The Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29 School Board entered into an articulation agreement for business and hotel resort, management with Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC), in action taken at its monthly meeting held Monday evening at the Maple Avenue Campus in Norwegian Township.

Lehigh will provide graduates of the Marketing and Business Education Program at the Schuylkill Technology Center to receive advanced standing credit at LCCC. A student who has successfully mastered the competencies and skills outlined in the STC Marketing and Business Education program will be eligible to receive three credits each in the course of Introduction to Business Organization and the course in Principles of Marketing.Students must complete the STC program with a B average or better in the marketing and business courses. In order to receive credits and have them posted on the college transcript, the student must successfully complete (grade of C or better) a three-credit college level course at LCCC.This articulation agreement and awarding of credit is acceptable for up to three years after the student has graduated from STC. Students who apply for credit after the three year period must be able to document that they have been employed or are currently working in an area related to their STC program.LCCC claims its instructional programs meet the needs of both graduates and employers by providing appropriate job-entry skills and competency levels required to transfer to a four-year college or university. To insure this level of performance, the college allows graduates, including those that articulated credits from a secondary institute, whose skills or competencies do not meet stated expectations to enroll up to 16 additional credit hours of tuition-free courses. Requests to retake courses must come from the transfer institution or the employer within one year of graduation.Approve budgetThe board approved the Schuylkill Technology Center Secondary Budget for 2012-13, which will now be sent to the 12 public school districts who make of the IU29 School District for approval.The budget calls for expenditures of $6.3 million and is a reduction from the current budget. The new budget is $19,000 less than the current budget and reduction to the school districts is $26,000.Each school district is assessed to contribute an amount to pay for the costs of students it sends to the votech centers. One teaching position and one support personnel have been eliminated.The 12 public school districts were also awarded refunds from their contributions made to the 2010-11 budget.Tamaqua Area received $5,984.07, it had 85 students enrolled; Blue Mountain, $8,800.11; Mahanoy Area, $3,027.24; Minersville Area, $3,660.84; North Schuylkill, $6,124.87; Pine Grove Area, $5,209.66; Pottsville Area, $7,744.09; Saint Clair Area, $2,604.83; Schuylkill Haven Area, $3,872.05; Shenandoah Valley, $3,449,64; Tri-Valley, $2,745.63; and Williams Valley, $3,027.24.The board granted permission to its administrators to advertise to employ the necessary personnel required to provide the School-Age Extended School Year Program.It approved the negotiated contract for the Schuylkill Intermediate Unit Educational Support Personnel Association for the period from July 1 through June 30, 2015.Tamaqua studentsThe board was given a list of first place winners in the high school computer fair who will be moving onto the state competition which will be held Tuesday, May 22, at Dickinson College. Those advancing to the state contest are:Tamaqua Area - Anthony Lewis, Jacob Gursky and Noah Troxell, in Animation; Dylan Rynkiewica in Computer Fair Logo; and Travis Kistler and Zachary Zancofsky in Graphic Design.North Schuylkill - Maura Gownley, Rachael Metzinger and Sarah Metzinger in Digital Movie; and Emily Tobin and Sarah Dolan in Web Page Design.Schuylkill Technology Center - Peter Wrona, Walter Ughes and Eric Nelson, Programming.HiringsRegina Casella, Tamaqua, was hired as a full-time one-on-one Behavior Interventionist for a Schuylkill Haven Area student at the Maple Avenue Campus at an annual salary of $26,000.Matthew Butensky, Harrisburg, was hired as a substitute program coordinator for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program at $26.50 per hour. All costs to be covered by the 21st CCLC after-school grant.Danielle Wank, Pottsville, and David Kolbe, Schuylkill Haven, were hired as part-time teacher aides at Schuylkill Haven Area High School at $8.25 per hour.Shidae Blunt and William Frantz, both of Pottsville, were hired as substitute cafeteria workers at $7.50 per hour.Raymond Flannery, Ashland, was hired as a substitute behavior interventionist and substitute therapist at $80 per day.Lauren O'Brien, Slatington, was hired as an as-needed practical nursing instructor at $25 per hour.Facility useThe board approved use of its board room for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) to host the Spring Legislative Meeting on Thursday, March 29, from 7 to 9 p.,m.It approved use of its conference room at the South Campus by Wilkes University to conduct college level classes at a cost of $50 per session.The board approved use of the cafeteria at the North Campus, Frackville, for a Legislative Symposium with State Representative Neal Goodman on Thursday, April 26, at 6 p.m.