There were three main topics of conversation at last night’s East Penn school board meeting: finalizing next year’s school calendar, maintenance and upgrades to our school buildings, and long term budget planning:
2019-2020 School Calendar: The board approved next year’s school calendar after some minor adjustments based on discussion at the last meeting. I voted against the calendar because I believe more can and should be done to better handle snow days and other disruptions to classroom instruction. Watch here. (You can get a copy of next year’s calendar here; you can watch the board discussion of the calendar from last meeting here.)
Facility Maintenance and Upgrades: Budget constraints over the last decade have forced the district to put off many needed maintenance projects and replacement of failing equipment. They will begin to address some of these issues next year, from sidewalk repairs to replacing antiquated driving simulators at the high school; from fixing roof and heating problems, to replacing the 27-year-old mulch on Macungie Elementary’s playground. Watch here.
Long Range Fiscal Planning: Bob Saul, East Penn’s chief business administrator and board treasurer, provided an overview of the district’s long range financial planning, which allows the board (and the public) to project how the financial decisions being made today will impact the district and community over the next five years. Watch here. You can get a copy of the latest long-range planning documents here. (Sidenote fun fact: Mr. Saul is also the the current president of PASBO, the main professional association for school business officials in PA.)
