Residents question hiring decisions; no decision on status of CASD police
By Lauren Parker-Gill, Staff Writer, The Times
While Coatesville Area School District officials described the preparations for the 2015-16 school year, some residents questioned the district’s hiring practices during the recent CASD Board of Education meeting.
CALN – As the CASD board of directors and superintendent Dr. Cathy Taschner focused on positive changes in place for the 2015 – 2016 school year last Tuesday, parents and citizens of Coatesville raised questions about the hiring practices in the district and expressed concerns about security and how the district’s police will be effected.
The superintendent’s report focused on the beginning of the new school year by reporting on meetings with teachers:
“It was with great pleasure that we met with the entire teaching staff today. We talked about persisting and possibility. It was a wonderful morning of introductions of new employees, regrouping with our former colleagues. It was full of laughter and inspiration.” Taschner said.
Taschner discussed the soon-to-be formed steering committee for the exploration of a CASD STEM School. Interested teachers, administrators, students, parents, industry professionals and community partners will receive notice of the creation of the committee in mid to late September.
Taschner also went on to state that both the Chester County Intermediate Unit (responsible for providing mental health services) and EBS (responsible for providing speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy and nursing services) have fully staffed the district and are ready to provide services to students.
In addition, one position within mental health services will be increased to a 12-month work schedule to ensure caseloads and schedules can be managed throughout the summer months and will also allow the specialist to keep in touch with students.
Regarding technology, the wireless project throughout the district is complete and guest access is now available in schools. All UPS devices and the new firewall have been installed. The first wave of laptops will be delivered Aug. 31, the first day of school for students.
“As I traveled through the schools today and yesterday, it was exciting to see the new books, the new resources that will soon be in the hands of children.’ Taschner said.
As an extension of Taschner’s report, Craig Bramble provided an update on summer projects and progress in schools in preparation for the first day of school. Many repairs and improvements have been completed at Caln Elementary, including work on the modulars, front lobby and courtyard. The gym floor at the 9/10 center will have its temporary repair completed and all classrooms, hallways in schools will be completed before school begins.
Work will begin on the Reeceville Elementary roof during the first week of September. Work that is quiet and does not cause odors will be done during the school days, with the majority of the work being completed Fridays after school and during weekends, while following township guidelines for construction and noise. The roof project is on track to be completed Nov. 1.
School board president Dean Snyder introduced district solicitor, Mike Levin, and invited him to comment on the lawsuit against former solicitor James E. Ellison and the Rhoads & Sinon law firm that was dismissed by Judge Jeffrey R. Sommer Wednesday.
“As is not unusual, the court decided that an amended complaint should be filed and he will consider the amended complaint. After that, the defendants can file preliminary objections.” Levin said.
Judge Sommer has given the district 20 days to file an amendment to the lawsuit, containing only the counts of breach of contract and legal malpractice.
“We will be filing an amended complaint under the rules of the court.” Levin said.
In the interest of saving time, the board decided to vote on most items under the consent agenda, as they were discussed at previous committee meetings before being brought to the board meeting. Those items included bills payable and financial statements, new hires, resignations, approval of bus runs, a donation from Kelly Sports to King’s Highway Elementary, the approval of an evaluator for the Century Community Learning Center federal grant. Also approved was a one-year contract with Apex Learning Digital Curriculum Solutions to provide online curriculum to students enrolled in the CASD Cyber School and Turning Points, and the IXP Corp. video surveillance design and project management project.
One item withheld from the consent agenda vote, at the request of school board member Diane Brownfield, was the motion to approve the contract for a practical nursing program – clinical experiences.
“The practical nursing program is wonderful. We love that our students are in it. We know that as a part of being in it, they are going to be privy to certain information, things that they hear and it’s important that they understand those responsibilities, that the district takes precautions to make sure they understand them.” Taschner explained.
Taschner went on to say school districts typically have these contracts and it was unusual not to have one.
“It’s in the best interest and the safety of the students.” Taschner said.
During public comment, there were several accusations of nepotism and cronyism from members of the public, stemming from rumors of the hiring of the Human Resources Director’s husband, as well as the appointment of Mr. Robert Fisher to Supervisor of Campus Principals and Programming.
In response, school board president Dean Snyder released the following statement in an email Friday:
“Our current school board has been very involved in ensuring that our hiring practices are open and inclusive, and that we are following best practices and involving many layers of staff. No candidate is hired by one individual. There is always a panel of staff, and our school board reviews each candidate’s background clearances. We are very supportive of and confident in the manner in which Dr. Taschner has been managing our human resources issues. This is clearly something that was a serious problem in Coatesville for years and we are confident that we are not repeating the mistakes of the past. It is unfortunate that baseless, misleading, incomplete allegations and accusations can sometimes be presented to the public. The board will continue to practice its proper responsibility of confidentiality and legal restraint on personnel matters and cannot always respond in detail to these comments.”
“When you have a panel of administrators as a part of the hiring process, not everyone is going to agree.” Taschner added in a phone call Wednesday.
Without going into specific details regarding personnel, Taschner stated that any candidate being hired by the district would have been on the board agenda Tuesday; meaning if a person’s name is not listed, they are not being hired.
John Contento, president of the board of commissioners of Caln Township also spoke about rumors in the district regarding eliminating the CASD police department and replacing officers with security guards.
“In the past school year, the school district police department received approximately 744 calls for service, with the majority of those being handled internally without the need for assistance from municipal police departments.” Contento stated.
Contento went on to express concerns that replacing the school district’s police department with security guards will put a burden on municipal police departments with increased calls for service throughout the district.
“The negative impact of a reported increase in local school crimes could undo all the positive changes that this board has been making as well as hurt overall property values.” Contento continued.
In a phone call Wednesday, Taschner stated that no decision has been made with regard to eliminating the school district police department.
“The safety and security of our students and staff is paramount.” Taschner said.
Referencing a board summary from Aug. 15 that was emailed district-wide, Taschner maintains that the district will be holding town hall meetings to continue discussions about security.
“The administration will be providing the board with statistics on the use of police within our district and will also be presenting information on the national conversations that are occurring with regard to school discipline and use of police in schools. In addition to continued discussion at the school board meetings, the administration and board are planning community forums to continue this discussion. Notices will be sent out to invite parents, students, community leaders, community members and other interested parties to the meetings. We hope you will join us in these series of discussions.” The email read.
In addition, Taschner stated that she would also be reaching out to municipal police throughout the district for their feedback.
