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The South Williamsport Area School Board took up several items and received an update on efforts to secure before and after-school childcare and a possible summer program.
With the anticipated shuttering of Little Learners Institute at the conclusion of the school year, Briggs invited Brian Gresser, of Champion KinderCare, to inform the board of their services for consideration of filling that gap.
Champion has the ability to work with students from pre-K through 16-years-old, and is currently in over 1,000 districts across the country, including Williamsport and Keystone Central, Gresser said.
Champion's offering would be strictly before and after-school care, and would ideally be staffed from those in the community who hold backgrounds and credentials for such programming, Gresser explained.
"We're not here to just watch the children. We're here to educate them. We're here to give them some more extended learning, help with homework, those types of things," Gresser said.
There would be no cost to the district for Champion's services, though the parents and guardians of enrolled children would be charged a per-day fee, rather than a weekly fee, Gresser explained.
Applications for enrollment subsidies are offered, as well as military and employee discounts.
All learning materials and meal options would be handled through Champions and families would receive updates from the program, along with pictures of what their children are up to," he said.
Though nothing is set in stone at this point, as long as licenses are acquired in a timely manner, Champion may be set up to provide a summer care program by the end of the school year.
In staffing issues, the board accepted the resignations of Jason Wein, as Junior High School head football coach, effective Feb. 16, and William Giles as Junior High School assistant football coach, effective Feb. 23; and approved Heather LeBourgeois as a classified substitute; Johanna Hazel as a cafeteria substitute; Shawn Miller as a custodial substitute; Curtis Anthony as assistant (throw) track coach at a stipend of $2,006; and John Peters as a track assistant.
A number of policy changes were approved to match with federal changes to Title IX. As a result of a federal court ruling that vacated 2024 Title IX policies, they will revert to those enacted in 2020; as was an agreement to co-op with Saint John Neuman's co-ed soccer program. The co-op was necessary due to the interest of only four students in taking part in the junior high team, and will be in place for two seasons.
The next school board meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 14.