EMMAUS, Pa. — East Penn School Board on Monday reappointed Superintendent Kristen Campbell for 3-5 more years, with contract details to be determined.
The board also approved the district's calendar for the year and discussed long-term finances.
- East Penn School Board discussed long-term finances while extending Superintendent Kristen Campbell's contract, introducing online ticket sales and finalizing the school calendar for the upcoming year
- Specific contract details are to be approved at a future meeting
- Administrators state the finances are in a good spot as further capital improvement project proposals are being discussed by school representatives
Campbell's salary and the precise length of the contract are to be determined by the board. School officials said state school code requires action 90 days before a superintendent's contract expires.
Campbell started in the district in 1995 as an elementary school teacher, and worked in various positions including assistant middle school principal, elementary principal and assistant superintendent before becoming superintendent.
She's in her 28th year at East Penn.
She was hired as superintendent under a five-year contract in 2018 following the retirement of Superintendent Michael Schilder.
In her five years in the top job, Campbell led the administration through the education challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It certainly has been a challenging five years," Campbell said. "We recognize that we have challenges ahead. We are really excited for the work that is ahead and I think we have a great team in place that's ready to roll up our sleeves and do that work."
Discussing the long-term outlook
As part of the budget presentations for the upcoming school year, East Penn Business Administrator Robert Saul guided administrators through a presentation examining the past and potential future finances of the school district.
Local revenue is projected to grow from the budgeted $126,369,794 in 2023-24 to $164,570,868 in 2027-28.
Long-range planning kept criteria such as expanding educational opportunities when possible, providing for a 3-5% budgetary reserve and proposing real estate tax increases at or below the state mandated Act 1 index when possible.
"I think we're in a healthy position, generally speaking, in terms of having a very low debt load, in terms of having money set aside that potentially can be used for a partial down payment, for having headroom," Saul said.
"I think we're probably ahead of, if I had to guess, 498 of the 500 other school districts in the commonwealth with regard to that.
"I want to qualify that, though, because we can't go build four new schools," Saul said. "Being in a very good position is different from having a blank check."
Campbell said that facility inquiry teams of representatives from the district's elementary, middle and high schools now are meeting, with a set goal of April or May to bring feedback of what future capital projects to pursue.
She said some money from the capital reserve fund listed in the presentation may be used for specific facilities projects, but depending on the breadth of projects that come forward there likely would be the need to float bonds for financing.
The revised budget for 2023-24 lists the capital reserve fund to grow to $20,882,160 during the school year.
Various capital improvement projects and renovations throughout the school district are listed, including over $200,000 for new playground equipment at Macungie Elementary School, district-wide electronic door lock installations, and HVAC upgrades.
The presentation also guided the board through scenarios of various tax increases — including none — in upcoming years, and the potential financial impacts of taking different options, such as not raising taxes during certain years or raising taxes to the maximum allowed by the Act 1 Index.
Remaining budget presentations include:
- March 27, April 24: Priority presentations
- May 8: Presentation and adoption of the proposed final budget
- May 22: Presentation of budget updates and discussion of final budge
- June 12: Presentation and adoption of the final budget
Calendar, online ticket sale vendor approved
The next school year is officially set to start on Aug. 28 as the East Penn School District Student Teacher Calendar was officially approved for the 2023-24 school year.
The year will have 183 student days and 190 teacher days with two snow days built in.
Administration noted it was overall similar to prior years upon introduction.
The board also approved a digital ticket sales agreement with the service GoFan from the company Huddle Tickets LLC.
Administrators say they see online ticket options as a service due to the public becoming accustomed to this method, and will begin implementation with Emmaus High School home game events.
"One of the certainly attractive elements of GoFan was the minimal fee to the consumers, yet offering them the convenience of being able to purchase things online," Campbell said.
He noted the fees were one of the lowest compared with other options.
Campbell said fees established in the contract state that if a purchase is $10 or less, a $1 fee occurs, with 5% of the purchase and $1 fee occurring for greater charges. Season tickets are 5% of the purchase plus a $2 fee.
The board also discussed the announced retirement of Special Education Director Linda Pekarik, who has been with the district since 2006. Her duties involved work with KidsPeace and the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit.
"She truly, truly enjoys getting to know our students and their parents," Campbell said. "So that's just been a really special gift to the community, and we are appreciative of the advance notice as well, [which] allows us as a team to really begin recruiting for is a very important position as a member of our team."
A vote also accepted a $6,500 donation from the East Penn School District Education Foundation to support the Girls in STEM program.
