BY PAT FARNELLI

Times-Shamrock Correspondent

Despite bitterly cold temperatures outside, the classrooms at the Elk Lake School campus are comfortably, consistently warm since the switch to natural gas heat, teachers reported at Wednesday’s school board meeting.

School board member Chuck Place said that he is receiving many positive comments about the consistent temperatures from faculty and staff members alike.

“Never before have they had heat that is stable,” he said. “The temperatures always varied from class to class.”

Often, one room would be a little stuffy while the next would have students and teachers with coats on, he said. School board president Anne Teel said that one of the teachers told her that she was accustomed to teaching with a throw blanket wrapped around her, many winter days.

The elementary, secondary, and aquatic center buildings are all heated with natural gas, as is the original building for the Susquehanna County Career and Technology Center. The B building for the SCCTC has not been hooked up to natural gas, nor have the kitchens for Elk Lake and the SCCTC, but the conversion should happen soon, Dr. Ken Cuomo said.

In other business, a 2015-16 school calendar was approved by the board, setting Aug. 26 as the first teacher day, and Aug. 31 as the first student day of school.

The Elk Lake School board approved the North East Intermediate Unit 19 operating budget.

Several executive sessions were conducted before and during the meeting.

Coach contracts were approved for Lisa Smith and Heather Charles for softball, at salary step one.

A homebound request and a sixth grade Gettysburg trip were also approved.