Here it is, Sunday morning and the kids have the funny pages open from the Sunday paper. Oddly enough, the parents have the funny pages open too, but while the kids are looking at the comics, the parents are anxiously reading about our little town's Farm Control Board, looking for the new scheduling of the cattle runs to Bristol and Pennsbury, and maybe even a few to Conwell Egan.
Were you able to contact your board members? Several of you did and were kind enough to include me on the letters, and I thank you for that. Most of you asked that your letters not be reprinted here and I am honoring that request. However, I thought that I was hot under the collar. Perhaps we should talk to George Mount about adding blood pressure medication directly to the town water supply to save time.
According to the BCCT this morning, closing a school is a slow process, and it takes at least three months.
All this board wants is fast, fast, relief. WARNING: Everything is moving fast. Defease the debt FAST! Cut the budget FAST! I know some people so we can fix the school FAST! These are the same people who wanted s...l...o...w... action from the past board, aren't they? Then what is the "other reason" for going fast? This new board has two years at least to complete the job. Who else benefits from fast action?
They also attacked the past president for her "connections" with contractors. Who is questioning the connections that William Hellmann CPA has with the professional defeasement artist who also said come back and see me when you need more money. Other members are using connections to bring their friends directly into the process because they can "work with these people", not like the others before them who were greedy and only wanted a new school. "Work with you", huh? Sounds like a classic sweetheart pay-for-play or inexpensive-work-now-for-guaranteed-work-later type of scam is being run. Even the door locks at Grandview had to be fixed by a William Hellmann CPA crony ("Did you call the guy I told you to call?" was his message to the business administrator).
What's the school board equivalent of a special prosecutor?
And are we following the Sandy Gibson Rule? Substitute Sandy as the protagonist and then read how it sounds. For example, in the above paragraph...Who is questioning the connections that [Sandy Gibson] has with the professional defeasement artist who also said come back and see me when you need more money. [Sandy Gibson is] using connections to bring [her] friends directly into the process because they can "work with these people", not like the others before them who were greedy and only wanted a new school. "Work with you", huh? Sounds like a classic sweetheart pay-for-play or inexpensive-work-now-for-guaranteed-work-later type of scam is being run. Even the door locks at Grandview had to be fixed by a [Sandy Gibson] crony ("Did you call the guy I told you to call?" was [her] message to the business administrator).
See how easy that was? If you were incensed by reading that last paragraph and went outside to stoke the vat of boiling tar to corner Sandy, why aren't you doing it to William Hellmann CPA? Because you're a hypocrite, that's why.
One item to close with:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead, US anthropologist (1901 - 1978)
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Never doubt that a small group of self-righteous, committed citizens can stop a school. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Jon Perry, Tongue-in-Cheek Philosopher (1964 - )
"If the Morrisville board proceeds with closing the district's high school, it would have to send borough students to other public districts, according to Race."
For a moment I was afraid that I'd gone to sleep in the good old 21st century and awoken in the long sought after Morrisville of 1955. After struggling with our fallout shelter for a few minutes, I remembered that it was 2008, and I hadn't traveled through time.
Let the record show - On November 19, 2007 I wrote a comment that implies there is an undercurrent of sentiment that seeks to close Morrisville schools forever.
Let me now go on record to state emphatically that I know there are many people, in powerful positions, who are actively seeking to close the school district once and for all. They don't care at what cost to the taxpayers and residents or whether it benefits the children or not.
They would rather drive the district into financial ruin to the end that they would hope the State would take over a distressed district and consolidate it with some other neighboring district.
Jane Burger has stated both publicly and privately that she would like to find a way to close down the district. She has petitioned school boards for many years to explore possible scenarios. She, along with Mayor Tom Wisnoski had discussions with then Senator Conti to find a way to force the State to take over MSD.
Others that I believe have the same agenda are: Jack Buckman, Steve and Brenda Worob, Al Radosti (who has a personal vendetta due to conflicts between himself and the school district over his child), Jim and Jane Murray, Marlys Mihock, and several others who have privately told me of their desires. And not to be religiously divisive, but the local parochial school and its parishioners would be happy to see this happen as well.
At this time in Morrisville history, with the current board, this is the single most critical, and potentially devastating issue facing Morrisville. No other issue, not taxes, not PSSA testing, not failing buildings, not overpaid teachers, not bloated administration, not curriculum deficiencies, by far NOT ANY OTHER ISSUE, is so threatening and critical to Morrisville.
This issue slept for over 20 years. There is now momentum.
If people do nothing to stop this, if Morrisville does not decide that it is important to the lifestyle of a small town to have its own district and affect local control over taxes and education, and do something now about it, I predict that the Morrisville School District will go away. Completely.
It won't be a slow death. It will be quick and painful. Services will be cut, students farmed out, teachers furloughed, buildings closed. After the High School (or maybe along with), the elementaries will become targets. And then families will make choices to pull their children or move away. The town will not be able to support the few remaining who we are legally required to educate, and the State will step in and make decisions for us. The current board majority and their backers have only 23 short months to accomplish this.
Finally, there will be little reason to buy a home in Morrisville, with no small school district to attract families, and a secondary status like Tullytown (with neighboring Trenton as our landfill) to drive down home sale values. Even if a merger with Pennsbury is forced, what incentive will there be to move to Morrisville over Yardley, Falls, Makefield ...
The time to de-rail this train is now, before it begins its run-away race.
Borows, this is some scary shit. If you have anything to back this up, please share whatever you can and get it to the press.
I suppose it is Machiavellian, but there is no way to back this up. So now I sound like a Buckman, right?
You could call some of these folks and ask them sraight out. But the going tactic seems to be to shroud one's answer in obscurity and obfuscation. I know you've experienced that...the NSN's have given "non-answers" for several months now.
But maybe, just maybe, if you found some one, or some people, who used to be in the NSN or Jane burger camp, but are no longer, maybe they will give you the answers you ask from me. (Ed Frankenfield? Sandy Gibson? Ted Fletcher? to suggest a few).
Other than that, there's nothing to take to the papers.
That's not to say my dire warning shouldn't stand and that people of Morrisville shouldn't be on guard to these things.
Anonymous, where does that quote come from? I really hope you're fake-quoting for dramatic purposes. If not, tell us who said that and when.
Borows, that's the feeling I've gotten as well, not that anyone (even Al) has ever stated it as such.
Watch out.
Race is Michael Race of the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
I'm guessing Apollo Creed also works there.
Post a Comment