SHARON, PA. Teacher tabbed early for board

The district will have a new health insurance carrier as of Jan. 1.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Daniel Gill of Glenwood Drive is going to get a one-month jump on his first term on the Sharon City School Board.
Gill, a teacher in the Hubbard schools, was appointed Monday to fill the remaining term of the late Joyce Grimenstein, a member of the Sharon board who died Sept. 21 after a brief illness.
Gill's selection was unanimous.
He filed to run for the school board this year, winning both a Republican and Democratic nomination in the May primary, and is one of six candidates listed on the Nov. 4 ballot to fill five seats.
One of the others on that list is Grimenstein.
Mercer County election officials said her death came too late to remove her name from the ballot, so she is technically still a candidate. However, it would appear that Gill and the other four candidates are assured of winning the five seats.
There is only one month left in Grimenstein's current term.
The board did more than just fill her vacant seat.
It eulogized her in a resolution that passed unanimously, paying tribute to her more than 40 years in the Sharon schools and her short time on the school board.
The resolution also pointed out Grimenstein's work with child care organizations and other community activities.
She came to Sharon as a physical education teacher, became the high school's assistant principal in 1988 and retired as a high school principal in 2000. She was the first woman to serve as a principal at Sharon High School.
Other issues
In other matters the board voted to join the Midwestern Health Combine effective Jan. 1, ending nearly a year-long battle with the Western Pennsylvania Schools Health Care Consortium, which has been providing employee health care insurance for the school district for seven years.
Sharon paid the consortium $2.1 million for health care this year, and school officials were angry when the consortium began experiencing cash flow problems in February and assessed its 12 school members a special fee to cover the shortfall. Sharon's assessment was $681,000.
Sharon officials expressed dissatisfaction with the consortium operation and voted in August to drop out of the group as of Jan. 1.
The board also eard from board member Rick Mancino who said some teachers are upset with a recent letter sent by the high school administration that appears to direct teachers to handle disciplinary measures themselves.
Mancino said it is important for administrators to back up teachers on discipline issues.
Patrick Hepinger, high school principal assisting-academics, said the letter was intended to encourage teachers to be more active in interacting with parents of students who experience disciplinary problems.
The letter refers only to level one cases such as students skipping teacher-assigned detention, Hepinger said.
Robert Alcaro, high school principal, said the administrative team looks at discipline issues every week and is at a loss to explain why one teacher might have no problems but another teacher might have several.
"Maybe we need training in classroom management," he said.