Plum School Board Discusses Saturday Detention, Track Resurfacing and Soft Pitch Softball

Here are some items discussed by the school board at committee meetings last week:

Saturday Detention

School officials hope to continue Saturday detention at the high school next school year.

Principal Ryan Kociela said the school hosted several Saturday detentions from March through the end of the school year. He said out of the 143 students assigned to detention, 118 attended.

Kociela said he considered the program to be a success because the students who attended detention avoided suspension.

Summer Reading

Officials want to see if the summer reading program offered by the district is helping students achieve better test scores.

The program is held at the elementary school level, and students work with reading specialists and other staff to improve their reading skills and prevent the "summer slip."

Administrators will evaluate the success of the program and compare data with that of previous years.

This year, 48 students were enrolled in the kindergarten through second grade program and 35 were enrolled in the third through fifth grade program.

Track Resurfacing

Joe Ionta, high school track and cross country coach, said the track must be resurfaced as soon as possible.

Ionta said the 10-year-old track should have been resurfaced at the seven year mark.

Athletic director Bob Alpino said if the track get damaged or cracks, it might have to be replaced. That could cost the district, Ionta said.

Alpino said the project could be done July of next year if officials agree.

Board members said they would look into the matter and have an expert look at the track before moving forward.

Soft Pitch Softball

Officials are considering adding soft pitch softball as a club sport at the high school.

Alpino said he previously didn't agree with the addition because girls playing fast pitch softball wouldn't have the opportunity to participate in both.

Recently, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association changed those guidelines and is allowing students to play both sports if it is offered.

Alpino said the athletic department would like to aim to add the sport in the fall of 2012—fast pitch softball is played in the spring. He said it would help the district include more female athletes.

Officials said they would consider it.