School Board Meeting Highlights
6-24-14
Agenda:
For a complete agenda, please visit us at:http://www.boarddocs.com/pa/parkland/Board.nsf/Public
All motions were approved.
Business Meeting
Student Recognition
Lehigh Career and Technical Institute – 1st and 2nd Place State Winners
Sandra Himes, Executive Director of LCTI, gave remarks about each student winners: Lehigh Career & Technical Institute State Winners : John Amato, Victoria Balkam, Michele Dengler, Michelle Farver, Dakota Fenstermaker, Cheyenne Fenstermaker, Gretchen Helfrich, Londynn Jones, Nathalie Lalande, Sara Landes, James Mellen, Yesha Nar, Casey Smith, Anthony Sorrentino, Sydney Stein, Olivia Szlasa, Tiffany Williams, Tyler Young, Maxxie Ziegler.
OMS History teacher Michael Messerschmidt recognized the following student winners from the National History Day state competition:
From OMS:
Group Website
Mandatory Vaccination: The Right to Choose Verses the Responsibility to Protect - Katie Kim, Emily Dale and Anne O'Connor (2nd Place)
From SMS:
Group Website
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1987 - Aryaman Khandelwal, Roy Ghosh, Vikram Pandian (1st Place)
Final General Fund Budget 2014-15
Mr. John Vignone reviewed the Final General Fund Budget which can be viewed here:
http://www.boarddocs.com/pa/parkland/Board.nsf/files/9LDJ694B9D37/$file/Budget%20for%202014-15%20(Internal).pdf
State Document – Parkland 2014-15 Final Budget Submission:
http://www.boarddocs.com/pa/parkland/Board.nsf/files/9LDM5656DDA8/$file/PDE%202028%20for%202014-2015%20Budget.pdf
Press Release: http://www.parklandsd.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Press-Release-Budget-Adoption-2014-FINAL.pdf
How Each Dollar Supports Programs in the Parkland School District for 2014-15 School Year: http://www.parklandsd.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/June-2014-final-budget.pdf
Roundtable
The Board commented on Jeff Emig’s retirement announcement noting his outstanding service and for always making the safety of our students his top priority. After the safety audit that was performed last winter, the Board questioned whether or not the school district could have a safety officer. Tony Naradko will learn Jeff’s job as well as oversee safety initiatives in the District over the next year. They also welcomed new Instructional Supervisor John T. Monahan who was in attendance.
The Board congratulated all of the students who were recognized this evening and the newly hired individuals. They also applauded the leadership for bringing forth a responsible budget for the good of the community. They did note that we continue to operate under “a new normal” since the recession hit in 2008. Mrs. Roberta Marcus stated that the budget process was a collaborative effort that included many updates from the Administration throughout the year and public board meeting presentations. She described the Board as a highly functional, focused, collaborative and collegial team who knows and understands their fiduciary responsibilities. She noted, “We are in this together and we make decisions together and I am happy that the budget was unanimously approved which is something to be proud of.” The Board thanked the Cabinet and especially John’s office who gave so much input to put together the best plan to move the students and district forward in a responsible manner.
Rich made mention that this meeting was Louise Fick’s last board meeting as she will retire at the end of the month. She received a standing ovation for her service.