Conrad Weiser Votes on Sweigart as No. 2, $47K Settlement

The Conrad Weiser Area School Board votes tonight on a new assistant superintendent and on a settlement, a combined $47,000 in payment and attorney fees, "for an elementary school special education student." The meeting is Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. in the high school LGI, 44 Big Spring Road, Robesonia, according to the district's board page.

This is Berks Beat's first Conrad Weiser story. The district serves South Heidelberg, Heidelberg, North Heidelberg and Marion townships and the boroughs of Wernersville, Robesonia and Womelsdorf, plus eight properties in West Cocalico Township, Lancaster County, per its own description.

A new assistant superintendent, contract not posted

Item 3 under the Human Relations Committee (packet p. 10) "appoints Dr. Alissa B. Sweigart as Assistant Superintendent for a three-year term beginning March 29, 2027, and ending June 30, 2030, pursuant to the Employment Contract attached to the Official Minutes." The item sits on the committee's "Discussion Agenda," so it gets its own vote rather than passing in a consent block. The contract, and the salary in it, is not in the 110-page public packet. The same item appeared on the Oct. 14 committee agenda as item 27.

Sweigart is now the district's Director of Accountability and Innovation; her September report under that title is in the packet (pp. 82-83). The current assistant superintendent is Stephen V. Burnham, Ed.D., whose report also appears (p. 79). The packet does not say why the new term starts March 29 or what happens to Burnham's position, and the district's leadership page still lists Burnham. The board's own September practice makes the silence stand out: the Sept. 16 minutes in the same packet (p. 60) appointed Randolph V. Neider high school principal "at a yearly salary of $126,000," effective Dec. 21, 2026, with a note: "This is a replacement for Robert Galtere, retiring, and includes crossover days." The Sweigart motion names no salary and no predecessor.

Assistant superintendent is the No. 2 administrative job in a district. Reading's board split 5-3 on its own pick at its Sept. 23 meeting, and Hamburg's board gave its superintendent five more years in September.

The $47,000 settlement

Budget and Finance consent item 4 (p. 2) approves "the confidential settlement and release agreement for an elementary school special education student which includes payment to an educational fund of $35,000 and $12,000 in attorney fees." The agenda prints nothing else about the dispute or what the claim was. Kutztown Area's board approved a settlement with one student in September; the posted minutes give no amount.

Three special-education service contracts

The same consent list (pp. 2-3) ratifies two outside-service agreements and approves a third arrangement:

• Aveanna Healthcare, for "healthcare services" in 2026-27; the agreement covers nurses, therapists, paraprofessional aides and social workers, and its fee schedule (p. 23) prices nursing: it lists $70 an hour for a registered nurse, $65 for an LPN and $35 for a nursing assistant, with a four-hour daily minimum.
• New Story Schools in Wyomissing, a private special-education placement, through July 31, 2027. Tuition (p. 39) is $445 a day at Tier 1, $485 at Tier 2, and $485 plus $150 a day for one-to-one staffing.
• UPMC Primary Care Fredericksburg, at $35 per IEP, to authorize plans that call for a personal care assistant so the district can bill Medical Assistance through the School-Based Access Program.

Pay, coaches and bills

The board also votes to rescind the $7,735 stipend it approved Sept. 16 for head wrestling coach Jeremy Smith and re-approve him at $6,783 (p. 4). The packet gives no reason for the lower figure. The board also ratifies Georgia Heintzman's hiring as a music teacher at East Elementary at $57,661, effective Oct. 7 (p. 6), and Andrew Seidel becomes district maintenance technician at $25 an hour (p. 8).

General-account bills total $2,203,008.91 to approve and $3,870,666.90 to ratify, or $6,073,675.81; cafeteria bills come to $131,676.52 (p. 1).

The September financial report (p. 13) shows $2,932,831.19 in general-fund checking on Sept. 30 and $26,034,577.63 in PSDLAF, a pooled investment fund for Pennsylvania school districts, with the largest account earning 3.59 percent. Total cash available was $28,967,408.82, up from $28,436,637.18 a year earlier. The capital reserve held $6,793,102.49.

Minutes up for approval (pp. 53-64) record that the board adopted a $1,835,860.26 cafeteria budget for 2026-27 on Sept. 16 (p. 56) and that Superintendent Ryan Giffing said administration "will begin negotiations with the teachers' contract." The board page says the current teachers' agreement runs through June 30, 2027.

How to attend

The agenda has a requests-to-speak slot after the bills (p. 1). Consent items pass by committee in a block unless a director pulls one (p. 9); in September the board took four such consent votes, one per committee. The Sweigart appointment is a separate vote. Committees meet next on Nov. 11 at 7 and 7:30 p.m., and the next voting meeting is Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. (p. 12); the board page lists the high school LGI for regular meetings. For how school taxes fit into your bill, see how your Berks County property tax bill is split.