Keystone Central School Board Welcomes Dr. Francis Redmon: Liberty-Curtin Kindness Initiatives Highlighted
By Christopher Miller
MILL HALL – On the heels of his swearing-in ceremony this afternoon, Dr. Francis Redmon officially took the reins of the Keystone Central School District Thursday.
Attending his first school board work session Thursday evening, Dr. Francis Redmon had this to say, “it was an exciting day for me, but sadly I don’t have much to report aside from mentioning the warm welcome my wife and I have received from the community, staff, and everywhere I go within the district; it is a welcome and wholesome place.” “I am looking forward to our partnership team of 10…what we continue to do together to prepare for the future will help develop lifelong learners of high moral character,” Dr. Francis Redmon said.
Students from the Liberty-Curtin Kindness Squad were on hand to talk about all things Liberty-Curtin.
“We were awarded a Kindness Grant from the Choose Kindness Foundation to spread kindness throughout our school during the 2023/2024 school year and we saw such change in the students that we decided to continue with it this year, with all the amazing events we saw unfold,” a student representative of the school told the board.
Students showed a video of the happenings at Liberty-Curtin for the school board including pictures of Lunch Mentors, Recess Mentors, Valentine’s Candy Gram assembling, playing games, School Store, Author’s Day, Radio Show, and New Student Orientation, to name a few.
After the students had left, which accounted for more than 50% of those in attendance, board president Butch Knauff commented, “wow, when Liberty-Curtin does something, they go big,” commenting on the room clearing out after the presentation.
Student government representatives for Central Mountain High School, Middle School, and Bucktail High School met with district administration Thursday evening to discuss the happenings of student government in their respective schools.
Student government representative Claire Bowman of CMHS reported on the items from the high school. “District Choir and bands qualified for regional music festivals, and winter sports have seen success, SkillsUSA students won district events and are now moving on to the state-wide event at Hershey, and today started a new semester and marking period,” she started. “Student government Zoomed with students from Bucktail to collaborate, and we are working on our bylaws to hopefully be able to read through them at our next meeting and to give a presentation to the school board in March…we also want to welcome and congratulate Dr. Francis Redmon and we look forward to having him come meet with our group in the near future,” Claire said.
New at Central Mountain Middle School, the student government has been taking surveys from students for suggestions and ideas on how to improve the school. “There aren’t many pressing issues right now,” representative Katie Owens said, “mostly lunch seating and food, but we will address to the best of our ability and keep our eyes open for more concerns as we want students to be informed and updated.”
Principal James Poleto of Bucktail High School addressed the school board, representing the student government. “The students have been asking questions about the block class process, and have been sitting down with the instructional coach to discuss, and they reached out to other schools similar in size to Bucktail to ask questions and gather data on how they do their classes,” Poleto said. “The students are compiling their data and will present it next month.”
School board Committee Reports amounted to discussion of several policy revisions including naming rights, remote work, and reviewing policies on independent study, current events, and field trips. Committee members are exploring the possibility of adding dual-enrollment courses and a leadership course into the high school level as an elective.
The Facilities Committee is considering replacing the administration building HVAC which is “at the end of its life” and was original to the building when it was built in 2000. Being completed in three phases, the project would be spread out over three years so as to not create a significant financial hit all at once. On the Liberty-Curtin front, all permits are in place and things “are moving right along” with crews taking advantage of the nicer weather to get things done. An HVAC project at Mill Hall Elementary, and the Bucktail locker rooms are slated to be finished very soon. A water runoff issue for residents along Homestead Drive was briefly discussed, mentioning that Bald Eagle Township Supervisors declined to pay for a $5,000 water flow study, and that the issue would come back to homeowners in this area for discussion with the school board.
The Safety & Security Committee briefly touched on editing and updating their emergency operations plan, getting input from local emergency services groups, and moving safety meetings to monthly. “Safety officers want contracts,” said board representative Chris Scaff, who also brought up the idea of new radios or a card swipe system for entering doors. He also mentioned an emergency “button” that would be worn around a person’s neck, where when pressed it would signal an alert that an emergency is taking place and emergency personnel would report immediately to the location. “These are things we should look into for the safety of our schools,” Scaff said.
The end of year report (2022-2023), as of January, displayed the district financial picture as being in a $2.3 million surplus in the actual financial reporting. “For efficient use of the surplus from fiscal year 22-23, superintendent and business manager recommendations are to commit $1.7 million to Fund 10 Capital Projects (Liberty-Curtin Project Costs) of cash needed in addition to bond dollars for the project, and to transfer $600,000 to Fund 32 Capital Projects (10 year facility plan projects) such as the girl’s locker room at Bucktail High School, and installation of rooftop units at Central Mountain High School,” administrative recommendations divulged.
The predicted total general fund balance (10) for 2022/2023 was $19,346,623, and the proposed balance from 2023/2024 is $18,746,623.
According to the monthly enrollment report, enrollment within the district is down by 15 students as compared to December, but down by around 100 from this time the past year. Schools showing a loss of enrollment between December and present are Bucktail High School (2), Central Mountain High School (6), Bucktail Middle School (1), Central Mountain Middle School (2), and Robb Elementary (7).
Up for review was Policy 701 regarding “Naming Rights” in relation to facilities, including buildings and grounds. Though it was up for discussion, board member Chris Scaff rose concerns over possible future financial donations being a part of naming of facilities, buildings and grounds.
“I don’t want to lose who we are as Keystone Central, if someone donates a million dollars and gets their name on a building, then the next year someone donates $1.5 million, then we will have to do all of the legal paperwork, changing names, and etcetera…there are questions I have on this policy and maybe we should put this on the backburner to re-review it and go over it in more depth,” Scaff said. “We aren’t going to change our names for the highest bidder.”
Also discussed was the need for physical education equipment upgrades and repairs at Bucktail, CMMS, and CMHS. According to the agenda and the meeting, upgrading and repairing equipment would cost $59,362.97 total with quotes from Advantage Sport & Fitness, Inc. and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
As well, the board will vote to approve a donation from Bayada Home Healthcare for two infant and three adult CPR dolls with a $500 value for the CTC program.
All school board members were in attendance.
