Remembering September 11th
The meeting started with a moment of silence in remembrance of the events that took place on September 11th, 2001. Director Scott said she was “Honored to be part of this District,” regarding the district-wide event, “A Day to Remember,” held every year since 2018, to remember all those who lost their lives.
Federal Funding
A presentation was given on the federal programs BASD receives funding from. Boyertown receives, from the federal government, about $1 Million in funding from three different categories. Every district, including Boyertown, across Pennsylvania had a decrease in funding from last year. Title I of the Federal Programs provides $769,919, a decrease of $48,205 from last year. This funding is given to improve opportunities for academically deprived children, which helps them meet state performance standards in Reading, Language Arts, and Mathematics. Only 5 out of the 9 school buildings in the district, Boyertown Elementary, Colebrookdale Elementary, Earl Elementary, Washington Elementary, and Middle School West, receive this funding. The funding from Title I is integral since 33.69% of students in the district get free or reduced lunches. Additional funding allows them to get a much better education opportunity than they would without it.
Title II provided $133, 760, down by $15, 586 from last year. This funding was to improve the skills of teachers and the quality of instruction in core academic subjects, the majority of the funding is used for class size reduction. Class size reduction is important because it fosters student’s creativity and individuality.
Title IV of the program provided $61, 611, an increase of $12, 642 from the previous school year. This funding is used to give BASH access to SAP services, First aid and CPR training, and AP/DE class fees for students who qualify for free/reduced lunch.
The Minutes
Both Director Neiman and Director Brophy brought up an issue regarding how the School Board records the minutes of its meetings. The Minutes are documents that record what was covered at School Board meetings and act as a reference point for future Board meetings. This information is needed when topics covered at previous Board meetings need to be discussed again.
Both Directors had an issue with a legal opinion being given regarding a contract with D’Huy Engineering not being included in the minutes of that meeting. They both felt it was an important topic from that meeting and should have been recorded within the minutes. Mr. President Panarello said he would consider adding a vote on changing how minutes were recorded to the agenda for a future meeting.
The full meeting was uploaded to YouTube, and can be watched here.
