Great show at the MHS auditorium last night. I haven't attended a board meeting in quite a while but figured I would join the fun. I'll link to any articles later.
1: Front Page - It is our future
2: Kate Fratti - Morrisville Needs Heroes
Want to go through the mental snapshots I took?
William Hellmann CPA: My God, what an arrogant SOB! He pointedly ignores the public comment, even to the point of not responding to it. He is dismissive with the other board members. His body language is very much outward facing negative. Bonus arrogance points for cutting off public comment, but just lay off Reba Dunford, would you? It's clear you don't like her, but the way you belittle her at every possible turn is just infantile. Bully-Boy reminds me of a cocky arrogant know-it-all can't-tell-me SOB currently living in Washington DC. By the way...what's all this with "I didn't get a chance to review this" stuff. Running a one man show beginning to get a little tiring? This isn't "Hellmann's Heroes". Turn in your Type A obsessive compulsive membership card at the door.
Angry Al: Yep. The name is back. Apparently Al's been using words he shouldn't be. Tsk, tsk. At least we know now why John Jordan, former board member and head of the Bucks NAACP asked to speak last night to ask for Angry Al's resignation. Don't think this one is going away too soon. Ed Bailey may be a board member yet.
Bill Farrell: Our dark horse winner from last night. The man described as Captain Algebra (and we're still a little uncertain on why that question was asked, but...) was the one seeking to put some peace and calm on a situation that's been brewing for years. I'm not certain it's at the point of bringing Begin and Sadat to the table at Camp David, but it's a positive development.
Gloria Heater: Please stop vigorously shaking your head in agreement whenever William Hellmann CPA speaks. It appears sycophantic. Or that your bobble-head needs readjustment.
Marlys Mihok: Still on the secrecy bandwagon I see. You wanted to have an executive session at the agenda session two weeks ago and the lawyer told you no, giving you the five explicit reasons available. Now you're going after Joe Kemp for allegedly releasing information from an executive session, and it wasn't him. Rule #1: Almost nothing in an executive session remains completely executively quiet. So stop trying to negotiate in secrecy (wasn't that one of your campaign promises?) and bring it out into the open for all to see and discuss. Reflect on Bill Farrell's remarks, would you?
All Nine Members: Shame on you for limiting the public comment. The "People's Board" doesn't want to hear from the people. More supreme arrogance. Tell you what guys...go back through your propaganda from the last few years, cross out that "Sandy Gibson", insert "William Hellmann CPA" and re-read it. That's what you looked like last night.
William Hellmann CPA, part II: You get extra special "creepy" points for trying to nickel and dime the special education positions. Unfunded and/or underfunded federal and state mandates are a fact of life. Special education needs are a fact of life. It took the superintendent, quite properly, noting that the board as individuals could be civilly liable yet again (see, you've got to listen and drop the know it all act) before the approval was grudgingly given. (I believe your vote was Yes, With Reservations, followed by Bill Farrell's vote of Yes, With No Reservations. Look. Listen. Learn.) But then there's this diatribe on how the town needs to watch where the money goes. It does, but the money and the numbers have a human face. They're called students.
The students: Kudos for even showing up, and that's not meant to be condescending. Your teen years are for hanging out with your friends, doing your homework and McJob, and preparing for life, not experiencing adults playing poorly with your future. But you showed up and did a commendable job. For the most part you were quiet and respectable and direct, and that goes a long way.
Morrisville Farming Plan: It's dead, all except for the official funeral. The board members botched this one pretty well. "Brainstorming" is collecting ideas. When you start acting upon them, it's not just brainstorming anymore. Calling around to other districts was the equivalent of Commissioner Gordon shining the Batlight on a cloud for all to see. The secrecy stuff does not work.
Bond Defeasment: We don't know what we want, how we're getting it, or how much it will cost, but we're getting rid of the bond. William Hellmann's buddy apparently needs the work after the rocky economic news so far for 2008. What's he getting anyway? Even a 1% management fee is some $24,000. The Six Million Dollar Shell sits there, patiently crumbling, er, waiting for someone, anyone to fix it. Even the board members are confused by this maneuver. Call them, write them, and be sure to attend the special meeting on January 30 to discuss it. Remember that the devil is in the details: Where are the engineer reports, the specs, the bids, the cost analysis, the due diligence?
M.R. Reiter and Grandview RIP: The shouts of "what about the other schools" were met with silence last night and here's why. Both those schools are in poor physical shape, especially Reiter. The stop the schoolers campaigned against a K-12 building because they didn't want those age ranges mixing. So, close the two elementary schools, make MHS a K-8 building, farm out grades 9-12 and we're done! Except that it's now looking like the Six Million Dollar Shell will be a K-12 building. One order of Karma Crow for the Stop the Schoolers, extra spicy!
Enough from this side of the monitor. Anyone else have anything to share?
Thursday, January 24, 2008
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4 comments:
From the Phillyburbs blogs:
Morrisville board member: No transfer plan in the works
In a letter to the editor in today’s Bucks County Courier Times, Morrisville school board member Ed Bailey denies the directors are considering a plan to ship middle and high school students to another district.
“Perhaps outsourcing is not the solution for our struggling district, but let’s get as many options on the table as possible,” Bailey wrote. “Every option will have its pros and cons, and whatever we choose, we will have to accept trade-offs.”
The tiny school system is already accepting some trade-offs, Bailey argues. “Our district is currently spending about $500,000 for every student that it graduates. Yet because of our small size, the high school curriculum is necessarily limited.”
At that price, sounds to me like school vouchers might actually be a viable option for the lead Bulldogs to consider.
What do you think?
The board hopes to adopt a preliminary budget for the 2008-09 school year during its meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Middle-High School.
Posted by Dave R at 10:21 am |
One Response to “Morrisville board member: No transfer plan in the works”
Dave, Last time I checked, Ed Bailey is not a Morrisville School Director. I was amazed that the paper printed his letter with this little lie so blatently proclaimed, and further amazed that this has been perpetuated on your blog. You might also want to check his math. Apparently he is of the same mind as some Morrisville SDs that Algebra isn’t important. His numbers show a kid costing over $35K a year. I know the costs are high in the district, but that is a gross overinflation of the costs. It begs the question, if he is so unashamedly making these statements of untruth, what else in his message is suspect?
Comment by:
Lurker - 1.23.2008 at 4:39 pm
To STS:
Superb coverage and commentary. Keep up the great work.
Shame dept: I did walk up to Mr. Hellmann last night before the meeting started to ask him if, as an audience member informed me, it was true he'd be limiting public comment. He said yes, and i informed him that the policy was in place throughout the last board's tenure and we never chose to apply the rule. He said that's what he's doing, I advised against it, he said that's what he's doing. I spoke up to at least allow for the full 45 minutes after he said he was cutting the list at 15. I don't like to grandstand, so i didn't air my complaint in public. Maybe I need to start.
And as far as the "brainstorming" comment goes, it's total rubbish. There was no brainstorming. The plan was presented, that's it. I'm willing to take Bill Farrell's advice and work together, but that doesn't mean I can't criticize a plan or answer questions honestly. I signed up for this to help the students get the best education possible. Right now, that means opposing board plans that don't rank education as the top priority.
That said, I was grinning like a goofball at some of the people who spoke. It was great to see the parents and the students and the non-parent/students make the showing they did. Thanks!
....how sad is it that some can STILL not see who this fight is all about! When kids don't care, they are told they are lazy and only care about themselves and not the bigger picture. BUT when they actually take a stand for themselves and stand up to adults (on a school board) they are told they are disrepectful. The POINT is...there is not one person (from the stop the school bunch) on the board that has a child in the district. How could they POSSIBLY have the best interest of the children? There has to be a way for all parties involved to sit and talk things out! Come to an agreement on how things will work out for the STUDENTS!
The students and parents wanted to talk but got cut off!
I still want to know why Mr Hellmann is reporting information to Diane Hughes. I have children in the district and she has more information then I do apparently. What do I have to do to be on that information highway!
Ack..where's that rant again!
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