MOUNT VERNON — City council members and Mount Vernon City Schools and Knox County Career Center school board members met Thursday to discuss concerns and share information.
Topics ranged from school safety, changing traffic patterns stemming from city projects, and how developments already underway affect enrollment.
Sidewalks and crossings on Martinsburg Road
Assistant City Engineer Quentin Platt reviewed the safety concerns where the high school and career center traffic exits onto Martinsburg Road.
A lack of sidewalks and crosswalks makes it difficult for students walking to and from school to cross the road. Additionally, a section that is a school zone is unmarked, and a section that could be a school zone is not.
related reading
“We have different speed limits depending on which direction you’re going. That is unlawful,” Platt said.
The city plans to extend the school zone 300 feet south of Parrott Street and install warning signs about 500 feet farther south. It will also install warning signs on all streets approaching Martinsburg Road.
Another action item is adding crossings at the south end of the career center entrance and just south of Division Street. The city plans to apply for a Safe Routes to School grant for sidewalks on the west side of Martinsburg Road, Parrott and Pine streets, and an extension to the existing sidewalk on Newark Road.
“The ultimate plan is to get students all the way to the Buckeye Addition,” Platt said.
He expects to install speed limit signs this year. Longer-term, the city will install flashing pedestrian push-button beacons and flashing lights. Speed signs registering a driver’s speed are also being considered.
Mount Vernon School Superintendent Bill Seder said the district has temporarily adjusted its bus transportation routes to increase safety in the area.
The district does not transport students living within one mile of the school. However, several buses use Parrott Street enroute to rural drop-offs.
Seder said the school will invite the 23 students who live in the neighborhood to ride one of the buses. One bus will go down Ames Street; another will go down Parrott Street.
Both buses will stop between Martinsburg and Newark roads and Newark Road and South Main Street.
“Whether they take advantage of it, I don’t know, but at least there will be an alternative,” Seder said.
School resource officers
Mount Vernon Police Officer Jeremiah Armstrong has served as SRO in the high and middle schools and the career center for nine years.
Seder said the schools’ wish list is an SRO for every two buildings. The dream is to have one in each building, which requires eight additional SROs.
“I love the idea of it, but there are some hurdles to overcome,” Police Chief Robert Morgan said.
Perhaps the chief hurdle is funding. An SRO costs $100,000 to $115,000 a year. Morgan noted that cost recurs every year, not just the first year. If funding stops after hiring an SRO, he has to either let an officer go or ask the city to pick up the entire cost.
Seder agreed sustainability is vital to additional SROs.
Another potential hurdle is jurisdiction, but City Law Director Rob Broeren said that could be resolved if money is available to hire SROs.
Discussion included the possibility of hiring part-time officers or retired military. Morgan said the union contract does not allow for part-time officers.
Seder noted some schools have looked to privatize security. He feels comfortable with the MVPD because he knows its officers have appropriate training.
Additionally, Broeren said private security does not have the authority a police officer has. He added that the school would need to call an officer in certain situations anyway.
Neither the MVSD nor the KCCC have had conversations about options other than the MVPD. Morgan said the MVPD would work with private security if the schools chose that option.
Severe student behavior
Seder said bad student behavior has escalated in past years.
“It’s the number one shared frustration and concern among administrators and teachers,” he said.
“The reality is we’re seeing this in preschool. It’s very disruptive — screamers and yellers — and it’s a challenge.”
Seder said the district has hired eight school social workers, one for each building, and a board-certified behavioral analyst to help with the problem.
Staff also undergo state-mandated training, and the district has created sensory and de-escalation rooms in addition to other responses.
Seder said the district is creating alternate classrooms with a smaller class size.
“We’re actually looking at four-room modulars to put students in to work on behavior and then transition them back,” he said.
The modular costs around $750,000 in addition to the cost of staffing it.
All three groups noted they are experiencing difficulty hiring social workers.
Traffic pattern changes
City Engineer Brian Ball explained the ongoing and future revitalization efforts in the area of Dan Emmett Elementary School.
“Dan Emmett has the most students walking to school with the least amount of sidewalks,” he said.
The project includes sidewalks, curbs and gutters, new playground equipment for the school, and water, stormwater, and sewer upgrades. It also includes a bike path on Mansfield Avenue.
The project is in varying stages. The city is in the process of buying the playground equipment and expects to bid the project in January.
Ball also explained the State Route 13 relocation project.
He said the project should not greatly interfere with school transportation. Traffic will still flow, but there will be some slowdowns.
Tax increment financing
Mayor Matt Starr said the city is in the process of extending the Coshocton Avenue TIF (tax increment financing) district. The current one expires in 2025.
Under a TIF, property taxes on commercial property improvements go into a separate fund, not the city’s general fund. The money is used for infrastructure improvements within the district.
Under agreements with the school district and career center, the city has made PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) payments since the city created the TIF district in 1999.
Changes in state law allow the city to extend the TIF for another 30 years. It also requires that the schools and career center receive the entire amount they would be entitled to if the city did not extend the TIF.
The city will, therefore, discontinue the PILOT payments, and the county auditor will send the money directly to the schools.
Schools do not have to report PILOT money. However, since it will be property tax and not PILOT money, they will have to report it, reducing the schools’ state funding.
Development
Seder reviewed the housing units coming online with the various housing developments underway.
Projections show that Gilchrist Estates, The Retreat at Mount Vernon, Liberty Crossing, and the former school on Mulberry Street will create 1,201 housing units.
Seder said the challenge as a district is that students in the Schlabach and Rockford sites would attend Wiggin Street Elementary.
“We probably can’t take the influx there,” he said.
Liberty Crossing students would attend Twin Oak on Martinsburg Road. Seder noted it was built to accommodate 400 students.
“We are at 380 right now,” he said.
School officials have to look at redistricting with that many homes going in on Newark Road. That is a challenge as the 115-year-old East Elementary is at capacity.
The age of the other buildings comes into play, too. Wiggin Street is 119 years old; four buildings range between 54 and 70.
Twin Oak, the district’s newest school, is 19 years old.
