Jenkintown School Board Brief
December, 2022 & January, 2023 Vol. 2 Issue 1
Message from Dr. Megan O'Brien, School Board President
Dear School Community,
Happy New Year and welcome to the combined December/January edition of our newsletter. We hope that everyone enjoyed some time off with friends and family during December.
During our reorganization meeting on December 6, the board voted in a new Vice President, Carolyn Riley, and voted for me to continue as President. I would like to thank Patrick Wicks for his years of service and congratulate Carolyn on her new role. I am honored to continue to serve the community as School Board President.
Thank you to all of our school teachers and students for the lovely posters, buttons and cards celebrating School Board Appreciation Month. We are honored to serve the Jenkintown community as your school board members.
We have a lot to do in 2023! We're also looking forward to a busy calendar of District events this winter and Spring.
Please use the following link for access to board meeting agendas and minutes.
Summary of Board Action Items for December, 2022 and January, 2023
At the annual board reorganization meeting on Monday, December 5, 2022, the following school board officers were elected and the following representative positions were assigned:
- Dr. Megan O'Brien, President
- Carolyn Riley, Vice President and Easter Center for Arts & Technology representative
- Nathan Bridge - Jenkintown Home & School Association representative
- Nancy Campbell - Jenkintown Education Foundation representative
- Katie Costandino- Wellness committee representative
- Kristian Graves - Alumni Association representative
- Bridget Reilly-Beauchamp - Jenkintown Borough Council representative
- Lisa Smith - Health and Safety committee representative
- Patrick Wicks - Montgomery County Intermediate Unit representative
At the combined Board work session and business meeting on Monday, December 12, 2022, the Board reviewed and approved only the agenda items and the regular reports provided in BoardDocs, including a contract with the Center for School Study Council (CSCC) of the University of Pennsylvania for consulting services to support district-wide curriculum assessment and facilitate professional development.
At the Board work session on Monday, January 9th, the Board did not take any voting action on agenda items.
At the Business meeting on Monday, January 23rd, the Board approved the updated 2023-24 Health and Safety plan, the agenda items and the regular reports provided in BoardDocs, and heard the following presentations:
- Mr. Tim Mirra from Zelenkofske Axelrod, LLC reviewed the district's 2022 financial audit report. There were no findings.
- Dr. Christopher Jahnke, Elementary School Principal, provided an update on how his first year is going so far, and plans for the remainder of the school year.
How to Navigate the Board Docs Public Access Site - A Tutorial
We encourage the Jenkintown community to access all of our public meeting documents using the Board Docs system. The first public meeting of each month is a "Work Session". The agenda will be posted on the Friday before with agenda items only and no supporting documentation. The supporting documentation is available to the public to view prior to the second monthly meeting, known as the "Business Meeting". All of the meetings are public, and a yearly calendar is posted with meeting dates, under the school board tab on the district website https://www.jenkintowndrakes.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Board-Mtg-Schedule-22-23.docx-2.pdf.
You can access School Board agendas and meeting minutes using the following link:
https://go.boarddocs.com/pa/jenkintown/Board.nsf/Public or see the location circled in yellow above. We hope the pictures below will help you follow along with ease!
The current meeting is highlighted in the center of the page.
The prior meetings can be found by clicking "meetings" (circled in yellow). The prior meetings are categorized by year/month.
Find the meeting you want and click "view the agenda".
Opening documents related to agenda items
On the left column is the agenda and the yellow circled icon is the documents related to that specific agenda item.
Upcoming Events
Monday, January 23rd, 7:00pm - School Board Business Meeting
Wednesday, February 8th, 11:40am - HS Jazz Band at Rowan University Jazz FestivalMonday, February 13th - 2-hour delayed opening. Before/After care will maintain their normal schedule.
Monday, February 13th, 6:30pm - School Board Property Committee Meeting
Monday, February 13th, 7:00am - School Board Combined Work Session and Business Meeting
Wednesday, February 15th, 11:30am - Early Dismissal for Teacher In-Service Day
Monday, February 20th - District Closed for Presidents Day Holiday
March 16th, 17th and 18th - Jenkintown Theatre Arts presents "Little Women: The Musical". Ticket information will be forthcoming.
Winter sports schedule can be found at this link: https://drakesathletics.org/