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HANOVER TWP. — Hanover Area School Board swore in members elected in November at a reorganization meeting Tuesday, then elected newcomer Brian McDermott as president and Stacy Bleich as vice-president.
Adjourning and taking a short break for an executive session, the newly configured board then held the regular monthly meeting, approving three major hirings, including the daughter of a board member.
The board hired Alexis Rupert as high school assistant principal at a starting salary of $89,000, Joseph Gorham as district compliance officer at $89,000, and Michelle Mazur as an assistant school nurse at $43,700. Board Member Michael Mazur abstained from the nurse vote.
The compliance officer is a new position that superintendent Nathan Barrett said is needed to assure the district meets multiple new safety requirements from the state Department of Education. He said there are approximately 150 safety items for each building, and along with assuring all items are checked off the list and procedures arranged and followed, the district must create safety manuals aligned with them.
Gorham has held various administrative positions in area school districts, and Barrett said he did serve as a compliance officer at one of them.
After the meeting, Barrett said the district plans to hold a public meeting Dec. 13 to provide the results of an extensive study of facilities and possible expansion to handle rapidly growing enrollment. SitelogIQ is conducting the review. Barrett said enrollment has surged for two years, climbing to 2,317, with a large influx of English Language Learners — 62 new students this year — that required hiring a new ELL teacher this year.
The board also:
• Authorized the solicitor to revise and advertise a Request For Proposals for the Hanover Green Parking Lot construction project. Barrett said there were questions about the initial specifications and the district is working to refine them.
• Rejected an agenda item from the Oct. 3 meeting that had approved the purchase of two passenger E-vans from Rohrer Bus Sales, “pending review of all required documents.” Barrett said the vans had too few seats and insufficient headroom inside.
• Accepted the resignation of Yolanda Hollick as senior class advisor, and appointed Ana Pac to the post with a stipend of $1,400 for the current school year.
• Accepted the resignation of assistant school nurse Taylor Farrell.
• Ratified the appointment of Kateleen Dulisse as a paraprofessional at $15 per hour.
• Increased the salary of confidential secretary Shantel Grohowski to $41,263. Grohowski was appointed to the post at $15 per hour in March.
Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish