Board approves emergency operations plan, solicitor retention and multiple routine items; tables salary‑disclosure item

The Keystone Central School District Board of Education approved multiple agenda items after the board moved several consent and business items en bloc and handled a handful of pulled items individually.

Emergency operations plan: The board approved the Keystone Central Emergency Operations Plan (agenda D‑7), a confidential document the district said cannot be publicly posted because it contains safety and security details. Elizabeth asked for clarification; a staff member said the document reflects current safety protocols and collaboration with local emergency agencies. The board also announced a hybrid safety and security committee meeting next Thursday with a public first half hour and a closed executive session for confidential items.

Solicitor retention: The board voted to retain David Lindsey as the district solicitor (agenda D‑8). Board discussion confirmed Lindsey will handle routine district legal matters and refer specialized claims (for example special education lawsuits) to outside counsel when appropriate. The vote passed, eight yes and one no; one board member said the district should nonetheless put solicitor services in a written contract for clarity.

Township bridge letter: The board approved sending a letter of support to Chapman Township and Commonwealth legislators asking PennDOT to review and consider taking responsibility for a bridge that provides primary access to Farwell and the school (agenda D‑9). The letter will be sent to Senator Dush and Representative Borowicz at the township’s request.

Bills, payments and contracts: The board approved a slate of payment and contract items (F‑items and related bills) after brief questions from board members about several invoices. Questions raised during the bills discussion included large technology purchases listed as Global Consultants ($218,310) and a smaller $12,006.31 entry for laptops and covers; the district said the purchases align with the five‑year technology rotation and that laptops are rotated by grade level. Kingspry invoices for legal and training services were discussed (entries of roughly $184,176, $7,685 and $1,050 were noted); the board was told one payment was for truancy and special‑education training shared with county partners and the others were for separate special‑education matters.

Personnel and transportation: The board approved personnel items, including hiring a personal care assistant to meet an individual student’s IEP requirement and approving a list of drivers submitted by contractor Susquehanna Transit. District staff explained Susquehanna hires drivers and forwards vetted names to the district; the district’s human resources office performs a secondary vetting for clearances before the board acts to approve drivers for work with students.

Support‑personnel MOU: The board approved a memorandum of understanding (I‑2) that combines support employees’ personal and sick leave categories into a single PTO bank for use and rollover. District staff and union representatives previously discussed the change; the board noted the total number of days does not increase — the MOU only consolidates categories to avoid uncompensated leave situations and to give employees flexibility.

Other routine approvals passed by voice or roll call, including athletic and student activity personnel lists and mentor stipends ($500 per mentee) for staff who mentor new teachers.

Tabled item: A discussion about disclosure of salary information (D‑2) was pulled and ultimately tabled to a future meeting; the board moved to postpone that item for further discussion.

The board added several items to the public agenda during the meeting to permit votes this month and directed staff to return items that require contracts or additional public posting on a future agenda as needed.