Board votes 8-1 to approve club; outsourcing of facilities work discussed
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The TImes
CALN – The Coatesville Area School Board approved the establishment of a CASH Gay Straight Alliance chapter at Tuesday night’s meeting.
Though the 8-1 vote was met with audience applause, the decision came with its share of board discussion and negative feedback.
“You really don’t understand what decision you just made because God is not pleased,” said Pastor Randall Harris. He said that God punished Sodom and Gomorrah for their actions, so the board should take careful consideration of its vote. He asked the board to take the vote off the table.
Board member Deborah Thompson said that she would like to see more detailed plans for the club before voting. She said that the SPIRIT club, for example, had its direction, advisors, and other aspects laid out before getting approval.
“The ALCU does not sit on this board, they do not represent our students, they do not represent our district and taxpayers,” she said.
She also said that she does not want “step on parents’ rights.”
District Superintendent Dr. Cathy Taschner said that her research indicated that blocking the formation of the club could violate the Equal Access Act.
“It basically says that after school clubs—when we allow one, we allow them all,” she said.
Ann Wuertz said that she sought council and prayed on the topic, and she ended up favoring the club because no student in the district should feel unloved or unrespected.
Thompson also said that she expected students or staff to comment on the GSA during public comment, but none did.
Junior School Board Representative Andrew Scott Patterson said that many of his classmates want to see the club happen, but they do not feel safe speaking in front of the school board and audience members with such strong opinions.
“It’s an urgent and current problem,” he said. “They need people to go to now.”
In the end, Thompson provided the sole vote against the establishing of the club.
The other hotly discussed topic on Tuesday night regarded the potential outsourcing of district facilities personnel.
Earlier this month, the Chester County Intermediate Unit presented findings of a facilities audit, showing numerous areas in district buildings in disrepair and stating that the department has been mismanaged in the past. One of the solutions the CCIU proposed going forward was to outsource facilities personnel, bringing in other companies for custodial and maintenance work.
In a statement, Board President Dean Snyder said that the district is looking at all options because of the tight financial situation. He said that outsourcing would save $1.2 million. He also said that one of the options the board is considering could see the outside company hiring the personnel whose jobs would be cut by the district. He emphasized that the board has not yet come to a decision.
Though no items related to outsourcing were on Tuesday night’s agenda, multiple residents spoke on the subject.
Sharon Ross, whose husband has worked as a custodian in the district for 16 years, said that many of the problems presented by the CCIU stemmed from mismanagement. She said that her husband shows up to work early without getting overtime and has shown concern for the safety and well-being of students.
“He has done the best he can do with what he’s given,” she said.
Ross also noted that custodians took a four year pay freeze while many of the district’s other employees continued to get raises.
Josh Young, a Caln Township Commissioner, said that the 66 workers in question are not the ones who have put the district in its financial woes. He said that there are two remaining board members who “got us into this problem.”
Linda Lavender-Norris lamented that the district is looking at lower level positions to decrease expenditures. She said that if custodians can take pay cuts, so can employees further up the chain of command.
“Every time we get into a budget crunch, we look at the bottom of the totem pole to fix it,” said the city council president.
Fonz Newsuan echoed both of these sentiments and told the board that such cuts would cause the local economy to suffer.
“These [facilities personnel] ain’t numbers out here; they got kids, they got mortgages,” he said.
Newsuan also accused the board of being too political. Citing the decision to elect Anne Wuertz to the school board rather than Corey Fields, an educator out of West Chester, he said that the situation was either racial or political and called the current directors “a Como board.”
Taschner said that the district has been in contract negotiations with the Coatesville Federation of Educational Personnel, which represents the facilities staff. She said that the board is considering the impact outsourcing would have on the entire district including the quality of work done in the schools and the impact on the local economy. She also said that the current school board “has not been presented with any good options” and has to make a difficult decision in the wake of decisions by previous boards.
In a unanimous decision, the board approved an RFP for a forensic audit examining past actions of the business office, bonds management, and facilities department.
Board members said that they do not know how the audit would be paid for, but they want to investigate the potential cost. Thompson said that she thinks the Conrad O’Brien report was “the tip of the iceberg.”
“It needs to be done,” agreed board member Stu Deets.
The district will also reach out to the Chester County District Attorney, Pennsylvania Attorney General, and FBI in hopes that one of these agencies could investigate, which would come at no cost to the district.
The board accepted a charitable contribution from Acelor Mittal on Tuesday night. The company gave $6,500 to the district for Legos and iPads to support the World of Science, Engineers, and Math.
