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Residents press Collingswood board on gym access for community teams and school-safety alarms
Summary
Two residents used the board's public comment periods to request better access to school gym space for youth teams and to raise concerns about recurring false lockdowns and unreliable landline phones at a school site.
Two community members used the board’s open comment periods to press officials for help with facility access and to flag school-safety infrastructure problems.
Mike Guarino, who identified himself as a longtime coach and listed his address as 512 Oak Lawn Avenue, told the board he has repeatedly tried to reserve the school gym for youth soccer and softball practices but encountered scheduling conflicts and inconsistent responses from district staff. “I need to be able to use the gym,” Guarino said, describing attempts to reserve space and instances when he found the gym occupied despite having been told it was available. He said one prior fall season cost his group $300 to rent facilities.
Board members and staff directed Guarino to the district facilities calendar and advised him to contact Mike Sonesi, who handles district calendars and facility paperwork, and to copy the principal and a board member on email so the request could be tracked. Guarino said Sonesi later emailed and offered an 8:30 a.m. slot.
Separately, Seth Mohan of 164 East Bedouin raised safety concerns from a staff perspective. Mohan said he has experienced recurring false lockdowns at the school and described at least one occasion in the past four years when a lockdown occurred without prior announcement to staff, causing alarm. “At least once a year in the four years I’ve been working in this building, there’s been a lockdown that wasn’t announced, and it’s been terrifying,” he said. Mohan also reported intermittent landline phone failures and suggested the issue might stem from the carrier (Verizon). He said he planned to bring additional ideas to a town-hall meeting on Thursday.
Board members acknowledged the concerns and invited further discussion at the scheduled town hall; staff offered next steps for tracking facility requests and encouraged residents to use the facilities request process.
Both public-comment speakers requested follow-up from district staff. The board did not take formal action on either item during the meeting.
