Special Board Meeting - August 13, 2007
Minutes
BETHLEHEM AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT
BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS
SPECIAL MEETING
AUGUST 13, 2007
SPECIAL MEETING
A Special Meeting of the Board of School Directors of the Bethlehem Area School District was held
on Monday, August 13, 2007, beginning at 7:19 p.m. in the Dining Room at the Education Center,
1516 Sycamore Street, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
MEMBERS PRESENT
The Board Secretary called the roll:
Members present: Directors Amato, Cann, Craig, Dexter, Heske, Koch, Leeson, Rowe, and Haytmanek -
9.
OTHERS PRESENT
Others present: Dr. Joseph A. Lewis, Superintendent of Schools; Stanley J. Majewski, Jr., Board
Secretary; administrators, members of the press, and other interested citizens and staff members.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
At this point in the meeting, the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
SILENT MEDITATION
President Haytmanek requested that the audience observe a moment of silent meditation.
COURTESY OF THE FLOOR TO VISITORS
President Haytmanek offered courtesy of the floor to visitors. Speakers are asked to come to the
podium, stating their name and address. Public comment in the first session is limited to 30
minutes. Speakers are limited to three minutes each. The board requests that, when possible, all
individuals supporting a like position on a topic select a speaker to present their views to avoid
repetition. If that is not possible, all are welcome to speak. As per school board policy,
generally, speakers are limited to taxpayers, residents, or employees of this school district. At
the conclusion of the regular school board meeting, another block of time will be allocated for
public comment. At that time, the same rules will apply. It is asked that speakers observe proper
decorum, without personal attacks towards a specific individual or individuals. It is not the
custom for the board to enter into a dialogue at these meetings about concerns. However, the board
does listen with care to issues raised. Speakers will receive responses, in some form, by the
administration. The following person addressed the Board of School Directors:
1. Stephen Antalics, 737 Ridge Street, Bethlehem Mr. Antalics stated that in corporate or other
agencies, assets such as laptops which are portable and very expensive, are considered
something that must be controlled. He said usually the institutions install frequent inventory
checks and have periodic assessments. The Bethlehem School District thought they were missing
22 and now they're missing 48 laptop computers. He said there is a message and he needn't say
what it is.
Mr. Antalics said that on March 3rd, the district's Director of Information Technology said 11
computers were missing in May of 2006 when a semi-annual audit was done. A second audit in
September of 2006 showed the laptops were still missing but there seemed to be no action taken
in-between. The Director of Information Technology then said the matter would be taken up with
the police with no record of a report being made. Later it was stated that it was a case of
bad record keeping. It was later reported in the press that a laptop and an iMac was found in
the residence of Mr. Acerra and he said he didn't know whether this is related. It was later
reported that a second batch of laptops was missing at Nitschmann bringing the total value of
missing computers to $23,000. The District Director of Information again reported the
computers were missing on Monday. Eleven laptops were secured in a storage crate but the crate
was stolen. He said that it was not a very strong way to store assets. Later in a report from
July 15, a person outside the administration stated that the numbers reported were erroneous
and rather than 22, there were 48 missing and it seems later the administration concurred that
it was 48. He questioned how could a person not in administration have better knowledge than
the administrative people.
He said that in August, after an internal probe of the missing laptops, a Bethlehem Area School
District official filed a report to the Bethlehem Police stating that 48 are missing from the
four middle schools. He said that subsequent to that, a statement was made that there would be
an audit and internal investigation.
Mr. Antalics commented that personally, based on the past history, he has absolutely no confidence
in the internal audit. As a concerned citizen, he felt obliged to see where the truth lied
because there seemed to be such discrepancies in internal recording. He contacted the district
attorney and it was not their purview to look into it. He said he called the state attorney
general's office and explained the situation and they expressed concern in what he reported to
them. He was then referred to the citizen taxpayer advocate. He had a conversation with the
gentleman and he expressed concern. Mr. Antalics substantiated what he told him by sending
him a report of various information from public meetings and the press. He was then informed
that based on the provided information the advocate was referring the matter to the state
auditor. He felt that maybe they would come up with the reality and truth about the situation.
Mr. Antalics asked the board if they had any comments.
President Haytmanek thanked him for his thoughts on the topic.
PRESIDENT'S COMMUNICATIONS/UNFINISHED BUSINESS
President Haytmanek said the other day he found several thousand floor hockey balls on his back
porch. He assumed they were a donation to the district. They were nicely packaged and would like
to thank the individual who donated them.
Director Dexter stated at the June 20th meeting she requested a bill from White and Williams for
the Acerra investigation. She said that she hasn't seen or heard anything and asked if they
received a bill.
President Haytmanek responded that he has that bill and will share it with Director Dexter.
Director Dexter asked him when the bill was received.
President Haytmanek responded, "Probably a week ago."
Director Dexter said that she thought it was a public document and it is something that would be
of interest to her as well as to others.
President Haytmanek replied that he didn't have it with him but he would get it for her.
Director Dexter asked Dr. Lewis if the district was presented with the bill as well.
Dr. Lewis replied that the bill was given to Mr. Majewski to be put into the approved payment list
which then makes it a public document.
President Haytmanek asked if there was anything else under unfinished business.
Director Dexter inquired about high school schedules and when will the students be receiving them.
Dr. Lewis responded that Mr. LaPorta was present and could probably answer for Freedom High
School.
Mr. LaPorta replied that the printed schedules would be going out in the mail on Monday.
Dr. Lewis asked Ms. Lutcher if she had knowledge about Liberty High School schedules.
Ms. Lutcher replied that they should be done by the end of the week. She said they ran into a
slight problem with Grade 12 and they were working through the afternoon. She said she hadn't
finished reading through her email to see if the problem had been resolved.
Dr. Lewis asked if she anticipated them by the end of the week.
Ms. Lutcher affirmed his inquiry.
Director Dexter commented that last year they had difficulties with late distribution of
schedules. She said students sometimes had four honors courses in one semester and gym and
electives in another semester and they needed to straighten it out. There was a difficult time
because of short days and not enough guidance counselors to do all of the work. She asked if they
were prepared this year.
Dr. Lewis responded yes, but he wanted to confirm with Mr. LaPorta that the counselors were
scheduled on that end of the schedule release.
Mr. LaPorta replied that yes, when he built the master schedule there is a 60/40 balance in the
way the number of core courses are scheduled in one semester versus the number of core courses in
another semester. He said that with some honors and AP classes, it is difficult to balance from
one semester to another semester because there is nine-week extension built into that particular
program of study. Mr. LaPorta said counselors would be available for three days during the week
prior to the opening of school. He said that each counselor is assigned three days and having nine
in the building, there should not be a day without a counselor in each of the student service
offices.
Director Dexter asked if all counselors would be handling calls from all students or must a
student try to catch their own counselor at a free moment?
He responded that they would try to schedule the students with their own counselors but if that is
not a possibility they will pair them up with another counselor.
Director Dexter said that she is just trying to head off problems because there were a significant
number of problems last year. She said she mentioned the honors scheduling as one example but
there were others such as situations where some students were scheduled for applied classes who
never had applied classes and students who were scheduled for languages which weren't theirs and
so on. She said there were many factual errors that needed to be She wanted to make sure that they
maximize the chance that every student will start school on the first day with an appropriate
schedule. She thought it would make sense if the guidance counselors were in every day during the
week before school starts since there is such a late mailing.
Dr. Lewis replied that they do have that block scheduled for counselors.
Mr. LaPorta stated that is correct and told Director Dexter that he honestly didn't recall that
being an issue at Freedom High School last year in terms of students having schedules that were
not appropriate to their course selections. He gave her a quick thumbnail sketch of what occurred
from the course selection process. The course verifications went home to parents. Those course
verifications were generated out of the data base that the actual student schedules are in right
now so that should not be an issue. If students and parents read the verifications that were sent
home, they should be able to verify that those courses will be in their student schedules when
they receive them in the mail.
Dr. Lewis told Mr. LaPorta that he recalled the issue was at Liberty High School and he will speak
with Mrs. Durante and they will also review the subject on Thursday morning at the Administrative
Supervisory Meeting.
Director Dexter also said that all of the complaints she received were at Liberty High School. She
just assumed there were some similar issues at Freedom High School and that she didn't happen to
hear them.
Dr. Lewis replied that he didn't think it was a scheduling system error.
Mr. LaPorta thought it might be a data entry error more so than the actual scheduler. He added
that the scheduler schedules according to the day that is entered into the database. He said that
if what is put in there is accurate then there should be no crisis on day one of school.
Director Dexter said she had another matter regarding unfinished business. She noted that Mr.
Washington was present and wondered if there were additional guidance counselors hired considering
new counselors were authorized in the budget. She asked, if so, then how would they be utilized at
the high schools and further inquired if they would be used to reduce caseloads or would they be
used for college specialization that the board had discussed.
Mr. Washington responded that they have four and at the high school level they are going to a
ratio because they are adding one to Liberty High School and a .5 at Freedom High School to round
out their numbers to attack the ratio. The others are going to have one at the Middle School Level
again to attack the ratios at East Hills and Nitschmann that were creeping up, and one being added
to the elementary level that is split between Governor Wolf and another school. He reviewed that
there will be four guidance counselors added and they looked at all three divisions and attacked
the ratios.
Director Dexter replied that she is glad they are going to be able to reduce the ratios but she
specifically remembered the board conversation addressing the issue of college and career
planning. She asked Mr. Washington if there was anything that the board could do to convince him
or the administration that it is a real issue which needs to be addressed so that when they
consider the budget for next year, they will know whether or not the wishes of the board would be
followed.
Mr. Washington responded that if budget availability permitted the hiring of an additional
counselor, then they wanted to use that person to provide assistance for college bound students.
The administration did send someone out to talk to the Ivy League schools and it is my
recommendation that we are better off attacking the ratios. He said that in most of the students
they see, their scores are similar, so they look for something unique in the child and that is the
separator. When we asked if the school district should specifically assign a counselor who will
work on applications only, the Ivy League schools felt the better way to go was to deal with
ratios. He said it didn't mean that they won't look at it as they move forward.
Director Dexter said she spoke with the very guidance counselor that he did; the woman who went to
the luncheon with several Ivy League schools and she doesn't agree that the Ivy League admission
counselors suggested that the district attack the ratios but rather the guidance counselor
believes that to be the situation. It was her understanding that her conversation had to do with
whether or not a relationship with the guidance counselor and the admission officer was a
significant factor in the numbers that were admitted from a particular school.
Director Dexter commented that when the board makes a specific request that additional guidance
counselors be placed in the high schools who are familiar with college entrance requirements and
college guidance and if those counselors were authorized but not utilized in that way, then the
board should be informed that administration would like to go in a different direction. They
should be given the reasons why so that a joint decision could be made. She said that it was her
impression they were going to add that college component which she believed was a need and if the
administration doesn't believe it is a need, then they need to do something a little more
scientific than sending one guidance counselor to a luncheon.
Director Dexter said she wanted the college specialization component to be taken care of in
addition to lowering the ratios. She said she did speak with the guidance counselor and she is not
convinced that the report that he just gave her was what she got or that it is an accurate
reflection.
Dr. Lewis told Director Dexter that he recalled her discussion but he didn't recall whether they
drew a conclusion. He said not to be disrespectful but he could not recollect whether it was
something they'd like to move toward or something they must move toward. He asked the board if
this is the direction that they'd like them to move toward is an assigned counselor to only
college counsel. Dr. Lewis said that he would need to work with principals on this if indeed it
was the direction they wished to go. He said he wouldn't ask Mr. LaPorta on the spot but he
believed a prior discussion with his predecessor on it.
Director Leeson wanted to clarify that she believed that when talked about a college counselor, it
was not limited to the Ivy League or the high-end schools. She said it appeared that way because
they said they sent someone to a luncheon with Ivy League and that "Ivy League doesn't think" and
that is what they mean. She was concerned that some students who weren't looking at colleges will
begin to look at colleges and that some students may not think it is attainable for some reason
either financially or academically. They can be shown the way to get there. Some students
considering moderate level schools are given more options and they may able to find the better
fit. Director Leeson said another concern was the ability to find financial aid not only for the
neediest students but for all of students in the college application process. She is looking at an
individual for the position who is a lot more broad based than the one this discussion had brought
out and she thought they had talked about it and agreed that this was the direction.
Mr. Washington responded that if that was the direction, then he had missed it. He said he knew
they had a discussion about it and they talked about possibly adding more counselors because he
even went back to see where they would go and to what school. He said that they did have the
discussion but he wasn't sure if they said that it had to be a college counselor.
Director Leeson said that they added counselors but she wasn't sure if they even discussed
elementary and middle school. She said she knew they discussed that there was a need for college
level counselors.
Dr. Lewis said, "That may have been with the two counselors that we added on after the budget had
been originally drafted."
Director Craig commented that when they discussed it, they were a little vague. What he remembered
about the discussion is mentioning about having a guidance counselor who would work the special
needs students. He thought the conversation was that they wanted to increase the number of
guidance counselors with the idea of working toward having a college preparation guidance
counselor to work with students and advise them. He said he also had the idea of having someone
work with the special needs students. He didn't think they were specific. He thought they may have
insinuated it and he agreed that they need to get to that point. He added that maybe they needed
the 1.5 positions at the two high schools and the other 2.5 positions across the rest of the
district. They may have needed it that way to get the numbers properly distributed. He suggested
if they could get some of it done using these positions, he thought it would be great. Director
Craig said the ultimate would be enough guidance counselors so the ratio is smaller and that they
also have one or two counselors at each high school who will specifically work with college
preparation.
Director Cann said one of the primary goals of a high school education is to prepare students for
post-high school education, and given that, she thought it really embarrassing that there is lack
of assistance that they give the students in getting there. They don't meet with the guidance
counselor for it unless they request it. It is not scheduled in that the students are brought
along through sophomore, junior and senior years with a guidance counselor to help them choose
their courses according to their chosen major and what the schools would require of them. When
students applied to college 25 years ago it was an entire different story. Their parents couldn't
be helpful. The students now need their hand held. They wonder where to start; how to get letters
of reference and what should be in them and how do they do an essay. They might bring home
pamphlets but they need hands on guidance. She said these kids are lost. Luckily for us there is a
large student population that want to go to college and it speaks well of the district but it
doesn't speak well that there isn't more help for them. She thought it vital that they pay a lot
more attention to the matter.
Dr. Lewis replied that he has a sense that it is a consensus.
Director Dexter said that she recalled that they were going to authorize two additional guidance
counselors and that they as a board agreed to add to that so they could have the college specialty
piece taken care of. They specifically talked not only about the high end students who might want
to go to the Ivy League colleges, but also about students who have low SAT scores but high class
rank or vice versa or students who have musical talent but don't excel in academics. There may be
specific schools that may likely admit them but the only way someone would know is to develop
those reports. The guidance counselor that Mr. Washington is speaking about does a different kind
of job with her students than what Director Cann's experience right now is telling her is done.
She was convinced that others do it too. She had already met with 50 students and their parents in
the summer to do a prescreening process. It is her experience in addition to what she is hearing
from others in the community is that is not happening on a routine basis with all guidance
counselors. She said some are not doing it and some are doing it well.
Dr. Lewis responded that he could say with certainty that more are doing it and Mr. Washington has
moved them to the national standards, but not enough are and he agreed with Director Dexter. He
said that they are not satisfied with where they are and he wanted her to understand that.
Director Amato stated that he hoped they weren't adding guidance counselors just for college bound
students. He asked about the remainder of the students in the schools. He commented that Director
Cann said post-graduate which includes Vo-Tech and other types of post-high school curriculums and
not just college bound. If they are just adding counselors to take care of their college bound
students, then he is not for it, because then that leaves out all the other kids that need help.
He asked if that was what they are saying.
Dr. Lewis replied that he believed it is college and career bound students.
Director Amato said that if that is what they mean, then say it that way. He doesn't want somebody
coming to a meeting in two months stating the minutes read "college bound." He wanted it to read
the proper way.
President Haytmanek told Director Amato that the minutes would reflect that. He asked if there was
any other unfinished business.
Director Leeson wanted to talk about the laptop report the board received. She said she has been
very concerned about the report, having just a few questions. She asked if any of the 48 laptops
identified as missing, which had been reported to the police, were at Nitschmann Middle School at
any time. She said that she knew that some of them were identifying at other schools.
Dr. Lewis replied, "I am going to tell you that while we do have an investigation that is being
conducted by Mr. Gross right now; to the best of my knowledge, I can tell you that yes, some of
those were at Nitschmann. I don't know the exact number and that is what he is trying to unravel."
Director Leeson said, "I understand, but some of them that were identified as being at other
schools; were they at one point at Nitschmann?"
Dr. Lewis stated, "I don't know that and I don't want to give you false information."
Director Leeson said that it is a question at this point and maybe he could look into it.
She said they had assessed the dollar value of the computers and asked if the value was determined
at today's dollar value or when they were taken.
Dr. Lewis replied he believed they were assessed at the purchase value, asking Mr. Majewski for
confirmation.
Mr. Majewski replied affirmatively.
Dr. Lewis said they will not have that value but that is what they were assessed at.
Director Leeson noted that some of the missing laptops go back in time. She thought that when they
put the laptop program in, there was a discussion that if laptops were missing, they would know
about it. They discussed the safety and security of the laptops and she wondered why so many of
them were missing and they did not know about it. She understood that a couple were recent but
many of them go back a number of years. She asked why they didn't they realize that the computers
were missing.
Dr. Lewis said that he thought that is at the forefront of the investigation. He said they were
not prepared to answer that tonight and said he will share the entire report with the board. He
said they have been discussing and sharing information with the city police, following leads and
discovering more access to databases and to inventory records then they were comfortable with and
share that. He said that until Mr. Gross completes his last series of interviews and data
collection, at which point, they will share the entire report with the board and police. He would
rather not conjecture as to how many or where they were or why it happened. He said he was equally
distressed over the situation. He said that if someone said to him, well if it were 5 laptops out
of 500 in a small school district, or 50 out of 7000 or whatever the number is. He said that he
didn't care if it is one laptop. It is wrong because it is taxpayer money and district property.
He said he didn't care if a student or staff person took it. It is wrong and they need to find
out what broke down and re-establish that very accounting system that was mentioned earlier during
Courtesy of the Floor. The system is in place and something happened there and that is the
purpose of Mr. Gross' investigation and the purpose of the police. He said they are also
interviewing our people and they also issuing subpoenas within the state and outside the state.
Director Leeson said that an audit was done in February or March and they came up with the numbers
33 or 36.
Dr. Lewis replied that he didn't have the information in front of him so he didn't want to confirm
a number. He said that part of the ambiguity is the numbers.
Director Leeson wondered why two audits came up with the two different numbers.
Dr. Lewis said he thinks that is the distressing point and the other question that needs to be
answered - "Why were there two sets of numbers?"
Director Leeson asked when did they anticipate that they might have the information?
Dr. Lewis replied that he would defer to Mr. Gross with regard to his timetable. He said that he
was interviewing several hours today.
Mr. Gross replied that he is probably two-thirds of the way done, stating that vacation schedules
have really inhibited his ability to get some interviews. He said he had interviewed 11
individuals thus far. He speculated that it was his hope to have it done this week but,
realistically because of vacations, meetings and second interviews, he should have it in their
hands by the middle part of next week.
Director Craig said he spoke with a friend of his who sells computers and he told him that
technology is such that they could put tracking chips in every computer we purchase. He said that
when this kind of thing happens, they could zero in and tell where they are located. He suggested
from this point forward, without considering cost, they should be thinking in those terms. He said
if this is going to be the reality, having so many in the district, even if it costs a few extra
dollars to have it implanted, then that is what they need to do so they don't have this problem
again.
President Haytmanek asked if there were any more comments.
Director Dexter said she had already made Dr. Lewis aware of the issue regarding the tarring of
the roof for the new part of the building at Liberty. She said the roof would not be tarred prior
to the opening of school.
Dr. Lewis added, "Not totally but partially."
Director Dexter said she was told that it wasn't going to start until after school began. She said
she wanted to know whether they have a method of notifying people prior to the tarring process
because she had concerns regarding birth defects or even miscarriages with the inhalation of tar
vapors. She said she was very concerned about it.
Dr. Lewis replied that they are currently looking at ways to avoid daytime installation of the
roof tarring material. The first option was not satisfactory which was a considerable upcharge. He
said they are meeting tomorrow morning to discuss the issue again. He said they also tried to
accelerate the start which was why she was probably told that it was scheduled for a later start
based on some structural issues. He thought the contractor was at least marginally receptive to
starting early but would not say that he could get it completed by the opening of school. He said
the other options were to do second shift and weekends which again would be an upcharge. If some
of it had to take place for a variety of reasons, they would issue a notification, especially to
those individuals who might be highly allergic or with child, being highly susceptible to those
fumes. He said it was on their agenda for tomorrow morning and he will keep her posted and thanked
her for bringing it up.
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
Dr. Lewis said the good news is that they are one of the few school districts in the state to get
full funding and are about 98 percent funded for Project 720. He said they are looking at
approximately $90,000 and will announce it formally at the regular board meeting because the board
needs to validate receipt as with all grants. He said part of the Project 720 Initiative is a
refined guidance piece and he brought that up because that is what they have been focusing on. He
wanted them to know that they are like-minded and so is the state. He said the secretary called
him last week and told him that it was looking good. He wouldn't absolutely confirm it but Dr.
Lewis thought that he knew they were going to get the funding.
Dr. Lewis said that he had a few board members speak to him and agreed to make it clear tonight
that they are not presently involved in a grandiose scheme to remove weights from honors courses.
He asked if the press could help them in any way. He said they will need to have discussion
regarding the entire structure of class rank and how it is arrived at, etc. The only thing the
board agreed to support the administration with was the elimination of weighting certain honors
courses that were not unilaterally taught across the two buildings. He said it was primarily at
Liberty High School, where over time, courses received status as honors and were not typically
honors level courses. They had the weights for practically over a decade but now they has been
removed so now there is consistency between the two high schools in terms of what courses are
recognized as truly honors courses and the rigor contained therein. It is not their intention to
discourage students from taking honors courses by removing weights; it is quite the contrary. Dr.
Lewis said they want to encourage more students to take more rigorous courses. He stated they
wanted to make it clear to the public that there is no unilateral decision to unweight honors
courses and any discussion would involve parents, teachers, administrators and other interested
stakeholders. He asked the board to identify their delegates for the October 4th PASA PSBA School
Leadership Conference. Dr. Lewis said that Mr. Majewski has to file the paperwork and he wanted to
know who would be going noting three individuals attend. He knew typically Director Koch had been
very involved and asked if Director Craig would be attending.
Director Koch said that it was her understanding that PSBA handles all of her arrangements.
Dr. Lewis replied that she still has to be announced as a delegate representing the district.
Director Craig asked if a third person would be able to go out just for the morning session.
President Haytmanek asked where/when there meeting is held.
Dr. Lewis replied that it is held on October 4th in the morning at the Hershey Motor Lodge.
Director Leeson said she would try to attend but asked if she could get a substitute if it becomes
a problem.
Mr. Majewski replied that he needed to identify what candidates would be attending by August 31st.
Director Cann offered to be on stand-by if necessary.
Dr. Lewis concluded that they will contact Director Leeson by the 31st and if she is unavailable
then they will contact Director Cann. He also noted that Directors Craig and Koch would also be
attending the conference.
Director Craig commented that it is good if they have all three representatives attend.
The last item Dr. Lewis discussed was the very generous donation on the part of Ashley Development
to fund the entire greenhouse operation at the Broughal Middle School. He said that earlier
Director Dexter alluded that there are some special features of the building the board has decided
to endorse and they are appreciative. Dr. Lewis said they gave their word that they would try to
arrange some funding streams outside the taxpayer realm. He said there was no deal making or "pat
on the back; do us a favor sometime" involved. He stated that he had been asking every single
entity in the business education partnership and every single foundation that is out there to
consider funding part of the initiative. He said they have committed to $300,000 over a period of
five years in installments of $60,000, which will cover the greenhouse, furnishing the greenhouse
which are the fixtures and the green space area surrounding the greenhouse which is part of the
roofing section to make it LEED compatible. He said they are very thankful for their generous
contribution.
Director Leeson asked Dr. Lewis if we are intending to fund the $300,000 and then basically get
reimbursed or are we going to spend $60,000 each year for the next five years to build the
greenhouse.
Dr. Lewis deferred the question to Mr. Majewski, who negotiated that piece of the agreement.
Mr. Majewski said that we would be constructing it and it will very likely be completed by 2009
and they would receive at least one, maybe two payments by that time. He said the remainder of the
payments would come subsequent to the construction. Director Leeson asked him if the intention is
then to front the money and to have it repaid over five years. She just wanted to understand the
financial arrangements.
Mr. Majewski responded, "That is the way the agreement reads."
Director Leeson reviewed Item 3 in the agreement - "Ashley agrees to contribute to the District a
sum not to exceed $60,000 in five equal annual installments..." She said the way it reads almost
sounds as if they are going to give us $60,000 in increments of $12,000.
Dr. Lewis responded, "No, the preceding number, they agreed to pay..."
Director Leeson reread the item and said the wording can be interpreted in more than one way.
Dr. Lewis replied that lawyers on both sides constructed the agreement. He said that syntactically
she made a good point.
Director Leeson commented that it is a very small thing but it is a signed agreement and should
say, "not to exceed $300,000 in five annual installments of $60,000."
Dr. Lewis replied that nobody has signed off on either side so they can get the statement changed.
Mr. Majewski added that he would take care of it.
DR. LEWIS PRESENTS
Dr. Lewis presented the following recommendations of the administration.
NEW AND MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS
Director Rowe had a comment on appointments. She asked that they consider acknowledging new
hires, especially teachers, who were graduates of either Liberty or Freedom. She noticed the name
of Steven Flad and said that if he indeed is the same individual that she is acquainted with, then
he is a fine young man who is a Freedom graduate.
Mr. Majewski said there are actually several newly appointed BASD graduates.
Dr. Lewis stated they do encourage a mix and a lot of their students returning to apply for
positions.
Director Rowe reiterated that she thought they should recognize them.
Dr. Lewis noted her suggestion and relayed the directive to Mr. Gross.
Director Leeson stated that she is aware they are not having the curriculum meeting again this
month and her concern is more curriculum oriented. She said that she has repeatedly heard
complaints regarding the computer course that is offered to the 9th graders and it is not at the
level the students need. She said she personally experienced it with her daughter last year who
was told when she first walked into the class that she could consider it a study hall. She said
her daughter sat through a class that she got nothing from yet the students don't know the
technology that is expected of them for some of their courses. Director Leeson said there is a
complete disconnect. She thinks they need to look at the 9th grade computer course. Every student
that she had spoken with said the course was worthless, noting that the majority of them were
higher end students. She said it wasn't the teachers; it was that the curriculum was not at the
level they needed. She recommended they test the students and place them in a computer course for
the level they need. She thought they could be giving them a great deal more than what they are
now receiving.
Dr. Lewis responded that it has been a concern and the one thing that has occurred, as predicted,
is the push-up in the skill base. He is not prepared to discuss it this evening but he would like
to talk with the principals and Mr. Arbushites. He doesn't think her analysis is far off the mark.
He thought it needed to be broader based. He asked for an opportunity to look at it and believed
that alterations could still be made this year.
Dr. Lewis said the issue surrounding the technology course is that at its origination, it was
meant to meet a state requirement to give a planned course in technology for every student. He
said that students today already know that curriculum. He asked for the opportunity to look at
it.
Director Leeson replied that she appreciated his offer to look into it but this is the third year
she has addressed the subject so she will be asking more about it in the future. Director Koch
stated that at the community college they get reports of course audits and asked if the school
district regularly audits courses to decide whether or not they are of value.
Dr. Lewis said the audits are not done with the intensity that perhaps the community college is
doing. He said it is something they could ask Mrs. Katona to investigate by doing a 360 degree
study on the course or whether it is fulfilling entry level college requirements in the case of
11th or 12th grade courses.
Director Koch added that the course might be just held onto because they always had it as part of
the curriculum.
Dr. Lewis replied that there has been a lot of that and he thought that is what will be targeted
this coming year. He said that he and Mr. Gross have spent an inordinate amount of time going
through the course offerings at the high schools just this year, having flagged several and shared
that with both principals. He said those are based on observations and not on any kind of audit
that was conducted and noted it was something that they could do.
Director Koch thought the board should receive notification when a course is found to be no longer
useful.
Dr. Lewis agreed and said there is a tendency to just hang on to what you are doing in education
across the board in both high schools and colleges because that is what is comfortable and it
isn't the correct way to approach it.
Director Dexter noted that their email accounts are going to be new. She wondered if it would be a
good time to have the website adjusted so if anyone wanted to email the board, they could just
click on one contact and it would automatically forward to all members.
Dr. Lewis replied that he thought it was a good idea and is willing to do that but the last time
they had the discussion, most members did not agree.
Director Craig said that he thought emails are wonderful but thought whoever emails them should
have to talk to them also. He said there are people out there that abuse the system who wouldn't
say in person what they say in an email. He said he received 1700 emails and he doesn't need 1700
more.
President Haytmanek asked if they want to do it or not stating that personally he didn't think it
was a great idea.
Director Dexter said that if people would like to email a board member and they don't want to
approach the podium or have a debate, then that is one method of communication that is available.
She couldn't recall having an email from anyone that wouldn't personally speak to her on the phone
if she wanted to track them down. She said it is easy and helpful, stating that this week alone
she has received a number of emails from people asking how they could contact a board member. She
said there are nine different addresses and with technology there should be one address to forward
information to all board members.
Director Leeson said she falls in the middle of the road with her opinion but said it is the means
of today's communication. She thought as board members, they needed to be accessible by the means
used by a large number of people, which is email. She said there have been complaints on the board
that at times one individual has been emailed and not all. She said this is the opportunity to get
emails that perhaps are only going to one individual or another.
President Haytmanek suggested polling the board for a consensus.
Director Cann said she was in support of receiving all emails.
Director Heske said he wouldn't mind receiving emails from public citizens but most of the excess
emails he gets are from advertisers and that part he could do without. He said when you make it
easy to press a button, his email address is broadcasted to everyone and he doesn't need anymore
mail from advertisers.
Director Amato said no to the combined school board internet mailbox.
President Haytmanek also said no to suggestion of the common email address.
Director Koch said she didn't have a problem with the suggestion and supports the common address.
Director Rowe stated she is 100 percent in favor but suggested good spam filters.
President Haytmanek announced that the suggestion for a common email address carried.
Dr. Lewis commented that he was comfortable with a certain program and installed a mail filter
that appropriately screens "junk" email. He said he would have Mrs. Lutcher's staff activate the
filter program along with the new email.
COURTESY OF THE FLOOR TO VISITORS
The following persons addressed the Board of School Directors:
1. Mr. Stephen Antalics, 737 Ridge Street, Bethlehem Mr. Antalics stated that Director Leeson
and Dr. Lewis made comments on the laptops during old business which arrived on two specific
questions. He asked if there is a policy for inventory control in the district which would
account for laptops. He said if that policy was violated, why isn't the superintendent
outraged rather than being distressed? If the policy was violated then shouldn't there be
corrective action? He said that if there isn't a policy then why isn't there one?
Dr. Lewis responded, yes, to the question of an inventory control policy.
Mr. Antalics replied that the laptop problem is a violation of that policy.
Dr. Lewis said, "I will tell you that if that is the finding, I am not at all happy and close to
outraged."
Mr. Antalics asked if he planned to take any disciplinary action on any level.
Dr. Lewis replied that he cannot tell him that because he does not have the final report. He said
they are not hiding behind any cloak. They have high turnover in the various departments
associated with the issue. There are summer employees in those departments. He said until they
can ascertain where it occurred, he cannot comment. He said, "I will tell you this, that
unequivocally, if his report or the police report turn out individuals who betrayed the trust
of this district, then yes, there will be discipline."
Mr. Antalics said his and Director Leeson's comments eluded to his two fundamental questions. The
term, "lack of proper reporting" bothered him. He said after reading and listening he got the
impression that the administration was possibly taking the position of taking care of its own
rather than being responsible to the taxpayers and said he hoped it was the latter.
Dr. Lewis replied that he takes his role as the keeper of district property and equity very
seriously.
Mr. Antalics asked Dr. Lewis if the taxpayer's interest is above anyone in administration.
2. Mr. Eugene McKeon, 5045 Harvey Road, Bethlehem Mr. McKeon stated his father retired over 40
years ago from teaching. He said half of his career was in private school. He went from
public education into private education. He said his job in the parochial school was to
manage the entire application process for every senior student interested in attending
college. He also said that when his daughter was considering college, he thought the
financial aid seminar presented by the school district was very weak. Mr. McKeon said his
father ran a financial aid business on the side and was forced by osmosis to learn the issues.
He said that most of the parents think they make too much money and are not eligible for aid.
He doesn't think the parents understand how the numbers are developed. He has the formulas
at home and is attempting to create a spreadsheet to give an individual a "heads up" as to
managing the numbers in an earlier process. He thinks direction should begin in freshman year
for post-high school careers or college. He said he would be willing to sit with parents and
share his time to talk with them.
ADJOURNMENT
Directors Heske and Craig moved to adjourn the meeting which carried by voice vote. The meeting
adjourned at 8:28 p.m.
Attest,
Stanley J. Majewski, Jr.
Board Secretary
:dw