Putting cows on the front page since 1885.
Putting cows on the front page since 1885.
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Superintendent Dr. Betsy Baker announced at the Monday, Oct. 9 Spring Cove School Board of Directors committee of the whole meeting that the new boiler purchased for Martinsburg Elementary School could not be operable until the flue liner, which was ordered, arrived. The liner is due to come any day. In the meantime, 31 large space heaters at a cost of $3,000 have been placed in classrooms to keep students warm. Notification has been sent home to all parents on the status of the situation. The board had a lengthy policy discussion on...
The Blair County Sports Hall of Fame will recognize Jim Fee as the Community Service Award winner at its banquet to be held on Saturday, April 13, 2024. Fee is receiving the award as a result of his 50-year involvement as an ambassador for soccer in Blair County. Fee’s start in soccer began by playing on the first Altoona Area High School Soccer team in 1967. He played four years on varsity from 1967-70. In the armed forces, he played soccer and began refereeing games while stationed in G...
The Hollidaysburg Area School District Board of Directors unanimously approved a contract with the Pa. School Board Association (PSBA) to begin a search to replace departing district Superintendent Dr. Robert Gildea. The PSBA will provide the district professional consultation and clerical services to assist in the selection of a new superintendent of schools. Gildea, who has been with the district for 23 years, serving as Hollidaysburg School District Superintendent for the past 10 years, is the new superintendent at Lower Dauphin School...
Stormwater updates on grant money for the storm sewer project, the hiring of a part time safety clerk for the police department, and submitting a grant on behalf of Phoenix Fire Co. for a new engine dominated discussion in a packed meeting room at the September Hollidaysburg Borough Council Meeting. The Phoenix Volunteer Fire Department requested that the Borough submit a grant application for a Local Share Account Grant on behalf of the fire department for the purpose of purchasing a new fire engine. Council President Joe Pompa suggested...
The Marketing and Program & Development committees of the Hollidaysburg Area Community Partnership (HACP) have been extremely active in the borough in the past month. The planned member mixer gathering involved a major effort for those involved. Postcards were mailed out to all current HACP members. Cards were also placed at Boro Coffee. Over 20 businesses attended the mixer on Sept. 21 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Boro Coffee. Attendees were all encouraged to head to the Downtown Live event after the mixer. A $25 gift card was given to Boro Coffee....
The discussion at Northern Bedford County School District Board of Directors’ monthly meeting focused on which specific areas of the school were most in need of extensive HVAC work and approval of a bid to complete the job. The board had bids from three vendors for HVAC work, and the low bid for air conditioning work went to Marc Service Inc. of Windber, PA, at a base bid of $87,523. There were four other alternative projects up for consideration of air conditioning work including the stage and conference room at a cost of $46,847, the elementa...
The regular September meeting of the Spring Cove School District Board of Directors was highlighted by numerous hirings and resignations. Thad Albright was hired as a mathematics teacher at Central High School with a salary of $50,728. Albright was hired with an emergency certificate and his continued employment is contingent upon obtaining a valid Pa. mathematics certification no later than the start of the 2026-27 school year. He must also continue to meet the annual requirements for emergency certification. Solicitor Jenn Dambeck said due...
The Hollidaysburg Area School Board of Directors unanimously approved the 2023-24 school meal prices by a 6-0 vote. Board members Nicole Hartman, Manny Nichols, and Jennifer Costanza were absent for the meeting. Per the Pa. Dept. of Education (PDE), breakfast will be free for all students in 2023-24. Those who qualify for a reduced lunch will now receive a free lunch. The administration’s recommended prices for all a la carte items for the upcoming year were also approved. The motion to approve and accept an Agreement for a Guaranteed Energy S...
The process to hire the ninth police officer for the Hollidaysburg borough has proven difficult over the last several months. Only two applicants applied for the position and Ann Andrews of the Pa. Civil Service Commission said applicants for open police positions are down everywhere. The commission reviewed the hiring process to move it along more quickly and made these suggestions to help make needed changes in filling the position: Applicants minimum age should be dropped from 21 years of age to 19, applicants residency should be moved from...
The Hollidaysburg Area Community Partnership (HACP) Board of Directors monthly meeting outlined a number of marketing and program and development committee projects they have become invested in within the Hollidaysburg Borough. HACP will be sponsoring all music for Third in the Burg held downtown the third Friday of each month. Third in the Burg features late shopping, music, and an evening Farmer’s Market. It has met with a large turnout of participants. HACP provides additional information on the event on their Facebook page. The Story Walk H...
Spring Cove School District Athletic Director Stacy Kuster is looking to bring a girls wrestling program to the district as an official sport. According to Kuster, girls wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the country. It has been approved by the PIAA as an official sport. Spring Cove S.D. currently has one girl already wrestling on the varsity boys team. Several other girls have expressed interest in taking part if the district can pull a team together. Kuster will attend a Sept. 12 Zoom meeting with the PIAA in regard to girls...
Spring Cove School District is gearing up for the start of the 2023-24 school year. Superintendent Dr. Betsy Baker announced that eight newly hired teachers would be taking part in this year's induction sessions, which include one initial full day session in August and monthly after-school sessions for the remainder of the year. Inductees are assigned teacher mentors to support them on a daily basis as needed throughout the school year. “Meet the Teacher events are quickly approaching,” Baker said. “This year we plan to operate a ‘Job Opportu...
There was a great deal of news from the Marketing Committee and the Planning and Development Committee from the Hollidaysburg Area Community Partnership (HACP). HACP sponsors music for Third in the Burg every third Friday of the month from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. There is shopping, music, and an evening farmer’s market. The dates for Third in the Burg were set for June 16, July 21, Aug. 18, and Sept. 15. Samantha Prass performed at the most recent event. The celebration takes place rain or shine. HACP will partner with the Altoona Area Business C...
During the July Borough Council meeting, Police Chief Christopher Storm stated there were two candidates for the opening of a ninth police officer in the borough, but neither candidate fit the bill for the position which has been vacant since October 2021. The search for the officer began in May. The borough had two applications for the job, but one candidate did not have his Act 120 certification which is a requirement for all Pa. municipal police officers and the other was an out of state university policeman. “We need to readvertise for the...
The annual report presentation to the board was given by Superintendent Dr. Robert Gildea and Business Manager Autumn Fiscus. Gildea started by stating the Hollidaysburg Area School District vision statement, which says that the community is dedicated to educating all learners by maximizing the growth of each individual student. He gave five vision statements to enable this growth. 2023 has been a future-driven, student-centered learning environment. The acronym T.I.G.E.R. has become important: think, imagine, growth, explore, reinvent...
Central High School Principal Stephanie Thompson gave a special presentation on the school's Work Release Program at the regular monthly meeting of the Spring Cove School District Board of Directors. Thompson's purpose was to put a structured formal plan in place for work release. The program is strictly for seniors and those involved will be part-time students and spend part of the day at their workplace. Thompson emphasized, however, the Work Release program does not follow co-op guidelines....
Approval of release of funds to the Phoenix Fire Co., renewal of the Intergovernmental Stormwater Committee agreement, an update on hiring of an additional police officer were primary items on the agenda at the Hollidaysburg Borough Council monthly meeting. The Intergovernmental Stormwater Agreement up for renewal was reviewed by council members before a vote was taken on renewal. The ISC has 10 local entities, which jointly manage, implement, fund and comply with federal regulations related to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Municipal S...
The Hollidaysburg Area School District Board of Directors approved the 2023-24 final budget with a 5-percent tax increase by a 5-2 margin at the committee of the whole/budget adoption meeting on June 14. Board members Carmen Bilek and Ken Snyder were absent from the meeting, but both had voted in opposition to the budget in an earlier meeting mock vote. Even if present, the budget would have passed despite their opposition. Those supporting the proposed budget were board members Nicole Hartman, Ronald Sommer, Doug Stephens, Lonna Frye, and Scot...
The Hollidaysburg Area Community Partnership (HACP) Board of Directors meeting for June was primarily focused on marketing committee issues. The May spring video for Hollidaysburg merchants is not going to happen with the team from Hollidaysburg Area High School. Lauryn Conway volunteered to do the video herself. She will meet with Board Member Becki Hollen and Marketing Director Alyssa Barilar regarding video content. Blossoms in the ‘Burg was held on May 13. The event was extremely well attended. The Member Mixer was held May 24 at SLY P...
The Northern Bedford County School District Board of Directors approved a 3-percent tax increase with a tax millage of 9.28 in the final budget presentation for 2023-24. The district will be looking at revenues of $15,953,023 and expenditures of $16,766,678 with a deficit for 2023-24 of $813,656. Superintendent Todd Beatty reminded those present that the district had the lowest tax millage of any school district in the county. He stated the final budget was $98,000 less than the previous year’s budget. The district has a special education budge...
Regular meeting A motion to adopt the final 2023-24 general fund budget of the Spring Cove School District for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024, in the amount of $30,655,322 was unanimously approved by the board. This represents no tax increase from the prior fiscal year and puts the final real estate tax rate at 11.2506 mills on the assessed dollar value of all real property taxable for school purposes in the Spring Cove School District. Although the governor’s proposed budget gives schools a record $...
The Hollidaysburg Area Community Partnership (HACP) Marketing and Program and Development committee was active in April and May. The Hello Social Workshop had 15 people participate on April 26 at the Community Room at the Hollidaysburg Area Public Library. The May spring video with the theme of outdoors/spring/summer in Hollidaysburg has begun shooting with Stephanie Everett from Tiger TV and the students from Hollidaysburg Area School District working to put the video together. Blossoms in the Burg was held May 13. HACP is sponsoring the chalk...
The Hollidaysburg Area School District Board of Directors passed the proposed budget for the 2023-24 school year with no tax increase or increase in millage. The budget passed by a 6-2 vote, with board members Nicole Hartman, Lonna Frye, Doug Stephens, Ronald Sommer, Scott Brenneman and Manny Nichols all voting in favor of adopting the budget while members Jennifer Costanza and Carmen Bilek voted against it. Board member Ken Snyder was absent. The budget will carry over a $3 million dollar deficit with local, state, federal revenues along with...
The May Hollidaysburg Borough Council meeting focused on several key issues including the hiring of a ninth police officer, adopting stricter stormwater management policies, and the resignation of the planning/zoning/code enforcement officer. Police position The position of a ninth borough police officer has been vacant since October 2021. Chief of Police Christopher Storm said there were 371 calls for service in April 2023 versus 278 calls in April 2022. Storm wants to see two borough police officers on every shift. Outside police agencies...
Over 300 FFA student members, alumni, and parents packed the Central High School Auditorium to honor Tom Ritchey upon his retirement as ag instructor and Central Cove FFA Chapter advisor for the past 37 years at the May 19 annual Parent-Member Banquet. Central Principal Stephanie Thompson came forward to thank Ritchey for his 37 years of dedicated service to the ag program. "He inspired us to be better people and better educators," Thompson said. "He does so much more than teach. He is...
Students from grades kindergarten through 12th in the Spring Cove School District demonstrated skills they had learned this past year in everything from science, technology, engineering, math, and reading to start the Monday, May 15, Spring Cove School District Board of Directors regular meeting. Demonstrations included everything from exploding film cannisters to motorized Clawbots. "We appreciate all of the K-12 students who attended this evening's meeting to showcase their learning for the...
Spring Cove School District Business Manager Steven Foor did a formal budget presentation for the 2023-24 school year at the May 8 Board of Directors Committee of the Whole meeting. This final proposed budget will be voted on for adoption next Monday, May 15, at the regular monthly board meeting. The deadline for public notice of intent to adopt the 2023-24 final budget will be June 9, with the final budget adopted on June 19. Foor reemphasized that there will be no tax increase in 2023-24 and the millage will be maintained at 11.2506. In a...
The Marketing/Planning and Development Committee of the Hollidaysburg Area Community Partnership (HACP) was extremely active during the month of April with activities involving Hollidaysburg area businesses. The Window Easter Egg Hunt ended April 12. The event incorporated 40 local businesses participating. HACP Marketing Director Alyssa Barilar has collected all forms from those involved. HACP will award two baskets to two winners pulled at random. The board announced March saw the greatest growth in followers, 50 new followers on Facebook,...
Hollidaysburg Mayor Joe Dodson called for Police Chief Chris Storm to be allowed to hire a ninth police officer to the department. Dodson wants Storm to be allowed to go through current list of three potential candidates already approved to present a candidate ready to go for the next council meeting. Storm, during his police report, said the force had 536 calls in March 2023 as compared to 338 in March 2022. There were 10 drug arrests, eight DUI arrests, 11 assaults, five domestic violence incidents, six cases of harassments, 33 criminal...
The issue of political activity and displays reflecting political opinions by teachers in the classroom was discussed by the board for months and was believed to be put to rest at the February meeting of the committee of the whole/voting meeting when Policy 321 was approved by the board in an 8-1 vote. This does not appear to be the case, as classrooms that were to have no political displays, flags, symbols still do. Teachers Union President Mike Rawlins had expressed concerns over the policy from the beginning. He stated that the policy would...
After a 14-year absence of an annual show, the district came back with a strong performance with this year’s production. The cast of Central High School’s production of Footloose received recognition from the board of directors of the Spring Cove School District, administration, the audience in attendance, and parents at the April committee of the whole meeting. The cast was brought forward and recognized individually. Each member stated their name, role played, and class standing. Many were surprised to hear that the cast was comprised of man...
Spring Cove School District’s Director of Special Education Harry Gregg outlined the district’s special education plan for the upcoming year at the April 17 Board of Directors meeting. There are currently 278 students in the district receiving special education services. That represents 16.4 percent of the school’s student population. The state average is 18.6 percent. The school district’s total student enrollment is 1,698. Special education works with multidisciplinary teams to develop specific treatment plans of students. Individual Educati...
During the Spring Cove School District April finance and legal committee meeting, District Business Manager Steven Foor announced that there should be no tax increase for the district according to the preliminary budget for the 2023-24 school year. The millage should be maintained at 11.2506. Total revenues from the local, state and federal levels for the district should be $27,907,140. Other financing sources from assigned debt service, which amounts to $281,598, brings the total projected revenue to $28,188,738. Total expenditures for the...
Stormwater runoff and flooding issues in the borough have been the major topic of discussion at Hollidaysburg Borough Council meetings for months. Major action was taken at the March meeting when the council approved the purchase of 7.85 acres that is part of the former Stowell Farm to construct a stormwater basin. An appraisal was performed and the owner of the property is agreeable to the purchase of the property plus access and drainage easement to Bedford Street for the amount of the appraisal, which is $110,760. The agreement will be...
The marketing committee of the Hollidaysburg Area Community Partnership (HACP) has been active in a number of events in March. The Leprechaun Scavenger Hunt ran March 1 through March 19. Promotions for the hunt were done on the Facebook page. The two winners received a gift card from the business of their choice. For the window Easter egg hunt, Marketing Director Alyssa Barilar will solicit businesses to participate. Participants will find the eggs in windows of businesses and be eligible to win a prize. Winners will be drawn randomly from the...
During the public comment period of the Hollidaysburg Area School District Board of Directors committee of the whole meeting, parent Tony Luther spoke on school bullying. Luther said took him 11 months to be able to share his daughter’s story. He told the board that his 12-year-old daughter and several of her friends were constantly being bullied by the same boy in Hollidaysburg Foot of Ten Elementary School. He said that as a result of the constant bullying, his daughter did not want to go to school, had sleeping issues, and had to seek c...
The regular March meeting of the Spring Cove School District Board of Directors opened with a special presentation on textbooks and resources for secondary social studies, foreign languages, and Central High School’s environmental science. The secondary social studies textbooks will be purchased through McGraw-Hill. It will cover traditional history. A number of options were examined thoroughly before a decision was made. Savvas will be providing foreign language textbooks with a digitally accessible textbook provided to each student. The books...
During the Spring Cove School District March committee of the whole meeting, Superintendent Dr. Betsy Baker announced that the district had submitted a dual enrollment grant. “If our application is approved by the Pa. Department of Education, it will provide over $70,000 to pay for college credits for our students in 2023-24,” Baker said. She said Spring Cove School District already has a strong dual enrollment program. Other districts with few or no dual enrollment courses may be more likely to be funded, but Spring Cove applied anyway bec...
The upcoming marketing events highlighted the February Hollidaysburg Area Community Partnership (HACP) meeting. The Marketing Directors report discussed the Leprechaun Scavenger Hunt with the contest scheduled to run from March 1 to 19. Members Pam Jones and Mandy Baker met Feb. 9 to finalize the landmarks to be used for the scavenger hunt. They will get the information to Maureen Letcher, who will have the Hollidaysburg High School students work on the questions, QR codes, etc. Promos will start as soon as the items are completed by the...
Flooding in the area and pursuing grant money to finally put an end to the problem were the primary areas of attention during the February Hollidaysburg Borough council meeting. A resolution was passed previously to apply for a grant for the Gaysport area of the borough to join with Blair Township to enter as one project for flood prevention. The grant application for Gaysport has had to be severed from the Blair Township piece. A new resolution to continue to process the grant and give them the documents needed to procure the grant money for...
After months of discussion and meetings, the Hollidaysburg Area School District approved a policy on social, political and religious activity and displays that would be allowed in the classroom. There was much discussion about Policy 321 as to what socio-political meant, what size of displays may be allowed, and exactly how to limit social and political views in the teachers’ classrooms. Last month, the policy committee worked on changes to the policy, but there were still concerns about the language of the policy and additional changes. Such l...
During Recognition of Visitors portion of the Spring Cove School District Board of Directors Committee of the Whole February meeting, several representatives from a group of attendees came up to speak on issues of gender identification. Misty Fisher, who has a son in the district, came to the podium to discuss her concern over a female student, identifying as a male, who she said was changing in the boys’ locker room and using the boys’ restroom. She said this prohibited her son from changing in the boys’ locker room. Fisher, upset about this...
The initial meeting for 2023 of the Board of Directors for the Hollidaysburg Area Community Partnership (HACP) was held at the Hollidaysburg Public Library on Jan. 11. All officers and the marketing director plan to meet Fridays (virtually) before the scheduled board monthly meeting to organize the agenda for the meeting. All committee chairs were established: • Marketing – Alyssa Barilar, • Membership – Mandy Baker • Finance – Pam Jones • Program & Development – Becki Hollen. There remains two board vacancies. Marketing was the busie...
During the monthly meeting of the Hollidaysburg School Board of Directors Committee of the Whole/Voting Meeting, the hot topic was the second vote of Policy 321 and the decision by the majority of the board to table any vote on it. Policy 321, which regards political activities and addressing sexual orientation discussions and symbols in the classroom, was tabled until the policy meeting, where what is appropriate can be discussed. Boardmember Doug Stephens made the motion to table the vote until the next meeting because several board members...
Brian and Jennifer Buffone announced at the monthly Hollidaysburg Borough Council meeting that they would be bringing a new business to enhance downtown Hollidaysburg. Brian said they were creating an "upscale dining experience" at 312 Allegheny Street, the former Citizens Bank. The restaurant will be called the Reserve. The pair have brought on Chef David Noto, the Food and Beverage Director at Arnold Palmer's Country Club in Latrobe, to head the food service duties. Notto also served as the...
During the January regular meeting of the Spring Cove School District Board of Directors a number of donations, grants, and awards were announced by Superintendent Dr. Betsy Baker. Baker offered congratulations to Mrs. Rachel Wagner, who submitted an application for the school district to receive a three-performance licensing package for this year's production of "Footloose" through Concord Theatricals' Footloose Competition. Ten low-income schools, including Central High School, won the complim...
Longtime Spring Cove School District School Board Member John Biddle expressed his concerns about school board members and committees at Monday evening's meeting. According to Biddle, if a board member does not sit on a committee, they cannot attend committee meetings, have an active role or give input. "Why does a board member have to sit in the back and say nothing?" Biddle asked. "It sure doesn't make sense to me." Biddle said all committee meetings used to allow board members to participate....
The December Hollidaysburg Area Community Partnership (HACP) monthly meeting began with an update from the new Director of Marketing Alyssa Barilar. Barilar reported that the downtown merchant holiday window decorating contest had 29 participants. Facebook posts from the HACP encouraged people to vote for contestants. Keller Engineers was leading at the time of the meeting with 52 votes. Barilar has already started working on flyers/information for next year’s contest. She will be working with Lightner Communications to promote any e...
The December meeting of the Hollidaysburg Area School District Board of Directors was a re-organizational meeting and reexamined the Amendment to Policy 824 and introduced Policy 321. In election of new board officers, current Vice President Manny Nichols was nominated for the presidency, as was Dr. Ronald Sommer. Sommer was elected president for the upcoming year by a 5-4 vote with members Nicole Hartman, Lonna Frye, Scott Brenneman, Sommer, and Doug Stephens supporting him. Nichols, Carmen Bilek, Jennifer Costanza, and Ken Snyder supported...
The final budget for 2023 for the Hollidaysburg Borough was approved unanimously by council members with no tax increase in the upcoming year and a $6 surplus showing. The budget was available for 30 days for public inspection and no changes were made from the proposed budget put forward last month with revenues of $3,345,450 and expenses of $3.345,444. Borough Manager James Gehret announced the final real estate tax for 2023 will stay at 3.55 mills with no increase. Gerald Harbison, planning/zoning/code enforcement officer for the borough,...
