I received an email today that has me absolutely shocked and downright despondent at the same time. I was asked to not provide the specific details, so I've removed some of the information and changed some other items, but the general message is unchanged.
The writer asks for feedback, so let's open it up for discussion.
I have some friends who live in Morrisville. They are young, have no children yet and have lived in town for several years.
We were talking other day, and as it happened, the conversation came around to (OK, I brought it up) the various goings on in town. I wanted to get their views on things.
Much to my shock, they had no idea what was going on. They were vaguely aware of the “build a new school” issue, and asked what side of the fence I was on for that. I mentioned that since it was all but over and the district had moved on to other issues it didn’t matter how I felt. They nodded. They were unaware of the politics, of the infighting, of all the things that your blog and the papers cover.
I asked how they felt about the Gateway center, and about the Stockham building. They were unaware of those issues also. They did mention that they were glad that there was a new restaurant going into the “new building” on Bridge street.
These are intelligent and articulate people who monitor national and state issues.
They are oblivious to local issues.
I just had to shake my head over this. I was aghast.
It got me to thinking, in light of all that has been said about voter turnout, about people from Morrisville making bad choices in leaders and turning a blind eye to issues, that maybe there is a majority of people in this bedroom community, who only look at Morrisville as a place to eat and sleep. That they don’t have a care or interest at all in how the town is run, or where it is headed.
I’d be curious to read your thoughts on this, and to read the thoughts and experiences of others as well.
Friday, May 9, 2008
From the Mailbag
I received this email today and thought I would share it with you.
Thank you for the compliment. I do try to be fair.
What do you think about this?
Hello,
I read and enjoy your blog every day.It is very informative and you seem to be even handed about issues that affect our children's education.
Recently I saw a job posting in my daughter's school, Grandview Elementary. The job entails "taking minutes at school board meeting once or twice a month".
I was under the impression that this was Ms. Mihok's job,for which she receives a stipend.
This does not sound(to me)to be a very good use of our tax money.If you get a chance, please look into this and "put it out there", because I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere. Thanks for your time and effort on behalf of our children, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't use my name.
Morrisville Parent
Thank you for the compliment. I do try to be fair.
What do you think about this?
Hello,
I read and enjoy your blog every day.It is very informative and you seem to be even handed about issues that affect our children's education.
Recently I saw a job posting in my daughter's school, Grandview Elementary. The job entails "taking minutes at school board meeting once or twice a month".
I was under the impression that this was Ms. Mihok's job,for which she receives a stipend.
This does not sound(to me)to be a very good use of our tax money.If you get a chance, please look into this and "put it out there", because I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere. Thanks for your time and effort on behalf of our children, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't use my name.
Morrisville Parent
Zero Tolerance = Zero Intelligence ?
It doesn't take much to do a search where "Zero Tolerance" and "Zero Intelligence" appear very close to each other in published articles. Most of the time, these citations appear in the context of our schools where six-year-olds are suspended for innocent kisses or Eagle Scouts suspended because they accidentally left a rusted Scout knife in their pack or lost in the car trunk.
Today, Kate Fratti takes a look at an issue at a MHS student's freedom of speech rights balanced against the rights of the staff and administrators.
It's a tough call. But then again, aren't ALL of the teenage related decisions tough calls?
Kudos to Dr. Yonson and the rest of the staff. This was apparently a pretty sticky situation with a lot of extenuating circumstances and related baggage that had the potential to turn into an extremely serious situation.
What it really turned out to be was a typical high school student who was unhappy with the teachers, staff, and administration. What a shocking revelation. Even the "Back to the Future" movies caricatured Mr. Strickland the disciplinarian as a disliked high school fixture. How many of us can say we "liked" our high school teachers? (Yes, there were some we liked and respected, but for the most part, I know I thought of them as associate parents and nearly as annoying as the real thing.)
This student took it a step farther and created songs, burned them to CDs and started selling them. Extra credit points for the entrepreneurial spirit, but the execution of the business plan was not well thought out. Real people in the real world get fired when they use their employer's time and resources for personal gain. This was no different except that it was a high schooler who was using the "employer's" resources. Kids are notorious for not thinking things out fully.
It seems like the punishment here is severe but fits the crime. It's a bitter but reasonable ending for their high school career, and the future (college, etc) will not be effected, unless the students lets that happen.
CD stirs up trouble
Should a boy be allowed to write a song critical of adults running his high school and then produce a music CD with that song as its centerpiece?
Should he be allowed to sell said CD to classmates on school grounds? Isn't that the kind of entrepreneurial spirit adults should applaud?
Does your answer change if the CD lyrics are raunchy? What if they aren't just scandalous, but maybe slanderous, too? Like, what if the boy proclaims in lyrics that one administrator has been ... how can I say this delicately, because the singer did not ... uh, physically intimate with another?
Morrisville Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson says the boy had every right to sing what he thinks, and to lay it down on a CD for sale. You don't have to be old to exercise your right of free expression.
You do have to be old to see around corners, though.
The entertainer shot himself in the foot when he violated school policy by allegedly selling the CD on school grounds, even posting fliers that could have potentially exposed the district to liability for slander, Yonson said. What if it could be argued the CD amounted to a school-sponsored project?
The student cinched his undoing by violating another school policy, allegedly loading the CD onto a school computer to play it for other students. He'd signed a contract, as all the kids do, promising the computers would not be used for anything but school work.
His punishment?
The fledgling musician, a senior, has been suspended, and will not be permitted to participate in graduation ceremonies.
The suspension is pretty stiff. The boy will be allowed to complete his senior requirements, but it won't be at Morrisville during the regular school day. He'll likely be invited to do his work at the close of the regular day. His college of choice will not be notified of his recent troubles.
Case closed? Not yet.
Yonson was at a conference in Harrisburg Friday when she got phone calls from the high school telling her lots of kids disagreed with her stand. They planned to walk out of the school in protest of the musician's suspension.
click here!
Kids were informed that any who chose to walk out wouldn't be permitted to participate in sports or any other extracurricular.
“There are proper ways to protest, to have your position heard,” Yonson said. “Walking out of class isn't one of them.” Kids stayed put.
Case closed now?
Not so fast again.
Fueling kids' continued opposition to the musician's suspension, even this week, is by now a well-circulated rumor that another student brought an unloaded gun to school, threatened other kids' safety via a “hit list” on MySpace, but was merely suspended for 10 days.
No fair, kids argued. The musician was being persecuted because he dissed staff, while a kid packing heat got off easy.
Yonson says it's just not true.
Administrators investigated the rumor and found a case of whisper down the lane that reached parents who phoned her. There was no gun in school, administrators found — and no “hit list.”
Yonson did concede that recently a Neshaminy student — who was attending a Bucks County Intermediate Unit support class at Morrisville High — did verbally threaten a classmate. He's been expelled from Morrisville and returned to Neshaminy.
“If he was a Morrisville student, we'd have to deal with him. We don't,” she said.
Some worry the gun rumor was manufactured and fanned by kids close to their music-producing peer who needed an argument to rile other kids.
In the end, the mess had a lot of grownups singing the blues last week — parents, teachers, administrators — all trying to reason with and calm teenagers. No word on whether they'll produce a CD.
Today, Kate Fratti takes a look at an issue at a MHS student's freedom of speech rights balanced against the rights of the staff and administrators.
It's a tough call. But then again, aren't ALL of the teenage related decisions tough calls?
Kudos to Dr. Yonson and the rest of the staff. This was apparently a pretty sticky situation with a lot of extenuating circumstances and related baggage that had the potential to turn into an extremely serious situation.
What it really turned out to be was a typical high school student who was unhappy with the teachers, staff, and administration. What a shocking revelation. Even the "Back to the Future" movies caricatured Mr. Strickland the disciplinarian as a disliked high school fixture. How many of us can say we "liked" our high school teachers? (Yes, there were some we liked and respected, but for the most part, I know I thought of them as associate parents and nearly as annoying as the real thing.)
This student took it a step farther and created songs, burned them to CDs and started selling them. Extra credit points for the entrepreneurial spirit, but the execution of the business plan was not well thought out. Real people in the real world get fired when they use their employer's time and resources for personal gain. This was no different except that it was a high schooler who was using the "employer's" resources. Kids are notorious for not thinking things out fully.
It seems like the punishment here is severe but fits the crime. It's a bitter but reasonable ending for their high school career, and the future (college, etc) will not be effected, unless the students lets that happen.
CD stirs up trouble
Should a boy be allowed to write a song critical of adults running his high school and then produce a music CD with that song as its centerpiece?
Should he be allowed to sell said CD to classmates on school grounds? Isn't that the kind of entrepreneurial spirit adults should applaud?
Does your answer change if the CD lyrics are raunchy? What if they aren't just scandalous, but maybe slanderous, too? Like, what if the boy proclaims in lyrics that one administrator has been ... how can I say this delicately, because the singer did not ... uh, physically intimate with another?
Morrisville Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson says the boy had every right to sing what he thinks, and to lay it down on a CD for sale. You don't have to be old to exercise your right of free expression.
You do have to be old to see around corners, though.
The entertainer shot himself in the foot when he violated school policy by allegedly selling the CD on school grounds, even posting fliers that could have potentially exposed the district to liability for slander, Yonson said. What if it could be argued the CD amounted to a school-sponsored project?
The student cinched his undoing by violating another school policy, allegedly loading the CD onto a school computer to play it for other students. He'd signed a contract, as all the kids do, promising the computers would not be used for anything but school work.
His punishment?
The fledgling musician, a senior, has been suspended, and will not be permitted to participate in graduation ceremonies.
The suspension is pretty stiff. The boy will be allowed to complete his senior requirements, but it won't be at Morrisville during the regular school day. He'll likely be invited to do his work at the close of the regular day. His college of choice will not be notified of his recent troubles.
Case closed? Not yet.
Yonson was at a conference in Harrisburg Friday when she got phone calls from the high school telling her lots of kids disagreed with her stand. They planned to walk out of the school in protest of the musician's suspension.
click here!
Kids were informed that any who chose to walk out wouldn't be permitted to participate in sports or any other extracurricular.
“There are proper ways to protest, to have your position heard,” Yonson said. “Walking out of class isn't one of them.” Kids stayed put.
Case closed now?
Not so fast again.
Fueling kids' continued opposition to the musician's suspension, even this week, is by now a well-circulated rumor that another student brought an unloaded gun to school, threatened other kids' safety via a “hit list” on MySpace, but was merely suspended for 10 days.
No fair, kids argued. The musician was being persecuted because he dissed staff, while a kid packing heat got off easy.
Yonson says it's just not true.
Administrators investigated the rumor and found a case of whisper down the lane that reached parents who phoned her. There was no gun in school, administrators found — and no “hit list.”
Yonson did concede that recently a Neshaminy student — who was attending a Bucks County Intermediate Unit support class at Morrisville High — did verbally threaten a classmate. He's been expelled from Morrisville and returned to Neshaminy.
“If he was a Morrisville student, we'd have to deal with him. We don't,” she said.
Some worry the gun rumor was manufactured and fanned by kids close to their music-producing peer who needed an argument to rile other kids.
In the end, the mess had a lot of grownups singing the blues last week — parents, teachers, administrators — all trying to reason with and calm teenagers. No word on whether they'll produce a CD.
Pennsbury SD Budget Increase is 5.3%
Good thing we're not in the Pennsbury district.
Yet.
Preliminary budget includes $231 tax hike
If approved as is, the tax increase would be 5.3 percent. School board members vowed to work to reduce the increase.
By MANASEE WAGH STAFF WRITER
Manasee Wagh can be reached at 215-949-4206 or mwagh@phillyBurbs.com
The average Pennsbury taxpayer would face a $231 tax increase under the preliminary budget proposal approved 8-0 by the district school board Thursday night.
The $174.5 million budget plan, about $6.3 million more than last year, includes a 7.4 mill increase for the 2008-2009 year. Figures are based on the district’s average home assessment of $31,160.
If approved as is, the tax increase would be 5.3 percent, more than the state mandated 4.4 percent limit. However, the district applied and received approval for three exceptions to raise the tax rate above the state-mandated percentage in order to fund special education and other costs.
The board cited several reasons for the boost.
Besides employee salaries and benefits, which make up about 75 percent of the 2008-09 expenses, special education costs have risen, as have diesel fuel costs and utilities.
Additionally, falling interest rates have negatively impacted revenues, as has the loss of state subsidies.
Although board members approved the proposed budget, they said they would work to reduce the final numbers.
“My target is around 4 percent. That’s what I was hoping for,” said board President Gregory Lucidi.
Some board members suggested focusing on salaries and benefits to control expenses.
“That’s the only controllable aspect,” said member Arlene Gordon.
To reach the 4.4 percent index demanded by the state, the budget needs to be reduced by more than $1 million.
“We’re going to try to reduce the budget without detracting from programs and services,” said district CEO Paul Long.
The district will continue tweaking the budget until the final 2008-09 budget has to be adopted on June 12.
One board member, Wayne DeBlasio, was absent.
Yet.
Preliminary budget includes $231 tax hike
If approved as is, the tax increase would be 5.3 percent. School board members vowed to work to reduce the increase.
By MANASEE WAGH STAFF WRITER
Manasee Wagh can be reached at 215-949-4206 or mwagh@phillyBurbs.com
The average Pennsbury taxpayer would face a $231 tax increase under the preliminary budget proposal approved 8-0 by the district school board Thursday night.
The $174.5 million budget plan, about $6.3 million more than last year, includes a 7.4 mill increase for the 2008-2009 year. Figures are based on the district’s average home assessment of $31,160.
If approved as is, the tax increase would be 5.3 percent, more than the state mandated 4.4 percent limit. However, the district applied and received approval for three exceptions to raise the tax rate above the state-mandated percentage in order to fund special education and other costs.
The board cited several reasons for the boost.
Besides employee salaries and benefits, which make up about 75 percent of the 2008-09 expenses, special education costs have risen, as have diesel fuel costs and utilities.
Additionally, falling interest rates have negatively impacted revenues, as has the loss of state subsidies.
Although board members approved the proposed budget, they said they would work to reduce the final numbers.
“My target is around 4 percent. That’s what I was hoping for,” said board President Gregory Lucidi.
Some board members suggested focusing on salaries and benefits to control expenses.
“That’s the only controllable aspect,” said member Arlene Gordon.
To reach the 4.4 percent index demanded by the state, the budget needs to be reduced by more than $1 million.
“We’re going to try to reduce the budget without detracting from programs and services,” said district CEO Paul Long.
The district will continue tweaking the budget until the final 2008-09 budget has to be adopted on June 12.
One board member, Wayne DeBlasio, was absent.
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