During the Jan. 19 Salisbury Township School District School Board meeting, the board set aside time to honor some distinguished Salisbury alumni.

Two Salisbury graduates, Dr. Margaret Hadinger and John Yurconic were the latest inductees on the Salisbury Alumni Wall of Honor. Yurconinc and Hadinger were nominated by former Salisbury educator Susan Quigg who spoke from the heart as she shared each recipient’s hard earned accomplishments. Recipients of this award must be Salisbury graduates who have demonstrated a commitment to learning, be accomplished in their chosen fields and have a positive impact on the community through volunteerism and/or service to others.

After accepting her award Hadinger poignantly noted “Nothing we do is done alone. It’s on the shoulders of those we have around us and those who have come before us.” Yurconic remarked he was fortunate to be shaped by Salisbury both academically and athletically and thanked Quigg for her nomination and kind words.

January is also board of directors’ recognition month and students representing all Salisbury schools came bearing gifts as well as reporting on the many successful and fun events happening within the district.

Salisbury High School students Alaysha Bonilla and Kendall Schaffer brought succulent plants and cards for each board member and gave reports on athletics and upcoming events at the high school.

Salisbury Middle School students Olivia Cudd and Hanin Suleiman reported on upcoming sporting events, fundraisers and a new school store sponsored by the Interact Club. They thanked the school board members for the continuous hard work and their efforts to support the students and staff.

Third grade students Braedon Olds and Landon Ortiz thanked the PTO for the Holiday Shop and for donating gift baskets and baked goods for the family math night. They also reported that for spirit week they dressed up on Candy Cane Day, Lumberjack Day, Long Winter’s Nap Day and Holiday Sweater Day. T-shirts and cards made by Salisbury Elementary School students were given to board members for their dedication to the district.

The board also listened to several students who are involved in the project-based program Project Wonder. They explained how the program has allowed them to thrive academically utilizing competency based learning rather than the traditional test based model. This student centered model allows them to work in groups and offers more flexibility. They would like the board to consider continuing Project Wonder in the high school so they can continue building on the skills they have already learned.

Personnel changes approved by the board include the resignations of Jamie Roth-Gilly, SMS ESL teacher, Mark Donnelli, director of transportation, Katherine Hutchinson-Birk, special education teacher at SES, David Vogt, accounts payable specialist and James Moore, head throwing coach.

New hires for the district include Tina Marinos, part-time ESL teacher at SES, Donna Hirth, part-time mail courier, Emily Bumbulsky, speech and language pathologist at SMS, Chad Saylor, long-term substitute SHS special education teacher, Kerry Kish, occupational therapist and Robert Fiedler, SMS wrestling coach.

Tenure status was granted to Freya deConde.

Darien Correa and Kelly Gardus were approved as volunteer coaches.

An in-depth discussion was held regarding the health and safety plan.

Superintendent Lynn Fuini-Hetten presented current staff and student case counts as well as a revised draft of a face covering matrix which, using local data, takes into account several factors such as community case counts, building case counts and vaccination rates to decide what level of masking is necessary. Some board members felt the tiered system may be too restrictive and the district may never move from the universal masking because the case counts in Lehigh County are so high. Board members Joseph Gnall and Samuel DeFrank agreed now may not be the best time to be going mask optional but as Gnall pointed out a plan is needed to move forward once case numbers change. In the end, Fuini-Hetten suggested a committee be formed to go through and hash out the details of the matrix and present a revised version to the board at the next work session meeting.

The health and safety plan was not without change. Board member Laura McKelvey raised concerns about speech and language students who need to hear spoken words clearly and see the mouth of speech therapists in order to progress. She went on to say that if exceptions can be made for removing the mask in sports then an exception should be made in this area as well because it is paramount to the learning process for these students. The board passed a motion to modify the health and safety plan to allow optional masking for speech and language students.

Fuini-Hetten reported the district search for a chief financial officer is coming to a close. A final candidate has been identified and it is anticipated a contract will be presented to the board at the next meeting. She also reported the administration is working diligently to fill open positions within the district. Currently, a part-time Spanish teacher and school psychologist are needed. Substitute teachers are also in short supply and building leaders as well as staff are doing their best to keep the schools up and running. Anyone with a 4-year degree or 60 hours of credit in the field of education is eligible to substitute and may contact the district if interested.

The next work session meeting will be held 7 p.m. Feb. 2. The next school board meeting will be held 7:30 p.m. Feb. 9.