The Conewago Valley school board received an update on its elementary school renovation projects, reviewed the 2025-26 Fiscal Year budget schedule and discussed the fifth anniversary celebration of the Colonial Career and Technology Center during a regular meeting on Monday evening.
The Colonial Career and Technology Center (CCTC) will celebrate its fifth anniversary with an open house from 5:30 – 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 20.
Superintendent Sharon Perry said the event will include make-and-take stations as well as recognize the donors who helped with CCTC in 2019.
A graphic shared in the district’s March newsletter provided more information about the make-and-take stations.
According to the invitation, the applied technology stations include: “Soldering, torch cutting, screen printing, photography, laser engraving, CNC, heavy equipment simulator, and greenhouse planting.”
The business stations will include “Escape the Bank and Business Logo workshops” while the family and consumer sciences stations will include “Explore the Realcare infant simulator and taste tests.”
CCTC is located at New Oxford High School at 130 Berlin Road in New Oxford.
Perry also focused on the timelines for the final 2025-26 Fiscal Year district budget as well as the ongoing New Oxford Elementary (NOE) and Conewago Township Elementary (CTE) renovation projects.
The 2025-26 budget will be presented on April 7 and tentatively approved on April 14. A final approval will follow on May 12 after the public has a month to review and comment on it.
Perry had little update to provide on the NOE project. “The next step with that project is to engage the teachers with further conversations,” he said.
More information was available for the CTE renovations.
According to Perry, district administration hopes the board will release the CTE project for bidding during its next regular meeting on April 14.
Once that is completed, advertisements asking for bids will be published, and a pre-bid board meeting will be held on April 24.
If the district is ready, it will open for bids on May 22, with an alternate date of May 28 penciled in should the district need more time, according to Perry.
Bids would be reviewed on May 29, or June 2 if the bid opening is pushed forward.
Ideally, the district will award bids on June 2, though depending on the process the date could be delayed, according to Perry.
Personnel
Misty Wildasin was approved as the principal of Conewago Valley Intermediate School for the period from March 11 through April 15.
The board also unanimously agreed to re-appoint Perry for another five-year term as superintendent. Perry’s next contract will begin on July 1.
Several extracurricular contracts were approved, with three percussion instructors, a musical pit band member, and a colorguard instructor added.
Recognition
The board spent time recognizing staff, faculty, and student wins throughout the district, with achievements ranging from awarded grants to athletic success.
Perry praised the success of Mini-THON at the intermediate and high schools.
“(Assistant superintendent) Dr. (Wesley) Doll and I had the privilege of seeing the students in that final community hour do their annual reveal, which was over $40,000, and with CVIS students bringing in well over $20,000,” Perry said. “So well over $60,000 is much to be celebrated by our young Colonials. I couldn’t be more proud. That’s an extraordinary amount of money where our entire community has come together to help support this initiative, so I just wanted to congratulate the students and most especially our teachers who are working with our student leaders to make this possible.”
Eric Flickinger, vice president of the school board, celebrated a long list of other district successes.
Among the honorees were Kaelyn Balko, a senior who was recently given the 2024 Student Achievement Award by the New Oxford Area Chamber of Commerce.
Joy Weikert, a math teacher, was named the 2024 Educator of the Year by the Chamber.
Brody Holmes (boys’ basketball) and Ethan Madrigal (boys’ swimming) were each noted for being named Athlete of the Week in the Gettysburg Times for the weeks of Feb. 3 and Feb. 10, respectively. Holmes was also one of the students nominated during the week of Feb. 24.
The board keeps a running list of college and trade school acceptances and scholarships each school year. As of March 10, students had been offered a total of $2.2 million in scholarships.
Flickinger also praised the woodwind students for a recent clinic, middle school CHARGE students for their success in the district’s program, and athletes for basketball, bowling, wrestling and swimming achievements.
CHARGE is a behavioral support program that stands for “Committed, Honest, Adaptable, Respectful, Generous and Engaged learners,” according to the district website.
Board president Jeffrey Kindschuh also had his own congratulations to make, including applauding the curriculum and instruction team for recently winning a grant.
“They were able to secure a supplemental equipment grant for the CCTC to the tune of $78,000 – a little over $78,000,” Kindschuh said. “Those funds will be used for a family and consumer science demonstration table, embroidery machine and a horizontal band saw.”
Kindschuh thanked Doug Wherley, the former district athletic director.
Wherley resigned in February and will soon take a position as a math instructor.
“I just want to thank him for all of his efforts to make athletics a great experience for our students and a source of pride for our community,” Kindschuh said.
Other business
The board also agreed to appoint Saxton & Stump as the district solicitor as its current solicitor, Stock & Leader, joined Saxton & Stump.
One student was expelled with an effective date of March 5.
During the time for public comment, only one individual spoke. That person criticized the school board, saying the district should focus more on “reading, writing, (and) arithmetic.”
Prior to the public meeting, the board was given a forty-five-minute private tour of Conewago Valley Intermediate School before holding an executive session to discuss personnel and student matters.
The board will hold a study session at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 7, in the district office.
The next regular board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 14, also in the district office.
Imari Scarbrough is a freelance journalist. She was a staff newspaper reporter for five years before becoming a freelancer in 2017. She has written on crime, environmental issues, severe weather events, local and regional government and more.
You can visit her website at ImariJournal.com.