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Parent urges board to preserve three educator prep days, questions law-enforcement MOU and council plans
Summary
A district parent at public comment urged the board to keep three teacher preparation days at the start of the 2025–26 school year, questioned proposed calendar changes, and raised concerns about Policy 805 and plans discussed by the local borough/council regarding school security services.
Suzanne Johnson, a district parent and resident, urged the Littlestown Area School District Board of Education to retain three educator preparation days before the 2025–26 school year and questioned proposed changes related to school security memoranda of understanding.
Johnson addressed the board during public comment and said she opposed shortening teacher preparation from three days to two. “I don't think it's best for our students to do this. We need to keep the conditional first student day on Thursday, August 21,” she said. Johnson asked the board to consider educators’ input on changes that would move the first student day one day earlier.
Johnson also raised questions about a draft calendar change—specifically the rationale for adding a student day at the start of the year when the district previously planned for 175.5 student days—and suggested that the district could preserve traditional snow days without adding a new start-of-year student day. She asked the administration to respond to her email and provide rationale to the board before the next meeting.
Separately, Johnson called attention to a calendar-linked policy item, Policy 805, Relations with Law Enforcement Agencies. Reading from the draft, she said the policy requires the superintendent to “update every 2 years a memorandum of understanding with each law enforcement agency.” She asked when that MOU was last updated and questioned agenda items she said the borough/council was discussing that could affect security services for schools.
Johnson urged residents and board members to attend the local borough/council meeting the following day to ensure student safety remains a priority. She framed her remarks as a request for clarity and for the administration to provide the board with the factual basis for the calendar and policy choices before the board votes later this month.
Ending: The board did not take immediate action on the calendar or Policy 805 during the public-comment period; Johnson said she had not received a reply to a prior email and requested a response from the administration.
