DUKE CENTER — The Otto-Eldred School board started of their evening with AG teacher, Brandon Witmer, who gave an update on what’s new with agriculture department.
He announced that the program received donations from Tractor Supply of Bradford, North Central Forest Landowners Association and Penn State Tech AG Department. The donations ranged from monetary donations to supplies and tools to enhance the department. Witmer is also the FFA (Future Farmers of America) club advisor. The new FFA Club currently has 63 active members and has recently voted on officers for the club. He let the board know that the process of applying for an FFA Charter is on track.
An occupational advisory board has been created as part of the process. The board members are Jim Young, Chris Beaver, Boyd Fitzsimmons, Kaci Daniels, Jody Groshek, Rob Dickinson, Ed Reitler, Clark Johnson, and Cindy Murphy. The board will help support the program and help with improving facilities and curriculum. Kristen Ramsey also updated the board on her AG Business Class and Animal Science Class. The business class is currently working on packaging prototypes for their soap products and will be starting the marketing step soon to promote their product for the holiday.
During administrative reporting, Superintendent Matthew Splain announced that athletic planning will continue for the winter sports season with a four-county IU9 “Bubble.” There will be no tournaments (Randy Stebbins Memorial). The district announced they will limit volunteers in programs to help mitigate Covid risk to their teams. It was mentioned that throughout a very successful fall sports season that only one event was cancelled due to possible covid risk.
Elementary and Special Education Principal Lindsay Burns expressed her gratitude to the teachers for their hard work and dedication to students. Burns noted, “they put in countless hours to complete parent-teacher conferences for all students. These meetings are very beneficial and continue to foster positive family engagement within our building.”
During old business, health and safety plans were reviewed and updated by the board. The community is reminded that the plans are always available on the district website www.ottoeldred.org.
In new business, the board voted to approve an increase for teaching substitutes for 2020-21. The substitute teacher rate was increased from $90 to $95. Substitutes working 20 or more days will see an increase of $10/day and, if they work in the same position for 3 or more days, the daily rate will increase $10/day.
In personnel and staffing, a letter of resignation was accepted from Curriculum and Instruction Director Melissa Merry. She has taken an assistant principal position with the Bradford school district.
