The Salisbury Township School Board held its regular meeting Nov. 15. In addition to the usual order of business, the board celebrated the accomplishments of two long serving school board members and announced the 2023 Wall of Honor recipient.

District Superintendent Lynn Fuini-Hetten began the meeting by announcing the 2023 Salisbury Township Alumni Wall of Honor recipient Kyle Miller.

Recipients of this award must be a Salisbury graduate who has demonstrated a commitment to learning, be accomplished in their chosen field and have a positive impact on the community through volunteerism and/or service to others.

Miller, a 2004 graduate, was recognized for his 20 years as a state constable and he was most recently elected to serve as a district judge. He has received a commendation from the Allentown Police Department and served as a volunteer with many organizations including both the Salisbury EMS and fire department, the Boy Scouts of America, Good Shepherd and Lehigh Valley Watershed Stewards.

In his acceptance speech, Miller thanked his parents and his wife for their support. He also noted how impactful a good school can be for a child and credits his success to the influence of the great teachers he has had at Salisbury. “We really have something to be very proud of in Salisbury,” Miller said.

Also recognized for their achievements in service to Salisbury were board members Carol Klinger and Samuel DeFrank. The Pennsylvania School Board Association recognized DeFrank for 12 years of service to the Salisbury Township School District and Klinger was honored for her eight years of tireless service.

Fuini-Hetten and the board further acknowledge the retirement of DeFrank as this meeting was his last as a board member. A resolution was read and he was commended for his unwavering dedication to the Salisbury Township School District. He was recognized for his profound commitment to solving the complex issues facing the school community as well as his resilience and genuine concern for the impact decisions have on the lives of students.

Over the years he has served the district as a Lehigh Carbon Community College board member, spoken at graduation and worked through negotiations.

Fuini-Hetten noted “his dedication is an inspiration to all of us.”

Board President Christopher Freas thanked DeFrank for his service and lending his 12 years of experience to focus on guiding new board members. He also credited DeFrank for motivating him to become a board member.

Salisbury High School students Nolan Grejda and Meredith Kelly reported winter sports are preparing for their upcoming seasons with tryouts for swimming and basketball coming up soon.

As for academics, the first quarter has ended and report cards were recently issued to all students. Students are reminded winter Keystone testing will take place Dec. 4-7. Upperclassmen interested in dual enrollment for the spring semester through LCCC must apply by Nov. 17.

Other activities recently held were the National Honor Society blood drive, STARS club hosted Red Ribbon Week with a goal to say no to drugs and the Salisbury theater department successfully performed the play “Hay Fever.” The SHS winter concert will be held in the auditorium 7 p.m. Nov. 30.

Salisbury Middle School students Brinlee Neitz and Sia Lausch shared the student council has been running a monthlong fundraiser called Niemann Pick November. “I Believe” T-shirts and pretzels were sold to raise funds and a pay-to-play dodge ball tournament was also held.

Continuing with the spirit of giving, the Interact Club held a fall ball and raised $1,658 for Camelot for Children and a canned food drive is currently underway to benefit Everlasting Life Ministry.

Students enjoyed spirit week at the end of October and sixth grade students took a field trip to Bake Oven Knob.

Salisbury Elementary School students Asa Masi and Conner Simmons reported to the board they have been quite busy since the last board meeting. A spirit week was held Sept. 25-29 to kick off the PTO Color Run and students wore a different color of the rainbow each day.

Students also participated in a walk-a-thon held Oct. 3 to raise money to stock the book vending machine and the free library box.

Throughout October and November students enjoyed a visit by the fire department, a Halloween parade, a fall fiesta, a PTO-sponsored Halloween dance and a Veterans Day celebration.

During the operations committee portion of the meeting D’Huy engineer Andrew Mather presented a draft of the master facilities plan noting the 130-page plan is a working document and will change month-to-month and year-to-year as facility needs arise.

In his presentation, he highlighted 13 pages of the document to focus on. Mather explained how engineers determined which projects are considered a high priority. Each of the district buildings are listed separately and include narratives and recommendations which are then ranked in order of priority. A 5-year facilities upgrade plan with costs adjusted for inflation was outlined which board members remarked was helpful to them.

After a brief discussion the board felt it needed time to digest the information and agreed to take a closer look in January 2024 to decide what steps should be taken next.

The board approved amendments to its agreements with St. Luke’s Physicians Group for sports medicine and sponsorship and medical services.

Before voting to award the roofing bid the board discussed, as a note of public record, that in addition to the $2.5 million in contractor costs the board felt it necessary to acknowledge there may be as much as $600,000 in contingency fees and soft costs which would likely need to come out of the fund balance.

Mather pointed out now that the actual bid numbers are defined, D’Huy would be able to give the board a more accurate forecast of the contingency costs. The costs were initially based on an estimate of what the bids might be.

Chief Financial Officer Dawn Nickischer suggested it might be prudent to check with Public Finance Management and run the numbers for a bond of $3.5 and $4 million.

The motion passed by a vote of 7-2 with Spinner and Freas casting the dissenting votes.

The finance committee portion of the meeting started with the board voting to table the bond resolution for the reimbursement of expenses for the middle school roof and elementary school water infiltration project in the amount of $3.5 million due to a possible change in the amount of the bond as discussed in the operations committee meeting.

Moving on, the board passed the Act I Index resolution which states the board will not raise the rate of tax for the 2023-2024 by more than the Act I Index.

The following resignations were approved by the board: Kennedy Sheeley, SMS, Ryan Yurchick, SHS assistant principal and Bama Bhashyam, SHS instructional assistant.

New hires approved by the board include Patria Porto, second shift custodian, Nidhi DiFelice, instructional assistant, Kristen Stokes, SHS cheerleading coach and Paula Douris, SMS cheerleading coach.

Rebecca Glenister made a motion to approve School Board Policy 4D.14 - GSAB statements 34, 87 and 96 which refers to accounting and financial reporting. The motion passed with DeFrank abstaining.

Also approved was the dissolution of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Inc. cooperative sponsorships in high school wrestling with Allentown Central Catholic and high school baseball with Lehigh Christian Academy for the 2024-2025 school year. Any 2023-2024 rostered student from either of these schools will be grandfathered in and will be able to compete in wrestling/baseball until they graduate. This was due to a PIAA ruling change and does not affect the cooperative currently in place for middle school athletes.

Board members reported on committees they serve on as representatives of Salisbury Township School District starting with DeFrank who reported LCCC has put together a new program combining the computer science program with the electrical engineering program. The goal is to better prepare students for the work force or matriculation to a four-year college.

He also noted LCCC will receive no funds from the state until June 2024 which will create a deficit due to lost interest which will need to be made up in some way.

He closed his report by reflecting on his 12 years serving the board and remarked it has been an honor to work with such hardworking, dedicated, professional people in the Salisbury Township School District.

Board member Sarah Nemitz reported Lehigh Career and Technical Institute as well as career and technical institutes statewide are experiencing issues with increased capacity. There were approximately 8,000 students across the state who were not able to be seated.

LCTI recently received a community oriented policing service grant of $181,000 to be used for safety upgrades.

One upcoming event to note is senior recognition night for LCTI will be held May 29, 2024 at the PPL center.

Glenister reported on the Pennsylvania School Boards Association legislative policy council where she encouraged contacting legislators to pass House Bill 1422 which deals with statewide reforms. If passed, it will save Salisbury Township School District an estimated $347,000.

Attorney Kristine Roddick reported she recently filed a petition for approval of a private land sale and a hearing date will be scheduled in the near future.

Roddick also summarized for the board a change in the parameters by which a board can add items to agendas which is a direct result of a Nov. 8 Commonwealth Court decision on the Coleman vs. Parkland case.

She also reviewed the procedure for filling vacancies on the board which requires a majority vote to declare a vacancy and the board has 30 days to fill the vacancy.

In her superintendent’s report, Fuini-Hetten reported on the advocacy conversations she has had with state Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th, Dr. Khalid Mumin and Dr. Carrie Rowe from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Additionally, she attended a legislative breakfast that afforded attendees an opportunity to dialogue with state Rep. Peter Schweyer, D-134th.

She also reported Director of Special Education Tracey Jacobi was featured on the KingSpry Legal Lunchroom podcast.

At 9:30 a.m. Nov. 30 on Google Meet, Human Resource Coordinator Ralph Lovelidge will present the results from the recent climate surveys. For those not able to tune in virtually at that time, the conversation will be recorded and then posted online.

In the near future the district will launch two communication surveys – one about communication at the district level and one concerning communication at the building level. The goal is to find out what the district is doing well and what areas need improvement.

Fuini-Hetten recognized the success of the recent Homecoming events and commented attendance has increased over last year especially at the parade.

In closing, Fuini-Hetten listed current job openings in the district which include SHS assistant principal, instructional assistants, Project Wonder learning coach, custodial/utility maintenance workers and substitute teachers.

The next meeting of the Salisbury Township School Board will be held 7 p.m. Dec. 6 with an executive session 6 p.m. The meeting will include an organizational meeting as well as an operations committee meeting, a finance committee meeting and a regular board meeting.

All meetings will be held in the administration building, 1140 Salisbury Road, Allentown.

Editor’s Note: Photos from this meeting will be in the next edition of The Press.