Lake-Lehman School Board gives superintendent 2.5% raise

Jul. 18—LEHMAN TWP. — The Lake Lehman School Board approved a 2.5% pay increase for Superintendent James McGovern at Monday's monthly meeting. The raise is effective July 1, as per McGovern's contract. According to the state Department of Education website, McGovern's salary for the 2021-22 school year was $139,550. A 2.5% raise on that would be an increase of about $3,489.

McGovern became district superintendent in 2006. Prior to that he worked at the Dallas and Crestwood school districts. According to the state, he has been working in education for 29 years.

The board also took a first step in a potential "alternative revenue source," as McGovern called the plan to host competitions, tournaments and league play on the athletic fields being upgraded. The board agreed to post and advertise the position of Commissioned-Based Tournament Director. The job would entail recruiting and retaining teams, scheduled and formatting tournament and league play, communicating with necessary district workers and promoting the events. The person who gets the post would receive a percentage of profits as pay.

McGovern hopes to use the new fields, with lighting and scoreboards that could host multiple teams at one time, to rent out for such events. He conceded he has no idea of how much such an operation could generate, but noted the district-based day care and pre-kindergarten program generates about $125,000 a year. he also said he's hearing a lot of interest in the sports facility idea.

In related business, the board approved a sponsorship agreement with FNCB Bank for the purchase of two multi-sport scoreboards. FNCB will sponsor the purchase at a price equal to the sum of $26,871 payable to Widmer Sign Company, and will be permitted to place the bank logo on the scoreboard. The agreement is for six years beginning on the completion date, unless extended or terminated pursuant to the provision of the agreement.

And the board approved the adoption of two math programs, one for multiple years and one on a limited basis for one year.

The purchase and adoption of Reveal from McGraw Hill is a five-year agreement for grades 7 and 8 at a total cost of $25,059. Reveal is the math text companion to McGraw Hill's ALEKS adaptive learning program, which the company website says is designed to "help educators and parents understand each student's knowledge and learning progress in depth," allowing support tailored to each student

The pilot program involves Envision from Savvas Learning Company for the coming school year in select classrooms from kindergarten through sixth grade. Total cost of the pilot is $10,634. Savvas bills Envision as focusing "on deep conceptual math understanding aided by visual models, student-centered projects, 3-act tasks and personalized learning."

The board also:

—Accepted the retirement of elementary teacher Wendy Garrety.

—Authorized the advertising for speech and language pathologist long-term substitutes, and for a part time library aide at $5.75 an hour, 186 days per year.

—Appointed Brian Bacon as indoor color guard coach/advisor at $2,649.

—Appointed Janette Smith as full-time secretary for 8 hours a day, 206 days per year at an hourly rate of $15.15; Tina Dorshefski as full-time technology assistant for 8 hours a day, 260 days per year at an hourly rate of $18; and Connor Allabaugh as part-time custodian for 5.5 hours per day, 260 days per year at an hourly rate of $11.

—Appointed Assured Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania as broker of record for liability insurance coverage at a cost of $206,399 for the 2022-23 fiscal year, and as broker of record to provide student accident/health insurance overage at a total cost of $19,055 from Aug. 1 through July, 2023rom Aug. 1 this year through July, 2023.

—Added graphic arts design to the high school curriculum guide.

—Approved the dual enrollment agreement for the 2022-23 school year with Penn State University.

—Renewed the Guest Teacher agreement for the 2022-23 school year with the Luzerne Intermediate Unit at an annual flat rate of $325. Developed by the LIU in 2016, the guest teacher program is designed to alleviate a shortage of substitute teachers in the region, allowing a person with a bachelor's degree and who meets various clearances and requirements to substitute without obtaining a state teaching license. Guest teachers are restricted in the number of days they can teach in the same classroom and the emergency certification must be renewed annually.

—Appointed Borton-Lawson Engineering as architects of record for capital improvement projects for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish