Wins Ritter’s vacant Region 2 seat in 6-2 victory over Alain Foster
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Dean Snyder is sworn into school board position by Judge Gregory Hines.
CALN – The Coatesville Area School Board voted in Dean Snyder to fill the Board’s vacant seat at their meeting Tuesday night. The decision came after a 6-2 vote, which placed Snyder over candidate Alain Foster.
A 24-year resident of the district with three children who graduated, Snyder has served on the school uniform and redistricting committees. He is currently a managing director at Automated Financial Systems Inc. out of Exton.
During candidate presentations before Tuesday night’s vote, Snyder said that his work experience will allow him to make responsible financial decisions with the school board. Additionally, he said that his skills would be best utilized as a member of the financial committee, which would allow him to fill the seat vacated by former board member Rick Ritter.
“I believe the school board needs dedicated and experienced people with good sound judgment,” he said.
In addition to his work and committee experience, Snyder said that he chaperoned field trips and helped with various fundraisers while his children were in school.
“Is there room for improvement? Of course. And that responsibility falls on all of us, students, teachers, administrators, board staff, parents, guardians and taxpayers. The school board serves the interest of all these groups, but above all, it serves the students because they are our future,” he said.
Also vying for the position were Alain Foster, who received two votes, and Christopher Taylor, who did not receive an official board nomination.
Though the verdict garnered applause from the audience, a few residents criticized the process before the decision took place.
During public comment at the beginning of the meeting, Fonz Newsuan expressed his desire for candidates to go through criminal and work history checks before they are eligible for nomination. Colleen Beckershoff said that her husband, Bob, did not receive questions from the district to be answered in front of the board as the candidates did on Tuesday night. Bob Beckershoff contested for Paul Johnson’s vacant seat in December.
“The process that happened this evening certainly did not happen in December,” she said. “The sham that happened in December did not happen tonight, and I’m very thrilled about that.”
Safiya Edwards also said that she would like to see a more transparent and uniform practice in the future.
In other district news, the board approved the construction of an outdoor training facility to be placed between the 9/10 Center and the high school football field.
The facility is to include a sand pit, weight training pads, a rope tower, and a 10’ by 12’ shed. After an $8,000 National Guard Donation and $3,445.89 contributed by the CASD Football Booster Club, the facility will cost the district $11,157.89.
The Board also approved the appointments of Lt. Col. James Turnbull and MSgt. Dr. Maurice Talley to instruct the AFJROTC program for the 2014-15 school year. The hirings are a culmination of parents and residents working with the district to bring the program back after being cut two years ago.
Other appointments included a hearing officer from Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith, legal services from Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Googin, and a letter of engagement for legal services from Levin Legal Group.
Though she would not comment on the items specifically, Superintendent Dr. Cathy Taschner said that such actions are always to provide due process for either a student or personnel issue.
Under Taschner’s guidance, the Board voted for the creation of a new position for the upcoming school year. Taschner said that the Assistant to the Superintendent for Curriculum and Learning will ease the burden on staff and administration in curriculum creation. She noted that the district recently paid the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development to create a portion of the curriculum.
“If you look at the money we paid for ASCD, we couldn’t continue to spend that type of money,” she said. The new position will allow teachers and administrators to look within the district for assistance in researching, writing, designing, and implementing curricula. She said the district must vet the position further before they know what salary will be required.
As of Tuesday night’s meeting, Taschner will also be allowed to offer positions to potential district employees prior to the Board’s Aug. 26 meeting. Candidates will still have to pass Board approval, but the decision will allow Taschner to contact potential teachers in a time frame competitive with other schools. She also said that the hiring process will be slowed down overall, with special emphasis being placed on applicants talking to more district personnel to get multiple perspectives on each person and ensuring they do not have family ties in the district
In another personnel move, the Board increased substitute teacher pay to $100 per day. CATA President Audra Ritter thanked the Board for the move, saying that the increased pay will bring about more consistent teaching quality when regular teachers must miss school. She also thanked the Board for approving a new contract with teachers before the upcoming school year.
In an effort to curtail district expenses, the district will freeze travel and lodging reimbursements for administrators during the 2014-15 fiscal year. Taschner noted that district administrators have been cooperative in the effort.
During her superintendent’s report, Taschner announced a number of changes to occur in the fall. Technology, science, and language courses will be added to the middle schools. Class sizes at the elementary schools—excluding Rainbow, which is short on classrooms—will be reduced to about 25 students. Study halls will be removed from the high school. School directors will be housed in school buildings rather than administrative buildings.
Tuesday night closed with a discussion between Solicitor James Ellison and Bob Keares, head of the Coatesville Solar Initiative. Ellison said that while CSI directors verbally promised savings to the district, the later contracts shown to the district did not reflect those savings. Keares said that numbers were agreed upon early on and then accused the Board of delaying proceedings in hammering out certain contract stipulations. Ellison countered, saying that CSI staff have been the ones not acting promptly.
