Dec 12, 2004 By Christine Haines 3 min read

CALIFORNIA – The California Area School Board is continuing to look into plans to move the administrative and business offices out of Phillipsburg School and onto the district’s main campus. The board recently voted to hire N. John Cunzolo Associates to prepare a feasibility study for the building project to move the offices. The study will be done at a cost of $3,500, which will be applied to the cost of the project if Cunzolo is hired as the architect for the project.

The board is considering the possibility of selling Phillipsburg School, which houses the administrative offices. The building has not been used for classes in the district, though part of the building is rented to Head Start.

In an unrelated matter, District Superintendent Dr. Tim Marks reported that the Elco Hill project being done by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation ran into delays in the bidding process. The project is supposed to start in early January and should be completed by Feb. 11, if all goes as planned.

The project affects bus transportation for the district. Traffic is currently limited to one lane, with a temporary traffic light regulating the traffic. Marks said a permanent light is being installed for the remainder of the restriction.

Marks said the district will be starting a program with the Mon Valley Career and Technology Center to expose ninth- grade students to the programs offered at the vo-tech. Marks said that the ninth graders will have a chance to try out two vo-tech programs during a two-day workshop. District counselors and teachers are also being encouraged to participate in the program to gain a better understanding of the vo-tech’s offerings.

Several agenda items failed to gain the five votes needed for passage. Only six board members were present at the December board meeting. The board voted 4-2 on the issue of whether to pay $742 in salaries, taxes and overtime expenses for the substitute School Resource officers.

Since the matter involved the dispersal of money, it required a majority of the entire board, not just a majority of the members present, and failed. School director John Digon said he voted against the motion because there is not yet a written agreement between the borough and the school district regarding the school resource officer program. Director Tom Russell voted against it saying he didn’t recall it being discussed at the board’s previous work session.

A motion to purchase the Power School Student Management System from Apple also failed on a 4-2 vote, with Digon and George Safin voting against it.

Safin said he had teachers express concern about the district’s Microsoft Windows program being compatible with the Apple student accounting program.

Ron Reyer Jr., the district’s technology coordinator, said the student accounting program is Web-based and would be compatible with the district’s computer system.