Janine Partenid was introduced as the new administrative assistant to the superintendent at the Feb. 18 meeting of the Northwestern Lehigh School Board. She is replacing Nancy Zellner.

Member Darryl Schafer said, "Nancy, you've been gold."

Partenid comes with 14 years of experience, having most recently worked in the office of state Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-122nd.

Zellner is training her as her replacement. When someone wants something Zellner would normally provide, they are asking Partenid, so she gains the experience.

Partenid said she looks forward to using what she has learned and appreciates the welcoming nature of the staff.

She expressed her gratitude to Superintendent Dr. Mary Anne Wright and Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Holman.

In other matters, Tom Seidenberger, circuit rider for the state Department of Education, sent a letter explaining what is happening on developing a new funding formula for schools.

He is waiting for recommendations from Gov. Tom Wolf and then will respond to questions.

Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21's general operating budget will cost the district $37,361.

The intermediate unit makes money by doing outside work. There only has been a 1-percent raise in the past six years, said board member Darryl Schafer.

Lehigh Carbon Community College requires a district contribution of $246,746, a decrease of $7,751 from the prior year, said board member Paul Fisher.

The contribution to the Lehigh Career and Technical Institute will be $1,032,431, a decrease of $29,600.

Northwestern had the highest SAT scores in the Lehigh Valley and was near the top in separate categories in the 500 districts in the state.

Gavin Mengel was a gold medalist in Skills USA and will go on to the next level of competition.

His gold was in the computer numerical control technician contest. The technician is a machinist with additional skills in programming setup and operating computer-driven machine tools.

Luann Matika, human resources, reported nine resignations totaling 287 years of service.

Lori Seier, food service manager, served for nine years keeping up with changing guidelines and did all the ordering, budgeting and helping with the Rotary Snack Packs. She was thanked for all she had done.

Board President Paul Fisher said the board would be remiss if it did not wish her well.

An interim manager, Sharon Ryba, will take over at a rate of $34 per hour.

Middle and high schools gave their achievement presentations covering school performance profiles and growth. Assistant middle school principal Amy Wahl said demographics does not affect growth scores because the students are competing with themselves.

It is the last year of PSSA writing tests. They will be added to language arts.

Promotion rates, attendance and general school perfomance profile scores are included in the overall SPP score for the school.

Principal Bill Davico said strategic planning includes identifying students at risk, the curriculum process and providing effective and engaging lessons.

Aileen Yadush, high school principal, said their achievements were based on the Keystone tests. Algebra has improved to a score of 83.5 which is good. The school was putting a lot of emphasis on math. Four teachers got together to design a new program.

Don Allen, assistant principal, said algebra and language arts has built in remediation. For each failed module a project based assessment must be completed.

There was concern that if a student has to complete too many assessments there will not be enough time.

Overnight trips were approved for Future Business Leaders of America to go to the Jersey shore April 13-14 for a leadership conference. Family Career and Community Leaders of America will attend a state leadership conference at Split Rock Resort March 18-20.

Application to file for a grant from Keep America Beautiful for public space bin grants was approved. It is sponsored by Coca-Cola for recycling bins at the stadium.

A resolution from Portnoff Law Associates allows delinquent real estate taxes to be collected with those of Weisenberg Township.

An agreement with Fitness Center Inc. of Schnecksville was approved to do preventive maintenance at the school Fitness Center at a cost of $795 per visit twice a year.

Penn State Lehigh Valley will provide three professional development workshops at a total cost of $4,300 to be paid with Title II funds.

The Northwestern Lehigh Education Foundation raised more than $3,000 with its pancake breakfast at Applebees.

In other matters, 14 legislators are planning a live-stream meeting with the community. The event will feature a question and answer period.

Taking the high school off the National School Lunch program with its subsidies will be discussed at the March operations meeting.

Yadush said there were three merit scholars. Of the 15,000 who took the test nationwide, 8,000 will receives scholarships.

Dr. Mark Scott has begun strategic planning. Information is kept on the web at Google Doc because he wants the community to be involved.