The Dec. 5 East Penn School District Board of School Director’s reorganization meeting was for the purpose of electing officers.

Director Rev. Waldemar Vinovskis motioned for Charles Ballard to be nominated for board president pro tempore; the motion carried into adoption with a unanimous vote of nine ayes.

Director Ken Bacher motioned Alan Earnshaw, current board president, be nominated for another term. That motion was seconded by Charles Ballard and was adopted by nine ayes.

Director Paul Champagne motioned current board vice president Ken Bacher be nominated for another term. That motion was seconded by Ballard and adopted by nine ayes.

The meeting schedule for the 2017 calendar year was adopted. The school board will continue to meet 7:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Monday of each month in the board room located on the main level of 800 Pine St., Emmaus. Occasionally a holiday or other circumstance will alter this schedule.

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Denise Torma gave a presentation on the district’s public “Dashboard” program which is “a web application that organizes district information into a series of easy-to- read charts, tables and graphs. Information is presented visually, and will be updated and added to on a regular basis.”

The tool is available to the public on the district’s website and offers “about 42 topics of data analysis going back as far as 2004, giving teachers real time data on their student’s progress.” The results can be used to compare PSSA results, Cyber/Charter School enrollment to “brick and mortar schools” enrollment, as well as offer insights into statistics regarding gender and ethnicity and gifted education.

The “budget and finance” section of Dashboard, intended to provide citizens with a comprehensive source of transparency and information is still under construction. The website tells visitors to “check back [sic] January 2017.”

“Revenue and financing sources, single audit report, revenue histories and department budget summations” are among the many categories of financial information slated to be displayed. Ballard and others extolled the many insights Blackboard has afforded them in the years they have been using it, adducing the increased ability to help students and faculty remain connected and enriching the quality of education available to the students.