BY TOM FONTANA
Correspondent

Last week, Mt. View schools found themselves temporarily without running water, and clocked double the normal water usage when it was restored.

“At first I thought the well went dry,” district maintenance director Robert Taylor told school board directors at their meeting Monday night, March 23.

Taylor explained that an underground plastic pipe runs between the two school buildings, and water flow can be controlled independently to each school.

“When I turned the pump off to the high school,” he said, “the elementary school got water. When I turned it off to the elementary school, the high school got water, but usage doubled.”

He indicated that the underground pipe may be broken, and leaking water into the ground.

“The only thing we can do is wait until the ground thaws and run a line down to find where water is collecting,” he stated. “Or get somebody out there to listen along the pipe line.”

“I hope the problem isn’t under the parking lots,” acting superintendent Karen Voigt commented.
“Or Route 106,” added board president Thomas Stoddard.

Both were referring to the traffic challenge either situation would cause for the schools if excavating to repair the water line became necessary.

High school and elementary principals Robert Presley and Christine Kelly offered budget proposals to the board for their respective schools for the 2015-16 school year.

Each projected increases for transportation, new textbooks, equipment and furniture (such as classroom chairs and office rearrangements).

Considering the district’s low scores in reading and writing reflected in the recent Pennsylvania Dept. of Education School Performance Profile, the administrators anticipate extra costs for sending teachers to programs for professional development in these subject areas.

For example, Kelly anticipates an increase from $1,000 for transportation in the 2014-15 budget to $5,000 in the 2015-16 budget.

“We will also have several new teachers for the next school year due to retirements,” Kelly added. “Professional development opportunities for them will be very helpful.”

Her bottom line showed a total budget increase from $280,720 (2014-15) to $312,690 (2015-16).
An increase in funds for the music department includes a request by band director Kevin Haugland (who serves both schools) for a tuba, at a cost of $3,000.

“Where is he getting this tuba?” director Christine Plonski-Sezar asked. “I know some people in the music business in the area. I could check on some other prices.”

Presley’s 2015-16 budget projection increases only by about $4,500 from the 2014-15 budget, from $1,144,663 to $1,204,251.

Neither proposed budget listed funds still left for line items in this year’s budget, which bothered Stoddard.

“It would help the board to plan the budget if we knew how much hasn’t been spent yet,” he said. “How can we budget for next year if we don’t know what’s left from this year?”

District business manager Joseph Patchcoski explained that he holds those figures until closer to finalizing the new budget so that the numbers are as current and accurate as possible.

“We understand that,” director Roy Twining added. “But it would help us to start planning now if we knew where we are now.” Director Sondra Stine agreed.

The board renewed the food service contract for the cafeteria, along with an increase of 25 cents for all student and adult lunches, which are subsidized by the government.

“We were forced to raise our prices,” Stoddard stated. “We’re being chased by the Feds because they say we’re not paying our fair share.”

He added that the district has not raised lunch prices in two years. “They wanted us to raise it by 28 cents, with the option to round that up or down,” Stoddard explained. “We chose to round it down.”

Patchcoski said the food contract renewal and the price increase will cause an automatic deficit in the 2015-16 cafeteria budget of $100,000. “We’ve been losing money for at least the last three years,” he said.

When the board was asked why the cafeteria contractor is being retained considering the consistent budget deficits, Stoddard replied, “It’s too much trouble to investigate them, because of all of the government regulations.”

Voigt added that about 78 percent of the cafeteria budget is just for labor. “That leaves only about 25 percent for purchasing food,” she said.

Following a discussion which offered conflicting opinions about the quality of the food being served, and how much of their lunches the students are throwing away, Patchcoski stated, “All districts are complaining about the meals, but the government just sticks its nose up, and says ‘We don’t care.’ ”

Stoddard informed the board that the district is requesting a waiver on the government regulation for the use of products made of 100 percent whole grain. “We’re trying to get that reduced to 50percent,” he said.

When asked if the district could use funds acquired from natural gas leases to bolster the cafeteria account, Stoddard explained, “We looked into it, but the government doesn’t like that, either. We can’t even use our own money to feed our kids.”

Presley informed the board that an internet application called Burn Book, a site where anyone can “anonymously write anything they want,” is starting to be used by some students for abusing and degrading others.

“I hear it talked about in the halls,” he told the board. “There were even negative comments posted about me. I’m almost 40, so I can ignore it, but that kind of thing can be devastating to a 14-year-old.”

Presley said the comments cannot be traced to who is responsible for them, which makes it impossible to confront them or initiate discipline if the comments affect students. He said other districts are facing the same challenge.

“I’ve contacted the state police to see if there could be charges for internet harassment,” he said, “but there’s nothing they can do if we can’t identify who writes the post.”

Presley suggested that the only alternative is to inform parents of the site and hope they will encourage their children to avoid using it. He also recommended that “student leaders” could post positive comments.

“Maybe positive comments will have an overwhelming affect,” he said, “and catch on to discourage negative things. But it has to come from the students.”