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Board approves routine items, tennis contract and pauses electric-bus plan; several items advanced for action
Summary
At its Feb. 11 discussion meeting the Plum Borough School District board voted to advance multiple routine agenda items, approved a tennis court resurfacing contract and agreed not to move forward with an electric school-bus purchase after staff recommendation and discussion.
The Plum Borough School District Board of Education on Feb. 11 voted to advance several routine agenda items, approved a contract to resurface the Holiday Park tennis courts and agreed not to proceed with an electric school-bus contract after staff advised the board the purchase carried substantial risks and high initial infrastructure costs.
The board approved the district audit package and financial statements for the year ending June 30, 2024, after Amy Lewis of MarDusil presented the firm’s unmodified opinion and said there were no reportable findings. The board also moved forward budget and reporting items, several travel and donation items, and steering committees required for the district’s comprehensive plan.
Other actions approved included awarding the tennis-court resurfacing work to Keystone Sports, advancing paperwork for PlanCon Part J (Holiday Park) for state reimbursement reconciliation, approving a third-party transportation agreement for hard-to-fill routes, and moving a number of personnel and vendor contracts forward (including a Quest agreement for preemployment screening and a Vector Solutions compliance subscription). The board voted 5–0 on the recorded items during the discussion meeting.
Board members recorded the following outcomes during the meeting: the Portrait of a Graduate visual and related design was approved to move forward for final approval at the action meeting; comprehensive-plan steering committees were advanced for eventual submission to the Pennsylvania Department of Education; the finance committee’s monthly report and audit package were moved forward; and the tennis-court contract was approved with construction to begin when weather permits.
On the electric-bus proposal, after staff reported estimated costs of about $2.2 million to run power to the district bus garage and described concerns about battery/maintenance needs and limited charging windows, the board supported staff’s recommendation not to move forward with the purchase or the contract at this time. The district will cancel the pending procurement process and continue to explore other options, staff said.
The board conducted first and second readings of several policies and advanced items that require formal action at the Feb. 25 action meeting. No votes were taken on policy first readings at this discussion meeting.
The board chair announced the next public action meeting will be Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in the district library.
