Thursday’s school board meeting of the Bradford Area School District offered a few updates for the beginning of the school year but otherwise tended to many routine matters.
Superintendent Katharine Pude addressed the room just before the revised ARP ESSER Health and Safety Plan had been approved by the board, “I met with the building administrators and school nurses to update our Health and Safety Plan, and it will be posted to the website soon. The plan is very similar to the way we ended last year with masks optional, but it does take out some of the social distancing requirements as well.”
Mary Campbell, program director for the YMCA 21st Century Program, provided updates to the board. The 21 Century Community Learning Centers Program, available at each of the schools in the Bradford district, are Pennsylvania grant-funded and have two years remaining on this cohort, explained Campbell. The program provides students in K-12 academic intervention and enrichment and extra support with everything from homework to STEAM learning to college/career readiness. Campbell said, “We hope to include more service opportunities this year as part of our program in addition to all the other activities we already offer.” The program is free and includes a snack and dinner. Anyone interested in enrolling can do so on the BASD website.
Erin Waugaman, director of curriculum, presented plans for approval for Title I, which is a federally funded program offering schoolwide programming. She stated the goals for George G. Blaisdell and School Street elementary schools. The board approved the plan.
Pude stated, “Although we recognize that PSSA and Keystone scores are down across the state and that the pandemic had adverse effects on students nationwide, we needed to examine our current data and practices in order to determine what we need to do to help raise student achievement in our district.” She stated there will be a district-wide PLC training on the October in-service day.
The Student Council President, Sage Bruno, expressed student concerns about the construction and that they are excited to have air conditioning for the first days of school this coming year. She asked if the gym and locker rooms would be done before school started as many students are wondering.
Judy Bodamer, director of finance, reassured Bruno the gym will be functional but also said the locker rooms may take a little longer to complete due to some issues getting supplies. However, the rest of the school will be ready to go — with a few cosmetic touches here and there left to do.
Pude also noted, “School will start on time, we have been assured. There are pictures of the construction on the district website if you want to watch what has been going on all summer.”
She also touched on the Back to School Rally coming up on Aug. 20. “It’s the 10th anniversary, the committee chairs are going with a carnival theme. A huge shout out is due to Nikki Bost and David Eaton for all of their hard work organizing this.”
She also took a moment to thank the maintenance and custodial staff for all they have done and will be doing before the start of the school year.