Trending
The Altoona Area School Board voted 7-2 to approve compensation plans for nonunion employees at a special meeting Thursday.
Employees affected are those in bill management, central office administration, support staff and noninstructional administrators.
The plan includes adjustments to health care as well as a four-year timeline for employee raises.
From 2021 through the 2025 fiscal year, the district will not make health insurance coverage available to employee spouses who work for the state, a public school district or a State System of Higher Education or state-related university.
Workers will get a 3% raise for next academic year followed by 2.5 percent increases each of the following three years.
Board President Sharon Bream, Vice President Frank Meloy, Dave Francis, Mike Baker, Rick Hoover, Eric Haugh and Ron Johnston voted for the measure, while Kelly Irwin Adams and Ed Kreuz opposed it.
In other matters Thursday, just one person addressed the board during the meeting's public comment segment.
Altoona Area High School senior Cassie Kyle voiced her disagreement with the recent decision to have seniors choose whether to learn virtually or in person for the rest of the school year. Kyle said students were sent an email Wednesday and told to decide which learning model they would opt for by today.
"While we understand the circumstances of quarantine, we do not see the rationale behind not allowing seniors to attend in person in between prom and commencement," Kyle told the board. "We don't think it is fair to have to choose between getting the last few days of senior memories and the chance to say our goodbyes to our teachers and friends and risk losing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of senior prom and graduation."
Under the district's policy, students who go virtual for the five days before the prom to avoid possible COVID-19 exposure cannot return to in-person classes before commencement unless they are fully vaccinated.
Kyle proposed allowing students, especially seniors, to learn virtually for 10 days before prom, attend school in person for five days and then revert back to a virtual model for 10 days before graduation.
The board did not discuss or act on Kyle's idea.