Security Cameras May Be Added at Island School, Superintendent Reports
By Sean Ely

Before school board meetings, it is customary to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, but Thursday, May 24, the meeting included a bit of a kick . . . or a tap, tap, twirl, and a twist, to be exact.

Preschoolers entered the meeting room at Mackinac Island Public School with an American flag, led the Pledge of Allegiance, and then went right into their "Tap, Tap, Twirl, and Twist" song with noisemakers and dance moves. Three of the children were celebrating their preschool graduation that night, in the classroom across the hall with teacher Jody Barna.

Turning to business, the school board addressed the formation of a Parent Teacher Organization, playground repairs and new signage, door replacements, the need for a volleyball coach and girls basketball coach for next season, tourists entering the school, and parental visits to classrooms during school hours.

Superintendent Roger Schrock said parents and teachers want to have a Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) organized and running by the time school starts in the fall, and he will be working with the group over the summer.

Board members discussed purchasing a new track ride in the playground, then referred the matter to the Building and Grounds Committee. The ride has been broken, leaving some poles sticking up, and Game Time, the company that installed the equipment more than six years ago, has told the school it will cost $3,800 for a new one, plus installation costs. The board considered filing an insurance claim under its vandalism insurance rider, but that has a $1,000 deductible clause.

Dr. Schrock suggested that children may prefer a different piece of equipment, such as a climbing wall or arch climber.

As a deterrent to future breakage of the playground equipment, the school will erect signs stating that the equipment is meant for children no younger than five and no older than 12.

Tourists peering into the school and, in some cases, entering the building to use the toilets during school hours, may lead to the installation of security cameras and locked doors. Dr. Schrock noted that a public school on Mackinac Island seems to attract the attention of visitors. The school, he said, is not a public restroom facility.

The Building and Grounds Committee will discuss the idea of locking doors and installing security cameras so visitors will have to ring a doorbell to gain access. School secretary Barb Fisher could monitor the cameras and unlock the doors remotely.

Dr. Schrock said a Homeland Security grant might cover such a system.

Other building concerns include a leak when snow gets packed into the vents near the gymnasium, allowing water to occasionally run down on the inside wall to the hardwood floor, which Dr. Schrock said could eventually ruin it.

The school will be advertising for a new volleyball and girls basketball coach, because next school year, there will be a Lakers basketball team for the girls.

The board will ask all parents to check in at the school office when visiting the building, so that the school's privacy policy can be upheld.

Policy 9410, entitled "Parental Visitations to Classrooms," states, "The board and the superintendent have the obligation to protect the privacy rights of all students and their families by ensuring the frequency of the visitations by one parent does not allow the parent to develop inappropriate knowledge of the behavior or academic progress of other students."

While all parents are welcome at the school at any time, Dr. Schrock explained to the board, unnecessary visits or frequent long visits can be disruptive to the classroom.

The new check-in procedure, he said, is not designed to keep parents from visiting, but he needs to make sure he knows who is in the building and for what reason.

In observance of Teacher Appreciation month, the board presented each teacher with gift certificates.

A slide presentation on the Close Up government studies trip to Washington, D.C. was presented by Woody Beardsley. He went there with Karlena Mosley, Caleb Straight, Kyle Sweet, and teacher Seth Baker and joined students from across the country to learn about the federal government.

Another presentation by teachers Liz Staats Burt and Susan Bennett explained the recent science and mathematics fair. They highlighted the winners in each category, with the overall winner of the mathematics fair being sophomore Fuller Cowell with his Go Big or Go Home presentation on launching a snowmobile off a ramp, determining what the best and safest angle and speed to take off at would be.

The next meeting will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 21, followed by a public presentation on the Michigan Open Meetings Act.