Submitted by Andrew Bowman
The West Shore School Board met to discuss matters affecting the district as spring rolls in and thoughts of the next school year begin to become relevant. The meeting started with recognition of the district staff for excellence in their work. Most notable among them was Kelly Kauffman, a teacher at Fairview Intermediary School, who has been spearheading initiatives aimed at improving the school and helping students from less fortunate backgrounds. There was also high praise for the district’s wrestling teams, which have been doing incredibly well this year, as well as a student art exhibit in the conference room showing off student creativity from all grade levels.
On the subject of business items, the main topic at hand was the transportation contract selection. While the school district historically ran its own transportation, they partnered with First Student in 2013 to handle transporting children to and from school. Despite the twelve-year relationship, this year the district is poised to make the somewhat tough decision to switch to Rohrer Bus Services. According to the somewhat recently formed Transportation Committee, Rohrer was chosen out of the three applicants for the contract because they had the most detailed plan for the district, including for the transition from First Student, including provisions to offer current transportation staff jobs in the new system. There were some public concerns however about the cost, as Rohrer presented the most expensive option to the district by a margin of a million dollars. One driver also expressed concerns about pay cuts and possible demotions in the changeover, to which a member of the transportation committee spoke to her about after the meeting.
Beyond this, other business and informational items were largely benign. The board reported that they have reached a Memorandum of Understanding to receive assistance should they require help with refugee students and, keeping with the theme, the board announced that they were promoting “Inside Out and Back Again” by Thannha Lai, which recounts her experience as a child refugee of the Vietnam War who couldn’t speak English at first.
The refugee-related news wasn’t all great, however, as a member of the public reported that Church World Service, a group that assists refugees in the area, has had to furlough most of their staff due to recent spending freezes. This freeze leaves just 11 employees on the clock as the organization prepares to receive 50 Afghan families who assisted the US military, and are therefore no longer welcome in Afghanistan. Another member of the public, Terry Michels, delivered an impassioned speech regarding the recent Department of Education cuts, describing them as an abandonment of school districts and burdening taxpayers even further. I spoke with her afterward and she told me that she is planning to run for school board in region 2 (Lower Allen area) against conservative Board President Kelly Brent, who played a large role in the controversial solicitor firing last year.
As for the gender debate that dominated my report from two weeks ago, I’m glad to report that the two public comments made on the subject this meeting were in favor of transgender and nonbinary dignity.
Writer's Note
In my public comment, I raised the idea of renovating bathrooms to eliminate design flaws that cause safety issues, such as having gaps in the restroom stall walls and doors and locks that are prone to becoming misaligned. After the meeting, one board member said that they have been curious about this sort of solution and would like to implement it if the details can be worked out.
I would also like to shout out West Shore Unified for their continued work civically engaging in the school board process to protect the dignity of all students in the West Shore School District. To learn more, visit their website, where you can find information on how to participate and support their mission.