Five Things to Know About the Latest School Board Meeting

Here's a quick recap of some notable things from tonight's Easton Area School Board meeting

1. District business manager Marie Guidry brought the board what she called "very sobering news" about the $141 million budget.

The district has a $14 million , and so far has trimmed just $1.1 million in spending, Guidry said, most of it from transportation. She said current projections show the district's expenditures increasing by nearly $50 million over the next five years, while revenues will only go up about $10 million

2. Kevin Deely, head of the district's teachers union, took the board and administration to task, calling them "bullies" for the way they've dealt with the teachers, and for hiring an attorney who's told the district PTA to stay out of the board's negotiations with the teachers.

The administration and Board President Kerry Myers have talked of laying off as many as 215 teachers to help balance the budget. Salaries account for nearly 70 percent of district expenses. 

"It is the worst kind of disrespect," an angry Deely said. "You’re teaching our children that it’s acceptable to bully to get what you want."

People began to applaud when he was done speaking, causing Myers to use his gavel.

"You were supposed to give a report, not an indictment of the board," he said. "You were a little out of line there."

3. Several parents asked the board to support a new policy that would re-open the door for a before-and-after school care program at . And while the board hasn't made an official yes-or-no ruling on the program -- or the company that wants to run it -- it did approve a policy that allows daycare programs to operate at the schools.

The parents want a Luzerne County company called Hildebrandt Learning Centers to operate the program at March, and argue that if enough students took part in it, the district could engage in profit sharing with the company.

But board members were skeptical of the idea, while others disliked the notion of giving money to an out-of-the-area company. Ben Carter, one of the parents pushing for the program, noted that the district already gives money to several non-local companies, including McDonald's, Sodexo and Coca-Cola.

4. As it was last year, this year's high school graduation will be held at Lehigh University's Stabler Arena on June 22. Board members had tossed around other ideas, including holding graduation at Easton Area Middle School, but that setting would severely limit the number of people who could attend.

5. The board said goodbye to its long-time solicitor. Alan McFall had served as the board attorney since 2000, but said Thursday he chose not to renew his contract because the job required an emphasis on special education that he didn't feel he had the time to commit to. 

King-Spry, a Bethlehem-based firm that represents several area school districts, will take over as new solicitor. A copy of the firm's contract with the district can be read here. Two members of the firm already work for the district: John Freund is its special counsel, and Paul Blunt, the attorney Deely mentioned in his address to the board.