Salisbury Township School District Business Administrator Robert Bruchak reported at the Sept. 14 meeting, the township has collected $19.7 million of real estate tax revenue for the current tax year which is $1.1 million ahead of the taxes collected during the initial payment period in 2015.

The flat tax, not taking into consideration early or late payments is $23.5 million, and the current amount due for outstanding real estate taxes are $3.7 million.

The Act I index, continued Bruchak, has been published and Pennsylvania Department of Education calculated the rate at 2.5 percent, slightly higher than the 2.4 percent projected rate. The published rate will allow the board to begin to determine their direction for next year’s budget.

The state is currently working on a bond issue as it pertains to PlanCon, the Planning and Construction Workbook which allows for school districts to apply for state reimbursement for construction projects.

According to Bruchak, the first set of bonds should reach the market in October. The school board has not been made aware of a date when they would receive any money from the bonds.

Bruchak said for the 2015 school year, the state owes the district $114,504 for “reimbursable PlanCon money for the township’s 2015-2016 debt service.”

An advisory committee was formed by the state and has met to determine how to move forward with PlanCon. The board questioned whether Bruchak thought the district would realize the money owed to them by the state. Bruchak said the probability of reimbursement was “extremely high.”

Carol Klinger, chairperson for the curriculum and technology committee, reported the committee did not meet in August and the next meeting will be held at the administration building 7 p.m. Sept. 26.

Policy Committee Chair Dr. Christopher Spedaliere addressed the board and noted during the operations committee meeting, the board heard the initial reading of policies regarding discipline of students with disabilities, behavior support for those students and changes to accepted games of chance for the school clubs. Spedaliere noted bingo has been reevaluated as an acceptable game for the clubs and has since been removed from the list of games children are not permitted to play. With bingo removed from the policy changes, Spedaliere asked the board to move to adopt the new policies.

Lehigh Carbon Community College Board member Samuel DeFrank presented an overview of the college’s September board meeting. DeFrank stated the college is partnering with Allegheny Air for an aviation program. Through the program, pilots with less air time will be able to complete the aviation course and receive certification.

The program, reported DeFrank, has been “very successful” and the college hopes to have the program self-sustaining and be able to expand it to include helicopter and air traffic controller training.

The training is an “exciting new path for utilizing resources” for the school and will allow students to graduate from the programs into careers that are “very useful and needed.”

A retreat is planned Nov. 9 to promote partnerships between LCCC and the community.

The first meeting of Lehigh Carbon Technical Institute was held two weeks ago, according to Board President Frank Frankenfield and the student population is at capacity. LCTI is undergoing a two to five year plan of debt restructuring. A new addition was built at the school and renovations are also underway. Welding continues to be a popular field at the school and the forecast for welders is on the rise, according to Frankenfield. To address the need, LTCI is researching expansion of the program.

Regarding the PSBA legislature, board member Susan Lea said the election year is the culprit behind the inactivity in the House and Senate. While pension reform is of interest to the legislature, Lea said time restrictions will more than likely prevent the topic from being addressed.

More interesting, continued Lea, is the subject of the school funding formula being discussed in the State Supreme Court; William Penn School District vs. the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

The issue at hand is the constitutionality of “equally funded education,” according to Lea; however, the Constitution calls for a system of education that is “thorough and efficient for the needs of the Commonwealth.”

Mandates for test scores that result in penalties for educators and administrators have created an environment of “expectancy in the education system for results.” Lea noted during a study performed by the State in 2008, it was determined “poorer school districts did not improve test scores in those districts or increase the spending per pupil.”

Superintendent Dr. Randy Ziegenfuss updated the board on community events, stating applications for the Alumni Wall of Honor were due Sept. 1 and the Board received “quite a few applications” for the honor.

Other community events include Rachel’s Challenge, student drop-offs and parent’s workshops.

Ziegenfuss had the “privilege” of testifying in front of the House Education Committee regarding student libraries and writing a blog for the National Superintendent Organization.

A meeting is to be held with representatives from the township to plan a future community event, and the township’s channel on RCN is moving forward, according to Dr. Ziegenfuss.

During the opening day convocation Assistant Superintendent Lynn Fuini-Hetten and Ziegenfuss rolled out their vision for “the profile of a graduate, and learning beliefs.”

According to Fuini-Hetten, the school district is building leadership teams to study various data sources and has created a ‘Your Salisbury’ group on Facebook. The district is examining the “opportunity to build action plans with the building leadership teams” and will hold a meeting Sept. 19 at the middle school to determine a plan of action to achieve the district’s goals.

The township continues to increase communication with the use of social media expanding into Facebook, blogging and the implementation of surveys for individuals who both enter and exit the district.

In other business, the board approved RobertBruchak as the voting delegate for the 2015 PSBA Legislative Council.

The next board meeting will take place 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19 in the administration building.