During the regular August 18 meeting of the Troy School Board, the topic of General Obligation Bonds was discussed with Les Bear, representing Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated. There is an additional article in this edition of the paper. These reports were given: Pennsylvania School Boards Association - Bill Brasington reminded all board members to attend the PA School Board Association's Conference. He liked what they talk about and said he was very impressed with the speakers and the seminars. Primary School Report - Steve Brion, said that the staff was in and very excited about the school year and the new programs which will be instituted. Kindergarten orientation was August 20. Intermediate School Report - Mary Abreu noted that "We have a good first day. Building is prepared and getting cleaned up. Final cleaning take place." Junior/Senior High School Report - Principal Sue Shipman noted that they recently held an iPad orientation where almost the entire student body and their parents were in attendance. She said that the students were very excited about using their iPad. |
The professional employees represented by the Troy Area Education Association (TAEA) voted on Wednesday, August 19th to give their leadership the ability to call for a work stoppage beginning whenever the bargaining team deems it proper. Rick Bowers, TAEA President, said “A strike is absolutely the last thing we want to do. We’ve been bargaining for two and a half years. We have agreed to concessions. We agreed to a neutral fact finder’s report even though it included more concessions. Unfortunately, no matter how much we concede the District seems to want more.”
Entire School Eligible for Free Meals The Canton Area School District Board of Education held its August meeting with President Jared Wilcox and Directors Judy Sourbeer, Dennis Sourbeer, Bill Holland, Melony Taylor, Mike Herman, Eric Anderson and Ryan Allen; Superintendent Matt Gordon, Elementary Principal John Rimmer, High School Principal Craig Coleman, Business Manager Mark Jannone, Special Education Supervisor Dan Coran, Food Services Director Shawna Lee and Solicitor Dick Sheetz. There was an audience of seven.
The minutes of the June meeting were approved. Under Administrators' Reports, Superintendent Matt Gordon reported that “The campus of Canton is busy again...the staff has done a fantastic job over the summer. The principals and support staff have done a remarkable job of gearing up for the school year.” He said that the high school was the site for three days of BLaST IU 17 training. Schedules for the faculty in-service days have been sent out. Mr. Gordon briefly discussed the state budget situation. “We are in day 43 for the budget stalemate,” he said. “The Governor and the legislature are at odds. The Governor is holding out for his education budget. There has been some movement in pension reform, but [a resolution] is a long way out.” Mr. Gordon said “there is an outcry over the PSSA data.” He said the assessments were more rigorous and the score thresholds were raised and some standards moved. He said “What was the sixth grade [threshold] now is fourth grade.” Mr. Gordon likened the shifting standards to target shooting. “We were sighted in for 100 yards and they moved the target to 500 yards, and we missed.” He added that Lancaster County Schools that had scored in to 90s now were in the 40s. “No gaps were closed. There is work to be done – absolutely, but we have a mechanism for improvement” he said. He repeated what he had told the board in June: “Our kids were better prepared and the teachers did a better job than ever.” He said, statewide, “No one stayed the same, some benchmarks went down by 10 to 30 points. “We’ve got to start from scratch, go back to the drawing board, and get everything dialed back in.” At the regular Troy School Board meeting held August 11 the board approved the following:
Resignations: Ricky J. Cordingly, Casual Custodian at TIS Dorothy MacClaren Casual Custodian at WRC Sarah Brown, Science Teacher at JSHS Brianna Erdmann was hired as a Music teacher. Support staff employment: Jennifer Chamberlain, 10 month casual Food Service Assistant. Jessica Pepper, Category 2 Secretary at JSHS. |
School Board NewsFind quick links below to jump to articles by date or school. Archives
July 2022
Categories |