Franklin School Board members this week approved the school district’s use of a grant for the Girls Excelling in Math and Science (GEMS) programming in the district.
The grant for $2,400 from Venango Area Community Foundations and Bridge Builders Community Foundations will be split into four portions of $600 each and given to teachers Gail Russell, Beth Foster, Karen Lemke and Kim Shirey.
GEMS is designed to encourage girls to explore STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and career paths.
Franklin superintendent Eugene Thomas said after the meeting the STEM job is a new position that is part of the district’s work to “bring us into the 21st century and have STEM education.”
Thomas noted the district is bringing STEM spaces into all the school libraries, although “in no way should anyone think we’re getting rid of books, that’s not true,” Thomas added.
In another matter, the school board approved a proposal with AstroTurf for $3,000 to add pickleball playing lines when resurfacing the tennis courts, to be paid from capital reserves.
The board had previously approved a $58,917.98 proposal with the company in August 2022 to resurface the tennis courts.
A Title I Family Center was authorized by the board for eligible students to receive reading instruction and activities in the common areas of the Oak Hill and Arbors apartment complexes twice a week for five weeks during the summer, which will be funded through Title I funds.
And two curriculum items were approved to begin use in the 2023-2024 school year, a six-year writing curriculum for 7-12 grade English classes and a six-year K-8 grade mathematics curriculum.
The English course materials, Perfection Learning’s Writing with Power, will cost $119,977.76, and the math materials, SAVVAS Learning’s Envision Mathematics 2024 Pennsylvania edition, will cost $240,619.20, with both amounts to be taken from the 2023-24 curriculum budget.
The disposal of two editions of The American Heritage High School Dictionary at the high school was also approved, which high school co-principal K.C. Miller said last week had already been replaced with newer physical editions of the dictionary.
“They were just old,” he said.
Some other business was handled at this week’s meeting, including:
- An agreement between the school district and Community Ambulance Service Inc. was approved for five more years starting with the first day of classes in the 2023 school year, which Thomas said last week carried no rate increase from the last agreement.
- A tuition agreement was approved between the district and Bethesda Lutheran Services for alternative education for disruptive youth services for 2023-2024, at a cost of $90,650 for seven seats.
- The 2023-24 general operating budget for Riverview Intermediate Unit 6, which provides services to the Franklin Area School District as well as other schools, was approved, with the district’s portion of the cost at $27,905.
- A field trip was approved for one student to travel to Orlando, Florida to compete at the National Academic Games Tournament in April, at a budgeted cost of $2,740.
- The retirement of Randy Stachelrodt, network technician at the district for nearly 24 years, was approved.
- Internet contracts were approved with Zito Business of Coudersport for the next school year, as well as the purchase of computer power supplies and network switches from IntegraOne of Seven Fields.
- And a number of employment, supplemental and volunteer contracts were approved.
