North Brandywine, Caln to receive $2.4M of repairs each among other projects
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Paul Draper recounts his experiences as a mock trial team member. Draper said that the team helped students improve their analytic and critical thinking.
CALN – The Coatesville Area School District’s Operations Committee agreed to add a vote on restoring Caln Elementary, East Fallowfield Elementary, and the district’s Facilities Building to the next school board agenda. The vote was taken at Tuesday night’s school board committees meetings, and these renovations will be a part of the district’s larger plans to make repairs to schools around the district over the summer.
At the Operations Committee meeting, District Project Manager Bill Androwick presented plans to make $2.46M of refurbishments to North Brandywine and $2.45M of refurbishments to Caln. Among the many repairs, North will replace ceilings, windows, and gym bleachers as well as having the hallways painted and various repairs to the heating system. In addition to the roof replacement, Caln will also receive ceiling, floor, and classroom door replacements as well as upgrades to the HVAC system.
Some of the other repairs to happen around the district include installing a generator at Friendship, replacing carpeting at Reeceville, replacing classroom ceilings at Kings Highway, replacing the gym floor at CASH, replacing the energy management system at East Fallowfield, replacing the scoreboard in the 9/10 Center gym, and upgrading the fire alarm system at Scott.
In addition, all of the district’s buildings will receive wireless mesh networks.
Androwick referred to the plans as a “living document” during his presentation, meaning that changes will be made as needed. In particular, Board President Neil Campbell asked Androwick to examine sidewalks that may have been damaged after the harsh winter.
In other district news, the Board voted to refinance its general obligation bonds (GOBs) in a special school board meeting held Tuesday night.
Rick Ritter said that refinancing the 2006 bonds will allow the district to save $500-600k, with most of savings coming in the next few years.
In addition, the district will refinance a portion of its unfunded actuarial accrued liability.
The board acted quickly on the matter, voting to add the item to a school board agenda during the Finance and Personnel Committee meeting and then recessing that meeting to immediately vote to take action during the special board meeting.
After continuing the Finance and Personnel meeting, Pam Baker from Barbacane, Thornton, and Company LLP presented her company’s findings for the 2012-2013 auditor’s report.
Baker said that the district cut its deficit from $4.9M to $1.4M last school year, largely due to the district making $2.1M more in revenues than expected and spending $231k less than expected.
“This indicates significant movement in the right direction,” she said.
Baker also said that the general fund still borrowed from the capital fund due to a deficit in the general fund, but the borrowing decreased, and she said that the general fund deficit will hopefully be gone next year.
She said that quite a few areas were closely examined, particularly those that may have lacked checks and balances due to the district’s not having a capital asset manager. For example, she said that there were findings in the district’s finances of reduced priced meals last year, but the district was in compliance this year.
In response to a question posed by board member Deborah Thompson, Baker said that she did not see the need for an independent audit, explaining that such action could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars unless the district has something specific to be examined.
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” said Baker. “We placed emphasis where there could be gaps in controls.”
The Finance and Personnel Committee also voted to consider the exoneration of uncollectible tax liens at the next Board meeting.
The liens total $130k, many uncollectible due to situations such as homes being repossessed or burnt down and not rebuilt.
During Tuesday night’s Community and Student Relations Committee meeting, the district took action to review some of its policies.
At the next Board meeting, members will vote on the formation of a policy committee consisting of Board Members, administrators, staff, and community members. The Board will also vote on having the Pennsylvania School Board Association review policies and give one year of administrative regulation updates.
“We should always be in the process of reviewing policies,” said Assistant Superintendent Dr. Angel Romaniello.
The Board will also vote on the use of the stadium by the Chester County Special Olympics and Valor Bowl.
During an information item, Wilbur Wolf detailed the 9/10 Center’s status as a Point of Distribution in the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) program.
The program, designed in case of large scale emergency such as pandemic or natural disaster, utilizes the 9/10 Center as one of 14 facilities in Chester County to distribute medicine and medical equipment.
The district hopes to hold an emergency simulation in the next six to nine months to reach the SNS’s top readiness level.
During the Education Committee meeting, members voted to add an item allowing Coatesville Area Teachers Association members to visit Toms River, NJ in order to learn more about the Integrity Health Systems healthcare plan that the district is looking to implement.
However, Education Committee Member Deborah Thompson opposed the idea, saying that she does not think now is the time for the district to consider a healthcare program without having more information on teacher interests and potential costs.
“We need to have that discussion,” she said of implementing the plans.
Other Education Committee members were in favor of sending teachers to Toms River so that they could better understand the discussion.
“The only way we’re going to obtain that information is to have them go down and take a look,” said Campbell.
During the Education Committee’s informational presentations, CASH Principal Robert Fisher and teacher Joe Tassoni recognized the high school’s mock trial team.
Started this year, the team took part in a competition held by the Pennsylvania Bar Association. The competition pitted schools against each other in simulated courtroom proceedings. Coatesville’s students, who were forced to take on 100 pages of information about their case, defeated Kennett and Rustin before losing to last year’s state champions, Quigley Catholic High School, by one point.
Their performance earned them an invitation to a tournament March 22-23 at Devon Prep.
“Our students became more confident in their abilities,” said team member Paul Draper who hopes to pursue a career in law. “Most importantly, I think we gained a deeper understanding of our rights in the legal system.
