BEA Superintendent's Update

At last night's Board of School Directors meeting, several facilities items were addressed. At Howard Elementary, new flooring will be installed in the main corridor to replace deteriorating tile. To ensure the safety of our students and staff, two trees will be removed at Howard Elementary. One of the trees is dead, and the other tree is partially dead. Any salvageable lumber from the trees will be donated to our Forestry program, and we intend to plant new trees when the students return this fall.

On Wednesday, we held a pre-bid meeting for our Forestry Building project. The project calls for a new building to be constructed to house our Forestry program. The current Forestry room will be converted into a new fitness center to benefit our students. The current weight room will be renovated into office space for our Special Education department, which has been housed in portable trailers behind the district office. We are encouraged by the number of contractors who attended the pre-bid meeting. The projected cost of the project is $3 million. Bids are due at 3:00 p.m. on July 25th, and will be opened at that time. We will have a clear answer on the dollar amount of the project on the 25th. The school board will likely schedule a special meeting the following week to approve bids if they are in favor of moving forward with the project. Thank you to Mr. Tobias and Mr. Small for their work on the project up to this point.

As part of my superintendent entry plan to learn about the school district, I am holding individual meetings with our school district leadership team, school board members, and district office personnel. I would like to extend this opportunity to our teachers, support staff, parents, and community members. The main focus of these meetings is to give you an opportunity to provide feedback as to what our district does well, what we need to improve, and any other information you would like to discuss. If you would like to schedule a meeting, please click the button below and complete the form. Mrs. Yoder will contact you to schedule a meeting time in the next few weeks.

Congratulations to Beth Keller and Megan Witherite, who have been hired as Para Educators.

Congratulations to Dr. Rebecca Kirby, who will serve as our new School Psychologist.

Kudos to the following teachers, who have earned tenure resulting from three years of satisfactory service:

Elementary:

Lucas Showers, Frances Shue, Alison Spayd, Chelsey Stauder, Mallory Ward & Lindsey Younkins

Secondary:

Seth Fluck, Heidi Ridgway, Zackary Spang

During last night's Board of School Directors meeting, a question was raised regarding our school district's bullying policy. The issue of bullying and cyberbullying is always at the forefront of our minds, as it is a consistent issue in schools, and one that can be difficult to resolve. For your reference, our bullying policy can be viewed by clicking the button below this paragraph. Here are some frequently asked questions:

Q: What should I do if my child is bullied?

A: REPORT the incident

Q: How can I report bullying / cyberbullying incidents?

A. Students can report incidents to a trusted adult at school (teacher, guidance counselor, principal, etc.) Parents can report to a teacher, guidance counselor, principal or assistant principal. Students or parents can report anonymously through the Safe2Say tipline (linked below). Incidents can be reported to our School Police Officers. For cyberbullying incidents, the more evidence you can gather, such as screenshots, the better we can address the situation.

Q: I reported an incident and I don't believe anything was done to address the incident. What should I do?

A: Contact the principal of your child's school to ask for an update.

Q: How will I know what happened to the perpetrator?

A: Due to laws regarding confidentiality, we can't provide details of what disciplinary measures were taken against the perpetrator of bullying. You can rest assured all incidents that are reported will be investigated and addressed.

If you are dissatisfied with how you believe a situation has been handled, please contact me via phone or email so we can resolve the issue. If there is a bullying situation taking place, our goal is to end it as soon as possible.