The Littlestown Area School District approved the appointment of two internal candidates for the position of Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent at the June 17 Board meeting.
Dr. Timothy Mitzel will assume the head position and Dr. Judith Berryman will assist him.
“I am extremely excited to have both of these individuals here,” Dr. Don Bell, interim Superintendent said. “You’ve got five years of solid leadership. The choice that was made by the board is the right one.” Bell will continue as interim Superintendent until October 1, when Mitzel will begin his term.
Dr. Mitzel was approved in a seven/two vote, with Duane Sullivan and Fred Miller opposing. He has served as assistant to the LASD superintendent for the last three years. His focus in education has been creating systems and structures to support instructional leaders in the development of a personalized learning framework to empower all learners.
From 2003 to 2010, Mitzel was assistant principal at Maple Avenue Middle School and district principal for Alloway Creek Intermediate School. He began his career in 1995 as a second-grade teacher and computer technology teacher and served as principal later in his career at a PA high school and elementary school. Mitzel is a graduate of Lebanon Valley College, Penn State, and Immaculata University.
Dr. Berryman was unanimously approved. The current LASD High School Principal has been with LASD since 2021 but also served as a teacher for the district and Lincoln Intermediate from 2001-2007. She was Dean of Students for the Central York School District and is an adjunct professor at Willson College. Berryman attended York College of PA, McDaniel College of Westminster, and Immaculata University.
In other board business, the 2024/2025 LASD school budget was approved, although not without some disagreement. Board members Danielle Brenneman, Nick Lovell, Fred Miller, and Duane Sullivan voted no, with Brian Lawyer, Carl Thompson, Mary Brenneman, Janell Ressler, and Steven Yerger voting in favor.
“Those of you who voted “no” we respect your opinion. It is a tough decision,” said Board President Carl Thompson.
The budget will include a one percent tax increase which would mean a $37.52 annual increase for a home price of $280,000. However, 70 percent of property owners in the district will receive additional Homestead/Farmstead tax relief of about $50.
The final budget will see revenues of $39,126,522 with expenses of $40,468,360 leaving a budget deficit of $1,341,838. That deficit could be covered by state budget funds that will be announced later this year. By state law, all school districts must submit an approved final budget by June 30, without knowing the amount of state funding that will be received. Any additional deficit will be pulled from the unassigned fund balance.
Bell said the district is in a “sound financial position.”
“The $180,000 revenue from the tax increase will help to fund property to build a new Adams County Technical Institute (ACTI) to serve the students from the contributing districts of LASD, Fairfield, Gettysburg, Conewago, and Bermudian Springs. ACTI is the county’s career and technical center, located in a building near the Gettysburg High School campus. Since approved by the State Board of Education in 2020, it provides eight programs for 270 country juniors and seniors in Allied Health, Building Trades, Computer Networking, Criminal Justice, Culinary Arts, Diesel Technology, Early Learning, and Career Connections. To address the needs of Adams County students currently turned away because of space constraints in the current center, a search is ongoing for land on which to build a much larger facility.
After a great deal of discussion at its work session, on June 10, the board agreed to fund a second School Security Officer position. However, a sixth position for mental health services will remain unfilled. The purpose of the second security officer is to provide some oversight to prevent problems that could occur during the construction of the new middle/high school. The current mental health staff consists of two psychologists, two behavioral health therapists, and one mental health therapist. This will be a decrease of over one position from last year.
Susanne Johnson, a Littlestown resident, questioned its decision. She told the Board that a review of student infraction reports shows “few potentially criminal or violent incidents that would require intervention by a safety officer,” and maintains that one safety officer would be sufficient with support from the Littlestown Police Department as needed.
However, she believes that overall non-criminal, non-violent behavior data indicates “a continued need for mental health resources, versus armed security. She asked,“Wha t might be the impact of having only 1 mental health therapist?”
Featured Image Caption: From left, Dr. Judith Berryman and Dr. Timothy Mitzel were approved as LASD Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent and will serve a five-year term.
Judith Cameron Seniura is a freelance reporter. She began her journalism career in the early ‘70s and has written for newspapers, magazines, and other media in Ontario, Canada, Alaska, Michigan, Nebraska, San Antonio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.