to acknowledge Tammi Starcher as elementary school “Teacher of the Month” and Julie Veronesi as the intermediate school “Teacher of the Month”.

High school principal Amy Rupp reported that the high school has been approved to receive a $25,000 grant for school safety and security. The grant money is to be applied to the school security officers. She said that there is a second part to the grant that will be awarded after the first of the year. That funding, if received could be applied to paying for the security cameras in the school buildings. Mrs. Rupp asked that the Board acknowledge Ms. Kelley Ripple, Learning Support Teacher, as the high school’s “Teacher of the Month.”

Superintendent John Mastillo reported that he has prepared a “budget planning” timeline for board members as they begin the budget process for the 2019 -2020 school year. This timeline will ensure that the various deadlines in the budgeting process are met. Dr. Mastillo also said that he has learned that department heads and others who have made budget requests in the past have not known which of their requests were approved and which were not approved, leading to confusion at best, and overspending at worst. He told the Board that there would be an orderly feedback process for every budget request, which should avoid confusion and perhaps help control spending.

A significant portion of the evening was taken with the Finance Committee’s report and subsequent discussions. Committee Chairman Darren Bain reported that the committee has completed reviewing income and expenses at the category level and have prepared a 5-year revenue and spending “synopsis”. Their estimates project that the district’s Fund Balance will be completely depleted by the 2022 – 2023 school year, without major changes in both revenue and spending. One of the initial savings suggestions that the committee brought forth, and which was approved as a motion later in the meeting, give the Superintendent complete discretion to approve or deny any spending requests, whether specifically budgeted or not. This discretionary authority may help save significant money between now and the end of fiscal year 2019. Mr. Bain went on to say that the “elephant in the room” has to be addressed and that even maximizing potential revenues, the numbers do not support a continued 2.9% annual increase in wages. With more than 70% of the district’s budget being wages and benefits, it is hard to see balancing the budget without some flexibility in labor expenses.

Jason Barnett went on to explain that the spending that the committee projected was based on actual historical spending trends. He said that the committee, and the Board, needs to look at category and itemized expenses to see if the trends reflect need or poor spending choices. Dr. Chad Shaffer asked Mr. Barnett what he saw as the future of the Finance Committee. Mr. Barnett replied that he hoped that the committee could learn more about the historic spending and developing more thorough “what if” scenarios for evaluating proposed changes in spending or revenue.

In other matters, the Board approved a motion to contract with the New Bethlehem Police Department for traffic control assistance at the end of the school day. The contract calls for ½ of assistance to be billed at the rate of $30/hour. Darren Bain and Dee Bell voted against the motion.

The members of the Board also soundly defeated a motion to have the district develop a Narcan overdose treatment policy. Members of the Board expressed various reasons for their opposition to such a plan. Member Carrie Adams, who is a nurse, said that administering the Naloxone is just a part of dealing with an opioid overdose. Her concern is that school staff is not trained to deal with the secondary complications that can occur as a patient responds to the Naloxone. Dr. Donald Nair said that in his research, opioid use and overdosing is not a problem school-age children. Jason Barnett said that he thinks that “we are expecting too much from our schools”. He said that we need to focus on the things that we can do and not try to be everything to everybody all of the time. Board member Darren Bain said that “it (opioid abuse) is here and now and someone that we know.” Dr. Shaffer spoke in favor of the motion suggesting that even if one life is saved, all of the aggravation will be worth it. The motion was voted down with only Shaffer and Bain voting in favor.

Wrapping up the meeting, the Board formally accepted the resignation of Mr. Ed Wasilowski as Head Football Coach. They also approved posting for the Head Coach position. On the topic of resignations, the Board passed a motion giving the Superintendent the authority to accept resignations and to post and advertise anticipated job openings. Resignations would be formally accepted at the next Board meeting.

The Board voted to approve Doug Songer and Mitch Blose as volunteer Wrestling Coaches. They voted to add Mary Margaret Semmler and Virginia Zimmerman to the list of bus/van drivers. The Board also approved hiring Brandon Bailey as Junior High Assistant Wrestling Coach at $2,422.50 for the season.

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ABOUT:
Redbank Valley School District provides education services for the 165 square mile area of New Bethlehem and Hawthorn boroughs, and the townships of Mahoning, Madison, Porter, and Redbank of both Clarion and Armstrong counties.

MEETINGS:
The Redbank Valley School Board meetings the first Monday of every month at 7pm at the High School Library.

CONTACT:
For more information about the Redbank Valley School District, please call 814.275.2426 or visit RedbankValley.org/pg/biz/redbank-valley-school-district