Concerns expressed over lack of classroom phones
By Lauren Parker-Gill, Staff Writer, The Times
East Fallowfield resident Marnie Gibson expressed concerns for students’ and staffs’ safety while many classrooms were without phones since the beginning of the school year.
CALN – The Coatesville area School District is studying the possibility of reopening Gordon Elementary School — currently leased to Lincoln University – as a possible fix to overcrowding in the district’s schools.
The district’s Board of Education held its monthly meeting of all committees, along with a special board meeting at the 9/10 center of the high school last Tuesday, where the possibility of reopening the Gordon Center was discussed in an effort to maintain lower class sizes and limit the use of modular units throughout the district.
All six elementary schools in the district are at capacity and South Brandywine Middle School has approximately 140 more students than the other two middle schools. With no classrooms to spare and the conditions of some of the current modular units being such that students should be transitioned out, combined with the district’s current financial constraints that will not allow for the possibility of a new building, Superintendent Dr. Cathy Taschner proposed an enrollment projection study:
“The enrollment projection study will serve two purposes. The first will be to examine the enrollment projections at each of our buildings over the next 3-5 years. The enrollment study will also provide opportunities to look at configurations of students that would attend each school.” Taschner stated in an email.
The building that was once Gordon Elementary has been leased to Lincoln University for the past three years for $1 per year. Taschner has been communicating with administrators for Lincoln University, to discuss transitioning out of that building. Taschner has also asked Craig Bramble of the facilities department for the district to conduct a preliminary walk-through of the building, to assess what would be needed to reopen Gordon.
“It would certainly be more economical than looking at adding new modular units, which aren’t always the best learning environment anyway.” Taschner said.
The operations committee moved the approval of the enrollment projection study to the full board to be voted upon at the next school board meeting, which will be held Oct. 27. If approved, the district intends to share the results of the study with the public, as well as seek feedback regarding possible effects of enrollment changes.
The education committee discussed the possibility of purchasing InfoSnap online registration software that will streamline the registration process for the district. It will allow residents to register their students online, at their own convenience, instead of making an appointment with the district. The setup price will be $30,960 with an annual renewal fee of $18,810, which was the most conservative quote the district received, compared to another initial quote for software of $49,250 and annual renewal of $40,550 according to business administrator for the Coatesville district Ron Kabonick.
During public comment, East Fallowfield resident Marnie Gibson expressed concern for the safety of the students and staff in classrooms without phones. At the end of the meeting, Taschner gave an update on the new phone system. Referencing the delay that was caused by the original financing being sold to another company, Taschner again explained it could not continue forward without board approval.
“This has been a long and arduous process. There was a time when we would have, perhaps in the district, just ordered the phones and moved the money from one place to the next, but that would not have been in accordance with the school code. There is a process we had to follow and we’ve done that.” Taschner stated.
Addressing Gibson’s concern for the safety of students and staff, Taschner said they began school for the year with a specific plan in place, with the teachers and administrators to ensure communication between classrooms and administrators.
Referencing a grant the district received for walkie-talkies, Taschner explained that they are also being used in emergency situations; they were not the only means for communication. There are times when, in emergency situations, phones are not the recommended way to communicate and the walkie-talkies and repeaters will be used during those times. A system is in the works that will allow communication throughout the district and also connect with our public safety department, without the use of the phones.
“We’re not just taking care of phones. We’re taking care of increasing emergency preparedness across the district, some of which we share openly and some we will not share openly because it would be inappropriate to do so and it could impact the security of the students.” said Taschner.
“I reject the notion that our students have been at risk.” Taschner added.
The original phone numbers and auto attendants are back in use. The classroom phones arrived, were catalogued and being delivered as the meeting took place. Technicians planned to work late through the week and into the weekend if necessary, until completion.
“People have not had technology in this district for a long time. If you let things go and you don’t take care of them and you don’t have a plan, like we do now to replace equipment, you’re going to end up in a very difficult and potentially dangerous situation. That happened here.” Taschner said.
Taschner went on to reference the improvements to technology that has been made in the past year with new firewall, new wireless, new laptops, computers and phones. All of which had been neglected under the previous administration for the past 10 years or more.
The board also discussed refinancing of the Series A General Obligation Bonds for the years 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009, which were before the current administration and 2014, which is under the current administration. This was moved to the full board and voted upon at the special board meeting. Kabonick stated that the previous administration had not completed or filed the appropriate reports for the bonds to the PDE. Once the district does create and file the PlanCon-K documents, and the district starts getting reimbursed for eligible projects and the government adopts a budget, Kabonick estimates the district could be owed $2.7 million.
Also discussed was an agreement with Crown Benefits Administration, Inc. for the administration of the COBRA benefits program. The district would be responsible for a one-time $2.50 general notification fee, plus an administration charge of $1.40 per month, per member. The district will charge each active member a 2 percent COBRA administration fee and the terms are from Dec. 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016 with an option to renew annually.
The policy committee went through first and second readings of new policies regarding procedure/administrative regulations, authority and powers, the district solicitor, attendance at meetings via electronic communication and suicide awareness, prevention and response. Also discussed was the Internet Usage and Social Media Survey; the surveys, one for parents and one for teachers, were on the site and were taken by 116 parents and 177 teachers. Taschner will be putting together a slide presentation with the results for the public to view at a future meeting.
During the special board meeting, the school board voted on financial statements for August 2015, the PlanCon-K refinancing of the 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2014 Series A General Obligation Bonds, the agreement with Crown Benefits Administration Inc. for the COBRA benefits program, an agreement with Prudential Insurance Company, Tri-M Cyber Station Software, the installation of the Benner Building chiller for $141,980.00, the human resources report and a job description revision for the position of human resources generalist.
