The East Penn School Board continued district policy review for its last meeting of the year and approved new curriculum including the Emmaus High School program of studies and a new ninth grade science course.

The program of studies was presented in detail at the board’s Dec. 7 reorganization meeting and came up for final approval Dec. 14.

School director Rebecca Heid expressed her concerns about three new remediation courses proposed in the program designed to address students not proficient in specific Keystone exam topics. Heid stated because the Keystone tests are new and likely to change over time, she could not be sure how the administration would handle remediation courses.

Heid also asked if the administration would automatically hire instructors for the courses or only on an as-needs basis.

Board president Alan Earnshaw said approving the program of studies allows the district to offer the courses in question, and for students to be assigned to them who are in need of remediation. It is then up to the board in budget negotiations to choose whether to fill the position of instructor for the course.

Superintendent Dr. Michael Schilder informed Heid he would be including these three positions in the budget for next year and confirmed there are certainly students who have already demonstrated they are not likely to pass the Keystone exams.

Schilder assured Heid that while state testing is always in flux, the program will have to be correspondingly flexible.

“Are we teaching to the test?” Schilder said. “Somewhat. But that doesn’t mean the teacher has to be sterile, or boring, or non interesting.”

Laura Witman, supervisor of secondary curriculum and instruction, responded also that the district has ways of benchmarking students, and using benchmarks to assess where gaps in learning have formed. In that way the instructor is not strictly teaching to the test but addressing all standards to keep the student successful.

The new science course approved is Global Science Inquiry and is intended as a better preparation for students for 10th grade biology.

The board approved the appointment of Denis McCall of LoGIC to the consulting role of interim business manager while the district continues searching for a permanent candidate. The contract term ends in April, 2016.

In a special presentation, the board also recognized the Emmaus High School field hockey team and Coach Sue Butz-Stavin as 2015 State PIAA Champions and for the latter’s remarkable career. Butz-Stavin led the team to their 27th consecutive championship, and herself had celebrated her 840th win just at the start of the season.

Schilder congratulated team and coach. “It takes resolve, it takes dedication, it takes extraordinary coaching,” he said.

The board is continuing its rounds of policy reviews, this time with policy series 100 which includes several new policies suggested by the board’s consultation with Pennsylvania School Boards Association and revisions to existing policies. Not all of the suggested policies have been recommended for adoption by the administration, largely due to existing practices within the district in consideration of which adoption of new policies would be redundant and unnecessary, deemed Schilder. When asked by board director Charles Ballard why PSBA wasn’t being consulted on these “suggested” policies, Schilder responded he did not see the point.

For example, Policy 100 Comprehensive Plan is not recommended for adoption. Schilder said the district already has a comprehensive plan and this policy is not mandated by state law.

Another policy, 109 Resource Materials, was recommended to strike out, as the administration reported it would be impossible to maintain a complete indexed list of resource materials. PSBA suggested the policy but it is not mandated.

The board made continued suggestions to other policies which will be taken under consideration by the administration and presented again for review at a second reading in January, 2016.