BY STACI WILSON

A former Scranton superintendent is stepping into another school administrator role in Susquehanna County.

Montrose Board of Education approved the hiring of William F. King Monday night. School director Gloria Smith cast the only dissenting vote. Smith declined to comment about her vote after the meeting.

King will receive a salary of $100,000, prorated for the remainder of the 2014-15 school year.

King resigned from the Scranton School District last year, after being targeted by the board majority for termination. In the spring of 2014, he was the subject of a board investigation into a complaint by a female employee. He had served as the superintendent in Scranton from 2009-14.

King was not present at the Montrose board meeting.

Smith also asked for the board to revisit the policy on school building use and access. She said there have been recent occasions where coaches, arriving back to the school late, have been unable to get into the high school because the key fobs did not work after 9 p.m.

Board member Kathy Mordavancy said through the school-use scheduling program, coaches should be able to schedule times and access would be available.

Coaches were also advised to call Director of Facilities Chris Tripp who would make sure the building would be opened for them.

Mary Ann Dewitt, of the Montrose Community Chorale, told the board about issues the organization encountered while using the school for rehearsals and its December performance.

Dewitt said that in the past seven years the chorale has used the building, members have accessed the chorus room for rehearsals via the cafeteria side entrance.

She said that she, along with other members, were treated rudely by a staff member and told they needed to use the front entrance.

Dewitt said more issues came up about the usage of the cafeteria on the day of the performance.

Board president Doug Wilcox said the incidents with the chorale were “totally unacceptable” and asked Dewitt to reach out to him prior to the 2015 concert.

With five snow days already in the books, the school calendar was revised. Students will now have school on Jan. 19, Feb. 16, and April 2 as snow make-up days. Two days will be added on to the end of the year, and any other snow days will be added to the end of the school year.

The board received its audit report. Auditor Paul Murphy Jr. noted that the district came through the fiscal year, as they had wanted to, but also said that in the coming years, the district would be in “no better position.”

Murphy said that in the past three years, the Montrose contribution to the state pension program has tripled.

The board also heard a presentation on Professional Learning Communities by Dr. Jason Andrews, superintendent of the Windsor, N.Y., school district.

He said the PLC would change the way everybody operates in the organization with collaborative teams working together. In the process, Andrews said the focus shifts from “what was taught” to “what was learned.”

Superintendent Carol Boyce said the PLC said schools are faced with many mandates – from performance, Keystone and other assessment exams, teacher performance evaluations, etc. “All these things are imposed upon us,” Boyce said. “We need to figure out a way to make it all mesh. I believe here’s a way to do it.”

Boyce said the district will roll out the program in the spring during staff development days.

“We’ll keep the board updated every step of the way,” she said.

The board approved the following:

*Transfer of bys route 26 from Leon and Judy Allen to Tennant Transportation, effective Jan. 19.
*Appoint the following coaches beginning with the 2015 spring sports season: Ryan Soden, Asst. Varsity Boys Baseball; Melanie Lasher, JV Boys Baseball; James Fluck, Jr. High Boys Baseball; Caleb Salsman, Jr. High Asst. Boys Baseball; Dean Brewer, Asst. Varsioty Track.