Aug 19, 2014 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – As the Central Greene School District ties up loose ends for the upcoming 2014-15 school year, a busing situation has arisen. District Business Manager Debbie Crouse told the school board she learned about a temporary closure on Porter Street by reading about it in the newspaper this week.

A public notice, issued by Texas Eastern Transmission LP, alerted those using North Porter Street in Franklin Township that it will be closed to through traffic from Aug. 25 to 28, coincidentally the first three days of school for Central Greene.

Crouse said she was speaking with King Transit, the bus service provider in that area, about flipping parts of two bus routes, but nothing has been finalized.

“We will probably have to call parents to notify them for sure,” Crouse said, noting this situation will occur four more times over the coming months.

The road closure is being permitted by PennDOT to ensure the protection of Texas Eastern’s interstate pipelines during planned longwall mining in the area of North Porter Street.

During the public comment portion of the school board meeting, middle school parent Nicole Denjen and Loren Dukate, who identified himself as the grandparent of a middle school student, addressed the board. They raised issues of health and safety regarding the 7th and 8th grade football team playing at Crawford Field.

Denjen and Dukate said there is not enough parking by the field, particularly on game days when parents from visiting teams need a place to park as well. Dukate said, as someone affiliated with PennDOT, he considered this stretch of road to be “extremely dangerous” with children and parents crossing from the lot across the street to the field.

Denjen also raised concerns about geese feces on the field that have the potential to make players sick.

Denjen said she was speaking on behalf of several player’s families with the concerns. She further noted players do not feel a part of the high school football program when they are left to play so far from the Raider Field of Pride. Denjen asked the board to consider allowing the use of the high school field for at least the four home games played by the middle school team.

Board member Joe Ayersman made a motion to accommodate the four middle school football games at the high school field because of health and safety issues at Crawford.

Board member Kevin Barnhart said he felt the motion should be amended to include the middle school soccer teams that play on the Route 188 fields. Barnhart noted those fields are next to the sewage treatment plant, and, in hot weather, the smell is strong. He said he felt this too was a health issue and Ayersman’s motion should include the soccer team’s playing their games at the high school field as well, so as not to single out one sport.

Ayersman’s motion was seconded by board member Roberta Boyd, who raised the additional safety issue of the field being outside of the district’s control. Boyd said functions held at Crawford and the Route 188 fields, both public facilities, are not restricted by district policies, such as those for smoking and weapons. Boyd said she felt this was especially important as the district continues to address school safety matters.

District athletic and varsity head football coach Russ Moore told the board the move would create scheduling problems, as there are 17 games between the middle school football and soccer in question.

The issue was also raised by Moore and Superintendent Brian Uplinger of taking away some of the practice time and availability of the field for high school players who may be in contention for athletic scholarships. Moving the games to an earlier time of day was suggested, but Moore said that would require the cooperation of opposing schools.

The motion passed with the amendment to include the middle school soccer.