Vo-tech committee hires assistant director
GEORGES TWP. — A new assistant director will join the staff at the Fayette County Career and Technical Institute this year.
The school’s joint operating committee voted in favor Monday of the hiring of Dr. Cynthia Shaw in the position, setting her salary at $78,000 annually.
In an 8-4 vote, committee members Edward Colebank, David Howard, Edward Andria, Dorothy Grahek, Ron Dellarose, Larry Zebley, Ira Chrise and Jim Tobal approved the vote, while members Nena Kaminsky, Stella Broadwater, Philip Holt and Thomas George opposed.
“My vote has nothing to do with the person, it’s just that we should be cutting back and not hiring for more positions,” Kaminsky said.
Shaw will oversee the business office operations, including preparing annual budgets, as well as assume the responsibilities of the director, Dr. Edward Jeffreys, in his absence.
According to Jeffreys, Shaw has director certification and has served as a computer technology teacher and a cooperative education coordinator. She is serving as the assistant director of the Northern Westmoreland Career and Technical Center.
Also at the meeting, FCCTI cooperative education coordinator Nancy Rossell addressed the committee regarding the need for a policy that identifies procedures staff members should take in the event of an emergency with a student including a seizure or injury. According to Jeffreys, the school does not have a nurse and the procedure has been to notify administrators who would then call 911. Jeffreys also noted that this year 11 students experienced some type of seizure.
Solicitor Gary Frankhouser said he and school officials are in the process of addressing the issue of a school nurse, in compliance with a new state law that mandates vocational-technical schools to have access to a school nurse.
Frankhouser said that could mean employing one onsite or cooperating with the sending schools to use the services of the nurses there. He said he agrees with Rossell, however, that a “what-to-do” procedure should be in place.
“It would be difficult to put in a policy of what to do when a certain thing happens because a wide range of things can occur with any situation. If it is something that can’t be handled on a first-aid basis, we use ambulatory services,” he said. “But I agree that it is good to get a protocol and procedure list of what to do together that includes contact number that are easy to access.”
On Monday, students involved in the Act Out Loud poster contest presented the committee with information about their campaign that draws attention to two new state laws limiting the number of underage students in a car and banning texting while driving. Public members can vote for the poster at www.facebook.com/actoutloud. Voting ends at midnight tonight.
The committee also:
n Approved the purchase of a portable welder and trailer from Alloy Oxygen & Welding Supply Company, Pittsburgh, for $12,525.
n Moved Dan Hoff from the position of school resource officer/IT coordinator to the full-time IT coordinator/temporary maintenance position until the maintenance employee returns to work. The committee also named Jeff Myers as the full-time temporary school resource officer under a yearly 9-month contract set at $16.50 an hour until the maintenance employee returns to work.
n Accepted the resignation of Debra Kitta, LPN instructor, effective Sept. 21.
n Added Susan Lowry to the professional substitute list for all shops.