California school officials plan to keep war threat from disrupting classrooms
CALIFORNIA – Despite Wednesday night’s announcement of a targeted military strike against a target in Iraq, current events will not dominate the classrooms in the California Area School District today. “We will do everything we can to keep as much disruption from the education process as possible,” said Dr. Marian Stephens, the district’s superintendent. “On Sept. 11 (2001), we asked that the televisions be turned off. We had some parents come to the school, and they were amazed at how calm everything was.”
Stephens has sent a packet of information home to parents in the district, explaining the district’s crisis plan, along with reassurances that the region is not a high-risk area.
“In the event of an emergency, children will not be dismissed until we can assure their safety. If it is necessary to evacuate our students, they may be transported to another location within the district or to a community building designated in our crisis plan,” Stephens states in a letter.
Parents are asked not to come to the schools to pick up their children in the event of an emergency, since such action could heighten student fears and interfere with bus dismissals and the crisis plan. Stephens said the district would take its directions from the local, state or national level, depending on the nature of the emergency.
The information packet also contains information to help parents help their children through the tensions of war, offering reassurances and maintaining family routines to provide a sense of security.
Stephens said a recent weather emergency drill showed that the students do already sense that the times are different now.
“I was amazed at how quiet and attentive they were,” Stephens said.
In other matters, the school board Wednesday failed to take action on a new contract with the Service Employees International Union. A motion to approve a contract for the 2001-2002 through 2005-2006 school years was tabled to give board members time to review the pact.
The board approved an early retirement plan for the current year. The plan is similar to the incentives offered last school year, when two or three teachers opted for the early retirement. It provides health insurance options through age 65 or annual cash payments for those opting out of the insurance coverage.
Teachers must have 25 years of service, with the last 15 years in the California Area School District, to be eligible for early retirement, and they must submit their letters of resignation between March 20 and May 23, with a retirement date of June 30, 2003, or earlier.
About a dozen teachers are eligible for early retirement this year, according to board president Budd Grebb.