Christina Fish is just over three weeks into her tenure as Lehighton Area School District superintendent, but the Danville resident has wasted no time hitting the ground running on what she describes as her “entry plan.”

Fish’s plan includes four major goals which include increasing presence in the district and community, increased communication with LASD stakeholders, providing the board the data they need to make informed decisions and addressing management issues such as making sure job descriptions, policies and administrative regulations are up to date.

“The school board has talked a lot about transparency and a big component of that is making sure we communicate things as they happen,” Fish said. “We need to make sure students, parents and staff are aware of the decisions being made. We also need to make sure the board is making decisions based on data.”

Lehighton voted 6-2 in June to hire Fish to a contract running through Aug. 31, 2025. According to the contract, Fish, who spent the previous 12 years as Central Columbia’s director of pupil services/special education, will make $132,500 in her first year with Lehighton and received a $7,500 signing bonus. She is set to receive a 3% increase in each of the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years.

She will follow interim superintendent Jack Corby, who came on board in December.

“Jack has been wonderful with the transition and has made sure I have access to all of his resources that he feels will be helpful during my time here,” Fish said.

According to Lehighton’s website, Fish is in the final stages of receiving her doctorate in “Educational Leadership” from Delaware Valley University.

In addition to monthly superintendent reports at board meetings, Fish said she plans larger January and June progress reports to the group, as well as an end of the year newsletter encompassing a look back at the past 12 months and a preview of things to come. The superintendent page on the district website, she said, will be updated quarterly.

Plans for increased visibility include sit-in days at the elementary, middle and high schools and open houses for the community.

“I want to be more available to staff so I will be spending a full day in each of the buildings and staff is welcome to come in and share their ideas or concerns with me,” Fish said. “On Nov. 2 and March 8, I’m planning two open houses where community members can come in between 4 and 7 p.m. and chat with me so they can get questions answered in a less formal setting than a board meeting.”

Fish said her door is also open for individual meetings via videoconference or face to face sessions.

“I live here in Lehighton from Monday through Friday so I will be attending our music, theater and academic events, as well as all of our boys and girls athletic home games,” she said.

Lehighton’s board will get a look at some of the data-based decision making Fish speaks of later this year when she presents a comprehensive enrollment report.

“At the November meeting, we’re going to look at five-year trends of student enrollment, staffing numbers and what kind of courses we have been offering so we can better look at our resources and see what we might need and what we might not,” Fish said.

The full PowerPoint presentation on Fish’s entry plan is available at https://bit.ly/3dPFcLe.