Mountain View talks safety upgrades

Mt. View High School is pleased to announce the February Students of the Month. From left: Megan Zipprich, 8th grade; Joseph Jackson, 11th grade; and Kaylee LeMaster, 10th grade; and High School Principal Robert Presley.

The Mountain View Board of Education discussed potential school safety upgrades at the Monday, March 26 meeting.
Superintendent Karen Voigt said the district is finishing up the safety grants application process, which will be used to purchase of additional security cameras. She said that she believes more funds are available this year.
The district is also exploring the possibility of hiring a School Resource Officer (SRO). A $26,000 grant is available to help fund the first year of employment and the district would have to agree to maintain the SRO position in subsequent years.
Maintenance director Bob Taylor said the district is also considering the purchase of wireless panic buttons for classrooms. Teachers who can hear a dangerous incident would be trained to use the equipment. The price of installing such alarms would cost about $23,945 for the elementary school and $28,592 for the high school.
A meeting about improving school safety lockdown procedures was also slated to be held this week.
The board approved a separation and release agreement Monday night between the Mountain View School District and Christine A. Kelly, the former elementary principal. At the March 12 meeting, Dr. Christopher Lake was appointed to that position. He had been serving as the acting principal since the start of the school year, as well as in the Curriculum Director post.
The positions of Director of Curriculum and Director of Special Services remain vacant and are being advertised.
Updates on four policies include numerous revisions and additions and were offered for a first reading at the meeting. Policies included: Student Activity Funds; Petty Cash; Fraud; and Purchases Budgeted. The policies will be posted on the school website and will be revisited in upcoming public meetings.
A technology presentation was made by James Soya and Matthew Georgetti.
They noted that all of the teacher desktop computers had been replaced in the schools; and that senior high students were given Chromebooks for personal use this year. Of the 349 Chromebooks that were purchased, so far there have been 21 screen repairs, and two Chromebooks returned while under warranty. The elementary school is using hybrid learning technology. Next, the fifth-grade laptops will be replaced with 52 new Chromebooks. The high school library laptops are being replaced with Chromebooks, as well.
The board accepted the letter of resignation from Linda Sivers from her clerical position effective Dec. 18, 2018 as presented. Voigt said, “Linda Sivers was hired with me, and we worked well together. I would like to congratulate her on her retirement.”
The board approved the posting and advertising of an elementary school nurse position for the 2018-19 school year. A high school biology and general science position will be posted and advertised for the 2018-19 school year. A library position will also be posted for the 2018-19 school year.
In other business:
*On Mar. 20, members of the Susquehanna County Farm Bureau and Dairy
Princess and her court came to talk to the students about careers in agriculture, which was well received, Voigt said.
*Graduation will be held on Saturday, June 16.
*Three volunteers were approved: Jesse Gerfin, softball; Joyce Harvey, softball and girls basketball; and David Harvey, softball and girls basketball.
Wrestling coach Kenny Decker and assistant wrestling coach Steve Farrell made a proposal to expand the wrestling room by adding an area currently used for sports storage. They also noted that the mats are more than 40 years old and are very hard. The current wrestling room is 23’x45’, and the additional storage area could add another 31’x27’. The new mat would cost about $7,600, and would last 30-40 years.
Farrell said, “We have a desire to build a reputable wrestling program.”
Decker said, “The goal of our project is to maximize student achievement and to have other schools’ wrestlers train and practice at our school, to raise the level of competition.
Board member Decker said, “The year wrestling was phased out at Mountain View, there were two returning district champs with no place to wrestle.”
Board President Michael Barhite said that he had not been made aware that this topic was being presented at the meeting, and said he did not know where the wrestling room was located. The board members said that they would look at the rooms discussed before any action would be taken.