Oct 15, 2009 4 min read

Brownsville Area School District officials are looking at installing gates and lights at the district administration building to curb “inappropriate behavior” and deter unwanted nighttime visitors. Dr. Philip J. Savini, district superintendent, said prices on gates and lighting to brighten the area are being obtained and district officials are looking at tying the property into the district’s surveillance system.

“Hopefully, that will slow it down,” Savini said.

Lewis Street resident Greg Guty broached the subject at a school board work session Monday.

He said recent activities have caused local residents anxiety. Those incidents include someone being jumped, injured and flown by medical helicopter to a hospital and another person caught with drugs.

“A lot of it has to do with drugs. A lot has to do with (district property being) a non-pressured place to meet,” Guty said. “The least we can do is to say ‘no’ to it happening at our places. Kids come here to practice and play.”

He asked the board to send the message “to take it somewhere else.”

“It’s a concern to the people who live here,” said Guty, noting that district chief of security John Carney and local police patrol the area, and Carney has responded every time Guty has called him on his cell phone.

Meanwhile, the school board could authorize the district borrowing $4 million at its monthly board meeting at 7 p.m. today in the administration building.

The money is in addition to $1.2 million borrowed in July to pay bills until property tax revenue and government subsidies roll in.

The $4 million, if borrowed, would be used to cover debt primarily owed to Brownsville Bus Lines and the Intermediate Unit 1, Savini said.

Savini referred questions on why the debt accumulated over the past five years to the previous administration. District officials are now looking at ways to pay off the debt, restructure bonds at a less expensive rate and “get out from under the rock so to move forward,” he said.

“It’s not the ideal situation, but it’s the situation to get us back on track,” said Savini.

The Susquehanna Group, a consulting firm for school districts and municipalities, met with administrators and board members in an executive or closed-door session regarding a proposal to free up the debt. Savini said legal ramifications could result if the matter was discussed openly.

In a related matter, district officials are hoping the state soon will reimburse the district for money spent on a high school renovation project that was finished in 2005.

Issues involving the architect halted the completion of the Planning and Construction Workbook (PlanCon) process required by the state Department of Education. The process was restarted this year when the board hired K2 Engineering of Uniontown to complete PlanCon J forms.

District business manager Ed Yorke completed and faxed PlanCon H paperwork, which he said was previously incomplete, to the state on Monday.

Savini said he still does not know when the money will be released.

Meanwhile, food service manager Sherry Kottke reported that more middle school students are eating breakfast, which, in turn, is expected to increase the district’s amount of reimbursement from the federal government. Kottke, hired in May after the board decided against renewing its contract with food service management company Nutrition Inc., said the district is slated to receive around $85,000 in reimbursement as compared to $75,000 last year.

The middle school, she said, has done “a very good job” at increasing participation in its breakfast program, succeeding at having 20 percent of students eat breakfast.

Eighteen percent of high school students eat breakfast and district officials are working toward increasing that number as well, Kottke said.

“If we stay on track this year, everything will work out wonderfully,” said Kottke.