An early proposal for the building project for Ashkar Elementary School in Hughesville. PHOTO PROVIDED

HUGHESVILLE — Questions about water issues at the Ashkar Construction Project were addressed by Superintendent Dr. Mark Stamm at the East Lycoming School Board meeting this week.

The concerns about ponding water at the current building had been raised at a recent Act 34 public hearing, required for school construction projects.

In his report to the board, Stamm stated that he had consulted the engineers for the project and that they had explained that the water ponding is at the west end of the Ashkar building, near the Pre-K area, a section of the existing building which is slated to be demolished.

“The current gym area, which has no water issues, is about 2 feet higher. The new building will be an additional 3 feet higher than the current gym,” Stamm’s report stated.

“Together, the new addition will be about 5 feet higher than the section prone to water ponding in the Pre-K area,” Stamm said.

In addition, Stamm stated that the project engineers are installing sufficient water drainage pipes to reroute water run-off from the back of the new building to retention ponds at the front.

“Swales will also be created to redirect water from the rear of the building around the new football practice field and into the down-stream side of the new building,” the report said.

Another concern which had been raised at the hearing was if the size of the new Ashkar building would be big enough to handle the size of the student population, if new housing construction would increase bringing with it an increase in the district’s population.

Based on information from the state’s Department of Education, Stamm said, “the district is actually showing a flat to declining enrollment” projection.

“Although housing developments could change that, the additional homes would also bring increased revenues that could be used for additional construction, if needed,” Stamm said.

Based on the modeling from PDE and on current available spaces at the other elementary buildings in the district, Stamm concluded, “it is my observation that the current proposed size of Ashkar Elementary meets district needs.”

Other items in the superintendent’s report included:

• The district has secured nine substitute teachers as a result of a four-week advertising campaign and the food service department is fully staffed. The next step will be more targeted ads for the vacant full and part-time custodial positions.

• A list of maintenance project and equipment replacement using $500,000 transferred from fiscal year 2021-22 in capital reserve has been prepare by the maintenance director and reviewed and supported by the Finance/Facilities Committee. A maintenance cycle for equipment replacement, parking lot sealing and painting and other items has been developed with the goal of continuing to allocate funds annually into the budget to cover regular district maintenance and equipment replacement.

• A new plan for regular seasonal care for athletic surfaces has been developed. It includes regular soil testing, managed mowing, mulching, decompaction and weed mitigation. Although a full-time maintenance person will be needed to do the work, Stamm noted that he feels the position can be filled by current staff.

In other business, under personnel, the board approved the following daily substitute teacher/support staff/ guest teaching listings: Micahel Miller and Samantha Strayer, guest teachers and Brianna Strickland, Act 86.

A revision to the district’s policy concerning District Social Media was approved. The changes allow the creation of an open Facebook page for district us. The policy as it was currently written stated that the district must operate a “closed group page that is undiscoverable by members of the community and those seeking to learn more about the school district.”

“Moving to this new format is part of the Comprehensive Plan for communications and will allow more accessibility while still providing proper management of public comments if needed,” Stamm said.

An intergovernmental agreement between the district and Hughesville Borough regarding the installation of bus stop-arm cameras was approved as part of the contract for the cameras to ensure proper handling of the violations and citations. Both the board and the borough council must approve the contract. The capital project list for 2022-23 and the field turf management program were both approved by the board.

The next regular meeting of the board will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 at the High School Library, 349 Cemetery St.