Trending
Altoona Area School Board members discussed the district's ongoing efforts to support students as the year comes to an end amid the pandemic.
The board's regular meeting Monday came the same day students in grades K-12 returned to full time, in-person learning after a few weeks of hybrid learning. Despite the return, students will have an at-home, asynchronous learning day Thursday "to ensure continuity of instruction as (AASD) teachers and staff participate in a mass immunization," according to a message posted on the district's website.
Superintendent Charles Prijatelj reported that a total of 939 employees have been vaccinated, with more than 700 of them receiving the shot through the district.
He thanked Thompson Pharmacy and others for their efforts in this regard.
Prijatelj also announced that a "full" plan is in the works to provide learning recovery through a summer school program. The "summer extension program," as Prijatelj described it, will allow students to catch up and help them "reestablish skills" in various academic subjects.
Despite the reported progress, one parent, who spoke during public comment, wasn't pleased. Scott Frank shared his frustration with the district's handling of the academic year amid COVID-19, at times raising his voice. His two daughters attend school in the district, and their academic performance has plummeted, he said, as a result of what he described as insufficient support from the district.
Frank asked, "What's going to be done to help these kids?"
"My kids need help," he said. "Not only can they not help, they can't even recommend somebody that will help," he said of the district, referencing a recent exchange between him and an administrator when he sought tutoring for one of his daughters.
In other matters Monday, the board recognized the recipient of the Educator of the Year award, Lindsay Bumbarger, a second-grade teacher at Baker Elementary.
Bumbarger addressed the board, thanking its members, as well as administrators, for their "dedication to our community."
Bumbarger said she and her colleagues are "overwhelmingly committed to doing the best we possibly can for our kids, showing up for them every day, and there's no way I would consider myself any more deserving of this award than those others that I've worked with. I am very proud every day to be an Altoona Area School District teacher."
Mirror Staff Writer Andrew Mollenauer is at 814-946-7428.