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> CHANGES throughout region > TECHNOLOGY in your schools > VACCINATION questions answered A SPECIAL SECTION OF THE ERIE TIMES-NEWS

SUNDAY, AUGUST 13, 2017

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Sunday, August 13, 2017

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CHANGES

A year like no other Erie School District Reconfiguration brings change to every school

By Ed Palattella ed.palattella@timesnews.com

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or any school district, any one of the changes would be significant.

The Erie School District is undergoing them all in the same academic year —and at the same time the district is dealing with the aftermath of a fire. The changes include: • The consolidation of high schools and the high school sports programs.

• The conversion of two of those high school buildings into middle schools.

• The closing of two elementary schools.

• The creation About 1,000 students, faculty and staff took part in a rally June 2 at Veterans Stadium in Erie as Erie School District of magnet school officials announced the new colors, logos and nickname for the newly formed Erie High School. programs.

[FILE PHOTO CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/ERIE TIMES-NEWS] • An overhaul of bus transportation.

• A switch of class reconfiguration, which they have to do to get recovery plan to the under the state’s new times for elementary it undertook for 2017-18 school open. state Department of fair funding formula, school students, who to avoid insolvency and Education. which applies only to will start and end their to help secure additional Run-up to recovery Jay Badams, the new funding and is not school day an hour later state aid. superintendent at the retroactive. The disthan in 2016-17.

All the changes will be The Erie School Distime, led the developtrict also highlighted Even the Erie School in effect on Aug. 28, the trict started planning ment of the plan, which, how costs related to District’s dress code first day of school— a for its reconfigurabased on guidance from pensions and charter was affected. Upon day that will be unlike tion in July 2016. As it the Department of schools had undermined the recommendation any other in the 147struggled to balance its Education, the district its budget. of the administration, year history of the Erie budget without deep hoped to use to leverBadams said he the School Board in School District. program cuts, the disage more state aid in wanted the district’s late June revised the “It has been pretty trict received $4 million 2017-18. more than 11,000 dress code to allow high hectic,” School Board in one-time emergency Badams focused on students —80 perschool students to wear President Frank Petrun- state aid. inequities in the state cent of whom are from jeans. gar Jr. said. “Any one In return, the state funding system for financially disadvanThat change, like so change would be a little placed the district under public education, and taged households — to many of the others, crazy, but everybody what is called financial said the Erie School enjoy the same level is connected to the is taking everything in watch and required it District was receiving of resources as Erie school district’s stride and doing what to submit a financial far less than it should County’s other, more 4

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affluent school districts.

He said the Erie School District, if necessary, would close its four high schools and send those students to public high schools in the county, a strategy that stirred unease among the county’s 12 other school districts.

The Erie School District’s initial financial recovery plan raised the possibility of the district closing all four high schools. But it primarily focused on how the district, to save money and address declining enrollment, would consolidate its high schools and close two elementary schools — with those changes to occur in 2018-19.

“With sufficient state aid, this alternative path of recovery could begin in 2017-18 with a modest tax increase and the announcement of large-scale reconfiguration of district schools,” according to the financial recovery plan. “Due to its scale and scope, this reconfiguration must include critical community conversations to engage all stakeholders in a shared vision for public education in Erie.

“Sufficient community efforts during 2017-18 will be necessary to refine and achieve this bold vision with actual changes taking place in 2018-19.”

The district submitted its plan to the state on Dec. 5. The plan

Paul Caram, 17, holding sign, at left, and Jordan Barnard, 16, holding sign, at right, show off the logos, nickname and colors for Erie High School at Veterans Stadium in Erie. [FILE PHOTO CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/ERIE TIMES-NEWS]

Demolition of the fire-damaged portion of Erie High School. [FILE PHOTO JACK HANRAHAN/ERIE TIMES-NEWS]

asked for an additional $31.8 million in state aid, which was close to what the district would receive from the state if the fair funding formula — which accounts for a district’s poverty level and similar issues — were retroactive.

The district soon had to rework its timeline.

Education Secretary Pedro Rivera rejected the financial recovery plan in late February. He said the department had no authority to allocate additional money— a reality that the department had never told the district to take into consideration. And Rivera said theamount of the additional annual funding the district requests must be “reasonable,” and not as high as $31.8 million.

The state said the district could submit a revised financial recovery plan, which the district continued

goes beyond saving money. The district developed the plan as a way to establish what it said are a new vision and a new direction for the school district.

The plan, for example, sets forth a magnet school program to provide more specialized classes, such as in health care and finance, for students in high school.

“We are at a point now where it looks like we have an opportunity in front of us,” Badams said before the board vote on April 19. “We should seize it.”

Badams received something of a parting gift. On June 30, Badams’ last official day as superintendent, the state General Assembly passed a 2017-18 spending budget that included $14 million in additional funding for the Erie School District, plus another $1 million in

to work on through the summer. But the immediate effect of the rejection of the initial plan, and the Department of Education’s noncommital approach to seeking more funding for the district, spurred immediate action.

Badams and the Erie School Board agreed that the district’s reconfiguration had to occur in 2017-18, or the district would run out of money.

“We don’t have any options,” Badams said after the state’s rejection of the plan.

district that serves towns in Vermont and New Hampshire, near Dartmouth College.

Badams had led the Erie School District for seven years.

The School Board on Feb. 1 hired a new superintendent, Brian Polito, the district’s chief financial officer under Badams. Polito’s first day as superintendent was July 1.

The district’s assistant superintendent, Bea Habursky, remained on staff. The board said Polito’s financial acumen and Habursky’s expertise in education Change in made them an ideal leadership team.

Polito’s public profile Adding to the tumult increased long before at the district was July 1. He and HaburBadams’ pending depar- sky, along with Badams, ture. He announced in were the key adminismid-January that he tration officials who led was leaving the Erie a series of five public School District on June forums the Erie School 30 to become superDistrict held in March intendent of a school to get feedback on the

reconfiguration.

Among the major concerns were how the reorganization would affect transportation and safety. Many parents also said the district’s tight budget, including a lack of guaranteed additional state funding, made the reorganization inevitable.

“Change is coming whether we like it or not,” one parent said at the first forum, at the Booker T. Washington Center, on March 13.

The district administration considered the input as it refined its plan for the reconfiguration. The School Board gave preliminary approval to the plan on April 19 and gave final approval on June 22. The two votes were necessary to abide by state regulations for closing schools.

The final reconfiguration plan, though designed for austerity,

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basic education funding for the district.

State Sen. Dan Laughlin of Millcreek Township, R-49th Dist., was instrumental in securing the money.

“It will be transformational for the community,” Polito said of the funding boost.

Balancing the budget The school district’s reconfiguration is estimated to save $3.6 million to $6.6 million a year, depending on the extent of the reorganization. The plan centers on the closing and merging of schools.

More than 50 teachers lost their jobs as a result.

Even with all the cuts, the Erie School Board was not able to pass a truly balanced $192 million budget on June 28. The board balanced the budget with about |

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$8 million in anticipated additional state revenue. The district got that revenue two days later, with the $14 million in the state budget.

The district will use that money to balance the budget and eliminate a long-term deficit that has grown as the district has had to delay paying expenses from year to year because of lack of revenue.

The reconfiguration will cost taxpayers, slightly. In passing the budget, the School Board also increasedproperty taxes 0.5 percent in 2017-18.

The increase will boost taxes by $8.31 for the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 and raise an additional $203,109 for the school district in the 2017-18 fiscal year, which starts July 1.

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Many School Board members were reluctant to raise taxes. But Badams and Polito said a small increase was necessary to help the district show the state that it was invested in its financial recovery and deserved more money from the state.

The strategy appeared to work.

Evolving plans Over the summer, Erie School District officials have met daily to refine the reconfiguration plan.

The first day of school is sure to be unusually busy as students, teachers and parents become accustomed to the overhaul. No one will have a year to get ready, as the district originally wanted. The changes, all of them, are occurring now.

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More information Throughout the past several months, the Erie School District has been mailing information about the district's reconfiguration to the households of its more than 11,000 students. The district has also been posting updates on its website. For more information, go to www. eriesd.org/backtoschool

“Some were hard decisions,” said Frank Petrungar Jr., the School Board president.

“I think it is just going pretty well with all that we had on our plate.”

Ed Palattella can be reached at 870-1813 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter. com/ETNpalattella

A refashioned school district The district's reconfiguration affects virtually every student and every school. The administration and School Board said they examined how to improve efficiency and save money without reducing educational opportunities.

• High schools: The district closed East and Strong Vincent high schools and merged them with Central Career & Technical School at the newly created Erie High, which is located at the Central building. The district's only other high school is Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy.

The district expects about 2,300 of its nearly 3,000 high school students to attend Erie High. The other students will attend Collegiate and a new performing arts academy in the Collegiate building.

District high school students chose the new name for the combined high school. They also chose a mascot — the Royals — and colors — purple and gold. The Erie High building, which was built in the 1950s and never renovated, got a face-lift on July 20-23, when nearly 2,200 volunteers with the ServErie social service organization converged on the school for painting, landscaping and other repairs.

• Fire fallout: An accidental fire at Erie High on May 26 created a number of unforeseen difficulties. The blaze, which started in the horticulture lab in the north wing, sent smoke throughout the 500,000-square-foot building, destroyed the horticulture lab and classrooms near it and damaged equipment in the welding lab.

Insurance is paying for the repairs, estimated to cost at least $10 million.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 Most of the remediation of smoke and water damage was done by July 15, and the district moved ahead with the demolition and reconstruction of the horticulture lab.

But the district will use temporary classrooms outside East High for at least half of the 2017-18 academic year. And the district is renting space at the Erie County Technical School, on Oliver Road in Summit Township, for welding classes.

• Middle schools: East and Strong Vincent were converted into middle schools.

The district closed Roosevelt Middle School, which had been in the south wing at Central. The other middle school is Wilson, which is staying open. East and Strong Vincent will retain their mascots and school colors for the middle school students. The middle schools will enroll students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

• Elementary schools: The district closed EmersonGridley Elementary School and Wayne School. Those students will attend schools nearby. The district also changed the grade configuration at all its remaining 10 elementary schools to prekindergarten through fifth grade. Five of the district's elementary schools, including Wayne, had enrolled students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

• Class sizes: The Erie School District's class sizes will not change under the reconfiguration, Polito said. He said they will remain at 25 or fewer students for elementary and middle school and 25 to 30 for high school.

• Staffing: The reconfiguration, according to the

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district, will lead to the loss of some teaching and other jobs. The district initially estimated the reconfiguration would cost the jobs of 64 employees, including 54 teachers, but was able to cut fewer positions because of retirements and staff departures, the district said.

• Boundary shifts: The closing of the two elementary schools and the reconfiguring of the middle schools led the district to change its boundaries for elementary and middle school students.

• Dress code: At the urging of the administration, the School Board in July relaxed the dress code to allow all district high school students to wear jeans. The district pressed for the change to accommodate students in shop classes at Erie High.

All high school students still must wear shirts in solid colors with only schoolrelated designs. The dress code for elementary and middle school students is unchanged. They must wear shirts and pants or skirts in solid colors with only schoolrelated designs on the shirts.

• Collegiate costs: Attending Collegiate will be more expensive for students from outside the school district who pay tuition to attend.

The School Board in June voted to raise tuition for those Collegiate students by $2,000, from $5,000 to $7,000.

The district administration proposed the change to bring the nonresident tuition closer to $8,635, the statecalculated tuition rate for the Erie School District, or what the state determined is the district’s cost to educate regular students.

The Collegiate increase is expected to affect 63 students and raise an additional $126,000 for the school district. Collegiate enrolled

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766 students in 2016-17.

• Magnet schools: The district is adding a number of academic programs to appeal to more students.

Erie High will offer vocational education and an application-only science and engineering program, as Central did, and Collegiate will continue to be an application-only college preparatory school.

But at Erie High, the district is offering specialized magnet school classes. The human services magnet program will feature child development courses, and the science and health magnet will focus on exercise and sports medicine.

The district plans to expand the magnet programs in the coming years, and Polito would like to build a wing for all the magnet programs at Erie High in the area where the south wing, the former home for Roosevelt Middle School, now stands. That project depends on the district's finances.

Polito has estimated the construction, as well as accompanying renovations to Erie High and other schools, would cost $67 million, which the district would fund through 25-year bonds.

The annual debt service would be $3 million.

• Other specialty schools: Also as part of the magnet school program, the district created three schools-within-schools.

The Visual and Performing Arts Academy will operate out of the Collegiate building but will be separate from the Collegiate program.

The Recovery Academy is for high school students who are falling behind in the credits they will need to graduate. The school is meant to provide intensive oversight for those students to make sure they graduate

on time.

The district also created a program for Erie High to explore courses to help them determine their future interests, including those covered in the magnet courses.

• Safety: The school district formed committees to deal with all the changes due to the reconfiguration, and the safety committee's work including consultation with the Erie police and the Erie County District Attorney's Office. The focus was on safety at Erie High.

The district installed 345 new security cameras at Erie High — 292 inside and 53 outside. The school district police will use hand-held metal detectors to wand students at random, as the district police have done before. The district also arranged with Erie police to patrol around East High when school lets out.

Some School Board members raised concern that friction could break out at Erie High as students from the city's east and west sides attend school together. Officials said they are confident that the school will have few problems, and they cautioned about adults spreading negative attitudes that could lead to unrest.

"Some of the obstacles are coming from the adults," District Attorney Jack Daneri said. "It is not the students."

• Transportation: The merging of the high schools created a cascade effect for the Erie School District's transportation demands. The closings of East and Strong Vincent lengthened the distances for many high school students to get to school.

The district decided to use Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority buses to transport all high school students for free who live at least 2 miles from their high schools. The

district also arranged for EMTA to bus all other students for free who live at least 1.5 miles from their schools.

The district previously provided free EMTA passes only to students with financial hardships. The other students paid for the bus or got rides or walked to school.

• Later start times: EMTA does not have enough buses to pick up and drop off all the Erie School District students at the same times. To accommodate EMTA, the district moved the start and end of the school day for elementary school students to about an hour later than what the times were in 2016-17. The school day for those students will start at 9:20 a.m. and end at 3:40 p.m.

The district left the start and end times the same for middle school and high school students. Such staggered times are common at other school districts in Erie County.

• Before-school care: The later start times at the elementary schools prompted the district to create a before-care program for students who must be dropped off at school before the opening bell. The beforeschool program allows a limited number of students to arrive about an hour before school starts.

The district is not providing transportation for the before-school program, but must pay to have staff at the schools earlier. The cost is about $100,000, to come from savings related to transportation.

The district estimates it will save $200,000 in transportation costs by using EMTA buses rather than yellow school buses for charter school students, whose transportation the district must fund.

CHANGES

Erie School District sports join same team Merger of program results in more participation from students at Erie High

thing,” Pullium said after the hiring. “Both coaches are knowledgeable.

There are good things he does, and there are good

By Ed Palattella things I do, and we’ll ed.palattella@timesnews.com blend that to put the best product on the floor.”

Rivals turned into Koval called the teammates at the Erie co-coaching arrangeSchool District this ment “certainly summer. unprecedented.”

The district’s con“But Shannon and I solidation of its high met several times, and schools led to the we’re both very positive consolidation of its high about it,” he said. “It school sports programs. could have a huge effect Students who previon the school and comously played for East munity, showing that or Strong Vincent high the two of us can come schools or Central together. It’s a great Career & Technical example for everyone.”

School now can only The consolidation put play for Erie High the Erie School DisSchool, created through trict’s sports programs the merger of East, in different classificaStrong Vincent and tions for competition.

Central at the Central The Pennsylvania building. The district’s Interscholastic Athletic only other high school is AssociationreclassiNorthwest Pennsylvafied the new Erie School nia Collegiate Academy, District teams based on which has no sports but combined enrollments whose students can play of the district’s four sports for Erie High. high schools in 2016-17.

The consolidation of Each new team will sports teams required the play in the highest clasSchool Board to hire new sification in each sport, coaches for each of the 20 including Class 6A in sports programs. Most of football, boys and girls the hires had coached at basketball, baseball and the district before. softball and Class 4A in In one of its most boys and girls soccer. notable sports-related Official practices decisions, the board for fall sports start hired co-coaches for the Monday. The Erie High East High boys bascoaches have plenty of ketball team. They are talent to choose from.

Shannon Pullium, the Coaches and players former boys basketball said summer condicoach at Strong Vintioning programs were cent, and Tom Koval, crowded for most fall the former boys basket- sports, which include ball coach at Central. football, soccer and “It’s going to be a cross country. Many challenge, but it’s a good sports programs at

“It’s going to be a challenge, but it’s a good thing.”

Shannon Pulliam

Strong Vincent, East and Central struggled with low participation rates.

The East High boys soccer workouts attracted as many as 80 players, up from 50 for voluntary summer workouts for previous Central teams, said Bob Plonski, who is coaching the Erie High boys soccer team with Dave Plonski, his son. The Plonskis had coached the Central boys soccer team.

The Erie High boys soccer team will have a varsity and a junior varsity squad. Bob Plonski said making cuts from the 80 prospective players “is going to be hard. You have so much talent.”

He said the voluntary workouts attracted players who had participated for Central, East and Strong Vincent.

Many of those players were born in other countries.

“Soccer is pretty universal,” Plonski said.

“These kids just want to get out and play. I think they will be happy to play with the best in the city. They used to be adversaries. Now they all want to be on the same team.”

Ed Palattella can be reached at 870-1813 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter. com/ETNpalattella.

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It’s back to class, Expect new times, routines but not back to at Millcreek schools this fall business as usual CHANGES

By Valerie Myers valerie.myers@timesnews.com

Expect some confusion when classes begin in the Millcreek Township School District on Aug. 24.

With new class times and bus routes and even “new” schools for some district middle school students, some mix-ups The Millcreek Township School District has changed class times, which will have an impact on bus routes. the first day of school [FILE PHOTO JACK HANRAHAN/ERIE TIMES-NEWS] are almost a given.

“It could be a few days before everything most of the summer. But between 8,000 and settles down,” schools we’re trying to stay on 9,000 students to Superintendent William top of things and make Millcreek and other area Hall said. sure we get it right.” schools.

McDowell High Millcreek School But the biggest change School and McDowBoard hired aSchenect- this fall will be for middle ell Intermediate High ady, New York-based school students who School classes will begin consultant to rework will be going to a difat 7:50 a.m. and conbus routes and schedferent school than they tinue until 2:40 p.m. ules districtwide to expected last school That’s 25 minutes later accommodate the later year.About 68 students than in previous years.

McDowell start time, who finished fifth grade Classes at the discombined high school at Grandview and Asbury trict’s three middle and middle school runs, elementary schools this schools also will begin and make middle school spring will go to Westat 7:50 and end at 2:40. boundary changes. lake Middle School rather The standardized The district will than Walnut Creek times will allow the recoup the $58,500 Middle School. district to take middle cost of the transportaStudents added to the school and high school tion overhaul in annual Westlake territory live students to and from savings, Aaron O’Toole, in the former Ridgeschool on the same the district’s director field Elementary School buses, before the daily of finance and adminneighborhood. elementary school run. istration, told school The school boundarThe district previously directors this spring. ies were changed to ease had three bus runs daily, The revamped routes overcrowding at Walnut for high school, middle are expected to shorten Creek, at 5901 Sterretschool and elementary rides and defuse other tania Road. Enrollment students. bus issues. at Westlake, 4330 West Route details were “We expect new Lake Road, has been still being worked out in routes to be a bit more declining. late July and may still be efficient and to see some Walnut Creek had a work in progress when ride times decrease,” 642 students in 2016school begins, Hall said. Hall said. “There are 17, compared to 458 “We expect work to some cases where that at Westlake. With the continue right up to the won’t be the case, but boundary changes, beginning of school, and the new system overall enrollment this school then some,” he said. will work better.” year is projected at 549 “It’s a big undertaking, The district pays First at Walnut Creek and 538 and we’ve focused on it Student to transport at Westlake.

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Boundaries and enrollment at the district’s third middle school, James S. Wilson, remain unchanged. The school had an enrollment of 511 students last school year.

Millcreek elementary enrollment has been growing since the district closed Ridgefield and Vernondale schools at the end of the 2013 school year. To help manage both growing student numbers and workloads, assistant principals have been hired at Belle Valley, Tracy and Grandview schools.

“When we closed two elementary schools, we put those kids in the remaining five schools and have enrollments over 600 in three of those buildings, with one principal running those buildings,” Hall said in making his case for additional elementary-level administrators in March.

Physical improvements this fall include new paint and carpet at MIHS, new paving districtwide and continuing work on the Hanlon Community Sports Complex adjacent to McDowell.

Artificial turf for the complex was expected to be installed in mid-August.

“We expect it to be usable later this fall,” Hall said.

Valerie Myers can be reached at 878-1913 or by email. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNmyers.

Christiansen, the school’s assistant principal for three years, It’s back to school moves up as princiin Erie County school pal. He replaces Dan districts in August, Shreve, who retired in but it won’t be back to June after 33 years in business as usual. the district, includStudents returning ing 18 as high school to classes in districts principal. outside Erie and MillFormer Northwestcreek will find new ern Middle School administrators, prohealth and physical grams and renovations education teacher in place.

Natalie Herath is the The biggest changes new assistant high may be in the Northschool principal. western School Longtimedistrict District, where a new Business Manager Paul schools superintendent Sachar will retire in and principals are on September, after 38 the job. years. Assistant MelaJohn Hansen began nie Floyd will take over. duties as district Also new this fall are superintendent July a renovated classroom 1, replacing Karen for the high school Downie, who retired in life skills program and June. a sugar shack under “Right now, it’s a construction for agritremendously large culture students. learning curve,” “We’ll have a lot of Hansen said in late changes this school July. “The more I think year,” Hansen said.

I’m getting a handle on Other changes this things, the more I real- academic year include: ize I don’t know. But • In the Union City it’s going really well, Area School District, and the people here the elementary school couldn’t be any more pool is open again this accepting of me or any school year for physimore patient.” cal education, swim Hansen previously team and community was assistant princiuse. Led by the Union pal at Northwestern City Community High School for three Foundation, the public years, through 2005, contributed more than and principal of James $250,000 for necessaryb W. Parker Middle updates and repairs.

School in the neighThe pool had been boring General McLane closed from March School District through 2016 until spring 2017.

June.

• In the General Also new are North- McLane School Diswestern High School’s trict, Justin Whitford principal and assisis the new associate tant principal. Dan principal at James

By Valerie Myers

valerie.myers@timesnews.com

The pool at Union City Elementary School has undergone improvements following a community fund drive that raised $250,000. [FILE PHOTO/ERIE TIMES-NEWS]

W. Parker Middle School. He replaces Jason Buto, who was promoted to the principal’s job. Whitford, originally from Lake City, previously was an elementary principal in West Virginia.

• In the Harbor Creek School District, two new high school S.T.E.A.M. classes will supplement junior and senior high programs.

“Outside the Box” challenges students to use engineering design processes to solve open-ended problems, from building a structure with office supplies to creating a vehicle from Styrofoam and balsa wood. “Women in Engineering” will introduce girls to engineering, mechanics and electronics and engineering careers.

• In the Fairview School District, Ryan Bookhamer will help teachers incorporate

School start dates Aug. 24: Millcreek Township School District.

Aug. 28: Corry Area and Erie school districts.

Aug. 29: Fort LeBoeuf, General McLane, Girard, Harbor Creek, Iroquois, North East, Northwestern, Union City Area and Wattsburg Area school districts.

Aug. 30: Conneaut Area, Crawford Central, Fairview and Penncrest school districts.

S.T.E.M.-related activities in their classrooms.

Bookhamer, the district’s S.T.E.M./gifted program administrator, also will oversee the new S.T.E.M. Academy at Fairview High School. A new middle school business/technology teacher will teach programming, coding and more. New school administrators are high school Principal

Matt Lane and Assistant Principal Luke Beall, Fairview Elementary Assistant Principal Julie Skelly, and special education supervisor Keith Nies.

In the Corry Area School District, the biggest change this fall is that there are no major changes, schools Superintendent William Nichols said.

“The community in recent years has gone through school consolidation and grade-level changes from K-6 buildings to pre-K-2 and 3-5 and to 6-12 at the high school. Just about every aspect of what we do has been changed here in the past three years.

“This coming year will be fairly quiet.”

Valerie Myers can be reached at 878-1913 or by email. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNmyers. |

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H I G H E R E D U C AT I O N

Beware hidden fees from colleges Tuition isn’t the only college cost that’s rising. The various fees paid by students are rising even more quickly.

general fees,” he said.

“It’s a way of generating additional income while saying tuition only rose 3 percent.”

Virtually all colleges charge fees of some

By Jim Martin sort, including all of jim.martin@timesnews.com those located in northwestern Pennsylvania.

For a new college Gannon, for instance, student or the parents of charges a $550 unione, it can feel like the versity fee and a $202 college is trying to sneak fee that helps cover something past you. the cost of student After all, you’ve prob- Fans watch rapper Ludacris at Penn State Behrend’s Junker activities, concerts ably already choked Center this spring. The concert was mostly funded with and other events. on the tuition number student fees. [FILE PHOTO JACK HANRAHAN/ERIE TIMES-NEWS] While Penn State and wondered to yourBehrend estimates fees self how it can posBut you can expect to college,” Richard Vedat $478, Allegheny Colsibly cost $12,000 to pay them all the same. der, an Ohio University lege in Meadville lev$14,000 to feed and Virtually all colleges professor and director ies $250 fees for both provide a bunk bed for and universities levy of the Center for College student activities and a college student. fees. Some charge a few Affordability and Prohealth center access.

Maybe you haven’t hundred dollars for one ductivity, told The New “I think Gannon, figured out how to or more general fees, York Times for an article from my perspective, pay for all this, but while others impose published in November. does a pretty good job hopefully you’re comactivity fees, programBill Edmundson, vice of containing those ing to grips with it. ming fees or technology president for enrollfees,” Edmundson said, Then you notice charges to cover the cost ment at Gannon Uniexplaining that students the additional fees. of student clubs, concerts versity, allows there can have voted to impose It feels like that and the cost of keeping be a certain amount of fees that fund student moment you spot the students connected to truth to that statement, activities and events. $250 document fee at high-speed internet. especially as colleges Most of the fees the the car dealership after Critics, however, are being asked to school does charge, you’ve already signed charge that something demonstrate to stuhe said, are speaway your firstborn to else is at work as fees dents and parents that cific to a student’s buy a new car. Fees are continue to rise at many there will be a return course of study. the icing on the cake of the nation’s colon their investment.

“My son is a computer that most students leges and universities.

“I guess some schools science major at Ganand parents would be “This is a way to disare worried about it non,” he said. “He gets happy to scrape off. guise the actual price of and they add some charged a computer

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Make the Grade

lab fee that covers the cost of the technology that he is using that an English major might not be using.”

That’s how it works at most schools.

Nursing students at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania pay yearly fees of $2,278.

First-year physician assistant students at Mercyhurst University, for instance, pay $35 for an ID badge, $285 for technology, a $3,000 program fee, a $255 anatomy lab fee, $94 for two lab coats and $1,000 for medical equipment.

The good news is that in Pennsylvania all those additional fees, whatever they might be, are factored into the equation for the purpose of determining financial aid, said Sharon Krahe, director of financial aid at Gannon.

“Direct and indirect costs are always calculated into the cost of attendance,” she said.

But there’s no ignoring the fact that fees are rising, even more quickly than the cost of tuition.

Since the height of the recent recession,

college tuition has risen 5 percent more quickly than the rate of inflation, according to a study by Robert Kelchen, a professor at Seton Hall University.

But fees have increased 7 percent faster than the rate of inflation.

In his 2016 study, Kelchen wrote: “More attention should be paid to how student fees are set at both the institutional and state levels, particularly as some states have begun to restrict their aid programs from paying for fees.”

While fees might be calculated separate from tuition, no one is trying to fool anyone, Edmundson said.

“I think students are pretty savvy,” he said.

“I think they are very attuned to the cost of education and what they are getting. We have to give them a highquality education at a reasonable price. We try hard to do that.”

Jim Martin can be reached at 870-1668 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter. com/ETNMartin.

CHANGES

Dress codes change for Erie high school students

By Sarah Grabski sarah.stemen@timesnews.com

As fashions have changed throughout the past decade, so have dress codes at Eriearea school districts.

Uniforms or no uniforms, schools periodically examine their dress codes and revise them. The Erie School District’s dress code recently received a makeover for its high school students following school board approval on July 24. All of the district’s more than 2,800 high school students can now wear jeans to class starting on Aug. 28, the first day of the academic year.

Students at the district’s two high schools

— Erie High and Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy — are still required to wear shirts and other tops in solid colors, in accordance with the dress code. High school students previously also had to wear pants or skirts in solid colors, but no jeans.

The district administration recommended allowing jeans because of the large number of students in shop classes at Erie High, which formerly was Central Career & Technical School. The administration also wanted the dress code for high school students to be the same at both schools.

“If students are at Erie High and in shop

classes, they can stay in jeans and not have to switch into another uniform, “ Assistant Superintendent Bea Habursky said.

The district’s dress code remained the same for elementary and middle school students.

They are not allowed to wear jeans,and must wear shirts and pants or skirts in solid colors.

The district allows all students to wear shirts in solid colors with school-related designs.

Millcreek Township School District does not have uniforms, but still enforces a dress code, said schoolssuperintendent William Hall.

“Dress code has proved to be a difficult issue for us because it’s

really hard to achieve consistency in a large district when you have some buildings that have air conditioning and some that do not,” Hall said.

McDowell High School does not have air conditioning, which makes dress guidelines difficult to enforce, Hall said.

According to the district’s current dress code, “tank tops (with less than a one and a half inch sleeve width), halter tops, muscle shirts, and bare midriffs,” are considered inappropriate.

Skirts, dresses and shorts “of a reasonable length (no shorter than the student’s mid thigh)” are allowed, according to

the policy. Also not permitted: hats, head coverings,jeans torn above the knees and pajama or flannel pants.Yoga pants and leggings are permitted “as long as they are not inappropriate,” according to the policy.

“It’s a delicate balance,” Hall said. “You tend to try to be a bit more lenient to account for the fact that in some cases, the heat could be unbearable, but you have to guard against anything that may be a disruption to the classroom setting.”

The district last changed its dress code a few years ago, Hall said.

“We’re not making any changes this year, but we did last revise the policy a few years

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back to reflect some changes that were brought forward from staff and mainly students,” Hall said. “We wanted to make sure students were involved in the process. Fashions change and so do our clothing options, so it made sense.”

Administrators at each school building are responsible for enforcing the district’s dress code. Hall said McDowell High School is responsible for most of the dress code violations, but even those are few in number.

Sarah Grabski can be reached at 870-1776 or by email. Follow her on twitter at twitter. com/ETNgrabski.

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T E C H N O L O GY

Ways to deal with cyberbullying

By Melissa Erickson More Content Now

O

ver half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyberbullying, according to statistics from i-SAFE, an internet safety education foundation.

Surprisingly, over half of young people who are cyberbullied do not tell their parents when it occurs — most likely because they fear that if they tell, parents will take their phones away in response.

“Today, kids are getting connected to the internet at younger and younger ages. They’re exposed to the internet at home as well at school and their friends’ homes. A parent and guardian can allow kids access to the internet, but they should be very vigilant on their child’s online activity and communicate with them often on the subject,” said Joel Mesa, education director/school coordinator, Citizens’ Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County.

BRANDPOINT

Cyberbullying is using the internet, cellphones or other technology to send or post images or text intended to hurt or embarrass another person. Some examples include making a threat through a livestream gaming

system, posting a slur, spreading a rumor via text message, or pretending to be someone else online to trick or harass someone.

While the damage can be painful and even prompt suicidal thoughts or actions, 81 percent of youths say that teens cyberbully because it is no big deal, Mesa said.

Kids don’t think about the consequences.

Parents need to do their homework to best decide what safety controls or filtering softwares (both free and paid) are best for their own family and situation, Mesa said.

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“It is imperative for parents to be aware what their kids are doing online. The parents should talk with their kids about cyberbullying and other online issues regularly,” Mesa said.

Tips for parents: • Keep the computer in an open area at home, such as the living room or the kitchen, to make it easier to monitor activity.

• Maintain access to a child’s social networking and email accounts.

Inform kids that you may review their online communications if you think there is a real reason for concern.

• Create your own accounts on the social networks your children are members of and “friend” them.

• Ask for passwords but inform your child that they will only be used in case of an emergency.

• Ask children to show what they know how to do online, as well as their favorite sites.

• Get to know a child’s online friends.

• Be clear about what sites a child can visit and what they are permitted to do when online.

• Search Google for your child’s name, and look at profiles and any postings about them.

Need help?

“If the child is being cyberbullied, parents should talk with him or her and listen. They should show love and acceptance,” Mesa said.

“Some signs that can be red flags that a child is being cyberbullying include wanting to stay home from school, sadness, spending a lot more time or a lot less time online, a dip in grades and withdrawing from contact with classmates,” Mesa said.

Don’t respond online to the bullying. Keep evidence by printing or saving emails, photos and screenshots of posts.

Block the email address or phone number the cyberbullying is coming from. Report the cyberbullying to school officials, to the internet or cellphone service provider, or to law enforcement, depending how serious it is.

“If a child sees cyberbullying, parents should teach or reinforce that asking the person to stop cyberbullying and support the target are the right things to do; and of course, the child can also anonymously report the cyberbullying,” Mesa said.

For more information, visit stopbullying. gov or wiredsafety.org.

T E C H N O L O GY

Educators grade cellphone use differently It was a kind of technological “don’t ask, don’t tell,” then-General McLane schools SuperinWhen the General tendent Alan Karns said.

McLane School District The chaos predicted first allowed students to by no longer looking use cellphones in school the other way and even nine years ago, officials in embracing cellphones other local school disdidn’t materialize. And tricts predicted chaos. other area school districts Back in 2008, all other have since followed and Erie County school even surpassed General districts prohibited the McLane’s lead, allowuse of cellphones and ing high school students other personal electo call, text or post on tronic devices in school, social media on their except in very specific phones before and after situations. Some proschool, during lunch, on hibited students from school buses and in some bringing phones to cases, between classes. school at all.Still, stuBut one thing has dents streamed out of come out of the Panschool each day with dora’s box predicted by phones to their ears. naysayers that needs to

By Valerie Myers valerie.myers@ timesnews.com

be shoved back inside, General McLane High School Principal Dan Mennowsaid.Some students have used their phones to photograph and share tests.

“We came upon it by kids telling us about it,” Mennow said. “A test was also found on a student’s cellphone by a parent. From talking with other principals, it’s not something happening only at General McLane.

But it’s something we need to address.”

The district will review its cellphone policy this year, Mennow said.

“We’ve been very progressive with cellphones, and I think we’re still progressive,” he said.

“But we’re also faced with data showing that kids need to disconnect sometimes, and we’re not providing that (model) as much as we could.”

Banning phones isn’t the solution, Mennow said.

“We still feel it’s healthy for them (to have phones in school), but we need to create a culture where kids disconnect a little more and focus,” Mennow said.

“We either make them put their phones in a box when they walk in the classroom or create the culture where it’s healthy to disconnect a little and not grab the phone every five minutes to check text messages

or social media.”

Advisory teachers who work with students weekly already teach “mini lessons” in cellphone do’s and don’ts.

“If we can teach kids etiquette and make sure that when they’re in the lunch line ordering they’re not staring at their phone but making eye contact, and that they’re not walking down the hall with their face buried in the phone, that’s something,” Mennow said.

Tablets used by students for classwork and homework aren’t being used to photograph tests or post on Facebook during class.

“Teachers have a

Erie Times-News

lot more ability to lock down an iPad. And students only have access on the iPad to what we give them access to,” Mennow said.

North East is among school districts and mostelementary and middle schools that ban cellphone use during school, with exceptions for things like family emergencies.

The prohibition reduces distractions, said North East High School Assistant Principal William Renne.

Valerie Myers can be reached at 878-1913 or by email. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNmyers.

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Online options offer opportunities, challenges

By Dana Massing dana.massing@ timesnews.com

W

ith advances in technology, it’s possible for Seneca High School science students to ditch some of the heavy books they used to carry around and instead access texts online.

But before teachers assign a chapter of reading for homework, they have to remember that while most students have a smart device of some kind, there are still homes without internet access because it isn’t available or affordable.

“We have to be cognizant of that,” said Mary Beth Hengelbrok, facilitator of educational technology in the 1,700-student Wattsburg Area School District, which includes Seneca.

The amount of inschool and at-home work that is being done online by high school students varies by individual, class, teacher and school. However, local educators said there is a general trend of more learning occurring online. That can include research done in school or at home on the internet for a class paper, an online French course taken by a student at a school without a French teacher, reps recorded online for the weight-training portion of a gym class, online assessments for summer reading assignments, educational video lectures viewed at sites like YouTube and communication conducted

via social networking sites by multiple students in each of their own homes working on the same group project.

“Kids are doing something every day online,” said Tim Stoops, director of secondary education curriculum for the 7,200-student Millcreek Township School District.

He and other local educators said that’s typical for the current generation of high school students, for whom technology is a part of life.

“This is a generation that is constantly plugged in or on wireless,” Stoops said.

He cited a 2015 Common Sense Media census that found that on any given day, Americans ages 13 to

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18 average about nine hours of entertainment media use, excluding time spent at school or for homework.

That included watching TV, movies and online videos; playing video, computer and mobile games; using social media; using the internet; reading; and listening to music. The census didn’t include information on time spent online for school.

Results did show that 67 percent of teens ages 13 to 18 owned a smartphone, 45 percent owned a laptop computer and 37 percent owned a tablet. Percentages tended to be lower for families with an annual income of less than $35,000 and higher for families with an income of $100,000

or more. And one in 10 lower-income teens had only dial-up internet access at home, the census found.

At General McLane High School, each student is issued an iPad on the first day of school and “we have wireless access everywhere on our campus,” Assistant Principal Pamela Mackowski said. She said the district also pays for some education-related apps that students can then use for free.

Recognizing that some homes in the 2,150-student General McLane School District don’t have internet access, options exist so that students can, for example, open a work sheet while at school and then complete it at home without having to still be

online, Mackowski said.

While online access is available in every classroom at Seneca, Hengelbrok said families in some parts of the Wattsburg district have only a slow DSL connection or none at all. Other families can’t afford to connect.

She said teachers work with students from those families on an individual basis to ensure that the children have what they need to learn, which can include making print copies of online content or having the library open so students can get online there.

Another issue with sending students online to learn is that some websites aren’t credible.

“The challenges are to get students to be

critical of what they’re looking at,” Millcreek’s Stoops said.

Mackowski said filters and teacher monitoring are an important part of keeping students from sites they shouldn’t be visiting.

But she said a benefit of learning online is that information is updated more frequently than in textbooks.

“You have to wait five to seven years before you can buy a new textbook,” she said.

Her high schoolwill offer a Cyber Cafe period this fall during which students can go to a classroom and take a class online.

“We’re really excited to offer that opportunity,” Mackowski said.

Stoops also said that online is an exciting way for students to learn.

He said oneinstruction strategy Millcreek teachers are using is the “flipped classroom,” in which students watch a video lecture online at home rather than listening to a teacher lecture in the classroom. Then, instead of homework, they do a project or hold a discussion in the classroom.

Seneca’s Hengelbrok said benefits of adding an online component to learning include the ability to connect with other learners and to personalize learning for individuals, groups, classrooms and buildings.

Dana Massing can be reached at 870-1729 or by email. Follow her on Twitter at twitter. com/ETNmassing.

H E A LT H

Families scramble to get children vaccinated class— Aug. 28— or they will be barred from enrolling.

“Our nurses said it would Parents in Erie County be more confusing for and across Pennsylvafamilies to admit students nia have been scrambling on day one and not allow this summer to make them after day five,” Erie sure their school-age School District spokeschildren have all of their woman Daria Devlin said. required immunizations.

“So they need to have them New Pennsylvania Depart- by the first day of school.” ment of Health regulations Devlin said in July that require all schoolchildren in more than 1,000 of the the state to be current on their district’s 11,500 students vaccinations within the first either aren’t current on five days of school or they their vaccinations or won’t be permitted to remain haven’t had their records in class. Families previously forwarded to the district. had an eight-month grace The new regulations period after school began to include Pennsylvania stuget their children vaccinated. dents who attend pubThe Erie School District lic, private and parochial has adopted stricter guideschools, and those attending lines. Students must have cyber schools. Students still all of their required vacaren’t required to get vaccinations on the first day of cinations if they can provide

By David Bruce

david.bruce@timesnews.com

a medical exemption, a religious exemption, or an exemption based on a strong moral or ethical conviction.

Pennsylvania’s list of required vaccinations includes a few changes for the 2017-18 school year. The most significant change is the requirement for a second dose of meningococcal vaccine for students entering 12th grade.

Students are also now required to have pertussis and rubella vaccines, but those vaccines have been included in combination vaccines for years, said Kris Balinski, R.N., a nursing supervisor with the Erie County Department of Health.

“School nurses have been sending information out to parents about the need to get their children up-to-date

of their vaccinations,” Balinski said. “They need to check with their healthcare provider to make sure they are caught up.”

District officials considered offering vaccination clinics but decided it would create problems because families in many cases wouldn’t have their children’s vaccination records on hand, Devlin said.

“If parents don’t have the records with them, the vaccination provider is leery of giving any shots,” Devlin said. “There’s a liability issue there.”

Families with no health insurance or who receive their health insurance through Medicaid can schedule their children’s vaccinations at the health department. Call 451-6777 for an appointment.

Vaccine requirements Under the new state rules, children in kindergarten through 12th grade are required to have the following vaccines, unless the children have medical, religious, ethical or philosophical exemptions: • 4 doses of tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis (usually given as DTP or DTaP) • 4 doses of polio • 3 doses of hepatitis B • 2 doses of measles, mumps, rubella (usually given as MMR) • 2 doses of varicella (chickenpox) or evidence of immunity Students entering seventh grade need, on the first day of school: • 1 dose of tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap) • 1 dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV) Students entering 12th grade need, on the first day of school: •A second does of meningococcal conjugate vaccine For more details, go to health.pa.gov.

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H E A LT H

More kids eat produce while feds hold the salt Five years ago, then first lady Michelle Obama championed legislation that required federally subsidized (virtually all) school lunches to have caps on fat, sugar and sodium, and required more whole grains and fat-free milk.

Students were also required to take at least one-half cup servings of both fruits and vegetables.

Naturally, a lot of kids hated the changes, and a lot of them just threw the healthier food away.

Changes are afoot.

First, in May, Agriculture Secretary Sonny

Perdue slowed the changes down,delaying the requirement on lowering sodium for the 2017-18 school year, allowing waivers schools have requested on certain whole-grain items and allowing schools to offer1 percent milk in addition to skim.

Second, kids in the Erie area probably won’t notice because they’re used to the way things have been for five years, as food service directors are saying if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. “(The changes are) not really going to affect us at all,” saidJenny Johns, food service director of Erie public schools with Metz Culinary Management. “They’re

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By Jennie Geisler jennie.geisler@timesnews.com

Sunday, August 13, 2017

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allowing us to have 1 percent flavored milk, but kids are accustomed to fat-free, so we’re going to stick with it.”

In fact, Johns said, the changes have markedly improved Erie kids’ eating habits.

“I think that definitely requiring the kids to take vegetables and fruit is a good

thing,” she said. “I think that component is really important.

“The kids in our district do take the two servings, the younger kids especially, and the kids are learning to eat the fruits and vegetables.”

That bodes well for the future, she said.

“We’ll see a

transformation in what they eat in the high school.”

She’s not so sure about the whole grains, though, and said the school district asked for and received a varianceon white pizza dough in high school and white pasta in all the schools. “The kids were not eating (whole grain varieties),” Johns said. “They were just throwing it out.”

“The kids just really don’t like the whole grains,” she said.

“They’re not used to eating them at home, so they don’t want them at school.”

But, again, she said the younger kids are learning.

“Ithink, as long as we’re offering at a younger age, they’re getting used to eating them, and after 12 years of school,

they’ll be accustomed.”

Melissa Kingen is a regional manager with The Nutrition Group, which offers food service to several school districts in the region, includingNorthwestern, Girard, Corry and Conneaut (Crawford County). She agrees with Johns on the popularity of produce.

“We’re definitely seeing kids eating more fruits and vegetables, and that was the goal,” Kingen said. “But a lot of it is being thrown out also. There continues to be a lot thrown out because they have to have fruit or vegetables on their trays. But some are eating it.”

Kingen said the delay on the sodium reduction is something of a relief.

“The new target was going to be very hard to achieve with the foods

we get from the government,” Kingen said.

“Currently the sodium level for kindergarten through fifth grade is less than 1,230 milligrams. If they wouldn’t have changed, that would have been less than 935 milligrams.

“One grilled cheese sandwich had 1,330 milligrams of sodium,” she said. “It was going to be very difficult for anything with cheese.And that’s what kids love — and it’s a dairy product.

“Everything has sodium,” Kingen said.

“Milk, fruits, vegetables, whole grains.”

The food service coordinator at Fairview School District, Lori Squires, also welcomed the relaxing of the rules.

“As far as the changes, they’re very small,” Squires said.

“We’re planning to

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offer both (1 percent milk and fat-free) in hopes of increasing milk consumption.”

And she’s with Kingen on the sodium.

“It gives everyone a chance to get caught up,” Squires said.

“Most of the products are pretty good right now, but it has to do with what (students are) eating at home.

“If kids are not eating (healthy food) at home, it’s harder to do at school,” she said.

“We’re grateful for the small changes.

Hopefully it leads to more food consumption for the kids.”

Jennie Geisler can be reached at 870-1885 or by email. Follow her on Twitter attwitter. com/ETNgeisler.Associated Press contributed to this report.

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SOCIAL

Wiping out the ‘R’ word a slow process yet, still thrown around casually by people who should know better.

The word “retarded” Meanwhile, despite legused to be a cold, cliniislation pushed by state cal term that carried Rep.Patrick J. Harkins no more baggage than of Erie County, the word words such as “cancerstill appears in local ous” or “infected.” It and state documents. was written into laws This is endlessly and policy, even the frustrating to Jackie names of agencies tasked Lupo,president of Down with providing services Syndrome Group of to those born with intel- Erie County, who has lectual disabilities. a daughter born with But over several Down syndrome. decades, the word has “They’re supposed to become heavier and remove (the word and all heavier, uglier and uglier its forms) from everyas children born with where they use it,” Lupo Down syndrome were said about government ostracized and bullied, documents. “But I just insulted and cast aside. got a paper last week Now the term is practi- from the Department cally radioactive — and, of Human Services.

By Jennie Geisler

jennie.geisler@timesnews.com

Sarah Lupo, 27, who was born with Down syndrome, recently attended her “adult prom.” Her mother, Jackie Lupo, president of Down Syndrome Group of Erie County, is working to remove the word “retarded” from codified and casual language. [CONTRIBUTED PHOTO]

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They’re supposed to say ‘ID’ for intellectual disabilities, change MHMR (Mental Health/Mental Retardation) to MHID (Mental Health/Intellectual Disabilities).

“Why are we still saying ‘MR’ in 2017?” Lupo asked.

Harkins said he became interested in the issue when he wason the state’s Education Committee.

“I had gotten into the school codes looking into vocational and trade technology looking for ways to get people interested in trade school,” Harkins said. “As I read the code, I was shocked and stunned that (the word)

was really in there.

“It was based on 1949 model law, sadly,” he said. “I was speaking to people from the Barber Institute and I have a friend with a child with special needs.

“It’s hurtful,” he said. “To have somebody tell you that your child’s ‘retarded’ is like a kick in the stomach.

“You wouldn’t want to be branded in derogatory way.

It weighed on me.”

He introduced a piece of legislation to remove the word and other words, such as “crippled” from codified language statewide.

“They’re addressing that now, and we’vemade

b

some steps forward, but we have a long way to go right now.”

The problem is not limited to outdated law books, but a widespread casual misunderstanding of the emotional damage the word can do.

Lupo said she had her daughter Sarah with her at a doctor’s office and the doctor herself used the word in an attempt at humor. “(Lupo’s daughter) had seen this doctor since she was 3,” Lupo said. “And she made a mistake doing something and said.

‘Oh, my gosh, I’m so retarded,’ and laughed.

“My heart sank and I almost couldn’t speak,” Lupo said. “I just thought ‘Really?’ She was a professional with a doctorate, and she laughed when she said it. She had no

“To me, she’s my daughter. She’s not a person who is mentally retarded. I wish people could look at you or your child for who you really are.”

little bit in this world.”

Sheryl Sweeney is executive director and special education advocate for Arc of Erie County. Arc used to be an anagram forAssociaJackie Lupo tion of Retarded Citizens.

It has since changed its name simply to the word “Arc,” attempting clue what she’d just said. to preserve the group’s “I guess it is still identity, but eliminate used nonchalantly.” the loaded word.

But moments like “I saw in my own those are becoming practice that we’ve few and far between, done a really good job of Lupo admitted. wiping out that word,” “My children are in Sweeney said. “Even if their 20s,” she said. someone says ‘Oh my “They say when people gosh, that’s retarded,’ say ‘retarded,’ they that’s not good, butI didn’t really mean it in think kids recognize a mean way. And now that’s a word we don’t most would say ‘stupid.’ use. It’s just like the ‘N’ If you use that word, word. I never hear of it carries a stigma, and using it as an adjective.” people don’t want to She said bullying of be associated with you. children with intellectual It’s not acceptable. disabilities hasn’t gone Things are changing a away, by any stretch, but

it’s taken different forms, such as cyber bullying and texting, and terminology includes words like “dumb” and “stupid.”

At any rate, whether it’s used officially or casually by the ignorant, the word “has become a sharp, heavy weapon.

“It’s hurtful,” Lupo said. “These kids don’t understand why they’re not accepted. But we’re all people. We all have limitations. We’re not all going to be doctors and lawyers.

“To me, she’s my daughter. She’s not a person who is mentally retarded. I wish people could look at you or your child for who you really are.”

Jennie Geisler can be reached at 870-1885 or by email. Follow her on Twitter attwitter.com/ETNgeisler.

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