The WSSD Board of School Directors gathered on Jan. 23 for their monthly meeting. The meeting was held in the Strath Haven Middle School library and live-streamed on the WSSD Youtube channel. The official board meeting minutes are on the district website.

Student Report

Senior school board representative Supraja Sudarsan opened the meeting with her monthly student report. She noted the stress that January brings with its many exams between Keystones and finals.

She thanked Dr. Marseille for his work on the MLK day of service, saying that it allowed for a nice change of pace. She said that days of service and giving back are uniting and beneficial for student morale.

Superintendent’s Report

Superintendent Dr. Marseille began his report by speaking on the success of the MLK day of service which he said greatly exceeded attendance expectations. 

He congratulated the high school artists whose work is being shown in the Regional High School Art Exhibition Show at Delaware County Community College. Their artwork will be on display until Feb. 17.

In the name of uplifting students’ voices, he announced that the voicemail of the district phone number is now the voice of a freshman student.

Marseille announced PeachJar, a new system used to distribute digital flyers to the WSSD community. It can be found on the district website.

Budget Update

District business administrator Mary Martin proposed transfers in the district budget, including a reallocation of $1.5 million from the general fund to the capital reserve. The strategic planning budget will be increased by $500,000. These budget changes were approved by the board 8-0. 

Educational Affairs

Assistant Superintendent Dr. James Conley introduced Schoology, a learning management system (LMS), which is owned by Powerschool. Schoology is a platform that allows parents to easily access their students’ assignments and connect with teachers, and was selected to be a potential new LMS used in the classroom.

Strategic Plan

Dr. Conley said that the strategic plan is currently in the Draft Vision for Impact stage, part of the wider Visioning stage. He announced more opportunities for community engagement including the strategic planning meeting open to all happening Mar. 11 from 9-11 a.m.

Altria

WSSD is pursuing a class action lawsuit against Altria Group for damages due to the predatory marketing of vapes to students. The contract signing McCandless King Coulter & Graham, LLP & Frantz Law Group passed in a motion 8-0. The attorneys will only be compensated if WSSD is awarded damages, according to Marseille.

Petition Presented

Community member Lisa Jacobs presented a petition with 203 signatures which asked for subcommittee board meetings to be streamed and publicized. Jacobs claimed that after the board went from meeting twice a month to once a month, the process became less accessible to the public.

The next board meeting is on Monday, Feb. 27 at 7 pm in the Strath Haven Middle School library and is open to all students and community members.