(8/1) Fairfield Area School District (FASD) School Board welcomed the hiring of four new elementary school teachers Monday.
Anticipating the new school year after the summer can often be met with dread for some, but for four new FASD teachers, it is anticipated with nothing but excitement.
The four elementary teachers introduced themselves to the school board alongside a beaming support system of fellow teachers.
Kathryn Miller, of Gettysburg, will be teaching second grade and is a recent graduate of West Chester University. Lily Kapfhammer, of Fairfield, is a Knights alumni and will be teaching first grade. Kaitlin Martin, of Gettysburg, recent graduate of Mount Saint Mary’s University and will be teaching first grade.
Emily Solalinde, of Biglerville, was a long-term FASD substitute last year and will now be teaching second grade in the Fall. "I love this school district," she said.
FASD marks the first full-time education career for all four teachers, and all eagerly looked forward to the new school year.
"Congratulations and welcome. It is so good to see new faces and familiar faces," Board President Jennifer Holtz said.
Board member Lisa Sturges expressed gratitude for the teachers ready and willing to come to Fairfield. "Thank you so much," she said.
As the Public School Board Association (PSBA) legislative chairperson, Sturges noted teacher shortages are still an ongoing concern from the legislator standpoint. "Obviously that’s not a problem here," she said.
State budget highlights presented
Superintendent Thomas Haupt presented highlights from the 2022-23 enacted State Budget that includes an increase of $856.1 million in school subsidies, of which $525 million goes to basic education funding, $100 million will go to special education, and $6.1 million toward Career Technical Education.
"All of those are increases over previous years," he said.
In addition, $100 million was earmarked for school based mental health through Ready to Learn block grants. $100 million has been allocated toward school safety and security through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), and $60 million is set aside for pre-kindergarten accounts, he said.
More information is expected from the Pennsylvania Department of Education in regard to "some pretty historic funding for education," Haupt said.
