Schools upgrade Internet
Belle Vernon Area School Board on Monday voted to unanimously approve the final phase of a two-part technology upgrade program for the school district, which will allow a lease/purchase agreement between the district and Key Government Finance, approving the district’s contribution to the upgrade.
The board approved a contribution of $184,000 that will be stretched out over five years, with $227,000 already allocated for the project from the state, which was released for use in December.
The project, led by director of technology Greg Steeber, includes upgrading the entire network infrastructure for the district. Steeber said the first phase of the program was approved by the board in July after the budget was passed. Steeber said over the last three years, the district has had a 131 percent increase in device use throughout the district for educational purposes, such as math testing.
He said with so many devices competing for service, a network upgrade was necessary to provide the best Internet performance.
“We are taking what we have and making it a lot better,” Steeber said. He said the second phase of the upgrade will begin next month and he hopes to begin initial testing at the high school by September.
Steeber said the district plans to lease the equipment for five years, during which it will be covered for damages.
School board President Joe Grata said this upgrade is great for the students. “I know what they are doing is keeping us ahead of the curve,” Grata said.
By unanimous vote, Venetia Hayden, a vision certified professional, was hired to handle Braille educational and curricular material for district students with vision needs, at a rate of $42 an hour. Superintendent John Wilkinson said the district was previously using the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit for Braille services but with a more than 20-mile commute one way for services and struggles that were met when translating charts and graphs, he recommended they hire an in-house professional to handle Braille services.
The board also unanimously approved review of a policy regarding the administering of Narcan, an antidote used to reverse the effects of narcotics during an overdose in an emergency situation, for adoption at their next meeting.
Wilkinson said the district has one Narcan kit available per school and has a commitment to receive new kits every six months to ensure they stay operational.
District bus driver Ted Metrosky, of Rostraver Township, addressed the board about board member Aaron Bialon reporting him to the bus garage regarding his driving Feb. 12. Metrosky said he believes Bialon used the accusation of reckless driving to harass him because he comes to meetings to express his concerns on issues.
Metrosky said Bialon called the bus garage and accused Metrosky of speeding and running him off of Leeper Road in Rostraver Township, while driving during his bus run. “I will not be intimidated,” Metrosky said.
Bialon said the incident occurred around 4 p.m. while he was driving with his daughter. “It’s not the first time I’ve seen you speeding,” Bialon told Metrosky. Bialon said he would never file a false report to the bus garage and said being accused of harassment was uncalled for.
Grata said the road in question is very narrow and that everyone needs to be safer when traveling on it. “There are two sides to this story,” Grata said.