Cafeteria sales up in Susquehanna

Community Superintendent Bronson Stone said The Nutrition Group’s food service in the district keeps getting “better and better.”
The district moved to the outside cafeteria company at the start of the school year.
Stone said he was impressed on how the school employees meshed with the company and complimented the variety in the cafeteria’s offerings.
Modifications were made to the elementary cafeteria line to streamline service; and changes to improve service in the high school are underway.
Business Manager Gary Keirnan reported cafeteria sales are up.
The board approved a $3 cost for employees for a full lunch meal.
In addition to Susquehanna, The Nutrition Group also provides food service in the nearby Mountain View, Lakeland and Lackawanna Trail districts.
Elk Lake has also contracted with an out-of-district company for cafeteria services. Blue Ridge, Forest City and Montrose Area food service is handled in-house.
Although the state passed a spending plan, there is still no state budget, Stone said.
Once a budget is adopted, the district expects to receive about $825,000 in reimbursement for 2016-17 transportation costs.
Pennsylvania’s plan for compliance with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act was submitted to the U.S. Department of Education last week.
The plan establishes raising student performance, increasing graduation rates and moving English learners toward language proficiency.
It also responds to complaints of too much class time spent on standardized testing and also establishes a new school report card that places less of an emphasis on those scores.
Stone said part of the mandate is also career readiness.
He said there is some push-back from members of the legislature who prefer to keep the current “scoring” method to rank a district’s performance.
He said that while Susquehanna Community may reach the same academic score as other districts, those districts might have a lower poverty level. With that taken into consideration, he said, the district is performing extremely well compared to others.
Susquehanna’s archery program received a $200 donation from the Wilson Moore Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation. The funds will be used to purchase protective bow cases.
At the meeting, administrators reported on homecoming week preparations that were underway. Homecoming was held last week and culminated with a parade, pre-game tailgating, a football game and dance on Saturday.
The board approved tenure to High School Principal Carmella Bullick.
Stone said it is a rarity to grant tenure to a principal in Pennsylvania, noting her prior experience before coming to the district was in New York.
The board also adopted a memorandum of understanding with the county’s juvenile probation department for the 2017-18 school year.
A First Aid and Initial Assessment for Student Athletes contract with Barnes-Kasson Hospital was approved.
Stone thanked Barnes-Kasson’s Dave Passetti for his work in getting the program set up.
“This is a great thing for our students,” said Stone, adding the responders have already been called to the field numerous times.
The board approved a $100 donation to Barnes-Kasson Hospital EMS.
The board also approved the 2017-18 transportation contracts.
Jaime Roberts was approved for a leave of absence from approximately Dec. 22 through the end of the school year. Stone said there would likely be an increase of hours for the contracted speech teacher, and the district could also use an on-line program that had been piloted in the district over the summer if necessary.