At the March 8 facilities and curriculum committee meetings, the BASD school board heard an update from bus consulting firm TransPar and discussed state testing plans. The board planned to vote at its full meeting March 22 on the bid award for the bus garage lift replacement project scheduled for this summer.

Facilities updates

During the facilities committee portion of the meeting, Jake Murphy and Jenny Casebolt-Robinson of bus consulting firm TransPar gave board members a mid-year update, and Chief Facilities Officer Mark Stein informed the board about summer 2021 projects and strategic facilities initiatives.

The district signed a three-year contract with TransPar, with renewal optional at the end of each year, that began June 18, 2019. TransPar performs transportation management services, including route optimization, personnel recommendations and incident management. After an initial $15,000 outlay, the district paid $15,000 per month for TransPar during the first year; the contract stipulates a 3 percent increase in the monthly rate at the beginning of each subsequent year.

TransPar reported a 48 percent decrease, from 2019-20 to 2020-21, of incidents tracked by its incident management system, as well as accident reductions from 5.1 per month to 2.2 per month over the same period. However, with roughly 15 percent of students participating fully online, and the remaining 85 percent attending school only two days per week, there is dramatically less student transportation occurring this academic year than the prior year, and thus opportunities for accidents and incidents are reduced. TransPar also cited 73 percent employee retention rate, although it is likely that the deal negotiated by Teamsters Local #773 – in which bus drivers are paid for normal working hours, despite dramatically reduced driving hours – helped with retention.

Summer facilities projects, including the Broughal MS parking repairs and transportation center lift replacement, are on track for their scheduled bids and work start dates. On the strategic initiative of improved service, 62 percent of work orders were completed within seven days. This figure aligns with the median of all school districts nationwide using the SchoolDude maintenance and operations tracking system.

PSS, Keystone

testing

Assisstant Superintendent Dr. Jack Silva informed the board that state-mandated assessments (PSSAs for elementary and middle school students and Keystone exams for high school students) are scheduled later this year, beginning May 27 and ending June 4. The later dates are meant to maximize instructional time before the end of the year.

Board president Mike Faccinetto inquired about the details of parents opting out of the tests on behalf of their children. In the past, most families that opted out had religious objections to the tests; however, this year, students’ mental health may be an issue of concern for parents. Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy has declared his intention to opt his own two children out of standardized testing this year, telling Express-Times reporter Sara Satullo, “[U]nder this situation of duress, when the federal government is insisting on the test and the state has to do it, […] if parents are concerned for their child […] there is not a consequence for parents” .

Silva noted that information about testing requirements and opt-out procedures will be posted on schools’ websites. Board member Dr. Karen Beck Pooley noted that the state-mandated tests are not typically used to inform student-centered instructional adjustments, and questioned the necessity of testing during a year when instructional time is at a premium. Roy clarified in response to a parent’s question that the standardized test results this year will not be used by the state for teacher or school accountability, so teachers will not be penalized either for low test scores or for large numbers of opt-outs.