NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. by: John Gerow (RVO) – The water has receded and the cleanup is complete, but the Redbank Valley School Board continues to deal with issues that washed in with the flood waters on July 19th. Lisa Goth of the Charles P. Leech Insurance Agency presented the school directors with options for purchasing flood insurance for the New Bethlehem Elementary School. Mrs. Goth outlined some of the variables that the Board must consider before making a decision about whether to insure the elementary school building against future flooding.

Insuring the elementary against flooding presents a complex set of issues to the School Board. Under new insurance guidelines, the entire primary school building is at risk of flooding, even though only a small portion of the building sits within the US Geological Survey flood plain for Leisure Run. This makes flood insurance more expensive.

Insurers are also concerned that the property flooded this summer, leading several insurers to refuse coverage. While coverage is available through the National Flood Insurance Program, it is more expensive that other coverage, and has a $500,000.00 (for either structure damage or contents) threshold before the insurance begins to pay out. (The District would be liable for building, or content loss, up to $500,000.) This is the same coverage that the District has on the high school building.

Lisa Goth presents flood insurance options to the RVSB

Mrs. Goth presented the Board with a proposal for flood insurance for the elementary school. The policy would have a $4,000.00 deductible and would cost the District about $29,000.00 per year. In the discussion that followed, Jason Barnett asked if the Leech Agency could offer a policy with a higher deductible to decrease the premium cost. Mrs. Goth said that she would present a second proposal at Monday night’s regular Board meeting. Board President Chad Shaffer said that he was under the impression that the primary school building could not be insured. Mrs. Goth pointed out that the Leech Agency prepared a flood insurance quote for that building in 2014. Director Dee Bell questioned if spending $30,000 per year for insurance was prudent considering that the District might abandon that building and that there is still money in the Fund Balance to cover flood damages in the near future. Mrs. Goth pointed out that the damage from this summer’s flood was nearly $600,000. She told the Board that her husband, Ed Goth, who is the Borough’s Emergency Management Coordinator is concerned that the gravel bank in the Redbank and continued development along Leisure Run are making the chances of future flooding more likely. She also pointed out that failure to purchase flood insurance for the elementary school building could leave the Directors themselves liable for losses sustained by the District.

The one bright spot in this flood insurance discussion is that while discussing the primary school policy with The Hartford Insurance Co., Hartford discovered that they had over charged Redbank Valley School District for the past several years, and that the District will be receiving money back from the over payments.

The other major topic of the work session was a discussion of several purchases recommended by the Security Committee. Following 4 separate security studies over the past 2 years, the Committee recommended that the Board approve the purchase and installation of Knox Boxes in each school building, purchase a 2-way radio system to connect the administrators of all three buildings, purchase a 9-1-1 auto dial system, and the purchase of a RAPTOR computer program to track visitors who enter the schools. Each of the security studies recommended these purchases.

The Knox Boxes are small wall mounted safes that would house keys and a floor plan for each building. First responders would have the master key and could access keys in the event of an emergency within the building. Two-way radios would allow instantaneous communication between buildings in the event of emergencies. The 9-1-1 auto dial system would automatically call 9-1-1 in case of a fire. RAPTOR software connects the school building security people with various databases (such as the Megan’s Law database) allowing individuals to be “cleared” before entering any of the school buildings. Each of these items can enhance security, but each comes with costs.
The Knox Boxes would cost the District about $600 per unit. The enhanced 9-1-1 system would cost $1,800 to install in all three schools, but would also come with an annual maintenance fee of $1,800 per year. Following a brief discussion, the Security Committee withdrew its recommendation for the two-way radios pending further study. The RAPTOR software would cost $5,784.00 and would also have annual maintenance fees attached.

New Bethlehem Elementary School

In the rather wide-ranging discussion that followed, directors raised interesting questions about each of these purchases. Director Darren Bain had questions about the cost of the Knox Boxes and expressed concern that the District would have no control over which first responders had the keys to the Knox Boxes. Mr. Bain also expressed concern that the RAPTOR software, which he uses at his work, may be too invasive to use for tracking students, and that unauthorized people can use the system to find out who might be in the building. Dr. Mastillo explained that only 4 people in each building would have access to the information within the RAPTOR system and that, initially, the system would not scan students in and out of the buildings and would, initially, be used only for checking sex offender status, custodial parental rights, and other limits on adults being allowed in the school buildings. Director Dee Bell expressed frustration that the Board was once again, considering significant spending on things that have on going costs. He argued that there is a history of the Board spending money without doing enough research and planning. Mr. Bain, saying that before money the Board spends money there should be a plan in place.

In a final bit of work, the Board decided to put together a committee to plan a public relations campaign for the tax increase referendum planned for the 2020 election year. Dr. Mastillo told the Board that he had spoken with several PR firms that conduct these sorts of campaigns. He said that his initial research showed that hiring a PR firm would be too expensive for the Board to consider, with fees ranging up to $100,000 for a complete PR campaign. Dr. Shaffer suggested that the members of the Board can promote the referendum on their own. Director Jason Barnett will chair this committee.

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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