Panther Valley votes administrative raises

Administrators in the Panther Valley School District will see a bump in their paychecks.

The board of directors voted to approve pay raises for the superintendent, business manager, Act 93 staff, and the confidential administrative staff at this week's regular board meeting.

Superintendent Rosemary Porembo's salary will jump from $95,680 to $100,000. Business manager Kenneth Marx will see his salary go from $58,240 to $62,500. The Act 93 staff includes the three school principals, the athletic director, the maintenance supervisor, and the district's technical coordinator. All raises were approved retroactively to July 1, 2009. The board also approved a three-year contract for Marx, retroactive to July 1, 2009 and continuing until June 30, 2012.

Director William Hunsicker said that all of the raises were budgeted items. Hunsicker cited the state's budget impasse and recent contract negotiations with other district staff members as the reasons for the delay in the raises. "It's not like we went crazy here," he noted.

However, the proposed raises did not sit well with one board member. At the beginning of the meeting, Director R. Mickey Angst asked for a motion to table the items until the newly elected board members could take their seats in December. That motion did not pass.

Later in the meeting Angst again expressed dissatisfaction with several of the motions for raises.

"In some cases I'm in favor of them, in some cases I'm opposed," he said.

Angst said he had a list of 12 failures on the part of the superintendent.

"I think the solicitor would shoot me down if I aired them publicly," he said. "We're failing in our scores. We're almost at the bottom of the heap. We have financial difficulties."

Angst was the only board member to vote against the raises. Directors Ron Slivka and Tom Shober were absent from the meeting.

Director David Hiles expressed a different sentiment than Angst.

"No one on this board has sat through more changes of business managers and superintendents than I have," he said. "When you have two people sitting here keeping the district stable, I think it was reasonable to show them our appreciation."

Hiles also noted that even with the approved raises, the salaries are still among the lowest in the state for those positions.

The board also approved the hiring of Carol Turner as a permanent part-time custodian, effective immediately. Lisa Barel, Michael Dee, Eric Filer, Ryan Heaney, Betsy Jacobsen-Holtz, Pamela Kattner, Matthew Kosciolek, Amy Krall, Earl Kunkel, Frank Parano, Geraldine Patire, Gina Rotondo, Steven Sofranko, Melissa Tilley, and Patrick Visconti were added to the list of guest teachers for the 2009-2010 school year at a per diem rate of $85.

Angela Blasko, Molly Damian, Brenda Ferrence, Lisa Kennedy, Carol Kielbasa, Kelly Machalik, Michele Miller, Janet Sager, Deborah Schaller, and Elizabeth Esrang were added to the list of substitute instructional aides at a rate of $8.80 per hour. Angela Blasko, Molly Damian, Daughn Edmunds, Elizabeth Esrang, Brenda Ferrence, Carol Kielbasa, Deborah Schaller, and Michele Miller were also added to the list of substitute secretaries at a rate of $8.95 per hour.

Adrianne Bonner and Teresa Livingston were added to the list of substitute teachers. Andrew Michalik was approved as a short term substitute effective immediately and continuing until December 31, at a rate of $135 per day.

The board approved assistant coaches for the wrestling season, with salaries to be set at a later date. They included Kevin O'Brien, Brian Sommers, David Schweibinz, Ed Kennedy, and Dennis O'Donnell. Kennedy and O'Donnell are volunteers. Assistant coaches approved for the swim team were Candice Gimbor and Marie Griffiths.

The board also appointed Elizabeth Walsh as the classrooms for the future instructional technology coach for the 2009-2010 year. It was noted that this position is being paid for through the PA-PACT grant. Porembo said that the Classrooms for the Future program will continue for this school year and build upon the successes from the previous year.

"We hope to expand it to other teachers," she said.