The East Penn school board honored six Emmaus High School students Oct. 22 for their placement as semifinalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Competition. Daniel Brnjdar, Terence Cawley, Thomas Fang, Ryan Jaeger, Connor Maake and Neeraj Tatikola appeared before the board to receive their honorary certificates and some words of thanks from the superintendent.

"Congratulations and best wishes, and hopefully your dreams will come true with hard work and using the talent that you have. Good luck," Dr. Thomas Seidenberger said.

Board President Charles Ballard followed with a smiling word of encouragement.

"As many of you may have seen with the landing of the super robot on Mars just recently, 140 of those 170 engineers on that project came from public schools. We expect no less from our graduates," Ballard said.

The school board will also address a parent's concern about the misbehavior of students on Bus 37. According to Pat Luftman, of Emmaus, mother of two students at Lower Macungie Middle School, "over the last eight years Bus 37 has been the site of much ill behavior including sexual conversations … racial slurs directed at my own children in addition to other children on the bus, ethnic insults and religious insults directed at my children in addition to other children on the bus."

Luftman has contacted district administration on her concerns in the past and cited occasions of such severe need for discipline the bus driver was forced to pull over and meet with policemen at various stops with permanent banishment of two students from riding the bus.

Bus 37's driver told the children to approach him directly for help. According to Luftman, a First Student agent had appeared on the bus just over a week ago and told the children to behave, but then left the bus. Luftman requested immediate action be taken, even suggesting the installation of a permanent district official on the bus to enforce behavior.

"I don't want my child's bus driver refereeing, listening to or in any way dealing with what's happening on the bus," Luftman said. "His eyes and ears should be on the road not on the misbehavior on the bus. This is an untenable solution to ask a sixth grader to stand up on the bus at his bus stop and talk to the bus driver."

After the meeting, Dr. Seidenberger said he was pleased to hear two students had been banned, as a mark of appropriate punishment. The superintendent says he gets complaints "all the time" particularly from the middle school groups. Bus drivers have complaint forms and parents too can lodge formal complaints. The district takes appropriate disciplinary action, Seidenberger said, pointing out "transportation is a privilege, not a right."

Ballard also noted the district has no control over what happens at bus stops, only what happens on the buses.

Another student issue resurfaced briefly in the superintendent's report. Seidenberger's staff is actively working through the process of addressing a complaint from a parent on questionable reading material on the high school summer reading list. The superintendent said they are in step one of the process, which is just conversation with the individual who lodged the complaint. Step two is a committee referral, but Seidenberger seems confident it won't come to that. The superintendent expects the matter to reach a conclusive decision this week and the board will be informed but will not take action.

In 2008 a similar complaint was made against the book "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" due to references to Jesus and questionable language. In January 2009, the committee recommended the book's position on the high school reading list remain and the board did not take any action. These practices have been in place since Policy 109 was adopted and since then, Seidenberger attested, only two issues have ever been formally handled.

Board member Francee Fuller announced the IT staff of Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit volunteered at their Oct. 15 meeting to create a website for all 29 intermediate units across the commonwealth featuring public outreach, IU in the news, spotlight photos and an overview of the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units. Fuller reported the proposal was very well received by the IU and the association as a chance to spotlight what they do. Intermediate Units, Fuller described, offer specialized education individual districts might not be able to provide including education for hearing and visually impaired.

In preparation for the upcoming April 2013 National School Board Association educational technology visit hosted by East Penn, Seidenberger announced the participating schools will include Emmaus High School, Lower Macungie Middle School, Eyer Middle School, Wescosville, Shoemaker, and Willow Lane elementary schools. Some visitors will also spend a portion of one day at LCTI's campus.

In a brief discussion, the board approved a new contract between Emmaus High School and the Borough of Emmaus Police Department for the former to use the firearms range located in Community Park.

The high school's rifle team, one of the few left in the region, once practiced in the high school basement, Ballard said.

In the 1970s when renovations required expensive upgrades for iron and ventilation, the basement range was decommissioned.

The rifle team season runs from November through February and the borough has granted permission for off-season storage at the rifle range.