Cost savings and questions over certifications cited as reason
By Lauren Parker-Gill, Staff Writer, The Times
Coatesville Area School District Superintendent of Schools Cathy Taschner discusses a plan to outsource mental health services in the district during last week’s Board of Education meeting.
CALN – The Coatesville Area School District board of directors took strides to improve the security, phone and computer systems throughout the district at the monthly board meeting Tuesday, though emotions ran high among those in attendance as the school board voted to eliminate six positions in the field of mental health, in favor of purchased services, citing both economic and improper certifications as reasons.
“We are just one short year into addressing what has been a culture of corruption and there is still much work to be done.” said superintendent Dr. Cathy Taschner before the official vote.
Referencing the numerous personnel changes that have taken place in the district within the past year, Taschner stated they have not been easy on anyone involved and maintained that the district is taking the necessary steps to ensure the students receive the highest level of services. Taschner also insisted this decision was not meant to minimize the effected employees’ devotion to the district or the students, but will ultimately be in the best interest of the district.
“They have done the best they could possibly do for our students.” said Taschner.
Although the public is given the opportunity to speak about items on the agenda at the beginning of the meeting, the board voted to modify the public comment policy and opened the floor to hear the public speak, before officially voting on the motion to eliminate the behavioral health and mental health positions.
Jennifer Ewing of Downingtown, has a son who is going into his senior year at Coatesville. After briefly describing his struggles and rapport with mental health specialist Barry Hawkins, Ewing asked what accommodations will be made for her son so he will receive the support to which he has grown accustomed.
“Mr. Hawkins has been instrumental in getting my son this far. Who is going to be there to help him transition?” asked Ewing.
Karen Hills of Coatesville, secretary at East Fallowfield Elementary and wife of Joseph Hills, who is a mental health specialist in the district, tearfully spoke of her husband’s commitment to the district and students.
“My husband is a graduate of Coatesville…he worked hard at his job, the kids looked up to him as their dad. You are taking away a big part of his life, you are tearing his heart out.” stated Hills.
After quietly listening to public comment, the board of directors voted to eliminate the six positions, effective Aug. 23, 2015 with board member Diane Brownfield voting no, and James Hills abstaining, though he stated that he would have also voted against this motion.
The board also voted to reverse the tenure of the behavioral and mental health specialists, citing that their employment classification was not in a professional category and they were issued mistakenly and improperly according to school code.
“According to Pennsylvania School Code, they were not eligible to be tenured employees.” Deets said.
A motion was then made to approve a letter of agreement for psychiatric and educational services with the Chester County Intermediate Unit.
The district has been experiencing technical difficulties with the telephone system; it was discovered that the entire phone system was so outdated no one would service it. Therefore, the board voted to approve a contract with Logic Choice Business Technologies, LLC for telephone project hardware, a telephone system, cloud hosting, dial tone package and maintenance support. This will also provide the district with a number of features such as video conferencing, call conferencing, the ability to VPN in and text messaging services.
Craig Bramble gave a facilities update, including clean up and repair work, along with HVAC work being done at Caln Elementary. Several repairs are also being completed at South Brandywine Middle School and East Fallowfield Elementary, as all schools in the district are continuing with their annual cleaning efforts.
Repairs will also be made to the gym floor of the 9/10 center due to water damage from a water fountain that leaked. Estimates for that repair is approximately $44,500 and a claim has been made to the insurance company.
Chambers & Associates Incorporated has been approved to provide the design, bidding, and construction administration of the HVAC system at the Benner Building, which houses organizations that rent the space from the district.
The wireless project has been completed; all classrooms and buildings are now wireless. Taschner stated the district also has plans to open a guest network so guests can access the wireless network when in the buildings for events and board meetings.
The district approved a three-year lease agreement with Dell Financial Services that will put computers in every classroom and will give every teacher a laptop. Some computer labs will remain; however computers that are outdated will be removed. The lease agreement will cost the district $373,138.64 annually.
“Technology is an investment; it’s an investment into our children’s education and our district’s future.” stated Taschner.
Reeceville Elementary will be getting a new, state-of-the-art TPA and PVC roof. A motion was approved to hire JM Young to install and maintain the roof for $898,200 with a 20-year warranty. According to Jeff Chambers, TPA and PVC are better materials and may provide more longevity than the less expensive options that were presented.
The board of directors approved the hiring of Eric Daney as a Secondary Assistant Principal for the district and changed the status of Jonette Marcus from Language Arts Specialist to Assistant Principal of Caln Elementary. The position of Language Arts Specialist was officially eliminated.
The position of Director of High School and Curriculum Instruction, Special Education (Grades 6-12) was also eliminated. According to Taschner, the school board never approved the position and special education needs a dedicated person.
The school board voted to approve spending $73,000 to IPX Corporation to design an IP Video Surveillance System for all schools throughout the district, which will come from the Capital Projects account. While the design does not include the actual equipment or installation, the plan will include state of the art digital cameras.
“The current system is far outdated…it was a hodge-podge collection, there are many dead spots. We need a full evaluation, we need to improve the system, not just upgrade.” Deets said.
“It’s part of taking care or our property, it’s part of taking care of our children and making sure our children and staff are safe,” added Taschner.
Of note: A meeting for all committees will be held Aug. 11 at 6 p.m. immediately followed by a special board meeting.
