In a jam-packed Kutztown Area School District School Board meeting, safety reigned supreme as a topic of conversation, dominating two important topics of discussion.
The first involved PennDOT’s roadwork at Zettlemoyer Road and Pennsylvania Route 737, which directly affects Greenwich-Lenhartsville Elementary School. According to Board Vice-President Randy Burch, PennDOT made an initial plan to relocate Zettlemoyer Road, but the board raised “certain safety concerns with that proposed design.”
The board set up meetings with PennDOT to share these concerns, which led to a revamped construction plan.
“We were able to get cooperation and PennDOT thankfully did agree to make certain design modifications to the road that we feel helps with the safety concerns that we had brought [to them],” Burch said in an interview with The Patriot.
At Monday’s meeting, the board briefly discussed the proposed traffic light at the new intersection of Zettlemoyer Road and Route 737, which according to Burch was not part of PennDOT’s original plan.
The light was an add-on to address the board’s concern of the relocated Zettlemoyer Road being in close proximity to vehicles exiting the school.
In addition to the traffic light, the road will no longer be relocated as close to the school as in the original blueprints. Several safety precautions are also being implemented, including a jersey barrier to keep vehicles from exiting the road and entering school property in the event of an accident.
“It really was all about safety and trying to make sure the road is done as safely as possible for the kids,” Burch said.
Ultimately, the board unanimously approved to enter into a maintenance and indemnification agreement with Greenwich Township subject to review and approval by the district solicitor and Superintendent Katherine Metrick regarding the proposed traffic light.
In other safety-related news, Kutztown Area Middle School Counselor Hallie Schumacher and Kutztown Area High School Counselor Andrew Brett expressed their desire to see the emergency staff leader positions at both the middle and high schools re-filled. The paid positions were created for the 2013-14 school year, but the board chose not to fill them for the 2014-15 school year.
Last school year, the emergency staff leader positions were filled by Schumacher and Brett. They were the go-to people in any sort of crisis, however big or small, and were entrusted to make critical decisions in their respective building.
Thus far in the current school year, the vice principal for grades 6-12 has been appointed to handle all emergency situations at both the middle and high school.
Schumacher and Brett stated their belief that it was not only more practical, but also safer to have an emergency staff leader at each school to handle emergencies immediately, instead of waiting for a single administrator to arrive on the scene. They cited two examples of incidences in the past month where issues were not handled in what they considered a timely manner because of events overlapping and the inconvenience of traveling between buildings.
The board did not make any official decisions, but member Al Darion suggested the topic be discussed further at a future executive session.
In other news, the board approved Student Council’s overnight, charitable Mini-THON event to take place on Feb. 27 and lasting into Feb. 28.
Student Council member Tyler Akers gave a brief overview of the proposed event, which raises money for childhood cancer research through the Four Diamonds charity.
According to Four Diamonds’ website, their mission is to “conquer childhood cancer by assisting children treated at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital and their families through superior care, comprehensive support and innovative research.”
In Akers’ brief presentation, he stated that more than 100 schools have adopted the Mini-THON to help raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer. Kutztown’s event will include sports, board games and of course, food to keep participants entertained and awake throughout the night.
“We have a very giving community, and our kids are that way as well. They’re passionate about this,” Superintendent Katherine Metrick said. “Our kids are mighty. They really put their hearts into it, and they achieve amazing things.”