Mother Claims 'Unfair' Treatment by SCSD

The mother of two children in the high school told the Spring Cove School District board on Oct. 21 that she does not think she or her children are being treated fairly by the district.

A closed-door executive session was held prior to the Spring Cove School District School Board meeting on Oct. 21 to discuss confidential matters regarding a student.

Upon the normal recognition of visitors at the start of the meeting, April Wilson, mother of two children at Central High School, stood to ask the school board where parental complaints should be filed after they have been brought in front of high school principal Stephanie Thompson and district Superintendent Dr. Betsy Baker with no satisfactory solution to the problem.

Wilson was informed she would need to file her complaint in writing with the school board itself. Wilson was also told she may look at “Policy 906 – Public Complaints Procedure” on the school district website for additional information.

Wilson said that she had “grave concern” that the school district does not list parental rights.

Wilson stated to the Herald that whenever a child is disciplined at the high school level, parents are not notified. She went on to say that it concerned her that district policy has been to “not notify parents of student issues and problems unless the parents discover them on their own and pursue them.”

Wilson said that this lack of communication with parents involving problems concerning their children “must not be allowed to persist.” Wilson told the Herald that she would proceed further than the school board to get action because “all children had the right to be treated fairly, equally, and above all safely.”

Wilson said that properly addressing her concerns could mean involving the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and those involved with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in order to prevent student and parents’ constitutional rights from being violated by the school district.

“Parents have the right to know when their child has been involved in any type of incident or problem,” Wilson said. “The administration should contact parents on these important issues. Currently, the parents don't get this kind of information or contact from the school.”

Wilson that she will “continue to fight for these parental rights.”

The policy

The referenced board policy can be found online under “Policies” and the subheading “900 Community” The direct link is https://go.boarddocs.com/pa/spgc/Board.nsf/Public#, or the “boarddocs.com” website can be reached from the SCSD website, under the “Board” tab and then “Policies, Agendas & Minutes” and then the Board Policies link.

The policy states that “When an informal discussion fails to resolve the complaint, the following procedure shall be used” and then lists a three-level complaint-resolution process.

The “Third Level” states, “If a satisfactory resolution is not achieved through referral to the Superintendent or designee or if resolution of the complaint is beyond his/her authority and requires Board action, the Superintendent or designee shall refer the complaint to the Board.”

Other business

Dr. Baker stated in her superintendent’s report that although not yet formally notified by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the Spring Cove School District is listed on the department’s website as a 2019-20 Program Grant Awardee.

This year, $1.75 million in equipment grants were awarded to public schools. In regard to the equipment grant, the district is slated to receive the maximum of $25,000. Those funds will support additional electronic locksets for Spring Cove Elementary, additional surveillance cameras for Spring Cove Middle School and additional emergency communication methods for all schools, including panic-button systems and classroom call buttons.

The School Police Officer Grant is a two-year grant, so the district will receive $20,000 this year toward the school police officer's salary as a continuation of last year's award.

A motion to purchase furniture for the Administration Office Board Room from McCartney’s of Altoona at a cost of $24,347 was unanimously approved to be paid from the maintenance budget.

The 2019 winter coaching appointments for the district and their salaries was unanimously approved by the board. The board approved the district administration using the services of Orchard Lane Excavating, Inc., for snow plowing and salting for the 2019-20 school year.

The next scheduled meeting of the board is a combined Committee of the Whole and regular board meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, in the Administration Office Board Room.