The Sept. 24 Saucon Valley School Board meeting was a short, congenial one with only a few orders of business inspiring in-depth discussion, with little to no contention among members.

On hand for introduction was newly hired Supervisor of Campus Operations John McCabe, replacing outgoing Supervisor Wally Zimpfer, who is retiring effective immediately. The Supervisor of Campus Operations’ job is to oversee everything physical related to the campus grounds, buildings and buses, McCabe explained in a brief interview.

McCabe’s background includes a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State University, as well as past employment in the Quakertown School District and as part of the construction team at the Sands casino in Bethlehem (now known as Wind Creek). McCabe will be starting in his role as soon as possible, contingent upon the filing of remaining necessary paperwork.

Additional discussion centered around the approval of a contract with a new publisher for the award-winning high school yearbook. Principal Tamara Gary explained that while some high schools’ yearbooks come with a price tag of $100 or more for students, they have in the past been available to students at a sale price of between “50 and 70 (dollars)... it’s very low cost.” She stated that she did not expect that to change, nor did she foresee the quality of the yearbook to be negatively affected.

Another topic of note involved required training for members issued by the Pennsylvania School Board Association (PSBA), whose representatives on the board are Mark Sivak and Sandra Miller.

Miller explained that newly elected members are required to have five hours’ worth of training, with re-elected members needing to complete three. There was some consternation among a few of the members regarding the motivation behind the requirement of a training provided by the PSBA and/or the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) rather than that which might be provided by a private firm, such as a law office.

Board member Michael Karabin posed the hypothetical question of what consequences there might be if a member refused to attend such training (which is offered online or at one of thirteen locations at no cost). It was explained by Solicitor Mark Fitzgerald that it would likely warrant removal from the Board, as Secretary David Bonenberger must have certification of completion by all members on file in case of an audit.