School Board Holds Special Action Meeting

The Upper Moreland School Board held a special action meeting last night, addressing issues held over from the June Human Resources committee meeting.

According to those in attendance at last month’s committee meeting, an executive session took place during that meeting, which lasted over an hour, making the special meeting necessary due to time constraints.

The school board does not typically hold meetings during July.

At the July 28 special action meeting, school board President Dr. David Hakes explained that the delay was due to the discussion of teachers’ negotiations.

At this meeting, the board addressed further personnel items on the committee’s agenda, including the approval of co-curricular contracts.

According to Human Resources committee chairperson Lisa Berlin, there are 79 co-curricular positions throughout the school district that needed approval.

The positions, which vary depending on the co-curricular activity, are set up in aggreement with the Upper Moreland Education Association (UMEA).

Among the 79 positions, three are listed as new and are identified with the girls soccer program, including two girls soccer camp positions.

Dr. Robert Milrod, Upper Moreland School District superintendent, said the girls soccer program is new at the middle school, and has been completely funded by an outside benefactor.

According to Berlin, next month’s Human Resources committee meeting will discuss the compensation for the co-curricular positions, as the board will base its decision upon developing UMEA contracts.

According to Milrod, the new UMEA agreement with the school district contains an option for teachers to take less compensation for co-curriculars, among other options, to give back to the district.

“We don’t know until they are rewarded the co-curricular contract, whether or not they are choosing the option of providing give backs in terms of the co-curricular pay,” he said.

Thirty-three of the employees listed are not employed by the school district in any other capacity, while the remainder hold other positions in the school district or were not designated.

 ---

More from the reporter’s notebook

The following is a list of terminations, resignations and furloughs as approved by the Upper Moreland School board at the July 28 special action meeting:

• Nancy Waters-Buchert, a full-time ESL teacher at the middle school, resigned June 20 for personal reasons. Waters-Buchert was employed with the district for 10 years.

• Cheryl Metzel, a full-time elementary teacher at the intermediate school, retired July 22. Metzel was employed with the district for 34 years.

• Jeannie Pietrzak, a part-time literacy teacher at the middle school, resigned June 27 for personal reasons. Pietrzak was employed with the district for two years.

• Clare Silva, a full-time elementary teacher at the intermediate school, retired June 30. Dr. Silva was employed with the district for 17 years.

---

The next school board meeting is the Programs and Services committee meeting, which takes place Aug. 2.