The Pleasant Valley School Board last week approved several staffing changes including the termination of employment of 28 substitute employees.

“They are being terminated because they never responded to the paperwork we send out each year indicating whether they want to be on the substitute list for the upcoming school year,” said Superintendent Lee Lesisko.

The form is called the Reasonable Assurance Notice, and it lets the school district know how many positions they will need to fill.

The former employees failed to respond even after the school district made several attempts to get an answer from them, he said. The names of the 28 people were withheld.

The district does plan to fill the positions.

“We are always looking to fill substitute positions, whether it be for the classroom, maintenance, custodial, security, paraprofessional, monitor or office,” he said.

Other employment actions

Three people put in for their retirements. They include: Malcolm McKinsey, a science teacher and curriculum leader at PVIS, Alex Wunder, a paraprofessional at PVHS, and Linda Reborchick, a paraprofessional at PVMS.

The resignations include: Cathryn Bagley, a substitute monitor, secretary, and food service employee; Debra-Ann Bielawski, teacher, PVES; Courtney Cabrera, Kelly Gombert, Rachel Kresge, and Jocelyn Shilling, all are substitute teachers; Robin Caswell, a substitute teacher and paraprofessional; Kathy Kleinle, health room technician, Melissa Kline, musical assistant director, PVHS; Maritza Martely-Boasci, monitor, PVIS; Shandler Rechenberger, substitute custodian; and Albert Veneziano, a substitute courier, custodian and monitor; PVES.

Also resigning are Melissa Vaillant, a substitute paraprofessional, who is willing to be considered as a substitute teacher; and Wendy Heller, a monitor at PVES, who is also willing to be a substitute monitor.

Three employees chose to take leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, an emergency expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act. Their leave will run from Sept 8 to Dec. 2. The staff includes: Jennifer Bowman, teacher, PVIS; and Nikki Haden Coar, monitor, PVES, absent on an intermittent basis, and Jennifer Keller, a family consumer science and business teacher, PVHS, absent on a continuous basis.

Denise Hopely, who has worked as a business teacher at the high school and is the club advisor of the Future Business Leaders of America, will be filling in for Jennifer Keller as the family consumer science and business teacher at the high school.

In July, Hopely was assigned to the middle school to work as a physical education teacher

The board also approved two additional change of assignments. Amanda Altemose will move from her ESOL position at PVES to a new ESOL position at PVMS.

Bron Leupold will move from his position as a special-education teacher at PVHS to an education consultant for the school district. He will replace Julie Harris who was an education consultant for the school district.

Harris was appointed earlier this summer to replace A.J. Kise, the former director of pupil services who resigned in May. The title of the position was changed to director of special education.

The school district has also called back to work Amy Keller, who had been furloughed. She will replace Leupold as a special-education teacher at PVHS.