Wednesday, April 24, 2013
State Sen. Wayne Fontana discusses school safety legislation, and a new bill that could provide schools with funding to address safety issues.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, April 24
School safety is of the utmost importance for everyone in our communities as well as employees of a school district. We send our children to these institutions to receive an education believing that this place is a safe haven for all who are involved in the development and learning of our young ones. The recent tragedies that have occurred across the United States and in particular, Sandy Hook, remind us that even the young and innocent are often the target of some mentally disturbed individuals. Last week, the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 10 (SB 10), which would provide targeted grants to Commonwealth schools in order to address the issue of school violence and improve school safety statewide. In particular, the …
Thursday, March 7, 2013
And other notes from Wednesday night's B-W School Board meeting.
2013-14 Calendar Debated Baldwin-Whitehall School District administration presented its preliminary 2013-14 academic year calendar at a B-W School Board meeting on Wednesday night, and board members had some concerns. District Superintendent Dr. Randal A. Lutz said that the calendar—not yet approved by the board—shows a starting date for students of Tuesday, Sept. 3, the day after Labor Day. And the graduation ceremony for Baldwin High School seniors is proposed for Tuesday, June 10. The calendar also proposes six scheduled two-hour delays—regardless of weather. Lutz said that those two-hour periods would be used for educators' clerical work and professional development. Board member Larry Pantuso is not a fan of the two-hour delay days, …
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Baldwin-Whitehall School District Office
4900 Curry Rd, Pittsburgh, PA
/articles/baldwin-whitehall-schools-2013-14-calendar-debated
1833949
/locations/8968637
School board member Larry Pantuso wants public feedback.
The Baldwin-Whitehall School Board is considering the adoption of a policy that would require substantial background checks for some B-W School District volunteers. The proposed policy would place district volunteers into two categories—limited contact and substantial contact—with satisfactory, or clear, background checks being required only for the substantial contact volunteers. Those background checks are an Act 34 Criminal History Report, an Act 151 Child Abuse Clearance Statement and an Act 114 FBI Clearance. Substantial contact volunteers would also be required to renew their Act 34 reports and Act 151 statements if there are significant breaks in their continuous service to the district. The cost to complete the background checks is…
40.352561
-79.992891
Baldwin-Whitehall School District Office
4900 Curry Rd, Pittsburgh, PA
/articles/b-w-schools-consider-background-checks-for-some-volunteers
1833949
/locations/8977957
B-W officials reject a voluntary acceptance of Duquesne students.
Baldwin-Whitehall School District officials will not voluntarily accept students from the Duquesne City School District—a decision that B-W Superintendent Dr. Randal A. Lutz made known at Wednesday night's B-W School Board meeting. But that's not to say that Duquesne City students couldn't end up in Baldwin-Whitehall's public schools one day. Duquesne students in grades 7 through 12 are currently enrolled in the nearby West Mifflin Area and East Allegheny school districts thanks to mandates handed down by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. And should future legislation occur that causes a similar mandate for Duquesne students in kindergarten through sixth grade, those K-6 students would be sent out-of-district, as well, including, …
40.352561
-79.992891
Baldwin-Whitehall School District Office
4900 Curry Rd, Pittsburgh, PA
/articles/no-duquesne-city-students-in-baldwin-whitehall-at-least-for-now
1833949
/locations/8963383
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Not one cyber charter school in the state and fewer than one-third of 'brick-and-mortar' charter schools made Adequate Yearly Progress last year.
Charter schools have been touted as a way for students to escape underperforming local public schools ever since Pennsylvania passed legislation in 1997 establishing them as a independent public schools. Cyber charter schools followed in 2002. One of the key selling points used by charter schools has been that their students outperform their public school counterparts. But according to the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, historical data indicate that a consistently lower percentage of charter schools make AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) than traditional public schools. Last fall, the state Department of Education implemented a new way of determining whether charter schools have met student achievement milestones for AYP under the …
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The board voted, 8-1, on Wednesday to, at the very least, not exceed the school district's allowable 2.2-percent millage increase for the 2013-14 school year.
For the second straight year, Baldwin-Whitehall School District officials have gotten word from the Pennsylvania Department of Education that they cannot raise their district's millage rate, without voter approval, by more than 2.2 percent. But unlike this past year, the board's members voted, 8-1, at their meeting on Wednesday night to not apply for referendum exceptions that would have allowed them to raise the district millage rate, without voter approval, by more than that percentage. In other words, although the B-W School Board is far from setting its final millage rate for next year—it will have to do so before the end of June—the rate will not rise more than 2.2 percent above the district's current rate of 23.40 mills. In fact, …
40.352561
-79.992891
Baldwin-Whitehall School District Office
4900 Curry Rd, Pittsburgh, PA
/articles/baldwin-whitehall-school-board-will-not-pursue-hefty-tax-increase
1833949
/locations/8622919
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
End-of-course assessments—they'll be required soon for graduation—determine proficiency of some high school courses and will be given again in Baldwin-Whitehall starting on Jan. 9.
What Is Changing It's not that Baldwin High School students shouldn't take standardized tests seriously. After all, it's their tests' scores that show how well their school is doing. And how well their school is doing tells employers and college admissions offices how good of an education that their prospects have gotten. But the seriousness should see an uptick at Baldwin High soon—if it hasn't already—as the Keystone Exams begin their implementation at the high school level this school year. Not only will students' performances on those examinations be placed on their transcripts starting with the 2016-17 school year, but also, if members of the Class of 2017 do not show proficiency on the Keystones, they won't be allowed to graduate (…
40.352561
-79.992891
Baldwin-Whitehall School District Office
4900 Curry Rd, Pittsburgh, PA
/articles/so-what-are-the-keystone-exams
1833949
/locations/9008781
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
The school's officials are applying for a revision of its conditional building use in Baldwin Township so as to increase enrollment.
Officials from the Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania Charter School are having no trouble finding students. In fact, children are on a waiting list to gain admission to the public school found on Newport Drive in Baldwin Township. But whether or not the school's building will legally be able to hold all of those kids is another matter. On Tuesday night, Young Scholars President Dr. Melih Demirkan and CEO Alpaslan Ozdogan appeared before the Baldwin Township Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners to officially apply for a revision of the school's conditional use application in the township. Demirkan said that officials at Young Scholars, which has a current enrollment of just fewer than 180 students, want to add 40 more …
40.380016
-80.018164
Baldwin Township Municipal Building (Administrative Offices)
10 Community Park Dr, Pittsburgh, PA
/articles/young-scholars-charter-school-plans-to-add-students
1833285
/locations/7964989
40.37642
-80.018549
Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania Charter School
600 Newport Dr, Pittsburgh, PA
/articles/young-scholars-charter-school-plans-to-add-students
2017949
/locations/7964990
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Board member Kevin Fischer wants more than adequate progress.
Dr. Randal A. Lutz knows that it's not an easy job—for him or for anyone who works under him in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District. But that doesn't change their duties, and Lutz, in his first year as Baldwin-Whitehall's superintendent, says that he's ready to work even harder. During a B-W School Board meeting on Sept. 5, district administration reported that only half of B-W's tested schools are achieving adequate yearly progress (AYP) levels. The board responded by charging Lutz with the task of leading the district to drastically improved scores on students' standardized tests—sooner rather than later. "There was a lot about it (the AYP report) that was very difficult to see," Lutz said a week later during Wednesday night's board …
40.352561
-79.992891
Baldwin-Whitehall School District Office
4900 Curry Rd, Pittsburgh, PA
/articles/back-to-basics-b-w-superintendent-lays-out-plan-for-academic-success
1833949
/locations/7823394
Thursday, September 6, 2012
The school district falls to the state's 'Warning' level.
A year after seeing each of its tested schools achieve adequate yearly progress (AYP) levels, the Baldwin-Whitehall School Board absorbed the sobering news on Wednesday night that only half of those schools made AYP this year. Assistant Superintendent Denise Sedlacek made the announcement to the school board at its September agenda meeting, revealing that Whitehall Elementary and Baldwin High schools failed to make AYP and that the B-W School District itself has been saddled with a "Warning" tag by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). Specifically, Whitehall Elementary hit 17 out of its 19 AYP targets, while Baldwin High hit 12 out of its 15. The B-W schools that made AYP were W.R. Paynter Elementary (13 out of 13 targets) and J…
40.352561
-79.992891
Baldwin-Whitehall School District Office
4900 Curry Rd, Pittsburgh, PA
/articles/b-w-school-board-hears-tough-news-regarding-progress-levels
1833949
/locations/8810496
morell
11:07 am on Monday, March 11, 2013
I think 2 hr delays scheduled is a good idea more ›