Audience questions BASD hiring practices
BROWNSVILLE – Since the Brownsville Area School Board voted to hire some new employees Thursday, some local residents took the opportunity to question the district’s hiring practices. There was some discussion among board members about the hiring of custodian Joe Sawyers.
While Director Andy Dorsey said that he felt the board should hire the person who had been on the custodian substitute list the longest, President Rocky Brashear said there were “other stipulations” that could not be discussed in public, which led the board to believe that Sawyers should be hired.
Local resident Joyce Mayers said she thought it seemed the right thing to do to hire the most senior sub first.
“It was my opinion that we should hire the oldest sub as long as they were doing quality work,” said Dorsey.
Director Stella Broadwater said that there has never been a substitute list for the district that established seniority.
Directors Broadwater, Nena Kaminsky, Sandra Chan, and Ellen Rohrer voted in favor of hiring Sawyers while Directors Dorsey and Ron Dellarose voted against it. Directors John Evans and Francine Pavone were absent.
Local resident the Rev. Robert Spence Jr. also questioned the board about why they have not hired more blacks to work for the district.
“I have appeared before the board before to make an appeal that you hire some blacks,” said Spence. “You have two blacks working in the entire district. I don’t see you as an equal opportunity employer.”
Spence said he would encourage the district’s black families to send their children to private schools so they could “get a fair shake.”
The board also voted to hire Amy Ferguson as an elementary teacher, Kathy Dunlevy as an elementary teacher, Ashley Sanders as an elementary teacher, Abby Thompson as a high school and middle school special education teacher, and Bethany Hughes as a music instructor.
Under athletics, the board voted to hire Justin Dellarose as assistant football coach, James Barak as an assistant football coach, Quitin Biddings as an assistant football coach, Rocky Brashear as a volunteer football coach, Mark Corella as a volunteer football coach, Bernard Johnson as a volunteer football coach, Robin Grahek as an assistant volleyball coach, Rachael Bruschi as an assistant volleyball coach, John Marcolini as an assistant soccer coach, Clark Sealy as a volunteer soccer coach, and Josh Bruschi as head middle school girls’ basketball coach.
In other matters, Superintendent Larry Golembiewski presented the board with Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test results for students over the last few years, and showed that there has been a steady improvement in students’ progress.
“Every year, we are under more federal mandates through the No Child Left Behind Act,” said Golembiewski, explaining that districts have to account for test participation, attendance and graduation rates, and PSSA scores.
Golembiewski said that attendance was up last year in all of the district’s schools, for a total of 81.29 percent attendance rate. They year before that, attendance was at 80 percent.
“We are striving for a 95 percent attendance rate,” said Golembiewski.
He also pointed out that upon his arrival at the district in 2003, all of the district’s schools were at a “warning level” on PSSA scores, but they have progressed every year, and are now meeting annual yearly progress requirements.
“The district as a whole is meeting annual yearly progress,” said Golembiewski, attributing the improvements partly to new technology and software programs, but mostly “what the teachers are doing in the classrooms.”