This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Easton School Board Odds and Ends

A board member resigns, two top administrators retire, and more.

The Easton Area School Board is looking to appoint a new member to represent Region III, after it officially accepted the resignation of member Sarah Bilotti Thursday evening.

Bilotti, a New Jersey school principal whose term runs through 2013, resigned for personal reasons, EASD board president Kerry Myers said. In an interview with the Express-Times earlier this month, Bilotti said she was stepping down because work and personal obligations conflicted with her ability to attend meetings.

Her resignation is effective immediately.

Find out what's happening in Eastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The board plans to publicly interview interested candidates at a special meeting on July 21 at 6:30 p.m.

The final appointee will serve until the first Monday in December, 2011. The replacement to serve the remainder of the term will be determined at the November election.

Find out what's happening in Eastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Region III Townships encompass Easton Wards 3, 6, 7 & 8 East, Forks, and Lower Mount Bethel.

The official ad to fill the vacancy and how interested parties may apply can be viewed here.

Two board administrators at the end of the 2010-11 school year.

Business Manager Marie Guidry and Assistant to the Superintendent Joseph Kish were both honored with a plaque commemorating their service to the district Thursday evening.

Superintendent Susan McGinley thanked them for their years of dedicated service.

School lunch will cost a nickel more for the 2011-12 school year, after the board moved to raise prices in accordance with the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.

The 5 cent increase is mandated as part of an effort to ensure “reimbursement received for free or reduced-price meals is not offsetting the cost to produce the paid meal,” according to a lengthy and complicated seven-page memo issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Education on the subject of the "USDA Fact Sheet - Equity in School Lunches."

The memo, issued in March earlier this year, attempts to clarify lunch program sponsors' responsibilities and the requirements for reimbursement.

The increase will raise the full school lunch price from $1.85 to $1.90 for grades K through 6. Grades 7 through 12 will pay $2.05, up from $2.

The district should not operate before- and after-school child care services, is the recommendation of a report commissioned by the board to investigate the feasibility of a districtwide program.

If it were to decide to offer such services, it should do so through a local already-established, licensed child care services and all should pay this district rent for the use of space to do so, Kish said.

Additionally, the need factor for each school should be assessed before any new programs are implemented.

For now, the programs in place at Forks and Tracy Elementary schools will stay for the coming school year.

But in the future, the programs may be re-evaluated, board members indicated.

“It's the schools' responsibility to educate the children, not take care of them before and after school,” said board member Millie Mandarino.

“We just faced a $14 million deficit, and we want to add a program for the convenience of a few. That's wrong,” Myers said said. “I don't feel like it's the district's or the taxpayers' responsibility.”

In favor of instituting a district-wide program, board member Kerri Leonard-Ellison said, “But it can't hurt to provide it.”

At Tracy and Forks, the district currently provides the facilities, utilities and all custodial maintenance to the care providers at no charge.

Tracy's program is run by Little People Country Club and Forks' by Forks-Lehigh Valley Children's Centers Inc. Both are listed as non-profits by the district, but their status with the state is unclear.

Taking over the programs and running them in-house would be prohibitively expensive, Kish said, noting the district would have to provide a teacher and an assistant at teacher union contract rates, likely in the $48,000 to $58,000 range just for the teacher.

It would also have to assume financial responsibility for liability insurance and supplies, all of which are currently paid for by the two companies currently running programs at Forks and Tracy.

The board's standing committee meetings will be suspended for the summer until September, when they will resume at their respective regular dates and times of the month.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?