Central Valley School Board approves preliminary 2025–26 budget, retirement incentives and multiple personnel actions; superintendent announces retirement

The Central Valley School Board on a voice vote approved a preliminary general fund budget for the 2025–26 school year and took multiple personnel and contract actions at its regular January voting meeting, where Superintendent Dr. Perry also said the meeting was his last before retirement.

The board approved adoption of a preliminary general fund budget described in the meeting record as containing revenues of $46,210,175 and an expenditures figure spoken on the record as "47,000,000, 489,915"; the district did not provide a clarified single expenditures total during the meeting. The board also approved an audit proposal from Cipher and Cipher for auditing services for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2025, 2026 and 2027.

The meeting included the board's approval of two retirement-incentive resolutions: Resolution 2025-06 offering a retirement incentive for Central Valley support employees and Resolution 2025-07 offering a retirement incentive for Central Valley professional employees, management personnel and confidential secretaries. The board also approved Resolution 2025-05 establishing compensation for elected tax collectors in Center Township, Minooka Borough and Potter Township; one board member recorded an abstention on Resolution 2025-05 while voting in favor of the other items.

Other approved agenda items included confirmation of December 2024 payments (general fund and cafeteria fund), acceptance of November and December reports from Berghammer and Berkheimer, ratification of a student settlement agreement for student no. 11624 (terms subject to solicitor review), appointment of Mr. Blum as representative and Mr. Ross as alternate to the Beaver County Career and Technology Center joint operating committee through Dec. 31, 2027, and approval of Smile Dental to provide preventive and restorative dental services for students at no cost to the district pending solicitor review of final contract language. The board also approved a revised 2024–25 Central Valley school calendar.

The board approved multiple personnel actions listed on the agenda: additions to the 2024–25 substitute list and to the transportation bus driver/aid list (pending receipt and acceptance of clearances), several hires (including paraprofessional and cafeteria staff hires) and multiple resignations and retirements with effective dates as stated on the agenda. The board approved extensions and requests for unpaid leave for specified employee IDs as listed in the agenda attachments.

Athletics and extracurricular items approved by the board included conditional programs running Jan. 9–March 1, 2025, at specified hourly rates, and approval for the Central Valley Middle School swim team to practice at the Beaver Area High School pool at $50 per hour pending approval from the Beaver Area Board of Education. Building usage requests and filed field trips listed in the meeting attachments were also confirmed.

During superintendent comments, Dr. Perry said this was his final board meeting as superintendent and that his last day was the following day: "this is my last board meeting as the superintendent of the Central Valley School District as my last day is tomorrow." Several board members offered thanks and best wishes to Dr. Perry for his service to the district.

Votes at a glance

- Approve voting session minutes (Dec. 5, 2024 and Dec. 18, 2024): motion carried (voice vote; mover: Mr. Ambrose; second: Mr. Senzu). - Confirm December 2024 general fund payments of $1,206,201.20 (attachment c): approved (voice vote; mover: Bill Castro; second: Mr. Ross). - Confirm December 2024 cafeteria fund payments of $65,587.81 (attachment d): approved (voice vote; same motion as above). - Confirm December 2024 construction fund payments of $0: approved (voice vote; same motion). - Accept November 2024 Berghammer report (attachment e) and December 2024 Berkheimer report (attachment f): approved (voice vote; same motion). - Ratify settlement agreement with student no. 11624 (terms subject to solicitor review): approved (voice vote; mover/second not specified on record). - Appoint Mr. Blum as representative and Mr. Ross as alternate to the Beaver County Career and Technology Center JOC (three-year terms ending Dec. 31, 2027): approved (voice vote). - Approve Smile Dental to provide preventive/restorative dental services at no cost to the district, pending solicitor approval of contract language: approved (voice vote). - Approve revised 2024–25 Central Valley School Calendar (attachment g): approved (voice vote). - Adopt Resolution 2025-05 establishing tax collector compensation for Center Township, Minooka Borough and Potter Township (attachment h): approved; one abstention recorded (voice vote). - Adopt Resolution 2025-06 (retirement incentive for support employees): approved (voice vote). - Adopt Resolution 2025-07 (retirement incentive for professional/management/confidential employees): approved (voice vote). - Approve staff development release-time requests, athletics conditioning programs and Middle School swim practice at Beaver Area pool (pending Beaver Area BOE approval): approved (voice vote). - Approve building usage requests and listed field trips (attachment details): approved (voice vote). - Approve personnel items: additions to substitute and transportation lists, hires, resignations, retirements and unpaid-leave requests as listed in attachments (motions carried; most approvals pending receipt/acceptance of required clearances where noted). - Approve adoption of preliminary general fund budget for 2025–26 (recorded revenues $46,210,175; expenditures figure recorded on the transcript as "47,000,000, 489,915"): approved (voice vote; mover: Mr. Ambrose; second: Mr. McDonald). - Approve audit proposal from Cipher and Cipher for fiscal years ending June 30, 2025–2027: approved (voice vote).

What the meeting record shows and what it does not

- Many actions were approved by voice vote; the meeting record does not provide roll-call tallies for each vote. Where the transcript records a motion and a seconder, those names are included above; where the transcript did not specify a mover or seconder, the entry is noted as "not specified." - The expenditures figure read into the record for the preliminary budget was unclear in the audio/transcript; the article reports the revenue number verbatim and reproduces the expenditures phrase as spoken on the record and notes that the district did not clarify a single expenditures total during the meeting.

Next steps and follow-up

- The student settlement agreement and the Smile Dental contract were both approved subject to final solicitor review of terms. - The superintendent search committee will begin interviews next week as part of a multi-round process, according to remarks reported during the meeting.

Ending

The board adjourned after the approvals and farewells; the meeting record closes with a motion to adjourn and a voice vote in favor.