The Jim Thorpe Area School board welcomed a new, yet familiar member Monday night at its April meeting at the Penn Kidder campus, and also saw the adoption of a new plan for the district moving forward.

The board introduced its newest member, Robert Schaninger, who takes a seat left empty by the resigned board president, Dr. Clement McGinley. Schaninger is no stranger to the school board, having been voted in during a special election in 2012, then resigning in August of last year.Schaninger was voted in 7-1 and took his seat after his swearing in.Outgoing superintendent Dr. Barbara Conway presented her overview of a comprehensive plan for the school district moving forward, replacing the older plan, as required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.The plan overview, which she and incoming superintendent Brian Gasper presented to the board and the public in attendance, named numerous issues to be addressed in the upcoming school years. It aims to "pursue educational excellence and graduate responsible, contributing citizens."The plan, which will begin implementation this summer with new lesson plans and administrative logs to be ready for teachers in the fall, sets new standards, core foundations, curriculum, and strategies for the schools. It will "establish a district system that fully ensures consistent implementation of standards" for all grades and all schools within the district.Two main goals are to have standards aligned with curriculum based on the Pennsylvania core standards, and to have teaching and assessment standards for 100 percent of Jim Thorpe area core subject teachers aligned."The pacing of our schools should align," said Conway, who also stated that there will be quarterly administrative and assessment audits, and that there are new graduation requirements coming for 2015."It's ambitious, but doable," said Conway, who added that there were over 30 people involved in the making of the plan, which took over a year to put together."Now Mr. Gasper has to take it and run with it," she said.Other items discussed were approvals for new paraprofessionals for special-needs students, a new volunteer tennis coach, and postings for a new principal for the Penn Kidder campus and a part-time custodial position.Spring break was announced as being from Friday, April 18, through Monday, April 21, with classes resuming Tuesday, April 22.The last days of school for students will be June 12 for high school students, and June 13 for students at L.B. Morris and Penn Kidder campuses. Graduation for the class of 2014 will be at 7 p.m. Friday, June 13, at the high school.The students of the month for April are Jon Hirschmugl, foreign language, German, and Jasmyn Strohl, foreign language, Spanish.Special meetings coming up include a Transportation & Security Committee meeting at 6 p.m. April 14 at the district office; a Finance Committee meeting April 28 at the district office; and an Athletic Committee meeting at 6 p.m. May 5 to discuss junior varsity and junior high school football teams using the high school football field, among other things.