Feb 17, 2005 By Christine Haines 3 min read

CALIFORNIA – It looks as if the secretarial and clerical staff in the California Area School District will no longer have shortened days in the summer months. The school board Wednesday had the first reading of a new policy that would set the work hours for non-bargaining unit members at 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on non-instructional days other than official holidays. The policy must be read two more times before adoption.

With six board members present, the first reading was approved with five votes and one abstention. School director Barry Niccolai said he had just received a copy of the policy and did not feel qualified to vote on it Wednesday.

The current policy gives the secretarial staff a shortened workday during the summer months, according to school director Donna Tyrpin, who presented the change to the board. Tyrpin said the present policy allows the non-bargaining unit members to work from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. on workdays when classes are not in session.

In other matters, school director George Safin said the Mon Valley Vocational-Technical School board has not yet approved a new funding formula. Safin said the current funding formula has each of the six members school districts contributing to the vo-tech budget based on a variety of factors, including the assessed valuation of the district and population.

“There have been some concerns that wasn’t a fair way to do it because a district with a higher valuation is paying more for a student to attend than a district with a lower valuation,” Safin said.

Safin said there have been several meetings at which a revised funding formula based on the number of students from each district attending the vo-tech is taken into consideration. In order to prevent large funding fluctuations, attendance figures would be averaged over a five-year period, Safin said.

“We’re one of the one’s that would be paying a little bit more, but it’s going to create peace and allow for progression,” Safin said.

The Mon Valley Vo-Tech includes the California, Monessen, Charleroi, Ringgold, Bethlehem Center and Bentworth school districts.

The board Wednesday also approved the hiring of Gina Martin as a long-term substitute for the second semester of the 2004-05 school year, filling in for a sabbatical. Shaun Rice was appointed assistant high school baseball coach at a salary of $2,295. Megan Slavik was hired as assistant girls volleyball coach at a salary of $1,400. Gary Rankin and Breanna Paletta were approved as volunteer softball coaches for the 2005 season.

Salaries of $1,150 were set for the positions of elementary and middle school newspaper sponsors. Both positions will be posted in accordance with the teachers contract.