Elizabethtown school board reviews options for installing inclusive playground at school
When: Elizabethtown Area school board workshop meeting, Oct. 8.
What happened: Board members reviewed three options for installing an inclusive playground at Bear Creek School, which would have accessible equipment for students in wheelchairs. Costs range from $129,650 to $155,000.
Background: In March, the board approved the purchase of six standalone sensory pieces, along with fencing and other upgrades, costing $84,000. But, citing budget restraints, it voted narrowly against buying a sway glider with a ramp, which would have cost $154,500. That phase, including a rubber ground surface, could have cost $309,000, depending on what other equipment was added. The district then sought additional estimates from three vendors. Bear Creek School houses third through fifth grades.
Details: The $129,650 low-end option would provide four play structures and two shade structures, allowing for expansion and flexibility, James Frantz, operations director, said. The other two options incorporate ramps with play stations; the mid-range option, at $146,100, includes a glider. Frantz said the high-end option offered the most play surface and equipment, and the vendor gave a discount of $67,653, bringing the cost to $155,000. The mid-range option included a $5,715 discount.
What's next: Workers could install any of the options by next summer, Frantz said. The board should vote on this on Oct. 22, spokesperson Troy Portser said after the meeting.
Property purchase: Revisiting a proposal from May, Vice President James Emery, facilities chair, discussed purchasing a 3-acre property adjacent to Bainbridge Elementary School that could add a vehicle loop for student drop-off and pickup to alleviate a traffic bottleneck. The district could use a house on the property to offer students life skills classes, such as making meals and doing laundry. The property's cost is a "nonnegotiable" $462,300, Tom Strickler, chief finance and operations officer, said. Emery estimated it would take between $65,000 and $75,000 to renovate the home, including making it accessible and installing an HVAC system.
More: The property, which has solar power, could accommodate a solar field to power Bainbridge Elementary, potentially paying for the house over five to six years, Emery said. It would cost about $5,000 a year to maintain the property, Frantz said.
What's next: The board will vote Oct. 22 on whether to purchase the property.
Comments controversy: During public comment, Kim Kleindienst and Jason Deeds criticized board member Danielle Lindemuth's Sept. 18 Facebook video, in which she described a federal proposal to house up to 1,000 unaccompanied immigrant minors at the former Scotland School for Veterans' Children near Chambersburg, saying it could overwhelm the school system and exacerbate a teacher shortage while burdening taxpayers. "Does that mean that we don't care about these students? No, absolutely we care about these students," Lindemuth said in the video, adding it's about "whether or not we can sustain having these people here." She urged people to contact elected representatives and "flood" the governor's office. "They don't belong in Pennsylvania. Keep 'em out. We do not want them here," she said.
More: Deeds, citing the American Civil Liberties Union, maintained there are limitations on free speech for elected officials who are in positions of making policy. He also said that Lindemuth's "rhetoric" creates a hostile learning environment for immigrant students, thus violating Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission guidelines on discrimination. After the meeting, Deeds said if the board doesn't investigate and take disciplinary action, a complaint will be filed with the commission.
Quotable: "Allowing comments like these from someone in a position of authority in our school district to go unchecked would permeate through the community and eventually end up becoming a problem in the school community and creating an environment of fear and bias, where hate goes unchecked," Kleindienst said.
