Assistant to the Superintendent Jaime Vlasaty received a promotion at the Sept. 28 Saucon Valley School Board meeting, being named Acting Superintendent in place of retiring Dr. Craig Butler, whose last day will be Oct. 13.

Butler was presented with a gift by board President Susan Baxter, who thanked Butler for his four years of service to the district and praised him for always treating all district stakeholders with respect and bringing a “gentleman’s cordiality” to the position.

“I’m extremely thankful and… appreciative of the opportunity you’ve given me to lead this district. It’s a wonderful school district and it was really a wonderful way to end my career,” Butler said. He specifically praised Vlasaty and district Business Manager David Bonenberger, saying in working so closely together, they’d “almost become family.”

Later in the meeting, Vlasaty, who was promoted to her current role in September 2020 and has previously served as Director of Special Education in both the Saucon Valley and Easton Area school districts, was approved on an interim basis by a unanimous vote. Vlasaty’s salary will increase by approximately $1,000 per month to an annual total of $144,000 per year, prorated according to the length of her service.

In other news, despite no change in Governor Tom Wolf’s statewide mask mandate for all schools and grade levels, the topic was once again a preeminent issue for the board and attendees alike.

Board member Edward Andres, acknowledging that it would not be relevant until the statewide mask mandate expires or is lifted, proposed a “middle ground” between masks being fully optional and the current universal mandate. His suggestion, which was to require masks only in classrooms in which an immunocompromised student or staff member is present, did not seem to gain much traction.

Solicitor Mark Fitzgerald warned the board that he did not expect any changes to be coming from cases being presented to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, With Wolf and Pa. Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam scheduled to provide a public update on the mandate Oct. 1, Fitzgerald said that he believed there was “about a 30 percent chance” of any changes being announced.

A few community members, mostly unmasked despite the state’s mandate, spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. Amy Ramsberger’s first grade daughter ended up being hospitalized due to “severe dehydration,” she claimed, due to a lack of designated ‘mask breaks’ outside of usual lunch periods. Both Butler and several board members assured Ramsberger that protocols regarding such breaks would be re-emphasized to teachers and staff.