Oct 12, 2016 3 min read

MONESSEN – Monessen School Board Tuesday announced a Westmoreland County drug and alcohol forum will be held at the high school next month and also addressed concerns regarding textbook access for students.

Dr. Leanne Spazak, district superintendent, said the drug and alcohol forum will be held Nov. 7 at Monessen High School. Students will have a presentation in the afternoon, and the forum will open to the public at 6 p.m. Spazak said with the current drug epidemic in the area, officials are trying to get the word out about the forum and encouraging people to attend.

Spazak said this is the first year district officials heard of students being involved in drug use over summer vacation. She said the district lost former students to drug use in the past and she doesn’t want to see any more lives being lost.

“I think it’s something we really need to tackle,” Spazak said. She said this forum will provide students and community members with resources on where to get help and will provide important information on drug and alcohol use.

Alisa Ray addressed the board with concerns regarding student access to textbooks and said this was an issue in the past. Ray spoke at previous meetings urging the district to merge, citing issues with textbook access as one of the reasons. Ray said her son was sent home with photocopied textbook pages for his science class. She said for this type of class pictures should be in color, and her child deserves a textbook rather than a photocopy.

Ray also said many students do not have computer access at home. The board said students can take advantage of school computers during after-school programs and can also use local library computers.

Spazak said the district has sets of books to use in the classroom, and students can access the complete textbook online with an access code provided by the teacher. “We have never denied anyone a book,” Spazak said. Spazak said if a textbook is absolutely needed, parents can advocate to get a textbook for their child.

“It’s a very common practice, and it is financially stable for other districts,” Spazak said. Treasurer Sharon Mauck said several schools do this and do not allow students to take books home for financial reasons, due to the loss they would incur if the book was damaged or lost.

Teresa Speicher also addressed the board with the same concerns and also spokeat previous board meetings in support of a merger. Speicher said she is not only concerned for her children, but for children who need a book but do not speak up or do not have parents who will speak up for them.