PORT ALLEGANY — Fifty new kindergarten students have registered for the upcoming school year, Port Allegany School District Superintendent Gary Buchsen announced at Monday’s board meeting.
With an anticipated amount of students enrolled before the next school year, the board estimates approximately 68 kindergarteners by next fall.
The school board also briefly discussed the preliminary budget for the 2017-18 school year.
The board is anticipating a rise in health care costs, Buchsen said. The school district also can look forward to an increase in finances for basic education and special education in the event Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposal of additional funding is approved.
A more extensive budget discussion will occur in April. A tentative budget is planned for adoption by May 8, and there will be a 30-day public comment period. The final budget is planned for the June 12 board meeting.
Additionally, the school district has been the recipient of a Keystones to Opportunity grant over the past three years and is in its final year. With a little more than $100,000 left, the district plans on purchasing equipment and installation of a student broadcast studio.
The studio would be purchased from the same company that integrated the science, math, engineering and math labs (S.T.E.M.) in the high school and elementary school.
The district would like to purchase and install it late in the school year or in the early summer months. Teachers could possibly get training in studio use, as they similarly did for the S.T.E.M. labs. The use of the broadcast studios would cross over multiple curriculums and be accessible to all students and staff members.
The remainder of the grant money would possibly be spent on other educational needs.
The school board also discussed the change in requirements by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) for coaching.
In June of 2018, PIAA is requiring every paid and volunteer coach to take mandatory courses in the fundamentals of coaching, health and first aid. The coaching class is $50 and the first aid class is $45 dollars.
The National Federation of State High Schools Association offers the classes in a partnership with Red Cross, and strives to get coaches and volunteers to earn their credentials. The courses are accessed through an online profile and each class is attributed to the district in which the coach works.
All coaches must complete the two courses provided by PIAA before June 30, 2018.
Coaches that were hired after July 1, 2016, have exactly two years from their date of hire to complete the requirements.
Colleges, Red Cross or other associations with similar classes may be accepted in lieu of the courses, with PIAA’s approval. The board members discussed at length on whether to pay for the classes or have the coaches pay for each class themselves. No decision was made and further discussion on the topic will take place in the future.
New business touched upon at the meeting included the substitute teacher applications of Logan Hults of Port Allegany and Marsha Ernst of Port Allegany. Both are pending completion of paperwork.
Also, the board briefly discussed resurfacing of the track. The board plans on soliciting bids after interest from companies arose. The plan is to resurface after this track season and make it a summer project. The price estimate is between $100,000 and $150,000 for resurfacing and repainting.
