Chambersburg Area SD board honors 45-year bus driver, receives PSBA recognition; routine consent votes approved

The Chambersburg Area School District board recognized longtime bus driver Sue Bumble for 45 years of service and accepted a "Great Pennsylvania School" recognition from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association at its meeting.

Superintendent Bigger and several colleagues praised Bumble’s decades transporting students on the same route; the board presented a permanent dedication to hang in the district lobby and invited staff and community members to speak about her service.

Megan Oreck, chief membership officer of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, presented a PSBA honor recognizing Chambersburg Area School District as a "great Pennsylvania school," citing academic programs, extracurricular offerings, emergency preparedness and financial practices. Oreck brought a banner and promotional items for the district and invited board members to pose for a photo.

Directors delivered back-to-school reports across divisions. Drew Nelson, director of early childhood/elementary services, said kindergarten-through-fifth-grade enrollment totaled about 4,200 students and described soft caps and oversubscription at specific schools; he noted construction and the new K–3/4–6 configurations are expected to ease overcrowding.

Melissa Kashdahler, director of grades 4–8, said middle-school staff prepared devices and schedules over the summer and described the department’s practice of hand-scheduling middle-school students to balance academic needs, eligibility for advanced courses, interventions and class composition rather than relying solely on automated scheduling. She said the district will enroll about 2,200 middle-grade students across two campuses under the new 4–6 and 7–8 configuration.

Deborah Luffey, director of grades 9–12, summarized high-school preparations including athletics participation (nearly 400 students tried out for fall teams), freshman-academy plans to create smaller learning communities, career magnet school open-house attendance and professional-development work for staff. Directors also reported that a downtown education center (CEC) is seeing about 100 appointments per month.

The board heard that the district’s special-education audit returned a 99% compliance rate after 929 files were reviewed; Superintendent Bigger and Sherry Sullivan (who introduced a new hire) credited the special-education team for that result.

Sherry Sullivan introduced Derek Canis, promoted within the district to supervisor of specialized services. Canis briefly thanked the board and said he looked forward to the new role.

Votes at a glance - Agenda adoption: Motion by Dr. Diller; second by Mr. Walker. Approved by voice vote (ayes reported). - Consent agenda (items 7.01–7.16): Motion by Mr. Haydick; second by Mrs. Gaus. Approved by voice vote. - Committee-of-the-Whole consent items (8.01–8.08): Motion by Mrs. Gogler; second by Dr. Diller. Approved by voice vote. - Gifts, grants and donations (10.01): Motion by Dr. Diller; second by Mrs. Gobbler. Approved by voice vote. - Policy retire (policy 214.1, weighted courses): Motion by Dr. Diller; second by Mrs. Gaus. Approved by voice vote. - First reading of a set of policies (11.03): Motion by Mrs. Gogler; second by Mr. Raber. Carried by voice vote. - Second reading and final approval of policies (11.04): Motion by Dr. Diller; second by Mrs. Daugler. Carried by voice vote.

No roll-call tallies were recorded in the meeting transcript; outcomes were reported by voice as "ayes have it" or similar phrasing. No contested final votes or defeated motions were recorded.

The meeting also included routine personnel and finance approvals on the consent agenda; no separate discussion items were pulled for individual votes. The meeting adjourned after committee reports, policy readings and information items.