William Gorman presented the audit report at the Jan. 16 Northwestern Lehigh School Board meeting. He said it was a clean opinion.

There were no compliance issues with federal grants. The management letter only listed a couple of recommendations, mostly in format changes.

There is a fund balance of $15,255,215. Of that amount $337,370 is considered nonspendable, $16,223 is for restricted use, $9,639,446 is committed and $2,958,474 is assigned.

A new ruling has items that will affect accounting principals in every government in the United States.

Unfunded pension obligations must be included in the future. Businesses always had to before but government did not.

Presently, there is a $60 billion unfunded amount across the state. This won't affect the budget, assets or liabilities either long term or short term, nor will it affect taxes.

"You will have to report a percentage dependent on the number of employees," Gorman said.

This may affect bond rating companies but he thinks they have already taken it into consideration.

Superintendent Mary Anne Wright stressed no one has done anything wrong.

"I commend you for having good books and there will be no increase in fees for next year," Gorman said.

January is School Directors Recognition Month.

"Public education has long been a cornerstone of America and a great equalizer that gives every child the hope of a better tomorrow," Wright said. "In our community many dedicated individuals work to ensure that every child is given the education they deserve.

"Every January we salute a special group of individuals who help run the schools in our community - the nine elected members of the school board.

"These nine unpaid volunteers spend on average 20 hours a month in school service making the difficult decisions to keep the children educated. They vote on multi-million dollar budgets, hire staff, select textbooks, review bus schedules and curriculum, to name a few.

"During January we ask everyone in the community to take time to thank a school director for the time and effort they put into helping our schools."

Each director received a card made in art classes thanking them. As the meeting progressed several people took that time to thank them as they brought up other issues.

Keystone achievement letters and plaques were presented to the school principals for a second year of meeting Adquate Yearly Progress.

One parent requested the removal of the book "Troy" by Adele Geras be removed from the middle school library. A committee read the book and decided it was appropriate for grade eight but not for sixth graders.

Books in that category will be so noted on the computer when books are checked out. The book will be back on the February agenda and it is hoped some of the board members will have time to read it since the parent was dissatisfied with the decision.

Board President Darryl Schafer said the last time there was such a question raised was two decades ago.

Solicitor Kristine Roddick asked if it was on a list of books that had to be read. It is one of a list from which students can choose what to read but is not required.

Wright said there will be meetings with community and emergency members to study safety and security requirements. There were to be new drills that will be important, but the information is not made available to the public because it loses value if too many people know the plans.

An American Association of School Administrators is offering $2,250 grants to pay for emergency food, shelter and medical care for disadvantaged families. One will be applied for.

There has been a decline in the number of people buying school lunches since the federal government mandated a raise in prices, but Lori Seier, food service director, said a la carte items have increased. There will be new federal regulations in May, she said.

In the county reassessment, Lowhill and Weisenberg assessments have increased; Heidelberg and Lynn have decreased on average.

A new millage rate has been set but it has no affect on taxes - just readjusts the millage to match the new assessments.

A July 1, 2012, millage rate of 50.66 was applied to an assessment of $452,431,900. The new assessment for the district is $1,435,616,000 and is equalized with a millage rate of 15.8631 mills.

The Act 1 index lets the board raise taxes by 2 mills but that is not necessarily what the district will do.

The budget process is not that far along.

All committee meetings are streamed live online, Wright said.

Representative to Lehigh Career and Technical Institute Bill Dellicker said following two years of negotiations a seven-year contract has been completed.

Top level employees will receive no raise for seven years and new teachers will work on a separate schedule to bring the two closer. The pay scale will merge in the next round of negotiations.

Resident Dawn Anderson was concerned that students had not completed a course before they took the Keystones. Board member Ron Morrison said the teachers are deciding on the best timing for the tests.