Lehighton board learns inaccuracies about cyber charter schools
At the recent Lehighton Area School Board meeting, Superintendent Jonathan J. Cleaver presented a video about cyber charter schools.
"There are a lot of inaccurate 'facts' out there concerning cyber charter schools," said Cleaver.The video - entitled "Shattering the Myths" - is an initiative of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. Cleaver encourages viewing it at
www.StandUpForPublicEducation.org
http://www.standupforpubliceducation.org/ .In other business, the school board approved the recommendation to hire James Gurka as winter weight training / conditioning advisor and Laura Welkey as middle school theater performance advisor.Lehighton Area School Board approved tenure for the following LASD teachers who were all hired in 2009: Karen Blisard; Stephanie Kulpa; and Timothy O'Connor.Under his legislative report, School Board Member Dave Krause gave an update on bills currently on Governor Tom Corbett's desk. These include:Small Games of Chance - SB 444 - This would not require clubs conducting 50 / 50 drawings or raffles to file annual reports to the Department of Revenue and eliminate the need for background checks for any games of chance of $2,500 or less.Sexting / Cyberbullying - HB 815 - This would reduce the current felony penalties for teens caught in this activity. Current law allows district attorneys to prosecute sexting as a felony under child pornography laws. This legislation would allow the Commonwealth to confiscate any communication devices used and assign violators to a diversionary program. If complete, the record would be expunged. This would apply to teens only. Adults who view or transmit photos of teens could be prosecuted as a felony.Child Labor Law - HB 1548 - This addresses minors working in reality television.In addition, Krause reported, "32 new state legislators will take office in 2013 - four in the Senate and 28 in the House of Representatives."Student Representative to the school board Nicole Schnell announced that Student Council has purchased a new mascot costume. Two to four students will be selected during tryouts. The mascot will premiere at upcoming basketball games and will be available for all schools, promotions, and events.Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), National Honor Society (NHS), and Red Cross collected non-perishable food items, blankets, and clothes for those suffering from the affects of Superstorm Sandy.Upcoming events include SAT testing on Saturday, December 1 at 7 a.m.; band concert on Thursday, December 6 at 7:30 p.m.; and choral concert on Thursday, December 20 at 7:30 p.m. - all at Lehighton Area High School.School Board Member Andrew Yenser introduced Lehighton Area School District students who attend Carbon Career & Technical Institute in Jim Thorpe."They are our students," said Yenser. "They're just at another facility."There are currently 357 students enrolled at CCTI - 78 of whom are from LASD. Student Council is currently helping to collect books for the new Penn-Kidder Library to be built on Route 903 and also non-perishable food items for those in need in the school districts in Carbon County.CCTI staff will speak to Lehighton Area High School freshmen on Tuesday, December 4 at 1:15 p.m. The presentation will include educational options - as well as benefits of attending CCTI. Students will then have the opportunity to choose two technical areas to tour at CCTI on Thursday, January 24.The next meeting of Lehighton Area School Board is scheduled for Monday, December 3 at 7 p.m. at LASD Administration Building, Conference Room A. The public is encouraged to attend.For more information about LASD, visit
http://www.lehighton.org/ or call (610) 377-4490.Additional information about Carbon Career & Technical Institute can be found at
http://www.carboncti.org/ or by calling (570) 325-3682.