East Lycoming School District hired several more new teaching staff, a move Superintendent Dr. Mark Stamm said was reflective of the work environment and curriculum offered.

“I am pleased to bring forward an outstanding group of candidates as new teachers for the 25-26 school term,” he said in his monthly statement.

“Unlike years past, we received strong groups of applicants for all of our positions. I am hopeful that the changes we are making in the district’s facilities, core curriculum, and strategic plan, are attracting the attention of new teachers; it’s noticed and it matters.”

The district has begun to advertise for the new K-12 music position.

The new prospective hire will provide individual instrumental lessons to students in elementary and high school enabling the band instructor to focus exclusively on the marching band program and teach music electives; neither of which are occurring as currently staffed. This new position is included in the 25-26 budget.

Under personnel, the district hired Miya Gillin as a secondary English teacher for $58,600.

Also:

— Jacob Dinges, secondary science teacher, $58,600.

— Emily Aderhold, secondary special education teacher, $67,300.

— Hayden VanBuskirk, special education teacher, $58,600.

— Taylor Nelson, elementary physician education teacher, $58,600.

— Brooke Rishel, elementary teacher, $58,600.

— Two full-time custodial workers, Kirsten Lewin, for Ashkar Elementary, and Timothy Carter, for the high school.

— Substitutes: Lauren O’Malley, BLaST guest teacher and Adam Scheibeler, BLaST guest teacher.

The proposed final general fund budget of $30,583,608 was presented and approved. Floyd Swales voted no on the proposed budget because he said he wanted to see a .25 mill tax rate reduction. The tax rates will be 16.65 mills; real estate transfer tax – Act 511 is ½ of 1.0%, and earned income tax – Act 24 is 1.2 %. Heather Burke, district business manager, noted this tax rate reflects no increase in tax millage for the taxpayers in the district in 2025-2026. Burke noted the change in the preliminary budget in the beginning of the year and the proposed budget was minimal at $11,000. The district remains optimistic it will remain the same but is monitoring state budget talks regarding education. It was noted by Rikki Riegner, board member, that the federal government revenue portion for the district amounts to 1 % of the general fund budget. The board schedule indicates a vote on the budget adoption will be in June.

“Although I remain cautious of not using minimal incremental increases, I am grateful for the additional funds we received last year from PDE and continued growth locally in earned income taxes and property values,” Stamm said in his statement.

“Although cyber schools continue to be a significant cost to the district, we are making progress in this area,” he noted. In the budget, the pilot cyber program has resulted in over $200,000 in savings this fiscal year. The design of Spartan Academy, additional non-traditional options, and (Mrs.) Michele Beck’s leadership has not only grown our cyber school option, but prevented many students from going to non-district cyber schools and saved the district considerable money.”