The Salisbury Township School Board held a meeting Oct. 19 to vote on the resolution for the Guaranteed Energy Savings Agreement.

Salisbury High School students Ava Smarch and Gavin Cerco began the meeting with a report on the many activities and sporting events at the high school. Fall sports are winding down and interest meetings for basketball, swimming, rifle and wrestling are beginning.

Salisbury field hockey and cross-country teams will be competing in district playoffs in the coming week.

Golfer Ava Smarch placed fourth in the Colonial League and competed in the districts as well. Salisbury football players will soon play their last game of the season. At the game, players will pay homage to teachers who have significantly impacted their lives.

Homecoming festivities were held last week which included a pep rally, parade, football game and a Homecoming dance.

Salisbury High School Theater will present Radium Girls Nov. 10-13 and the debate team will kick off their competitive season Nov. 10.

Also at the high school, PSAT testing was held for students who have opted to take them and Lehigh Career and Technical Institute tours will be conducted for students interested in learning more about the programs offered.

Students, staff and community members are encouraged to participate in the SHS blood drive which will be held noon to 7 p.m. Nov. 15.

Joshua Orach, a Salisbury student attending LCTI in the engineering program reported on the happenings at LCTI. A total of seven Salisbury students have been selected by their teachers to compete in the Skills USA competition which is a nationwide competition between technical schools. The first event will be held Oct. 26.

In other news, LCTI will also be conducting an open house 6-8 p.m. Oct. 27.

Ellie Schneider and Makenna Jones reported on the many happenings at the middle school. Spirit week held many fun days including Twin Day, I Believe Day, Music Genre Day, Teacher/Student Swap Day and a Pink Out. Music and face painting was also a highlight during recess.

Sixth grade students and Project Wonder students took a field trip to Bake Oven Knob in Germansville to bird watch as it coincides with the Birds of Prey unit in science class.

Eighth grade students will be taking a trip to the Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center in the coming week.

LCTI informational tours will be conducted for eighth grade students who are interested in attending.

Eighth grade student council members recently attended a leadership conference held at DeSales University to get a feel for what other schools’ student council programs were like.

In other good news, the school raised over $2,000 selling T-shirts for the Race for Adam Foundation.

Mason Dredge and Skylar Ruiz reported on the success of the Kindness Color Run at Salisbury Elementary School. Classrooms competed to get the most donations and the winning classrooms had the opportunity to color blast both Zachary Brem and Brian Muschlitz.

Fourth grade students were given a real world opportunity to apply for leadership positions within the school. Students filled out Google form applications and were chosen by a supervising staff member to fill positions.

Heavenly Hat Day was held Oct. 7. Money raised was given to the Heavenly Hat Foundation which provides hats for individuals who may experience hair loss due to medical treatments.

Students are also looking forward to upcoming field trips and the Halloween parade.

During the operations committee portion of the meeting the board voted to approve the Guaranteed Energy Saving Agreement. After the vote was taken board member Joseph Kuzo asked for clarification from Chief Financial Officer Dawn Nickischer, if it is her belief the project can be fully funded under the current budget to which she responded, “That is correct.”

Also approved was a dental agreement with Star Community Health for dental van services upon approval by the solicitor, a revised coordination of care agreement with Magellan Behavioral Health and the establishment of a student activity fund for the literary club.

Christopher Freas, finance committee chair, reviewed the topics discussed at the first finance committee meeting which included an update from PFM financial advisers on the bond schedule to fund the GESA project, a discussion concerning funding for future critical infrastructure projects, a preliminary budget timeline and the launch of a capital campaign group to generate revenue for the district presented by board member Joe Gnall.

The board voted unanimously to approve the GESA resolution to provide the initial funding for the project before a bond is issued.

Personnel committee chair Carol Klinger reported several personnel changes to the board including the retirement of Susan Mixa, SHS administrative assistant effective June 20, 2023. Resignations include Chad Saylor, full-time LTS special education teacher, SHS, Ramona Plasencia part-time instructional assistant, SMS and Amanda Whitehead, part-time school nurse assistant.

New hires to the district are Tylor Alford assistant varsity football coach and Remmington White, junior varsity football coach.

Transfers occurring in the maintenance department include Karl Laub from full-time second shift custodian, SMS to full-time utility maintenance at SHS and Tyce Mazyck from part-time second shift custodian to full-time second shift custodian.

A revised stipend of $3,289 for assistant middle school football coach Dillon Trenge was approved from a previous stipend of $5,109. An additional duties stipend of $42 per diem rate was approved for Christopher Smith, coordinator of technology, due to the elimination of the director of transportation position.

The board also approved the superintendent and assistant superintendent performance objectives with the addition of a goal related to finance of facilities.

In her superintendent’s report Lynn Fuini-Hetten recognized all the principals and assistant principals in the district as October is National Principals Month. She acknowledged the challenges principals have faced this year and over the past few years and expressed appreciation for their leadership. She also informed the board the Pennsylvania School Board Association has recognized Carol Klinger for her eight years of service to the Salisbury Township School Board.

Fuini-Hetten shared that along with the increase in this year’s federal funding there are 48 school code changes made which will need to be implemented. Some changes have already been addressed but there are many that need to be completed.

She also commented on the success of the Homecoming festivities and how nice it was to see alumni students return to participate and how many student groups were represented.

Oct. 17-21 was School Bus Safety Week and cameras have been installed both internally and externally on each school bus. The community is reminded citations will be issued for bus passing violations starting Oct. 31.

Also of note, the district still has job openings in the following areas: instructional assistants/substitutes, custodians, substitute teachers and substitute nurses.

Upcoming meetings include a work session meeting 7 p.m. Nov. 9, a finance committee meeting 7 p.m. Nov. 10 and a board meeting 7:30 p.m. Nov. 16. All meetings will be held at the administration building, 1140 Salisbury Road.