Annville-Cleona board revisits renovation discussion, hears from concerned parent

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

The Sept. 21 meeting of the Annville-Cleona school board saw continued discussion on a potential renovation and construction projects brought up at the Sept. 14 work session.

Superintendent Dr. Krista Antonis sparked the conversation during her reports when she asked for ideas on a town hall meeting.

Board member Cynthia Eby was quick to comment on the high price estimates presented at the work session.

“I don’t like any of the options,” Eby said. 

Eby then explained research she did on previous 2022 renovation proposals in regard to the high price of new proposal option A, which would see Cleona and Annville elementary schools renovated for maintenance and upgrades. Other options included construction of a new building and selling Annville Elementary. Option A was the most expensive presented at the work session, estimated at $102,455,759.

Eby cited numbers from a 2022 feasibility study, which gave aggregate costs of $23.5 million for projects as follows:

• Cleona Updates – EIFS/Masonry Replace/Repair, Ext. Windows Replace, Restroom Floors/ADA, Update Casework, Flooring, & Lighting – $2.1 million
• Annville Updates – Ground Floor Stabilization, Sidewalks, Canopies, Traffic Throughway – $1 million
• Annville Updates – EIFS/Masonry Replace/Repair, Ext. Windows Replace, Restroom Floors/ADA, Update Casework, Flooring, Lighting, & Courtyard Infill – $4.2 million
• Annville – 7-Classroom Addition – $3.2 million
• Cleona – 6-Classroom Addition, Full-Size Gym, Cafeteria – $13 million

“So even if you add 40% to that, all those things that we all acknowledge back four years ago that we needed to do. That would bring that up to $33 million,” Eby said. “When I see $102 million and change, that’s a difference of $79 million. I don’t know where that $79 million is and I need to know where that is coming from.”

There was no response from the other board members or the superintendent on Eby’s comments regarding the cost. But the renovation topic circled back around when resident Dave Murphy offered his opinion on a public or town hall meeting to discuss renovation/construction options.

“I think the community input is going to be really important on this,” Murphy said during public comment. “The Annville [elementary] building is going to be a big deal to this community. … This meeting doesn’t really provide the opportunity for a large group of community members to be heard.”

Murphy reiterated the board’s guidelines for public comments, which say community members are allotted two minutes to speak or five minutes if they signed up three days prior with the board secretary. The comment session may not exceed 30 minutes.

Though Murphy voiced his desire for a large community meeting, the board agreed during Antonis’s report that no town hall meeting will happen prior to the board’s decision in November. Board president Brent Copenhaver joined the board majority, which said that as long as the district keeps communicating through Antonis’s newsletter, no formal meeting for public opinion is needed.

Community members are encouraged to attend the board’s Oct. 5 work session and Oct. 12 regular meeting to voice their opinions about renovation and construction options.

During her report, Antonis thanked first responders and community members who supported elementary students after a Sept. 16 crash involving a school bus and an SUV.

During the second opportunity for public comment, the father of a New Covenant Christian School student, whose 14-year-old daughter runs co-op with the Annville-Cleona cross country team, voiced his disappointment in the district’s handling of a sexual harassment incident that he said occurred on the bus following a cross country meet.

The father said the incident involved two older male students, junior and senior, on the team, one of whom the father said made a lewd remark about the 14-year-old student.

“We expected immediate meaningful discipline for these two young men,” the father said. “So, after a week of investigations [and] filing a child line report started by the school district, the discipline was handed down. One young man received a half day of suspension. The other received a full day.”

The parent said that these students were not suspended from the cross country team or barred from riding the bus to future meets.

Additionally, he said section 8 of Annville-Cleona’s athletic responsibility acknowledgement form, which all parents and athletes sign, states that “student-athletes are expected to demonstrate the highest levels of sportsmanship on and off the field.”

“Parents, please don’t rely on school administrators to make these important decisions for your child and take the lead in shaping them to be the citizens we want to encounter in our society,” he said. “Challenge these young men through discipline, guidance and grace to become leaders we need in society and don’t just move them along the line.”

The father urged parents and the school board to challenge students with proper discipline in cases such as his daughter’s.

Other reports included student board representatives Saidey Juarez-Valadez and Nicholas Leonard, who spoke about upcoming district events; board member Darren Grumbine, who spoke about the Lebanon County Career and Technology Center; board treasurer Steven Ritter, who had little to report outside of increased foot traffic to the Keystone Collections Group office since they moved from the Lebanon County Courthouse to Lebanon City Hall; and Eby, who reported upcoming PIAA finals for the various school district sports. 

Regarding the CTC, Grumbine said, “You probably read the news article, I expressed my discontent with their [Lebanon School District’s] words and what they’re telling us doesn’t match the actions and what they’re doing.”

In other news, the board voted unanimously to approve all agenda items as presented at the Sept. 14 work session. The board also approved the following new items:

• Approval of a new volunteer coach and fall play volunteer from the consent agenda.
• Employment of an additional day-to-day paraprofessional/aide substitute and employment of additional extracurricular staff from the personnel agenda.
• An additional contracted nutrition food service staff member from the other agenda.
• New updates to the administrative guidelines, which now require weekly virtual wellness checks for virtual learning students within the district.

Annville-Cleona school board will meet next on Monday, Oct. 5, at 6 p.m., at the district office at 520 S. White Oak St., Annville. Meetings are streamed online and can be accessed through a BoxCast link.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that homeschool students would be required to complete virtual wellness checks. In fact the policy only applies to Dutchmen Virtual Academy and cyber students. We sincerely regret the error.