Altoona Area School District board approves bundled finance, contracts, policies and operations items

At a July meeting, the Altoona Area School District Board of Directors voted by voice to approve a set of bundled agenda items covering finance, policies, education contracts, personnel and business operations.

The board approved agenda items 4a–4h, which included the renewal of student accident insurance with RPS Bullinger Specialty Group/Mutual of Omaha for the 2025–26 school year (no increase in premium noted), a request to lease five parking spaces at Logan Elementary to Child Advocates of Blair County at $100 per month, renewal of the Lexington Mall Partners lease (three years, 2025–2028), a Mansion Park rental agreement for Mansion Park use by the district and Bishop Guilfoyle Academy for the 2025–26 school year, acceptance of a $20,000 donation from the estate of Charlotte A. Miller to establish two scholarships (the "Jimmy G. Miller Business Education Scholarship" and the "Jimmy G. Miller and Charlotte A. Miller Scholarship"), an adult lunch price increase to $4.85 for staff, and a recommendation to not use a named diagnostic provider for students enrolled in a partial hospitalization program. The motion to approve items 4a–4h was moved and approved by voice; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.

The board gave final reading approval for several policies (agenda item 5), including Policy 103 (student discrimination/harassment), Policy 104 (staff discrimination/harassment), Policy 234 (pregnant/parenting/married students), Policy 317 (professional conduct and discipline procedures), Policy 3320 (employee freedom of speech), and Policy 815.2 (use of generative artificial intelligence in education). A board member asked whether Policy 103 applies to all students; administration responded that the policy applies universally to students regardless of special needs, race or gender. The policies were approved by voice vote.

Under education (agenda item 6), the board approved a set of contracts and memoranda of understanding: a contract with Blair Therapies (Speech-Language Pathology Services, covering 06/16/2023–06/30/2026, as presented), a 2025–26 MOU with Blair Senior Services for the Foster Grandparent Project, participation in the Pennsylvania mental health education learning program (PA HELPS), an MOU with the Penn State Center for Childhood Obesity Research to provide classroom programming, approval of a list of volunteers (with required clearances and TB tests on file), and a one-year 2025–26 agreement with 5 Cycle Financial Education not to exceed $2,500. Administration described that external providers (such as Blair Therapies) are used when district rosters are full or internal providers are unavailable. The motion to approve items 6a–6f was moved, seconded by Justin, and approved by voice vote.

The board approved personnel changes listed under agenda item 7a and business operations items 8a–8e, which included authorization to pay listed vendors for the 2025–26 school year (per Policy 616 Payment of Bills), consideration of monthly repository bids and a recommendation to deny certain repository bids received from the Blair County Tax Claim Bureau based on City of Altoona action, authorization to offer several disposition items for public sale (snowblower attachment, backhoe attachment, trailer, generator set), and approval of contracted Amtran bus drivers (contingent on required clearances). The motion for items 8a–8e was moved by Mike and seconded by Dave, then approved by voice vote.

In new business (agenda item 9), the board approved a $15,000 allocation request for the Central Blair Recreation and Park Commission, retroactive use of Mansion Park Baseball Field by Altoona AAA Baseball League Inc. on July 29 for practice (certificate of insurance provided), use of Altoona Junior High School by the Altoona Police Department for testing on Sept. 13 and 20, participation in the Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies cooperative purchasing group, and final approval of the collective bargaining agreement with the Altoona Area Education Association covering 08/16/2025–08/15/2029. The new-business package (9a–9e) was approved by voice vote.

Board members repeatedly used voice vote (“Aye”) on the listed grouped motions; the transcript records “motion carries” after each grouped approval but does not provide recorded roll-call tallies.

Votes at a glance

- Minutes from special board meeting 06/30/2025 — approved (motion seconded by Michael). - Finance and related items (4a–4h) — approved (insurance renewal; Logan Elementary parking lease; Lexington Mall Partners lease 2025–2028; Mansion Park rental agreements; $20,000 donation to establish two scholarships; adult staff lunch price increase to $4.85; partial-hospitalization diagnostic provider decision). - Final policy readings (5a: Policies 103, 104, 234, 317, 3320, 815.2) — approved. - Education contracts and MOUs (6a–6f: Blair Therapies contract; Foster Grandparent MOU; PA HELPS participation; Penn State obesity research MOU; volunteer approvals; 5 Cycle Financial Education agreement up to $2,500) — approved (moved, seconded by Justin). - Personnel item 7a — approved. - Business operations (8a–8e: vendor payment authority per Policy 616; repository bid actions; disposition items for sale; Amtran driver approvals) — approved (moved by Mike; second by Dave). - New business (9a–9e: $15,000 allocation request for Central Blair Recreation and Park Commission; Mansion Park field use; police testing at Altoona Junior High; AEP purchasing group; AEA collective bargaining agreement 2025–2029) — approved.

Documentation in the meeting packet included vendor reports, lease agreements, memoranda of understanding, the donation intent letter, policy texts presented for final reading, a certificate of insurance for the baseball practice, and a collective bargaining agreement for board action. The transcript does not record any roll-call vote counts; approvals were conducted by voice vote and recorded as “motion carries.”