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Columbiana board discusses safety and bond issue
By THOMAS M. LYDEN
COLUMBIANA
The Columbiana school board met and discussed school safety and the upcoming bond issue.
In response to the recent school shooting in Newtown, Conn., the district has taken several steps to ensure preparedness, school Superintendent Donald Mook said.
Such measures include reviewing safety procedures, practicing lock-down drills, and welcoming an increased police presence at each school.
The district also has undertaken a “very strict” locked-door policy, which requires that all personnel, even janitors taking out the garbage, must lock the door behind them, Mook said.
In addition, administrators and select staff recently attended an active-shooter training program hosted by Detective Wade Boley of the Columbiana Police Department. The program was modeled on the A.L.I.C.E. format, which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Escape.
Anticipating that President Obama’s recent executive actions may result in more school funding, the board considered possibly hiring an armed resource officer or installing a first-response alarm system, which would allow teachers to notify an alarm company via buttons worn on a necklaces.
“Our goal is to save students’ lives in the case of grave danger,” Mook said.
Also at its meeting Tuesday, the board discussed the $4 million bond issue that will be on the May 7th ballot.
Much of the money from the bond issue will go toward repairing the leaky roof at Southside Middle School. However, the board discussed what to do about the roof in the event that voters reject the bond issue as they did the one last August.
According to Mook, if this bond issue were to fail, the best option would be to use money from the general fund to repair the roof in stages. Under this plan, the fifth and sixth grades would be shifted to the Joshua Dixon Elementary School for the 2013–14 school year while part of the roof is being repaired. The rest would be repaired later.
In addition to draining money from the general fund, this plan may result in fewer open-enrollment students coming to Columbiana Schools, which would take away even more money from the district.
Other alternatives include repairing the roof all at once or simply closing Southside Middle School altogether. Both of these options would involve shifting the fifth- and sixth-graders to the elementary school, and shifting seventh- and eighth-graders to the high school.
Still, the board is hoping that the bond issue will pass so that they may avoid such decisions.
Also at the meeting, the board unanimously approved Erin Heasley to become athletic director, replacing outgoing Athletic Director Bob Spaite. Heasley is currently the volleyball coach, and has been assisting Spaite as ticket manager.