Woodland Hills Says Yes to Doors, No to Walls

Woodland Hills School Board voted to begin the process that will replace nearly all its school buildings exterior doors in the district at Wednesday’s meeting.

The board voted to have HHSDR Architects and Engineers to inspect the doors and seek bids to replace approximately 132 exterior doors in all the schools except the Academy at a cost not to exceed $396,000.   

“This is a security issue, as far as anything else,” said board member Regis Driscoll.

Discussions about replacing the doors go back to at least last October. Some of the building’s doors have not been replaced since the 1960s and may leave security gaps that would be prevented with new doors.

The doors at the Academy in Turtle Creek will not be replaced because of future plans for renovations.

In a separate action, the board unanimously voted to reject a change order sheet requested by DiMarco Construction for material that would be used cover a partition wall in the high school’s library as part of a renovation.

The company submitted the change order, claiming that the price of the covering wasn’t included in the original submission plans. The company requested more than $10,000.

“I need to know who told them we would buy this material,” Driscoll said. “We’re not in the business of buying material for walls.”

In other business:

• The board approved a contract with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit’s Waterfront Learning Center to give its students an online class option at $3,500 per student. This is a supplemental program that will provide students access to classes not available through Woodland Hills.

• Students from the high school reported to the board that for Henry "Hank" Woodhall’s family. Woodhall died in a skateboard accident in Chalfant last month.

• Several students were on hand to receive achievement awards. Eight-grader Jeremiah Pike received a plaque for being perfect in the math section of the PSSA and elementary students Tymeer Davis and Greta Brooks received framed commendations for being good role models.

• The board hired two elementary teachers, a district-wide speech pathologist and special education learning support teacher at the high school. The elementary teachers will server Edgewood Elementary and Dickson Elementary. Driscoll, Fred Kuhn and Robert Tomasic voted against hiring the two elementary teachers.

• Permission was granted by the board to send the high school’s mock trial team to participate in the Benjamin Franklin Invitational Tournament that will be held at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on Jan 19-20.

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