Dr. Eric Briggs, Superintendent, reported on the following items:
• Earlier this week, the Department of Health made a plea to residents throughout the state to continue to use the resources that have been put in place by the department to help with the mitigation of COVID-19. As you are aware, the district continues to use the localized data to make decisions on the instructional model we use moving forward with the students in the Canton Area School District. The Pennsylvania Department of Education, over the past three weeks, has provided us with the dashboards to provide us with statewide and county wide data. We are constantly reading and analyzing this data each week and I also continue to meet with the superintendents of Bradford and Sullivan County to assist in decision making for our region.
• Currently, we have 51 students in the Warrior Academy at our high school. We continue to remind our students and families that we believe we are doing a great job with the practices we have in place to support a safe, sanitized learning environment.
• October was a very busy month at CHS with homecoming spirit week, homecoming parade, football games, volleyball games, cross country meets, band performances and multiple senior athlete recognition nights, just to name a few. We are glad to have had the opportunity to provide these experiences for our students in a time that uncertainty exists for any and all planned activities.
• Our National Honor Society induction is scheduled to be broadcast on 11/20/20 at 6 p.m. via our livestream area of our district website. We apologize but spectators will not be permitted into the auditorium for the ceremony.
• I would like to congratulate the following winners of the Voice of Democracy Essays. They won $500, $300, and $200 respectively from our local VFW and their essays: 1st place - Michael Skipper, 2nd place - Theresa Beers, and 3rd place William Gowin.
• We have completed our first book study of the year with seven teachers. The title of this book is “A Mind Shaped by Poverty: 10 Things Educators Should Know.” We will be starting a new book in a few weeks with a new group of teachers.
• Teachers are preparing for Parent - Teacher Conferences. They are taking place this Thursday and Friday. They are being offered in-person, via phone, and via ZOOM.
• 21 students returned to in-person instruction from the Warrior Academy for Marking Period 2.
This leaves us with 56 students in our Warrior Academy.
• CAES will be recognized for Tier 1 and Tier 2 PBIS programs at the state recognition conference this Friday morning. Congratulations to all the staff that made this possible.
• We have received a PBIS grant that will help us add supports for our PBIS Tier 2 program.
• Due to the school closure from March 13, 2020 to the end of the 2019/2020 school year, the students’ IEP goals/skills have been assessed to determine if there was a regression with aforementioned goals/skills. Remediation is taking place for students whose goals/skills have regressed. By December 2, 2020, another assessment will take place to determine if COVID Compensatory Services (CCS) are required. If the assessment indicates regression, continued remediation will occur during the school day until the skill is demonstrated. We have also reached out to last year’s graduates who were learning support students with a letter indicating that we would offer progress monitoring to determine IEP goals/skills regression. The parents were asked to contact the Support Services Office to set up appointments if the parent chooses the progress monitoring process.
• Mrs. Cindy Black, teacher of the Gifted, reports the following:
• 11 students are participating with Math Acceleration
• 11 students are participating with Curriculum Compaction
• Seven (9th to 12th) grade students are taking an online class in addition to their regular schedule. Some of these are AP or college level; therefore, this would also be considered Acceleration as well.
• Pull-Out Enrichment sessions for two hours each week take place for all Gifted Students in the area of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics in addition to creative thinking challenges.
Mr. Mark Jannone, Business Manager/Board Secretary, reported on the following:
• The district received a Lycoming County Grant in the amount of $16,000. Mr. Jannone took this time to thank the Lycoming County Commissioners for contributing to the school district.
• The Annual Financial Report has been submitted to the Department of Education.
• Offered that the district will provide Chromebooks to allow for virtual meetings and upcoming mandatory board trainings.
• Informed the board that the district is losing several hundreds of dollars per day due to the reduction of subsidy reimbursement for transportation and for food service for students who are attending virtual education.
• There is no student helper this year so, pending board approval, the district will employ Carter Nybeck for four hours per day.
• The district has, or is in the process of, deploying over 375 new technology devices.
An Executive Session was held prior to the Board Meeting, at 4:30 p.m., to discuss safety and personnel matters.
The next Board Meeting will be a virtual reorganization meeting to be held on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 5 p.m.