CAMDEN — West Elkton Intermediate School will remain open for at least another year.
During the Preble Shawnee Board of Education meeting on Thursday, Nov. 29, the board approved a resolution extending the permanent closure of West Elkton Intermediate School out an additional year to allow for the conclusion of the community engagement process.
“If you will recall from January, the board passed a resolution to delay the permanent closing of West Elkton Intermediate. This would allow the community engagement process to transpire and have a facilities master plan developed. The resolution stated that a new resolution must be passed by Dec. 31, 2018 in order to keep the building open for the 2019-2020 school year,” Superintendent Matt Bishop said.
“Since we are still in the middle of the process, it would not be prudent for us to begin a shut down and transition to the two existing schools without a plan moving forward. Therefore, we are proposing simply extending the current resolution by one year to allow for us to complete our work.”
The board also approved several major purchases for the district:
•The purchase of two school buses at a cost of $172,874 through the EPC Bus Bid which includes trading in two existing buses from the fleet for the 2019-2020 school year. They will be trading in buss #7 and buss #17.
•The installation of Interior Vestibule Entrances for Camden Primary and West Elkton Intermediate at a cost of $15,600 by Capitol Aluminum and Glass Corp.
“You will still get buzzed into the elementary schools, but after you get buzzed in there will be a set of doors in the hallway that are locked. This will force people into the office areas, so nobody will have open access to the buildings,” Bishop said.
“It is an investment and some people might say that we’re still going through the community engagement process and we don’t know what will happen to these buildings, but we’re probably going to get these paid for through a grant. Even if we don’t get that grant, $15,600 to secure the buildings is still a pretty good investment.”
•The installation of LED Exterior Lighting at the Jr/Sr High School at a cost of $28,230 by Thomas Electric Services. Over the summer, the district looked at how dim the exterior lighting was. To increase safety, they will be converting to LED lighting.
•The installation of Tennis Court Lighting at the Jr/Sr High School at a cost of $16,700 by Garber Electrical Contractors.
“That is a commitment that the board made to the generous donors years ago when we put those courts in. Every year, people come and ask when we are going to do this and I think this is a good time to do this lighting project,” Bishop said.
•The purchase of Reading Mastery materials at a cost of $15,566.55 from McGraw-Hill.
In other business:
•As the district uses a district van this year, staff will be documenting any conflicts which arise to see if another van might be a good investment.
•Board member Gary Rader asked Bishop to look into signage for the building, showing there is a School Resource Officer on duty.
The board approved the cancellation of the December meeting. The next regular Preble Shawnee Board of Education meeting will be held on Thursday, Jan. 3, at 6 p.m. in the Board of Education office.
