Action plan presented to board
BY SUSAN BRYANT
During the Northwestern Lehigh School Board’s meeting at Lehigh Career and Technical Institute in October, a slide presentation on the Future Ready Comprehensive Plan was presented by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Troy Sosnovik.
“As you may remember before 2020, it used to be called the strategic plan, Sosnovik said. “Every three years we must develop a plan of action and revalidate those important statements of the mission, vision and values.
“It’s intended really to focus on continuous improvement, and it really goes beyond student data.
“For example, this year we’re going to be using a tool called the PA School Climate Survey.”
He said one of the main purposes is to revisit the district’s important statements.
“Our current statements, as I mentioned, were finalized by a diverse group of stakeholders literally less than two years ago,” Sosnovik stated. “We still believe the statements reflect the ideals of the school community, so we’re not going to refocus on them this time around.
“Just to remind everybody what those statements are - our mission statement is to develop a community minded learner who was prepared to grow and thrive in an ever-changing world.
“Our vision statement is the Northwestern School District will create an environment where all students participate in highly engaging relevant experiences, and isn’t that more so being here in LCTI today.
“Together, we will utilize our collective talents to provide opportunities for our students to demonstrate their ability to be effective communicators, collaborators, and problem solvers in order to contribute as valuable members of society.”
Sosnovik said in closing, the Future Ready Comprehensive plan includes the plan development, a board presentation on Feb. 15, 2023, a 28-day public review from Feb. 16 to March 15, 2023, and then the plan being submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education on March 28, 2023.
Superintendent Jennifer Holman, thanked Stacy Eisenhard for all her hard work bringing the meeting to LCTI, as well as providing recording and computer equipment, setting up for the dinner and arranging for the students to attend.
Holman also said a huge thanks goes to LCTI Executive Dr. Lisa Greenawalt and her staff in organizing the tour and dinner.
“We had three great labs,” Holman stated. “I hope you enjoyed the welding lab, diesel technology, and the teacher education lab, whichever one you were able to see.
“They are just a small sampling. There are 40-plus programs here the students are able to choose from.”
“Lastly, I just want to say thank you to the students.
“It’s they’re evening. They came out to show you their lab. They are super proud of what they’ve been able to do.”
Greenawalt commented on the evening’s events.
“Thank you all for taking the time out to travel this far to visit us at LCTI,” she said. “You can tell from the tour, the students are very proud of their work and we’re very proud of what they do for us.
“We want to thank you for your continued support as we continue to develop programs, so thank you.”
In other matters, Northwestern Lehigh Human Resource Manager Luann Matika reported there were 23 usual business items for the board’s approval and there were no retirements.
In a unanimous vote, the board approved the 23 personnel items.
Operations Manager Art Oaks told the board there were no noticeable lead issues in the school’s water system.
“They were all checked and we’re good for this year,” Oaks said.
The board also unanimously approved McClure Company for annual maintenance at a cost of $39,808.
Under the district finance report, the board approved the agreement with Mobile Ed Productions for the Sky Dome Planetarium Assembly to come to Weisenberg Elementary on Jan. 30, 2023, at a cost of $1,495 to be paid from the Student Activities Fund.
“We’re excited to have that (Sky Dome) back. We haven’t had it in a number of years,” Accounting Specialist Christy Spanitz said.
The board also gave approval to a fund transfer from the Tiger Concession Fund to the General Fund to purchase two mobility scooters for use at the stadium in the amount of $1,938.
In addition, school directors approved the donation of a piano to Northwestern Elementary from Charles Bauer.
“The piano is going to be used by music teacher Lora Krum,” Northwestern Elementary Principal Maria Pulli said.