“To be continued” could sum up the Pleasant Valley School Board meeting on Monday night.

After three speakers and students of the month awards were given out, a crowd of residents, many of whom had to stand outside in the cold for about an hour because the meeting room was already packed full, filed in for their turn.

The media were also not allowed into the meeting room in the beginning.

That’s when Susan Kresge, the president of the school board, announced that two agenda items — 11 B and 12 B — were being removed from the agenda.

These items were about the resignation of Superintendent James Konrad and the resolution to rehire him under a new contract with a salary increase to $215,000. Kresge said they had planned to do a presentation on those agenda items with the reasons for why they were doing the new contract.

“As you can see because of the large turnout, what we’d like to do is in the near future we’re going to do our presentation. We will let you know when it’s going to be and we’ll move to a bigger room, and you can all join us for that presentation at that time,” she said.

This was met with some objections from the crowd.

Residents asked the school board why they didn’t move the meeting to a larger facility like a gymnasium or cafeteria. Kresge told them there isn’t a sound system set up in there to move the meeting. School board director said they didn’t anticipate that size of a crowd.

Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, said school districts must make an effort to accommodate residents.

“If a room isn’t big enough to accommodate the number of people who want to attend, the proper course of action is to move to a bigger venue, NOT exclude the public. Excluding the public could lead to Sunshine Act liability, and it harms the agency, which will not benefit from robust public input, and harm the public trust,” Melewsky said in an email Tuesday morning.

There was a crowd. The parking lot in front of the district office building was full, and vehicles had to overflow into the parking lot on the side of the middle school.

Two State Police cruisers with a couple troopers were in the main parking lot keeping watch as well.

The crowd was also told that the first of the two public comment portions of the meeting is for agenda items only, which meant that comment about the superintendent was not allowed. They would have to wait until the second public comment period at the end of the meeting to talk about that — and many did.

As for when the newly scheduled meeting will take place, and where, that is all yet to be determined.

Residents asked if they would be notified. How would they be notified? And how much time before the meeting would they receive notification? They were told that announcements will be on the district’s website and Facebook.

One resident asked that they be given a week’s notice before the meeting. No comment from the school district or school board on that one.

Attorney Timothy Gilsbach, the school solicitor in attendance, did say was that a resignation from Konrad had to be submitted to the board in order for his original contract to end and the new contract to be approved.

What residents wanted to know was why the new contract was created in the first place? Did Konrad have another job offer, and the board agreed to give him more money to get him to stay? Did Konrad ask for more money because he thinks his job performance warrants it?

Doug Altemose, of Chestnuthill Township, said his “father and grandfather never would have stood for this kind of behavior.”

“You should say I don’t really need any more,” Altemose said, meaning the salary increase.

He asked Konrad if he was comparing his salary to other districts.

“Is it what you think your worth?” Altemose asked.

Several residents commented that the community can’t afford salaries of this type, and that the average salary of the district’s residents is $50,000. Some said that if the school board pushes the new contract through, they would remember on Election Day who approved it.

All but one school board member was present for the meeting Monday night. John Gesiskie said at the Nov. 14 meeting that he would be away the week of Thanksgiving and would not be able to make this Monday night meeting. He had voted against Konrad’s 4% pay increase in August.