Connellsville school board OKs 6th grade move
CONNELLSVILLE — When the next school year begins, sixth-grade students in Connellsville Area School District will be united under one roof.
The school board Wednesday unanimously voted to reconfigure the existing grade structure by moving all sixth-grade students to Connellsville Area Junior High for the 2016-17 academic year.
Administration members held a series of meetings leading up to Wednesday’s vote to present to the public a plan to transition sixth-graders into the junior high to allow them to take advantage of programs offered at the school.
Sixth-grade classes are currently taught in each of the district’s eight elementary schools.
Planned additions to curriculum at the junior high school include engineering and STEM-oriented classes through Project Lead the Way, and the incorporation of a fabrication laboratory, or fab lab.
Turning to other matters, the board tabled two motions that, if passed, would effectively cut ties with the Intermediate Unit 1 (IU1) for cyber and alternative education services.
One motion requested the board’s approval to an agreement with Seneca Valley for cyber services; the other requested approval for the district to create and implement alternative education programming using the Blended Academy for the 2016-17 school year.
Both services are currently rendered by the IU1.
School director Fran Mongell moved to table the motions on the basis of IU1 directors not being granted meetings they requested with the district to discuss those services.
“The decision to close both of these programs was already made by (Superintendent) Mr. (Phil) Martell when he sent letters to the IU back in January, telling them that we would no longer be renewing their programs,” said Mongell.
He asked the board to put the items on hold until next month’s meeting so the board could meet with the IU1 and acquire cost figures.
Addressing Mongell’s concerns, Martell said he had no problem to postpone the vote for one month, adding that a move away from the IU1 would save the district money.
“The alternative education program has cost this district over $300,000 over the last three years, each year,” said Martell.
Martell said the IU forced the district last year to pay for 25 student slots at $12,000 apiece when the district sent only 12 to 13 students to the institution.
“This district is not the only one removing students from the alternative ed. program there. There are other (districts) that are bringing things back in-house,” he said.
The motion to table the items passed 6-2, with Gary Wandel and Paul Harshman casting dissenting votes.
School director James Duncan was absent from the meeting.
In other business, the board:
n Approved an agreement with sewage plant operator Shane Nickelson to perform daily operations of two sewage plants at a weekly rate of $500.
n Approved the 2016-17 school calendar, with Aug. 29 as the first day for students and June 2, 2017, as graduation and students’ last day.
n Added Julie Shultz to the professional substitute teaching list for the current school year.
n Scheduled special budget meetings to pass a preliminary budget and adopt a final budget at 7 p.m. May 26 and June 29 in the high school auditorium.