NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. by: John Gerow (RIO) – Following Director Jason Barnett’s lead, the Redbank Valley School Board pulled two new expense items from their Agenda for their October meeting at Thursday night’s work session. Votes to consider buying into a central station fire alarm system and increasing staff hours in the cafeteria have been tabled allowing the Board members to gather more information about each of these issues before voting to add more spending. All of the Directors attended the work session except for Dee Bell. Ann Kopnitsky arrived after 7 PM.

The work session began with a discussion regarding contracting a central station fire alarm system for the three buildings in the district. The company that has the camera system in the school buildings wants to add on the Fire Alarm system. Discussion suggested that there was a $10,000 “miscellaneous” expense built into the building and facility budget that could be used for the purchase and set up of the call system, which at this point is estimated to cost $9,350.00 to set up. Annual subscription and maintenance costs would be $3,600.00 per year.

Director Darren Bain asked if the District had gotten other bids for a similar system. Bill Reddinger said that he does not think that Proctor Fire Protection Company would agree to have another vendor “tie-in” or “piggyback” on Procter’s camera and alarm system that is currently in use in the buildings. Mr. Reddinger thinks that the District is “bound” to the current electronic surveillance provider should the District want expanded electronic coverage. Board President Chad Shaffer asked why the annual cost was so high. He was also concerned that, at this point, no one really had a clear idea of what the system was, how it worked, or why it would be a good investment and expense. Darren Bain said that the annual cost seemed excessive to him as well. Director Jason Barnett said that before approving a no-bid contract, the Board needs to gather more information, look into other vendors and systems, and get other estimates.  The Board decided to remove the vote from Monday night’s Agenda to allow them to find out more about the system, alternatives, and costs.

Mr. Barnett also said that it would not be appropriate to use budgeted “miscellaneous expense” to install this system, he says it should be done for next year through the budget process. Darren Bain suggested that money could be moved within the Building and Maintenance budget rather than waiting for another year’s budget. The Board agreed to do more research and not to vote on this next week.

Another item that was scheduled for a vote next Monday was increasing hours of 4 cafeteria workers and the hiring of an additional worker. The group discussion centered on the uncertainty of why after a month into the school year, the cafeteria needed more hours on some workers and an additional cafeteria worker. The discussion questioned why there would be increased staffing, as part of the reorganization of the Cafeteria and sharing the services of Cafeteria Manager David Reitz had been promised with no increased staffing. Director Darren Bain pointed out that the increases in wages in the proposal as presented would add $13,000 to the Cafeteria’s operating expenses. The Board asked Mr. Hawkins, Acting Superintendent, to have Mr. Reitz come to the Monday Board meeting to explain what he wants and the costs.

The work session wound down with Dr. Nair expressing his frustration that parents and residents don’t understand that, while they are welcome to come to public meetings, they are not part of the meeting. In the discussion that followed, several ideas were floated: hosting “town hall” meetings and inviting parents and residents to a “conversation” about the schools. During the “public comment” section at the end of the meeting, a local resident told the Board that they did not have the support of the community. He went on to say that the Board needed to embark on major outreach and suggested that the Board use the New Bethlehem media to reach the public and to let the parents know what is really going on. The Board moved to an executive session, ending the public portion of the meeting.

The Redbank Valley School Board will hold its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday evening October 1 in the High School cafeteria.

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ABOUT:
Redbank Valley School District provides education services for the 165 square mile area of New Bethlehem and Hawthorn boroughs, and the townships of Mahoning, Madison, Porter, and Redbank of both Clarion and Armstrong counties.

MEETINGS:
The Redbank Valley School Board meetings the first Monday of every month at 7pm at the High School Library.

CONTACT:
For more information about the Redbank Valley School District, please call 814.275.2426 or visit RedbankValley.org/pg/biz/redbank-valley-school-district