On Thursday evening, the Pleasant Valley School Board approved the hiring of four new teachers for the coming school year.

Lacey Haldeman was hired to teach second grade at the elementary school at an annual salary of $43,054. Jo Sponsler was hired as a music teacher at the elementary school at an annual salary of $47,254. Elizabeth Negron will be teaching art at the high school and will earn an annual salary of $51,567 and Raymond Ross was hired to teach third grade at $47,367 per year.

In addition to the teaching positions, former Pleasant Valley Intermediate School Dean of Students Kelli George was reassigned to the high school as an assistant principal. George’s position at the intermediate school was eliminated in favor of a full-year assistant principal, and Kendal Askins was hired to fill the position in June. George had been reassigned to fill a fifth-grade teaching position.

Recently two additional assistant principal positions became available with the reassignment of Angela Borealo from the high school and the resignation of Brian Faust at the intermediate school. George was chosen to fill the high school position.

George was not present at the school board meeting, but in a telephone interview earlier this week, she expressed her gratitude toward the district for offering her the opportunity to move up to the high school and join Principal Matt Triolo’s administrative team.

“I want to thank you for your decision to bring Kelli on board at the high school,” Triolo told the board after the vote. “Kelli is going to make a great addition to our team.”

In other business

The board also voted to approve a new digital staff evaluation system known as PA-ETEP. The system will streamline the teacher evaluation process and allow teachers and evaluators to work in real time. The district opted to try the system for one year at a cost of $13,104.

The district also approved a contract in the amount of $252,305 for repairs to the roof of the district office building.

The purchase of a 2019 F-450 Dump Truck was approved. The truck will be purchased under a CO-STARS agreement from Koch 33 Ford at a cost of $56,913. The purchase of a security vehicle was also approved. The district will purchase a 2018 Explorer Interceptor from Koch 33 Ford. The district approved a not-to-exceed price of $32,000.

Barry Isett and Associates was awarded a contract to provide design, bid and construction phase services for the artificial turf replacement planned for the summer of 2019. The contract amount was $32,400.