Plum Borough School District accepts clean audit, approves tennis-court renovation and hires school police officer

The Plum Borough School District Board of School Directors on Feb. 25 accepted a clean audit for the 2023–24 school year, approved a contractor bid to renovate the high school tennis courts, hired a new school police officer and adopted its community-driven Portrait of a Graduate and comprehensive-planning committee membership.

The board voted, by voice, to accept the audit presented by the district business office and auditor Mr. Manzer’s team; during the meeting administrators and board members described the audit as “clean” and praised the business office’s work. The board also approved a bid from Keystone Sports Construction to renovate the high school tennis courts; administrators warned the work will disrupt the spring tennis season and said arrangements have been made to use Boyce Park while courts are closed.

The board unanimously approved hiring Mark Sargent as the district’s new school police officer. Superintendent Dr. Walsh said Sargent began his career at the Whitehall Borough Police Department in 1994, rose to the rank of chief and serves as an instructor at the Criminal Justice Training Center at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The administration said Sargent will work the swing shift and is expected to start next month.

Board members additionally approved the final design of the Portrait of a Graduate and the membership of the comprehensive planning committee; the board said the portrait will guide strategic planning for the 2025–26 and 2026–27 school years. The board also approved routine personnel, finance, operations and policy items that were listed on the consent portion of the agenda.

Votes at a glance - Motion: Approve minutes as listed. Mover: not specified. Second: not specified. Vote: voice; outcome: approved. - Motion: Accept audit report for 2023–24 (presented by Mr. Manzer). Mover: not specified. Second: not specified. Vote: voice; outcome: approved. - Motion: Approve bid from Keystone Sports Construction to renovate high school tennis courts. Mover: not specified. Second: not specified. Vote: voice; outcome: approved. Note: spring tennis season will be disrupted; teams to use Boyce Park during construction. - Motion: Hire Mark Sargent as school police officer. Mover: not specified. Second: not specified. Vote: voice; outcome: approved. Note: Sargent’s background stated as Whitehall Borough Police Department (since 1994) and instructor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Criminal Justice Training Center; start date: next month (as stated by administration). - Motion: Adopt Portrait of a Graduate final design. Mover: not specified. Second: not specified. Vote: voice; outcome: approved. - Motion: Approve comprehensive planning committee membership. Mover: not specified. Second: not specified. Vote: voice; outcome: approved. - Motion: Adopt/revise policies 1–4 as listed on the agenda. Mover: not specified. Second: not specified. Vote: voice; outcome: approved. - Motion: Accept listed personnel items (1–7). Mover: not specified. Second: not specified. Vote: voice; outcome: approved. - Motion: Accept academic achievement and activities items (1–5). Mover: board liaison (academic achievement). Second: not specified. Vote: voice; outcome: approved. - Motion: Accept finance items A1–A3. Mover: Mr. Stropgay (finance liaison). Second: not specified. Vote: voice; outcome: approved. - Motion: Accept operations items 1–5. Mover: board liaison (operations). Second: not specified. Vote: voice; outcome: approved.

Discussion and context Board members emphasized that the clean audit reflects the business office’s work; Dr. Anderson (board president) and others publicly thanked Mr. Manzer’s team. Administrators and liaisons framed the tennis-court renovation as an improvement for athletics and noted temporary facility use (Boyce Park) to accommodate spring schedules. The Portrait of a Graduate was described as a community-driven document that will inform strategic planning. Finance and personnel items were presented on consent and approved by voice; the transcript did not record individual roll-call vote tallies or dollar amounts for contracts.

What the board did not specify The board approved the tennis-court bid but did not disclose the contract value or a construction schedule in the meeting record. Policy items are listed as “1–4” on the agenda; the transcript did not include policy numbers or the text of revisions. No recorded roll-call vote totals or abstentions were recorded in the transcript for the listed motions.

Ending The board noted next public meetings: a budget workshop on March 11 and an action meeting on March 25, both at 7 p.m. in the library.