The East Penn Board of School Directors voted unanimously to adopt most of the high school 2023-2024 Program of Studies at the Nov. 14 regular meeting. They agreed to table the elimination of the general preparatory level courses for English and social studies until the next regular meeting in mid-December.

At the previous board meeting presentation, the administrative team described the changes as necessary to develop a more equitable learning environment for students on a socio-economic, societal, cultural and programmatic level.

At the time they said detracking promotes higher expectations for student achievement and reduces in-school segregation based on socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, or disability.

While most directors agreed the tracking changes seemed a positive move forward, they worried about the short amount of time allowed for putting it in place, especially in regard to training for faculty and staff. They were concerned about the pushback received from faculty, students and members of the community.

Emmaus High School Principal Beth Guarriello was grateful most of the 2023-2024 Program of Studies was approved, but urged the directors to not delay much longer on considering the GP tracking.

There were a dozen requests to address the board from a large group of their supporters in the room. Most expressed concerns about the elimination of the GP track and moving students to CP or above courses.

Lori Miller, president of the East Penn Education Association argued the elimination of the GP track should not be rushed. She said more stakeholders, including additional faculty and students should be involved in the process. “Put this decision on hold until the proper discussions, research and teacher training is completed in order to best meet the needs of the students at all learning abilities,” she asked.

“We would really like for our district leadership to stop doing things to us and our students and start doing things for us for our students’ benefit,” high school social studies teacher John Gallagher said. He voiced concerns about the proposed plan to drop the GP designation at EHS and the rush for making the changes.

Others balking at the proposed phasing out the GP track and the implementation timeline included EHS English teachers Shannon Petrunak and Aaron Gavin, high school science teacher Matthew Richards, Tim Kelley, of Macungie, a father of six district students, student athlete Oyan Huachy, National Honor Society President Madison Shelton, student Sam Kreiner and Emmaus resident Sarah Taylor.

Shana Baumgartner, of Emmaus, requested reading instruction for K-2 address the “how of reading” instead of relying on memorization, especially for dyslexic students.

Emmaus resident Barbara Tantaros continued to object to the East Penn Educational Equity Plan policies regarding transgender and nonconforming gender individuals.

The office of teaching and learning presented a Fall 2022 Data Overview. Walking the board through the charts were Supervisor of Secondary Curriculum & Instruction (STEM) Michael Mihalik, Supervisor of K-12 Curriculum and Instruction (Humanities) Tricia Gutman, Supervisor of Elementary Curriculum and Instruction Erin Murphy and STEM Supervisor Jessica Thatcher.

The numbers were derived from state standardized assessments and screening which included English Language Arts Pennsylvania System of School Assessment data from grades 3-8. The scores for 2021 and 2022 ranged from 61.9 percent to 70 percent, somewhat above the state average.

Pennsylvania Value- Added Assessment System State Growth Measures in ELA grades 5-8 were mixed.

Action steps were presented to mitigate any low scores which included utilizing the Heggerty program up to second grade with explicit phonics instruction with use of decodable text.

Scores on other subjects like math, science, algebra, biology and literature were “a mixed bag,” as some of the board members noted.

The presenters explained the numbers do not tell the whole story as COVID-19 affected some of the outcomes. They said a clearer picture of how the district is doing with proficiency and growth will be seen whenever the state releases its most recent findings.

EHS Student Government Association student representatives Maggie Machulsky and Maddie Hess reported on sports and academic news. They mentioned auditions for the spring musical “Fiddler on the Roof” will begin in December.

In her district update, Campbell praised cast and crew for “Almost, Maine.” She announced the district’s free Senior Citizen Thanksgiving Luncheon returns Nov. 17 after a 2-year break due to the pandemic.

In personnel matters, the board accepted the resignation of EHS Family & Consumer Science teacher Alyssa Soupik, effective Nov. 11.

They acknowledged the retirement of Macungie Elementary School instructional assistant MaryLou Ely, effective Oct. 20; EHS food service support staffer Patricia Deiter, effective Dec. 12 and administrative assistant Julia Schiermeyer, effective March 2023.

Approved new hires include Dian McKinney as an English teacher and Brandi Pszczolkowski as a special-education teacher for EHS and Justin Dahlquist to teach math at Lower Macungie Middle School. All are effective January 2023.

The board voted to retain Joshua Levinson, Allan Byrd and Adam Smith as Lehigh Career & Technical Institute Joint Operating Committee members for another term ending in 2025. Their current term ends in December.

Levinson announced the district will be closed Nov. 24-28 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Levinson mentioned a 6:30 p.m. executive session was held before the public forum on “a variety of confidential matters and matters of litigation.”

A reorganization meeting is scheduled Dec. 5 with the next regular school board meeting Dec. 12. The public can access documents through BoardDocs via a link on the district website. Livestreaming of meetings is available on the district’s YouTube channel.