District reports tabletop safety exercise with first responders; transportation largely routed but one private school missing data

Mister Beierman, Midland County School District's chief operations officer, told the board the district held its annual tabletop exercise with first responders this week and thanked local agencies for participating. He said the exercise included state police, Midland County Regional Police, Lewistown Police Department, FAME EMS, Chief Logan Fire Company, the Midland County Office of Public Safety and the Midland County 9-1-1 center, along with district central-office administration, principals, the transportation office and the technology department.

"So I just wanna thank all those departments and agencies for coming and helping us with that," Mister Beierman said, describing the exercise as an important multiagency preparedness activity. He referenced a recent minor incident at Strobes Mills this year involving a smoke or odor concern and said tabletop scenarios cover similar possibilities.

Beierman also gave a transportation update: special trips for activities, athletics and clubs are covered; the district has routed new students and kindergartners to buses; and staff reported strong coordination between the transportation office and school staff. He said district staff are working to confirm routing information for one private school that has not yet provided the necessary student data. "Amy and John at our transportation office are doing a great job of some of the special transportation in getting that figured out," Beierman said. He said he, Amy and Mister Barnes have attempted to contact the private school and, after calls and messages, the district intends to send a formal letter setting a deadline for the data.

Board members were also reminded to encourage kindergarten registration because the district must set bus rosters before the start of the school year and cannot add routes immediately at the last minute. Beierman said that failing to register before the roster cutoff can delay transportation by several days at the start of the school year.

Under consent agenda materials discussed earlier in the meeting, staff recommended approval of several supplemental transportation vendors to provide athletic and activity trip coverage when regular contractors are unavailable: Melvin Park LLC, Coontail Adventures LLC, Bollington Trailways, VIP Limousine, Repcode Boston, and Lawler Brothers. The consent materials also recommended approval of two drivers from Christ Transportation, Linda K. Wagner and Rebecca L. Kohler, to serve as district-approved drivers.

Ending: The board took no formal safety policy vote at the meeting; the transportation and safety updates were presented as informational staff reports and staff will follow up with a letter to the private school requesting routing data.