RIMERSBURG, Pa. (EYT) — As the Union School District prepares for the August 30 opening of the 2017-18 school year, various personnel changes and contracts were approved, but one thing remained the same at the August 8 meeting of the Union School Board.

All three schools will be operating for the same grades as last year.

“The district took board action this evening for the district for the grade configurations to remain the same for the 2017-18 school year,” said Superintendent Jean McCleary.

“There were some financial concerns about adding modulars at approximately $1.5 million, and the board did not feel like investing that type of money for modular units.  They felt that in the future if enrollment should change, it would be revisited.”

Projected district enrollment is 546 students, according to McCleary.

“This could change because we find that between mid-August and the first day of school, we get students enrolling at the last minute.  That number is kind of give or take.”

While some personnel actions were taken during the August 8 meeting, a special meeting will be scheduled later in August for any hiring that needs to be done before the start of school.

Both Elementary Principal Thomas Minick and High School Principal Mark Schlosser presented reports to the board about preparation for the new school year and raised some concern over new data on the PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) achievement test results for Union students.

“Our 2016-17 PSA raw data came in. I must say when the math results came back, I was a little disheartened,” said Minick. “We put some good ideas in place with the staff, but it didn’t yield the results that we wanted. With ELA (English Language Arts), we’ve developed some consistency, and we seem to be able to hold our own.  We’ve improved over the last three years with our implementation of the new exam.”

“Maybe we need to list it in our goals, and the last couple of years we’ve talked about liking to see an increase as a percentage, but I believe in moving forward, we need to limit our goals. In math elementary, we have 33 percent of our kids judged as being proficient.  We want to hit 45 percent next year.  In ELA, we hit 60 percent. In math at Sligo, we are 65 percent, and ELA is at 55 percent and want to get to 60 percent.”

Changes are planned.

“We’re going to have to invoke some changes. One of the things is we’re going to have to build data walls and personalize our intervention,” continued Minick. “It’s going to take more work, but we’re at that point where we need to take those measures.  We were working hard, but not in the right places, and some of them were falling through the cracks.”

“We’re going to use a book approach called Pirates.  Pirates represent a lot of power, and they are fearless and they are confident.  One of the things Pirates do is they have camaraderie, and they stick together.   We’re going to have to have a lot of camaraderie, and everybody on the voyage on the boat is going to have to have to pull his or her own weight if this is going to be successful.  I hope to stand here next year and tell you that we met those goals, but it is a lot of students to move from 33 to 45 percent.”

Schlosser’s comments echoed some of the points raised by Minick and offered a glimpse at some of the changes.

“In years past, we’ve seen mixed results — we see positive and we see negatives.  I was telling someone earlier this summer that I feel a little like that proverbial Dutch boy who is putting his finger in the dike to stem the water flowing,” said Schlosser.

“You reach for one, and another one appears.  Perhaps it’s inevitable because our students are human, and we’ve made some changes, and we’re going to keep making changes.  The last thing we want to be is stagnant.”

“We’re seeing more students who had advanced scores than last year, but the problem is we’re not moving out of the bottom categories across the board.  In some subjects such as Algebra, we saw more in the advanced area and fewer in the below basic category.”

“Since we have small numbers, we’re looking for long-term trends.  What patterns do we see from elementary to high school and where do we see the peak and valleys?  We’re beginning to see there are definitively patterns.  The problem is seeing the problems for the dips, so we’re concentrating on that.  Some of the changes in our curriculum are with the math – we’re going to have a single publisher from the third grade to the eighth grade.  I think this is the first time that we see this vertical alignment of a math program in all three buildings. We hope there will be some constancy in the fundamental math going forward.  Our remedial program is directed at the PSSA assessment and a perfectly aligned curriculum program with testing. We don’t want to simply teach to that test, but we need to make sure our students are being equipped with what the state expects.”

On another note, student interests in electives are growing, and several new courses are planned.

“I am happy to say that our student interest in electives is expanding,” continued Schlosser.  “We’re bringing back two sections of speech and debate this year and also bringing back accounting and incorporating personal finance into some classes. We want to be in the lead here and make sure students leave here with basic personal financial information.”

Board business actions included:

Set the 2017-18 lunch prices (same as the 2016-17 school year) as follows:

Elementary student: $2.25

High School student: $2.50

Adult Lunch: $3.40

• Approved the 2017-18 bus contracts and estimated rates as per state formula with a three-cent alteration. Also approved a contract with Mr. and Mrs. Ed Weaver to provide transportation services during the 2017-18 school year, for Union School District Students instructed our of the district and /or for special transportation at a rated o $1.63 per mile and $1.66 for wheelchair van per mile. An extra hauling rate was also approved for bus contractors at $2.52 per mile, with a layover rate of $7.25 per hour after three hours.
• Voted to make three community donations during the new school year with $150.00 each going to the Eccles Lesher Library, Rimersburg Hose Co., and Sligo Hose Co.
• Entered into a 2017-18 agreement with the Southern Clarion County Ambulance Service, at the rate of $40.00 per hour.  Last year’s rate was $50.00 per game.
• Renewed a securing agreement with the New Bethlehem Police Department to provide security at various athletic and after school events, as needed, during the 2017-18 school year.
• Entered into an agreement with Snyder Brothers Inc. to supply natural gas for three years at $3.3740 per DTH.
• Jefferson-Clarion Head Start, Inc. for facility use at an annual cost of $6,400.00 ($800.00 per month for eight months, the same cost as last year). Also approved a contract between Union and Head Start or purchase meals from the school.
• Guest Teacher Services through the IU6 at the cost of $625.00 for the new school year.

Personnel

Approved several hires, including the following:

• Cafeteria substitutes including Paula Gerick, Terri Deitz, Sylvia Craig,

and Mandi McKinney.

• Nurse/Health Technician Substitutes include Abbey Burns, Sarah Johnston, and Mary Jo Bettwy.

• Appointed Health Services of Clarion, Inc./ Dr. Joseph Leonard and Karla Wilson PA-C, as the physician of record for the 2017-18 school year, at a rate of $8.00 per physical examination and $10.00 for IEP reviews.

• Dr. Stephen Jaworski as the dentist of record at a rate of $4.00 per examination.

• Approved the bus drivers and substitute drivers list.

• Approved the resignation of elementary teacher Jennifer Williams, effective August 19.

• Accepted the letter of resignation of educational aide Cori Bowser, and authorized the administration to advertise for the position.

• Hired Nick Rimer, a secondary business teacher, as a tenure-track employee effective August 28 at step one of the appropriate salary scale and benefits as per the 2017-2022 UEA/Union School District bargaining agreement.

• Hired Elizabeth Keller, a Spanish teacher, effective August 28.

• Hired Danielle Grahm, a speech language pathologist, effective August 28.

• Approved the resignation of Jeanie Grant as a bus driver, effective August 8.

Athletics

• Approved a fifth and sixth-grade boys and girls basketball program to be held for approximately six weeks during the 2017-18 school year.

• Approved the resignation of head Junior High Football Coach Dana Logue III effective August 8.

• Hired Ray Ishman as the 2017-18 Girls Softball Coach/Manager at the rate of $2,100.00.

• Hired Diana Thorpe as the 2017-18 Head Volleyball Coach at the rate o $2,600.00.

• Hired John Lundy as the 2017-18 Cross Country Co-Coach at the salary of $1,100.00.

• Hired Ian King as the 2017-18 Cross Country Co-Coach at the salary of $1,100.00.