Boyertown School Board Names Petri Assistant Superintendent

The Boyertown Area School Board voted 7-1 Tuesday night to make Stephanie A. Petri the district's assistant superintendent from Jan. 5, 2027, through June 30, 2030, with Christine Neiman the only no. The same 7-1 split created a new Director of Education and Operation Services post with a $155,000 to $165,000 salary range and wrote it into the district's administrator pay plan. A consent vote, 8-0, bought 801 classroom door lockdown shades for $35,129.35 and approved two confidential special-education settlements. The results come from the "Motion & Voting" blocks BoardDocs posted under each action item on the Nov. 10 Committee of the Whole agenda; no minutes are out yet, and the video, posted at 9:33 p.m. Tuesday, is on the district's BASD-TV BearVision channel.

Eight directors appear in every roll call: Brad Updegrove, Roger Updegrove, Matthew Weir, Michelle Wiley, Wendy Kratz, Neiman, Jason Szczurowski and President Anthony Panarello. The ninth, Lynne Conner, listed on the district's board page, is not recorded in any roll call, at the Committee of the Whole or at the 6 p.m. Finance Committee; none of the blocks records an absence.

The appointment

Item 9.A carried on a motion by Panarello, seconded by Roger Updegrove: "Upon nomination of the Superintendent, Motion to appoint Stephanie A. Petri as District Assistant Superintendent for the time period of January 5, 2027 until June 30, 2030, and to approve her Employment Agreement pursuant to Sections 5-508, 10-1076, and 10-1077 of the Public School Code of 1949, as presented. … Final Resolution: Motion Carries," per the vote block. The item carries no attachment. The employment agreement is not posted, and Petri's salary appears nowhere on BoardDocs. The signed agreement is a public record; our guide explains how to request it under the Right-to-Know Law.

Petri was principal of Gilbertsville Elementary until July 1, 2025, when the board moved her to director of teaching and learning to fill a post the list marks "Landis retirement," per that year's personnel agenda. As of Wednesday, the district's administration page still lists Michael Stoudt as assistant superintendent. Nothing on the agenda says whether the district will have two assistant superintendents in January or what becomes of Stoudt's post. The nomination item, 4.C, "Nomination/Appointment of District Assistant Superintendent - Dr. Davidheiser," has no text beyond that line and no attachment on BoardDocs; whatever Superintendent Scott Davidheiser said about it is on the video only. Our preview flagged the same gaps.

A $155,000-to-$165,000 job, and who fills it is not on the record

Item 9.B approved the job description 7-1 on a motion by Panarello, seconded by Szczurowski, per its vote block. Item 9.C then approved the "Second Amendment to Act 93 Plan - to add Director of Education and Operation Services Job Description," 7-1, Panarello moving and Wiley seconding, per that block. Neiman was the no on both. Act 93 is the section of the state school code that requires a school board to adopt a written pay-and-benefits plan for its administrators. Boyertown's plan runs "July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2028" and was first amended on July 1, 2026, per the amendment's recitals.

The amendment puts the post in "Group 1/Certified Administrators of the Plan, with a salary range of $155,000 to $165,000," calls it a "full-time, twelve-month, 260-day administrative position," and took effect "upon its approval by the Board of School Directors on November 10, 2026." The job description has the director report to the superintendent, assistant superintendent, chief financial officer and chief human resource officer, "Supervise School Police," and oversee "all transportation services both district and non-public schools." No one was named to the job Tuesday; the personnel list has no hire for it.

Consent items, minutes and personnel

The consent agenda, item 8.C, passed 8-0 on a motion by Neiman, seconded by Panarello. It approves item 8.B, "the purchase of 801 classroom door lockdown shades from Blackout EZ Window Covers for all nine district buildings, in an amount not to exceed $35,129.35," and item 8.A, "the two (2) Special Education Confidential Settlement Agreements, as presented," with no amounts given.

The Oct. 27 Legislative Meeting minutes were approved 7-1 as item 7.A, Weir moving, Roger Updegrove seconding, Neiman voting no. The record gives no reason. Those minutes record the 7-2 vote for the Boyertown Elementary modular-classroom design contract, covered in our Oct. 27 story, with Neiman and Roger Updegrove opposed.

The personnel list, item 9.D, passed 8-0. Per the attached agenda, posted at 3:54 a.m. on meeting day, later than most of the packet, high school science teacher Elisabeth Shumock retires Jan. 15, 2027, after 21 years, and Middle School West special education teacher April Baylor resigns Dec. 23 after 13. Nancy Fullenwider is hired as a high school special education teacher at $62,731 (Bachelors+15, Step 1), starting Nov. 11, and Cassandra Molnar as a long-term substitute school counselor at the high school at $59,344 from Jan. 4, 2027. Natalie Lindenmuth moves from staff nurse to certified school nurse at Middle School West at a prorated $73,931. Two school police officers swap buildings, two winter assistant coaches are added, and the list carries eight family-medical leaves in its leave section plus a ninth in its updates.

Discussed, not voted

The KCBA Architects capital study, item 4.B, was a presentation with no vote. Its Financial Summary totals "Critical Projects" at $21,385,000 to $24,025,000 and "Items to Consider" at $70,100,000 to $80,400,000 across the nine schools, with New Hanover-Upper Frederick Elementary alone at $13 million to $14 million in the critical column; the school-by-school breakdown is in our preview. Nothing Tuesday committed money to any of it.

The Learning Dome, item 4.L, was likewise discussion only, with the naming-rights policy as its sole attachment. The board's 5-4 vote in September to convert the Middle School East planetarium stands, and its motion still requires the administration and solicitor to "present the final negotiated agreement or agreements to the Board for review and a vote on approval at a public meeting on or before December 15, 2026," with bid specifications due the same day. The board's Dec. 1 reorganization meeting, followed by a Committee of the Whole, falls before that deadline, per the district's meeting list. What Davidheiser and the directors said about it exists only on the video, as does the KCBA discussion. The executive-session announcement, item 3.A, reads "Nothing at this time."

The 6 p.m. Finance Committee took no votes beyond adjournment. Its presentation shows 2025-26 revenue of $164.2 million, spending and transfers of $157.5 million and a $38.5 million fund balance, labeled "Pre-audit; could move with open items," and a table carrying a 2025-26 "Net result" of $6.7 million after $15 million in transfers to other funds. "Revenue and spending both finished better than budget, but the final result depends on the audit," the deck says. The deck lists a "recommendation to assign fund balance for BES modular costs" as pending the audit's completion, with no amount.

Donations acknowledged in item 4.M include a $2,500 Capital Blue Cross grant to the Middle School West cooking club, three AI translation pens worth $423 from the Earl Elementary PTO and $500 from KidSense Consignment Events toward a faculty-room refrigerator.

What comes next

The board meets again Tuesday, Nov. 24, Policy Committee at 6 p.m. and Legislative Meeting at 7 p.m., both at the BASD Education Center, 911 Montgomery Ave., Boyertown, per item 13.A. The district's calendar then lists a Board Reorganization Meeting followed by a Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. The Finance Committee's next meeting is Feb. 9, 2027, at 6 p.m.