The Loyalsock Township school board approved several items at its August meeting this week.

At the opening of the meeting, it was announced that a resolution on employee #2757-2025 would be shelved, after the individual in question requested a hearing be held on the matter, according to district solicitor Christopher Kenyon.

The issue at hand, which has not been discussed publicly, was originally set for a July 10 special meeting. That meeting was later cancelled.

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 21, after which a special meeting will be held to vote on the matter.

Whether the public may attend the hearing will be determined at that time, as it is up to the discretion of the employee, however, the special meeting will be open to the public, Business Manager Dan Egly confirmed to the Sun-Gazette.

The night marked the inaugural meeting for new board member Benjamin Hepburn, who assumed the seat of Dr. Charles Edmonds, who recently resigned following his appointment as president of Lycoming College.

Other staffing actions taken by the board include the approval of Kelly Day, as a professional employee assigned as a special education teacher, effective Sept. 22, 2025; Teresa Kessler, as a full-time paraprofessional, at an hourly rate of $15.85; Veronica Bubb, as a part-time paraprofessional, at an hourly rate of $15.60; Rosetta Carpenter, as a part-time custodian, effective August 11, 2025, at an hourly rate of $15.85; Nathaniel Ziminski, as a full-time maintenance employee, at an hourly rate of $18.35; John Ziminksi, as a full-time custodian, at an hourly rate of $15.85; Ernest Wheeler, as a full-time custodian, at an hourly rate of $19.14;Jennifer Cooley, Kate Preisch, Nicole Rippey and Kendall Sauers as elementary, middle school, high school and district-wide suicide prevention coordinators, respectively; and after approval the job description for a network administrator, Jeremy Black to fill that role at a prorated salary of $78,000.00 for the 2025-26 school year, effective Oct. 13, 2025.

The board also acknowledged the resignations of Alexis Joyce, as an art teacher, effective date to be determined; Julie Sparks, as a paraprofessional, effective July 28, 2025; Ashley Russo, as a special education teacher; and the retirement of Eric Gee, as director of technology, effective no later than June 5, 2026.

Several revised policies were adopted by the board, including searches, controlled substances/paraphernalia, student drug testing, threat assessment, emergency preparedness and response, child abuse and suicide awareness, prevention, and response.

The decision on whether to execute the search of a student would be made collaboratively between the administration and district leadership, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Brooke Beiter explained.

The team has had training on what to be aware of in making such determinations, Superintendent Gerald McLaughlin added.

“We had UPMC come in and train our entire administrative team last year for about four hours on different kinds of drugs and what to look for and symptoms and so forth,” he said.

“There’s also a screening tool that our school nurses will use to document the conditions of things that are raising to that level of reasonable suspicion,” Beiter noted.

McLaughlin recently received a score of proficient, following a July 9 assessment of his performance during the 2024-25 school year, by the board, President Hal Gee said.

Criteria used to achieve this rating include student growth and achievement, organizational leadership, district operations and financial management, communications and community relations, human resource management, professionalism, and annual performance goals.

“The board feels Mr. McLaughlin is leading the school district very effectively, and we’ll continue to work with him moving forward,” Gee said.

“As we all know, the superintendent is the 10th member of the school board, in Pennsylvania, a non-voting member, nonetheless, a board member, and we have to work together on our goals,” he said.

McLaughlin’s salary for the 2025-2026 was adjusted in accordance to his current contract.

Other actions taken by the board include the approval of the McGraw Hill Number Worlds K-5 math intervention (Tier II) pilot program for the fall semester of the 2025-26 school year; letters of agreement between the Lycoming-Clinton Joinder Board and the district for school-based outreach services and student assistance program services, respectively; and a BlaST Intermediate Unit 17 2025-2026 Web Hosting Agreement.

The next regular school board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 3.