An air quality test was administered for Clearview Regional High School to ensure safety for staff and students
The Clearview Regional High School District Board of Education presented the 2016–17 school year assessment data at the Oct. 17 meeting, as well as provided an update in regard to the recent HVAC issues experienced in the high school. According to Superintendent John Horchak III, an air quality test was administered to multiple classrooms on Sunday, Oct. 15, determining the safety for staff and students.
Following recent concerns involving Clearview Regional High School’s HVAC systems, with many students and staff reporting high levels of humidity within the classrooms, and the potential for leaks within the ceiling, determining air quality and mechanical complications was a priority for Horchak and the district administration.
According to Horchak, a potential origin of the problems could be from old HVAC units in the attic and along the roof of the old high school auditorium, which was determined as a major source of air entering the building. This has resulted in the area between the bottom of the roof and top of the ceiling to heat up throughout the building, causing the cold pipes to sweat and leak into the ceiling tiles. However, additional inspections are needed to confirm the identity of the source. Horchak said the district would continue to investigate and create a long-term solution in the coming weeks.
SmithCo Engineering Group President Sean Smith was present at last week’s meeting to present the findings of the initial air quality test conducted in classrooms 605, 400, 602, 111 and 304, as well as ambient air samples from nearby courtyards between the classrooms.
The samples were tested for mold spores, pollen, skin cells, fibers such as fiberglass, asbestos and more. According to Smith, every classroom tested was considered in a low range, some results so low they were considered negligible. Therefore, students and teachers were permitted to return to their classrooms the following school day.
Moving forward, Horchak said, the district would be identifying sample areas to continue testing in the near future, as well as start compiling a protocol to repair the problem on a long-term scale. Potentially, the district may implement testing on a semi-annual basis.
Members of the district Curriculum Office also presented the results of the 2016–17 assessments, such as PARCC, AP, SAT and more, at last week’s meeting.
According to the data presented by Math Department Supervisor Mary Marks and English Department Supervisor Diane Bernstein, the average PARCC mathematics and ELA scores continued to improve over a three-year period, with the percentage of Clearview students passing the 2017 PARCC, in both categories, consistently higher than the state.
“We continue to be very high on the charts, not only in our little neck of the woods, but throughout the state, and that’s because of the committed effort we all have here collaboratively,” Cummins said.
According to Cummins, approximately 326 students in the class of 2017 took the SATs once, and scored higher than both the state (1076) and U.S. (1070) with an average score of 1112, with 1600 the highest possible outcome. As well, approximately 294 students took an AP test last school year, with a total of 516 exams administered, with 365 exams (71 percent) scoring a 3 or higher. For 2017, Clearview had 76 students identify as AP Scholars, meaning they scored a 3 or higher on three or more AP exams, Cummins said.
“It takes a great staff to continue to move students forward, and I thank the wonderful kids we have here because they are terrific, just as far as bringing their best games to school every day,” Cummins said. “It comes from the families and communities we have; we couldn’t do a lot of the things we do here without that incredible 360-degree support we get from everyone.”
The Clearview Assessment 2017 Data presentation is available online on the Curriculum Office page of the district website, www.clearviewregional.edu.
In other news:
- Eighth graders Allison Higgins and Gia Joseph presented to the board on behalf of many girls within the district who disagree with the dress code. The students argued the dress code should be altered from fingertip length shorts to fist length shorts, as many of the stores girls their age prefer do not carry school-code appropriate shorts, such as Bermuda shorts.
“A lot of people break the dress code for shorts because they don’t like it,” Higgins said. “If they like the dress code, there is no reason to break it.”
Horchak said although the board would not be voting on the dress code at the meeting, he would be interested in a potential beta dress code in the future to adhere to their suggestions.
