From the BCCT.
My cracked and dusty crystal ball sees two future articles. One starts out like this: "Business managers of school districts served by Bucks County Technical High School agreed today to delay the revision of the school’s funding formula until the 2010-2011 budget.
" 'We've been examining this for over a year', said XXX. 'Taking the time to do this right will best serve all of our districts: student and taxpayer alike. The holidays are upon us, and the first budget drafts are due in January. Before you know it, it's June and we're starting all over again.' "
The other article? Miracle upon miracles, unanimity reigns and they actually agree upon a new plan. I didn't bother to write a draft of that article. That's the unlikely outcome.
Save the emails: This isn't bashing Neshaminy because they are mentioned. This isn't even bashing the Emperor and his board of chosen accomplices from Morrisville. It's a recognition that these six suburban districts have many similarities and several deep differences. The only course here is whether or not they can find a way to unite like the 13 colonies of 1776, or splinter apart like the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia of today.
I have four simple steps to fix this:
Put them back in the meeting room.
Serve lots of water and coffee.
Lock the bathrooms.
Agree on the plan.
See what a little motivation can accomplish?
Back to the drawing board for tech school funding formula
Posted in News on Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 at 4:25 pm by Joan Hellyer
Business managers of school districts served by Bucks County Technical High School agreed today to take another stab at revising the school’s funding formula.
At issue is whether some costs should be separated from the overall contributions of the Bensalem, Bristol, Bristol Township, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school districts. Right now, the costs are split among the six districts based on a formula involving fixed and variable costs.
The business managers suggested in 2007 to separate costs associated with special needs students from the formula because special education expenses are potentially more expensive than basic education costs.
However, one of the sending school districts did not support the proposed formula change because its school system could potentially face additional expenses. Neshaminy was the lone hold out to the change after projections suggested the district would have had to pay about $450,000 more in 2007-2008 had the new formula been in place for the comprehensive technical high school.
Any change to the school’s Articles of Agreement, including a funding formula revision, has to be unanimously approved before it can be implemented, school officials said.
Representatives of all six sending districts got together with tech school officials today to decide if something else could be done.
The managers agreed to meet within the next few weeks with Sharon Rendeiro, the tech school’s business administrator, to further break down the special education costs.
In addition, they also will break down the costs of each of the more than 30 trades offered at the school. Those costs vary depending on staff salaries, which are based on years of experience and level of education, and equipment, textbooks and supplies used in each trade, officials said.
The business administrators also agreed to take a look at how other comprehensive technical high schools in the state are funded.
They will then decide if any changes should be made to the current formula and suggest them to the tech school’s joint board committee. The committee, made up of school board members from each of the sending districts, will have to agree unanimously to make the changes before they can be implemented.
Attendees at today’s funding formula summit agreed the changes must be made by late November in order to be incorporated into the 2009-2010 budget.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Souderton: “There’s a price to be paid"
From the BCCT
Strike proves costly for many
By RICH PIETRAS
It’s hard to predict the outcome of the Souderton Area School District strike. But it goes without saying, before the teachers decide to put their picket signs down, the price tag is going up.
Parents and students are taking a hit. Children have nowhere to spend afternoons once occupied in the classroom. The cost of childcare, plus the gas to get them there, is a burden.
While teachers are somewhat insulated from lost wages because 180 school days will have to be fulfilled, the average teacher could lose $3,000 in pay because of the strike.
According to Bill Lukridge, president of the teachers union, teachers stand to lose 5 percent of their salary. Based on the average salary in the district ($61,630 for the 2005-06 school year) that comes to about $3,000.
School board solicitor Jeffrey Sultanik sounded surprised that it took the union so long to realize there was salary at stake.
“There’s a price to be paid for going on strike,” Sultanik said.
Teachers, who have been on strike since Sept. 2, do not get a paycheck during the strike, but will receive checks after they are forced to return to work on Wednesday as the sides move into nonbinding arbitration. If no deal is reached, teachers could strike again in the spring, but would have to return after about a week to guarantee students will get 180 days of schooling.
What the teachers will lose is the in-service days in their contracts. The teachers worked three of those days in August, but nine remain.
Sultanik said the district does not intend to make up the nine in-service days.
“They already lost the days of the strike,” Sultanik said. “And in our opinion, it’s not our intention to make up those days.”
The union estimates the district would save nearly $1.5 million from the work stoppage by not having to pay teachers for those nine days. And, it argues, that $1.5 million is enough to close nearly the entire gap between the school board and union’s health plan proposals.
“If the union is willing to give up those makeup days, we are willing to talk about that in terms of the overall context of the bargaining,” Sultanik said.
Keep up on the latest in the Souderton strike at www.intelligencernow.com/category/souderton-school-strike. For updates on negotiations, visit www.soudertonsd.org and www.saea.info/.
Strike proves costly for many
By RICH PIETRAS
It’s hard to predict the outcome of the Souderton Area School District strike. But it goes without saying, before the teachers decide to put their picket signs down, the price tag is going up.
Parents and students are taking a hit. Children have nowhere to spend afternoons once occupied in the classroom. The cost of childcare, plus the gas to get them there, is a burden.
While teachers are somewhat insulated from lost wages because 180 school days will have to be fulfilled, the average teacher could lose $3,000 in pay because of the strike.
According to Bill Lukridge, president of the teachers union, teachers stand to lose 5 percent of their salary. Based on the average salary in the district ($61,630 for the 2005-06 school year) that comes to about $3,000.
School board solicitor Jeffrey Sultanik sounded surprised that it took the union so long to realize there was salary at stake.
“There’s a price to be paid for going on strike,” Sultanik said.
Teachers, who have been on strike since Sept. 2, do not get a paycheck during the strike, but will receive checks after they are forced to return to work on Wednesday as the sides move into nonbinding arbitration. If no deal is reached, teachers could strike again in the spring, but would have to return after about a week to guarantee students will get 180 days of schooling.
What the teachers will lose is the in-service days in their contracts. The teachers worked three of those days in August, but nine remain.
Sultanik said the district does not intend to make up the nine in-service days.
“They already lost the days of the strike,” Sultanik said. “And in our opinion, it’s not our intention to make up those days.”
The union estimates the district would save nearly $1.5 million from the work stoppage by not having to pay teachers for those nine days. And, it argues, that $1.5 million is enough to close nearly the entire gap between the school board and union’s health plan proposals.
“If the union is willing to give up those makeup days, we are willing to talk about that in terms of the overall context of the bargaining,” Sultanik said.
Keep up on the latest in the Souderton strike at www.intelligencernow.com/category/souderton-school-strike. For updates on negotiations, visit www.soudertonsd.org and www.saea.info/.
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