Schools

Reorganization for Perkiomen Valley School Board

Presentations, discussions during following work session.

A new face joined the table, a familiar one had departed and the current president and vice president will continue in those positions on the Perkiomen Valley School Board.

Director of Finance Amy Hurd swore in the re-elected and newly elected board members – Gerry Barnefiher, David Warren, Diane Landes, Capt. Sam Schweigert and Ann Mantey. Board member Bonnie Neiman has stepped down.

The board re-elected Lynn Bigelow and Lori Snyder to the president and vice president positions, respectively.

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Bigelow said it was “an honor to be in this position; I appreciate and am humbled by show of support, but it’s a team of 10.”
A number of challenges have come forward within the last year, and the board has faced them with integrity and resolve, he said.

“What Lynn said,” Snyder joked as she started her remarks. “I am very, very proud of this board and the way they work together to solve problems.”

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Work session:
• Department Chair for Vince Quintageli for Tech/Engineering Education presented the middle school and high school curricula. Quintageli explained the general education courses offered at the middle school level, and the more specialized high school electives, including Project Lead the Way. At a future meeting the board will vote on whether or not to approve the curricula.

• Next week, the board will vote on the purchase of a 1999 truck at $30,000. Business administrator Jim Weaver said the truck’s engine has been rebuilt, and it was “the best we could find” within the requirements.

• The board discussed Policy 009, which is within the first reading of policies. At Snyder’s request, it will be withheld from the business meeting’s consent agenda.
The policy would change the review cycle from every three years to six years.
“I’m leery that’s too long of a cycle to not look at the policies. I think there’s an urgency to catch up on policies we’re behind on,” he said.
Bigelow said there is no requirement for the time in between review cycles, and Snyder said that three was an “arbitrary” number set 15 years ago.
Now, with the furious pace of changes that can crop up – in areas such as technology -- “we want to give enough time to review to things that don’t require change, as well as those that need to be addressed immediately,” Snyder said.
Thanks to communications from the Pennsylvania School Board Association, Randy Bennett said it can immediately come to the board’s attention if a law or court decision affects a policy; it won’t necessarily be neglected five years.

 

 

 

 


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