Oxford School Board member Joe Starcheski tendered his resignation from the board effective March 15.

Starcheski held one of the district's three at-large seats. His term was to expire in 2019.

The school board officially accepted the resignation at the March 15 meeting. School board president Richard Orpneck said that Starcheski cited a combination of reasons for the resignation.

Orpneck explained that, according to state regulations, the vacancy needs to be filled within 30 days. The district was going to advertise the vacancy immediately. Any resident who has an interest in filling the vacancy should submit a letter of interest and resume to Brian Cooney, the district's business administrator. The applications should be mailed or delivered to the Oxford Area School District' administration building at 125 Bell Tower Lane in Oxford. In order to be eligible to be elected or appointed to serve on a school board in the state, a person must be a resident of Pennsylvania and must be at least 18 years of age. In order to be eligible to fill this vacancy, a person must also have been a resident of the district for at least one year prior to the appointment date. The deadline to apply is at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 8.

The school board will then interview the qualified candidates at the next work session, which will be held on Tuesday, April 12. Interviews are expected to start at approximately 7:30 that evening. The person selected to fill the vacancy will serve until the next school board election, which will take place in November of 2017.

The district is hosting a College and Career Planning Night on April 7 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Representatives from approximately 40 universities, health care programs, trade schools, and the U.S. armed services will be at the event to make presentations to students and their parents. The event takes place in the cafeteria of the school located at 705 Waterway Road in Oxford.

In her report to the school board, Dr. Margaret Billings-Jones, the district's assistant superintendent, offered an update about various curriculum initiatives that are underway. A special meeting to offer an overview of the curriculum changes to the community is slated for April 14.

Steve Roberts, the president of the Oxford Educational Foundation, said that the two new volunteers who were approved by the school board brings the total number of Oxford Educational Foundation volunteers to 74. These volunteers work with students in the district as tutors or mentors.

The school board had a second reading for a new policy regarding the administration of naloxone to anyone who is suffering an overdose of opiates that include morphine, heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, and hydrocodone. Naloxone, which is also known by its brand name Narcan, is frequently used by emergency responders to treat an opioid overdose. Narcan displaces the opioid from receptors in the brain to reverse the effects of an overdose. It has been used by emergency responders to save lives. Narcan has few side effects, and if it is administered to a person who is not having an opiate overdose, it will do no harm.

Details about the proposed budget for 2016-2017 will be discussed at the next school board work session at 7 p.m. on April 12. The next regular school board meeting will take place on April 19. Both meetings will be held in the Administration Building.