A special school board meeting was held via Zoom April 27 where it was announced Superintendent Dr. Randy Ziegenfuss will retire effective Jan. 1, 2021.

His letter of resignation states:

“It has been a memorable career spanning the course of three decades. At the time of my retirement, I will have served the Salisbury Township School District for 15 years, as director of data and technology, assistant superintendent and superintendent. Serving the educators and families in the district across those 15 years has been the highlight of my career, and the role of superintendent has been the absolute best experience I could ever have had as an educator.

“All of those I’ve had the opportunity to cross paths with have made working here such a pleasure and life-changing experience. I’m confident that now is the time for a personal reinvention and I’m very excited for the possibilities and opportunities that lie ahead for me.

“The work that we have been focused on for quite some time now has most definitely been a collaborative effort between teachers, leaders, support staff, families and school board members. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to work with so many committed and inspiring educators and supporters of public education. I look forward to being highly engaged through the remainder of the calendar year and during the transition.”

George Gatanis, board president, said of the superintendent, “He is going to be missed. He did a lot for this district. He took this district a long way from the time he was IT director up until now and on to January of next year. This district will move on and continue moving forward, but I want to convey my appreciation for everything he has done.”

Board member Samuel DeFrank added that Ziegenfuss has been “a guiding light to take us where we are at this point in time. It is just amazing seeing where we are now from where we have been. It isn’t goodbye; it’s just see you later. We look forward to hearing from him in his future endeavors.”

Other personnel changes approved were the resignation of Kristen Corcoran as a part-time one-to-one instructional assistant at Salisbury Middle School and Reem Bitar as a part-time cafeteria worker at Salisbury High School.

In addition to Ziegenfuss’s retirement announcement, the board approved several other staff member retirements, including: Tammy Cihylik as a full-time learning support teacher at SMS, Lucyann Brady as a part-time learning support instructional assistant at SMS, Mark Allinson as a full-time physical education and health teacher at SMS and Paul Koba as a full-time science teacher at SHS. These retirements would go into effect in June and July.

In other meeting business, school director Mary Ziegler will continue as the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit board representative.

During the leadership team report, Ziegenfuss said the continuity of education program continues in the district and he gave thanks to all parents, guardians and teachers who continue to go above and beyond to meet the needs of students. He also said news on wrapping up the school year would be forthcoming.

Ziegenfuss encouraged district parents and guardians to take advantage of the newly implemented National School Lunch program, which offers free breakfast and lunch packages providing enough food for seven days to all district students under the age of 18. Pick up occurs 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays at Harry S Truman Elementary School and SMS. There is no need to sign up or pre-register, you only need to arrive at the appointed locations during the aforementioned times to take advantage of this federally funded program.

At the end of the board meeting, a citizen comment period invited members of the community to raise questions or concerns. Ziegenfuss said at the outset of the meeting comments would not receive a response in this forum. Several parents with students in Western Salisbury Elementary School raised concerns over the possible school reconfiguration, especially in view of the presentation by Fielding International during last week’s meeting. Parents said the expenditures to follow through with this design firm would not be prudent and would also fail to resolve budgetary issues.

The next regular school board meeting will take place May 13 via Zoom.