Every month during the school year the Pleasant Valley School Board sets aside time to praise students and staff for nearly an hour at the beginning of the meeting.

Last week, during that hour, residents waited in the hallway, out the door, and in their cars, denied entry to a meeting where they wanted to question two controversial agenda items.

The first was the resignation by Superintendent James Konrad, Ed.D., effective at the end of December.

Then the shocker. The board proposed hiring him back with a new contract and a new salary of $215,000.

As soon as the agenda was posted, social media was abuzz with comments on the move.

School board directors should have prepared for a crowd at the meeting.

Instead, students of the month were ushered out to make room for residents with questions. There still wasn’t room for everyone who showed up.

Ultimately, board President Susan Kresge announced the matter would not be discussed, because the conference room at the administration building couldn’t accommodate the crowd.

Kresge said the board would meet in the auditorium at another time to discuss the contract.

Unfortunately, if you didn’t see details of the contract, you can’t see it right now.

When the board chose not to discuss the items, the contracts were removed from the Nov. 25 agenda.

That was a mistake, according to Melissa Melewsky, legal media counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.

“The finalized agenda is the permanent record that should only be amended for additions, in certain very limited circumstances authorized by statute. Nothing in the Sunshine Act allows a finalized agenda already provided to the public to be amended to remove issues after a meeting has occurred,” Melewsky said.

The board meeting this Thursday has been moved to the high school auditorium, which can accommodate more people, but the posted agenda doesn’t include the contract as of this writing.

The board can add items up until 24 hours before the start of the meeting, so residents need to keep watching.

Some background on the situation. Konrad was hired in December 2021, on a five-year contract with a starting salary of $170,000.

His salary has grown and in August, Konrad received above the maximum with a 4% raise, bumping him from $182,108 to $189,392.

The board hasn’t addressed why this new contract is being proposed. Residents are questioning whether Konrad had a job offer or the board just wanted to find a way to give him more money.

The flip side is enrollment is dropping and the district is entering a $100 million renovation of the high school.

Residents who are used to operating on a budget know that when they are facing a monumental expense — say $100 million — they have to cut back on spending in other areas.

That doesn’t appear to be the case. Last week, the board approved a new pay plan for administrators. Here’s a sampling of the salary range for some of the positions: Director of Special Education, $111,985 to $143,090; Director of Athletics, $93,185 to $119,070; Director of Operations — $96,485 to $123,285; Director of Instructional Technology and Innovation — $104,835 to $133,960.

That didn’t calm down residents at all. Social media was on fire this past weekend with a negative poem about Konrad and charts comparing his salary to surrounding districts.

We are not questioning Konrad’s credentials. In fact, the district said in July that Konrad has “achieved a performance level that met or exceeded our expectations.”

We are concerned that the board is not living up to its expectations.

The board should concentrate on giving students the best education they can while making sure taxpayers get the most for their money. Directors should start by looking at what they’ve already spent. Then they should figure out how they can give the students a quality education, while setting an example for them of living within a budget.

MARTA GOUGER | MGOUGER@TNONLINE.COM