According to Superintendent Pedro Rivera, the School District of Lancaster would not rule out developing certain undeveloped, wooded sections of the Lancaster Township Community Park to relocate ball fields displaced by a proposed fire house center nearby. Rivera was clear that the assertion is rooted primarily in the fact that the District may one day develop this land—with or without the influence of Lancaster Township’s proposed facility.
“I don’t know exactly what land is being considered or what this concern is over,” Rivera said, “But I do know that, eventually, as our schools grow, [this land] could potentially be space designated for student use….Given an influx of students, given District needs, given student programming, we could develop currently undeveloped land.”
At Monday’s Lancaster Township meeting on the proposed facility, many resident concerns related directly to the fear that this wooded area at the east of the park would be impacted. Although the facility itself would be located at the park’s western edge, it would displace ball fields that the District could then relocate to the undeveloped plot behind Wheatland Middle School. Since the ‘ball’ is thus in the School District’s proverbial court, NewsLanc brought the question to Rivera after the November 17 School Board meeting.
As an aside, Rivera also noted that the Administration has not yet thoroughly considered its options for the ball field relocation since the future of the fire house itself remains “up in the air.”
Residents weigh in on block scheduling
Also at the meeting, several students and parents spoke their concerns about the possibility of McCaskey eventually adopting a “block” method of class scheduling, which would compose each school day of four 90-minute classes rather than the status quo of eight 49-minute classes. Nearly every speaker conveyed the same general message: The introduction of block scheduling, they asserted, could conflict with the time requirements of McCaskey’s International Baccalaureate program and other special learning opportunities.
Most of the speakers had learned of this possibility through an article in Monday’s Intell New Era. The article, school officials noted, did not sufficiently emphasize the exploratory nature of the discussion that occurred in the Monday evening Education Committee meeting.
Nenita Faller-Miller, Director of the Education Committee, even read aloud a portion of her committee report to clarify the nature of the evening’s conversation. Particularly, Miller stressed the report’s statement that the committee “discussed areas of concern that would need to be addressed.” The report also referenced a point at which a parent in the meeting “shared concern” about the potential effect upon International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement courses.
“Mr. Rivera,” the report continued, “Shared that, as the concept of block scheduling is explored, nothing will be implemented that will jeopardize a student’s ability to pass these types of classes.”
