Woodland Hills Looks at Academy Renovations

The Woodland Hills School Board on Wednesday set an agenda that will bring a number of items up for vote next week, including whether to go ahead with $20 million in renovations at Woodland Hills Academy.

The board heard a presentation from a representative of Foreman Architects Engineers that detailed a number of suggested renovations to the building, which has been listed in “poor” condition since 2004, according to board President Marilyn Messina. Messina said the board will “pick and choose” which renovations to pursue next week.

Terry L. Thompson, vice president of architecture for the company, said a cost-effective way to improve the building is to retain things such as chalkboards while focusing attention on more pressing structural issues. Thompson is expected to speak further about his findings next week.

Board member Bob Tomasic asked whether Thompson should do a similar study with the school in Rankin, where the district is housing its Wolverine Promise program in the fall. The school, which had been closed for the past few years, could be in even worse condition than the academy, Tomasic suggested.

“All we can do is what we’re doing,” said board member Regis Driscoll, adding that he thought the school’s condition a “pleasant surprise” during a walk through.

Whether the board will look into such a study at the Rankin school will be discussed next week.

Additional items coming to a vote next week include whether to hire Kevin Murray as the high school’s assistant principal at a yet-undetermined salary and also Heather Stotsky as a school psychologist at a salary of $45,000.

The board will also vote on contracts for security officers at the junior and senior high schools. One contract, with Churchill Borough, puts an officer at the high school for a $49,000 salary. The other, with Swissvale Borough, puts two officers at the junior high for a combined $41,000.

Board members brought forth complaints they’ve heard about the effectiveness of the junior high officers, including complaints that the officers spend more time sitting in offices than patrolling the grounds. Tara Reis suggested that having two officers is unnecessary, considering that the high school is larger and has only one.

“I’m not going to support two [officers] because I don’t think we need two,” Reis said.

Messina said it’s more a matter of clarifying the chain of command to handle such complaints, adding that complexity arises when working with officers from external police forces.

“My concern is: Who do we go to?” Messina said. “We need to get everybody in the room and say, ‘This is how it works.’ ”

After cutting two items concerning licensing fees for educational software from the agenda, Messina told board members that they shouldn’t bring anything to the table without a solid plan for funding it—especially considering the from the recently passed budget.

“I’m sorry, but I think that would curtail any sort of debate,” Messina said. “(The money is) either there, or it’s not there.”

The school board meets next Wednesday, Aug. 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the district's administration building.