North Pocono OKs project
MOSCOW - The North Pocono School Board voted to move ahead with a district renovation project, which board President Paul Kowalski said would cost about $12 million.
The project will be completed in three phases, Donald Flynn of Burkavage Design Associates explained at a meeting Wednesday, after the board approved advertising for bids and sending the project to PlanCon, a Department of Education program. Bids for the first phase should all be submitted by Feb. 7 and the board could act on them as early as the February monthly meeting. About two-thirds of the work for the three-year project will be completed this year, including upgraded security vestibules at all schools, added Superintendent Bryan McGraw.
"All schools, at the completion of the summer, will have that extra measure of security," he said.
During the summer of 2013, work will be completed at the Jefferson Elementary School, Moscow Elementary Center and North Pocono Intermediate School.
Mr. Kowalski declined to share specifics on the upgrades for security reasons but was confident that the changes would make the district safer overall.
Also at Wednesday's meeting, audience members cited concerns over supervision at school entrances after a fight between two students recently.
"I'm second guessing myself as a parent, taking my child to the school," Kim Schmidt told the board, adding that she had seen increased monitoring since the fight.
Though the incident was dealt with by administrators, Mr. Kowalski also stated that improved safety will be addressed.
"We'll definitely review the procedure and policies," he said.
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