District OKs giving space for Head Start program

The program will provide transportation and meals for about 20 pupils.
By LAURA MILOSER
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BESSEMER, Pa. -- The Mohawk Area School District has entered into an agreement with the Lawrence County Head Start program to provide classroom space to house a program for 4-year-olds beginning in the 2006-07 school year.
"This is a great opportunity for those students who will enter into the Mohawk kindergarten the following year," schools Superintendent Dr. Timothy McNamee said.
He noted that this is the first time the federal Head Start program will be operating in a public school in Lawrence County.
McNamee said Head Start would provide the transportation and meals for about 20 pupils from the Mohawk area who will be involved in the program.
A grant from Verizon Pennsylvania will help Mohawk Elementary pupils improve their reading skills.
Bill Carnahan, Verizon vice president of external affairs, presented the board with a check in the amount of $5,000.
George Sperdute, prevention specialist with the district, said the money would be used for literacy and phonemic awareness computer programs.
Sperdute said children in kindergarten through third grade who are having difficulty reading would benefit from the program.
Other action
The board approved McNamee as superintendent of record for the Lawrence County Career and Technical Center. He will fill the unexpired term of Dr. Michael Hink, who retired as superintendent of the Neshannock School District on Feb. 1.
Each of the eight superintendents in the Lawrence County schools serves as superintendent of record for the center, formerly known as Lawrence County Vo-Tech.
The board agreed to buy two new school buses for the 2006-07 school year from Myers Equipment. Each bus will cost the district $59,832. Myers was the lowest of three bids.
The 2006-07 school calendar was approved, with the first day of classes set for Aug. 28 and the last on June 8, 2007. McNamee said the calendar has been set with a total of 180 days of instruction.