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Votes at a glance: Derry Area School District board actions, Jan. 23, 2025
Summary
The board approved multiple routine and substantive items, including minutes, bills, personnel actions, vendor agreements, grant-related staffing motions, library contract renewal, special-education agreements, and policy and finance resolutions. Key financial approvals included tax-resolution, tax-collector compensation and capital transfers.
At its Jan. 23 meeting the Derry Area School District Board of Directors approved multiple motions spanning administration, personnel, services agreements, special education, facilities and budget items. The items below summarize motions taken and outcomes recorded on the public record (all motions noted below were approved by voice vote unless noted otherwise).
Votes at a glance
- Approve minutes of the reorganization and regular meeting of Dec. 5, 2024 — approved (motion carried).
- Approve payment of regular bills and specified fund bills (regular bills; cafeteria bills; capital project fund bills) — approved. (Amounts read into the record: regular bills and totals as read by secretary.)
- Financial report accepted (ending balance as of Nov. 30, 2024 reported) — approved.
- Personnel: Approve resignations, retirements and leaves (items A–D as on the agenda) — approved.
- Addendum: Add item E under personnel (resignation of a secretary made available after agenda publication) — approved; subsequent motion accepted resignation of Amanda Calabrese, high school attendance office secretary, effective Feb. 14, 2025 — approved.
- Personnel employment approvals (letters A–H) — approved.
- Personnel conferences (A–F) — approved.
- Business affairs: Adopt resolution stating the district will not raise tax rates for 2025–26 by more than the Act 1 index adjusted amount (5.4% index -> 4.95 mills cap) — approved.
- Approve tax collector compensation and authorize board secretary to advertise rates for 2026–2029 (3% increase on salaries; commission rates set for per-capita tax collections) — approved.
- Approve administrative regulations to Board Policy 246 (Student Wellness) — approved.
- Approve memorandum of understanding with the Dairy Area Education Association to employ an extended day‑to‑day long‑term substitute teacher (1st grade) for remainder of 2024–25 — approved.
- Approve agreement with New Directions for a potential special‑education placement for 2024–25 (no current enrollments; agreement establishes placement option) — approved.
- Renew 1‑year extension agreement between the district and Adams Memorial Library for the Caldwell Library extension (Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2025) — approved.
- Approve IDEA 611(b) and 619 agreement with Westmoreland Intermediate Unit for 2024–25 — approved.
- Approve memorandum of understanding between the district and the Pennsylvania State Police (Jan. 1, 2025–Dec. 31, 2026) — approved (see separate article on safety and MOU).
- Approve Tremco TMR Roofing contract (Grandview Elementary roof restoration, cost not to exceed $1,937,375) — approved (see separate article on roofing); approve $2,000,000 transfer from undesignated general fund to designated fund to cover project costs — approved.
- Approve change order No. 2 for the stadium entrance project for drainage repair ($2,693.95) — approved.
- Approve list of field trips and after‑school activities pending event conditions — approved.
- Approve student activity reports as of Sept. 30, 2024 — approved.
What the votes mean: The board’s approvals included routine business (minutes, bills, financial reports), personnel actions and service agreements that establish providers or options for special education, library services and safety partnerships. Two of the meeting’s larger fiscal items were the Tremco roofing contract and the accompanying $2 million fund transfer, and the ongoing shift of some security personnel costs from state grants to the district’s operating budget (discussed in the safety presentation).
Quotable from the meeting: “If you see them on the campus, it’s not necessarily a bad thing because they have to get to know the building, the layout, and those are things we’ll be working with,” a board member said of the State Police presence under the approved MOU.
For full motions, roll-call details and supporting documents (amounts, contracts and policy texts), see the board’s posted agenda packet and attachments on the district website.
