East Penn School Board Votes to Buy Group Training Pass

The voted Monday night 9-0 to purchase a “value pass” for training offered by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA).

The $799 expenditure will allow all nine board members to participate in a pre-determined package of PSBA training programs without paying any additional fees for a one-year period. That package includes a series of fall seminars, a series of spring seminars, eight lunchtime audio conferences, and 10 Web-based training programs.

Board President brought up the concept of the value pass to the board and asked that they consider approving the purchase.

The cost of attending a single fall seminar would be $100 per person, Ballard pointed out, using an upcoming October seminar about the changes in Act I as an example. If all nine board members decide to attend the PSBA Act I program, he explained, the value pass will have already paid for itself.

“In a year with the potential for a lot of changes on the board and the environment we are in,” he said, “this will give us the maximum flexibility.

“It will be cheaper in the long run and give board members more developmental opportunities without the need to ask for permission. I think we should try it out for a year. It will give us more opportunities for training and to get the information that we vitally need to get our job done.”

School board member Alan Earnshaw was one of several board members to talk about the value of PSBA training programs, especially for new board members.

Earnshaw said that he enrolled in more PSBA training programs as a newly elected board member 10 years ago than he does now, adding that he would be more likely to participate in PSBA training programs on topics in which he would like a “refresher” or “needs more depth” if he knew that it wasn’t going to cost the district additional monies.