There was some movement on the Whitehall-Coplay School Board, following the board reorganization and committee meetings Dec. 4.

Patty D. Gaugler, Nichole Hartman, Seth Kubat, George Makhoul and Fady Salloum will fill the school board director chairs, while William P. Fonzone Sr. will continue serving as president.

Following voting and swearing in, the committee meetings began.

District employees approached the board with various topics, one being about the school’s website platform. Renee Sallit, director of teaching and learning, explained how the district is slowly transitioning to a new website platform called Finalsite, where whitehallcoplay.org will live.

It was announced this site will provide five different language translations for families who may need to use that feature. Faculty members say they have analyzed how many languages are used in the homes of students and feel this feature being built into the platform will be beneficial to district families.

Emily Hadersbeck and Emily Pisco, with the gifted education department, provided updates on the students in kindergarten through eighth grade. For the month of December, the students will have gone on eight field trips to places like Crayola, the Free Library of Philadelphia and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum.

An update on a community service requirement within the district was discussed. Students in all levels have the ability to earn community service aside from the 12-hour requirement needed to graduate. A new app and website have been created to help students stay organized on what events are happening in the area to make it easier for them to find ways to volunteer and serve. Students with more than 100 hours will wear a special cord at graduation.

Resident Anthony Kopek approached the board with his concerns about a vacant school bus sitting on Mechanicsville Road. Kopek said the bus has a banner on it urging people to apply to become bus drivers. Kopek said the bus sitting there being used as a billboard is a waste of an asset.

Also on the topic of buses, he said he believes thr district buses he sees on the road are moving too quickly.

The board went on to discuss a potential collaboration with LANTA to get a bus stop for students near campus. The board explained students are often stuck waiting for rides from friends or having to call ride-share cars in order to get home from after-school activities. The bus stop would be near Whitehall Township Public Library. The topic will be discussed at future board meetings.

The school board will next meet 7 p.m. Dec. 18. The next committee meetings are set for 4 p.m. Jan. 8, 2024.