From the BCCT.
Best wishes to you and thank you for your service.
Borough manager stepping down
By: DANNY ADLER
Bucks County Courier Times
Morrisville's top administrator for the borough and the Morrisville Municipal Authority is retiring later this spring.
But borough council voted unanimously Monday night to pay George Mount III, the 12-year part-time borough manager and 17-year executive director of the municipal authority, $75 an hour if the borough needs to consult him after his retirement, effective June 1.
Both the borough and the authority will look to fill Mount's posts - but it's unclear if it will be the same person doing both jobs, such as it is with Mount.
Councilwoman Jane Burger asked Mount to consider staying on as borough manager until someone is hired to fill his spot, worrying that there are certain documents and contracts that need to be signed by him.
Mount didn't say yes or no. Council President Nancy Sherlock said such a question at the meeting was "putting him on the spot."
Borough solicitor James Downey noted that assistant borough secretary Dorothy Gaydula has the authority to sign a "fair percentage" of borough documents.
"My offer was just to help in the event that you don't get anyone, to help with the transition," Mount told the council during Monday's meeting. He added, "I want to see a very smooth transition."
Earlier in the day, Mount's colleagues had nothing but good things to say.
"He really has been very efficient," municipal authority Chairman John Warenda said Monday afternoon. "He's been an excellent director and manager for a long time."
"We will miss him," said Sherlock before the meeting. "He's done a very good job for us."
Mount was a 3rd Ward borough councilman from 1981 to 1992, when he resigned to take the executive director gig with the municipal authority. He was hired as borough manager in 1997. Mount also has served on the Bucks County Enterprise Zone committee and the Landmark Towns of Bucks County board of directors.
According to a press release by the municipal authority, Mount is hoping to use his new-found time to travel more.
Mount, who graduated from Morrisville High School in 1962, lives in the borough with his wife, Margaret.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
It's Much Easier With the Answer Key
From the BCCT.
Pa. boy orders secret state tests to 'play school'
The Associated Press
The Pennsylvania Education Department plans to tighten security after a fifth-grader who wanted to "play school" ordered a batch of secret state school assessment tests from his western Pennsylvania home.
The shrink-wrapped tests were delivered to the Hempfield Area School District's warehouse, not to the 10-year-old boy's home, which department spokeswoman Leah Harris said shows the existing security system works.
The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, which are administered annually to youngsters in fourth, eighth and 11th grades, are automatically shipped to districts or individuals schools and "can't be shipped anywhere else," Harris said.
The boy, whom officials did not identify, wasn't trying to cheat, said the district's director of pupil services, Rebecca Costello.
"He wants to be a teacher. He wanted to play school," she said.
The boy even requested that the exams be delivered on the last day of testing so that he wouldn't see it before he took it in March, she said.
The incident was the first of its kind. Because of it, the department plans to require people ordering tests, which measure student achievement and how well schools are educating students, to enter a personal identification code, Harris said.
"We take security breaches very seriously," Harris said.
The boy completed an order form on the Education Department Web site, where he found two codes needed to complete the transaction _ one identifying the school district, the other identifying Bovard Elementary School, where he is in the fifth grade. He listed his home address and the names of his school and teacher, officials said.
He faxed the form to Data Recognition Corp., of Maple Grove, Minn., the company that produces the exams for Pennsylvania several other states, Costello said.
District officials traced the order to the boy when they discovered they received more tests than they had ordered, said Barbara Marin, assistant superintendent for elementary education.
Officials declined to say if the boy faced discipline as a result.
"The child was upset. He meant no harm. The parents were upset with the child," Costello said.
Pa. boy orders secret state tests to 'play school'
The Associated Press
The Pennsylvania Education Department plans to tighten security after a fifth-grader who wanted to "play school" ordered a batch of secret state school assessment tests from his western Pennsylvania home.
The shrink-wrapped tests were delivered to the Hempfield Area School District's warehouse, not to the 10-year-old boy's home, which department spokeswoman Leah Harris said shows the existing security system works.
The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, which are administered annually to youngsters in fourth, eighth and 11th grades, are automatically shipped to districts or individuals schools and "can't be shipped anywhere else," Harris said.
The boy, whom officials did not identify, wasn't trying to cheat, said the district's director of pupil services, Rebecca Costello.
"He wants to be a teacher. He wanted to play school," she said.
The boy even requested that the exams be delivered on the last day of testing so that he wouldn't see it before he took it in March, she said.
The incident was the first of its kind. Because of it, the department plans to require people ordering tests, which measure student achievement and how well schools are educating students, to enter a personal identification code, Harris said.
"We take security breaches very seriously," Harris said.
The boy completed an order form on the Education Department Web site, where he found two codes needed to complete the transaction _ one identifying the school district, the other identifying Bovard Elementary School, where he is in the fifth grade. He listed his home address and the names of his school and teacher, officials said.
He faxed the form to Data Recognition Corp., of Maple Grove, Minn., the company that produces the exams for Pennsylvania several other states, Costello said.
District officials traced the order to the boy when they discovered they received more tests than they had ordered, said Barbara Marin, assistant superintendent for elementary education.
Officials declined to say if the boy faced discipline as a result.
"The child was upset. He meant no harm. The parents were upset with the child," Costello said.
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