CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield Area School District Board of Directors voted to hire a professional auctioneer to handle the sale of two former school buildings during Monday night’s regular meeting.
The board hired Travis Parkes as auctioneer for the sale of the Bradford Township and Centre Elementary Schools and their contents. The auction date and time will be released once it has been set by the district, said Superintendent Terry Struble. However, Struble said the auction will likely be held late spring or early summer.
The district permanently closed the elementary schools as part of its consolidation into two school buildings. Further, it consolidated all of its classrooms into the Clearfield Area Junior-Senior High School and the Clearfield Area Elementary School at the beginning of 2014-15.
In other business, the board tabled action on the graduation requirements proposed at last week’s committee meeting. Since then, board member Susan Mikesell said students have been in an “uproar” over the possibility of not having any study hall periods.
Mikesell said she realized some students “screw off” during study hall periods. Other students, she said, are involved with athletics and extracurricular activities and are not able to take advantage of the after-school library program.
Struble said it has become the administration’s goal to have students enrolled in as many classes as possible. Principal Tim Janocko pointed out students have class time in the library and access to Librarian Alice Brady.
“We’ve talked to the faculty … resources are being wasted during study halls,” said Janocko. “A part of being an athlete is budgeting your time.” Mikesell countered, saying her own children have been in study halls, where they are prohibited from talking and expected to bring work.
Mikesell also opposed the administration’s proposal to require students – beginning with the class of 2019 – to graduate with at least one dual enrollment class. “You cannot force parents to fork out that money,” she said. “We provide a free public education. If you provide for one, you provide for all.”
Mikesell added that not every high school student will attend college, as some study trades to become a mechanic or a welder. Janocko said the dual enrollment program is not solely for college-bound students, but also for any post-secondary education.
Like Mikesell, board member Gail Ralston agreed that students needed a class period to have access to their teachers during the school day but not necessarily every day. Janocko noted that students have an activity period once a week and can meet with teachers then.
Ralston also applauded the district for wanting to encourage the students to take advantage of the dual enrollment program. However, she didn’t believe the district should necessarily make it a graduation requirement.
Ralston suggested the district review parts of its proposed graduation requirements. Struble said rather than strike parts and come back with revisions, he would prefer to table the graduation requirements altogether and present them again at a future date to which the board agreed to.
The board approved to collapse the unfilled positions of two elementary reading teachers; a secondary foreign language teacher; and a secondary art teacher. The board also approved to collapse a fifth-grade classroom for 2015-16.
The board approved to create a sixth-grade classroom for 2015-16; an elementary research teacher; an elementary health teacher; a secondary science teacher; a secondary English/language arts teacher; and a part-time elementary licensed practical nurse.
When asked by Ralston about the implementation of the library research class, Struble explained it was still in development. He believed they planned to offer the library research class for a nine-week period, so students could build their skills daily. Struble said they also hoped to take classroom instruction and have students evolve it into research projects.
Ralston then asked Struble if students would receive a grade for the library research class on their report card. Ralston said she’s researched report card systems and wanted the district to switch to a more meaningful grading system than 1-2-3 with 1 being above grade level, 2 being at grade level and 3 being below grade level. Ralston said the district needed to communicate grades that accurately portrayed their students’ academic standing.
During the public comment, former elementary school librarian Peggy Barton encouraged the district to fill the library research teacher position with a certified librarian. She reminded the board that librarians are teachers and trained specialists in the field.
The board also approved the creation of several secondary elective courses for 2015-16. These courses included: fabrication lab, intermediate college algebra, Piano 1, Piano 2, history of popular music, Garage Band 101, Music Theory II (AP), anthropology and contemporary problems, contemporary social issues: sports and contemporary American society, graphic design, web design and programming language.