The East Penn School Directors fondly bid farewell to Charles Ballard at his last official meeting Nov. 11. Ballard is retiring from the board after 24 years of service. They also honored him with a retirement party 45 minutes prior to the board meeting.

Having been granted permission to address the board, Susan Arnold, teacher and president of the East Penn Education Association presented Ballard with “The Friend of Education Award” for his long tenure on the school board.

In addition to heartfelt accolades from Board President Ken Bacher, School Superintendent Kristen Campbell and others, Ballard also received two wrapped gifts from Vice President Paul Champagne. To his amusement, the first was an old campaign sign from a previous election. The other was a pen set. Campbell said a plaque honoring Ballard was being designed by Emmaus High School art students.

Ballard treated his fellow members to stories about why he had been dedicated to maintaining and improving public education. He described how his mother from a small town in Michigan was able to land a job in Washington D.C. in 1939. One of her former teachers loaned her $100 so she could travel by train to start work there. “That one high school teacher made it possible for my mom to move out of Ironwood, Mich. and into the rest of the world,” Ballard reminisced.

He credited his spouse Violet for starting him on his school board journey. “Thirty years ago, my wife came to me and said ‘You’ve got to go down and see what’s happening with that school board. They’re nuts!’” Ballard said. Unhappy with what he witnessed, Ballard decided to run for a seat. He spoke of how he worked with others to unseat “the people who were trying to run these agendas that had nothing to do with education.”

Ballard advised the remaining directors with, “You don’t represent any one constituency.” He said the various viewpoints of students, taxpayers, parents and people in the community need to be understood and respected. “Be fair to everyone as best as you can,” Ballard said. He recommended the administration conduct a demographics study to prepare for an inevitable influx of students that would soon fill up existing district buildings.

In other business, the board unanimously approved the “School Within a School” program as part of the 2020-2021 Program of Studies for EHS at the meeting. The SWS is a project-based pilot program for approximately 32-48 students. Several directors praised the administration for providing them with enough additional information for them to support this initiative to reach students who struggle with standard methods of learning.

Included with the approved Program of Studies is a Student Intern Teacher mentoring program which would provide interested high school seniors with an opportunity to serve as assistant teachers.

EHS Student Government Association representatives Grace Comfort and Kaitlyn Csensits reported on recent wins for the girls field hockey team, boys soccer and volleyball teams. They also highlighted the student film festival and announced 32 students recently qualified to take part in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 10 Chorus Festival scheduled for January. The pair also thanked Ballard for his service.

There were two additional requests to address the board at the start of the meeting.

EHS senior drum major Laura Baxter and junior drum major Caitlin O’Brien thanked the board and administration for the new permanent band concession stand at the school stadium.

East Penn Neighbors Helping Neighbors board president Anne Zayaitz promoted awareness of her organization which is dedicated to helping children within the district who are, what she called, “home insecure.”

In her district update, Campbell wished all a “Happy Veterans Day.’’ She said assemblies honoring those who served were held at schools throughout the district.

The directors skipped a second reading of board policy updates regarding professional development, facilities and workplace safety, building security, emergency preparedness and response, law enforcement relations and school safety personnel. Changes suggested at the previous meeting had already been incorporated into the document.

Champagne reported the Lehigh Career & Technical Institute’s welding lab was still on target to be ready for a grand opening Jan. 15, 2020. He also suggested any student interested in learning a trade attend the LCTI open house Nov. 14.

During his state legislature report, Ballard said Gov. Tom Wolf recently signed a career and technical education and workforce development programs bill into law. He reported the state legislature is working on several “unfunded mandates.” Ballard said his philosophy regarding such legislation is, “If it is important enough to do, it is important enough to fund.”

There was no executive session prior to the public meeting.

Bacher announced a re-organizational meeting 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 and a regular board meeting 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9. The public can access documents through BoardDocs via a link on the district website. There is free WiFi available for audience members during the meetings in the board room of the administration building.

Bacher also mentioned all district schools and offices will be closed Nov. 28, 29 and Dec. 2 for the Thanksgiving holiday.