West Penn Township supervisors received feedback Monday on their recent offer to Tamaqua Area School District for improved security at an elementary school.

Supervisors heard from several residents two weeks after they offered a $16,000 donation to the district to be used for security measures at West Penn Elementary School.

Resident Brian McQuillen asked why the township was subsidizing the school district after township officials agreed last month to set the money aside in next year’s budget for improved security at the school.

McQuillen, a former township supervisor, said the school board is supposed to manage its affairs within the budget it has established.

Further, McQuillen said he was confused why the township was spending township funds on an issue he believes should be handled by the school district.

Board Chairman Tony Prudenti told McQuillen that the school in question is West Penn Elementary, and the township was merely using its own funds to protect its residents.

“We felt a little extra protection was a good thing,” Prudenti said. “It enhances West Penn Township by an array of ways.”

Supervisor Ted Bogosh said the plan is to provide more police protection at the school.

Prudenti said the township is very fortunate that there will be no budget increase next year.

Supervisor Tim Houser said that the township had that amount in a fund to assist, but noted nothing has been approved yet.

Prudenti said he believes everyone benefits from the offer, and called it a “win-win” for all involved.

McQuillen said he wasn’t opposed to it, but reiterated that he believes the school district should be managing the affairs of its schools.

He said that if it would be an ongoing thing, that it’s not the township’s responsibility to protect the students.

Houser said it was a “one-time thing.”

Resident Ted Rosen said he hoped the township would encourage the school district to look at other alternatives.

Prudenti said the school board is “doing an unbelievable job looking into a whole array of security.”

“I would love to see it (the township’s proposed donation to the school district be) an annual thing,” Prudenti said. “I would love to see that as a trend.”

Resident Larry Stival thanked the board for proposing the funds to the school district.

Stival said he believes everyone in the township should be responsible for providing safety.

Prudenti assured that the school board is very aware of what it’s doing.

“The basic theme of it all is something needs to be done,” he said. “I’m proud to be able to say West Penn Township stepped up to put our best foot forward.”

Prudenti attended the school board’s Nov. 20 meeting, at which time he offered a $16,000 donation to the district on behalf of the board of supervisors to be used for security at the school.

He also asked permission for the township’s police force to increase patrols of the school grounds.

That came after supervisors agreed at their Nov. 19 budget workshop to put that amount in as a line item for the 2019 budget.

Prudenti said that action was in response to a policy permitting Tamaqua Area School District employees to carry firearms in school.

He suggested a first responder system, but noted it’s all predicated on the school board allowing it.

Prudenti said the first-alert type system alerts police and all the teachers in the building, and tells police exactly where a gunshot occurs in the building.

In addition, Prudenti said that while there is currently a police presence at the school, he would like to see even more of a police presence there.

Township police Chief Brian Johnson said the police department has received “very good feedback” for having a “police presence” at the school

On Nov. 14, the Tamaqua Education Association filed a lawsuit in the Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas to stop the district from arming staff.

Tamaqua Education Association officials say a policy permitting Tamaqua school employees to carry firearms in school violates the Pennsylvania School Code and other laws limiting the use of firearms by public employees.

The action came one week after more than 100 people, including students and parents, packed a Tamaqua Area School Board meeting to speak out against the policy.

On Sept. 18, the school board enacted a policy authorizing administrators, teachers or other district staff who undergo special training to carry firearms and use deadly force while performing school duties.

The group wants the court to declare that the school board exceeded its authority by adopting a policy that conflicts with the school code and other laws and unlawfully permits school employees “to carry firearms and use deadly force without the training and experience required by the General Assembly.”

At a Nov. 7 school board meeting, parents and community members in the district laid out extensive alternatives to the policy, including better screening of visitors, infrastructure changes, shooter detection systems, and investments in mental health support and threat assessments.