Changes to the Bradford Area High School Registration Guide for 2021-22 were approved during Monday’s regular meeting of the Bradford School Board.
The registration guide includes both full-time and part-time remote learning options for the coming school year, providing students the opportunity to have the same education from home as they would get in-person at the high school. Principal David Ray noted that the curriculum will depend on enrollment and the number of students who opt for at-home learning, which would not be clear until sometime during the months of July or August.
Notable changes also include allowing Fretz students who complete Algebra I and pass the Keystone exam to accrue one high school math credit toward graduation and students who complete a Bridges Course through the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford that would be a three-credit college course can substitute that course for one credit of a high school, which will both allow for flexibility to pursue courses that interest the students.
An acting course will be added to the curriculum at BAHS, joining the current offerings of choral and band classes as well as stagecraft.
Finally, the district’s Career and Technical Department will partner with Penn College, providing students the opportunity to take career and technical classes in the high school that will count for credits in the Penn State system.
The guide was approved and will be available for viewing on the district’s website later this week.
Superintendent Katy Pude shared that School Street Elementary will be holding Bingo for Books over Zoom at 7 p.m. Thursday. Parents who are interested in participating should register with the school. She noted the program has been held for 20 years, and it is nice that it can continue even during the pandemic. Also, Read Across America will be held at George G. Blaisdell and School Street elementaries this year as usual the first week of March, albeit in a different format, with individuals videotaping themselves reading a story to the students, in an effort to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
Melissa Kingen, regional manager for The Nutrition Group, and Dana Mollander, director of food services for BASD, gave a presentation on the status of food services from March of 2020 to the end of January, 2021.
Kingen reported that numerous changes were enacted, including various training processes, and supply purchasing was affected as, for example, the price of gloves has quadrupled since March 2020. However, the continued efforts of staff, administrations and vendors has allowed for success in providing quality meals to the students.
According to Mollander, around 20 students who are currently following the remote learning model for the year have signed up for meal pickup, which is done on Mondays for the five-day week.
Meanwhile, during remote learning in December, around 400 students were signed up for meals, with an average of 300 picking up food from all four schools.
During in-person education, the students are provided meals through a full-serve line, where they make selections and are given the tray at the end of the process. The high school students have six entrees available, while Fretz students have five entrees to choose from. Both have a variety of fruits and vegetables available as well.
Students at GGB and School Street were given the choice of two entrees at the beginning of the school year, but a third entree of peanut butter & jelly was re-added to the options list early in the school year due to demand.
Meals are also being delivered to those students learning at home whose family do not have the ability to get to the schools to pick them up.
Kingen explained that, as of the end of January 2021, the food services are below budget, as less food is going out. This is due to a number of factors, ranging from the periods of remote learning to the decrease in attendance even during in-person instruction. Kingen said that the district is still seeing a profit, however, thanks to the reimbursement from the state of Pennsylvania.
The board also approved the following personnel changes:
— the resignation of Douglas Rose, Computer Technology Teacher at Bradford Area High School, effective March 12, 2021, with recognition for his three years of service
— the hiring of David Ware as a replacement for Rose, effective March 15 pending his completion of the necessary paperwork and an Occupational Competency Assessment and the obtainment of an emergency teaching certification.
— transfer of Jennifer Kwiatkowski from Kindergarten teacher at GGB to Reading Specialist at GGB, effective March 1.
— transfer of Brenda Mongillo, Reading Specialist at GGB to Reading Specialist at School Street Elementary, effective March 1.
— hiring of full-time substitutes Kyle O’Donnell (effective Feb. 15) and Erin O’Brien (effective March 1).
Pude noted that the approval of the reading specialists will help students toward reading proficiency, which is important to their success.
