Carlisle Area SD board approves MOA with teachers, course additions, financial audit, tax-collector plan and policy revisions
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Sign Up Free
Summary
The Carlisle Area School District board approved a memorandum of agreement with its teachers’ association, course additions including a three-course education sequence and AP Physics 2, accepted the district’s audit and adopted tax-collector and policy updates at its January meeting.
The Carlisle Area School District Board of Directors approved several personnel and policy actions during its January meeting, including a memorandum of agreement with the Carlisle Area Education Association addressing compensation for career and technical education (CTE) teachers who taught a sixth period, multiple new course approvals, acceptance of the district’s 2023–24 audited financial statements, adoption of a tax-collector compensation plan and revisions to student-discipline-related policies.
The memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the district and the Carlisle Area Education Association covers compensation for teachers in the Center for Career and Technical Education who agreed to teach a sixth period for the 2024–25 school year. Superintendent Colleen Friend told the board the MOA is effective for 2024–25 only and that high school administrators are scheduling to limit required sixth-period assignments in 2025–26. Board members praised the administration’s work in addressing the CTE program’s unique scheduling and hourly requirements and then voted to approve the MOA.
Education Committee recommendations approved included three new courses to implement a two‑year general education/teacher-preparation track in career and technical education — Foundations of Education, Education Pre-Practicum, and Education Practicum — slated to begin in the 2025–26 school year. The committee and several board members described the program as a pathway that can provide hands-on experience, observations, mentorship and a senior capstone internship; the board approved the three-course package in a single motion.
The board separately approved the science department’s recommendation to add AP Physics 2 for 2025–26, intended to better align physics offerings and math leveling and to replace a regular physics option with AP Physics 1 plus AP Physics 2.
On finance items, the board accepted the auditor’s unmodified (clean) opinion on the fiscal 2023–24 financial statements and accompanying documents after the auditor reviewed general, proprietary and federal funds. The business office reported that the district’s $109 million budget had collected roughly $81 million in revenue year-to-date (midyear) and spent about $52 million; after transfers the district’s change in fund balance for the year was about $1.8 million. The board also adopted a tax-collector compensation resolution required by state law; the proposed plan sets a base compensation of $3,750 and includes per-bill and installment-based fees. Business staff said the district would pay about $34,000 (about 0.06%) to collect approximately $54 million in property taxes in 2024 under the plan.
The board approved four contracts listed in the agenda manager (including in-person therapy and districtwide fire-alarm inspection work listed for specific schools) and approved expenditures for December totaling $6,317,127 (motion carried as recorded). The board also approved revisions to three district policies: Policy 218 (student discipline), Policy 218.1 (weapons) and Policy 218.2 (terroristic threats); the changes updated reporting language to law enforcement and the Pennsylvania Department of Education, clarified on- and off-campus conduct and moved disability-related language to align authority sections.
Votes on individual agenda items were recorded by voice; board members signified approval by saying "aye" and the chair announced motions carried when no opposition was voiced. For items with substantive discussion (for example the CTE MOA and the new course approvals) board members and administration described background, scheduling constraints, statutory hour requirements for some CTE programs and anticipated staffing adjustments for 2025–26. Several informational reports (treasurer’s investment report, student-activities balances and committee updates) were presented but did not require board action.
The board’s actions were taken during the regular meeting; specific motions that passed are summarized below.