The East Penn School District Board of Directors reviewed the Memorandum of Understanding for the school resource officer provided by the Borough of Emmaus at its Aug. 8 meeting.

The MOU outlines the relationship the SRO would have with the administration.

Under the agreement, the officer would be a borough employee; however, “The East Penn School Board shall fund the salary and benefits of the SRO, at the percentage of 42/52...The Borough of Emmaus shall fund the salary and benefits of the SRO at the percentage of 10/52...The Borough of Emmaus shall provide 100 percent of the costs for equipment and training of the SRO related to law enforcement... The East Penn School District shall provide 100 percent of the costs for equipment and training of the SRO related to education.”

Upon review, three members of the board – Dr. Ziad Munson, Dr. Kenneth Bacher and Paul Champagne – voted against approving and adopting the MOU with the Borough of Emmaus for a SRO.

Among the first to voice concerns in the policy was Munson, concerning the lack of details regarding areas in the best practices outlines, notably how the SRO would be evaluated and by whom. Munson also stressed the MOU provided does not give best practices for many things included in other districts’ MOUs. He stressed the practices for searches are not clearly explained, standards of evidence are not outlined and it is not clear whether the administrators or the SRO would have deciding authority in such an event.

Champagne pointed out the review provisions have no specified timetable and asked for that to be made clear in the MOU. He also asked where the SRO could be used.

Superintendent D. Michael Schilder stressed the SRO would not be a school district employee, so the borough itself would be responsible for the SRO’s evaluation, but the MOU does provide “the school district superintendent and the Emmaus mayor or chief of police will conduct annual evaluations of the SRO and will monitor the progress and success of the program.”

Schilder explained the SRO would be stationed at the high school, but could be used at any school.

Bacher also said the standards of training should be included in the MOU, so if the amount of training required by the state diminishes in future years, the SRO would be still receiving the higher standard of training. Bacher also expressed concern this may result in the criminalization of events that would not have been considered criminal prior; for example, a food fight could be considered vandalism, criminal mischief and destruction of property. The current MOU does not specify what the SRO would or would not get involved with in regard to the students’ misbehavior.

Schilder responded that while the SRO would not be the school disciplinarian, they would serve to process arrests and would act on any illegal acts seen or reported with current law enforcement guidelines.

“Should it become necessary for the SRO to engage in law enforcement activities with the students, the SRO shall carry out his duties keeping in mind East Penn School Board policies,” the MOU states.

Bacher and Munson voiced similar concerns the MOU does provide this insight, but does not specify what those policies are, or to what extent the SRO would abide by East Penn School Board policies compared to their duties as an officer of the law.

Schilder explained that while the administrators would have control over discipline within the school, the SRO’s decision would be independent on whether or not to file charges against students in the event an act is considered criminal. If the act is not considered criminal in nature, it will be referred to the administration by the SRO for appropriate action.

Bacher voiced concern this fact is in direct opposition to the directive that the SRO is not the school disciplinarian. Schilder explained that while the SRO may report such non-criminal activities to the administration, they are in fact not involved in the actual discipline of the students, that such authority falls to the administration and their current disciplinary guidelines.

This resolution was adopted by roll call vote, with Bacher, Champagne and Munson voting against, and Carol Allen, Charles Ballard, Chris Donatelli, Alan Earnshaw and Francine Fuller voting in favor.

A presentation by Assistant Superintendent Kristen Campbell showed good results with better attendance in the e-Learn21 cyber program, thanks in part to modifications to the scheduling of course deadlines. Prior, students had to be logged in and active by 7 a.m. every day; under new rules, they get credit for all coursework done the entire day up to midnight, allowing students greater flexibility on their course work.

Schilder reported attendance for the East Penn School District is down overall by six with 7,942 students enrolled as of Aug. 3, which is down from the Aug. 3 number of 2015 of 7,948 students enrolled.

Schilder also acknowledged some “hotspots” or areas where the class size is around 30 had been occurring in places and the district is transferring teachers to help. The district is also looking into the possibility of hiring another teacher, but only as a last resort.

The motion the East Penn Board of School Directors approve personnel items recommended by the superintendent was approved by Earnshaw and seconded by Munson. Items included the resignations of five employees, teacher transfer assignments for two teachers, with Jacqueline Swauger and Betsy Dobbs both being assigned to sixth grade instruction at Eyer Middle School and Lower Macungie Middle School respectfully to help handle hotspots and keep class size low.

The kindergarten classes will receive 10 iPad minis per class this year as a technology initiative to aid as a learning tool.

New digital surveillance cameras were installed at Lincoln Elementary School, Eyer Middle School and Emmaus High School to ramp up security and provide more complete coverage of campuses.

Students at Jefferson Elementary School should find it more comfortable going back to school this year as the cooling system has been fixed and upgraded to be more efficient.

The high school received new diving platforms to replace the aging equipment in the aquatics area of the sports center.

The curriculum estimated expenses for the individuals attending educational conferences was adopted by roll call vote unanimously.

The board adopted the new and revised board policies and retired existing policies in a roll call vote.

Fuller reported on the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit’s latest activities; a golf tournament fundraiser raised $6,789 for the summer camp program.

Ballard reported on legislative actions; Act 1 of 2016 will remove the ability of the board to require Keystone examinations, and instead, the board will adopt one of four different test forms while the board determines if a different exam (PSAT, etc.) will be used if the Keystone exam is not required.

Appointment of voting delegates for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association delegate assembly was approved by unanimous roll call, approving Ballard, Donatelli and Allen as voting delegates for the assembly Oct. 15.

The next board meeting will be 7:30 p.m. Aug. 22.

District staff day is Aug. 22 and the first official day of school for teachers. Aug. 29 is the first day for students.