Conspiracy?

There's almost always a grain of truth inside of the conspiracy theories. That puff of smoke on the grassy knoll and an inexperienced and harassed pathology team combined to provide us with forty five years of entertaining JFK conspiracy theories. There's even a great link for the Ten Wackiest Conspiracy Theories. (Numbers 5 and 9 were new to me.)

Boldly ignoring the cyberspace "STOP" sign, Steve Worob has heedlessly plunged into the four way intersection of Fact and Fiction Lanes toward the ultimate destination of Wassup Dude?

The latest Insults instead of answers post is rather misspelled and awkwardly phrased. I find it entertaining that some of the people who most desperately want school standards would not be able to cut it in a ninth grade English class at Morrisville.

Why for God's sake would he ever use the name "Gould" in a written text? Ever? I wouldn't talk about Elliot Gould, Stephen Jay Gould, Gulden's Mustard, or the Gould Coast of Antarctica. Taking up his challenge to "Here’s a hint, just like here he never finished out his contract as superintendent. You can google his name with Allentown Morning Call if you feel my statement is leaking water.", I did just that.

On Monday [Feb 25, 2007], a new superintendent will take charge of the Northwestern Lehigh School District.

The Board of Education on Tuesday appointed Assistant Superintendent Susanne Meixsell to replace John Gould, who will assume a newly created position as the district's director of strategic initiatives. Meixsell will have a five-year contract.

A press release issued by the board said Gould, whose employment agreement would have expired June 30, 2008, will retire Jan. 16, 2008.

Wow. That was hard hitting, um, conclusive proof...of...what exactly? The only outrageous thing I saw was the fact that the new superintendent got a five year contract! That's scandalous! FIVE YEARS!! What school district would ever give a five year contract to a superintendent?

Oh. Sorry. My bad. [Shout-out to EHY: Keep up the good work!]

The whole statement itself is also a bit out there. I believe he's confusing one Jon for another for one thing. [Oh dear, I always get this mixed up. It's slander when it's spoken, and libel when it's written, right?] But, is there a grain of truth in what he says? Has anyone seen the reports he mentions and is there anything contained in them that holds any water here? It's easy enough to just dismiss what is said by the person telling the story, but to be somewhat open minded, does anyone know enough of the back stories to provide a fair critical analysis? Anyone care to opine?

28: First of all, high public offical is just an accurate description of the position and nothing more. No concete intended. And common people are regular hard working people. I put myself above no one. I’m about as blue collar as you can get. Some people will twist anything.
Kate, I didn’t think you’d have the courage to interview me. Nice excuses. But at least you get to keep your job now. Although I don’t usually read your colum, (It’s boring) it will be good to see your picture three times a week. Nice job defending your newspaper but you’re wrong again. You really should do some research before before spouting off about things you don’t know. You are a waste of time.
And Jon, oh my gosh it’s former school director Jon Franklin. I should have known but to tell the truth, I forgot all about you. You were quiet and went with the flow when you were on the board. Glad to see you’re finally speaking up 7 years later on the blog. Interesting how in one breath you believe I was guilty of malice but then you say “I believe that you believe it.” You contradict yourself Jon. Then you say “you describe things a lot differently than I remember.” Why don’t you say what these things are? Because you can’t. You don’t know anything about what happened and I didn’t see you in court. You my friend, were a self server enabler. You had blinders on and neglected to see the double billing, triple billing, and altered contracts. In fact, you enabled the thugs to spread like a cancer and wreak fiscal havoc elsewhere. Then, the students school store was even plundered. All this while the school lawyer was embellishing himself to the tune of $78,000 per year.And what about the wonderful Einstein Cyber Charter School that you favored? How many thousands of dollars were we out on that deal. Am I the only one who read the Nihill and Riedley forensic audit report on Einstein? Am I the only one who read the SEC report on the Dolphin and Bradbury Bond Company? Why do I torture myself like this? I guess it must be because I hold myself high above the common people, right Jon? You were an ardent supporter and enabler to the former superintendent. (The good doctor) Do you recall after he was Morrisville’s superintendent for over 4 years that “74% of the middle-senior high school and Grandview Elementary students performed at basic or below basic levels in math and 63% scored at basic or below basic in reading.” Do you think this could have been because the good doctor was to busy jetting around the country performing private/paid services for Classroom Conect and Interlink? You should know Jon, you approved the taxpayers paying for that. Do you remember in fact that the test results were so poor that even you became angry? I cite Courier Times news article of January 24, 2002, titled “Board hesitant to support project.” The project was the Rivers Bays and Ocean project that the good doctor and his gooooood friend Dawn wanted you to approve. I quote, “Board member Jon Franklin demanded a plan. “I think there needs to be a plan laid out for our kids to score better on tests. Is there a plan in place where administrators and teachers directly attack central elements that are leading to weaker scores?” Franklin said. “The district is in the process of developing a plan, Gould said. That was the one time i remember you speaking out. It was a flash in the pan Jon. Sorry, not good enough to make my book. Finally Jon, you were critical of the people who allegedly drove the good doctor out of Morrisville but did you happen to see how he performed at his next school district? Here’s a hint, just like here he never finished out his contract as superintendent. You can google his name with Allentown Morning Call if you feel my statement is leaking water. I could go on for hours telling things but that would spoil the book so finally Jon, keep up your good blog work for I believe you found your calling in life but do me one favor, when you criticize me and state that you “saw things differently,” please have the courage to state the examples IF YOU CAN.
Comment by:
Steve - 5.2.2008 at 12:26 am

First Act for Act I

From the BCCT this morning:

Taxpayers to reap Act 1 benefits
Bucks property owners will get an average of $236 in property tax relief next year, according to state estimates.
By BRIAN SCHEID STAFF WRITER


For the first time, Bucks County property owners will receive an average of nearly $236 next year in property tax relief from gaming revenue, according to estimates released by the state Thursday.

The amount of tax relief varies by each of the county’s 13 school districts. Bristol Township property owners will receive $289, the most of any district in the county, while property owners in the Centennial School District will receive $166, the lowest amount in Bucks. Overall, districts in Bucks will receive nearly $33.6 million in property tax relief from the state, just more than 5 percent of the $613 million in gaming revenue that will be given out to the more than 500 districts throughout Pennsylvania.

The funding is part of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 2006, also known as Act 1, and is taken from state revenues collected from Pennsylvania’s seven slot machine casinos, including Philadelphia Park Casino in Bensalem, which opened in December 2006. Gov. Ed Rendell signed the act into law in June 2006.

As of April 27, those casinos had made gross revenue of more than $1.1 billion during the current fiscal year, including a 34 percent state tax that has climbed to more than $376.6 million as of late last month, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

According to Michael Race, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, the amount each district will receive is based on a complex formula he said benefits high property tax, low wealth districts. Based on the formula, districts with high property tax bills and low income residents will benefit most, he said.

The funding will be given directly to the school districts and the relief will be reflected in each property owner’s tax bill, Race said.

The money will cover only a small portion of most property owners’ tax bills, but likely will offset many of the proposed budget increases area school boards could approve this year, several school administrators said Thursday.

“They’re certainly not going to use this money to go on an extended vacation, but I’m sure every bit helps,” said James Lombardo, superintendent of the Bensalem School District, where an estimated 11,170 property owners are expected to receive about $203 in property tax relief from gaming revenues. “It’s nice to see some reduction.”

Lombardo said the district’s school board will consider a preliminary budget next week that calls for a $175 increase for the owner of a median assessed home.

In Bristol Township, homeowners’ tax bills could be less next year than they were this year, according to Gerry Barcik, the district’s business manager. The school board is considering a preliminary budget that calls for a $111 increase for the average homeowner while the state estimates that each of the township’s 11,729 eligible homeowners will receive $289 in tax relief.

In the Neshaminy School District, where the board will consider a preliminary budget in two weeks that calls for a $358 increase for the average homeowner, the property tax relief is a welcome and unexpected bonus for Joe Paradise, the district’s business administrator.

“The fact that we’re getting any gaming revenue at this point is great,” Paradise said. “It’s good news for taxpayers.”

Throughout the Neshaminy district, 16,602 property owners will receive an estimated $216 in property tax relief.

State Rep. John Galloway, D-140, whose district includes the Bristol, Bristol Township, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school districts, said the tax relief “couldn’t come at a better time.”

“Prices for fuel, utilities and food continue going up so it gives me great pleasure to let my constituents know that at least their school property tax bill is going down,” Galloway said.

Shoes too small? Too bad.

Here's an article about a district that has rejected the SECOND citywide referendum to expand the school facilities. Note to the Emperor and friends: Imagine sending multiple referenda out to the people for repairs and they keep rejecting the expenditures. That's a safety issue too. Tell me what you'll do then. Who would you find to do the cursory repairs report then to cover your butt?

School district wrestles with expansion

By Will Hobson

For The Inquirer
Administrators and school board members in the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District are again asking "What's next?" after another failed referendum proposal.

Voters last week rejected the district's proposal to borrow $30 million to pay for a renovation and expansion of Unionville High School. This was the second try for the district, as voters rejected a proposal in November to borrow $62.5 million for the high school project.

In response to the second failed referendum proposal, the district and the school board called a facilities committee meeting of the whole for Monday night, gathering the entire school board, Superintendent Sharon Parker, and a few other administrators to discuss the district's next move.

The result of the meeting, though, is that the next move is still up in the air.

The administration did have a plan C (the two referendums were for plans A and B) that was discussed Monday night.

Plan C, with a price tag of about $5 million, would add 12 modular classrooms to alleviate overcrowding in the high school, where enrollment is expected to be near 1,400 next school year, but capacity is only 1,135. Unionville already has 12 modular classrooms.

Parker said in a phone interview Tuesday that she felt the board did not not support moving forward with plan C, because most of the $5 million would be in stopgap measures - like the modular classrooms - that would be rendered useless if the proposed renovation is ever done.

Monday's meeting, attended by about 40 community members, ended around 9:15, with a board decision to continue discussion of the issue at the next meeting, tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Parker said Tuesday that, if more modular classrooms are not the answer, perhaps the next step could include starting construction to add more rooms, with the district trying to fund the project itself.

In looking over responses given to a survey posted on the district's Web site last week, Parker concluded that voters still objected to the scope of the proposed renovation, which was not scaled down from November (only the funding was changed).

"That's a great concern to me, because the planned proposal was based on a needs assessment, and the needs still exist," Parker said.

Two former school board members, Jeff Hellrung and Keith Knauss, started Citizens for Efficient Education last year to oppose both referendum proposals. Despite their win on Election Day, Hellrung was less than celebratory.

"We know that we need a renovation, we know that we need an expansion, we just want to see one done with a lower scope or cost," Hellrung said.

Whatever the next step is, both sides agree that something needs to be done, and soon.

"It's not a good feeling to see the need continue," Hellrung said.

The Unionville-Chadds Ford District has tentatively scheduled another facilities committee meeting for 7 p.m. Tuesday in the high school library.

Check the district Web site - www.ucfsd.org/ - for confirmation on the date.