School security upgrades being made at California Area School District
California Area School District continues to move forward with several initiatives to improve student safety and physical security.
At the board of education’s monthly meeting, Superintendent Michael Sears said that the district is evaluating student arrival and dismissal approaches at the K-8 building to minimize the time that doors are open. In addition, Sears and several other staff members will be meeting with HHSDR Architects/Engineers to discuss the feasibility of making significant modifications to the main entrances of school buildings to enhance physical security. He added that Lowes Home Improvement will be providing lockdown kits for each classroom in the district.
Sears also noted that the district held a “Meet the First Responders” event on March 14 at the high school auditorium. During that event, students from the seventh through twelfth grades heard presentations from police officers, fire fighters and other first responders.
“I was proud of the kids because they were really keyed in to what those professionals were saying,” said Sears. “That was very refreshing to see.”
Also, that day, high school and middle school students participated a 17-minute walkout on campus, as part of National School Walkout Day.
In other business, the board agreed to move forward with network upgrade proposals submitted by En-Net Services for switches, Dauphin DataCom for cabling and connectors and ePlus Technology for uinterruptible power supplies. The total amount of $30,453 is budgeted in the 2018-2019 technology budget.
In addition, the board accepted the resignation of Barry Niemiec as varsity boys’ basketball coach and Chris Minerd as varsity girls’ basketball coach. The board will advertise for both positions and it has declared that all associated assistant coaching positions are open.
The board also accepted the resignation of Thomas Glawinski as varsity girls’ softball coach and replaced him with Vance Caeti. Glawinski will remain as volunteer assistant softball coach. The board also appointed Aaron Balla as assistant baseball coach.
In other business, the board:
n Accepted a proposal from Comdoc for the purchase of seven new copiers for the district
n Placed a moratorium on non-budgeted items, except in the case of emergencies, until June 30, 2018
n Approved Centerville Clinic’s Letter of Agreement for contracted medical services for the 2018-2019 school year
n Announced that a school makeup day has been scheduled for Tuesday, April 3.