Schools

B-W Transportation Manager Resigns, ARAMARK Renewed and 2011-12 Budget Will Be Advertised

The Baldwin-Whitehall School Board was plenty busy at a special meeting on Wednesday night.

ARAMARK Renewed

The Baldwin-Whitehall School Board was busier than it probably expected to be at a specially scheduled meeting on Wednesday night. The board met outside of its normal calendar to focus on budget issues on Wednesday, but after just about five minutes of public session, the board went into a previously unannounced, private, executive session that lasted approximately 46 minutes.

The board emerged from that executive session to approve the food-services contract of ARAMARK for at least another school year. That the B-W School Board decided to continue to use ARAMARK may come as a surprise to some considering that B-W Superintendent Dr. Lawrence C. Korchnak said at a that the district's food service "has been running at a loss ever since they (ARAMARK) came here."

Find out what's happening in Baldwin-Whitehallwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Before calling for a vote on the ARAMARK renewal, board President George L. Pry apologized to the meeting's audience for the length of the executive session, saying, "We didn't think this was going to be as difficult of a discussion as it was."

The board passed the ARAMARK item, 7-2, with only Kevin A. Stiffey and Nancy Lee Crowder dissenting.

Find out what's happening in Baldwin-Whitehallwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Transportation Manager Resigns

The school board also accepted the resignation of its district's transportation manager, Richard A. Blaker, as another previously unannounced part of Wednesday's meeting.

Blaker, who has resigned for unknown reasons at this time, will see his position filled by Kenneth Pokorny, the district's "No. 2 (transportation) guy right now," according to Pry.

Blaker and Pokorny started as B-W's transportation manager, and assistant manager for safety coordination and customer service, respectively, in November 2010.

The motion to accept Blaker's resignation passed, 8-1, with only Sam DiNardo Jr. dissenting.

When asked for his vote to accept Blaker's resignation, board member Martin Michael Schmotzer said, emphatically, "With pleasure, yes."

The motion to promote Pokorny to acting transportation manager passed at a minimum, 5-4, with Martin Schmotzer, DiNardo, Stiffey and Laurencine Romack dissenting.

The board did not motion for anyone to fill Pokorny's recently vacated position.

2011-12 Budget Will Be Advertised; Young Scholars Update

As its final action of the night, the board unanimously accepted Korchnak's recommendation to advertise the school district's proposed 2011-12 budget for public inspection and comment.

The budget will be made available on the district's website as soon as possible.

The Baldwin-Whitehall Patch initially reported that the board would vote to actually approve the 2011-12 budget on Wednesday and regrets that error. The board will not finalize next fiscal year's budget until a June 8 meeting at the earliest.

Nevertheless, Korchnak's 2011-12 budget, which he says is "a balanced budget with no tax increase in the face of significant reductions in state and federal funding," is being proposed at $59,832,752, down 5.22 percent from 2010-11.

"This budget utilizes $2.7 million of the $2.8 million saved from the auditorium project to pay for fixed cost," Korchnak said. "It also includes recommendations to reduce the number of super-subs, eliminate university interns, increase bus capacity to 75 percent, modify tutoring support and save $106,698 by not filling all supplemental positions and controlling additional contractual services.

"This 2011-12 budget does not cut any instructional programming, and it preserves full-day kindergarten for at least one more year while the district reexamines the configuration for McAnnulty and Whitehall elementary schools."

Korchnak went on to say that $300,000 "have been put aside to cover projected increase in charter-school tuition as a result of losing enrollment to the ."

Korchnak reported that, as of Wednesday afternoon, 29 students from the B-W School District were officially enrolled at Young Scholars, including 13 in kindergarten, four in first grade, four in second grade, five in third and three in fourth.

John Schmotzer and Korchnak on PSSA Scores

Before Korchnak's budget was approved for advertisement, B-W School Board member John B. Schmotzer asked Korchnak if he felt that the school district was adequately funded to improve the district's scores on Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams.

"I know everyone on this board is concerned that we provide the best education possible," John Schmotzer said. "This picks up on what Mr. DiNardo brought up (earlier in the meeting) about (improving) the PSSA scores. We need to do better, and your indicated certain active measures that you are going to be taking (to improve).

"Money-wise, are you lacking anything in dollars for education purposes that would help you to increase the (PSSA) scores? I'm not a believer in necessarily just throwing money at a problem without spending the money properly to get the results that you want to achieve ... Is there anything you need, in this budget, to help our and our PSSA scores?"

"I think the budget covers what we need," Korchnak said. "If you recall my presentation last week, I believe we have a great deal of stuff that's in place. I think the teachers are doing well. I think the last piece of the machine, or the last piece of the puzzle, is administration, and that's why I personally took responsibility. And if you recall, I asked the board not to consider a raise for me next year unless and until we see that the scores (improve), and if they don't (improve), I'm recommending that that never happens to me (getting a raise) ... 

"The answer isn't out there. The answer's in here, and I do believe this is a very, very good budget."

"So, financially, we can't do any more for you to help you further increase these (PSSA) scores?" John Schmotzer asked.

"There are wants, and there are needs," Korchnak replied. "We have everything we need. It'd be great to have everything you want, but frankly, I would rather do as good as we can with what we need and what we have before we start asking for more."

Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan

Also before the budget was approved for advertisement, B-W's Assistant to the Superintendent for Finance & Operations William D. McKain explained to the school board his desire to instill a five-year capital improvement plan in the district's budget.

"It's the first time our district has done this," McKain said. "It's been one of our goals in (my) department.

"This five-year plan matches the school district's highest-priority capital and curriculum needs with preliminary scheduled expenditures. Capital equipment planning is an important management tool that shows the allocation of projected expenditures for capital improvement equipment expected over the next five years.

"It covers a five-year planning horizon. What that means is that we need to update it every year. We'll publish it each year, but it will reflect any of our district's changing needs."

The effects of the five-year capital improvement plan will be felt in the district's proposed 2011-12 budget.

"I think it's a really appropriate way to go," Pry said.

"I wholeheartedly support this effort," fellow board member Kevin J. Fischer said. "I think it was long overdue. We are in a position now, fortunately, to be able to do that. It goes along with planning ahead for the future."

"I, too, want to support the idea," John Schmotzer said. "I think it's essential. We have a lot of assets in this school district, and if they're not taken care of properly, it's gonna cost us more money in the long run."


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