An Octorara Spin On Bullying

Atglen resident and local blogger Ellen Brown puts a decidedly Octorara spin on the Daily Local's week-long series on Bullying.

Visit her blog here and be sure to cast your vote to her question:

Do you think Octorara does enough to prevent bullying?

Parkesburg Security Firm Awarded Octorara Contract

Partners Tony Sparano, left, and Peter Mango show off their Signal 88 Security vehicle. (Photo courtesy of the Daily Local News)

Local reporter Debbie Wygent includes in her summary of Monday night's Octorara school board board meeting the announcement that Octorara and Signal 88, a Parkesburg based security firm headed by former school board member and East Fallowfield police chief Pete Mango, had signed a one year agreement.

The agreement calls for Mango's firm to provide traffic and road crossing services previously provided by the Parkesburg and West Fallowfield police departments.

The money quote from Debbie's article:

The board also approved a contract with Signal 88 Security for traffic security along Highland Road during peak bus times in the morning and afternoon each Monday through Friday.  Signal 88 will be paid $34.88 per hour, at a cost not to exceed $20,000 during the school year. The company is a venture of Peter Mango, a retired police officer and former school board member. Superintendent Tom Newcome said the contracted rate is lower than those of local police departments and was one of his cost-saving recommendations to the board. 

Read Debbie's entire summary of Monday's board meeting here.

School Start/End Dates

Courtesy of LancasterOnline.

July 18th School Board Meeting Notes

Ellen Brown posted her notes of last week's Octorara School Board meeting including discussions about lighting in the high school auditorium, coming changes to the 7th and 8th grade (see presentation below) and the controversial music faculty letter that went out to parents last month protesting, albeit prematurely, cuts to the District's highly regarded band and music programs.

Read Ellen's notes on the Octorara Report here.

Octorara 7th and 8th Grade Changes

School Board Update

An article in this morning's Lancaster Online has local reporter Debbie Wygent's take on Monday night's Octorara school board meeting.

Highlights of the meeting as described in the article were:

• Questions from a parents group about the rumored dilution of the high school's music program.
• The hiring of a firm for up to 1,000 hours of athletic training services at $30 an hour.
• The resignation of the girl's varsity softball coach and assistant coach.

The money quote comes from Superintendent Newcome in response music program rumors:

"It's a non-issue that had not been fully vetted at the appropriate levels. It's amazing how fast things go down the path."

Read Debbie's entire article here: