Whitehall-Coplay School District board committee meetings were held May 9.

Director of Special Education Brooke Clary presented the board with the special education plan for 2021-24. According to the plan, the total number of special education students was 705 out of a total student enrollment of 4,190, or 16.8% of students, as of Dec. 1, 2021. Clary said that since the report was written, there are now 759 special education students, or 17% of all students.

WCSD’s special education department currently has 38 special education teachers, five speech language therapists, an autism support therapist, emotional support interventionist and 61 special education paraprofessionals.

Some special education services WCSD provides are inclusive classrooms. This was the first year for kindergartners and first-grade students to be in inclusive classrooms, which means students remain in the classroom the entire day. Also offered is supplemental learning support, which provides a replacement reading and/or math curriculum for students who struggle in one or both areas.

There are two IU classrooms at WCSD, including a multi-disability functional class at Steckel Elementary School and a class at Zephyr Elementary School.

The special education plan also includes students from group homes within the community. WCSD is financially responsible for the education of any institutionalized students whose families reside in the WCSD.

The special education department uses programs such as schoolwide positive behavioral support, which includes techniques such as positive verbal statements and praise.

In order to handle difficult situations with students appropriately, most staff participate in verbal de-escalation training and select staff, depending on their position, take a six-hour CPI certification for emotional support training and a three-hour refresher training every year.

Special education professional development is provided for teachers and support staff, including training on autism, specifically executive function, social development and communication.

The special education plan also includes helping students transition once they leave Whitehall High School. Transitioning begins when a student is 13. The special education team looks at postgraduate surveys and reports the findings back to the state.

The purpose of the special education plan is to give everybody the opportunity to be successful during their school years and afterward.

During the operations/transportation meeting, Sandy Koza, with McMahon Associates Inc., Allentown, presented the findings of a traffic study done on WCSD’s campus.

The study found there were more than 4,000 students, 600 teachers, support staff and bus drivers all coming on and off the campus at the same time.

According to Koza, McMahon found a lack of signage indicating drop-off zones for students at Whitehall-Coplay Middle School created confusion for some parents.

All of the elementary schools had 44-47 vehicles in a queue with parents waiting to either drop off or pick up their students, with the line often extending onto other roadways.

At Zephyr Elementary, McMahon reported the back area where the buses are is fine, but the front of the school, where traffic enters from both directions, causes an issue.

Koza said McMahon suggested having the three elementary schools each have students in kindergarten through fifth grade, rather than having kindergarten and first grade at Gockley Elementary School, second and third grades at Steckel Elementary and fourth and fifth grades at Zephyr to lessen traffic from parents traveling from school to school to pick up multiple children.

This would not be supported by administration, because each school is designed specifically for the grades they currently house.

The agency also suggested staggering start and end times of the elementary schools to help with this issue.

McMahon recommended larger letters on pavement markings, refreshing white lines, using reflective tape on stop sign posts and replacing some pedestrian crossing signs with a fluorescent green, which meets current standards. Another suggestion was to color code or add symbols for parents to follow in order to find the pickup/drop-off area. McMahon also suggested a raised crosswalk between Zephyr and WHS to slow down traffic.

Koza said that with help from the Whitehall Township Police Department, they were able to determine the average travel speeds across campus were between 25 and 29 mph, when the limit is posted at 15 mph. McMahon proposed the use of speed cushions, which are like speed bumps but include special wheel cutouts for buses, allowing buses to travel through unaffected, while other vehicles are forced to slow down. These are being considered at several locations on Campus Drive and Zephyr Boulevard.

Koza said that after speaking with teachers, McMahon felt more support staff should be hired to monitor and control traffic and drop-off/pickup. Another suggestion was updating the website and student handbooks with parent drop-off and pickup flow and procedures, so parents or other family members who don’t normally pick up will know where to go and what to do.

The agency also suggested the district coordinate with Whitehall Township and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to re-time the Mechanicsville Road and MacArthur Road traffic lights at arrival and dismissal times to help control traffic backup.

The traffic study has been reviewed by administration, and some suggestions have already been implemented, including ordering some new signs, reflective tape for stop signs and additional paint for pavement markings and lines.

Principals are looking into communication plans and adding clearer drop-off and pickup instructions to parent handbooks. The district is discussing a raised crosswalk between Zephyr and WHS.

Also at the meeting, the board discussed the Fraser copier lease agreement draft. WCSD leases all of its copy machines at the cost of $10,544 a month. With the new lease agreement, they were able to negotiate a contract of $6,213 a month for 60 months, a savings of $4,331 a month.

In addition, the contract gives the district one additional copier, and seven of the copiers have color capability, allowing the district to stop using the small, less-cost-effective color printer and includes full maintenance and a full warranty for each machine.

The next school board meetings are scheduled 7 p.m. May 23, June 27 and July 25.

Committee meetings on operations/transportation, finance/personnel and education/student activities will be held 4 p.m. June 13, after a special school board meeting.