The Salisbury Township School Board held its meeting Nov. 16 where the members heard student representative reports, received an update on the annual audit and voted on the issuance of a $9.5 million general obligation bond.

Salisbury High School students Allison Beckage and Bailee Neitz started the meeting recounting the many events taking place at the high school. The students reported on the success of the theater club’s fall presentation of “Radium Girls,” the kickoff of winter sports programs and the posting of two wins for the debate team against Penn Ridge and Catasauqua.

Community events held include a clothing drive held by the SHS athletic booster club and a blood drive sponsored by National Honor Society.

Events in the offing are the sale of “Falcon Territory” T-shirts which can be purchased at the high school, a Dec. 6 white-out to mark the start of the boys basketball season, the announcement of the spring musical “Nine to Five” which will be held March 16-19 and the SHS Winter Concert which will be held Dec 1.

A special congratulations to Emily Batten who placed 40th in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Inc. state cross-country championships.

Students Payton Kao and Gia Olds reported on the many exciting programs and themed days that make the middle school a fun place to learn. Some of the events coming up include ugly sweater day, flannel day, an opportunity to listen to music during recess and a movie afternoon before winter break begins.

Among the programs and activities to come are the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” program, weekly visits by career speakers for eighth grade students and a canned food drive.

Two upcoming field trips for students include a tour of Lehigh Career & Technical Institute for eighth graders and a field trip to Bitty and Beau’s coffee shop for the transitional support class.

Students Aniylah Hamilton and Ryland Christ presented the happenings at Salisbury Elementary School. On Oct. 28 the students enjoyed wearing their costumes for the traditional Halloween parade and then continued the celebration with classroom parties. The book fair was a huge success and students enjoyed visiting during their library periods.

Several grade levels have taken field trips throughout October and November. Kindergartners enjoyed the pumpkin patch, third grade students visited the Camden Aquarium and fourth grade students went to Harrisburg to see the Capitol building and the state museum.

Parent teacher conferences were scheduled Nov. 17-23 and the PTO holiday shop will be held when students return from the holiday break.

As secretary of the board, Chief Financial Officer Dawn Nickischer announced the annual audit began a week ago and auditors will be coming to the district to complete the audit following the Thanksgiving break. She also announced the Pennsylvania Homeowners Assistance Fund, which can be found on the district website under the community tab, can help homeowners with up to $50,000 in delinquent taxes, utilities and insurances.

Personnel committee chair Carol Klinger reported the board was given a presentation summarizing the district’s demographics.

In her report, Assistant Superintendent Kelly Pauling showed the district is becoming more diverse and there are trends toward a rise in economically disadvantaged students, increases in the need for special education services as well as an increase in the number of English language learners.

The middle and elementary school’s testing data summary was another topic of discussion. Principals from both schools presented the strengths and weaknesses inherent in the data and outlined steps to be taken in order to improve student achievement.

Teaching and learning updates were presented by principals in all three of the district’s schools in an effort to keep the board apprised of the current events and happenings throughout the district.

The board approved the placement of Muhlenberg College student teacher Michaela Morgan with Tanya Kennedy at SHS and Moravian University intern Nicole Bull who will be completing a clinical internship with Cara Sepcoski at SMS.

The board also approved an affiliation between Salisbury School District and Moravian University regarding the placement of students participating in the following fields – athletic training, occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language pathology.

The board also approved an agreement with Catasauqua School District for a life skills support placement for the 2022-2023 school year.

Also approved was the creation of a student activity fund for a Spanish club.

Thomas Spinner, operations committee chair, summarized the board discussions during the Nov. 9 work session meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss space issues in the district’s facilities and to establish a timeline for making these decisions. Step one in the process is to allow the administration to analyze if and when space will be needed and present their findings at the Dec. 7 meeting.

During the finance committee meeting report, chair Christopher Freas talked about the timeline established to move forward with the facilities project at the middle school and how future state funding would affect next year’s budget. The board then approved a resolution for the issuance of a general obligation bond in the amount of $9.5 million which is the maximum aggregate amount that could be borrowed.

Moving on to the personnel committee, there were two resignations to report. Tara Mossman, coordinator of human resources resigned effective Dec. 27 and Vanleer-Mercedes Reid, part-time instructional assistant, effective Nov. 14.

New hires include Tawana Hampton, part-time evening custodian, Mercedes Newman, SMS cheering coach, Anne Purtell, assistant swimming coach and Chad Foulke, SMS softball coach.

Volunteer positions approved by the board include Brad Vangeli, Dylan Belletiere and Chris Miller, assistant boys basketball coaches, Tommy Sylvester, assistant junior high basketball coach, Devon Alder, wrestling coach, Pete Stoelzl assistant varsity wrestling coach and Erin Bross, assistant SMS basketball coach.

Board President Sarah Nemitz reported on LCTI which has been in the news lately due to the many lockdowns and closures in the past few weeks. During these closures, students were able to participate in classes virtually as administrators and the Pennsylvania State police work to figure out where these threats are coming from. Increased police presence on campus and expanded counseling services are being offered to students and staff.

She also reported on the many programs and competitions students participated in. She gave an update on the Bridge program which accommodates students who have met graduation requirements and are able to continue at LCTI as part of the service occupation cluster program so they can be paired with work experiences.

Board member Rebecca Glenister updated the board on the Pennsylvania School Boards Association meeting she attended. She said there is $50 million in grants available to help schools serve healthier meals. She also noted the Biden administration is encouraging schools to expand apprenticeship and career learning.

The PSBA continues to raise concerns about vaping and e-cigarette usage in schools. Glenister also suggested that once representatives have been sworn into office it would be a good time to call representatives and encourage them to look into charter school reforms.

The next meeting of the Salisbury Township School Board will be held 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10 in the administration building, 1140 Salisbury Road. This meeting will include a reorganization meeting, work session meeting and regular board meeting.