Two members of the Tamaqua Area School Board attended their last meetings on Tuesday night at the Tamaqua Area High School.

“Everybody that sits on a board generally feels that their board is the best,” said board President Larry Wittig. “But these guys are so beyond reproach. Both of them combined are a big loss. I’m very happy to have Tom (Bartasavage) and Trina (Schellhammer) coming in. It makes me feel good that we have good quality, and certainly different members. We’ll manage and we wish them well.”

Eileen Meiser, a member of the education committee taught at the West Penn Elementary School for 32 years. She then joined the school board as part of the education committee for 12 years. Wittig said Meiser’s perspective, as an educator, was a massive asset to the board.

“I’ve heard along the way perhaps this is a thankless job, what we do as a board,” Meiser said during the meeting. “But I don’t take that attitude. I really find that I have a lot of thankfulness for the board and the administrators that have only the students’ interests as the best that they can do for them and this community. So thank you.”

Another member of the education committee, Wanda Zuber, will depart after 14 years with the board. Zuber spent countless hours in the building, at extracurricular activities and volunteering with anything she could.

“All of the students are uniquely gifted,” Zuber said after the meeting. “I think the programs that we offer them; they need to take full responsibility to find what it is that meets their passion and helps them develop and meet their potential. I have always encouraged them to seek out the most rigorous academic programs that we have available and that they can handle.”

Chromebook questions

As discussed at prior meetings, the district plans to implement Google Chromebooks in the near future, as well as enhance its technology across the district.

Karen Tharp asked some questions on behalf of a few concerned parents. She asked the policy for a parent who doesn’t want a Chromebook or have their child being responsible for one.

“During the school day, much like any school day now, kids can go to the computer room,” said Superintendent Ray Kinder.

“If students don’t want to take them down, they will have the ability to leave them in their locker. … We’re planning to have some charging stations in the common areas again.”

Can the students use their own Chromebook if they have one?

“We would probably make those decisions on a case-to-case basis,” said Kinder. “We would have to check on the technology side of it and see if it makes sense.”

Why is the insurance going to cost differently based on the free lunch program?

“The rationale for it is for those people that come from different financial backgrounds for it to be more affordable for them,” Kinder said.

Kinder encouraged parents to contact their building principal to find out more information.