School safety topic for L’view board

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The Lincolnview Local Board of Education said “good-bye” to Interim Superintendent Doug Karst and also talked about the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and what is being locally to keep students safe.

The board accepted the resignation of Karst, the retired superintendent from Parkway Local Schools who was hired when former superintendent Doug Fries resigned to become Piqua City Schools superintendent. Karst’s resignation is effective December 31.

Technology infrastructure and school safety were the two big topics for the board’s otherwise uneventful December meeting.

Three district residents attended the meeting to talk about the safety of their children in the wake of the recent school-shooting incident in Newtown, Conn., that resulted in the death of 20 first-graders.

One father spoke about whether laws should be changed to allow teachers to carry handguns so they could better defend students in such cases, while Karst spoke of his and Elementary Principal Gordon Stemen’s efforts to provide information to parents about safety procedures the district currently has in place.

Recently hired superintendent Jeffery Snyder, who also attended the meeting, talked about a recent potentially dangerous situation involving a student in the Otsego Local School District, where he is high school principal, and stressed how important good communication was in such situations. In that situation, he said there were students who knew of the situation beforehand but didn’t say anything to school or law enforcement officials.

While that situation was resolved without violence, Snyder said it was imperative that students and parents come forward with information that could avoid a violent situation like the Sandy Hook incident. “You’ve got to step up and say something,” he noted.

Karst said local sheriff’s deputies were in Lincolnview schools all this week and the district was planning to better train teachers to deal with such situations, including possible training in the ALICE (alert, lockdown, inform, counter & evacuate) program.

One parent did note that the current school designs, which incorporate lots of glass, make it easier for a potential shooter to see what is happening inside a school — something that could help that person commit a violent act on school grounds.

Karst said superintendents in the county would likely be getting together soon to discuss school safety.

Technology infrastructure was another topic of discussion for Lincolnview school officials on Wednesday.

It was also noted that the Peace Officer Training Academy was planning to offer free training to teachers, something that Lincolnview should probably consider.

Karst talked about the need to beef up the district’s wireless Internet infrastructure and also led a discussion on whether to allow a “bring your own device” policy for the district or purchase electronic devices, such as tablets or laptop computers for educational use by students.

Board President Eric Germann said he was in favor of putting new technology infrastructure in place prior to the end of the current school year, and the other four board members agreed that would be a good idea.

Board member Kirk Berryman, owner of Computer Network Technology (CNT) Inc., said he would like to be placed on a committee that would be charged with developing and implementing a district technology policy.

Also on Wednesday, the board:

• Appointed Germann president pro tempore for the district’s upcoming reorganization meeting, which will be held at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, January 9, 2013.
• Accepted, with thanks, the following donations from The Van Wert County Foundation: $1,042.50 as the second half payment from the Klein Trust, $1,000 for the district music department, and $3,000 for new choir robes.
• Commended students and music directors Jennifer Slusher, Stacie Korte and Anna Baker for their outstanding fall and winter concerts.
• Employed Teresa L. Dunlap as a substitute cook and custodian, pending completion of all requirements.
• Accepted, with thanks, a grand of $500 from the Walmart Foundation for the needy student fund.
• Authorized mileage reimbursement for Snyder to attend board meetings on November 20 and December 19, and also appointed him as the district purchasing agent, with a $25,000 maximum limit without prior board authorization. Professional development expenditures by Snyder to the National Athletic Trainers Association were also approved.
• Approved a resolution to urge Congress and President Obama’s administration to mitigate drastic cuts to education funding now being included in the Budget Control Act.