AG parent pleased with progress on security
A concerned mother told Albert Gallatin Area School Board on Wednesday that she has seen positive changes in the security at the high school. However, Doreen Tanner asked the school board to continue moving forward on securing the school.
This was Tanner’s third consecutive appearance at a regular school board business meeting since she told them her son was assaulted Sept. 5 at the school.
She said school board members made comments last month after she spoke that their children are happy and safe at the school, and that’s all she wants – the same peace of mind.
“I’ve been at the school, and a lot of things were done and it’s headed in the right direction,” she said.
However, the school could still use more security guards, Tanner said, and she also suggested the school board members talk to more parents.
Superintendent Walter Vicinelly listed some things the school officials have done in regard to security at the high school and throughout the district.
He said the school district’s administrators and school board are concerned about not only improving academics but also security.
Before the incident of which Tanner spoke, the district put together a safety committee that is looking to review and revise a crisis plan. Vicinelly talked about specific personnel and programs in place at the school to help avoid violence.
Since the start of the school year, he said, an additional security guard was hired for the high school to make a staff of four guards on duty there. Additionally, teachers monitor the hallways and stairwells during class changes.
Among further efforts, Vicinelly said the district holds monthly building safety meetings, in an effort to be proactive and preventative.
He also talked about the annual violence and weapons possession report that all school districts must file with the state Department of Education, and A.G. ranks low on the list of Fayette County school districts for total number of incidents, fights and weapons possession, according to his analysis of the latest available figures from 1999-2000 and 2000-2001.
“Don’t misunderstand me, one incident is too many,” he said, adding that everyone has to work together to reduce violence.
In other business, the school board scheduled a reorganization meeting for Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at Masontown Elementary School, with the regular business meeting to follow, and set the next work session for Dec. 3 at 6 p.m.
The board members set a new substitute teacher salary at $70 per day, effective Dec. 1.
They awarded Cindy Fullem a fifth-grade position at D. Ferd Swaney Elementary School and Betty Sunyak a two-hour cafeteria position at George J. Plava Elementary School. They hired Martha Madison as a 11/2-hour cafeteria worker at the Plava school, hired Tina Miller for the next available secretarial position and agreed to create and post a learning support position at the Masontown school.
Regarding athletic employees, the directors rescinded a motion from Oct. 16 to hire Sean McConaghy as head boys’ basketball coach at A.G. South Middle School and then hired George Gillis for the position. They hired Chad Brooks as boys’ assistant basketball coach at A.G. South, Joe Embacher as winter athletic director at A.G. North Middle School and Mike Revak as head ninth-grade boys’ basketball coach at the high school.
They also agreed to create and post a ninth-grade assistant basketball coach.