Schools

Remaining Notes from Aug. 10 Baldwin-Whitehall School Board Meeting

Young Scholars, Munchkin University, Rally for Shalley, BHS VISION Club, transportation items, Calculus III, police officers at meetings, and Korchnak retirement made official.

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Young Scholars to Add Another Kindergarten Section

The , scheduled to open in this coming fall, has advised the that it is expanding its kindergarten level to two sections in order to meet demand.

"The largest number of people who want to go (to Young Scholars) are in kindergarten," B-W School District Superintendent Dr. Lawrence C. Korchnak said.

Munchkin University Now Looking at Building in Baldwin Borough

Munchkin University Child Care Center, which has  and , has approached with the prospect of renting space at the Lafferty Center on Joseph Street.

The B-W School District owns the little-used Lafferty Center, so the B-W School Board would have to approve a sublease by Baldwin Borough to anyone else.

School board member John B. Schmotzer made a motion to table an action item at a school board meeting on Wednesday night that would allow Baldwin Borough to sublease the building to Munchkin University, saying that the school board needs more time to consider what to do with one of its assets. The board agreed with John Schmotzer, but board member Kevin J. Fischer asked that he and his colleagues be prepared to discuss the subleasing idea in more detail when the board meets in October.

In an earlier interview with the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch, Munchkin owner Patty Garfold said that she has been talking with the owner and director of Bright & Early Learning & Child Care Center about possible children to enroll at Munchkin's Brentwood location. (Bright & Early, located on Churchview Avenue in Baldwin Borough, following a contentious relationship with the owners of its building.)

The B-W School District will not transport students to day care centers located outside of district lines, such as Munchkin's Brentwood campus. However, if a day care center were to open at the Lafferty Center in north Baldwin (located approximately 1.6 miles from Bright & Early), the school district would bus students there, just as it did for Bright & Early.

William D. McKain, B-W's assistant to the superintendent for finance and operations, said that his understanding of Munchkin's interest is that it does not intend to rent space at the Lafferty Center until spring 2012.

Rally for Shalley

Mayor James F. Nowalk presented the B-W School District with a check for $5,000 on Wednesday night as part of the Baldwin-Whitehall Friends of the Theater Arts' ongoing commitment to come up with the funds necessary to build an orchestra pit at the auditorium.

The orchestra-pit project is part of the Rally for Shalley campaign, organized by the Friends of the Theater Arts, to raise $175,000 for a pit to be built and named after Dr. Regis V. Shalley, who served as choral director at Baldwin High from 1954 to 1981.

VISION Club Visit to Bay St. Louis, MS

Retired BHS teacher Richard Yount gave a presentation on Wednesday night about Baldwin's VISION Club students' trip to Bay St. Louis, MS, during the spring semester.

The trip was a Hurricane Katrina relief effort, and Yount and the Baldwin students helped to build six homes for six disabled or elderly people there.

The students, as well as Yount, were lauded for their efforts by the school board.

"Thank each of you for making a difference," board member Nancy Lee Crowder said.

Transportation Items

The B-W School Board agreed to buy 89 GPS systems for district buses from Tyler Technologies for a total of $98,533.

Also, the school board approved the district's 2011-12 transportation plan, which includes approximately 70 different routes. McKain said that five more routes could be added but that the district is not anticipating any more than that.

Calculus III

Baldwin High School is adding Calculus III to its course curriculum this coming school year, the board decided on Wednesday.

The district's official course description:

"This course develops a high degree of mathematical sophistication in the analysis and understanding of abstract concepts and symbols. This course consists of the study of vectors, functions of several variables and differential equations. An intensive study of applications of differentiation and integration in two and three dimensions will comprise a major part of the course. The use of the graphics calculator will be required. This course is designed for those 12th-grade students who have successfully completed AP Calculus BC and have a strong mathematical background."

The course syllabus is available here.

Police Officers at Meetings

Eric Crane, of 301 Southvue Drive in Whitehall, used public-comments time to ask board members why a police officer has been appearing at school board meetings.

Crane did not get a response from the board, but when asked the question again after the meeting, board President George L. Pry told the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch that having a officer at the meetings is partially in response to a recent shooting at a school board meeting somewhere else in the country.

Pry also referred to as being another reason for the officer.

McKain told the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch on Thursday that the district has not yet been billed for the services of the Whitehall Police Department, so it is still unknown what the staffing will cost the district.

Korchnak Retirement

Korchnak made official by informing Pry in writing of his wish to make 2011-12 his final year in elementary/secondary education.


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