Police agree to notify district of any crimes near schools
Recent triple homicide near Easton Area Middle School raised concerns about students' safety.
Friday, January 11, 2008
By COLIN MCEVOYThe Express-Times
FORKS TWP. Easton Area School District officials want to ensure the miscommunication with the police during November's gangland hit will not happen again.
New written agreements will require the Easton, Palmer and Forks police departments to notify school officials of any major incidents that occur in the proximity of any district schools, members of the school board's ad hoc safety committee said Thursday.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Recent EASD News articles
Check the Express Times for these recent articles...
District restarts chief search
Superintendent candidates must re-apply for job.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
By COLIN MCEVOYThe Express-Times
EASTON The Easton Area School District will restart a five-month-long search for a superintendent by handing the job to an outside agency.
"We are starting over from step one," board President Pat Vulcano said.
School district to spread the news
Easton Area to distribute monthly newsletter, calendar.
Friday, December 28, 2007
By COLIN MCEVOYThe Express-Times
EASTON Easton Area School District officials are working on a monthly newsletter and calendar to improve communications with parents.
District restarts chief search
Superintendent candidates must re-apply for job.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
By COLIN MCEVOYThe Express-Times
EASTON The Easton Area School District will restart a five-month-long search for a superintendent by handing the job to an outside agency.
"We are starting over from step one," board President Pat Vulcano said.
School district to spread the news
Easton Area to distribute monthly newsletter, calendar.
Friday, December 28, 2007
By COLIN MCEVOYThe Express-Times
EASTON Easton Area School District officials are working on a monthly newsletter and calendar to improve communications with parents.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Need for an EASD 10 year plan discussed
District to begin looking 10 years down the road
Monday, December 17, 2007
By COLIN MCEVOYThe Express-Times
EASTON Easton Area School District's 10-year plan for improvements is expected to become a priority for the new school board in the upcoming year.
http://www.pennlive.com/expresstimes/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1197869798240260.xml&coll=2
Monday, December 17, 2007
By COLIN MCEVOYThe Express-Times
EASTON Easton Area School District's 10-year plan for improvements is expected to become a priority for the new school board in the upcoming year.
http://www.pennlive.com/expresstimes/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1197869798240260.xml&coll=2
No word yet on new Easton superintendent
No word yet on new Easton superintendent
Easton Area School Board members will discuss search in private before Dec. 20 meeting.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
By COLIN MCEVOYThe Express-Times
http://www.pennlive.com/expresstimes/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-14/119674520729440.xml&coll=2
Easton Area School Board members will discuss search in private before Dec. 20 meeting.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
By COLIN MCEVOYThe Express-Times
http://www.pennlive.com/expresstimes/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-14/119674520729440.xml&coll=2
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Meeting Minutes-December 4th March School Meeting
On December 4, 2007 F.A. March Principal Steinberg and Acting Superintendent Kish presented information to about 50 parents on the renovation plans for F.A. March. Below are my notes of the meeting. The notes are not complete and any errors are from trying to listen and write at the same time! These are NOT official minutes of any kind-I share them as a way to keep information flowing if you could not be at the meeting.
Mrs. Steinberg opened the meeting with an explanation of how she is managing the renovation process. She takes information to her staff for discussion, gathers input and then will be presenting information to families. Questions from the parent meeting at College Hill Presbyterian Church in October were put on 3x5 note cards and filed by topic. She encourages all of us to put questions on note cards for her. As answers develop they will be shared in more meetings to come.
Mrs. Joseph spoke about her attendance with Mrs. Rauhut to meetings with the architects and engineers. It is a committee that is in full swing and working with Paxinosa too. Mrs. Joseph and Mrs. Rauhut are the volunteer teacher representatives on the committee.
Mrs. Steinberg assured us all that in the next two year process "we" (all current March School Families) will move together to EAMS and move back to F.A. March. This is a very important piece for her. Our number of 360 students should stay consistent. Expect normal attrition and growth but we will move as a group. The renovation will ensure that all the children and staff fit into the building comfortably. The curriculum and programs (FAME) will stay in place-just be delivered in a new location for one year.
Mr. Kish provided his background and areas of expertise over many years in the EASD. Buildings and grounds, transportation and security are a few areas he has had a lot of experience with. His concern is keeping the historic building that is F.A. March up to code. There is NO plan to close March school. The renovation is being completed to ensure the viability of the school. All of this ties into the long range plan that was done. The plan has been in the works for years-he wanted parents to know this didn’t just happen overnight. He discussed the PlanCon process of going out to bid and using value engineering to get the best cost for taxpayers. The plans for March are to ensure a better fit for our children, their safety/security and learning.
He was advised by the Board not to attend the October meeting held at College Hill Presbyterian Church because at that time he did not have drawings done yet. (As an aside: all plans of school that are shown are not shared on web-sites and no room numbers are given to ensure the safety of our children).
Mr. Kish introduced the engineering firm-Henry from D’Huy Engineering and Lee from Architecture Furst. Their list of schools and experience in the eastern portion of PA is very extensive and impressive. The slides from other schools they worked on were shown and all projects have run on time. Their credentials are very extensive and seem qualified.
Henry spoke about working with EASD since 2003. Their firm is based in Bethlehem and the majority of their projects are schools-they even have a former Superintendant who works for them.
Timeline:
2001-Facilities Utilization report was completed
2003-Facility study done by Architectural Studio for $1
2003-D’Huy hired to do the Easton Area HS addition and selected summer projects.
2006-Draft of capital improvement plan was completed
What this means: The facility utilization study provides facility conditions and recommendations. The state says that 25 students per class is acceptable. The goal of EASD is to keep class sizes below that. They like 20 students in elementary schools, 22 in middle schools and 25 for high schools.
In 2001, there was a redistricting to balance capacity. The plan to build the middle school at Shawnee began. There was mention of another report that D’Huy wrote in 2006 that has not been reviewed yet by the Board. A parent asked a question about this (there was concern as to why the Board hadn’t reviewed this yet). Other stuff was discussed that I couldn’t write fast enough to get!
In 2003 D’Huy provided detailed reports on each school and an enrollment vs. capacity study. This updated the 2001 recommendations.
Suggestions were: At the elementary level add additions to meet enrollments, build a new school and/or renovate EAMS into an elementary school. At the high school level, build a new HS, make HS for 10-12 and have a separate freshman campus at EAMS…other suggestions.
2006 D’Huy made a capital improvement plan with costs and prioritization lists for each school. They made summary rankings so that the EASD could decide how to proceed.
*D’Huy provided a 10 year district wide option plan to help move Easton forward. This is where we are today (in this plan)-per Henry.
-Building a freshmen center at the HS/Build new HS/split district (I don’t know what, if any discussion has happened in the administration or the board about this portion of the plan)
-No changes at MS b/c the Shawnee Center is done
-Elem: build new school, add early learning centers, renovate all elem. schools
Things that have been done so far: connected buildings at Palmer, added 20 classrooms at HS, renovated/new Admin building, new MS campus, new alternate ed facility, summer improvement projects that have included parking, roofing, stairs and sidewalks.
Planned Projects: EAMS will be a permanent elementary school, Pax & March will be renovated.
Project Constraints:
Must serve curriculum and projects
Budget in place
Timelines that work w/ school schedule
Code/Land requirements
PlanCon for reimbursements
Historic issues and regulations
PlanCon: enacted in 1973 and goes from steps A-J. This was done to ensure lavish buildings weren’t being put up. Each building in a district is eligible for renovation money every 20 years from the state. The renovations being done to prepare EAMS for our transition year are not being sent through PlanCon because it is not a very big renovation and it would impact the eligibility of the Board to get money to renovate EAMS if needed down the road.
F.A. March School Renovation Schedule:
D’Huy was hired in Sept. 2007 (the district must rehire or go out to bid for each distinct project)
October 2007: Architecture Furst hired
11/07-12/07 Design Development Phase
1/08-4/08 Construction documents
5/08-6/08 Bidding and awarding
6/08-8/09 Construction
9/09 Move back into F.A. March!
Architecture Furst presented next-lovely slides of renovation. The playground that was celebrated this fall will remain in-tact and the renovation will be added onto the back of the building and existing macadam. New rooms, lunch prep area, updates to existing rooms, ADA compliance/elevator, windows/doors/floors and some new greenscape.
They work to get maximum funding from the state and there is a plan to put this out to put the plan out to bid. The plan will evolve-it is a living document. As soon as next week there will be masonary contractors doing exploration within the bricks to find any *surprises*. Doing the exploration also keeps delays to a minimum. They deliver their projects ON TIME. Their reputation depends on this. Contingencies will be discussed at some point soon but their hope is not to have any.
Moved on to site plan for EAMS during construction year.
March will have a private entrance on 12th street. Paxinosa will drop off on Northampton.
A small playground will be built to the right of our entrance-backing on Spring Garden. There will be grass around this and a fence around the area.
March students will be almost entirely on the second floor except for music, gym and lunch. The two schools will remain separate and run their programs independently except when appropriate (ie: share a speaker that would have gone to both schools on separate days).
Some bathroom renovations to have boy/girls in two locations
March school will remain March school-this is an opportunity for growth and learning per Furst.
There is discussion going on with Lehigh Valley Child Care to continue to provide morning and after care to families that need this.
As of this date they are working on design development process, getting approvals and having team meetings.
Many questions were fielded about safety/security. Mr. Kish feels a personal responsibility to keeping that area safe. He was a Principal at EAMS in the past. The shootings came up (refer to newspaper articles for those details-possible gang activity). I stopped taking notes during this, but felt very confident that Mr. Kish is really serious about ensuring our children’s safety. He already has meetings w/ EAPD in the works so that breakdowns in communication do not happen. He has a daughter and he approaches all of his decisions thinking about how he would feel as a parent in certain situations. He put to rest concerns at this point that the redistricted Tracy families would be redistricted again out of March. Some parents worried about 3 different schools for their children. Some talk of a Guardian Angel group and Kish’s plans to start the neighbors coming to lunch at school. He did this as Principal and feels the neighbors are the best watchdogs. 2 security guards will be in EAMS when we are there, not just one. One will be stationed at the front door and another at the top of the second floor stairs before entering onto the second floor. Police patrol will be intensified.
More conversation but it was almost 10pm and I stopped writing! More meetings to come-COME IF YOU CAN! Parent input is actively being sought by both the Principal and Superintendent. A good example was some conversation about ID badges for elementary school children. We discussed how to get communication out to families moving forward-nothing concrete came from that. Personally I recommend going to eye-on-the-easd.blogspot.com for more…
Mrs. Steinberg opened the meeting with an explanation of how she is managing the renovation process. She takes information to her staff for discussion, gathers input and then will be presenting information to families. Questions from the parent meeting at College Hill Presbyterian Church in October were put on 3x5 note cards and filed by topic. She encourages all of us to put questions on note cards for her. As answers develop they will be shared in more meetings to come.
Mrs. Joseph spoke about her attendance with Mrs. Rauhut to meetings with the architects and engineers. It is a committee that is in full swing and working with Paxinosa too. Mrs. Joseph and Mrs. Rauhut are the volunteer teacher representatives on the committee.
Mrs. Steinberg assured us all that in the next two year process "we" (all current March School Families) will move together to EAMS and move back to F.A. March. This is a very important piece for her. Our number of 360 students should stay consistent. Expect normal attrition and growth but we will move as a group. The renovation will ensure that all the children and staff fit into the building comfortably. The curriculum and programs (FAME) will stay in place-just be delivered in a new location for one year.
Mr. Kish provided his background and areas of expertise over many years in the EASD. Buildings and grounds, transportation and security are a few areas he has had a lot of experience with. His concern is keeping the historic building that is F.A. March up to code. There is NO plan to close March school. The renovation is being completed to ensure the viability of the school. All of this ties into the long range plan that was done. The plan has been in the works for years-he wanted parents to know this didn’t just happen overnight. He discussed the PlanCon process of going out to bid and using value engineering to get the best cost for taxpayers. The plans for March are to ensure a better fit for our children, their safety/security and learning.
He was advised by the Board not to attend the October meeting held at College Hill Presbyterian Church because at that time he did not have drawings done yet. (As an aside: all plans of school that are shown are not shared on web-sites and no room numbers are given to ensure the safety of our children).
Mr. Kish introduced the engineering firm-Henry from D’Huy Engineering and Lee from Architecture Furst. Their list of schools and experience in the eastern portion of PA is very extensive and impressive. The slides from other schools they worked on were shown and all projects have run on time. Their credentials are very extensive and seem qualified.
Henry spoke about working with EASD since 2003. Their firm is based in Bethlehem and the majority of their projects are schools-they even have a former Superintendant who works for them.
Timeline:
2001-Facilities Utilization report was completed
2003-Facility study done by Architectural Studio for $1
2003-D’Huy hired to do the Easton Area HS addition and selected summer projects.
2006-Draft of capital improvement plan was completed
What this means: The facility utilization study provides facility conditions and recommendations. The state says that 25 students per class is acceptable. The goal of EASD is to keep class sizes below that. They like 20 students in elementary schools, 22 in middle schools and 25 for high schools.
In 2001, there was a redistricting to balance capacity. The plan to build the middle school at Shawnee began. There was mention of another report that D’Huy wrote in 2006 that has not been reviewed yet by the Board. A parent asked a question about this (there was concern as to why the Board hadn’t reviewed this yet). Other stuff was discussed that I couldn’t write fast enough to get!
In 2003 D’Huy provided detailed reports on each school and an enrollment vs. capacity study. This updated the 2001 recommendations.
Suggestions were: At the elementary level add additions to meet enrollments, build a new school and/or renovate EAMS into an elementary school. At the high school level, build a new HS, make HS for 10-12 and have a separate freshman campus at EAMS…other suggestions.
2006 D’Huy made a capital improvement plan with costs and prioritization lists for each school. They made summary rankings so that the EASD could decide how to proceed.
*D’Huy provided a 10 year district wide option plan to help move Easton forward. This is where we are today (in this plan)-per Henry.
-Building a freshmen center at the HS/Build new HS/split district (I don’t know what, if any discussion has happened in the administration or the board about this portion of the plan)
-No changes at MS b/c the Shawnee Center is done
-Elem: build new school, add early learning centers, renovate all elem. schools
Things that have been done so far: connected buildings at Palmer, added 20 classrooms at HS, renovated/new Admin building, new MS campus, new alternate ed facility, summer improvement projects that have included parking, roofing, stairs and sidewalks.
Planned Projects: EAMS will be a permanent elementary school, Pax & March will be renovated.
Project Constraints:
Must serve curriculum and projects
Budget in place
Timelines that work w/ school schedule
Code/Land requirements
PlanCon for reimbursements
Historic issues and regulations
PlanCon: enacted in 1973 and goes from steps A-J. This was done to ensure lavish buildings weren’t being put up. Each building in a district is eligible for renovation money every 20 years from the state. The renovations being done to prepare EAMS for our transition year are not being sent through PlanCon because it is not a very big renovation and it would impact the eligibility of the Board to get money to renovate EAMS if needed down the road.
F.A. March School Renovation Schedule:
D’Huy was hired in Sept. 2007 (the district must rehire or go out to bid for each distinct project)
October 2007: Architecture Furst hired
11/07-12/07 Design Development Phase
1/08-4/08 Construction documents
5/08-6/08 Bidding and awarding
6/08-8/09 Construction
9/09 Move back into F.A. March!
Architecture Furst presented next-lovely slides of renovation. The playground that was celebrated this fall will remain in-tact and the renovation will be added onto the back of the building and existing macadam. New rooms, lunch prep area, updates to existing rooms, ADA compliance/elevator, windows/doors/floors and some new greenscape.
They work to get maximum funding from the state and there is a plan to put this out to put the plan out to bid. The plan will evolve-it is a living document. As soon as next week there will be masonary contractors doing exploration within the bricks to find any *surprises*. Doing the exploration also keeps delays to a minimum. They deliver their projects ON TIME. Their reputation depends on this. Contingencies will be discussed at some point soon but their hope is not to have any.
Moved on to site plan for EAMS during construction year.
March will have a private entrance on 12th street. Paxinosa will drop off on Northampton.
A small playground will be built to the right of our entrance-backing on Spring Garden. There will be grass around this and a fence around the area.
March students will be almost entirely on the second floor except for music, gym and lunch. The two schools will remain separate and run their programs independently except when appropriate (ie: share a speaker that would have gone to both schools on separate days).
Some bathroom renovations to have boy/girls in two locations
March school will remain March school-this is an opportunity for growth and learning per Furst.
There is discussion going on with Lehigh Valley Child Care to continue to provide morning and after care to families that need this.
As of this date they are working on design development process, getting approvals and having team meetings.
Many questions were fielded about safety/security. Mr. Kish feels a personal responsibility to keeping that area safe. He was a Principal at EAMS in the past. The shootings came up (refer to newspaper articles for those details-possible gang activity). I stopped taking notes during this, but felt very confident that Mr. Kish is really serious about ensuring our children’s safety. He already has meetings w/ EAPD in the works so that breakdowns in communication do not happen. He has a daughter and he approaches all of his decisions thinking about how he would feel as a parent in certain situations. He put to rest concerns at this point that the redistricted Tracy families would be redistricted again out of March. Some parents worried about 3 different schools for their children. Some talk of a Guardian Angel group and Kish’s plans to start the neighbors coming to lunch at school. He did this as Principal and feels the neighbors are the best watchdogs. 2 security guards will be in EAMS when we are there, not just one. One will be stationed at the front door and another at the top of the second floor stairs before entering onto the second floor. Police patrol will be intensified.
More conversation but it was almost 10pm and I stopped writing! More meetings to come-COME IF YOU CAN! Parent input is actively being sought by both the Principal and Superintendent. A good example was some conversation about ID badges for elementary school children. We discussed how to get communication out to families moving forward-nothing concrete came from that. Personally I recommend going to eye-on-the-easd.blogspot.com for more…
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
EASD Board Re-Organization Meeting Held 12/3, New Officers Chosen
Some dissent on district leadership
Votes on Easton Area School Board positions are not unanimous.
By William J. Ford
Of The Morning Call
December 4, 2007
The Easton Area School Board will have a new president and vice president leading the nine-member group for the next year, but the votes weren't unanimous.Pat Vulcano Jr. of Easton, who was elected in 2001 and represents Region 2, was elected president by a 6-3 vote during the annual reorganization meeting Monday night.Patricia Fisher of Palmer Township, sworn in after being re-elected to a second four-year term, was elected vice president by the same vote.Vulcano and Fisher voted for themselves and for each other; director Pam Millen-Eustis and new members Jodi Hess, Millie Mandarino and Kerry Myers also chose them.Directors Timothy Reilly and Randolph Mahl and new director Kerri Leonard-Ellison voted against the two and nominated Mahl for both positions.''I would like to thank everybody who voted for me and for those who did not vote for me, we may disagree but…we are still a united front,'' said Vulcano, who now has the longest tenure on the board. His wife, Sandra, is president of Easton City Council and also served on the school board before her husband.The board will continue holding its once-a-month meetings every third Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Education Center, 1801 Bushkill Drive, Forks Township. The first will be Dec. 20.Three former school directors, Richard Siegfried, Roy Cortez and Al Capecci, will continue helping the new board interview the final two candidates to replace former Superintendent Dennis Riker. Joseph Kish is the acting superintendent.
Copyright © 2007, The Morning Call
Votes on Easton Area School Board positions are not unanimous.
By William J. Ford
Of The Morning Call
December 4, 2007
The Easton Area School Board will have a new president and vice president leading the nine-member group for the next year, but the votes weren't unanimous.Pat Vulcano Jr. of Easton, who was elected in 2001 and represents Region 2, was elected president by a 6-3 vote during the annual reorganization meeting Monday night.Patricia Fisher of Palmer Township, sworn in after being re-elected to a second four-year term, was elected vice president by the same vote.Vulcano and Fisher voted for themselves and for each other; director Pam Millen-Eustis and new members Jodi Hess, Millie Mandarino and Kerry Myers also chose them.Directors Timothy Reilly and Randolph Mahl and new director Kerri Leonard-Ellison voted against the two and nominated Mahl for both positions.''I would like to thank everybody who voted for me and for those who did not vote for me, we may disagree but…we are still a united front,'' said Vulcano, who now has the longest tenure on the board. His wife, Sandra, is president of Easton City Council and also served on the school board before her husband.The board will continue holding its once-a-month meetings every third Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Education Center, 1801 Bushkill Drive, Forks Township. The first will be Dec. 20.Three former school directors, Richard Siegfried, Roy Cortez and Al Capecci, will continue helping the new board interview the final two candidates to replace former Superintendent Dennis Riker. Joseph Kish is the acting superintendent.
Copyright © 2007, The Morning Call
New Officers on Easton Area School Board
New officers on Easton Area School Board
Posted by The Express-Times December 03, 2007 21:32PM
Categories: Pennsylvania
Pat Vulcano Jr. was named Easton Area School Board president by a 6-3 vote at Monday night's reorganization meeting. Patricia Fisher was named vice president, and new board members Jodi Hess, Kerri Leonard-Ellison, Millie Mandarino and Kerry Myers took their seats on the board.
Vulcano said the search continues for a new superintendent. The search was narrowed to two finalists last month, but Vulcano said the board will now also review previously considered candidates.
The board will discuss the search in private before the Dec. 20 school board meeting then make a public announcement, Vulcano said.
Posted by The Express-Times December 03, 2007 21:32PM
Categories: Pennsylvania
Pat Vulcano Jr. was named Easton Area School Board president by a 6-3 vote at Monday night's reorganization meeting. Patricia Fisher was named vice president, and new board members Jodi Hess, Kerri Leonard-Ellison, Millie Mandarino and Kerry Myers took their seats on the board.
Vulcano said the search continues for a new superintendent. The search was narrowed to two finalists last month, but Vulcano said the board will now also review previously considered candidates.
The board will discuss the search in private before the Dec. 20 school board meeting then make a public announcement, Vulcano said.
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