The Tyrone School Board of Directors voted 7-1 last night in favor to rename the Athletic Park on the old Hagg Farm after Harry K. Sickler Jr.
Board member William Hartsock voted against the measure, and Brian Bressler was absent from the meeting.
“I’m very positive in terms of naming the fields after Harry,” said Dr. William Miller, Tyrone Superintendent of Schools. “As far as his contributions to the community, the school and athletics, what Harry has done over the past decade is impressive. It shows a lot of the respect we have for him. It is the ultimate form of respect, having something of this stature named after you. I am an advocate of people who commit their lives to worthwhile service. Harry has done that.”
The ballfields are in the process of a $495,000 renovation. The fields were originally were purchased and constructed for $1.5 million.
“I’m very humbled by this,” Sickler told The Daily Herald. It is something I certainly didn’t ask for. From what I understand this has been in the something the Schools have been pondering for a while and George Czap was one of the people who were out front of this at the time. I never expect anything in return from the community. I am very glad that the honor I received had something to do with athletics as you know how I feel about them. There are so many people in this community who have done so many things for our community. I’m very honored to receive this from the Board and School District.”
The meeting started with thirty minutes of public comment, most of it dealing with the Pyramid Healthcare issue.
The Principals of the Elementary, Middle and High Schools made presentations to show the Board the improvement in the PSSA test scores Tyrone students made over the past year. There will be more in depth coverage concerning the test scores and what they mean to your child’s education in Friday’s Daily Herald.
The Board voted 8-0 to accept the Administration’s discipline of two students for a weapons violation. The students had a purple and orange plastic revolver type cap gun. The students are back in school after a 10 day suspension, 15 days out of extra-cirricular activities and need to perform community service by December 1.
The Board approved the hiring of Gia Patton as Instructional Aide, Tim Walk as Auto Shop program assistant, Audio/Visual/Lighting/Sound technician, Will Jones as the new Drama Coach and Teresa Turner as the new full-time Elementary School secretary.
The Board also voted to advertise a new position for a varsity assistant girls basketball coach and to accept Richard Yohner as a volunteer varsity football coach.
The next meeting of the Tyrone School Board of Directors is Monday, November 4 for their monthly work session.
