Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Calendar topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parent urges district to keep 2025-26 calendar after concern over bullying
Summary
At a special meeting, a parent urged the Punxsutawney Area School District board to retain the 2025-26 calendar and called for better communication after reports of bullying; the board discussed adding snow days but made no change.
June Richards, a parent of a sixth-grade student, used the meeting's public comment period to urge the Punxsutawney Area School District board to keep the proposed 2025-26 calendar unchanged and to improve communication between parents and district officials.
"They don't want your calendar changed because it's already been people already have vacations and everything already scheduled and everything," Richards said. She also said her daughter, an "A" student, had been told by teachers that her class was "the worst class they've ever had," and said that students had been barred from attending a Shrek concert as a result of discipline concerns. "Kids shouldn't have to deal with bullying. They're going to school to learn," Richards said.
The board reviewed a proposed revision to the 2025-26 school calendar at the special meeting. Board staff told members the district previously voted to eliminate flexible instruction days; the discussion at this meeting centered on whether to add more traditional snow days instead. According to the board presentation, if the calendar is left unchanged the plan includes two building-specific snow days and any additional snow days would be added to the end of the school year. Board staff said this meeting was likely the last opportunity to change the calendar before finalizing the number-of-days calculation.
No board member made a motion to change the calendar during the meeting, and the board chair noted that, without a motion, the calendar would remain as currently set. Board staff reiterated that the district had removed flexible instruction days at a prior meeting and that the salaries listed for certain personnel items were for reference pending a ratified contract.
Richards asked the board for "more communication with the board and parents and the administrators and the teachers." The board did not take formal action on the calendar at the special meeting, and no vote on a calendar change was recorded.
The meeting record shows one public commenter and an executive session earlier in the evening; board staff reminded attendees the meeting might be livestreamed and recorded under the district's board policy on recordings.
