Tamaqua school board fields questions on guns

Tamaqua area school board President Larry Wittig said last week that the board won’t comment on Policy 705, which allows staff to carry weapons in school, due to a lawsuit which was filed by the teachers union.

That didn’t stop the crowd of 20 from peppering the board and administration with questions and accusations.

“How much money from the NRA will the district receive if you enact this policy?” asked Chris Daynorowicz, who accused the board and administration of ignoring bullying in the district.

“Is that a real question?” asked Wittig. “There is absolutely no connection between the NRA and our policy.”

The NRA does award grants to community organizations, including schools, but only for programs that promote gun safety or to support shooting sports. Between 2010 and 2016, of the grant money awarded to such organizations, roughly 11 percent went to schools. Organizations must apply for the grants.

However, moneyis available locally.

West Penn Township supervisor Tony Prudenti was in attendance and offered a donation of $16,000 to the district to be used for security at the West Penn elementary school. He also asked permission for the township’s police force to increase patrols of the school grounds.

“This was one thing Ted Bogosh, Tim Houser and I could agree on,” he said.

Wittig granted the permission and accepted the pledge of funds on behalf of the board.

Detection

Lisa Behr, a parent of children in the district, said the board had begun investigating one of the technology-based security options, an acoustic detection system that can identify a gunshot and track the shooter throughout a building, then asked if they had investigated the others she had presented.

“The other two were fairly inexpensive,” she said, noting that the benefits of all three were very similar. Those apps go by the names of School Guard and Crisis Go.

The School Guard app carries a $1,000 one-time set-up fee and a $99 monthly fee per property. Crisis Go is a free app and is in use by the Pottsville school district.

After initially telling Behr that it was “none of her business” if the board had researched those options, he elaborated saying that there

The board and administration were again accused of not enforcing security measures with regards to allowing people into buildings. Tracy Perry reported seeing adults wandering the halls and opening lockers during last week’s board meeting.

Liz Pinkey, a parent of three in the district and vocal critic of Policy 705, suggested the board consider offering the same $2,000 stipend the policy provides for staff who volunteer to carry a gun to teachers who volunteer to serve on an assessment team to help identify at-risk kids. “We might get a lot of volunteers,” she said.

“This has nothing to do with the guns anymore. This has to do with the mental health of the students in this district. You’re doing a great disservice to the children of this district by not giving them more help,” she said.

Karen Tharp concluded the public comment portion of the meeting by asking the board to consider all of the information that the parents presented at the special public meeting and stating that prevention is best option. “Can you at least consider that you may be looking at this from the wrong end?”

The board will next meet in a work session at 7 p.m. Dec. 11.