The Board of School Directors saved the district some $400,000 in bond debt Feb. 23 when the refunding of certain series of bonds was approved by board vote.

The district's bond service, Public Financial Management, made a presentation last month on its advisement to refund several bond series in February. The date came and due to good interest rates, the district's high credit rating and an aggressive bidding process, the district came out $404,000 on top.

To date since 1998, PFM has saved the district about $12.8 million, reported Scott Shearer of PFM.

Board Director Francee Fuller noted several bonds are being retired this year, series from 2008, 2009 and 2010. Board President Alan Earnshaw followed up saying in eight years, the district's debt will be relatively low-in 15 years, should the district not have to take out any additional debt, it will be absolutely nil.

The board approved five policy updates after they appeared for a second reading two weeks prior. Updates included: non-discrimination in school and classroom practices; tobacco - pupils; tobacco - administrative employees; tobacco - professional employees; and tobacco - classified employees. All policies can be reviewed on the district website.

Though it appeared on the agenda, the board did not come to a resolution on the appointment of a new junior operating committee member to succeed Sandy Rhodes. The commitment to every fourth Wednesday has so far been one other board members are unable to meet, but Earnshaw slated it for the next meeting, stressing full board representation on the committee is desirable.

Superintendent Dr. Michael Schilder announced the release of the 2015-2016 proposed school calendar to the board, which will appear on the agenda next month for discussion and possible adoption. It is very similar to the current year's calendar: students return to school following summer break Aug. 31 and school ends June 10, 2016. There are two built-in snow days and the breaks are relatively the same.

Board Director Charles Ballard asked about alternatives to two snow days and how having three might impact the calendar. The administration will come back with a response at the next meeting.

The board of directors also received a presentation from the Pennsylvania School Board Association's Board Policy Services, a group within the PSBA specializing in honing and providing resources for the internal development and maintenance of district policies.

East Penn currently has close to 200 board policies. Some months ago, Schilder reached out to PSBA to ask them how they could help the district retain control over those policies and design or revise them to best fit the district.

Davelyn Smeltzer, director of board policies at PSBA, shared some of the policy team's services with the school board, and explained a new fee schedule of $5,500 to be paid in installments over a period of two to three years. Ninety percent of districts in the state used PSBA's service, comprising 525 school entities, and there are around 30 to 45 annual updates affecting policy making such as changes in the state legislation.

PSBA provides access for the district to all the policies of all the other districts, as well as consistent and frequent updates on state legislation that may influence policy design or require an update to board policy. The services also provide public access to board policies through a link on the school district website.

East Penn has been receiving PSBA's services for decades, but this new service provides increased information and updates as well as access to a broad array of statewide policies and records.

In addition, policy staff would be doing a comprehensive policy manual update for the district bringing all policies in compliance with local district operations and state law as needed. Ultimately, it saves the district the time and labor of doing that overhaul and provides expertise from an outside source.

This topic may become an agenda item in the future for formal board approval.

Another presentation before the board elaborated on some of the work done by the district's Chapter 339 guidance services across all grade levels. Dr. Tom Mirabella, director of student services, explained Chapter 339 is a new state requirement demonstrating for the state the relationship between the district and local vocational technical institutions and intermediate units as they relate to student career guidance and self development.

The document was given in full to the board to review and may be listed as a formal adoption on another agenda.