Lewisburg Area SD outlines safety, security and mental‑health steps under comprehensive plan goal 2

The Lewisburg Area School District presented an update on comprehensive plan goal 2 — student and staff safety and well‑being — including introductions of the district's three school police officers, recent safety assessments, and plans for cameras, reunification updates and expanded mental‑health services.

Ben (administrator) opened the second half of the meeting by describing goal 2 and inviting the district's school police officers to introduce themselves and describe their daily duties. Mike Chipman, school police officer, said, "My day usually starts out pretty early depending on what school I go to. With the 3 of us, we sometimes have to split up buildings. So if skis over at Linn Town, I start my day at 07:15 at the middle school. I stand out the traffic line, make sure the kids are getting out of the cars okay, nobody's getting run over." Chipman described regular interior and perimeter checks, lunch and recess supervision and bus‑duty work.

Randy Kurtz, school police officer, described similar routines focused on mornings and high‑school coverage and noted the officers' role in overall student safety. Wayne Laskoski, school police officer, said he spends time talking with parents and administrators and recounted a parent's response: "She said she was very thankful for that knowing that at least in this school district, like her kids were safe." The board and attendees credited the officers' visible presence at games and events as a community reassurance.

Ben summarized recent and planned safety work: a district risk and vulnerability assessment carried out previously with state police, a Center for Safe Schools review in September that produced building‑level reports, and a planned update to evacuation and reunification procedures. He described a camera and door‑access project funded in part by a grant that will add roughly 90 cameras across the district; the middle school and Linnentown installations are complete and work is moving to Kelly and the high school, with additional 360‑degree hallway coverage planned.

The presentation described efforts to ensure every student has at least one "trusted adult" in the building and outlined how the district checks that in elementary (classroom teacher) and high‑school settings (faculty review of student lists and advisory teachers). Ben said counselors and social workers run targeted "lunch bunch" sessions and that the district has eight counselors across buildings.

Mental‑health and behavioral initiatives include an in‑person counseling partnership, Gaggle teletherapy for virtual sessions, SAP (student assistance program) partnerships with local providers, and a new teletherapy partnership starting in February with staff and counselor training already underway. The district also cited ongoing MTSS (multi‑tiered system of supports) work, BASE video lessons for behavioral instruction, a Bucknell‑run "listening post" for students at lunch, advisory programming, and targeted interventions at the high school such as Lincrew and a girls' GOLD program.

Ben and Kathy (administrator) said the district has prioritized low‑cost and higher‑cost recommendations from the safety reviews and will phase work forward. The board discussed how to identify students without a trusted adult and how to make those students aware of available supports.

No formal board action was taken on the safety items; administrators described next steps for implementation and further review.