Courier roundup: Possible stimulus money for DVES, discussions on finances

• Shoveling for money
  
• Delaware Valley may get use of some of Santos Farm land after all
  
• HONOR ROLL: Delaware Valley High School
  
• HONOR ROLL: Delaware Valley Middle School
  
• January 2009 Students of the Month at Delaware Valley High School
  
• Use sports money on education
  
• On criticism of the sex-ed class
  
• MY TURN By Jack Fisher: Fiscal responsibility isn’t always popular
  
• Drama club out to end winter blues
  

In the news: DV grad and teen mom attends college, volleyball sweeps

• College with children: Misericordia's residence program gives teen mom from Delaware Valley a chance for education (read more from the Pocono Record)
  
• Delaware Valley 3, Berwick 0 (read more from the Times Leader)

STD presentation coverage, with video

WNEP has a report about last night's STD presentation and Delaware Valley High School, sponsored by the PTSA. 

Though it's a typical watered-down broadcast report, it seemed pretty decent. That is, up until the last line, when the reporter makes a remark that part of the problem is that DV is in a rural area and there's "just not enough for kids to do."

Yeah, okay.

Reminder: STD presentation Wednesday night

Don't forget: tomorrow night at 7 p.m. the high school PTSA will host a special guest expert on STDs, whose presentation will be open to all members of the public, parents and students included.

This press release appeared in the Pike County Courier:

The first meeting of the 2008-09 school year will be held on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. The DVHS-PTSA will be hosting guest speaker John Kasenbach, from the Northeast Pennsylvania Department of Health, who has been invited to speak following the general membership meeting. He is a nurse consultant for sexually transmitted infections for northeastern Pennsylvania. He will be providing timely and accurate information and a slideshow presentation on sexually transmitted infections. This slideshow will include graphic slides and the progression of sexually transmitted infections. He will provide actual case studies and be available to answer questions from the audience. Members of the public are welcome.

Sex ed opinion hits home

A Milford resident wrote a succinct response to the Pike County Youth Coalition press release that was printed as a top headline in last week's Pike County Courier. 

Not only is it short, sweet and to the point, it's right.

Schools do share a part in the sexual/health education of students, but if these responsibilities are not shared in the home there is no hope for our kids to be educated.

Follow all of the sex ed news by viewing all labeled articles dealing with the topic. And remember to join the high school PTSA on Wednesday when it hosts a guest speaker on STDs.

PTSA guest speaker on STDs next Wednesday

Remember to mark your calendars for next Wednesday. Join the Delaware Valley High School PTSA, which will be hosting a speaker on STDs and sex education Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. The meeting is open to the public, so both parents and students are encouraged to attend.

From an earlier press release:

The first meeting of the 2008-09 school year will be held on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. The DVHS-PTSA will be hosting guest speaker John Kasenbach, from the Northeast Pennsylvania Department of Health, who has been invited to speak following the general membership meeting. He is a nurse consultant for sexually transmitted infections for northeastern Pennsylvania. He will be providing timely and accurate information and a slideshow presentation on sexually transmitted infections. This slideshow will include graphic slides and the progression of sexually transmitted infections. He will provide actual case studies and be available to answer questions from the audience. Members of the public are welcome.

Increased sex ed programs are opt-out

This letter, scanned in below, was sent home to parents in the 11/12 high school, offering them the opportunity to opt their children out of the new sex education curriculum. 

This is the way to do it.

August 25, 2008

Dear Parent/Guardian:

The Delaware Valley School District's Health Curricula includes a module on sex education in all Grades K to 12. The modules are developmentally appropriate for the students of each grade level.

If you have any concerns about the content of the modules, you can make an appointment to review them by calling the school office at (570) 296-1856.

If you do not want your child to participate in class during the teaching of these sex education modules, please sign and return this letter to the school as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Mr. Joseph W. Casmus
Principal Grades 11/12

.........................................................................

____ I do not want my child to participate in class during the teaching of the sex education module in the health curriculum.

Print student's name: _____________________

Parent/Guardian's signature: ________________

Courier summary: Football's first week, PCYC survey, DVES winning writers

In this week's Pike County Courier:

• Warriors romp in gridiron road debut - Home opener is tonight
  
• Youth council surveys sexual activity and histories - Reveals demand for more sex-ed in district schools (no actual reporting, simply a copy of the PCYC press release we've already seen)
• Elementary school students named in Library of Congress writing contest
  

Record keeps at sex ed coverage

This time with an editorial:

Let's listen to teen talk about sex ed (read more from the Times Herald-Record)

Sex ed in local – and national – spotlight

• Pike youths want comprehensive sex-education programs (Times Herald-Record)
• Palin's daughter's pregnancy spurs sex ed debate (ABC News)

PoconoNews.net mentions PCYC survey on sex ed

Read more on PoconoNews.net

More on the PCYC blog can be found here.

Courier roundup: Special Olympics, Biondo scholarship winners, Warrior Festival

In the Pike County Courier this week:

• Special olympians win honors
  
• Pregnancy center speaker at Republican meeting
  
• Ten students win Biondo foundation scholarships - Funding supports students pursuing careers in special education
  
• Warrior Festival coming up - Another season getting underway
  

PTSA to host guest speaker about teen sex issues Sept. 17

The Delaware Valley High School PTSA announced its scholarship winners, Box Tops fundraiser and first meeting of the 2008-09 school year in this week's Pike County Courier.

The first meeting of the 2008-09 school year will be held on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. The DVHS-PTSA will be hosting guest speaker John Kasenbach, from the Northeast Pennsylvania Department of Health, who has been invited to speak following the general membership meeting. He is a nurse consultant for sexually transmitted infections for northeastern Pennsylvania. He will be providing timely and accurate information and a slideshow presentation on sexually transmitted infections. This slideshow will include graphic slides and the progression of sexually transmitted infections. He will provide actual case studies and be available to answer questions from the audience. Members of the public are welcome.

PCYC conducting teen pregnancy survey

PCYC announced on its Facebook group and blog that it is conducting a teen pregnancy survey for Delaware Valley students and graduates under 25.

While surveying is an extremely useful tool for researching policy, I'd be wary about what conclusions this one makes. I started taking the survey and could not complete the first page. One of the questions did not apply to me, yet there is no "no answer/don't know/not applicable" choice with any of the questions. Including a "no answer" choice with closed-choice questions was one of the first things discussed during the surveying unit in a policy studies class I took last semester. 

The survey is definitely a good idea, but for it to be effective and reliable, I think PCYC would be more responsible by finding an expert on survey making and analysis to conduct the research for the community's benefit, which would likely provide more accurate and useful conclusions.

Strengthening Families program takes proactive approach

In the wake of discussion about drug use and teen sex issues at Delaware Valley, the Penn State Cooperative Extension announced the fall session of its Strengthening Families program on TriStateObserver.com.

Strengthening Families is a 7 week program designed to reduce adolescent substance abuse and other problematic behaviors in youth ages 10-14 years. It has been scientifically tested and results have shown that children who have completed the program are less likely to become involved in risky behaviors like drug and alcohol abuse.

The free program is sponsored by the Carbon-Pike-Monroe Drug & Alcohol Commission and the United Way of Pike County. No petition signing is required.

PCYC to host "Roundtable Discussion"

The following message is circulating on Facebook.

Dear Student,  

You are cordially invited to a Roundtable Discussion hosted by the Pike County Youth Coalition at 11:00 am on Saturday, August 2nd at the Dimmick Inn and Steak House, where you will be provided a free lunch. It should last between one and two hours. There are fifteen seats available.  

We will be discussing current student issues at Delaware Valley High School, specifically the teen pregnancy issue and the district's drug/alcohol policies. Your thoughts will be completely anonymous and incorporated into the research papers we are currently working on.  

We would like to get a student perspective on the problems that exist in the district today. So if you are a current or past student of DV, especially one who has first hand experience with either topic, we would appreciate your attendance. 

If interested, please reply to this message with your contact information and we will get back to you. Feel free to pass this invitation along to anyone who you think would be willing to attend.  

Hope to hear from you,  

Eric Neumann

Chair, Schools and Education Committee of PCYC

I hope that in addition to footing the bill for lunch to talk with a small, select group of students, PCYC considers working with and donating to local organizations that already exist to alleviate drug and teen sex issues head on rather than through research papers, for instance: the Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug & Alcohol Commission, the Pike County Teen Alcohol and Drug Resource Center, Maternal & Family Health Services and the Pregnancy Resource Center of the Poconos.

Courier's report on the board meeting

The tightened drug policy and the explanation behind the numbers in the STI letter are the two topics discussed in this week's Pike County Courier's article on the July school board meeting. The Wal-Mart parking lot crackdown is also briefly discussed in a photo caption with the article.

There isn't much new in this article, but there was one thing that stuck out that hasn't yet been discussed on this blog or in any of the linked articles about board president Bob Goldsack:

He also said he has two programs in mind that would help students and parents in regards to alcohol abuse, but said he would elaborate at a later date.

I do have an issue with part of the lede:

... fully enforce the district’s zero-tolerance policy when dealing not only with drug, but also alcohol cases.

Alcohol is a drug.

I'm also wondering where any of the information about the new DV Elementary School is in this week's Courier.

Update (7/25): The reporter who wrote this story informed me that because of limited space in the paper, other topics discussed at the board meeting, including the new elementary school, could not be printed this week. I'm certain the elementary school will receive the press it deserves as things move forward. 

Alcohol policy tightened, STD letter discussed at July safety meeting

July 17 safety meeting blow-by-blow

The court hearing to upgrade the school police officers as previously reported is scheduled for Aug. 5, according to board solicitor Mike Weinstein.

Faculty and staff will be instructed to keep their classroom doors locked at all times, in case of an armed intruder, based on safety recommendations. 

Distribution, possession, or under the influence of alcohol cases while in school, at school functions, or in between home and school will now be referred to the superintendent to be brought in front of the board for an expulsion hearing. Currently, students with alcohol are given 10 days of out-of-school suspension and referred to the police. The federally-mandated zero tolerance policy for all drugs is written in the student handbook. 

The issue was raised after students were found drunk at the semi-formal dance. Board president Bob Goldsack said this will make the punishment for alcohol consistent with the punishment for other drugs. There were nine students caught under the influence or possessing alcohol this past school year in the high school and one or two in the other school levels, according to superintendent Dr. Candis Finan. 

Expulsion can be any punishment from one additional day of out-of-school suspension to a permanent ban from Delaware Valley. The extent of the punishment is determined in a due process hearing. Students caught with alcohol or any drug at school receive a fine of up to $420 and a 90-day license suspension, according to school police officer Mark Moglia. 

The board did not vote on any changes to policy wording but may do so in the future.

District nurses chairperson Ellen Orben spoke about the STI letter. According to Orben, Maternal and Family Health Services, aka "Family Planning," contacted her a few months ago with a concern about increased pregnancies and STDs at Delaware Valley. They were interested in doing a presentation for the students. Orben spoke to 11/12 principal Joe Casmus and to Finan, who agreed since the school year was coming to a busy end the district should send a letter home to parents, Orben said. 

Orben asked MFHS for some data to include in the letter, and they called back shortly after school ended with the numbers printed in the letter, 25 to 30 pregnancies and 300 cases of STDs, Orben said. Once the media got hold of the letter, the Department of Health stepped in saying there was no way those numbers could be accurate or publicly revealed, and the CEO of MFHS called Orben to tell her there must have been a misunderstanding.

The school district is interested in setting up a meeting with MFHS to straighten the matter out, but Orben said she is glad the letter went out whether or not the numbers are exactly accurate. 

She said all of the school nurses will do a short presentation at the open houses in September to talk to parents about this issue, and a speaker from the northeast region of the Department of Health will be on hand at the Sept. 17 DV High School PTSA meeting for a slideshow and discussion. 

The board and administration will be going through the sex ed curriculum and fine tuning it for this year, but Finan said as a public school they need to be wary of not crossing the line in pushing values upon students and they will offer parents a way to opt out of curriculum they feel uncomfortable with their children learning.

There were only two or three members of the public present for the safety committee meeting, which is surprising after all the uproar from the STD letter. I hoped more people would have attended the meeting if they truly wanted to be informed from the source.

Board meeting reminders

Don't forget the board meeting and committee meetings this Thursday, July 17 at the District Office:

• 5 p.m. - Safety committee meeting (I would assume the sex ed issues will come up here, and board president Bob Goldsack said at the last meeting alcohol punishments will be discussed.)
• 6 p.m. - Long range planning meeting (There will definitely be discussion of the new DV Elementary School.)
• 7 p.m. - Regular board meeting (I'd love to tell you what is going to be discussed, but in usual style, the agenda is not yet posted on the district website. And we're less than four days away from the meeting.)

Also, there has been plenty of commenting on the Courier's articles this week. What do you think about it all?

• What do we do about the sex and health issues at Delaware Valley? (student edition)
  
• Health issues at DV (PCYC statement, again)
  
• Move for the right reason
  

Not much new on teen sex issues in this week's Courier

Two pieces in the Pike County Courier this week in the aftermath of the STI letter:

One is published by the paper itself, it's take two of "What do we do about the sex and health issues at Delaware Valley?"; this time with responses from students. It's the same text I came across last night on the Courier's photo site.

The only other piece in the Courier is the same old Pike County Youth Coalition "statement" from a few weeks ago. It's the same one that has already appeared in many other local publications, ironic considering the PCYC executive director, Nick Troiano, works for the Courier. He has a new followup to the statement on the PCYC blog, which claims the group sent a letter to the DV School District for information about both the community-wide teen pregnancy issue" and "the school district's prevention of student drug [and] alcohol use and its response to those who do." The umbrella organization plans to publish policy papers about the issues.

Unfortunately, the Courier did not publish any sort of investigative story to clear up any misinformation that may be circulating. Rather than reporting on the issue themselves it seems like the Courier is relying on letters to the editor and unresearched statements from a few-months-old organization to do the job of reporters.