When we last left our story, an open insurrection was beginning against the autocratic rule of the Emperor. The members of the Q in the audience were aghast at her insolence. The Emperor himself was rocked and resorted to babbling semi-coherently about school safety issues.
But before we visit this storyline, let's take a look at the delivery of the Q-gram last weekend that was discussed by several speakers. For some bizarre reason, it was disclosed that pictures are taken of the houses that receive a Q-gram. Do me a favor and leave me off the distribution list.
The shocking revelation that the class of 2008 did poorly on the mathematics section of the PSSA was not shocking. The only people that were shocked were the dilettantes who bungee in to piously shed mock public tears about our education woes and then obliviously bungee out again until the next pseudo-crisis arises.
I am as disappointed in the math score as anyone is, but the truth of the matter is that real watchers and supporters of the Morrisville school district knew this already, because they were briefed by Dr. Beth Yonson.
The percentile scores for the class of 2008 were 28% scoring proficient or higher in mathematics. In reading, it was 58%. In writing, it was 86%. We have work to do in math, but it looks like the reading and writing scores are pretty good.
There was also a speaker who did an analysis of the complete scores for the entire state. Again, while the math scores were disappointing, they were not wildly out of synch with the rest of the state.
Kudos to Robin Reithmeyer, who had the audacity to openly proclaim that the Emperor had no clothing. She laid out her case rather well (does anyone have a copy of her statement?) and had several pointed exchanges with His Highness.
Then came the insurrection. Robin pointed put that the Emperor was trying to spend money without a comprehensive plan, and that if he has allowed the original December RFP for bids to have gone out without meddling with it, the board would be reviewing the bids already, not just the process. She also properly noted that the items listed as code violations are longstanding items that are grandfathered in. She further noted that the bids will be opened next week and spending the money now without a plan was foolish.
My understanding is that the Emperor melted down quite like the Wicked Witch of the West when Dorothy doused her. He babbled about fires in the school and how the children were in danger.
Isn't it curious how these same items existed last year and candidate Hellmann didn't want them addressed, and now that he's holding on to personal responsibility for it, he's the Mother Theresa of repairs?
The $200,000 in repairs only covered the high school, not the two elementary schools. These schools are even worse off than the high school.
Speaking of the elementary schools, The Emperor arranged for his buddies to do another study, this time at the elementary schools. This time, he even managed to mention it to the board before the study started.
Both of these items failed to be approved, by a 3-3 tie, with Hellmann, Worob and Farrell wanting to plunge along without a plan, and Reithmeyer, Kemp, and Frankenfield wanting a comprehensive plan. **NOTE ADDED: I should mention that Bill Farrell has a deep and genuine interest in the safety of the schools and the students, and I believe that he is more interested in safe schools "right now" so that our kids are safe.**
On another note, I don't understand all of this, so if someone has the info, please share, but apparently Hellmann has a serious personal issue with the banking institution holding the district's money. A move out of here was not approved as well.
Then came the revelation that Billy-Boy stuck his hand in the cookie jar. Again.
More to come.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
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3 comments:
Thanks to Robin Reithmeyer for her statement last night and her willingness to request the facts to be laid out openly and fairly.
Which just goes to show that even though Joe and Ed are in the minority, they can sometimes wield power if they make alliances and enough people have been sent to Exile Island so that the tribal council votes ... oh wait, I am mixing up Morrisville politics and an episode of Survivor.
Yes, thank you to Robin for being level headed and free thinking.
Regarding the (failed) bid to take the district's (remaining $4million or so) capital projects money out of the state fund and place it in another (any other!) institution is that one of the stakeholders in that fund is RBC Dain Rauscher. RBC is the company that funded the construction bond and, in Mr. Hellmann's opinion, overcharged the district. He's been saying that for a very long time and we (the previous board) asked our bond counsel about the difference in charges between our loan and esp. Neshaminy's. It was explained that theirs was a much larger issue, with more to come. Borrow more, pay less. We asked if this was common and if we got the best deal we could. We were assured we did. Still, Mr. Hellmann's teeth are sunk into that bone so deep that he's willing to cost the district money (in banking charges and losses for investments that haven't matured) to keep this one company from making any money from our money. Bill Farrell voted against that one, saying, "Just let them make their money, I don't care."
Now this vendetta was the seed for the JUST COOPERATE email which Robin referenced. She and I both asked Mr. Hellmann for information regarding his stance that the district was overcharged and that we have to move our money. He refused to give us any, saying we could do our own research. He said he's not our daddy. Honestly.
All I've ever asked for while doing this job was enough information to make my decisions and for my questions to be answered. Bill's not the boss of me and he's not my daddy, so I don't have to take "In my opinion" as an answer.
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