Tributes and a long moment of silence were observed by the Bradford Area School Board Wednesday in honor of former board member, Joe Troutman, who died last week from illness.
Later in the meeting, when Gretchen Daugherty was unanimously appointed to Troutman’s seat, it was noted the hasty action was needed as the board had just 30 days to fill the vacant seat.
The board had postponed its regularly scheduled meeting from Monday to Wednesday to give board members an opportunity to go to Troutman’s funeral viewing.
In his comments regarding Troutman, board president Shane Oschman urged everyone at the meeting and community to “keep Mr. Troutman and his family” in their thoughts and prayers.
Superintendent Katharine Pude also noted that the loss of Troutman was that of “an amazing board member and friend.
“Joe was a fair man, a kind man, who always based his decisions as a board member on what was right for our children and for our community,” Pude said. “Joe was generally quiet but had a great sense of humor. He thought deeply about hard decisions, weighing all options and asking the right questions before determining how he would cast his vote.
“The privilege of knowing and working with Joe made us all better educators, better stewards of public funds and just better people. He will be greatly missed,” Pude said.
Following the meeting, Daugherty said she will hold the seat through December and plans to run for a four-year seat in the fall. Daugherty, who was one of two people who requested the appointment, said she is pleased to have been appointed as she is very involved in the school district.
“I have two kids — my oldest has special needs and is at (Floyd C. Fretz Middle School) and my youngest is at School Street Elementary,” Daugherty said.
A family and educational advocate for Beacon Light Behavioral Health Systems, Daugherty serves on the McKean County Department of Human Services Board, two boards for the school district and the Seneca Highlands IU9 Task Force, among others. She noted her husband, Sgt. Jason Daugherty, is with the Bradford City Police Department.
In other matters, the board approved the expulsion of a student who had violated the policy on Terroristic Threats/Act on Feb. 1. Administrators said the student is expelled for a period of time stated in an agreement dated Feb. 22.
The board also heard a presentation by Kelly Compton, director of curriculum and instruction. Compton said the school district had been approached in February by the Bradford Family YMCA to expand and enhance the 21st Century Community Learning Center after-school program. Compton said the program, which currently has elementary and middle school students enrolled from the district, would like to include approximately 40 students at the high school level. Programs would include college and career readiness, a drug and alcohol component as well as STEM sessions. Compton said the district has applied for a grant to add the high school program and should know by May if it has been received.
On another topic, Compton said PSSA exams will be taken by district students in April and the Keystone exams will be administered in May.
Also during the meeting the board heard and approved a request from Jennifer Barnes and Marissa Cleer regarding overseas travel plans for high school students. The trips will include a tour by students in April of 2020 to places such as Berlin and Budapest.
Another trip, planned for the summer of 2021, will take students to the Global Leadership Summit in Switzerland. Cleer said the trips are open to students in grades nine through 12 and fundraising will take place to help fund the travel.
In personnel matters, the board approved the hiring of Jessie Cannon-Butler as a full-time special education aide at School Street Elementary; Ashely Zeigler as a Latch Key Aide at George G. Blaisdell Elementary (GGB); and Susan Ostrum and Stacie Gorse as discipline coordinators.
The board also approved the resignation of Connie Henry, Latch Key Aide at GGB; Joseph Gorse as a full-time bus driver; Thomas Shallop as a discipline coordinator; and the release of Connie Henry, part-time bus driver.
In her superintendent address, Pude lauded the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) group from the high school for their recent achievements in state competition in Hershey. She said 29 students with the club competed and “captured medallions and trophies for Bradford.”
Those students who will travel to the DECA International Competition in April are Callie Luke, Alexandra Safran, John Patterson, Kyle Auteri, Lydia Pompa and Isaiah Pingie.
