At the Nov. 16 HR committee meeting, the BASD school board discussed the residential development River Hill Estates, recently approved by Bethlehem Township. This neighborhood, to be located west of Farmersville Road, east of Sculac Road, north of the Lehigh River, and south of the Birchwood Commons apartment complex, must be incorporated into the district’s “catchment area” for a local elementary school. River Hill Estates will be in close proximity to the catchment areas for Farmersville ES, Freemansburg ES and Miller Heights ES. As reported by Takesha Thomas of WFMZ, developers plan to build 44 single-family houses and 36 twins. Chief Human Resources Officer Russ Giordano and Chief Facilities Officer Mark Stein explained their recommendation to assign this neighborhood to Farmersville ES, based on transportation convenience and available space in the buildings at Farmersville.

In other business Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jack Silva shared the results of the recently completed faculty survey. Although the vast majority of teachers expressed that they are making connections with their students, more than 30 percent of elementary eClassroom teachers said their students are not managing their online work, and nearly 70 percent of high school teachers who responded said that their hybrid students are not managing their online work. Silva said one response to the survey has been the development of a leadership team of eClassroom teachers, with initial discussions focused on clarifying responsibilities among students, teachers, and families. Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy also said teachers are being given professional development opportunities on helping students build executive function, to assist in setting goals and following through on plans to achieve them.

Giordano also briefed the board on issues including student enrollment, workers’ compensation claims, a substitute teacher survey, and coronavirus cases among staff.

As of Oct. 1, total enrollment in all BASD schools (excluding students taught by Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 or through Centennial School) is down slightly, from 133,000 in 2019-20 to 12,898 in 2020-21. Although the number of local children attending physical charter schools has decreased over the past two years, there was a fairly dramatic increase in cyber charter enrollment this year, from 224 to 365, likely due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic. The number of homeschooled students also increased markedly, from 105 to 179. Private school enrollment is down, from 1,412 a year ago to 1,216 this year. Giordano suggested the possibility that some families may have elected not to send their kindergarten-age children to school this year due to coronavirus-related issues, but will send their children to BASD schools for first grade next year.

Director of Student Services Vivian Robledo-Shorey presented updates to the “Framework for Citizenship” (formerly known as the code of conduct) handbook. Most changes are based on the updated Pa. compulsory school attendance ages (ages 6–18, rather than 8–17) or on the recently revised Title IX federal discrimination rules. Dress code regulations have also been adjusted, with pins or clothing “displaying guns or other weapons, offensive, lewd, pornographic or vulgar words or images [or] hateful […] language” now banned, and a new stipulation that “Dress code enforcement should not oppress or marginalize any group, including but not limited to, race, ethnicity, culture, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, household income, body size/type.” A ban on vaping has also been added. The board was to vote on these changes at the Nov. 23 meeting.

At the finance committee meeting, Chief Financial Officer Stacy Gober noted that Moody’s Investors Services has maintained its A1 bond rating for the district. This rating is based entirely on the district’s own financial management and economic prospects, without assistance from the State Intercept Program. (The State Intercept Program guarantees bond payments in the event of a district default.) Despite the high rating, Moody’s noted that BASD has “sizable […] debt and pension burdens.”

Gober also discussed the financial impact of the increase in charter school enrollment noted earlier by Giordano. If the 67 percent increase in cyber charter school participation remains steady through this academic year – if these students do not choose to return to their neighborhood public schools – charter school tuition payments by BASD will exceed the budgeted amount by $811,302, Gober said. Participation in BASD Cyber Academy, run in partnership with IU20, also increased at the beginning of this year, from 207 to 336 students. However, BASDCA enrollment as of mid-November has dropped to roughly 175 students.

Gober also shared details of decreased local revenues and decreased state funding for social services, as well as a $400,000 loss (as of mid-November) for the district’s dining services program. Because the district is giving all students free meals, the dining services program is not taking in any money in cash sales from students who would not have qualified for free meals. The meals are reimbursed by the National School Lunch Program; the district only receives reimbursement for meals actually served. Participation in dining services is down to 61 percent, for a variety of reasons, including confusion about how the free meals work, and the removal of the very popular salad bar because of the coronavirus. Gober explained that unless the district doubles the number of meals served, the program will not break even for the year. All presentations from the meeting are available online (https://go.boarddocs.com/pa/beth/Board.nsf/Public).