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Mid Valley School Board approves routine personnel and financial items; several notable votes recorded
Summary
The Mid Valley School Board at its January meeting approved routine personnel, curriculum, facilities and financial items and recorded separate votes on tax-relief policy, an assessment settlement, a cooperative athletic agreement and a proposed change to tax-collector compensation that failed on roll call.
The Mid Valley School Board at its January meeting approved a series of routine personnel, curriculum, buildings-and-grounds, and finance items included on the agenda, and recorded several separate votes of note.
What the board approved on consent: The board approved minutes from December reorganization and special meetings; personnel appointments and resignations; extracurricular appointments and volunteer approvals contingent on receipt of required clearances; student-teacher placements contingent upon paperwork; conference and field-trip requests; an interim staffing-services agreement; a school-psychology services agreement; a student settlement agreement (ST number 6,425); facility-use requests; vendor and service agreements listed on the agenda; lists of bus and van drivers; policy revisions (first reading); and routine financial items including bills payable for Nov. 21, 2024–Jan. 15, 2025, the treasurer’s report, activity-fund reports, cafeteria reports and the list of checks received. Those items were adopted by voice vote or as noted in the minutes.
Notable separate votes and outcomes
- Taxpayers Relief resolution: The board voted to adopt a resolution indicating it will not raise the rate of any tax for the support of public schools for fiscal year 2025–2026 by more than the index as calculated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (the index cited in discussion was 7.1%). Outcome: adopted by voice vote; no roll call recorded.
- Settlement recommended by Lackawanna County Board of Assessment Appeals (tax parcel 12401-040101): The board accepted the county board’s recommended settlement setting the parcel’s fair-market value at the figure listed in the motion and authorized the district solicitor to execute a stipulation approving the settlement. Outcome: motion passed on roll call.
- Motion to set compensation for real-estate tax collectors: The board considered and ultimately failed a motion to set a per-bill rate (motion restated during discussion as $5.50 per bill with an additional 0¢ per installment). Outcome: failed on roll call (recorded yes/no votes; motion did not pass).
- Cooperative athletic agreement: The board authorized the district athletic director to negotiate a cooperative sponsorship agreement with Lakeland School District for boys’ and girls’ lacrosse teams. Outcome: approved by voice vote.
- Closeout of prior revenue agreement: The board authorized the district business manager to execute documents to close out revenues from the 2022 agreement in the sale and purchase of tax claims between District Public Asset Management Inc. and Municipal Revenue Services. Outcome: approved by voice vote.
Why this matters: The consent items maintain school operations and staffing for the spring semester; the assessment-settlement vote affects district tax rolls and potential revenue, while the failed motion on collector compensation means the district did not change the collector fee schedule at this meeting. The cooperative arrangement for lacrosse may expand athletic opportunities for students if finalized.
The board scheduled next meetings for Feb. 10 (work session) and Feb. 12 (regular meeting).
