During the Whitehall-Coplay School Board committee meetings Oct. 10, Whitehall-Coplay School District Superintendent Dr. Robert Steckel presented his administrator reorganization plan in light of recent retirement, resignations and new administrators.

“Throughout this process, we have been working to make sure that our group of administrators is aligned to the needs of the district,” Steckel said. “We are continuing to analyze it when any position becomes available. We are continuing to analyze to make sure that we are using the resources that the district has within our administrative ranks to meet the needs of our students, our staff and to be as efficient as possible.”

Director of Educational Operations Stephen Seier submitted for his retirement. His position oversees transportation, buildings and grounds, technology and human resources. Steckel recommended eliminating the director of educational operations position and reallocating the four areas of responsibility.

Steckel will oversee buildings and grounds, and Assistant to the Superintendent Christopher Schiffert will be overseeing transportation.

Steckel said the human resources manager resigned over summer, and the board approved a retitled position, director of personnel, at the last board meeting. The director of personnel’s job description includes the current responsibilities of the position and the former HR manager position.

The director of teaching and learning position is currently supported by three supervisors: supervisor of educational equity, supervisor of educational technology and supervisor of ELA and humanities. After a change in personnel in the summer of 2021, the district needed someone in place as quickly as possible, so the current IT supervisor is outsourced through a contracted position with Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21.

“What we are looking to do is to realign and fill in some of the responsibilities from technology within the teaching and learning department and convert that department to be the teaching, learning and technology department,” Steckel said. “So, the first change would be to retitle the position of director of teaching and learning to the director of teaching, learning and technology. In schools these days, technology, curriculum, instruction - they are all intertwined, and they need to be on the same page and coordinated by the same leadership.”

The retitled position includes responsibilities such as budgeting, overall leadership and technology planning for the future. Currently, the educational equity supervisor, the ELA and humanities supervisor and the educational technology supervisor report to the director of teaching and learning.

“So, the expense of the IU21 contracted position would fall off the budget, but it would be replaced with the supervisor of information technology,” Steckel said.

Steckel said more responsibility will be placed on the director of teaching, learning and technology and to ensure math and science programs are being supported in addition to ELA and humanities, Steckel is recommending the board approve the creation of a new position, supervisor of math and science.

“So, if you think about it, we’re taking away the math and science supervision, adding in the technology position and having one unified department with all of those areas of oversight and leadership,” Steckel said.

The impact of the reorganization from July 2022 to January 2023, would be a $30,000 increase to total administrators’ salaries. The number of administrators won’t change.

Steckel said the next steps include approving new or revised job descriptions and a revised organization chart for the district and posting positions, with a January 2023 start date.

In other business, John Young, manager of energy consulting with Provident Energy Consulting, discussed the electric and natural gas markets and WCSD’s future bids.

High energy costs for 2023 are a real concern, and in addition to the international environment, such as the war in Ukraine, Young said the cost of energy is also affected by weather and the regulatory environment. The district currently pays 3.192 cents per kilowatt for electricity. It will be going out to bid over the next few months, and natural gas bidding will happen some time next year.

Young said 2023 will be “dramatically more expensive” than what is predicted for the years to follow, and the district could possibly pay twice the rate of what it is paying now.

Pricing is broken down into one, two or three-year plans. Young said a three-year deal will be best, since 2023 will likely have the highest costs out of 2023, 2024 and 2025, and the average of the three will “spread out the pain.”

Also at the meeting, the board discussed a resolution that would authorize the waiver of additional charges for late payment of real estate taxes in certain circumstances to comply with Act 57 of 2022. Some new homeowners in Whitehall never received a real estate tax bill after purchasing their home, only to be upset when they find out they owe penalties and interest. The resolution states that if you are able to prove you purchased property in the township, you have 12 months to pay without penalty.