LH board may help North Union with rec center
Laurel Highlands School Board agreed Wednesday to give North Union Township a hand with a recreation center. The board authorized Superintendent Dr. Ronald Sheba and solicitor Gary Frankhouser to work with the township supervisors on building the center on school property.
“North Union could finally get the recreation center they need,” President Edward S. George said.
Frankhouser said the township supervisors expressed interest in building a recreation center but had no property of their own for such a project. He said the school district could lease property to the township at one of the schools within the township, Marshall or Clark elementary schools, through an intermunicipal agreement. He said the school district did something similar in the past with South Union Township regarding the Areford area playground.
George said property is available at both the Marshall and Clark buildings, construction of a recreation center would be up to the township and the school district would incur no cost. He said South Union Township has a busy recreation center, and the North Union building actually would help the school district, which is having some trouble coordinating athletic events among district teams and outside teams renting district facilities.
Frankhouser said this idea is just getting started, and George noted more details would follow as plans progress.
Meanwhile, George announced the formation of the Laurel Highlands Athletic Field House Committee, to build a field house at the high school.
He said letters have gone out to residents from the committee, which is asking for donations. He said the construction will be done with private money. The committee has an information hotline at 724-437-4741, ext. 1375, and a Web site at www.lhfieldhouse.com.
At a work session Tuesday, the school board considered renovation and expansion of Hutchinson Elementary School for an estimated $7.9 million; however, the board took no action at Wednesday’s business meeting.
The idea came out of ongoing meetings of the strategic planning steering committees.
Sheba said the committees will give a final report to the school board sometime in late May, and he invited public participation in the next meeting, set for 4 to 6 p.m. March 24 in the high school library.
Among other matters, the school board voted to direct auditors McClure & Wolf Certified Public Accountants and Consultants of Uniontown to prepare a budget research report for the public regarding the budget shortcomings from last year.
An audit by McClure & Wolf for the year that ended June 30, 2002, showed the district spent $2.1 million more than expected after operating under a $30.7 million budget but bringing in only $28.6 million for the year. The school district ended the year with unpaid obligations and floated a $2.97 million bond issue to cover debts.
Director Tom Vernon said there should be no cost for this report, since the auditors have the information, and he agreed to meet with them to get started on the report.
Director Judy Browell said she has been asked by a number of people for a report and had talked to Vernon about it.
Browell made an unsuccessful motion to invite a representative of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) to conduct a workshop with the school board on budget preparation, at a cost of $750. She said she hoped that through the workshop the board could “get a better handle” on preparing the coming year’s budget.
That motion failed with no votes from directors Palmer Sabatine, Vernon, Mary Conway and George. Director Beverly Beal passed on voting. Director Angelo Giachetti joined Browell in voting yes. Shirley Kefover and Julia Ciarrocchi were absent due to illnesses.
George had opened the meeting with best wishes to Kefover and Ciarrocchi. He extended the school board’s condolences to faculty members Carol Locke and Ruth Painley on the recent deaths of their sons. He also commented on preparations for war with Iraq and expressed thanks and support to the nation’s soldiers.
In further business, the school board approved a revised calendar for the rest of this school year.
The calendar extends the school year by a few days, listing snow make-up days on June 2-4 and setting the new graduation date as June 4. The calendar has April 21 set aside for a make-up day in case the district has another cancellation.
They agreed to convert sick days to a good cause leave for Frank Galderisi for the rest of the school year while he is on military duty. They also approved a return from a sabbatical for Patti Parisse.
The board named Robert Genovese as assistant girls varsity basketball coach and Wendy Craft as ninth-grade head girls basketball coach for the 2003 season and named Scott DeBerry as a volunteer assistant varsity baseball coach for this school year.
Further, the board voted in favor of posting the cheerleader sponsor position.