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Old Forge parents raise lockdown concerns

Times-Tribune - 3/21/2019

March 21-- Mar. 21--OLD FORGE -- Parents raised concerns during a school board meeting Wednesday about the way a lockdown in the Old Forge School District was handled two weeks ago.

Superintendent John Rushefski was purposely vague about the March 8 incident involving a student, but assured parents the students were safe and no one was injured.

Also at Wednesday's meeting, the board hired a law firm to serve as interim solicitor after longtime attorney Joseph E. Mariotti resigned Monday, citing the board's ongoing dysfunction, including instances of pornography, racism, employee harassment and intimidation. The board will be accepting proposals for the solicitor position.

At the end of the meeting, however, some parents asked for the definition of a lockdown and, in the future, for more communication from administrators.

Parents also asked Rushefski for more details about the student involved in the incident. He was advised by the district's interim solicitor, David F. Conn, from the law firm Sweet Stevens Katz & Williams, not to discuss any information about the case, including whether the student was suspended or expelled.

Over the past year, the district has upgraded school safety, adding an Old Forge Police Department officer at the campus daily, providing in-service training to teachers, using the state's anonymous tip system, Safe2Say Something, and purchasing a Raptor system that runs identification cards through databases, including registered sex offenders and protection from abuse orders.

Using a $300,000 capital improvement bond, the district plans to remodel the front doors of the high school and elementary school to create a vestibule with a check-in system. They are also seeking a matching grant from the state, said Rushefski.

The board also unanimously voted Wednesday to provide ALICE Active Shooter Response Training to the district staff by the end of the 2019-20 school year.

School board President Jenna Jones Shotwell invited parents and the community to a meeting at the high school at 6 p.m.April 3 to continue discussing how the district can better communicate with parents during emergencies.

Earlier in the meeting, directors unanimously appointed the Sweet Stevens Katz & Williams law firm as interim district solicitor to fill the vacancy left by Mariotti. Conn said he believes the firm charges $150 an hour.

The usually divided board voted unanimously on all but two agenda items Wednesday.

Director Frank Scavo voted no for the meeting minutes from March 7 -- a special meeting where five school board directors asked him to resign from the board and voted him out as board president after The Times-Tribune published a story examining his Anti-Muslim Facebook posts, which went back several years.

The board was also split 5-4 on who to hire as Spirit Squad advisor. The job went to Amy Notari, a district teacher. She will be paid according to the union contract.

Contact the writer: kbolus@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5114; @kbolusTT on Twitter

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