Kutztown Area Board Votes on 5-Year Superintendent Contract

The Kutztown Area School Board votes Monday on a five-year contract for Superintendent Christian Temchatin that would start July 1, 2027, the month his current four-year term ends. The Nov. 16 agenda also accepts the retirement of Assistant Superintendent Dr. Edward Myers, effective July 30, 2027, buys $20,163.75 in marching band uniforms and pays about $1.43 million in bills. The meeting is at 7 p.m. Monday at a different building: the Berks Career & Technology Center East Campus, 3307 Friedensburg Road, Oley, not the high school library where the board usually meets. Residents can speak on agenda items before the votes.

The contract itself is not in the posted agenda. The agenda says "per the attached," but the three-page PDF on the district's 2026-27 agendas page carries no attachment, so the salary, benefits and other terms are not public before the vote. The agenda prints no salary figure.

The district's $5.23 million Kutztown Elementary HVAC deal was the subject of our Sept. 21 preview and recap.

The superintendent contract

Item 8.e reads in full: "It is the recommendation of the Negotiations Team that the Board of School Directors approve the contract for Christian Temchatin as Superintendent of Schools for a term of five years, effective July 1, 2027, per the attached." The detail pages of the PDF are headed "ITEM 6 NEW BUSINESS" while the agenda's index numbers New Business as item 8; this story uses the index numbers.

Temchatin is the current superintendent. The district's superintendent page says he "was commissioned as the Superintendent of Schools" on Aug. 12, 2019, and that "Effective July 1, 2023, Mr. Temchatin began a new 4-year term as Superintendent, extending through June 2027." It says he joined the district in January 2018 as assistant superintendent and before that was principal of Pennridge Central Middle School. Monday's contract would begin the day after that term ends and run five years, to mid-2032 by our arithmetic; the agenda states only the start date and the term length.

Pennsylvania's School Code sets the ground rules. Section 1073(a) says the board "shall meet at its regular place of meeting, during the last year of the term of the district superintendent," to "elect or approve a properly qualified district superintendent to enter into a contract to serve a term of three to five years from the first day of July next following his election," and that "The contract shall be subject to the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the 'Right-to-Know Law.'" Section 1073(e) says no one may be employed as a superintendent "except pursuant to a written contract of employment expressly stating the terms and conditions of employment," and that the contract must "Incorporate all provisions relating to compensation and benefits" and "Specify the termination, buyout and severance provisions." Section 1073.1 requires the contract to include "objective performance standards mutually agreed to in writing" and requires the board to post those standards "on the school district's publicly accessible Internet website." We have not requested the contract; the statute's own words make it "subject to" the Right-to-Know Law.

The timing fits the statute. Section 1073(a) lets the board act "during the last year of the term," which for Temchatin began July 1, 2026. Section 1073(b) adds a notice step: at a public meeting "at least ninety (90) days prior to the expiration date" of the term, the agenda "shall include an item requiring affirmative action by five or more members of the board of school directors to notify the district superintendent that the board intends to retain him for a further term of three (3) to five (5) years or that another or other candidates will be considered for the office." That deadline falls about April 1, 2027, by our arithmetic. If a board misses it, the statute says "the term of office which he is currently serving shall be extended one time for a one (1) year period." Approving a new contract Monday would settle the question before that step is needed.

The "Negotiations Team" behind the recommendation is a standing board committee. The Dec. 1, 2025 reorganization minutes record a 9-0 roll call approving the "2026 Committee Appointments," and the attached list names the "NEGOTIATIONS TEAM" as Jason Koch, Jeremiah Light, Daniel Wismer and "Mattew Biniek," as the appointments list spells it. The posted July 20, Aug. 17 and Sept. 21 minutes each record an executive session, a closed meeting of the board, held before the public meeting "for the purpose of personnel, and legal matters," and no public discussion of the contract. The Oct. 19 minutes, which Monday's agenda asks the board to approve (item 3.a), are not on the district's minutes page, where the newest posting is Sept. 21.

Assistant superintendent to retire

Item 8.a.1 is "The acceptance of the resignation due to the retirement of Dr. Edward Myers, Assistant Superintendent for the Kutztown Area School District, effective July 30, 2027." The district's assistant superintendent page says Myers "was commissioned as the Assistant Superintendent" on July 27, 2023, began the job Aug. 1, 2023, and had earlier served the district "as a teacher, coach, dean of students, assistant secondary principal, and Director of Educational Technology." The administration page lists him as compliance officer, Section 504 coordinator, school safety coordinator and homeless liaison. Myers is leaving before his current agreement runs out. The April 20, 2026 minutes record a 9-0 roll call, on a motion by Laurel Ziegler seconded by Jeremiah Light, "to approve the agreements with the following administrators per the attached," listing "Edward L. Myers, Assistant Superintendent for July 1, 2026-June 30, 2028" and "Elizabeth Ann Siteman, Business Administrator for July 1, 2026-June 30, 2030." A July 30, 2027 retirement comes 11 months before the end of that agreement, by our arithmetic. The agenda has no item on filling the post.

Why the board is meeting in Oley

The agenda's heading reads "Special Location - BCTC East Campus 3307 Friedensburg Rd, Oley, PA 19547." The move has been on every board agenda since July 20, when item 6.c under Communications and Reports read "November 16, 2026 Monthly Board Meeting at a Special Location- BCTC East Campus - 3307 Friedensburg Rd, Oley, PA 19547."; the Aug. 17, Sept. 21 and Oct. 19 agendas carried it in their upcoming-meetings lists. The district's other 2026-27 agendas, including Oct. 19's and the Nov. 9 committee agendas, place meetings in the high school library. No posted document, including the July 20 minutes, gives a reason for the move. Section 1073(a) of the School Code, quoted above, says the board "shall meet at its regular place of meeting" to elect or approve a superintendent; the agenda does not address the School Code's regular-place line.

Band uniforms, bills and conferences

Item 8.g, on the Facilities and Extracurricular Committee's recommendation, would "approve the purchase of 25 Marching Band Uniforms with parts from Final Touch Company LLC. and Stanbury Uniforms LLC. at that total cost of $20,163.75, per the attached." The attachment is not in the PDF, so the split between the two vendors is not public. The committee's posted Nov. 9 agenda listed three topics, "KES HVAC Project Update," "Fall Sports Review" and "KAHS Backboard Upgrade," and no uniform item; the HVAC update concerns the $5.23 million McClure project the board approved Sept. 21.

Item 5 asks the board to ratify $647,298.25 in general fund bills already paid, approve another $716,377.71, and ratify $68,071.16 in food service bills. The capital reserve and construction fund lines are all $0.00. The three nonzero lines total $1,431,747.12 by our arithmetic.

Item 8.h approves two conference requests: "Employee #1992" for Safety Care Training in Reading on Jan. 26, 2027, at $1,199.30, and Alexandra Bucci, an ESS contractor, for Orton-Gillingham Plus courses held virtually Oct. 19 through Dec. 3, 2026, at $1,350.00. The second course was already under way when the agenda was posted.

Policies, DARE and food purchasing

Under item 8.b, the Policy and Curriculum Committee recommends Policy 334, Sick Leave, "for second reading and adoption," and Policies 338, Sabbatical Leave, and 338.1, Compensated Professional Leaves, for first reading. The committee's Nov. 9 agenda listed 338 and 338.1 under "Policies To Consider For Revision." The policy texts are not attached.

Item 8.d would "approve a partnership with the National Guard to deliver the DARE Middle School Keeping REAL Curriculum at Kutztown Area Middle School." The agenda states no cost and no start date. Item 8.f approves "the agreement with Lancaster-Lebanon IU to participate in the collaborative effort to purchase food for the 2027-28 year," a joint buying program the agenda calls the CAFCO Participation Agreement; no dollar figure is given.

Other personnel items

Item 8.a also would:

• Accept the resignation of Francesca Lausch, "Teacher of the Gifted/Internship Coordinator," effective Dec. 1, 2026.
• Approve "the revised K-12 Behavioral Health Interventionist job description, hired through ESS, per the attached" (item 8.a.4). The description is not in the PDF.
• Hire Haley Romanuski as a science teacher at the middle school at $60,000, "Bachelors, Step ," with the step left blank, "effective January 18, 2026" as printed. That date is 10 months in the past; the agenda does not say whether 2027 was meant.
• Approve Sherry Sexton as school board secretary with a $2,500 stipend for Dec. 1, 2026, through Nov. 30, 2027.
• Approve Kimberly Moyer-Bercaw as a long-term substitute fifth grade teacher at Greenwich Elementary, retroactive to Aug. 27 and running through Nov. 20, 2026, at $60,000 prorated.
• Approve Eric Fleming as volleyball head coach at $3,940 and Linda Andre as middle school cheerleading head coach for fall and winter at $1,220 each, along with 11 volunteer coaching positions, four ESS paraprofessional, cafeteria and custodial staff, three BCIU bus and van drivers and a bus aide (item 8.c), and six chaperones for a student trip to Orlando, Fla., Dec. 16 through 20.

The agenda says all personnel approvals are "Pending Receipt of All Mandated Credentials."

How to attend, and what comes next

The meeting opens at 7 p.m. Public comment on agenda items is item 7, before New Business; comment on other topics is item 9. The agenda lists nine voting members: President Jason Koch, Vice President Caecilia Holt, Matthew Biniek, Erin Engel, Reba Cortés Hoffman, Jeremiah Light, Michael Sailsbery, Daniel Wismer and Laurel Ziegler. Temchatin sits as a non-voting member; the roster lists Treasurer Beth Ann Siteman and Solicitor James E. Mancuso as non-members and Sherry Sexton as secretary.

Upcoming meetings per item 11, all at the high school: the Dec. 1 board reorganization meeting at 7 p.m., the annual meeting at which the board elects its officers; Policy/Curriculum and Facilities/Extracurricular committee meetings Dec. 7 at 6 and 7 p.m.; and the monthly board meeting Dec. 14 at 7 p.m.

The school district's levy is the largest piece of most Berks County property tax bills; see our guide to how a Berks County property tax bill is built and, if you are unsure which district you live in, our guide to finding your Berks County school district. For the borough government, see our Kutztown council Oct. 20 preview.