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LEWISTOWN -- At Thursday's Mifflin County School Board Regular Voting meeting, the board set a date for MCHS graduation for Monday, June 5, at Mitchell Field at 6 p.m. In the event of rain on Monday, the graduation ceremony will be rescheduled for Tuesday, June 6, at Mitchell Field at 6 p.m. If rain persists on Tuesday, the ceremony will move indoors to the MCHS Gymnasium at 6 p.m. Parents will be notified via SKYLERT.
Varner recognized and commended all the teachers and students involved in Mini-Thon. The Thon raised over $25,000 for pediatric cancer research.
The board recommended authorizing the District to enter an Attorney-Client Fee Contract with Frantz Law Group, APLC, in San Diego, California; Dillon McCandless King Coulter & Graham, LLP, in Butler, Pennsylvania; and Knepp & Snook on South Wayne Street, Lewistown, Pennsylvania, to initiate legal action against various social media companies (Meta, TikTok, YouTube, etc.) to claim monetary damages.
The Attorney-Client Fee Contract stipulates a contingent fee of twenty-five percent (25%) of any recovery. The Frantz Law Group, APLC, will advance expenses required to fund the litigation, which will be deducted from any recovery. The District will not be responsible for any fees or cost reimbursements if there is no recovery.
District Superintendent Vance Varner and board member Mark Baker are authorized to sign the Attorney-Client Fee Contract.
In other board news,
• Approved minutes of the Committee of the Whole meeting held March 16, 2023.
• Approved minutes of the Regular Board meeting held March 23, 2023.
• Approved minutes of the Budget Work Session meeting held April 3, 2023.
• Approved the following draft policies as a second and final reading, to replace the board's previously adopted board policies of the same number:
PSBA updated, previously approved policies:
137 – Home Education Programs
137.1 – Extracurricular Participation by Home Education Students
137.3 – Participation in Career and Technical Education Programs by Home Education Students
Section 300 - Employees
313 - Evaluation of Employees
317 - Conduct/Disciplinary Procedures
317.1 - Educator Misconduct
318 - Penalties for Tardiness
322 - Gifts
323 - Tobacco Use (Mandated by PSBA)
331 - Job Related Expenses
340 - Responsibility for Student Welfare
348 - Unlawful Harassment with Attachment – Retiring Policy
351 - Drug and Substance Abuse
352 - Pre-Employment Substance Abuse Testing
• Approved the following Financial items: Review of Treasurer Reports for month ended March 31, 2023, Review of listing of bills for payment, Review of Revenue and Expense Summaries, Real Estate and Per Capita Tax Collector Reports.
• Approved to exonerate Kathy Whitsel, Assistant Director of Tax Services, from collecting the delinquent 2021 and 2022 real estate taxes on parcel 15 ,13-0114,200.
• Approved to exonerate Kathy Whitsel, Tax Claim Director, from collecting the delinquent 2020 through 2022 real estate taxes on parcel 17 ,11-0111,002.
• Approved the 2023-2024 Employee Pay Schedule.
• Approved the GASB 75 Valuation and Related Services Agreement with Pennsylvania Trust.
• Approved the Cafeteria Financial Report for March 2023.
• Approved request authorization to pay Cafeteria Bills for March 2023.
• Approved the following driver: Rhoda Shafranich (Krise Transportation).
• Approved Camden B. Shawver as an unpaid Athletics Intern retroactive to April 11, 2023, through the end of the 2022-2023 school year.
• Approved the following coach for winter 2023-24: Jack Packer (volunteer boys' basketball).
• Approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the contract between Mifflin County Education Support Professionals Association, PSEA/NEA, and the Mifflin County School District regarding the summer hourly rate of $21/hour through the summer of 2024.
• Approved the agreement between the Substitute Teacher Service (STS) and the Mifflin County School District for a term of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2025.
• Approved the updated 2023-2024 MCSD School Calendar to add a non-instructional day for April 23, 2024. The updated contract for the Association of Mifflin County Educators states that general and primary election dates are to be days off for AMCE members in a presidential election year. Currently, Pennsylvania is scheduled to have the primary election on April 23, 2024. If Pennsylvania would change the primary election date, then the 2023-2024 MCSD School Calendar would need to be adjusted.
• Approved the Active STS Guest Teachers list.
• Approved the MOU for the 2023-2024 school year between the Tuscarora Intermediate Unit 11 Partial Hospitalization Program and the MCSD.