Schools

Business as Usual During School Board Meeting

In the first meeting since revelations of lawsuits against the school district, the Centennial school board left relatively unscathed from community commenters.

Weeks after articles published by Upper Southampton Patch revealed allegations of and for family members, the Centennial School Board convened for a relatively quiet meeting that quickly passed routine personnel and financial motions.

The only tense moment came from a blistering statement from Willow Dale parent Michelle Hazlett, who chastised the board for what she thought was a lack of background research in the hiring of Dr. Thomas Turnbaugh as superintendant and its failure to stick behind former Willow Dale Principal Dr. Donna Dunar.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves," said Hazlett, who took her seat to applause from the other audience members, which numbered about 20.

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Dunar resigned her position in August after filing her lawsuit against the school district and has taken a position with the Pennsbury School District.

The more pressing matter for most Centennial parents is the bus stop situation. Under the guidance of Transportation Director Wayne Robinson, Centennial has reduced the number of stops this year, instead having more children gathered at centralized locations.

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Many parents have commented to the district that the new stops are too far and too crowded.

"The stop used to be at my corner," said Upper Southampton resident Denise Donlon. "Now they moved it to the front of a house on Maple Avenue in the middle of the road. I'm just trying to make sense of it."

During Tuesday night's meeting, the district agreed to add a new stop at the intersection of Centennial Road and Revolutionary Way. School Board President Andrew Pollock urged parents to "follow the chain of command" regarding bus stop requests.

Pollock said to start by calling Robinson, then follow up with Assistant Superintendant of Operations William Gretton. If the solution is still not satisfactory, contact Superintendant Dr. Jennifer Cressman. After that, take the issue to the Operations Committee (next meeting is Oct. 5), then to the full school board (next meeting Sept. 27).

The board also approved more than $140,000 in change orders for the district construction projects. The orders involved the new district-wide phone telephone/Internet system, widening a walkway for the District 1 school (Davis Elementary) and technology needs for the high school.

"We needed the digital pens that operate the whiteboard projectors in each classroom," said Gretton. "When we upgraded from the system we originally ordered, it didn't include the pens and the proper wiring we needed to operate them. We also need to add handicapped access to the science room."


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