The school board heard some good budget news from Chief Financial Officer Stacy Gober June 8, as well as having a sobering discussion on the use of School Resource Officers (SROs), a particularly relevant issue in light of the recent killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd by police officers.

The board also heard an update from its coordinator of school safety and emergency management, discussed the renewal of its transportation management contract and the extension of its energy demand management contract, gave the first reading of some minor policy updates, and had the first of many discussions on reopening in the fall. All members other than Emily Schenkel were present; President Mike Faccinetto arrived late, but was present for the budget and re-opening discussions.

BASD received very good news on two budget fronts. First, the state will not reduce its Basic Education Funding by the amount of Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief (ESSER) funds, but will continue to contribute to school districts at 2020-21 levels. Second, the Pa. Secretary of Education determined that public schools will share ESSER funds with non-public schools based on Title I students, not total headcount. An additional piece of good news is that BASD will receive a safety grant from the state in the amount of $1,171,428 – roughly $1 million more than the district expected.

As a result, expenditures for next year will exceed expected revenue by only $2 million, not the roughly $6 million projected at the last board meeting. The superintendent, the CFO, and all board members present indicated that they will support a budget that makes up the shortfall by dipping into the fund balance, rather than raising taxes.

Todd Repsher, who coordinates safety and emergency management for the district, gave his annual report to the board. Each Pa. school district will be required to have a threat assessment team in 2021-22, Repsher explained, and BASD has already implemented its school threat assessment guidelines, as well as training all its threat assessments teams. All district policies, as well as the full safety and emergency management report, are posted on the board website (https://go.boarddocs.com/pa/beth/Board.nsf/Public).

After Repsher’s presentation, board member Winston Alozie asked for more details on training of SROs and school administrators to ensure proper delineation of responsibilities. Repsher said in addition to two weeks of training developed by the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), BASD SROs have received Therapeutic Behavior Management (TBM) de-escalation training.

Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy told the board that since the installation of SROs in the district eight or nine years ago, he has emphasized with building administrators that they should not call upon SROs to handle issues for which they would not call the police in the absence of SROs. He gave the examples of items stolen from gym bags and stolen beverages from the lunch line as issues that should be handled by building administrators, not SROs. He recognized Alozie’s concern that students involved in minor disciplinary matters could inappropriately have police interactions, if administrators and SROs do not share an appropriate understanding of these matters. In response to a question from board member Dr. Karen Beck Pooley, Roy indicated that he will work with Repsher to prepare a report on SRO training and data on the program.

The board will vote on two vendor contracts June 22. Tangent Energy Solutions began doing energy demand management for BASD in 2012, and has saved the district more than $700,000 in energy costs since that time. The board will vote on extending Tangent’s contract through May 31, 2023. TransPar Group began delivering transportation management and consulting services one year ago. One major deliverable has been bus driver recruitment services; another has been the implementation of RouteFinder software.

The board will vote on renewing its contract with TransPar for a second year, at a cost of $16,222 per month.

During the state budget process last summer, Pa. changed its compulsory school attendance ages. Children had previously been required to start school by age 8 and stay in school until age 17 or graduation, whichever came first. Beginning in 2020-21, children must begin school by age 6 and cannot drop out before age 18.

The school board is updating several of its policies to incorporate these changes; the first reading of the updated policies took place June 8, and the policies will likely be adopted at the June 22 meeting.

As reported in the Press, Roy has been working with the leaders of each district department to develop plans for reopening schools in the fall. The board discussed the goals of these plans; the district’s approach will depend on the public health situation, government guidance, and input from a parent survey being distributed the week of June 8.

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jack Silva shared information on the strategic initiatives to inform the district’s reopening plans, including addressing student and parent anxieties, building upon existing structures and procedures, and incorporating key community partners. Chief Pupil Services Officer Claire Hogan informed the board that therapeutic outpatient services will be available at all BASD schools for the upcoming school year.