COAL TOWNSHIP - Shamokin Area School District will be home for one week this summer to 400-plus volunteers visiting the area to perform minor home repairs for qualified residents.
The school board voted Tuesday to approve an agreement with Group Cares to house and feed youth volunteers participating in the work camp from July 21 to 27.
The nonprofit group would reimburse the district for supplies, food service staff, custodial and security services and utility costs, and would also provide liability insurance. If all goes well at the school in July, the board would pre-approve an informal request by the group to use the facility in 2014.
District officials said the students likely would sleep in classrooms and meet for assemblies and activities in the cafeteria and gymnasium. A Group Cares official previously said volunteers sleep in sleeping bags.
Group Cares is a faith-based organization stationed in Loveland, Colo. It pulls youth volunteers and adult mentors from nationwide to join its various missions.
Shamokin's is one of 42 work camps being organized by Group Cares across the U.S. this summer.
The volunteers could perform light repairs and maintenance on some 70 homes in the area. Repairs include exterior painting and light carpentry, and are available to those with financial or physical hardships. A Group Cares official previously estimated $375 is spent on average on each home approved for the program.
Applications had been accepted by City Hall, Area Agency on Aging and Central Susquehanna Opportunities, and are currently being reviewed.
Citizen complaint
Steve Todzia, of Shamokin, criticized the school district's response to a complaint he made about a bus driver allegedly using a cell phone while driving.
He said he was referred by the district to the busing contractor, Marvin E. Klinger Inc., whom he did not contact. He was turned down for contact phone numbers for school board directors, and a request to have his complaint and contact information passed along to board members was not obliged.
Superintendent James Zack said the complaint was handled by the district immediately. He contacted Klinger's, who investigated and found that by searching the bus drive'rs phone, no text messages were sent at the time Todzia alleged the incident occurred.
Ron McElwee, board member, pointed out that the driver could have been using another cell phone application, such as Facebook, that would not show up in a phone's log of text messages.
Charles Shuey, board director, said such an incident should be referred to the police, urging Todzia and other district residents to do just that if a bus driver is observed breaking a law.
Apart from reporting the incident, Todzia said he sought to raise awareness for board members and was disappointed in the difficulty he said he encountered when attempting to reach them through the school district.
Director Tracey Witmer told Todzia her number is listed in the phone book. Director Ed Griffiths said he can be contacted at work at Shamokin Police Department.
Next year
The 2013-14 school year will begin Aug. 26, one week before Labor Day, and end June 3, 2014.
The school board adopted next year's calendar. Schools will be closed 20 days for various vacations, including two days for Labor Day, four days for Thanksgiving, including the first day of deer hunting season, seven days for Christmas and New Year's, and three days for Easter.
There are two in-service days planned for after the start of the school year, when students will not have to report to school, and six Act 80 days with early dismissal.