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The Montoursville Area School Board appointed a new school director and approved the hiring of a school resource officer for another school year.
John Houseknecht was unanimously approved as a school board member. He replaces Joe LeCrone, who resigned his board seat and is moving from the area.
Houseknecht will serve the remainder of LeCrone's term, which ends in December.
He told the board he has lived in Montoursville for 67 years and has been involved as a coach and in other capacities with youth sports.
"My whole life has been for the kids," he said. "That's what I enjoy."
Houseknecht, a retired Kellogg's employee, has yet to be sworn in as a board member.
His resignation from a school security position was accepted by the board.
After some discussion, the board approved a one-year extension for the school resource officer position.
Board member Ron Snell was opposed to extending the SRO contract.
"I don't think we need a school resource officer anymore. We have armed security for each building," he said.
Other district officials disagreed, noting that security personnel, unlike an SRO, cannot perform investigations of school incidents.
Assistant Superintendent Dan Taormina said the SRO is a valuable resource with arrest powers.
Snell argued that borough police can just as easily do investigations when needed.
The school district and the borough of Montoursville each pay the costs for the salary and other expenses for the SRO position.
"Why have us pay for that service when you can get the same results with the police department," Snell said. "The end result is just the same."
In other action, the board approved a policy covering current events and controversial issues and their use in the instruction of students.
The purpose of the policy states, in part: "Properly introduced and conducted, discussion of such events can help students to identify important issues, explore fully and fairly all sides of an issue, weigh carefully the values and factors involved, and develop skills for formulating and evaluating positions."
The policy includes several guidelines including the statement: "Not all subjects, curricular matters, or grade levels are appropriate or conducive for discussion of current events or controversial issues."
Other guidelines include the prohibition of teachers instructing students to adopt or accept as fact any divisive concept and to allow parents or guardians of students to discuss with a teacher their concerns about current events or controversial issues considered in the classroom.
Corey Flick, of Montoursville, spoke out against the board's approval of the policy.
He said students need to learn about events in the nation's "imperfect history," including matters of race.
"This is a radical rejection," he said of the policy. "It's nothing more than a backdoor effort to enact the failed CRT (Critical Race Theory) resolution."