The Morrisville school board meeting started with applause and whistles Wednesday night as the new members of the school board walked in.
The cheers continued when the board decided to stop plans for a new consolidated $30 million school that would have replaced the three existing school buildings.
The new school board voted 8-1 to abandon an appeal of a borough council decision rejecting preliminary development plans for the proposed consolidated pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade school.
If built, the facility would have replaced the ailing high school/middle school and the two elementary schools.
The new school board has made it known it wants to stop prior plans for building the new school.
Board members agreed Wednesday night to advertise for bids from engineering firms to examine and evaluate the mechanical systems at all three school buildings. It also voted to solicit professional legal services on a contingency basis in regard to possible litigation over expenditures for the proposed new school project that was stopped at this meeting.
In other news, the board voted to remove Joseph Kemp from the position of secretary. No reason was given, except that it was the board's prerogative, said board President William Hellmann. The board nominated and voted Marlys Mihok to replace him, effective Jan. 2.
Likewise, the board voted to remove Reba Dunford, the school district's business administrator, from the role of board treasurer. Gloria Heater was nominated and voted to replace her, also effective Jan. 2.
We knew that they wanted to stop the school, but it gets stopped three days before the Grand Tour of the Morrisville Educational Facilities is held? Does this mean that the tour is merely a cover and a pointless waste of time for the participants? All I'm saying here is that the needs of the district appear to be taking second place to blind action without heed to the ramifications. We expect this type of behaviour out of the students that the schools are housing, not the supposed adults running them. It sounds like the same precipitous behavior that led to the MESPA fiasco years ago is back in town. What would it have cost to wait until the January meeting to do this?
8 comments:
Re: "The new school board voted 8-1 to abandon an appeal of a borough council decision rejecting preliminary development plans *SNIP* "
A very savvy move on the part of the NSN's. By dropping the appeal, the school board does not have to take responsibility for the failure of the district to build a new school. It can all be blamed on those darned council people.
I have one question though. The vote passed 8-1. I was thinking that it would have passed 7-2. Who went over to the dark side?
Re: "In other news, the board voted to remove Joseph Kemp from the position of secretary. No reason was given..."
Joe can verrify this, but IMHO the reason is because the positions of Secretary and Treasurer are stipend positions. I'm not sure if Morrisville pays a stipend to these positions any more, but it is allowed by law (the only two positions on the school board which are). Look for a motion later this year to increase the amount of these stipends.
Why reward outsiders with a stipend? Pay your own loyals.
I hope Marlys and Gloria choke on their stipends.
BTW, Marlys as secretary? I don't think she even has an 8th grade vocaublary. And Gloria as Treasurer? Isn't she the main supporter of her father's right to not pay taxes and not comply to environmental cleanup regulations?
No dark side! As I sat there staring at my paper, thinking about what to do, the vote happened and I said nothing, so I was counted as a Yes. I didn't say oops, can I have that vote back because I already felt dumb for missing my opportunity for a protest vote. Sorry, y'all. It was a mistake, not a statement.
Responding to borows:
I think you're right about the stipend(s). Treasurer gets $250. I never got any money as Secretary, but it may be that I said to donate it back to the school, or it's not a stipend position. I do remember that Peter Mulcahey donated his Treasurer stipend to the band.
Regardless of the voting, I really hope you keep this blog going! It's a great asset and resource. I hope it will also be used to catalog all of the various machinations and actions of the new board majority. Because memories dim over time, and when things start to pile up, it's going to get difficult to remember all the stuff that goes down. Heck, there has only been 1 board mtg, and already there's an impressive list ........
Joe,
Eight years (and 80+ meetings) under my belt and there are always votes I look back on and say "I could have taken a stand, could have registered my protest."
Sometimes, faced with overwhelming odds, and stunned by the actions of others, one is left speechless or otherwise defeated. I sympathize.
If you truly did not voice a vote, you could correct things when the minutes are voted on next month by clarifying that you abstained from the vote (and you could even take the soap-box and explain why).
Keep fighting for what is right.
Didn't every single board for the past several iterations do the same thing with a community walk-through? Somehow I have a hard time understandfing what will be better about this time. If anyone takes dime one from the school in compensation, I hope the entire community calls them out on it. Anyone who spends a lot of time and energy accusing others usually has something to hide.
Ken, thanks for the advice. Though I've never had the pleasure of meeting you, lots of folks I have met through this position have a high opinion of you. Way back when I was scrambling for Democratic signatures, Kay McCready sent me across the street to your (then) house, but you weren't home. Although it was Sandy who got me involved (she barely knew me, but knew I had a child I intended to send to public school), I wanted to talk to you about the idea of running for the board. Anytime you have advice for me, I'm at jkemp@mv.org.
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