Quaker Valley’s OTHER Population Crisis

Obligatory Fancy Population Graphic

Earlier this month, Quaker Valley School District’s new Communications Director, Angela Yingling, put out an e-mail newsletter detailing a population imbalance in the district’s two elementary schools:

Due to a change in demographics across the region and parent or district student reassignments, Edgeworth Elementary School has about 100 more students than Osborne Elementary School. According to (Superintendent) Dr. (Heidi) Ondek and principals Dr. Susan Gentile and Dr. Barbara Mellett, the disparity in numbers has created an imbalance in opportunities for students. All three agree that it is imperative to discuss both a short-term and long-term solution.

The Sewickley Herald provided Page One coverage of this issue in its February 19 edition. The story included multiple, elaborate graphics in the online edition that served to both illustrate and break down the nature of the enrollment gap.

The Herald also reported on February 5 that the school district had hired Dr. Shelby Stewman of Carnegie-Mellon University to analyze demographic trends within the district. At least one board member was quoted in the story as expecting greater clarity in how to plan enrollment and building projects with the data received from Dr. Stewman’s study.

This immediately brought to mind another population disparity within the district, one that I first covered in a post from May 2013. In this overview prior to that year’s primary election, I outlined what appeared to be an imbalance in the population of the school district’s 3 voting regions.

As the above graphic illustrates, three board members are elected from each region, including Region II, which consists of just Sewickley Borough. As of the 2010 Census, this region comprises only 27.5 percent of the total district population. Compare this to Region III, which consists of seven municipalities and accounts for 42.1 percent of the population – 2,000 more people than Region II – but is still represented by only three board members.

These voting regions have remained the same since at least 1981, when I mounted a losing effort for a party nomination for Region I school director in that year’s primary.

Aleppo Township, second only to Sewickley in population within the school district, is seeing the potential for additional future residential development, with the recent extension of sewer service from Sewickley’s sewer system to several township areas.

Should Dr. Stewman’s study predict even more growth for Region III – which arguably contains more land area that could be developed than Sewickley does – is the board prepared to address voting region boundaries, in order to achieve a greater balance of representation among the district’s populated areas?

I posed this question to Ms. Yingling in an e-mail earlier this month. She replied on February 18, stating she would forward my questions to board members. To date, I have yet to receive a reply from any board member. For those interested, board member e-mail addresses are available here.

I’m hopeful that the board will see the issue of voting regions as something worth at least a careful evaluation, especially with fresh demographic data expected in a few months. There are recent, local examples of citizens forcing the issue when representation does not adjust for population.

Have a good week and month ahead.

This Week in Personal History – The Marwood Apartments Fire

Front Page of the Beaver County Times, February 8, 1985. Credit: Google News Archive

A little over 30 years ago, my career as a dispatcher was in its infancy. I was volunteering as a dispatcher with an EMS agency in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, while working full-time at an area hotel. I was living in an apartment on the third floor of a house in Sewickley, with the woman who I would marry later on that decade.

The hotel job ended abruptly. With the help of a fellow volunteer who worked full-time as a paramedic in Beaver County, I managed to secure a part-time job dispatching EMS at Beaver County’s dispatch center, which was then located in the basement of the former P&LE railroad station in Beaver. I was an employee of what is still today the county’s largest EMS provider.

The EMS dispatcher worked with the two dispatchers – that’s right, two - who answered calls and dispatched police and fire units for most of the county.  This was before 9-1-1, computer aided dispatch, and cell phones – and those engaged in the practice could be extremely busy at times.

Such became the case the evening of February 7, 1985, when just before 9:00 PM reports came in of a fire in an apartment building in Ambridge. The Marwood Apartments were created inside what was formerly a United Dairy facility at the southwest corner of 9th Street and Melrose Avenue. Beaver County property records showed that the building had been owned by a local painting contractor since 1983.

According to the initial reporting from the February 8 Beaver County Times:

The building had been remodeled into a 30-room apartment house…Apartments occupied the first two floors and paint supplies filled the basement, adding another level of concern to the firemen’s worries.

My recollection of the evening from a dispatch standpoint was one of ordered chaos of the kind that I had yet to experience. Several ambulances were requested and sent. The urgency of the fire radio traffic kept increasing in the minutes after arrival – reports of rescues being made, and of residents, predominantly elderly, trapped inside. Firefighters yelling for more water, more personnel, more apparatus.

The last hour and a half of my shift felt strangely longer than that – as the fire was slowly brought to some semblance of control, as best as one could determine from radio traffic that ran the gamut between painfully chaotic and painfully silent, the searches began for those residents unaccounted for. Requests for the Coroner to respond were received. A temporary morgue was set up at a nearby funeral home.

And then it was time to go home.

On the way back to Sewickley, I decided to stop by the scene. Parking well down Merchant Street, I walked toward the intersection with 9th Street and was amazed by what was going on. Temperatures in the teens had caused much of the immense amount of water sprayed at and around the Marwood building to freeze on the surrounding structures, as well as telephone poles, wires, and the street itself.

As I walked closer, the result of this was a decided drop in temperature around the fire building – as if a gigantic walk-in freezer had been created in the middle of a city block.

In the days that followed, additional reporting detailed the progress of the investigation, the lives of the four elderly victims of the fire, and community efforts to render assistance to those left homeless in its wake. Media also reported that Ambridge’s Assistant Fire Chief dismissed as false the allegation that there were painting supplies in the basement.

The Marwood fire occurred during a significant period in the history of fire protection in Ambridge. Over the previous year, several members of borough council had advocated for the elimination of the full-time paid positions within the fire department (which were supplemented with volunteer personnel) in favor of an all-volunteer force. Council had voted to authorize a referendum on the question as part of the May 1985 primary election.

Five weeks after the Marwood incident, fire severely damaged the Larstone Corrugated Carton Company on 11th Street, causing damage to the adjacent Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry. Another fire at the same plant on April 3 caused additional significant damage.

Residents not only overwhelmingly voted to keep the paid fire department, but also denied Democratic nominations to the four council incumbents who favored its elimination.

Reached via e-mail last week, current Ambridge Fire Chief David Drewnowski expressed surprise that 30 years had passed since this tumultuous period in his department’s history. Chief Drewnowski also stated he was a volunteer at the time of the Marwood fire, and was hired as a full-time firefighter in August 1985, after the department received its vote of confidence from the Ambridge electorate.

The Marwood Apartments site today, now serving as a storage lot for a nearby auto dealership. Credit: Bing Maps / John Linko

The site of the fatal Marwood fire was sold less than a year after the blaze, to the owner of a nearby automobile dealership. Vehicles are now stored on the lot. The former box factory site is also now a parking lot, for the much larger campus of what is now known as Trinity School for Ministry.

Many people I know who were integral parts of that night in February are still around, filling significant roles within the Beaver County public safety community. As for that fellow volunteer who helped get me that job? He passed away in 2004, one of several I knew who made a distinct imprint on their families and the communities around them, before departing way too soon.

I often think about this and other experiences that shaped both my career path and my approach to the profession, and the people I have known along the way. All of these have provided a rich and rewarding professional experience that I wouldn’t trade for any additional measure of what some call success.

That being said, there is never a bad time to show those who put up with all of this, and love you anyway, how you feel about them. Many in the emergency services might agree with the sentiment that circumstance and commitment has too often got in the way.

With that in mind, have a great Valentine’s weekend.

‘Forgotten Sewickley’ Revisited

– Sewickley Herald Digital Archive

Happy New Year, plus one month.

It’s been almost 3 months since I last wrote here. The holidays and weeks since were eventful ones, filled with stress, joy, and associated craziness. Challenges were endured, loved ones from afar were welcomed and seen, and new life continues to be celebrated and nurtured.

Over the last couple of months I have been exploring one of the most interesting developments on the local scene in some time, and what was a great Christmas gift for history buffs – the new digital archive of the Sewickley Herald.

This archive comprises just about every issue of the Herald (there are a few gaps) from its inception in September, 1903 to well into 2012. It is essentially comprised of the existing microfilm archive of the Sewickley Public Library, with the powerful additions of being searchable by keyword and/or date, and accessible from anywhere with an Internet connection.

For me, the experience of perusing the archive with the precision of a search engine has been both exhilarating and sobering. I found pictures and articles related to all manner of life achievements and events, including the picture above, which accompanied an article about my short sports announcing career in the mid-1980’s. I was even able to locate a photo of Leslie’s father, part of a successful 1938 Sewickley High School football team, on Page One of a Herald edition from that same year.

Along the same lines I found several items that gave me pause – crime reports, legal notices, and the death of at least one friend.

I also started writing opinion as a teenager, and found several examples of letters to the Herald editor that I had penned – all of them passionate, some very cringe-worthy.

Respect the Run

There are recent events that have definitive ties to previous Herald reporting, and with them some personal recollections. One example is the recent issues regarding the Village Theater Company project, and a troublesome stream that runs underneath its proposed site.

In late November 2014 the Herald reported on an alteration in the Theater site plan in response to the location of Hoey’s Run, and the need to perform maintenance on the culvert carrying the stream under the area. Another report in mid-December stated that the repairs had been completed, with the Theater projected slated to get off the ground in the spring.

On June 30, 1974, my mother’s shoe store had been open for about 4 months, in a since-demolished 2-story house directly across Walnut Street from what is now the Theater site. My mother got a call at home that Sunday evening that there was flooding in the Village, impacting businesses along Walnut as well as Beaver Street.

The Herald account in its July 3, 1974 edition did justice to what we saw when we got to the business district:

Beaver Street was a nightmare of gushing water and mud. One police source estimated the mud depth at 3 inches. But whatever the depth, there was sidewalk to sidewalk mud. Spectators sloshed through it. Firemen worked until 1 a.m. hosing and scrapping (sic) it into gutters.  Store owners and employees moved merchandise to counter tops as they mopped mud from floors and entrances.

There was a good deal of mud in the basement of my mother’s business, but what sticks with me was seeing Blackburn Road transformed into a raging torrent of water.

While the 1974 flood was the result of a rare storm event, the recent actions taken by Sewickley Borough show much-deserved respect for the stream, perhaps with the memory of its previous destructive potential well in mind.

The ‘Forgotten’ Neighborhood

The Herald archive shows that the Dickson Road area of Sewickley – which also includes Farren, Miller, Harkness, and Cook Streets, along with the 800 and 900 blocks of Nevin Avenue – has had its share of controversy in recent decades.

In 1983, several residents of the neighborhood became vocal about the conditions there, and formed the Committee for a Forgotten Sewickley (CFS). The group circulated petitions for action to improve the quality of roadways and other municipal services. The petition read in part:

It is a shame that a village known for its beauty and friendliness should have the heritage of shameful neglect exemplified in the condition of Dickson Road and Farren Street.

This was reported as part of a comprehensive story in the Post-Gazette‘s North edition of November 10, 1983, along with several pictures and interviews with residents. The story also reported allegations by the residents that the neglect had a racial component, as the area had a greater concentration of African-American residents, along with claims that borough personnel were dumping trash illegally in the area – accusations that the borough denied.

The story also noted that the 1980 census counted 16 percent of Sewickley residents as being African-American. According to the 2010 census, that number stands at 7.3 percent.

The Herald picked up on this shortly afterward, reporting in its November 16, 1983 issue (Page 3) on a lively meeting between borough officials and CFS members, which included the presentation of a list of demands. Then-Manager Martin McDaniel (who today manages Edgeworth Borough) was quoted as stating Dickson Road “needs a complete rebuilding“, adding that after studies and estimates “it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

A September 19, 1984 Herald editorial (Page 6) extolled the cooperative efforts of CFS, Sewickley council, and community volunteers to improve the appearance of the area. Then-Herald Editor Mike May followed up in the October 17, 1984 edition with an extensive overview (Page 2) of CFS’ accomplishments, along with their continued concerns over neighborhood conditions. For example:

Pointing to a pile of dirt at the Mae West curve on Dickson Road, (CFS member) Betty Vescio noted, “That used to be a spring”. She traced the rill’s former route down the side of a hill to Nevin Avenue. “One day the borough just came up here and filled it in”, she added.

But that meant the water had to go somewhere else. CFS contends it seeps into the hillsides, where it eventually destroys the foundations of the homes.

By 1990, conditions in the neighborhood had again deteriorated to the point that the Herald reported on a resident’s complaints to council in its March 14 edition (Page 2). A subsequent editorial on April 4, 1990 (Page 19) lamented these conditions, and mentioned the efforts of CFS in the 1980’s as an ideal that both the borough and residents could strive for in the future. Unfortunately, there was little if any information available on what happened to CFS.

Fast Forward…to the Past

Dickson Road at Miller Street in Sewickley, first published Nov.29, 2012, showing deterioration of the roadway.    Credit: Sewickley Herald – Kristina Serafini

According to Herald reports in both 1984 and in November 2012, a good portion of this neighborhood is on an unstable hillside, with conditions such that Sewickley Borough Manager Kevin Flannery was quoted that Dickson Road is ‘”past the point where we can provide repairs” and the hillside supporting the roadway and Farren and Miller streets is in jeopardy of falling’.

Mr. Flannery went on:

“There’s going to be a point where we’re going to have to vacate the road,” Flannery said. “It might take two or three years (to vacate).” “There’s no way to make any permanent improvements,” he said. “We’d never go up there and pave it.”

Flannery said he worries what could happen if the hillside gives in. “My bigger concern would be that, if the hillside were to move, it would slide down into the homes on Nevin (Avenue),” he said.

The following month, Sewickley Patch reported that, at a meeting of neighborhood residents on December 18, 2012, Mr. Flannery and representatives of two engineering firms introduced an alternative to an unaffordable (upwards of $15 Million) road reconstruction:

…The best, most cost-effective option will be to construct retaining walls to stabilize two trouble spots– the horseshoe bend on Dickson Road at Miller Street and a sliding section of Miller Street further up where the street has sunken down a bit.

Flannery said the goal is to construct the two retaining walls in 2014. In the meantime, he said the plan in 2013 will be to monitor water flow to see where the water is coming from and potentially reroute the flow. Officials will also monitor for movement in the hillside on a monthly basis.

Flannery…reassured residents they wouldn’t have to move and that the borough would work to keep the road open.

These two reports appear to reflect contrasting viewpoints from the borough on the viability of the roadway and hillside. On one hand, they are saying that the roadway, and by default the neighborhood, may have to be abandoned. This is followed by plans to stabilize the hillside, and assurances from the borough that something will be done to shore up the roadway.

A recent visit to the area seemed to indicate that the condition of the roadway, like the hillside that supports it, is still in a state of slow decline.

Dickson Road at Miller Street, taken January 18, 2015, showing additional erosion of the road surface.

Miller Street above the curve intersection with Dickson Road, taken January 18, 2015, showing the sinking of the roadway.

E-mail and voice mail messages left for Mr. Flannery, requesting a status of the retaining wall project, as well as additional information on the monthly monitoring of the hillside, have not been returned.

Haste Makes Waste?

The former location of 883 Dickson Road.      Credit: KDKA

In early November 2014, local media outlets reported on the demolition by the borough of a house along Dickson Road, without prior notice to the property owner. This story drew above-average media attention from across the region, ranging from from the Post-Gazette to KDKA-TV.

The borough quickly took responsibility for the error, and per media accounts suspended the demolition of vacant properties pending an internal review. Manager Kevin Flannery was straightforward in his explanation and assessment of the borough’s handling of the processes involved:

”When someone on the team hits a home run, the team hits a home run. When someone on the team strikes out, the entire team strikes out. This is one time the entire team struck out.”

Mr. Flannery deserves credit for honesty and candor in communicating the borough’s error. This was not a strikeout, however – this was a routine pop fly, lost in the sun, with the winning run on third.

What Does the Future Hold?

‘Forgotten Sewickley’ has, from time to time, been on the minds of many over the last 30 years. The problems related to the stability of the hillside, and the houses and roads that sit upon it, relate to forces largely beyond the control of government. These are primarily the laws of gravity and geology, but also seem to be mixed with the decidedly human forces of economics and law, especially where it relates to service provision, real estate marketing, and private property rights.

The mixed messages sent by the borough – in one forum speaking as if the area will eventually be sacrificed to geological forces it cannot afford to mitigate, while in another trying to assure residents that they will keep the area viable for future habitation – makes me wonder about exactly what is being planned for this area.

Hopefully something can be done before a catastrophic, but not entirely unexpected event occurs – similar to a much larger event in 2006 where someone tried to put up a Wal-Mart.

Have a great month (and year) ahead.

Ralph D’Andrea – Silent Key

I need to pay homage to an important person from my days in Colorado, whose untimely death has left a void on a lot of fronts, most notably in media and political criticism, but also technical expertise in many areas.

I received some sad news on Tuesday afternoon with the announcement that Ralph D’Andrea had passed away suddenly last Friday. Ralph’s obituary summarized him well:

Ralph had a brilliant mind and a loving heart, desiring the best for his community and country and always willing to help those in need. A talented guitarist, he played in local bands in both Montclair, NJ and Grand Junction. Scientist, astronomer, ham radio operator, educator, computer whiz, musician, animal advocate, grandpa, family man and seeker of justice, he seemed to excel in anything that interested him.

Ralph was already trailblazing as the author of the Junction Daily Blog when I first started writing in 2006. His critical voice was often powerful, sometimes over-the-top, but always intelligent and reasoned.

Ralph was savvy enough to host his own blog instead of using a hosting service such as Blogger or WordPress, but a server crash deprived us of much of his best early writing. Some still survives, however, in places like The Huffington Post.

In recent years he moved his blog to Facebook, and maintained a Twitter feed for shorter outbursts. His apparent final post, in the late morning hours of the day he died, has an unfortunately autobiographical tone in the wake of his passing.

Ralph’s posts about fracking, which were written from the standpoint of both his career as a geological professional and his avocation as a pollster and political analyst, helped me to form solid opinions about the practice that have served me well since returning to Pennsylvania.

Ralph and I met once, in 2008 at a media workshop hosted by what is now Colorado Mesa University. He and I were often critical of the manner that the Grand Junction media reported on things..or didn’t. The media, for their part, did their best to remain civil while agreeing to disagree.

When the Daily Sentinel website went behind a subscription paywall in 2010, Ralph was adamant at the time in his refusal to subscribe, but in recent years made online story comments that are reserved for subscribers only. Perhaps there was a softening there.

The Sentinel, which has changed its paywall model to allow registered users view 12 free articles per month, published an editorial yesterday paying homage to the loss of Ralph’s “robust voice”. I was unable to read the bulk of it, however, because I exceeded my free articles for October and the paper’s servers have apparently failed to figure out it is November. I get the feeling Ralph would somehow appreciate the irony of that.

During our time as bloggers in the same area, Ralph and I both had to deal with loss; for me my first wife, for him his adult daughter. We quietly exchanged cards expressing condolences, and seemed to deal with much of our grief privately.

As a ham radio operator,  Ralph often fleshed out the DX, or distant contacts, aspect of the hobby. He often wrote about the annual field days, when contests were held to make the most contacts, often with emphasis on distance. It is a part of amateur radio that I have never explored, and I enjoyed reading about it from his perspective. Now that Ralph’s key has gone silent, I hope that his writing and enthusiasm inspires other radio hobbyists in the GJ area.

I owe Ralph credit for facilitating one of my most memorable moments while living in Grand Junction. Whenever some type of celestial body or other astronomical event was going to be visible in the local area, Ralph would post about it.

It was after one of those posts that I found myself laying face up at the clear night sky from the playground in Hawthorne Park, on the phone with Leslie while the International Space Station flew silently overhead, with a Space Shuttle following close by.

A memorial service is being held this afternoon in Grand Junction to celebrate Ralph’s life. Blessings, prayers, and condolences to Ralph’s family and friends.

May the stars shine that much more knowing that his spirit is among them.

73.

 

 

QV Reboots Search For ‘Crucial’ Positions

On October 9, the Quaker Valley School District re-advertised the position of School Resource Police Officer (SRO) online and elsewhere. This past August, I wrote about their efforts to find someone with the experience and temperament necessary to properly serve the diverse needs and complex situations present in the school environment.

After that post, I received an email from a candidate for the position who stated that he was “surprised” that no one had been hired from the initial group of applicants. He provided additional details about the extensive nature of the process:

There were approx. 50 applicants that applied. All applicants went through online testing, and the pool upon completion of this process was narrowed to approximately seven who had a first interview on or around June 23.  At least three had a 2nd interview on July 30.

The final three…met with three boards (A teacher / administration board, a police chief board, and a student board).  There was also a written response to a hypothetical situation.

I made additional inquiries at that time to QV’s Communications Director, Tina Vojtko, who put me in touch with the new Assistant Superintendent, Andrew Surloff.

Contacted at the beginning of October, Mr. Surloff initially stated that the process was still in place, with applicants evaluated in the spring still being considered. I then shared with him what I had been told about the process, along with some concerns about the seemingly inordinate length of time that had transpired to get the new officer on board. Mr. Surloff’s reply was frank and comprehensive:

Seemingly, such a process would not seem to necessitate so much time.  However, one delay was the significant changes to our administrative team.  Those hires were critical and took precedence over the SRO search process.  That said, we’ve been through several rounds and processes and have yet to be successful in reaching consensus on a finalist.  We need to ensure that your faculty, administration, students, local law enforcement agencies, and school board all feel as though we’ve been able to find the person to best serve in this role.  To date, we have not been able to finalize that.

Mr. Surloff also stated that a couple of finalists were not successful in the “final round” of the process. Considering the process up to this point, I have to wonder what that final round might consist of. Walking across hot coals? Or worse, a role-play scenario with a screaming parent?

Mr. Surloff concluded his remarks by stating, “We are committed to getting the right person to serve our schools and keep them safe“.  Considering the bureaucratic calisthenics that have been going on so far, I believe him. Whomever is eventually hired will have been vetted and evaluated with vigor and diligence rivaling a Cabinet position.

A review of the job listings today shows the position no longer advertised. Mr. Surloff stated in an e-mail that “We plan to screen the next group this week or next“. If the previous process is any indication, could it be well into next year before the new officer is on board?

Let’s hope it’s worth the time and effort.

That review of the district’s job listings also revealed a position whose vacancy was somewhat unexpected – the Director of Communications. An attempt to reach Tina Vojtko via her district email was replied automatically with “Please note that I have accepted a position with the Moon Area School District“.

Sure enough, Ms. Vojtko was on the job last Thursday when the [Allegheny Times reported] on the Moon district’s response to a harassing Twitter account. Ms. Vojtko’s work life will be a lively one over there, considering the district’s dispute with the Moon Transportation Authority and the beginnings of merger discussions with the neighboring Cornell School District.

In terms of the day-to-day operations at Quaker Valley, both of these positions share the same “crucial” label that has been previously applied to the Officer position. The Resource Officer is the district’s tangible face of safety and preparedness, while the Communicator is the one who assures that the district’s message is articulated, and its reputation properly managed.

Considering the amount of time being spent on securing consensus from different stakeholder groups within the district about potential candidates, as a citizen with relevant experience I feel that I am justified in weighing in with a few thoughts about both of these jobs:

• Transparency – In my roles as a public safety professional and as a parent, I have personally witnessed multiple attempts to convey information to police and others about potential emergency situations in schools in such a way as to prevent students, parents, and especially the media from finding out about them.                                                                                                                                                                            Communication is not aided or embellished when affronts to transparency, accountability, and citizen awareness exist because of the operating philosophies of school district administrations. It is made even more difficult when public safety and other government stakeholders are complicit in those efforts to keep the daily, seemingly ‘routine’ problems quiet and hidden.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 That being said, I must recognize the willingness of QV Assistant Superintendent Andrew Surloff in communicating that nature and status of their process. His candor and accessibility is much appreciated.
• Coordination – Communication is nearly always identified as a key improvement issue in the planning or functional exercise of safety or emergency plans, or when reviewing actual incidents in an attempt to improve response.

      Once a School Resource Officer is on board at Quaker Valley, he/she needs to directly           interface with area law enforcement and other public safety responders as a matter of           routine response to everyday incidents. This includes those who function as the first             level of coordination and information management – the dispatch center.

      Doing an ‘end around’ the dispatcher reinforces practices and attitudes that will                     not serve anyone well when the real emergency arrives.

      In 2013, Quaker Valley licensed several radio frequencies to aid in their own resource           coordination, and may be in the process of building their system out. Included with this       build-out may be equipment to assist local police and fire agencies with                                   communication inside school buildings.

      This will hopefully reinforce the concept of interoperability and unified command with       all involved stakeholders, and thus bring to life what is too often lost in a dust-covered         binder until needed in haste.

Best wishes to Mr. Surloff and his staff for a smooth and successful recruitment process.

The Politics of Allergies

As a child, I was allergic to everything – or so it seemed.

I had to watch myself. My brother had it worse – if exposed to certain allergens, he would basically vapor lock and require some type of emergency treatment. His was the only air-conditioned room in our house for several years.

We both went weekly to the local pediatrician for shots until we were 12 or so. For me, the specter of allergies is now limited to those 3 weeks in mid-Spring when pollen is really flying out there, and my sinuses respond by filling with goo. That and goose down.

Some kids I knew had it worse. One or two had dangerous reactions to bee stings. I don’t remember encountering anyone with a serious food allergy when I was a kid.

For kids today, that no longer appears to be the case. CNN reported in 2010 that “the number of kids with food allergies went up 18 percent from 1997 to 2007, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 3 million children younger than 18 had a food or digestive allergy in 2007.”

The reasons for this are speculative, but one theory appears to stand out among others – the “hygiene hypothesis“. Put best into layman’s terms by the folks at UCLA:

The hygiene hypothesis states that excessive cleanliness interrupts the normal development of the immune system, and this change leads to an increase in allergies. In short, our “developed” lifestyles have eliminated the natural variation in the types and quantity of germs our immune system needs for it to develop into a less allergic, better regulated state of being.

A CDC report in 2013 added credence to this thinking:

Food and respiratory allergy prevalence increased with income level. Children with family income equal to or greater than 200% of the poverty level had the highest prevalence rates.

Does it follow that more cleanliness equals more sensitivity? The jury is still out.

In any event, Epinephrine is the first, best treatment for a life-threatening reaction. Delivery of this drug in emergency situations was simplified in the late 1970’s with the invention of the EpiPen. This device is marketed by Pittsburgh area-based Mylan.

Sanofi Pharmaceuticals manufactures Auvi-Q, an epinephrine injector with pre-recorded voice instructions.

With the increasing propensity of food allergies among children came some serious efforts at advocacy. Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) is one such organization that started out as two separate groups.

FARE has done well to leverage donations and corporate sponsorship money to advance their cause, and it would seem that those supporting them are poised to reap the benefits – and that’s not limited to children with severe food allergies.

It’s not really surprising that FARE’s top two “Corporate Partners” are Mylan and Sanofi – two companies that stand to benefit the greatest from any legislative mandates concerning their products.

FARE scored a modest success a year ago when President Obama signed legislation that would give states that passed laws requiring schools to stock epinephrine injectors priority for federal grants to treat childhood asthma. Pennsylvania has taken a sort of leap toward this goal.

Last month, Senator Matt Smith (D-Mt. Lebanon) announced the passage of House Bill 803 by both the Pa. House and Senate. This is a compromise measure from Senate Bill 898, which Sen. Smith introduced and has championed for at least the last year or so. Governor Corbett signed the bill into law on October 31.

As reported by The Almanac:

 “The essential change was to allow epi-pens in schools rather than have it be a requirement. I still believe it should be a ‘shall’ rather than a ‘may,’ but that compromise allows schools to have these pens in place when a student or faculty member goes into anaphylactic shock,” Smith said.

Over the last year or so, I provided feedback to Sen. Smith’s staff about the need to make sure that Emergency Medical Services are notified whenever an EpiPen is used by school personnel to treat an allergic emergency.

Language to this effect appeared in both the House and Senate versions – the operative requirement now is that school staff, upon receiving a report of someone having an anaphylactic reaction, “shall contact 911 as soon as possible”. 

I like this simple, direct language. It’s been my experience that many schools would rather quietly notify only the parents of a medical issue, or if needed do an end around the system to keep things quiet. HB 803 now makes this illegal, not just ill-advised.

There are a couple of concerns about this legislation that need to be considered. One is whether or not all schools will choose to take the initiative to stock this medication and train their staff. If you consider the use of an EpiPen as a life-saving treatment for airway compromise, similar to using an AED to potentially reverse circulatory compromise, then to not make this treatment available may end up creating more liability in the long run.

In researching the increasing popularity of these devices, what seems to be going along hand-in-hand is a precipitous increase in the cost of these devices.

I located several posts from epinephrine users who were lamenting both the increase in cost and short half-life of the injectors. One of these bloggers provided information on a program that pays up to $100 of the insurance deductible on EpiPen. This comes from an online discount site, and doesn’t seem to be readily available as common public knowledge.

Perhaps the most inventive post came from In These Times, which chronicled two women as they tried to make sense of what they saw as price gouging, and made a Michael Moore-esque trip into Canada to prove their point. A couple of quotes seemed to do this rather well:

First synthesized in 1904, epinephrine…is now a dirtcheap generic. If your doctor prescribed it, says Vermont pharmacist Rich Harvie, you could buy a pre-loaded syringe of epinephrine for under $20. But the more foolproof delivery device—the pen in EpiPen—was patented in 1977, meaning that Mylan, the U.S. marketer, and Pfizer, the manufacturer, have a license to gouge.

EpiPens used to be cheap—just $35.59 wholesale in 1986. Harvie now pays $333 for a two-pack—the only option.

Tim Golding of Sen. Matt Smith’s staff directed me to some helpful information about programs that provide free EpiPens and training materials to school staff. Sanofi also has a similar program for Auvi-Q, and there are discount copay cards for this option available on at least one online savings site.

I should mention here the results of those ladies and their excursion north in search of cheap EpiPens, which, by the way, are available over-the-counter in Canada.

“I’d like to buy an EpiPen,” I told the pharmacist. “Have you a prescription, madam?” (the pharmacist) asked. “But I was told it was over-the-counter.” “Yes, but without [an insurance-backed] prescription, it will be so extremely expensive: US $94.”

This is yet another example of the disturbing nature of American health care, especially as it relates to pharmaceuticals. Big Pharma, with legislative assistance orchestrated by a quasi-Astroturf advocacy group, creates a market for the proprietary delivery system of a cheap generic medication, which can have life-saving effects in the pre-hospital setting. They will give the schools what they need, but maximize their profit on the backs of ordinary Americans.

There are obviously good reasons to assure that children with serious allergies have access to emergency treatment when needed. In response to increasing numbers of children with these conditions, adding epinephrine to the public arsenal is much like having an AED available in commercial buildings – or better yet, have a citizenry that takes CPR certification seriously.

As disturbing as it is to see children becoming more susceptible and sensitive to what are commonplace components of our food chain, it is of greater concern that we may never really know why this happens. The theoretical combination of culture, environment and genetics can be devastating to the families of children with serious health problems, or who lose a child to cancer or other illnesses.

It’s not much comfort that the most effective treatment has been made a commodity, at least in this country, in response to these trends.

Have a good month ahead.

Assorted School Updates and Silliness

As another school year reaches its stride, it is becoming populated by all manner of disagreements about issues both important and trivial, handled in ways both sublime and ridiculous.

Safety vs. the School Day

This past Monday, Quaker Valley Middle School was used as a landing zone for a patient at Heritage Valley Sewickley that needed air transport. This was the first use of the Middle School LZ since August 8, and the first in a long time during school hours.

The presence of emergency vehicles and the aircraft was apparently enough to generate some concern on the part of certain community members. After what was probably a number of phone calls to the school and district offices, QV’s Communications Director Tina Vojtko sent an e-mail list notification:

Emergency response vehicles including a helicopter are currently on-site due to a non-school emergency in the nearby area.

Students and staff continue to be hard at work in their classrooms.

It’s nice to see the process put into place in April continue to function well with all stakeholders, including those responsible for communicating with citizens.

South Williamsport vs. Monty Python

In 1977, the Quaker Valley Band traveled to South Williamsport (Pa.) High School to do a joint concert band appearance. The band director there at the time was a QV alumnus. I remember the majorettes from both schools dancing the Charleston onstage while the combined bands played a nice, jazzy arrangement, along with an overture that legendary QV band director Walter Iacobucci had composed especially for the occasion.

Apparently South Williamsport still has a robust performing arts tradition, which stirred a bit of controversy over the summer when the school principal vetoed the drama director’s choice of Spamalot for the annual spring musical, after actually paying for the rights to stage the production.

The dispute simmered over the summer months, fueled by the release of emails obtained via a Right-To-Know request, which seemed to indicate that the reversal of the approval to stage the production was due to “homosexual themes”.

As the school year was getting underway, the disagreement between the drama director, the principal, and the school board was brought to a head with the director’s dismissal by the board, and the subsequent resignation of her husband from the school board as a result.

Combined with the obvious civil liberties issue, the gay rights implications have focused much unwelcome media attention on a town whose only usual exposure to the spotlight is the annual Little League World Series. When heavies such as the New York Times weigh in, you know there’s a need for effective crisis and communication management.

With what is sounding like a standoff between a small school district and a mix of students, instructors, activists, and the commercial theater establishment, let’s hope no one entity starts looking like the Ministry of Silly Walks, or the Upper Class Twit of the Year.

West Mifflin vs. The State and Duquesne

The Post-Gazette reported last week about the West Mifflin School Board retaining legal counsel to explore the feasibility of suing both the Pa. Department of Education and the Duquesne City School District. High School age students from Duquesne attend West Mifflin and East Allegheny High Schools, and the state pays those districts tuition for those students.

The state’s payments are less than what West Mifflin estimates their cost per pupil is, and they want the difference.

Based on the amounts quoted in the story, West Mifflin is being shorted just under $1.1 Million per year, or just over 2 percent of the total district budget.

Depending upon the billable hours charged by Mr. Levin and his firm to do the research, and the additional hours and court costs required to conduct a lawsuit and any subsequent appeals of the outcome, this may or may not be a financially advantageous proposition for the taxpayers in West Mifflin. The lawyers may end up being the only ones making money from this.

Regardless of who is right or wrong, or whether or not the district has a case, perhaps it is an accounting firm or financial advisor who should be doing the research as to whether or not the end justifies the means in taking this to court.

Also regardless of any outcome, it’s apparent that Duquesne needs an exit strategy, just like Sto-Rox.

Sto-Rox vs. Propel – Round 2

In what sounds like the beginnings of a 12-round brouhaha (complete with Michael Buffer and his signature, trademarked introduction), the P-G reported yesterday on the state Charter Appeals Board denying Sto-Rox’s request for a stay of Propel Charter School’s plans to build a school that could eventually house 800 students in grades K-12.

Sto-Rox Solicitor Ira Weiss, whose firm is so prolific in its representation of school districts that he could fairly be called the Michael Buffer of school solicitors, is readying an appeal to Commonwealth Court to stop what he and his clients perceive is a “death blow” to the school district. No doubt Mr. Weiss’ meter is running as well.

A fair question for Sto-Rox voters – how much is enough? When do you say “No mas“, or negotiate a truce?

Maybe it’s just an eerie coincidence, but they face Quaker Valley on the gridiron tonight.

Easton vs. the ACLU

The above question is probably something that the Easton Area School District should have considered before appealing a court decision against them involving the placement of restrictions on bracelets in support of breast cancer. This is more commonly known as the I Heart Boobies case.

Easton appealed lower court decisions in favor of the students all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear the district’s appeal. Easton is now on the hook for ACLU attorney fees to the tune of several hundred thousand dollars, money that local media is lamenting and the ACLU is defending.

The district, while also stating the payments are unfortunate, also brought up the excellent point that the costs associated with taking an intractable dispute into the courts are unreasonable, and often preclude someone with limited resources from seeking an equitable resolution.

Rather than making rich lawyers richer, perhaps we should be focused more on playing nice, and knowing when compromise makes more sense.

Moon Area School District vs…Moon Township

Thursday’s Tribune-Review contained a curious story about the Moon Area School District’s efforts to disengage themselves from the Moon Transportation Authority, which leverages shared property tax revenue to help finance transportation infrastructure to support increased development.

The school district has taken its argument directly to the public in the form of an open letter detailing its differences with both the Transportation Authority (of which 2 members were appointed by the School Board) and Moon Township itself.

It sounds as if the school district wants its money back because it feels it needs it for its first mission – to educate students. This probably has something to do with their stated desire to explore swallowing up Cornell.

The Transportation Authority is a great idea, and has performed a great service to citizens by helping to assure that responsible development is accompanied by traffic management systems and highway improvements capable of handling the impact of that development.

Despite this, perhaps their greatest work has yet to come to fruition – one is the planned redesign of the I-376 Thorn Run interchange, arguably one of the most confusing in the area. The other relates to current and future development planned for University Boulevard, and the capacity of that roadway to handle any expected increase in traffic loads as a result. I covered this at length in a post from last year.

By virtue of the recent expansion of its campus along University Boulevard and the subsequent impact on this area, Moon Area School District needs to continue to support the Transportation Authority’s efforts to improve transportation infrastructure to facilitate greater development, and with it the payoff of an increased tax base.

The $3.5 Million that the school district is insisting be returned amounts to just over 5 percent of its current $68 Million budget. If the school district truly wants to “avoid the unsightly spectacle of litigation between governmental entities” (as they state in their letter), then they’ll forget this foolishness, continue to participate, and make sure that taxpayer funds are spent in some way other than lining the pockets of lawyers and the courts.

Jefferson County School Board vs. American History

No chronicle of recent school craziness would be complete if I didn’t digress back to Colorado, and the interesting attempts by the school board in Jefferson County to establish a “Curriculum Review Committee” to review the Advanced Placement History curriculum along what appear to be blatantly political lines, modeled after similar efforts in Texas.

The protests, which have been well covered by both local and national media, are likely to continue after the school board voted yesterday to modify their attempts at review, but to proceed with the process. That doesn’t seem likely to appease the bulk of those opposed.

The most entertaining aspect of this issue has been the assault on the school board position via Twitter. Some tweets using this hashtag were downright hilarious.

Perhaps the smartest thing I read came from my former hometown newspaper, which stated in an editorial last week:

While we applaud the anti-censorship sentiments behind the protests, we want to remind these impressionable students of another important civics lesson: School board elections matter.

Groups such as the Concerned Taxpayers of Quaker Valley know this, which is one reason why the “establishment” slate of candidates for the last school board election was largely defeated.

While I’m not optimistic for a general return to civility (at least not until after the election), I believe that compromise and common sense will somehow find a way to triumph over all this posturing and expense.

Have a great October. Play nice…

Local Asides and Updates – Play Nice

There are plenty of little issues swirling around the area this week that garnered more than the average amount of my attention span.  Rather than dive into one and try to flesh it out for all it’s worth (as has been my usual recent practice), I thought I’d just list them here. All have a common theme.

Gridiron Glory and Life Lessons

There will likely be a little more public and media attention as Quaker Valley’s football squad takes the field vs. Carlynton tonight in Leetsdale. The Cougars’ first year head coach, Mauro Monz, resigned earlier this week after his team encountered significant hardships over the first three games of the season. Mr. Monz cited his concerns over player safety after several were lost to injury, dropping his roster to 23 players.

Coach Monz, who has been an assistant coach in many area college football programs, also cited the team’s move up from Class A to AA this season, after male enrollment at the high school creeped just over the PIAA cutoff for Class A. This makes Carlynton the smallest school statewide in Class AA.

The coach has been roundly criticized for this move. Tribune-Review columnist Kevin Gorman got down to the basics about it –

Quitting has become a problem permeating WPIAL football. Wilkinsburg had four players quit at halftime of its 86-0 loss to Clairton on Sept. 5. For a head coach to do the same sends the wrong message. Sports are supposed to teach us life lessons. First and foremost, that quitting isn’t an option.

Mr. Gorman embellished his remarks in a post the next day, recognizing Coach Monz as “a good football coach” despite throwing in the towel when other coaches have endured what Mr. Gorman felt were greater hardships.

His post also included a picture of Steeler wide receiver Derek Moye addressing the Carlynton team. This is significant in that Carlynton counts Bill Cowher among its football-playing alumni. Carlynton High Principal Michael Loughren, in a statement to KDKA, tried to put the most positive spin he could on the situation.

I believe that Coach Monz could have done better by his kids, but I also believe that his actions bring to light a disturbing trend surrounding high school athletics. They receive far too much media attention. Too much hype equals expectations that can be unreasonable, perhaps even negating the positive impact of some of those life lessons.

In any event, Go Quakers – Don’t underestimate them, and play nice.

My Charter School Ate My School District

Propel Charter Schools wants to open what will eventually be an 800-student school, eventually serving all grade levels, in the Sto-Rox School District. According to a Post-Gazette report, total enrollment in Sto-Rox schools is around 1400.

Considering the demographic of Sto-Rox and districts like it – struggling post-industrial tax base, stagnant or declining enrollment, and financial challenges related to these – it isn’t surprising that the district is trying to fight this expansion. Their solicitor equates the charter school’s establishment as “death blows” to the district.

If you follow the media reports about other school districts in the county, such as Wilkinsburg and Duquesne, and the various struggles they are engaged in to survive, I’m wondering why these districts along with Sto-Rox just won’t recognize that they may be outmatched in their efforts to provide a quality educational experience.

Some districts saw the handwriting on the wall and acted, or are in the process of acting – Monaca’s merger with Center Area to form Central Valley, and Cornell entertaining a merge offer from Moon Area are examples of this.

Cornell appears to be a healthy district that cooperates with other districts to allow its students quality opportunities in both athletics and academics. Cornell seems to have a realistic approach toward the future viability of their district, while maintaining a sense of identity and pride – despite the fact that the district doesn’t have a football team. They’re rooting for the Quakers tonight as well.

I’m trying to imagine what it must be like to be Sto-Rox in this situation, especially with the confounding nature of the way charter schools exist. I have to pay them to educate students that would otherwise attend my schools. They operate with what may be a more efficient business model than I do. They may indeed be the death of me – what do I do? Perhaps they will need to play nice with neighboring districts, like Cornell is.

As it happens, I am living something like this, only in a different arena. More about this in a future post.

Sto-Rox, along with other small struggling districts, may need an exit strategy. Distressed and/or miniscule municipalities in our area should take note.

North Allegheny – The Road Not Taken

The Post-Gazette reported Wednesday that the North Allegheny School District looked carefully at the pros and cons of dealing with Highmark and UPMC, considering that their current health benefits provider is Highmark and there are two UPMC hospitals in immediate proximity to their district.

When faced with the choice of the region’s two feuding health giants, they chose the road less traveled by – United Healthcare. The P-G story cited lesser premium increases in 2015 by this insurer over that which were forecast by Highmark.

Hopefully service provision won’t suffer – according to my doctor, insurers such as United, Cigna, and Aetna require a lot more authorizations for diagnostic testing than the local big guys.

Not wanting to leave its employees in a lurch by denying them affordable access to as many providers as possible, NA appears to have made a wise choice. I think that Robert Frost would approve.

If it works, perhaps more business groups can send a much-needed message to both UPMC and Highmark – Play nice…or else.

Progress on the “Tacky Buzzer”

In the “play nice” department, it’s good to conclude on a positive note. This week’s Sewickley Herald and the Sewickley Fire Horn Petition site both contained positive information about the manner in which the horn is utilized in the age of improved notification technologies, a subject that I covered in July.

In both accounts, Cochran Hose Chief Jeff Neff was reluctant to elaborate about exactly what hours the horn will sound and when it will not, although the Herald reported that “the horn still will function during business hours”.

I’m not an expert on updating this type of technology – colleagues have told me that other fire departments have spent thousands to rehabilitate the electronics of old sirens at their stations. Thinking in terms of the simplest possible solution, I’m guessing that a commercial grade programmable timer, similar to this, could be used to allow power to the horn only when desired.

I’ve been in the Village once in recent weeks when the horn went off – on a Sunday morning after church. Whether or not that’s considered “business hours” is not as important as how many firefighters show up when needed, something that Chief Neff has stated he will keep close tabs on.

Those behind the horn petition appear cautiously satisfied with the efforts to make Sewickley that much more of an attractive community, while not compromising the public safety system already in place. It’s nice to see the fruits of respectful discourse, even if the jury is still out on both sides as to whether the fix will be satisfactory to all.

Have a great weekend. Play nice.

Join The Fight!

Originally posted on Old Road Apples:

Cable companies want to slow down (and break!) your favorite sites, for profit. To fight back, let’s cover the web with symbolic “loading” icons, to remind everyone what an Internet without net neutrality would look like, and drive record numbers of emails and calls to lawmakers.  Are you in?

https://www.battleforthenet.com/sept10th/?t=dXNlcmlkPTUyMzcxNzMxLGVtYWlsaWQ9OTAzMg==

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QV Update: School Year Starts Without Resource Officer

October 29, 2013 – Students and staff wait on the field of Chuck Knox Stadium while Quaker Valley High School (at right) is searched after a bomb threat.

This past February, I detailed some of the changes in the offing for Quaker Valley Schools as the 2013-2014 school year was moving toward a close.

The new artificial surface at Chuck Knox Stadium was installed in late June and early July. It is a decided improvement over the previous surface – there is a definite grass-like feel and cushioning that will no doubt be welcomed by athletes, marching bands, and citizens alike.

Another nice touch is what isn’t there – the end zones are plain green, without any adornments such as the mascot name emblazoned in large, pretentious block letters. The only decoration is the school district logo at midfield.

The new surface appears to be a quality installation that speaks to both safety and fiscal responsibility.

There’s a new Superintendent who is a familiar face, riding on a reported groundswell of community support and a reputation for reaching toward compromise. As efforts quietly begin to build toward planning to do something of substance with the high school, this will be important as stakeholders with their own points of view, from concerned taxpayers to adjacent property owners, will undoubtedly be watching and taking action.

The new school year is in its infancy, and already in a nearby district the youngest of students has brought a gun to an elementary school.

As reported in February, QV’s Resource Officer, Robert Wright, retired at the end of the last school year. A review of School Board meeting minutes since then has failed to show any action to hire a new officer. I inquired of QV Communications Director Tina Vojtko as to the status of the recruitment, and what contingencies were in place to provide officer coverage at the high school. She replied:

 Attached please find documentation regarding the district’s agreement with the Leetsdale Police Department. This arrangement will continue until a school resource officer is hired and on-staff.

I do not have a projected hire date for the school resource officer. The school resource officer position is crucial. What’s more important is finding the right school resource officer for QV. We are re-advertising the position in order to extend the applicant pool. Until the position is filled, our local police departments will continue to provide assistance.

I confirmed this with Leetsdale Police Chief James Santucci, who added that an agreement was also in place for a police presence at other Quaker Valley facilities by the respective agencies (Edgeworth, Sewickley) that serve where those buildings are located.

I’m curious as to what the district believes is the “right” kind of resource officer. Having known Bob Wright since before I left the area in the 90’s, I know that his shoes are difficult ones to fill. His personality and disposition seems to suit the nature of the job, and he was also a part-time officer with a local department.

That kind of legacy shows to me that not every police officer has the necessary skill set to excel as a School Resource Officer (SRO). According to a guide to establishing an effective SRO program published by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, there are eight essential criteria for the selection of an SRO:

(1) likes kids, cares about and wants to work with kids, and is able to work with kids;
(2) has the right demeanor and “people skills”, including good communication skills;
(3) has experience as a patrol officer or road deputy;
(4) is able to work independently with little supervision;
(5) is exceptionally dependable;
(6) is willing to work very hard;
(7) is—or can become—an effective teacher; and
(8) has above average integrity.

While it’s unknown what exact criteria Quaker Valley is using in their selection process, chances are it’s something approaching the above. It’s important to note that the QV officer can function independently of local police, and can write citations and file criminal complaints. So within those legal requirements, QV can place greater emphasis on criteria that they value more when considering potential candidates.

Despite these differences, the arrangement works for most of those agencies with a stake in the process. A 2012 report by the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) stated the following:

The successes of interagency collaboration, in all of its applications, are well-documented, including its downstream effect on reform in other areas of law…The school safety team is an object lesson of this collaborative approach. By now, all 50 states as well as local authorities authorize–and often mandate–a version of the team approach to insure that public schools are safe, secure environments where educators can teach and students can learn.

A check of the Quaker Valley job listings page does not show the position advertised as of the date of this post. It’s possible that the district may be using other job listing services, including those that focus on public safety and police employment, to get the “right” kind of applicant pool together.

Unfortunately, in some districts these criteria may also include the officer’s ability to function effectively in an atmosphere where politics or intransigence may trump common sense – witness the incident in South Fayette earlier this year. This dovetails with misapplied confidentiality rules that are too often used to suppress effective and appropriate citizen awareness of school district operations.

In some cases the school itself is left out of the loop. The recent firing of a security guard at Franklin Regional High School, who distinguished himself during the mass stabbing incident in April despite being himself stabbed, has school district officials feeling blindsided, and the Robinson-based private security firm that fired the guard hiding behind some stone walls of its own.

Effective communication and/or cooperation is not aided or embellished when barriers to transparency, accountability, and citizen awareness exist. It is made even more difficult when public safety and other stakeholders are complicit in these efforts.

A culture of secrecy and subterfuge infects the body and soul of an institution like nothing else can, and is even less appropriate in an environment where education is supposed to be taking place.

I’m hopeful that Quaker Valley will find an excellent individual to serve as its Resource Officer. The extra time taken to do it, and the cooperative effort with local police to assure that adequate security is being provided in the interim, will hopefully pay dividends in enhanced understanding and effective coordination when needed.

I also hope that Dr. Ondek extends her stated commitment to accountability beyond the educational process, and into how a school co-exists with a community during the best and worst of times.

Have a good Labor Day weekend.