Julia Stanley participates in her first school board meeting as student representative. STAFF PHOTO/PAT FARNELLI
BY PAT FARNELLI
Julia Stanley, a junior at Blue Ridge, took her seat as student representative for the first time at the school board meeting Monday night.
Stanley recently attended a PA School Boards Association School Leadership Conference in Harrisburg, along with fellow junior Mary Mangel. She focused her time there on dress code issues, it was noted.
During the visitor comment period on the agenda, Stanley, still in the audience, brought up the school’s cheerleading program and wondered if girls participate less in cheerleading now that many girls sport teams are now available to them.
School board member Christina Whitney disagreed, saying that all sports, across the board, have had fewer students participating, whether they are boy or girl teams.
Board president Laurie Brown-Bonner said, “Since Julie is here, why don’t we have her come up to the table and join us?”
Later in the meeting, the board added a new extracurricular activity, junior high cheerleading, for the remainder of the school year. The focus will be on basketball. Two visitors attended the meeting who will serve as coaches: Lori Zawiski and Lacy Stiloe.
Transportation contracts for the 2013-14 school year were approved.
The board accepted the resignation of James Mangel, basketball head coach.
The following coaches/advisors were appointed: Charlene Kempa, track and field junior high head coach at $1,100; Joseph Kempa as track and field head coach, $3,225; Paula Finn, basketball girls head co-coach, and Nichole Welmon, girls basketball head co-coach, each at $3,850; Roxanne Lloyd, cheerleading/wrestling advisor, at $750; and Paula Finn, college, career and trade advisor, at $32 per hour.
The resignation of Kenneth Robinson, volleyball boys head coach, was accepted with regret.
The board accepted the resignation of Gail Wnorowski, special education instructional supervisor, effective Nov. 15, with regret.
Rebecca Hinkley and Eric Smith were hired as instructional substitutes.
A long list of policies was approved with several exceptions.
One, which addressed cell phones for bus drivers, prompted a question whether all of the bus drivers carry one.
There was also some discussion on how bus route changes are made.
Superintendent Robert McTiernan said that if a proposed route change will save time, it is usually approved unless there is a safety issue involved. He said that bus drivers submit odometer sheets on a regular basis for review.
While checking the addendum for the agenda, Whitney asked that the job description for high school guidance counselor be reworded as secondary school counselor, which was approved.
Nebzydoski said that successful strategies are evident all around the high school, and that the recent focus on language has paid off. He said that strategies learned in their core courses are being carried over into math classes, and the instructors are seeing good results.
“Take a look through the high school, the walls are oozing with vocabulary and academic literacy: you can’t miss it,” he said.
A Veteran’s Day program will be held Friday at 9:30 a.m. in the elementary auditorium.
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