As the issue of school security remains a hot topic, the Indiana School Board last night approved a security audit proposal for the district.
The proposal from Protective Services Inc of Ebensburg will cost the district $15,000. This is part of an effort to review current security measures and protocols. The bid came from a solicitation of proposals from several different companies. In a prepared statement made on behalf of the district, Russell Lucas of the district’s solicitors Anderson Price said “in order to evaluate the proposed responses, the district engaged multiple professionals in academic security and law enforcement expertise to review the proposals and offer their comments and recommendations.”
Board President Walter Schroth said that a priority list has not been made of areas that need focus as he wants to see a comprehensive study done. The study will be done as soon as possible.
In other business, the school board voted to reduce the elementary faculty by two positions, with the appropriate adjustments made to the 2018-2019 school year budget. The vote was 5-4, with Barbara Barker, Julia Trimarchi Cuccaro, Tamara Leeper and Ute Lowery voting against the issue. Lowery said she voted against it because she felt the district will bring one of those positions back.
The board also reduced the Gifted faculty by one position in an 8-1 vote, with Barker voting against the reduction, while a motion to for the district to provide four buses to transport students to the ICTC on days that Indiana School District is not in session was tabled for more statistics on how many students would actually use that service.
The board also approved the school district calendar for next year. The first student date would be August 28th of 2018 and the last student day would be June 5th.
