School Board

The Wissahickon Board of School Directors is governed by nine citizens elected at large by voters of the district. The Board operates under the authority granted it by the Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949; Title 22, Education, of the Pennsylvania Code; and regulations of the State Board of Education. The Board's meetings are held in accordance with Act 84 of 1986 and Act 20 of 1993 of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Board Responsibilities

As the elected governing body of Wissahickon School District, the School Directors are responsible for:

Policy making for school district operations
Designating the chief executive
Planning, goal setting and appraisal
Adopting an annual budget and appropriation measures.
Exercising its taxing power to provide funds for the operation of the District.
Considering and passing upon the recommendations of the Superintendent in all matters of policy, appointment or dismissal of employees, salary schedules or other personnel regulations, courses of study, selection of textbooks, or other matters pertaining to the welfare of schools.
Informing the public concerning the progress and needs of the schools, and to solicit and weigh public opinion as it affects the schools.

Board Operations

Meet the School Directors

The Wissahickon Board of School Directors are volunteer members who are elected officials. School Directors are elected to four-year terms with elections held every two years. At the end of the four-year term, directors may run for re-election to successive terms. Voting takes place at general elections in November, and terms begin in January thereafter.

Amy Ginsburg, Board President
Joe Antonio, Board Vice President
Paul Badger
Marshall Bleefeld
Rosetta Chiavacci
David Frank
Ronnie Hayman
Zeffy Karagiannakis
Deanne Morris

Click here to learn more about the Wissahickon Board of School Directors

Board Policies

The Board policy manual serves as an instrument to guide the decision making process affecting all aspects of the Wissahickon School District organization. These board policies are designed to reflect culture, character, and values of the school community while meeting state and federal regulations. These policies are applicable to school directors, students, employees, families and community members. TAs such, these groups are charged with knowing, reviewing, and abiding by the policies set forth in this reference manual.

Periodically, the Policy Committee meets to review and discuss recommendations for its policy manual. The Board is working through a comprehensive review of its policy manual. Within each section, both the board policy and administrative guidelines are reviewed accordingly. Board policies are presented to the Policy Committee for review, and then, they move through a First Reading and Second/Final Reading review and approval process during the monthly public meetings. The administrative guidelines are reviewed by district administration After the Second and Final Reading, the revised policies and guidelines are published on the district website.

Click here: View the Board Policy Manual

Monthly Public Board Meetings

Residents and community members of the Wissahickon School District are invited to attend monthly public Board meetings (i.e., work sessions, regular meetings, special meetings, and committee meetings) of the Wissahickon Board of School Directors, which are conducted under the guidelines of the Sunshine Act, as outlined in Board policy #006 Meetings.

Work session public meetings are held monthly and are used for discussion of the agenda items presented. Typically, work sessions precede the regular meeting unless otherwise noted. Board action may occur at a work session.

Regular public meetings are held monthly, and the Board will vote on the agenda items presented and discussed at the work session. Typically, the regular meeting follows the work session unless otherwise noted. Board action may occur at a regular meeting.

Special meetings and committee meetings are called on an as-needed basis.

Executive sessions are closed-door meetings and are confidential in nature. The presiding officer may periodically call for an executive session to discuss one of these topics: personnel matters, labor relations, real estate, safety, and confidential, legal matters. The purpose of the executive session is announced at a public Board meeting. Any official action based on discussions held in executive session must be taken at a public Board meeting.

Hybrid Meeting Format

Hybrid Public Meeting Format

Public participation at a public meeting shall be either in-person in the Board Room at the District Administration Office, 601 Knight Road, Ambler, PA, or via remote connection using the Zoom virtual meeting platform or on the District's YouTube Channel.

Community Attendance

In-Person in the Board Room
Virtually via Zoom (for making a public comment)
Live Stream on District YouTube Channel

Public Comments

In-Person in the Board Room
Virtually via Zoom

To view the meeting virtually via Zoom, the webinar invite is published on the School Board Calendar a few days before the meeting. There is no cost to use Zoom as an attendee. You may access the specific details for each Zoom meeting by clicking on the event on the School Board Calendar.

Instructions for Public Comments

A maximum of five (5) speakers will be heard on the same topic. Please limit your comments to three (3) minutes. It is the Board’s practice not to engage in dialogue with speakers. When appropriate, follow up responses will be posted on the District’s website (www.wsdweb.org/school-board/meeting-minutes-and-agendas).

IN-PERSON: Members of the public, who are attending the public meeting in-person in the Board Room, wishing to make a public comment should complete a blue speaker’s form and submit it to the presiding officer prior to addressing the Board. When the presiding officer announces your name, please come to the podium and state your name, address, municipality of residence, and agenda topic for which to make a comment.

VIRTUAL: Members of the public, who are attending the public meeting virtually via Zoom, wishing to make a public comment should use the ‘raise hand’ feature in the Zoom webinar. When the presiding officer announces your name, please unmute your microphone and state your name, address, municipality of residence, and the agenda topic for which to make a comment.

Q & A: Community members are welcome and encouraged to attend WSD School Board meetings to provide comments or ask questions. For the benefit of the entire Wissahickon community, the answers to a question asked during a meeting are posted on this page. Please note if no questions were asked at a meeting, no Q & A will appear.

Watch a Public Board Meeting

Wissahickon TV Cable Channel

All Board Meetings can be viewed on Comcast Channel 28 and Verizon Channel 41. The Board Meetings air on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

WTV On Demand

Watch the school board meetings on demand at any time. Look for the current year playlist (i.e. 2021-2022 Wissahickon School Board Meetings) for a compilation of the school board meeting videos.

Board Meeting Agendas and Minutes Archives

Pennsylvania School Board Associations (PSBA)

The Wissahickon Board of School Directors is a member of the Pennsylvania School Board Association (PSBA). This association provides important training and services for our school directors to support their work in advancing excellence in education. Click here to learn more about PSBA.

Advocacy Day - April 2022, Harrisburg, PA

Advocacy Day is a dedicated day for public school leaders to talk about the value of the public schools in their communities and discuss critical issues with our state legislators. On April 25, 2022, school directors talked about two key issues: 2022-23 state budget needs and fair charter school funding reforms. In the links below, you may review some of the presentations from the day.

Click here to view board meeting agendas, minutes, and Q&A