NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. by: John Gerow (RVO) – Redbank Valley School Directors were treated to a glimpse of the future Monday evening at their October meeting. Students in the Broadcast Journalism program treated the Directors to a “virtual reality” tour of New Bethlehem and Redbank Valley area that they had produced, in a demonstration of the “immersive” technologies that are becoming available as teaching tools. All of the Board members were in attendance except Dee Bell, who had previous commitments.

Mr. Mike Fricko, Broadcast Journalism teacher, opened the VR presentation by giving the Board some background to the story. Google, Inc. approached the Intermediate Units in Pennsylvania last school year with a proposal to allow some schools to use Google equipment to create a VR project. Redbank Valley High School was one of the schools chosen. Mr. Fricko recounted that the 360-degree camera and other equipment arrived during the last few days of last year’s school year, but they decided to pursue the project outside of school Eleven students spent the first two days of their summer vacation creating a VR history tour of the New Bethlehem and the Redbank Valley area. Directors were then given VR viewers through which they could see the images in the VR tour. Mr. Fricko went on to tell the meeting that the Redbank project had been one of a few that Google Expeditions will be hosting online in their Expeditions web site.  Debbie Dinger, K-12 gifted teacher, and 10th Grader Matthew Green  helped to give the presentation to the board.

These Virtual Reality expeditions are the newest way to give students an opportunity to “see” and “experience” people and places around the world and in different historical eras. Google, Inc. sells “VR kits” to schools which include the 360 degrees camera, teacher’s device, student viewers (in groups of 10), a router, and other ancillary equipment. These kits range in price from $4,700.00 to $10,500.00.

Along with the acknowledgment from Google Expeditions, Redbank Valley School District has also been honored by The Pennsylvania Department of Education, Division of Federal Programs. Intermediate Principal Cheryl McCauley informed the gathering that Redbank Valley Intermediate School has been chosen by the Division of Federal Programs as a Distinguished Title 1 School for the 2018-2019 school year. This award is given to the highest 5% of Title 1 schools based on proficiency in English Language Arts and Math Proficiency. Redbank Intermediate is one of 158 Title 1 schools in Pennsylvania being honored this year.

Acting Superintendent Dan Hawkins reported that there one drain in the renovated track that the contractor will come back to fix, at the contractor’s expense. He said that this repair should complete the track renovation. Mr. Hawkins also reported that the insurance company for the driver that drove through the athletic field fence would be responsible for repairs to the fence. Mr. Hawkins also reported that Mt. Aloysius College would acknowledge 12 – 15 credits from Redbank High School. These credits would still be available for this year’s students. He was not able to give a final cost per credit for students, nor how widely accepted these credits will be by other universities. Mr. Hawkins also reported that his initial investigation suggests that the curriculum for a cyber school program would cost less than $20,000. He pointed out that the District spent nearly $400,000 last year in cyber school costs for Redbank students who chose the cyber school option.

The Board next heard from Cafeteria Manager Dave Reitz. He was asked to explain why he had asked the Board to increase labor hours and costs. Mr. Reitz explained that the proposal on the Agenda was not accurate, in that 4 of the 5 increased hours requested were actually already being worked by those workers and simply needed to accurately set up. He also said that this proposal would allow him to use lower per hour workers instead of higher per hour workers. This will help the District save money.

In the discussion, Directors seemed uncertain about the actual additional costs of increasing the hours. Mr. Reitz maintained that there will be minimal additional costs. Board members also questioned how much additional revenue the cafeteria could generate by extending the free and reduced-cost meals. Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Reitz both believe that there are eligible students who are not receiving the benefit, thereby preventing the District from obtaining those subsidy payments.

Board President Chad Shaffer reported that the 6th Grade Committee had met and was finalizing a proposal to take to the community to bring the 6th grade into the high school building. He said that the plan being prepared will include costs for renovations to the building. Dr. Shaffer said that once the plans are finalized there will be a “town hall” meeting with the community.

In other business, the School Board voted to approve sending Lyndsay Blystone to the ECYEH Meeting the Challenge Conference in Harrisburg in October and Debra Dinger to the 2018 PAGE Conference in Cranberry Township in November. The cost of these events will be covered by Title IIA in the amount of $1,363.46.

At the suggestion of Acting Superintendent Hawkins, the Board voted to advertise for a full-time school psychologist. He explained that moving from a part-time to the full-time position would only cost the district about $23,000.00 per year. He told the meeting that this cost would be more than offset by the district being able to keep students in-house that are now having to attend other schools that do have full-time psychologists. Mr. Hawkins said that it costs the District about $35,000 per student to send students to other districts. Keeping one student in-house would more than offset the additional cost.

The meeting adjourned with Dr. Shaffer announcing that he Redbank Valley School Board will hold a Special Board Meeting on Wednesday, October 3, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. in the Redbank Valley 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