Blogwork

Better squeeze in those snow days, school districts

Right about now, your local school district is probably sweating in their snow boots in fear of any more winter storms. And they better not look to the state to help them reduce the mandatory 180 days of instruction.

As South Western Superintendent Barbara Rupp told me, she can’t remember the last time she ever had to call off school three days in a row, which many districts did last week. The ones who didn’t were the fortunate ones who had pre-scheduled a vacation day or teacher in-service day for Feb. 12. Check here for the list of snow make-up dates.

But still, that means every York County district has to make up 2 or 3 snow days, and, considering we’re already in mid-February, some snow make-up dates are already gone. Remember that in the fall when your school board is approving its next school calendar - it might be wise to push back the snow make-up dates until, you know, after the blizzards usually come (i.e., not December).

Some districts don’t even have snow make-up dates left, and are tacking days on to the end of the school year. Seniors will just love that come June. But districts are required to get 180 school days in … that is, unless they get a waiver from the state.

And that brings up an interesting situation: Will the state grant any districts a waiver for a snow day or two, since the state was in emergency status from the blizzard? Gov. Ed Rendell can grant the waiver when “school most definitely cannot be held,” said Leah Harris, state Department of Education spokeswoman.

That usually means a water main break, electricity outage or a freak storm. Hey, that blizzard was freakish. Hmm.

Harris said no districts have applied for a waiver yet, and even if they did, transportation issues because of a storm don’t necessarily mean a waiver will be granted. It’s a case-by-case basis. I haven’t heard any district in the county say they’ll seek one, but that’s always an option, especially if another storm comes and graduation gets pushed back again.

“What we’re most concerned with is that students get the 180 days. It’s essentialy for a student’s success,” harris said. “This is why school districts have snow days built in.”

School districts have until June 30 to get 180 days in… so even if the last day of school gets pushed back to mid-June, that’s not an emergency situation in the eyes of state.

In the eyes of a high schooler with senioritis, maybe…

Eastern York + basketball= cheap, fun entertainment

My girlfriend and I randomly decided recently we wanted to see a basketball game. Any game, really, preferably high school.

Considering I played basketball in high school, it’s not so random for me to want to see a game. It’s really random for her, but why question a good thing?

Last Friday, we went to the Eastern vs. Hanover game, at Eastern York High School, just down the road. Considering Eastern was unbeaten heading in, and Hanover had a good team, it figured to be a good match.

High school sports are rarely addressed on my education beat, unless there’s some policy in question (West Shore drug testing athletes) or controversy (Red Lion forfeiting games over eligibility issues). As someone who started out as a sports writer, I miss it from time to time. Not often, mind you — there’s nothing glamorous about sitting in the pouring rain watching a football game between two terrible teams.

Friday’s game was the first time I had attended a scholastic sporting event without either being a participant or being a journalist, for as long as I can remember.

You look at things differently as a fan. I didn’t have to keep track of Andrew Nicholas’ 23 points and 10 rebounds (and an impressive steal-and-slam sequence that rocked the gym). I didn’t have to track down the coaches afterward for comment. And, since I wasn’t playing, I didn’t have to worry as a Hanover player would have about the 19-0 run Eastern went on (who am I kidding– most of the time, I was the kind of player who went in after a 19-0 run).
I could just watch. It was great, and, at $8 for two tickets, it’s a genuine bargain. Actually, It could have been $4, thanks to the ticket lady being so nice as to assume I and my girlfriend are students. I’ll remember that on my birthday in a few weeks.

To watch a team like Eastern dismantle a strong Hanover team with double-teams and quick outlet passes was enjoyable, too.

So thanks for an entertaining evening, Golden Knights and Nighthawks. Even when I didn’t have to write about you, I still wrote about you. Consider it a thank-you.

How York City schools have too many, and too few, students

As the old saying goes, it’s a good problem when a church doesn’t have enough parking.

I’m not sure what old saying there is, though, about York City School District’s problem.

The district has too many students in its elementary schools. Students are taking music classes in hallways, are being taught in closets — literally, closets — and are generally running out of places to go. One architectural group told the school board last year the district elementary enrollment will exceed overall capacity in the next decade by about 700 students, using existing schools as the model.

Then you go to the middle schools, particularly Edgar Fahs Smith. Partly because of charter schools drawing many of the students away from York City, Smith is mostly vacant.

If it wasn’t for the construction of Ferguson Elementary, which forced fourth- and fifth-graders to go to Smith temporarily, the place would be as vacant as a Pittsburgh Pirates home game. Board member Tom Foust predicts the school will only be 1/4 occupied in the near future.

Couple that with crumbling elementary schools, and you have a genuine quagmire.

The district has come up with a solution:

• Renovate McKinley Elementary for a net cost of $3.9 million, after partial state reimbursement
• Renovate Jackson Elementary for a net cost of $1.6 million. (Note: Construction wouldn’t start for about two years)
• Renovate the unused Roosevelt Building and convert it to an early learning center for a net cost of $1.7 million.
• Close Davis Elementary and send those students to Goode Elementary. About 300 Goode students would be moved to Ferguson Elementary, which is being renovated and expanded. Davis and Goode pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students go to Roosevelt. Fifth-graders at all elementary schools move to a “school- within-a-school” at Smith and Hannah Penn middle schools; a fifth- and sixth-grade intermediate school model would be set up. Annual savings of closing Davis is $300,000.

But five board members - Samual Beard, Beverly Atwater, Gary Calhoun, James Morgan and Sandie Walker, who look like they’ll be the majority voting bloc on contentious issues - didn’t like the plan. Instead, they want to vote next Wednesday on a plan that includes renovating McKinley AND Davis.

It’s the most expensive option, but also is basically the only way Davis students get to stay in their school for the long-term. However, it doesn’t let the district open up classroom space for kindergarten and first-graders at Roosevelt, which means the district is back to the original overcrowding problem.

Moving fifth-graders to the middle schools is already in the works, despite strong parent opposition, but there’s nothing saying the board can’t overturn that. Remember, the board that approved that measure included members who have since been voted out of office. If the fifth-graders stay put, that means York City schools are really are back to square one, although it was alleviate parent concern.

So what do you do when you have too many students in the elementary schools, and not enough in the middle schools? We’ll find out Jan. 20, when the board votes.

Should Dallastown harness the power of the sun?

In a discussion that seems to surface in almost every Dallastown Area School Board, Dallastown has been heavily examining the possibility of installing solar energy panels on the high school.

Sound like a bright idea? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

On Jan. 6, the public is invited to weigh in on the matter at a board workshop at 6:30 p.m. in the administration building.

Here’s the background:

Superintendent Stewart Weinberg has said he wants the district to have an alternative source of energy in coming years, as electricity deregulation looms, so he suggested the district install solar energy panels.

The photovoltaic, rooftop panels convert sunlight into electrical current, saving on electricity costs. And, to boot, it would give the district a clean source of energy, which is always a benefit.

Weinberg helped spearhead an effort by Dallastown to apply for a state grant that is solely for these types of projects. Dallastown was awarded one of just two grants (Carlisle Area School District got the other), for $1 million.

Now Dallastown has to decide how to use it, if they use it at all.

Installing solar panels on the high school would cost about $3 million-plus, not including the grant.

The company that would handle the installation believes Dallastown, in an optimal scenario, would have the panels paid off in about a decade or so through savings and energy credits.
The panels would create annual revenue from energy consumption savings, about $60,000 a year. Dallastown would also be able to sell what are called “Solar Renewable Energy Credits” to energy companies. Basically, energy companies need to have so much “clean energy,” and if they don’t produce it on their own, they can buy the credits from companies who do. Dallastown could get about $120,000-$150,000 annually for the next 20 years from credit selling.

Overall, Dallastown would save about $30,000 a year — even with debt repayment — for about 20 years, and about $175,000 or more a year for the decade after that. After 30 years, Dallastown would have saved about $2.5 million

In another scenario that takes a more break-even approach, the district would still save about $1.4 million over 30 years.

And there’s also a possibility out there for Dallastown to let an energy company have control of the panels for several years at the start. Dallastown wouldn’t get as much energy savings during those years, but they also wouldn’t have to pay the construction costs. By the time Dallastown would take over the panels, they would get all the savings and none of the construction costs, according to Weinberg.

All the cost savings and credit selling is based on best guesses of what’s going on now, which can make it a risky proposition.

Some board members think installing the panels helps cover them long term, and the grant helps cover some of the upfront costs. The panels are also cheaper than they were half a year ago, when Dallastown first started looking at this.

“We’re mitigating the risks,” board member Don Yoder said at the last meeting.

“We’d be foolish not to discuss it,” Weinberg said recently.

Want to know more? Check out this FAQ, presented to the school board.