Council Rock Hires Special Ed Supervisor; Approves Tax Resolution

NEWTOWN, PA — The Council Rock School Board has approved the hiring of Kimberly Carl as the district’s new special education supervisor.

Carl, who will be paid $125,000 a year, replaces Amy Baxter who retired in December after serving students for nearly 40 years in education.

“Kim comes to the special services administration by way of her last stop at the Holland Middle School where she was a school psychologist,” said Superintendent Dr. Andy Sanko, in announcing the newest addition to his administrative cabinet.

Before joining Council Rock, Carl was a school psychologist in the Pennsbury School District. She holds degrees from the College of New Jersey, LaSalle University and Rider University.

In other district news, Sanko announced that more than 280 district students are taking advantage of the district’s newly implemented Nights 4 Knowledge math intensification program.

The board approved the program in December to assist students in grades 3-8 who have suffered learning loss in mathematics due to the pandemic.

Assisting with the program are 74 district high school students who are helping to tutor their younger counterparts. The juniors and seniors are members of the Junior and Math national honor societies.

The program is being facilitated by Gina Booth and is overseen by Al Funk, the director of secondary education, and Nicole Crawford, the director of elementary education.

“We’re quite proud of the program and more importantly the students seem to be having fun and are coming back from week to week,” said Crawford. “I also want to recognize the great teachers and staff who have been working hard to make this successful as well.”

In other action at its January meeting, the board approved an Act 1 Resolution limiting local taxation to an increase of no greater than 4.1 percent for the 2023-24 school year.

“This is a motion to approve from zero up to the Act 1 Index of 4.1. That does not mean that this board is raising taxes by 4.1 percent,” said board member Michael Roosevelt. “It just means we are not going to raise taxes by more than 4.1. The tax rate will be somewhere between zero and 4.1. That’s something this board will be working on when we get to budget.”

The board also voted unanimously to transfer $22 million from the general fund into its capital reserve fund budget.

“This is a very positive move,” said board member Ed Tate. “We’re going to be able to address some issues and improvements to facilities which have been delayed and we’re able to do it because of the strong financial position of the district. This is a really positive step and I applaud the administration for moving it.”

In other district news, Superintendent Sanko reported that another successful Day of Service was held on the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

More than 250 Council Rock students, staff, and community members answered Dr. King's call to service and joined together to help the needy at the Holland Middle School.

Volunteers worked together to make care packages and organize food for donation to area food pantries.

“Our staff and our students continue to amaze the community with their willingness to donate time, compassion and creativity in answering Dr. King’s call to action to make the world a better place by helping others,” said Sanko.