The Conewago Valley school board welcomed new and returning members, debated field trip and professional development approvals, and outlined the next steps for the elementary school construction project during back-to-back meetings on Monday evening.
The board held a reorganization meeting followed immediately by a study session and regular board meeting.
Board reorganization
New board member Michael Campbell, a representative for Region 3, was welcomed to the group.
Returning board members Eric Flickinger (Region 2), Jeffrey Kindschuh (Region 2) and Melanie Sauter (Region 1) were also sworn in.
Kindschuh was unanimously re-elected as the board president after being the sole nominee.
Flickinger was re-elected for his position as vice-president in a 5-4 vote with board members April Swope, Lindsay Krug, Meredith Miller and William Getz voting against him.
Krug was the other nominee for the position.
Board secretary Scott Fraser was elected as the Earned Income Tax Collection Agency representative for 2026 as per board tradition to have the secretary serve in that role.
District-funded activities
Each month, the board typically votes to approve a list of field trips, club events, professional development opportunities and other events.
Currently, the list’s format provides details using eight columns: Building, last name, first name, grade, date, title/place, funding source and cost.
For example, one upcoming field trip requested by John Beeman for 11th-grade students at New Oxford High School specifies it is for the York College Community Opportunity Scholarship program at York College on Dec. 10 and will cost the district $12.03.
An upcoming cheer event is listed as using donations from fundraising while a speech and debate team trip will use club funding and 10th-grade students will visit Gettysburg College thanks to grant funding.
Krug questioned the need for certain planned events, including a request to take four teachers to visit two high schools to learn about integrating Career and Technology Center (CTC) into their regular instruction and asked about a planned trip to take Colonial Career & Technology Center (CCTC) students to Johnson Controls in York later this month.
Superintendent Sharon Perry said the opportunity for a small group of teachers to visit Garden Spot High School and Pequea Valley High School could provide valuable insight the teachers could bring back to the district.
“For example, we were really modern in creating a Technical English One and a Technical English Two program for our students, but how are they integrating those career concepts, if you will?” Perry said. “There are state standards that tell us K-12 we should be teaching career, education and work, and we’re trying to find ways to integrate that through all of our coursework to expose students because what we know is that’s what creates relevance in their learning, that it helps them see a connection between what they’re learning and reading, and why that’s important because in the real world you need these skills and these things in this particular potential area.”
Perry said because Garden Spot and Pequea Valley integrate CTC so well into their standard curriculum the teachers could learn low-cost ways to improve instruction at Conewago Valley.
Krug listed funding for field trips, events, staff and teacher travel and other district-funded activities as concerns.
“Since these are further away, is it possible to not vote on these particular ones tonight to get more information on the amount: you know, the money, the differentiating between necessary class outings and when it turns into a club?” Krug asked.
Assistant superintendent Wesley Doll noted requests were already budgeted for in the 2025-26 budget.
Initially, Krug made a motion to defer all CTC outings, chorus, orchestra and band activities and all district-funded events, excluding only activities paid for through clubs or fundraisers.
Perry reiterated requests were already accounted for in the budget and had to meet “internal parameters” before being brought to the board.
Perry also emphasized the importance of the CCTC outings, both for the students in the program and the industries over half of Colonials graduate to work in.
“I mean, and especially in the world of CCTC, the only point that I’ll add to that is that is an expectation,” Perry said. “They’re going out into workplaces and they have opportunities to interview for positions. They have opportunities to interview the people that work there. Those are opportunities that help that 56-58% of our students that do go to work.”
Krug said she is “slightly less concerned” about CCTC field trips compared to other events.
“We’re not in a good economy status,” Krug said.
Both Krug and Getz said they have asked to have trips presented for approval far ahead of the anticipated trip date so they can request additional information without feeling pressure to approve them.
“We’re in a situation where some of us may feel like we’re in a corner that we have to vote a certain way because the dates, you know,” Getz said.
Board discussion eventually influenced changing the motion to directing to provide a list of field trips taken by students over the years and let the board know which events are district-funded.
A second motion also passed deferring approval for district-funded trips taking place March 1 or later. The board also requested additional details be added to the requests, including adding a note about the trip’s purpose and numbering or lettering the trips so the board can approve, or disapprove, specific trips.
All requested trips prior to March 1 were approved. Any trips that require district funding after March 1 will be reviewed in January. At that time, the board anticipates having additional information on the activities.
Elementary school construction
Perry said work is going well on the classroom wing at Conewago Township Elementary School. Underground plumbing and electric work, exterior walls and more are under construction while storm water management tasks have been finished.
As work continues on CTE, the board will move forward with the Act 34 booklet review and public hearing for New Oxford Elementary School.
The NOE Act 34 booklet review and hearing will follow the same process that CTE followed in January. The board will first review the booklet, then hold a public hearing the following month.
As part of the process, the maximum construction cost for the project should also be approved.
Should the process go through without delay, Perry said the project can go out to bid on March 9, allowing construction to begin in summer 2026. Construction would be tentatively scheduled to approve in August 2028.
Previous project updates on CTE and NOE are available on the district website.
An executive meeting was held prior to the public meetings in order to review personnel issues.
The board will hold an Act 34 booklet review from 6-7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 5 in the district office. A committee of the whole study session and voting meeting will follow at 7 p.m.
A regular voting meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 12 in the district board room.
The Act 34 hearing will be held from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12 in the cafeteria of New Oxford Elementary School.
Thank you for having covered this.