Penn Manor hears budget update, gets science standards report, renames gym
What happened: Penn Manor will receive $2.7 million more from the state than officials expected, Dan Forry, chief financial officer, told the board.
: The district planned to receive $1.3 million from the state but instead will get $4 million, Forry said.
: He recommended the district use the extra money to replace student desks and chairs at the district's two middle schools, replace interior door locks at Manor Middle School, and place $1.5 million in the capital reserve fund.
: The board heard the proposal but did not vote on anything.
Science standards: Administrators provided the board with a proposal for budget items related to implementation of the state's new science standards, which will take place during the 2025-26 school year.
: Discussion of these new standards started in 2022. Krista Cox, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said the new standards emphasize, "phenomena-based learning, progressive skills ... and an asset-based approach."
High school expenses: Cox; Dori Andes, curriculum and instruction supervisor; and Josh Bressler, science coordinator, presented a proposal of $37,342 to be spent at the high school across the biology, chemistry, physics, and earth sciences programs for equipment such as microscopes, calculators, and very precise scales for measuring small amounts of substances in chemistry classes.
Middle school expenses: Cox, Andes and Bressler proposed $8,187 to be spent on items such as microscopes, portable Bunsen burners and scales.
Elementary expenses: The elementary expenditures costing $4,017 are less expensive and less complex than those for the middle and high school programs, Andes said. However, the district is supporting more than 100 classrooms at this level, she noted.
: "I have to say that some of my best days are sitting in a room with three to four teachers ... and just watching the excitement on their face when they can plan from scratch all these things that their students can do," Andes said. "They are very, very excited about what's to come and we are as well."
Co-op athletic program: The Stone Independent School, a private school in Lancaster, has asked to expand its agreement with Penn Manor in the cooperative athletic program, Superintendent Phil Gale shared with the board.
: The cooperative program allows students from smaller schools, which may not have certain athletic resources, to play for teams at larger schools. Stone School students have already played on Penn Manor's golf, field hockey and lacrosse teams. This agreement would expand the program to include the boys and girls swimming and wrestling teams.
: Gale also presented the board with a request from Lancaster Country Day School to enter a co-op with Penn Manor for the boys lacrosse team. This would be the district's first athletic co-op with Lancaster Country Day.
: Such co-ops have involved only one or two students, Gale said. Students from the other schools are required to provide their own transportation. When a student from another school must try out for a team, there is no preferential treatment for Penn Manor students, he said.
The vote: The board voted unanimously to place a vote on these requests on the Sept. 30 voting agenda.
Renaming the gym: The board voted 9-0 to rename Penn Manor's high school gymnasium after retired coach Harry Frey.
: "I don't think there's anybody more deserving than Mr. Frey," Vice President Nickole Nafziger said. "He has made a lifelong impact on many Penn Manor students, including myself."
