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WEST NORRITON – Plans to revamp rooms within Norristown Area School District’s 12 schools to include STEM learning spaces Monday evening as school board members authorized preliminary measures.
Financial and operational policies consisted of removing outdated books from 1970-1990 currently in Stewart Middle School’s library. Administrative officials clarified this “is a necessary first step in preparing the space for the STEM investments and space transformation.”
The aforementioned policy stemmed from a grant award last year of about $1 million from funding from Fluxspace, a Norristown-based education technology consulting firm, to revamp spaces in its 12 school buildings to include modern, STEM-based learning centers.
In an interview with MediaNews Group last week, Superintendent Christopher Dormer anticipated about half the budget would go to furniture, with the remaining for equipment slated for “high quality, enriching, interesting experiences.” Dormer is planning to install the furniture over the summer so spaces will be available to students at the start of the 2023-24 school year.
Chief Financial Officer Anne Rohricht added during the Monday evening meeting that “we’re very proudly kicking off the flux transformation at Stewart tomorrow.”
“Stewart is first out of the gate,” said School Board President Phil Daniels.
Other “outdated” textbooks from 1970-2009 at Norristown Area High School were also authorized to be removed. Officials cited the need to “prepar(e) the space for the STEM investments ad space transformation.”
Additionally, a roughly $21,123 contract with Interface Flooring covered the procurement of carpet tile for the Fluxspace STEM projects.
“I really think it’s going to be transformative on a couple levels,” Dormer said last week. “One is I mean to me there’s something to be said when you walk into a space that is new it’s modern. As an underfunded district, we work really hard to try to keep up to modernize as best we can. But let’s face it, our buildings are on the older side and it shows.”
In other business, a $150,000 item during the meeting’s academic recommendations portion was unanimously approved Monday as the district prepares to implement English Language Arts resources in kindergarten through eighth grades. The purchase order with Great Minds PBC covered various Wit & Wisdom learning materials.
Another $21,840 was allocated for “professional development services to Norristown Area School District to support the early adoption of the Wit & Wisdom.”
“I’m glad to see we’re moving at this with some pace,” Daniels said.
The March school board meeting started off contentious as a handful of parents and area residents expressed their frustration with Vice President Monica D’Antonio over videos she posted to Tik Tok.
Public commenters were angered over her alleged “promotion of weed” and called for her to resign from her school board post. D’Antonio told MediaNews Group later that night a shirt she was wearing in the videos was a campaign t-shirt she received in 2021 as part of then-candidate John Fetterman’s senatorial campaign.
“How can you honestly and effectively address this issue when the vice president is obviously promoting illegal drugs,” said resident Leah Yzzi. “You’re in charge of my minors. How disgraceful and talk about morally corrupting minors. How could you allow her to remain on this school board? School board members in other districts have resigned for a lot less than this.”
Commenter Anne Harrington agreed.
“It is wrong. I don’t want to see this again,” Harrington said, adding that “you were appointed or elected, and we expect better behavior from you so that the children see that behavior, and can go on and behave properly themselves.”
When asked for comment on the matter Monday evening, D’Antonio provided the following statement to MediaNews Group:
“I always appreciate parents coming to our school board meetings to express their concerns and offer feedback on how we can make NASD a better place for all of our families. I have never been quiet about my support for legalizing marijuana. Far too many Americans are losing their lives sitting in prison on non-violent drug offenses – including basic marijuana possession. This mass incarceration predominately impacts black and brown communities, communities exactly like ours. Marijuana legalization and expungement for marijuana crimes helps to restore the lives of so many in our community. I won’t apologize for my stance on this issue. I would also say that wearing a tee-shirt on my personal social media in no way is advocacy for a behavior. People on social media often display images of themselves drinking or smoking or engaging in other adult behaviors, and this in no way suggests that they are promoting that behavior for underage children. I am proud of constant and tireless work this board does on behalf of our community, and I hope to continue productive dialogue with our families on the important issues that we face as a district.”
The next Norristown Area School District school board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on April 24 at the district administration building, 401 N. Whitehall Road. Those interested in attending the meeting can also do so virtually. Visit nasd.k12.pa.us for more information.