The Franklin Area School District’s proposed move of sixth grade to the Franklin Area Junior-Senior High School, starting in the 2024-2025 school year, was ratified by a six-to-one vote at the Franklin school board’s work session Monday.
The change in grade configuration was one of six voting items approved by the board at the meeting, which was held in the library and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) room of Sandycreek Elementary School. The remainder of the meeting items were discussion items to be approved next week.
All board members except Alesha Hartsfield voted in favor of the sixth-grade move for the 2024-2025 school year, and Hartsfield commented that rather than opposing the move, she was only advocating that the district wait one more year.
Hartsfield suggested taking the next school year to prepare the fifth graders before the move, and she felt it would also give the district more time to assess each child’s unique needs, and it would be more fair to students, parents, teachers and the transportation team.
And “I just think that when there were decisions we couldn’t change, like the shutdowns of COVID, when we can do things in a more prepared manner for everyone, why not,” she said.
“I know no matter how the vote goes…Franklin always does everything the best we can and keeps the students first. That’s just my own personal opinion. I wanted to let everyone know so when I vote against it, that’s the only reason why.”
She also thanked and congratulated the district for planning to make the move a smooth transition.
District superintendent Eugene Thomas said after the meeting that the reason the change in grade configuration was voted on at this week’s work session rather than at next week’s formal business meeting was to give administration an extra week to begin the planning process, start working out details and gathering community feedback.
“We want to do it leisurely and accurately, the first time,” he said.
The other voting items Monday were time-sensitive internet contracts and supplies purchases.
Yearlong commercial internet contracts with Zito Business for the high school and Central and Victory elementary schools were approved to start July 1, collectively costing the school district $3,075 per month, pending E-Rate approval. If approved for the E-Rate program, the district would be reimbursed for 80% of the cost.
The panel also approved purchasing power supplies in the amount of $4,118 and network switches totaling $65,457, also pending E-Rate approval which would reimburse the district by 80% if approved.
Informationally, board member Andy Boland, who is also chair of the district operations committee, told the panel the committee recommended three district grounds projects.
One would be a $48,800 project to replace 32 aging skylights in the high school gymnasium during the roof replacement.
The second would be repainting the burgundy and brown panels on the high school exterior to be black and red, at a cost of $44,000.
The third would cap the walls at Central Elementary for roofing, at a cost of $21,600.
Preschool update
Denise Phipps, district Director of Student Support Services, told the board that the regional Pre-K Counts director had visited Victory Elementary that day from Erie, along with the program specialist from Keystone SMILES.
Keystone SMILES partnered with the district last year to apply for Pre-K Counts funding, and it also received a major grant from the McElhattan Foundation to start the new Victory Elementary preschool program for the 2023-2024 school year.
The visitors had come to assess the Victory preschool, and “they were very impressed,” Phipps said. “Having just started in November, and being a school district, they were very impressed with the program, and said it was one of the best they’ve ever seen in terms of timelines.”
She added that the director and program specialist spoke highly of the teachers and their efforts in the classroom, and while they placed Franklin as second to one other district which they “recommended we go see,” Phipps said, they were “very positive about our efforts moving forward.”
Superintendent’s report
Thomas said that after a previous school board meeting, someone had approached him about not being able to hear the board members during meetings in the high school library.
Thomas said he has asked the technology department to look for microphones to more effectively broadcast board members’ voices, “so people in the audience can hear clearly,” he said. “They’re going to try to resolve that issue.”
Thomas also noted that another group of district administration and staff had recently returned from another day-long Pennsylvania School Safety Institute (PennSSI) training at the Pennsylvania School Boards Association facility in Mechanicsburg, and participants felt it was a beneficial experience.
Sandycreek first-grade teacher Megan Hiles, one of the participants, noted that PennSSI staff had remarked several times that the Franklin staff were “really supportive of each other,” which “really lent to our being able to learn from the experiences.”
Thomas said that Franklin high school co-principal Tom Holoman has also been nominated as the Outstanding Professional Under 40 by the Venango Area Chamber of Commerce.
Next week’s voting items
Several items will be voted on by the board next week, including adoption of the Riverview Intermediate Unit 6 2024-2025 operating budget, several field trips, and several personnel items, including the retirements of five longtime district teachers in June.
The final reading of an update to the Public Participation in Board Meetings policy will also be approved next month.
Thomas noted that the new policy draft had reduced the number of minutes an individual could speak to three minutes, whereas it had previously been five, and asked the panel if they wanted to proceed with changing it to three, or if they wanted to keep it at five minutes. The total public comment period would continue to be limited to 30 minutes either way.
Several board members said they would prefer to keep the speaking limit at five minutes per speaker, and Thomas said the policy draft would be amended accordingly.
Board president Sabrina Backer and board member Cheryl Ferry were excused from Monday’s meeting.
