By Amy Cherry
Daily Press Staff

    An overview of numerous projects taking place at several district school buildings was provided by Mark Romain, Aramark representative. 

The St. Marys Area High School roofing project is scheduled to be completed within the next four days.

    Asphalt installation at the school should begin to take place on Aug. 18 or sooner.

    An asbestos abatement crew arrived at Bennetts Valley Elementary on Monday during which time all floor tile was removed. Romain noted that a majority of the floor tile lifted when crews attempted to remove the carpeting. Removing the tile glue has proved to be a challenge for crews as well.

    Final air samples need to be taken from the school. According to Romain these samples will be hand delivered Wednesday evening to a Pittsburgh lab, with results available Friday. Once final clearance is approved on the air samples, crews will tear down the protective barriers inside the school on Monday.

    “A majority of the work at BV should be completed by the start of school,” Romain said.

    Bleachers inside the St. Marys Area Middle School will be removed today and should be completed by Monday, with crews working through the weekend.

    Landscaping was also completed at BV, Fox Township and South St. Marys Street Elementary schools.

    Superintendent Murray Neeper recapped the state budget issue. Originally the district projected a 4.03 percent increase in funding from the state when district personnel compiled this year’s budget. However, the district only received a 3.99 percent  increase in funding.

    “There has been some underfunding in special education,” Neeper noted. “This year we have received no additional dollars from the state.”

    Neeper began his comments by congratulating ninth grader Josh Gray on his recently completed Eagle Scout project. Gray, along with the help of fellow scouts, constructed a bridge spanning the creek between the Bennetts Valley Elementary and the nearby church.

    On July 31 the district was approved for a second year of funding for the Classrooms for the Future program. The district was awarded $58,472 for the 2008-09 school year. The program is geared specifically toward high school students.

    A letter sent by the PA Department of Education stated the General Assembly only included $45 million for the CFF program. As a result, districts’ allocations are smaller than originally anticipated. The letter also stated that Gov. Rendell is committed to the program and plans to pursue the initiative in next year’s budget.

    The district received approval on all elementary aspects of its strategic plan.     

“We’re well ahead of meeting the timeline for development and adopting a plan,” Neeper said.

    District personnel along with representatives from area health services agencies are studying the results of the PA Youth Survey.

    “This provides to be a good tool for this and other communities to share core information,” Neeper said. “It leads for focus of services that we can bring to Elk County, based upon the need of the county.”

    The district also plans to participate in a Department of Health Youth Tobacco Survey, which will be conducted at the middle school level.

    St. Marys Area Middle School students will also participate in AEP testing, which Neeper described as not as extensive as the state level PSSA tests.

    “These tests provide a parallel study of scores at the national level,” Neeper said. “It looks at the validity at what states are doing.”

    An executive session was held at the conclusion of the workshop.