Weatherly Area School Board OKs emergency cleaning contract
Mar. 4—The Weatherly Area School Board Wednesday night formalized its emergency contract for cleaning services to get schools reopened from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The board first held a public hearing according to Section 528 of the Pennsylvania School Code.
Board Vice President April Walters, who chaired the session, said it was a public hearing to obtain testimony from the public into hiring a third-party cleaning service.
"I wish to remind everyone this is not a voting meeting," Walters said. "This is not a regular meeting, or a special meeting of the board. This is a public hearing as defined by the school code for purposes of receiving testimony and comments only. This is a hearing and not a forum for debate. The board is holding this hearing to gather evidence that it will consider when making its decision at the next public board meeting when this item is on the agenda for action. At that time, the board will then take public comment prior to any action being taken."
When the board held its caucus meeting 45 minutes later, it ratified an agreement with the Enhanced Facilities firm for the necessary emergency cleaning services.
During the public hearing, Natasha Milazzo, the district's business manager and secretary, said on Jan. 16, 2021, the board also held a public hearing pursuant to Section 528 of the Pennsylvania School Code notifying the public of the hiring of a third-party contractor to perform cleaning services after posting hiring notices on the school district website, social media platforms and in the Standard-Speaker to hire additional cleaning personnel.
Three prospective contractors were invited to provide price quotes, and Milazzo said two did. Enhanced Facilities was hired Jan. 14. The staff was hired Monday through Friday, 3-8 p.m., with four part-time staff members, and one part-time supervisor, with no overtime or weekend hours.
Superintendent Teresa Young said COVID-19 relief funds cannot be used for services, so the district is paying for Enhanced Facilities out of the district budget.
The contract runs in 30-day segments through the end of the school year, but can be terminated within three days based on the needs of the staffing levels, Milazzo said.
The ongoing plan is for the district to continue to pursue finding more of its own help by newspaper and social media advertising.
Young said the cleaning service will be terminated "if we get enough of our own people," she said.
"We went initially from having five, to one, two, three," Young said of Enhanced Facilities. "We just got a fourth person this week. We thought we had a fifth person, but that person quit. So right now, we have four people."
The board also voted to hire Brittany Daney as a part-time cleaning employee, and Nicole Rayno as a substitute on the cleaning staff.
Young said Daney had been laid off from the district cafeteria staff because of COVID, and Rayno had been an employee of the district who left and is returning.
Attorney Chris Slusser, the board's solicitor, said Wednesday night's hearing gave the board enough time to advertise a public hearing and have discussions with the union about the situation.
Terry Hartz, president of the Weatherly Area Educational Support Personnel Association, gave her blessing to Enhanced Facilities being hired.
"Our association, working with the district's administration, arrived at an agreement relative to the use of outside resources to assist with the additional cleaning needs due to this pandemic," Hartz said. "We agree to a Memorandum of Understanding that will allow for those needs to be met and for all here in Weatherly to continue to focus on safety. These unprecedented times present previously unimaginable challenges which call for novel approaches to resolution. This agreement is one such example, and we are confident we will have similar successes in the future as we continue to work together."
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