The East Penn Board of School Directors observed a moment of silence in memory of Eric McGovern at the Feb. 8 virtual regular meeting. The Emmaus High School junior died Jan. 25 at age 17.

A draft of the 2021-2022 East Penn School District student/teacher calendar was presented to the board by Assistant Superintendent Douglas Povilaitis. Changes to a previously uploaded version include moving a professional development day/no school students from Feb. 11 to Feb. 18, 2022 and closing the district schools Feb. 21, 2022 instead of Feb. 14, 2022.

While it is still a work in process, Povilaitis explained the new calendar follows the same template as the one for 2020-2021 to appreciative board members.

The school year would have 184 student days and 191 teacher days with three inclement weather days built in.

In her district update, School Superintendent Kristen Campbell announced the administration will not be making changes to the “shift calendar” which lists the A/B day schedules for students enrolled in hybrid learning.

Citing the recent inclement weather interruptions, as well as the possibility winter storms are expected within the next few weeks, she said it would be advisable for the district to wait until “we hit more stable weather” to determine if there is a disparity in the number of in-person instructional days between the two groups. At that time, she said they could work out a plan to be sure all hybrid students received equal in-person instructional time.

Campbell also said the district is monitoring student progress and has been collecting data on their performance to seek ways to help those who are falling behind. She acknowledged many are struggling with remote learning and other issues brought on by the pandemic.

She mentioned the elementary and secondary schools have support in place for students to help with academic remediation, attendance and emotional needs.

According to the superintendent, teams of instructors and administrators are currently meeting to plan out additional remediation strategies for spring and summer.

She announced the district received $99,000 in COVID-19 Compensatory Services funding for special needs students. These services begin Feb. 16 and continue through April 15. Tutoring would be held after school. Approximately 114 students in the district are eligible and the grant covers teacher salaries, transportation and other costs.

Campbell gave a shout out to Steve Onushco and Mark Warden from the facilities department and their crews for clearing the more than two feet of snow from the 10 East Penn campuses.

With the buildings being closed due to the storm, she said the 14-day COVID-19 window was reset, as per state guidelines.

“The district continues to pursue partnerships with our local health networks to offer the COVID vaccination to our employees,” Campbell said. “Once the vaccine is available,” she added.

As a reminder, Campbell pointed out the district’s virtual mental health symposium begins Feb. 15. Prerecorded content and live interactive sessions are scheduled on a variety of topics.

In personnel matters, the directors accepted the resignation of Stacey Carpenito, supervisor of special education - middle level administration, effective Jan. 25.

Povilaitis informed the directors he incorporated the changes previously requested to board policies addressing extracurricular activities, interscholastic athletics, sudden cardiac arrest, “Nondiscrimination/Discriminatory Harassment – School and Classroom Practices” and the new policy for “Discipline of a Student Convicted/Adjudicated of Sexual Assault.”

Vice President Paul Champagne reported Lehigh Career & Technical Institute received a $25,000 donation from the Commonwealth Charitable Trust for equipment recently. He sadly spoke about the Jan. 30 passing of LCTI longtime administrator Grace Loeffler.

According to President Ken Bacher, there was no executive session held before the public meeting.

The East Penn School Board meets 7:30 p.m. generally on the second and fourth Monday of each month. The next regular board meeting is scheduled Feb. 22. The public can access documents through BoardDocs and attend meetings online via a link on the district website.