A big welcome to Marlys Mihok, today's guest blogger, as she appeared in the BCCT.
At least we have the answer to the Kate Fratti's question of "What are they hiding?" The answer: A big fat super-grande enchilada filled with nada.
Updated May 12 with more comment goodness from the BCCT website. Who knew Marlys had so many fans?
Raising scores, lowering costs
Bucks County Courier Times
The Morrisville school board has four seats to fill in the primary election. Every candidate has cross-filed and the ballot positions do not follow any order. But beware; there is a world of difference between the "Stay On Track" candidates and the other hopefuls.
Over the last 16 months the "Stop the School" board majority has kept the promise of increasing test scores and lowering taxes without affecting the educational programs. Just ask our superintendent and business manager. Rumors rumbling around town could not be further from the truth. We have not cut funding for special education, music or sports. We actually added girls JV Softball to the extracurricular roster. We will not fire para educators or classroom aides and in fact hired four more. We have only reduced our administrative staff by one elementary principal and one high school assistant principal, through attrition.
Do we really need a principal and assistant principal for the high school and two principals at the elementary school when total district enrollment is just 855 students? Morrisville has been top heavy with highly paid administrators for decades.
Our opponents say we don't have a plan. Truth is in just 16 months the Morrisville school board has installed fire alarms in every classroom. Placing children in classrooms without smoke detectors was outrageous to us. A kitchen ventilation system and fire suppressant hoods have been installed in the cafeteria. We have completed renovations in our junior/senior high school to upgrade the electrical system. This summer all the windows will be replaced with state of the art triple pane windows which will keep in the heat from our new gas-fired boilers scheduled to be installed before students return in the fall.
Since taking office, the Stop the School majority has reduced health insurance costs keeping the same coverage, telephone system costs, and copier lease costs. Remember the Sandy Gibson School Board said renovations to our buildings would cost more than building new? New building costs from Vitetta Architects and engineers predicted their new school building costs to be $48 million for the new Pre K through 12 campus. The renovation budget in reality is only $7 million and all of our bid proposals are lower than estimated.
And speaking of the budget, Morrisville Borough School District has a balanced budget this year. Taxes in our borough decreased last year by 39 mils or 600 for the average homeowner. This year on July 1 your tax bill will be another pleasant surprise as the board majority will propose another reduction to our business manager.
Two men running on the opposition have publicly stated that they were in favor of building the new K through 12 campus and if elected they will build a new school. With enrollment declining every month does this make sense to you? They have invited everyone receiving their flier to a rally serving free hot dogs and soda. Trust me, that free hot dog in exchange for your vote will really cost you $1,500 dollars a year every year in tax increases to house their own children in unnecessary new construction.
In summary the Morrisville school board "Stop the School" majority in our first 16 months has raised test scores, lowered taxes, reduced wasteful spending, and has renovations under way. So it is my recommendation that we "stay on track" on May 19. Re-elect Brenda Worob, a board veteran now in the majority; and we need your vote for Ronald Stout who saved us almost a million dollars with his common sense suggestions; and Jack Buckman, who has served Morrisville residents in many capacities for years; and John DeWilde, a special education teacher who will be an advocate for students and families in our district.
May 11, 2009 02:00 AM
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charley, 05-11-09, 8:38 am | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
Raising scores, lowering costs, exploding boilers...yep. The current Mo'ville school board is doing a fabulous job.
charley, 05-11-09, 10:11 am | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
"...in just 16 months the Morrisville school board has installed fire alarms in every classroom."
Well, I'm sure those fire alarms came in handy when the boiler exploded. Safety first, huh?
leatherk, 05-11-09, 1:32 pm | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
There is no plan. The district business administrator, under penalty of perjury, has certified that the six point plan that both Bill Hellmann and Brenda Worob claimed the district was developing (as reflected in approved and posted board meeeting minutes) does not exist. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Open Records has confirmed this finding and also cautioned the district regarding factual errors of this type causing legitimate cause for concern.
https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/o...
It's too bad that Marlys was unable to attend the candidate meet and greet last Sunday at Williamson Park even though she called up one of the "opposition" candidates and asked to be invited. As a result of her phone call, all four candidates from the stop the school side were invited. Not one of them showed. Two mayoral candidates did attend and some excellent discussions took place between the public and the candidates that were present.
The point isn't the hot dogs and soda. It's the open communication between people that makes this important. Instead of hiding things from the public, like the $2.5 million spent to re-sell the defeased bond monies back or holding secret meetings out of the public eye, the candiates and the public met openly. For example, we openly discussed that the "new" K-12 school idea is completely dead. Everyone who attended is in agreement that any new school would need to be approved by public referendum and that there is no way the town would approve. Only the stop the school people continue to dredge up the memory of the "new" school just to scare people.
charley, 05-11-09, 2:37 pm | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
Hey all you "thumbs downers." Why not try to rebutt some of what has been posted here instead of clicking a little red down arrow and thinking that somehow qualifies as thoughtful debate.
From an AP article reprinted in EducationWeek.c om: "No one was injured, but the explosion seemed to some to be another indication that the Morrisville School District needs to get out of the education business. Despite having one of the highest school tax rates in Bucks County, students learn in aging facilities and have less-than-stell ar test scores to show for it."
Hear that? Members of the current Morrisville School District need to get OUT OF THE EDUCATION BUSINESS!
Anonymous Coward, 05-11-09, 3:08 pm | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
"stay on track" includes blowing up schools. "stay on track" means trailers for elementary school kids. "stay on track" means looting the emergency fund to appear to balance the budget. It means lying about the other candidates who have NEVER said they are building another school. It means lying about a 6-point plan. It means forcing Dr. Yonson to take a contract cut. It means forcing the principal to do two jobs. It means shipping out the high school students to the lowest quality alternative school (stopped only by huge numbers of irate parents). It means lowering taxes with no consideration to the safety or education of the students.
floating duck, 05-11-09, 3:36 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
How about being told to GET OUT OF YOUR HOME? That is just about as rediculous as telling families that sorry but Morrisville needs to get out of the education business so we cannot have your children here so there goes your home value! Some young families moved here FOR the small school system. Our child is not a number but has a name and I do not feel that children should wonder were they are going to attend school! How would you feel not knowing were you go to work day to day. Ignorance is bliss and I'm saddened by all of the ignorance in this could be amazing small town. If you do not want to live in a family oriented town YOU GET OUT. We are staying and fighting FOR OUR CHILDREN and quality of LIFE.
False Profit, 05-11-09, 3:49 pm | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
More than a few lies or distortions packed in there, including:
1. This board majority raised test scores.
This board majority had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the higher PSSA test scores. The most recent tests Mihok's crowing about were taken in Spring 2008, before the board majority's 1st budget was even passed. BLATANT LIE!
2. Taxes in the borough decreased last year by 39 mils or 600 for the average homeowner.
Huh? First off, 39 mils equates to $702 in Morrisville, so Mihok's math is WRONG. Actually, school taxes decreased by 17.8 mils ($321) for the average homeowner. Another $217 per homeowner (12.1 mils) came from gambling revenue that the school board had NOTHING TO DO WITH. Way to try to take credit for that!
Boro taxes INCREASED by 3.5 mils ($70) - does Mihok want to take credit for that?
Why did school taxes go down $321? The board defeased (gave back) most of the bond money for new school construction or renovations (which cost taxpayers $2.5 million long-term), and took $1.1 million (19 mils) from the district's "fund balance" (savings account).
So, in effect, Mihok's really saying..."Hey, reduce taxes last year, we cost taxpayers $2.5 million over the long-haul, and drained over $1 million from the savings account left by prior boards - don't we look GOOD???"
No, I don't think you do.
False Profit, 05-11-09, 3:57 pm | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
"I will never, never, ever be responsible for any child because I am a school board member."
- Marlys Mihok
Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 9:27 a.m.
False Profit, 05-11-09, 4:07 pm | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
Mihok sez --> That free hot dog in exchange for your vote will really cost you $1,500 dollars a year every year in tax increases to house their own children in unnecessary new construction.
Then why does the flier being handed out by her allies say the tax increase will be $3,300?
Forget about the fact that no new school can be built without voter approval. Can you and your cronies at least get your lies straight and settle on a number?
At least the blowhard McCarthy-like Senator in "The Manchurian Candidate" eventually settled on 57 card-carrying commies in Congress after checking out a Heinz Ketchup bottle!
False Profit, 05-11-09, 4:15 pm | Rate: Flag -4 Flag | Flag Report
Oh, and why did Mihok and crony board candidate Ron Stout camp out across the park on the rainy Sunday when many citizens and school board candidates were under the pavillion actually having reasonable discussions with their hot dogs & soda?
Creepy and sad, but TRUE!
Mihok should have taken a picture - it would have lasted longer! Then again, maybe she did?
ADDED May 12: Wow. Who knew Marlys had so many fans?
Note To Self, 05-11-09, 5:07 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
Call the IRS:
To make sure I am correct that the QSRE is violating their 501C3 status by campaigning in any way for/against political candidates during any election cycle!
Have a nice day :)
davidi n Morrisville, 05-11-09, 5:32 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
I have been accused of wanting a new school, by Mrs. Mihok. I believe that in a perfect world, we would all like to live in, go to school in, work in, brand new buildings. I have said that the people of Morrisville would like a new school, but we flat out cannot afford it --- and state law mandates a referendum to decide the matter by the people of Morrisville. Apparently, again, Mrs. Mihok doesn't know the law. She spews lies about people she disagrees with but won't have the respect to face someone and argue truths, not fantacy of her own making. She claims 2 candidates made pro new school comments. She doesn't even know who they are. One of those she accused isn't running for anything, he made some comments at a meeting about closing M R Reiter school. Shes not a very detail orriented person I guess. I haven't heard them talk at all about the students during ANY of their meetings. When asked if they could hire a 1 on 1 aide since 5 have left the district, Hellman and Mihok only asked what was their salary, did they get benefits, and do we pay into retirement for them. How about do we need them? how are they being utilized now? How many students are they helping and do we need more? The only way any were hired is because the pres and his wondrous sidekick Al weren't at the meeting. Sad, very sad. They care only about the checkbook. I care about the students and the taxpayers. I have payed taxes here for 18 years and have 1 duaghter who grasduated from Morrisville and 1 in 9th grade. Between the entire sitting board, there is 1 child in the system. Mrs. Mihok has told bald faced lies for her own agrandizement and benefit. It's sad she can't hold her head any higher than the curb she has stooped to.
slimjim01, 05-11-09, 5:34 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
The above article is a low blow...even for you Marlys! Marlys seems determined to destroy Morrisville. As the mouthpiece for the "Stay on Track" team, she should get her facts straight before spouting off in the press...maybe the water in the hot tub was too much, and she is not able to think clearly these days, or maybe it was the flash from her camera while taking pictures of children(creepy , I know!!)and she is not able to see things for what they are. Morrisville deserves better!!!
charley, 05-11-09, 5:42 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
Does anyone have pictures of the post-explosion boiler from M.R. Reiter? Those pics need to be circulated throughout Mo'ville so the residents can see how effective the current board has been and how much they care about the students.
It's a shame that a nice town like Mo'ville gets shackled with a school board that is led by a sneaky, arrogant knucklehead like Hellmann.
To "floating duck," my point in my last post was that the current school board is rotten and they should not be in the education business. I'm sorry to have not made that more clear. I have nephews in the Mo'ville school system and they've had wonderful teachers. There are great educators, staff, and students in that school district. The kids are loyal to their schools and my one nephew who was in Reiter and is now stuck in a portable at Grandview still talks about his "old" school and misses it terribly. I feel the current board has woefully short-changed the students in Mo'ville and should be too ashamed of themselves to even consider asking to be re-elected.
gratefullee, 05-11-09, 10:16 pm | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
As the blog so nicely points out, Quid Pro Quo.
From http://savethemorrisvilleschool.blogs... :
-----Original Message-----
From: bill hellmann [mailto:bill hellmann cpa@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 10:55 AM
To: Heater, Gloria
Cc: bill hellmann
Subject: RE: engineering services, high school boilers
i am the one that stirs the drink. if i sit there, yonson's spending
will kill this town. she has two puppet board members that do whatever
she tells them, and the TINY pro-schoolers crew. ha ha ha! they are all
sand pounders. ha ha ha !
one by one they are either leaving or being replaced. soon, yonson will
be by herself. i have been talking to bill farrara and i like him and
so do other board members. he likes the consolidation we are talking
about (tuitioning out). i assured him we will always need a super and
at least one principal.
i know i am not polite at the meetings. i will work on that and try to
be more patient and respectful to the other fools. my problem is i
have little patience for incompetence and i am surrounded by those
types of people up there.
--------------- --------------- --------
Is this the kind of person you want running your town's school? No school = no one moving in and investing their family's future and money. Ironic that he talks about Yonson's puppets, given that Mihok and crew vote lockstep with Hellmann who, as you can see from the aforementioned e-mail, is a mature, thoughtful, individual who cares so much about the future of the school and students (can you feel the sarcasm?).
leatherk, 05-12-09, 7:24 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
A vote for Worob, Buckman, Stout, and DeWilde is a vote for Hellmann and Mihok. Staying on track is voting to continue intolerance, secrecy, and an "us versus them mentality".
charley, 05-12-09, 8:57 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
"Mr. Leather filed a timely appeal of the denial on April 3, 2009 seeking copies of the “six-point plan.” Mr. Leather subsequently indicated that he was only appealing the denial of a copy of the “six point plan.” After the filing of the appeal, Mr. DeAngelo provided the OOR with a sworn attestation that a record containing a “six point plan” does not exist."
Is this the kind of school board the students of Morrisville deserve? I believe they deserve much MUCH better than Hellmann and his current cabal.
lurch03, 05-12-09, 9:30 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
I find it mindboggling that Marlys and her crew would take credit for the higher test scores. They had nothing to do with it. The real test will be this years PSSA results. The current board majority has done nothing for the education of the children. They are only interested in lower taxes!!Some in their crew even want to eliminate them altogether!http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/l...
Isn't the author of this a big supporter of Hellman&Co? Morrisville voters should be vary aware of the tactics Marlys and her crew are up to. Unethical...yes ....Do not vote for the "stay on track" candidates!!!!T hey will further derail Morrisville!
lurch03, 05-12-09, 9:44 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
"Placing children in classrooms without smoke detectors was outrageous to us."
Marlys.....why did it take you 16 months to install fire alarms? If children were of your concern don't you think this should have been done sooner?? Oh that's right....
"I will never, never, ever be responsible for any child because I am a school board member."
- Marlys Mihok
Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 9:27 a.m.
You have already answered that for us!!
ANGRY PARENT, 05-12-09, 10:04 am | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
Marlys is there any reason you need to LIE? Are you scared you're going to lose? You know darn well that there is NO TALK about a new school being built!!!!! Test scores ha ha That's a big THANKS to Dr Yonson! She is the one who made the difference, how can you take credit when you weren't even on the board yet? you could careless what our test scores are. you know if they keep falling Moville will be in trouble,,,like shutting down schools...That would just make your day HUH?
We need BECK, MILLER, JENKINS & STONEBURNER for our school board. THEY CARE ABOUT OUR CHILDREN'S FUTURE!!!!
KEEP UP ALL YOUR LIES BECAUSE THEY WILL JUST HIT YOU IN THE FACE LATER.....
False Profit, 05-12-09, 10:05 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
PSSA scores have been trending higher for about the last 5 yrs., which coincides with Dr. Yonson's arrival as Superintendent.
When the Mihok board majority took power at the end of 2007, what did they do? They spent a couple grand of taxpayer $$$ for a law firm to evaluate Dr. Yonson's signed 5-yr. contract, then ripped it up and handed her a 3-yr. deal - take it or shove it.
Dr. Yonson easily could have not signed it, sued for breach of contract, and won - all at taxpayer expense. She didn't, which is a testiment to her placing children's and taxpayer concerns above her own personal concerns.
But Dr. Yonson knows a hostile board majority that doesn't properly value education when she sees one. She's now a finalist for a Superintendent postion in Springfield, Montgomery County. More turnover, more turmoil.
Just another of many short-sighted, hard-headed, hostile, arrogant decisions by the board majority.
A gimmicky tax cut isn't worth the price. Let's give others a chance. Please vote: BECK, MILLER, JENKINS, STONEBURNER.
lurch03, 05-12-09, 10:11 am | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
Well said angry parent!!!
The whole town knows the new school is a dead idea!!If ever a new school idea is brought up again it will have to go to a vote by the people of the town(ie: referendum). The only ones who do not get this are the current board majority(Hellma n & co.).
Vote May 19
BECK,MILLER,JEN KINS,STONEBURNE R for school board!
They will not lie to you!
False Profit, 05-12-09, 10:19 am | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
I keep wondering when all the lies are going to catch up with her. I hope the increase in lying about baseline levels is a sign that the election is really close this time, and may not go her way.
But stranger things have happened. For example, Mihok, Worob, and many others campaigned for the now-hated Sandy Gibson board she blasts. In many ways, she helped make the stinky smelly bed we're all now lying in. Thanks! All told, we spent about $5 million to plan and then tank a new school - so in the end we're getting $7 million in renovations for $12 million. What a bargain! And still we have trailers at Grandview Elementary.
And wasn't Mihok on the 1990's board that improperly locked out teachers/aides, which ended up costing taxpayers over $1 million?
As Sonny & Cher said, the beat goes on......
False Profit, 05-12-09, 10:20 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
Ooops, I meant above, not about, baseline levels!
False Profit, 05-12-09, 10:39 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
Mihok was caught in a lie to Courier Times reporter Kate Fratti last year.
Mihok lied and said Dr. Yonson hadn't informed the board about a deadline for passing a tax cap resolution. Dr. Yonson had informed the board, and she had the tapes to prove it.
Given Mihok's documented history of lying, I'm surprised the Courier Times didn't fact-check her article before printing it. Newspapers have an obligation to print the truth, and she has burned them before.
charley, 05-12-09, 1:08 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
From Kate Fratti's column on the situation in Mo'ville:
"In an e-mail written to the rest of the board fewer than 24 hours after the boiler blew, board President Bill Hellmann indicated a shuttered M.R. Reiter is just what he’d hoped for. The emphasis is all his.
“If we close both elementary schools and put everybody in the high school, we will save a FORTUNE in operating costs. EVERY YEAR. The pro new-schoolers wanted a K-12 school. Well here it is. The other people who might not want a K-12 are a minority and when they see their reduced tax bill on July 1 of each year, they just may change their minds in these new tough economic times. We will save ANOTHER fortune by not repairing either of those two buildings. We will solve the M.R. Reiter problem. CLOSE THIS RAT TRAP NOW.”
Hellmann’s e-mail makes it clear why in June he eliminated Reiter from a list of buildings to be examined by engineers in preparation for eventual renovations that might have prevented the explosion. And, it’s clear, now, why the board’s been dragging its feet on fixes to Grandview Elementary School, too.
Rat traps.
Hellmann, Brenda Worob, Marlys Mihok, Al Radosti, Bill Farrell and Gloria Heater were voted into office by an electorate that desperately wanted to stop construction of a new K-12 building it could not afford. The winning slate promised voters they’d renovate existing buildings instead.
They lied. Some of them have said privately they’d like to rid the borough of the entire school system.
One school down. Two to go."
Oh, and keep up the good work clicking on all those little red down arrows. Whoever is doing that should have the guts to jump in here and defend the current board. I guess they won't because the current board is indefensible. Period.
lurch03, 05-12-09, 1:48 pm | Rate: Flag 1 Flag | Flag Report
Its people like Marlys Mihok that give Morrisville a bad reputation.
Vote May 19
BECK, MILLER, JENKINS, STONEBURNER for school board!
False Profit, 05-12-09, 2:55 pm | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
Remember this Bill Hellmann, CPA (aka King, My King, Emperor, My Emperor, etc. to Marlys Mihok) email?
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 9:51 AM
i just spoke to mike [presumably Fitzpatrick, Board Solicitor] about school closings. he said it would take a year for hearings, etc. but we could put mr reiter kids in grandview or high school in an EMERGENCY situation. this is good. it will give us an excuse to get them out, quickly. once they are out of mr reiter, lets keep them
out! also, we do not have the money to build out anywhere. we need to renovate and ADAPT, only.
False Profit, 05-12-09, 3:01 pm | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
Or this one, just 4 days after the MR Reiter Elementary furnace explosion:
December 17, 2008, 9:21 am, subject Injunction – “I think they [presumably the Borough] would have filed an injunction if the school board tried to reopen it without consent from the Borough Engineer as far as safety is concerned. Here is our chance. CLOSE THIS RAT TRAP NOW. TELL FRATTI!!! HA HA HA. I AM THE ANTI-CHRISTTTTT TTTT.”
Check the January 5, 2009 board meeting minutes at the link below if you don't believe it.
http://www.mv.org/files/16907/JAN.5.2...
charley, 05-12-09, 4:08 pm | Rate: Flag -2 Flag | Flag Report
Also from the 01/05/09 meeting minutes:
"Marlys Mihok read a statement:
At the February 27, 2008 school board meeting Mr. Tim Lastichen, our building maintenance supervisor stated that his main concern was the heating system at Reiter. It scared him. Tim stated that we should be looking into the heating system at Reiter. At that meeting Mr. Hellmann made a motion to have an engineering safety study done on both elementary schools. Board members voting yes were Hellmann, Farrell and Worob. I was absent. Members voting no were Kemp, Reithmeyer and Frankenfield. The motion was defeated 3-3. The safety study was not done. Mr. Hellmann wanted the record to show that the safety issues and the nay votes were not following. These are safety issues that should be fixed immediately. On March 12, 2008 when the full board was present Mrs. Reithmeyer brought up a paper called “House Rules.” This is not a part of our board policy. The House Rules state in part “motions defeated can not be reintroduced until the 3rd business meeting.” Dr. Yonson supported Mrs. Reithmeyer
Special meeting of Board of Directors on this issue. Subsequently, the engineering safety study on the elementary schools was not put on the agenda on this night. Mrs. Reithmeyer not only voted against having the engineering safety study done at the 2 elementary schools on February 27, 2008, her, Mr. Kemp and Dr. Yonson also blocked it from being put on the agenda meeting on March 12, 2008. Nine months later the furnace exploded at Reiter and windows shattered. What would the parents of children say to Mr. Kemp and Mrs. Reithmeyer if the windows blew out in their child’s face? Our children were put at risk of injury or worse by Mrs. Reithmeyer, Mr. Kemp and Dr. Yonson.
Mr. Hellmann: stated that everybody on this board has made mistakes in the past year. If we keep fighting we will not get anything done. It’s time to get together and solve our problems.
Mr.Kemp: you say this after asking Marlys to read this pointing fingers and me and Robin, Dr. Yonson and Ed who at the time said we already have a report, why do we need another one? We know what’s wrong why not fix it?
Mrs. Reithmeyer: Mr. Lastichen did say it needed to be fixed and your half-baked report, that your company admittedly told us was a ‘cursory” report. Then when we looked at the boilers I sat here and argued vehemently with you because you wouldn’t put Reiter on the list. You didn’t want to include Reiter. You only did two burners are Grandview because Tim begged for it.
Mr. Hellmann: I wanted Reiter left off because I didn’t think that school was safe.
Mrs. Reithmeyer: That’s right; so don’t be blaming me for it. It’s on your shoulders. You and Marlys can burden it."
Okay, so Hellmann & Co. KNEW that Reiter was dangerous and DID NOTHING to keep the kids in there safe, but Mihok sure was quick to lay the blame on three others, including Dr. Yonson. Oh, wait, they did install some fire alarms in some classrooms. Safety first, huh Mihok?
False Profit, 05-12-09, 4:38 pm | Rate: Flag 1 Flag | Flag Report
At the Feb. 27, 2008 meeting, Hellmann wanted to do cheapo, flimsy, walk-through, open nothing reports for the 2 elementary schools.
In Jan. 2008, he hired a firm to do this for the High School. He hired them ON HIS OWN, without board authorization.
The board had to bail him out by voting at the Jan. 30, 2008 meeting to pay for the High School report, or risk being sued by the firm for failure to pay.
Hellmann has demonstrated over and over again that he can't or won't follow rules, and only gets away with it because he has loyal followers like Mihok, Worob, and Buckman to bail him out.
Enough is enough! The ends don't justify the means!
Please vote:
BECK, MILLER, JENKINS, STONEBURNER for school board on May 19!
False Profit, 05-12-09, 4:46 pm | Rate: Flag 1 Flag | Flag Report
Refresh my memory again on who was ABSENT at the Feb. 27, 2008 meeting and could have broken the 3-3 deadlock?
Oh, that's right. Marlys Mihok.
Hellmann Mihok crony Al Radosti was absent too.
Gloria Heater was absent too, and might have voted with them back then, but I think she has since seen what a horror show they really are.
And what would a winning vote have achieved? Why, 2 more cheapo, flimsy, walk-through, open nothing reports for the 2 elementary schools, even though the inadequacies of, and problems with, all 3 schools had already been thoroughly studied.
Showing posts with label defeasement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label defeasement. Show all posts
Monday, May 11, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Stay on Track
Thirteen days to the primary election.
I do not think anyone needs the services of the departed Pennsylvania Avenue psychic to know who I might be supporting in the primary.
Stay on track: It implies safety and stability, organization and capability, plan and purpose.
For anyone who read through that last line and was able to envision any of Hellmann's Heroes as exemplars of those qualities, my hat's off to you.
Where's the plan? Those were Ed Frankenfield's last public words, while he was shouted down and berated from the audience by a borough councilman (and school board spouse) no less. There's no shame in wanting a plan. We're still waiting for something. Anything. [Check the "Frankenfield" and "Frankenfield Question" links to the left.]
Save the School: Building a new school would have been preferable to the mess we have right now. But that's gone. The bond was sold in the dark of night by the Emperor acting alone for $2.5 million dollars. Even some of the board members did not know those details. Shame on them for not asking for the details. Shame on the Emperor for acting alone. Shame on the board for enabling this behavior. [Check the "defeasement" links to the left.]
Reality check time people: The new school is dead, buried, done, gone, shiva is over, the black bunting is placed away, the flag's back at full mast, the grave marker is placed, the flowers have wilted, Jack Kevorkian has left town, and there's no corpse to deep freeze and place next to Ted Williams and Walt Disney. I'm not sure how many more metaphors I can use to describe the lack of life here. Any sort of expenditure like that is not possible without a town-wide referendum.
Pride, Integrity, and Accountability: Pride as in "I will not invest in this town and will advise my clients not to invest in this town." Integrity as in "Whose house will we have the next secret meeting at? I can bring the donuts!" Accountability as in "This is what we stand for and you can double check because we left a visible paper trail. NOT!" [Check the "accountability" and "leadership" links to the left]
I'm having a hard time dealing with the "accountability" issue. Each time I turn around, I'm told that someone or other is behind on municipal payments of one type or another. [Complete deniability: I do not know for certain of ANYONE who is or is not behind and I am not naming any names based on rumor. But you know who you are and you know your current situation. Let the glass houses rule apply.] In March, the board of education denied an appeal to remove the tax penalties of someone who paid one day late. Let's hope everyone who is running for school board and borough offices is paid up on their taxes and municipal bills. Especially if they vote to deny any sort of tax relief for someone else.
Stay on track means there's a starting point, a defined course, and a defined destination. Imagine the track missing somewhere along the way: That's a derailment. Imagine no stations along the way: There's no way to gauge progress (or the lack of it.) Our track so far is made up of the whims and caprices of the Lord High Emperor of Education as aided by the hard-core members of the Board of Accomplices.
Before you say "That's not true!", let's look at Sandy Gibson and Robin Reithmeyer for just a moment. Each were elected with the "stop the school but don't ask too many details" groups of their day. Each was duly seated and started the hard work of doing what they are there to do: look, keep an open mind, consider the options, and use their best judgment to achieve the best decision possible for the broadest group possible.
They strayed from the orthodoxy that got them elected. Heretics! Burn them at the metaphorical stake! And so they were. Their "friends" have dropped them like last month's refrigerator science experiment leftovers. There's a lot of old stop the school campaign shirts out there with the Reithmeyer name crossed out in big, bold strokes and worn like badges of honor.
Badges, yes. Honor, um, not so much.
This all shows the closed mindedness of this band. They cannot allow open examination of their aims or goals because it exposes the fallacies and ill-conceived notions that govern the Bizzaro world where they live. The only problem with this is now it's the Bizzaro world where you live too.
The links to your left are filled with day to day information on nearly two years of shenanigans. I humbly ask you to take a look through the pages collected. If you can look through there and still believe that staying on track is the wisest course, then I thank you for your time and ask that you please vote your conscience.
If, however, you can see a brighter future where the borough council can work with the school directors, where the school directors will work with the public, parents, teachers, and staff in a fair and open manner, then you need to look for Pride, Respect, and Responsibility.
Beck, Miller, Jenkins, and Stoneburner for Morrisville School Board
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Budget Q (Minus the A)
Here's a series of budget questions posed by one of our indefatigable commenters.
Will answers ever be found? Perhaps we'll know tonight at 7:30 when the monthly business meeting of the Court of Emperor William I is held.
Jon has left a new comment on your post "George Mount Retiring":
This belongs further down, but below are some Budget Thoughts & Questions, based on looking at the 4/8/09 Powerpoint presentation in the 2009-2010 Budget Links.
Revenues
1. Overall, budgeted revenues are up $124k over last year ($18,895k vs. $18,771k).
2. Where’s the extra revenue coming from? The Federal government.
3. Local revenues are down $211k ($11,962k vs. $12,173k).
4. State revenues are essentially flat (+2k, $5,553k vs. $5,551k).
5. Federal revenues are up $332k ($1,231k vs. $899k).
6. Why are Local revenues down $211k?
Even thought the millage rate stays the same as last year (187.3 mils), this budget assumes a $102k reduction in Real Estate Tax revenues ($10,617k vs. $10,719k). That and a $147.5k (50%) drop in Investment Earnings ($147.5k vs. $295k) overwhelm a $67k increase ($102k vs. 35k) in “Rentals”.
Question: How is this near-tripling of Rental revenue going to be achieved?
7. Why are State revenues flat (+2k)?
A $338k increase in basic education funding ($3,265k vs. $2,926k) is virtually wiped out by the loss of a $102k EAP Grant for Tutoring, and a $201k drop in Extra Grant funding ($530k vs. $329k).
Question: Why did we lose this $303k in grant funding? Hopefully it wasn’t from prior cuts in grant writing resources.
8. Why are Federal revenues up (+$331k)?
Mostly from a $297k increase in 21st Century Grant funding ($919k vs. $622k).
Question: Isn’t this grant funding targeted to certain programs, and not for basic education, so it doesn't necessarily replace lost Local & State revenue?
9. Conclusions: Overall revenues are up, but mostly from higher Federal 21st Century Grant funding. But this grant funding is likely "earmarked" for certain programs, so it doesn't necessarily replace lost Local & State revenue. That means overall basic education revenues look down.
Expenses
1. Overall, expenses are down $988k ($18,895k vs. 19,883k).
2. Where are the expenses dropping?
The 6 areas with changes > $50k are:
a. 1200 (Special Programs) is down $429k ($3,454k vs. $3,883k). Salaries are up $223k ($1,211k vs. $988k), but “Purchased Professional & Technical Services” dropped a whopping $694k ($1,205k vs. $1,899k).
Questions: What makes up these Purchased Professional & Technical Services? Why such a drastic drop?Is something being deferred until next year? Why? Was something pricey bought last year that isn't being bought this year?
b. 1300 (Vocational Education) is down $81k ($758k vs. $839k), mostly from an $89k drop in “Other Purchased Services ($537k vs. $626k).
Question: Is this from Morrisville’s reduced Tech School share under the funding formula this year?
c. 2100 (Support Services) is down $119k. Salaries are up $56k ($419k vs. $363k), but “Purchased Professional & Technical Services” dropped $176.5k (from $182k to $5.5k, a 97% drop).
Questions: Again, what makes up these Purchased Professional & Technical Services? Why such a drastic drop? Is something being deferred until next year? Why? Was something pricey bought last year that isn't being bought this year?
d. 2300 (Administration) is down $208k, mostly from a $164k drop in Salaries ($495k vs. $659k), and a $21k drop in Benefits ($148k vs. $169k).
Question: Is this from the loss of Kate Taylor and Karen Huggins, and not replacing Asst. Principals? If so, I just hope this 3.5 mil savings is worth it in the long run.
e. 2600 (Maintenance) is down $112k ($1,622k vs. $1,734k, mostly from reduced Purchased Property Services (-$53k) and reduced Supplies (-$59k).
Question: Is this from not having to maintain MR Reiter as much? If so, it isn’t that big of a drop in overall maintenance spending (< 1.9 mils, < 6.5% drop in Maint. budget, but 1 out of 3 buildings is 33.3%, and MR Reiter’s 47,397 ft2 is 20% of the combined 237,689 ft2 of all 3 buildings). At < 1.9 mils, it’s certainly not the FORTUNE Bill Hellmann said we’d save.
f. 5100 (Debt Service) is up $67k ($997k vs. $930k).
Questions: Does this year's installment on paying off the $2.5 million in Bond Defeasement Expenses Hellmann didn't tell anybody about factor into this? Otherwise, why is Debt Sevice up when most of the bond money was defeased – didn’t that drastically reduce the debt?
3. Conclusions: reduced Administration and Maintenance cut expenses by $320k, about 1/3rd of the total $988k drop in expenses. Special Programs, Vocational Education, and Support Services dropped a combined $629k. Salaries are generally still rising, so a concern is that the cuts are coming from items that effect educational delivery.
Other Misc. Comments
1. p.6 --> some of the bar graph heights look wrong, based on other data in the presentation. For example, the 2008-09 Local Revenue is $12.17 million, but the bar height is over $14 million. State Revenues for 2008-09 ($5.551 million) and 2009-10 ($5.553 million) are virtually the same, but the bar is significantly higher for 2009-10.
2. p. 14 - Note that starting in 2005-06, everybody's property tax assessment was increased by a factor of 4, and the corresponding tax millage rate was reduced by a factor of 4. So if you really want to compare apples-to-apples on millage rates, you need to divide the years prior to 2005-06 by 4 - or multiply 2005-06 on by 4. Otherwise, some might be tempted to think that Sandy Gibson is really a hero because she presided over an astonishingly drastic cut in school taxes.
3. p. 38 - Looks like last year’s budget was helped by depleting the Fund Balance by $1.112 million (from $2.793 million to $1.681 million). Assuming 1 tax mil is about $60k, without this depletion of the Fund Balance, it looks like there would have been a 19 mil (~10%) tax increase last year.
So last year, the 2 main things the board did to balance the budget/hold the line on taxes were:
a. Get a ~$1+ million one-shot-deal from defeasing most of the bond money (at a long-term cost of $2.5 million);
b. Dip into the piggy bank to the tune of $1.112 million - money that was left to them by those evil "prior boards".
The budget projections from 2010-13 show the Fund Balance being further depleted by $1.456 million by 2013, all the way down to a mere $225k.
4. p. 38 - these budget figures show a Real Estate Tax collection rate of 93.5% throughout, but the earlier slides all seem based on a 94% collection rate (see p. 5). Why the difference? Which figure is right/more accurate?
Will answers ever be found? Perhaps we'll know tonight at 7:30 when the monthly business meeting of the Court of Emperor William I is held.
Jon has left a new comment on your post "George Mount Retiring":
This belongs further down, but below are some Budget Thoughts & Questions, based on looking at the 4/8/09 Powerpoint presentation in the 2009-2010 Budget Links.
Revenues
1. Overall, budgeted revenues are up $124k over last year ($18,895k vs. $18,771k).
2. Where’s the extra revenue coming from? The Federal government.
3. Local revenues are down $211k ($11,962k vs. $12,173k).
4. State revenues are essentially flat (+2k, $5,553k vs. $5,551k).
5. Federal revenues are up $332k ($1,231k vs. $899k).
6. Why are Local revenues down $211k?
Even thought the millage rate stays the same as last year (187.3 mils), this budget assumes a $102k reduction in Real Estate Tax revenues ($10,617k vs. $10,719k). That and a $147.5k (50%) drop in Investment Earnings ($147.5k vs. $295k) overwhelm a $67k increase ($102k vs. 35k) in “Rentals”.
Question: How is this near-tripling of Rental revenue going to be achieved?
7. Why are State revenues flat (+2k)?
A $338k increase in basic education funding ($3,265k vs. $2,926k) is virtually wiped out by the loss of a $102k EAP Grant for Tutoring, and a $201k drop in Extra Grant funding ($530k vs. $329k).
Question: Why did we lose this $303k in grant funding? Hopefully it wasn’t from prior cuts in grant writing resources.
8. Why are Federal revenues up (+$331k)?
Mostly from a $297k increase in 21st Century Grant funding ($919k vs. $622k).
Question: Isn’t this grant funding targeted to certain programs, and not for basic education, so it doesn't necessarily replace lost Local & State revenue?
9. Conclusions: Overall revenues are up, but mostly from higher Federal 21st Century Grant funding. But this grant funding is likely "earmarked" for certain programs, so it doesn't necessarily replace lost Local & State revenue. That means overall basic education revenues look down.
Expenses
1. Overall, expenses are down $988k ($18,895k vs. 19,883k).
2. Where are the expenses dropping?
The 6 areas with changes > $50k are:
a. 1200 (Special Programs) is down $429k ($3,454k vs. $3,883k). Salaries are up $223k ($1,211k vs. $988k), but “Purchased Professional & Technical Services” dropped a whopping $694k ($1,205k vs. $1,899k).
Questions: What makes up these Purchased Professional & Technical Services? Why such a drastic drop?Is something being deferred until next year? Why? Was something pricey bought last year that isn't being bought this year?
b. 1300 (Vocational Education) is down $81k ($758k vs. $839k), mostly from an $89k drop in “Other Purchased Services ($537k vs. $626k).
Question: Is this from Morrisville’s reduced Tech School share under the funding formula this year?
c. 2100 (Support Services) is down $119k. Salaries are up $56k ($419k vs. $363k), but “Purchased Professional & Technical Services” dropped $176.5k (from $182k to $5.5k, a 97% drop).
Questions: Again, what makes up these Purchased Professional & Technical Services? Why such a drastic drop? Is something being deferred until next year? Why? Was something pricey bought last year that isn't being bought this year?
d. 2300 (Administration) is down $208k, mostly from a $164k drop in Salaries ($495k vs. $659k), and a $21k drop in Benefits ($148k vs. $169k).
Question: Is this from the loss of Kate Taylor and Karen Huggins, and not replacing Asst. Principals? If so, I just hope this 3.5 mil savings is worth it in the long run.
e. 2600 (Maintenance) is down $112k ($1,622k vs. $1,734k, mostly from reduced Purchased Property Services (-$53k) and reduced Supplies (-$59k).
Question: Is this from not having to maintain MR Reiter as much? If so, it isn’t that big of a drop in overall maintenance spending (< 1.9 mils, < 6.5% drop in Maint. budget, but 1 out of 3 buildings is 33.3%, and MR Reiter’s 47,397 ft2 is 20% of the combined 237,689 ft2 of all 3 buildings). At < 1.9 mils, it’s certainly not the FORTUNE Bill Hellmann said we’d save.
f. 5100 (Debt Service) is up $67k ($997k vs. $930k).
Questions: Does this year's installment on paying off the $2.5 million in Bond Defeasement Expenses Hellmann didn't tell anybody about factor into this? Otherwise, why is Debt Sevice up when most of the bond money was defeased – didn’t that drastically reduce the debt?
3. Conclusions: reduced Administration and Maintenance cut expenses by $320k, about 1/3rd of the total $988k drop in expenses. Special Programs, Vocational Education, and Support Services dropped a combined $629k. Salaries are generally still rising, so a concern is that the cuts are coming from items that effect educational delivery.
Other Misc. Comments
1. p.6 --> some of the bar graph heights look wrong, based on other data in the presentation. For example, the 2008-09 Local Revenue is $12.17 million, but the bar height is over $14 million. State Revenues for 2008-09 ($5.551 million) and 2009-10 ($5.553 million) are virtually the same, but the bar is significantly higher for 2009-10.
2. p. 14 - Note that starting in 2005-06, everybody's property tax assessment was increased by a factor of 4, and the corresponding tax millage rate was reduced by a factor of 4. So if you really want to compare apples-to-apples on millage rates, you need to divide the years prior to 2005-06 by 4 - or multiply 2005-06 on by 4. Otherwise, some might be tempted to think that Sandy Gibson is really a hero because she presided over an astonishingly drastic cut in school taxes.
3. p. 38 - Looks like last year’s budget was helped by depleting the Fund Balance by $1.112 million (from $2.793 million to $1.681 million). Assuming 1 tax mil is about $60k, without this depletion of the Fund Balance, it looks like there would have been a 19 mil (~10%) tax increase last year.
So last year, the 2 main things the board did to balance the budget/hold the line on taxes were:
a. Get a ~$1+ million one-shot-deal from defeasing most of the bond money (at a long-term cost of $2.5 million);
b. Dip into the piggy bank to the tune of $1.112 million - money that was left to them by those evil "prior boards".
The budget projections from 2010-13 show the Fund Balance being further depleted by $1.456 million by 2013, all the way down to a mere $225k.
4. p. 38 - these budget figures show a Real Estate Tax collection rate of 93.5% throughout, but the earlier slides all seem based on a 94% collection rate (see p. 5). Why the difference? Which figure is right/more accurate?
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tax Increase for MV Schools?
By this time last year, the "stop the school and do nothing else" board of education had already said no tax increases and had published their resolution to not exceed the 4.1% Act I increase cap.
As we all know, they DEcreased taxes for 2008-2009 through one-time gimmicks like bond defeasement and first time draconian cuts in other line items. Yes, we were the only district in Bucks to decrease taxes.
Now for the 2009-2010 budget cycle, where's the triumphal crowing and cackling about saving the taxpayer money? Where's the resolution to keep the tax increase low?
I hear rumor that the Emperor has identified a sizeable gap in THIS year's budget and that next year's budget increase will be a whopper. This is BEFORE the teacher pension fund issues that he's already identified as being a 35 mill tax increase for 2010-2011 and beyond.
Does anyone have the inside story? [Shout out to the departed Reba Dunford who said this would happen.]
As we all know, they DEcreased taxes for 2008-2009 through one-time gimmicks like bond defeasement and first time draconian cuts in other line items. Yes, we were the only district in Bucks to decrease taxes.
Now for the 2009-2010 budget cycle, where's the triumphal crowing and cackling about saving the taxpayer money? Where's the resolution to keep the tax increase low?
I hear rumor that the Emperor has identified a sizeable gap in THIS year's budget and that next year's budget increase will be a whopper. This is BEFORE the teacher pension fund issues that he's already identified as being a 35 mill tax increase for 2010-2011 and beyond.
Does anyone have the inside story? [Shout out to the departed Reba Dunford who said this would happen.]
Saturday, January 3, 2009
What Do You Do With A Schoolfull of Students When the School is Out Sick?
From the BCCT.
That's the $64,000 question our pre K through second grade parents want answered.
Trailers are fun. It's like camping. Come on...you'll get used to it. Think of school being made out of Legos. You can stack and shape them anyway you want. I did. See what Grandview could look like.
The school board has already made the decision: The MHS building is going to be a K-12 school (or K-8 if they can find a nearby farmer). Reiter and Grandview are to be closed. They have too many physical problems. While they have never said that out loud, that's what they are doing.
* They sold back the bond money for $2.5 million dollars. (See defeasement articles.)
* They used a low budget non-inspection inspection report to legitimize their president emperor and his cowboy actions.(See the Hellmann Report articles.)
* They ignored Reiter as long as they could by order of the Emperor.
Here's what they have done so far: They stopped the new school without adequately providing for the existing schools. Even the BCCT agrees.
What they've done is the equivalent of claiming "my dog ate the homework" without even providing the pooch or a gnawed piece of paper as evidence.
The school board has been defined by "I believe..." instead of investigation and reliance on fact. The whole building project was shelved because the Emperor believes that the Philadelphia Roman Catholic archdiocese's building of two high schools were costing too much: I do not believe that we can build a quality K-12 school for $30 million. The Philadelphia Archdiocese plans to build two new high schools in our area, at a size not much larger than our planned school building but at a cost of $65 million each.
What's the reality? Bristol's doing just fine, thank you, building their comparable building for just about the same price promised.
Belief? Or facts gathered from investigation? What runs the Morrisville School District?
I can believe in Elvis or Martians too...
Monday meeting to discuss options for Reiter students
Posted in News on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 at 2:52 pm by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
Morrisville School Board will discuss the future of M.R. Reiter Elementary School and where to house its students this semester during a January 5 meeting. A mid-December furnace explosion in the Reiter boiler room precipitated the school board’s efforts to close the school.
Since then, the school’s more than 250 children have been taking classes in Morrisville Middle/Senior High School, the Morrisville YMCA and Grandview Elementary School.
In the meantime, the district is busy with repairs and cleanup at Reiter, so the board is considering housing students in modular units at Grandview several blocks away.
The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in the Large Group Instruction Room of the high school at 550 W. Palmer St.
That's the $64,000 question our pre K through second grade parents want answered.
Trailers are fun. It's like camping. Come on...you'll get used to it. Think of school being made out of Legos. You can stack and shape them anyway you want. I did. See what Grandview could look like.
The school board has already made the decision: The MHS building is going to be a K-12 school (or K-8 if they can find a nearby farmer). Reiter and Grandview are to be closed. They have too many physical problems. While they have never said that out loud, that's what they are doing.
* They sold back the bond money for $2.5 million dollars. (See defeasement articles.)
* They used a low budget non-inspection inspection report to legitimize their president emperor and his cowboy actions.(See the Hellmann Report articles.)
* They ignored Reiter as long as they could by order of the Emperor.
Here's what they have done so far: They stopped the new school without adequately providing for the existing schools. Even the BCCT agrees.
What they've done is the equivalent of claiming "my dog ate the homework" without even providing the pooch or a gnawed piece of paper as evidence.
The school board has been defined by "I believe..." instead of investigation and reliance on fact. The whole building project was shelved because the Emperor believes that the Philadelphia Roman Catholic archdiocese's building of two high schools were costing too much: I do not believe that we can build a quality K-12 school for $30 million. The Philadelphia Archdiocese plans to build two new high schools in our area, at a size not much larger than our planned school building but at a cost of $65 million each.
What's the reality? Bristol's doing just fine, thank you, building their comparable building for just about the same price promised.
Belief? Or facts gathered from investigation? What runs the Morrisville School District?
I can believe in Elvis or Martians too...
Monday meeting to discuss options for Reiter students
Posted in News on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 at 2:52 pm by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
Morrisville School Board will discuss the future of M.R. Reiter Elementary School and where to house its students this semester during a January 5 meeting. A mid-December furnace explosion in the Reiter boiler room precipitated the school board’s efforts to close the school.
Since then, the school’s more than 250 children have been taking classes in Morrisville Middle/Senior High School, the Morrisville YMCA and Grandview Elementary School.
In the meantime, the district is busy with repairs and cleanup at Reiter, so the board is considering housing students in modular units at Grandview several blocks away.
The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in the Large Group Instruction Room of the high school at 550 W. Palmer St.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Mailbag 2: Check the Checks
Here's an email from a sharp eyed parent who apparently had some time to look over the October business meeting minutes.
Anyone have any answers?
Thank you Marlys Mihok! Now each month we can look over the check register and see exactly where our money goes.
Does anyone know why the PSBA conference expenses for Dr Yonson and Mrs Mihok are different? In check 35075, entry 1888 for Dr Yonson is for $199.00. Entry 1887 for Mrs Mihok is $315.00. Why is there a $116.00 difference?
Then there's the entries for legal services. In check 35133, entry 2038 is for $108.00 to Begley, Carlin marked "bond issue defasance". Ignoring the spelling error, I thought defeasance was a done deal. Why are we incurring any more expenses?
Then there's check 35202 to Sweet, Stevens, Katz and Williams for special education legal fees for $878.11. Was that in the original budget? What services were cut to pay for this?
How about check 35120? That's twenty lunches for the pre-K students for twenty days. That's 400 lunches for $1000.00, or $2.50 per lunch. I'm told the high school lunches are $2.50 each. Are the elementary lunches the same price? Even if they are .25 cents cheaper, that would save $100.00
Anyone have any answers?
Thank you Marlys Mihok! Now each month we can look over the check register and see exactly where our money goes.
Does anyone know why the PSBA conference expenses for Dr Yonson and Mrs Mihok are different? In check 35075, entry 1888 for Dr Yonson is for $199.00. Entry 1887 for Mrs Mihok is $315.00. Why is there a $116.00 difference?
Then there's the entries for legal services. In check 35133, entry 2038 is for $108.00 to Begley, Carlin marked "bond issue defasance". Ignoring the spelling error, I thought defeasance was a done deal. Why are we incurring any more expenses?
Then there's check 35202 to Sweet, Stevens, Katz and Williams for special education legal fees for $878.11. Was that in the original budget? What services were cut to pay for this?
How about check 35120? That's twenty lunches for the pre-K students for twenty days. That's 400 lunches for $1000.00, or $2.50 per lunch. I'm told the high school lunches are $2.50 each. Are the elementary lunches the same price? Even if they are .25 cents cheaper, that would save $100.00
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
UPDATE: School Board Meets Tonight
You can make your own buzzword bingo card! Thanks to the emailer who sent me this link: http://www.misterharold.net/joker/bingo/
Anyone want to add to the word list?
Using this group of words, I came up with this bingo card
procurement card, budget, Morrisville, taxes
defeasement, Hellmann, Mrs Reethmeyer, it's Reithmeyer
I don't get email, move this along, speed it up, are you done
so moved, second, who seconded that, Emperor
Radosti, Dunford, Yonson, Fitzpatrick
Steve Worob, Brenda Worob, Heater, 2 Worobs in 1 sentence
Mihok, Kemp, Buckman, Farrell
Ferrara, Taylor, Huggins
it generates a card for anyone to use
Anyone want to add to the word list?
Using this group of words, I came up with this bingo card
procurement card, budget, Morrisville, taxes
defeasement, Hellmann, Mrs Reethmeyer, it's Reithmeyer
I don't get email, move this along, speed it up, are you done
so moved, second, who seconded that, Emperor
Radosti, Dunford, Yonson, Fitzpatrick
Steve Worob, Brenda Worob, Heater, 2 Worobs in 1 sentence
Mihok, Kemp, Buckman, Farrell
Ferrara, Taylor, Huggins
it generates a card for anyone to use
Saving Money
Does everyone remember how the Emperor screeched incessantly about how the old board was bad and the new board was good because they defeased the bond and saved so much on interest charges? I do. I also remember when he was confronted with the question on how it would have looked if the interest rates had behaved differently. Screeching: not so much. Dodging and evasion: Bingo!
From the BCCT today comes a lesson on conventional wisdom. It's not always that conventional or wise. Morrisville uses the IU purchasing group for many items, including fuel oil. We don't need to use the diesel for our buses. Everyone walks here.
CENTENNIAL
Thanks to an independent fuel bid, the Centennial School District will be saving its taxpayers thousands of dollars through June 2009.
Centennial was considering joining group trying to get a low rate on diesel for school buses.
Instead of joining the Bucks County Intermediate Unit No. 22’s Cooperative Purchasing Group, the district made a contract with Sunoco that will save about a dollar per gallon.
For a delivery of at least 6,000 gallons, the district will be paying $3.28 per gallon from Oct. 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009.
After that, the price will be $3.37 per gallon from July 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2009.
The IU cooperative group’s rate is $4.33 per gallon.
From the BCCT today comes a lesson on conventional wisdom. It's not always that conventional or wise. Morrisville uses the IU purchasing group for many items, including fuel oil. We don't need to use the diesel for our buses. Everyone walks here.
CENTENNIAL
Thanks to an independent fuel bid, the Centennial School District will be saving its taxpayers thousands of dollars through June 2009.
Centennial was considering joining group trying to get a low rate on diesel for school buses.
Instead of joining the Bucks County Intermediate Unit No. 22’s Cooperative Purchasing Group, the district made a contract with Sunoco that will save about a dollar per gallon.
For a delivery of at least 6,000 gallons, the district will be paying $3.28 per gallon from Oct. 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009.
After that, the price will be $3.37 per gallon from July 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2009.
The IU cooperative group’s rate is $4.33 per gallon.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Taxes up everywhere except in Morrisville
From the BCCT this morning: Marlys Mihok, secretary of the Morrisville school board, stop the school member, and taxpayer advocate trumpeting the budgetary successes of the Emperor and the board of chosen accomplices.
There's two problems with this. The first is that a fresh set of eyes can find things to cut from any budget. It's the second year when things get harder to cut. Among the things that can still be cut are the sports programs, the band and chorus programs, any other extra curricular activities, and utilities. We can choose to fire half the teachers and staff, make the classroom size up to 45 students, and have Ferris Bueller's economics teacher providing the education. It's not the fact that cuts were made, it's where the cuts came from and what will be defunded. What is your focus?
When the state is investigating why we ran out of money early in 2009, we can point to this op-ed piece as one piece of the puzzle. "None of next year’s projections factored the amount of students graduating out of these programs and therefore, in my opinion we have grossly over budgeted in these areas." Of course not! Just in inflation alone, the costs have risen significantly. Still buying the same gallon of milk each week costs much more than it used to. It's the same with special ed, copier paper, and number 2 pencils. Only time will tell if "grossly over budgeted" is right or not. It's standard practice to budget conservatively using at least the same number as last year unless there is significant evidence to not do so. Paging the Auditor General: Your reservations are ready.
The second item is defeasement. The centerpiece of their election campaign is never even mentioned. That's where the cut in taxes really came from.
Instead of making the investments in a new building, we're plunging ahead recklessly without a plan and without receiving state reimbursement making piecemeal emergency renovations among two or three existing buildings. Add back in the millage from not investing in the future and what's the real savings? Every dollar spent today in any repairs, major or minor, "emergency" or routine, is wasted money in the sense that the repair is only temporary. It's a band-aid on failing infrastructure that will need complete replacement sooner than you realize.
Does anyone want to examine this article further and point out the fallacies?
It's not a windfall when you purposefully choose to ignore the needs of the future.
UPDATE 6:30 PM. Scroll down to the bottom of the post.
Taxes up everywhere except in Morrisville
As sure as fireworks on the fourth, Bucks County homeowners have received their school tax bills for the 2008-2009 school year. Every school board in the county has raised taxes for the next year, some significantly, with the exception of tiny Morrisville Borough. In fact, Morrisville School District taxes have plummeted. Let’s examine the phenomenon.
At the first regular meeting of the new school board, Business Administrator Reba Dunford presented the new board with a preliminary budget including a 21-mil increase equaling approximately $425 to the average assessed household of $20,000. State law allowed a 4.4 percent increase without going to referendum by the voters to increase that percentage. This budget was presented to the board as a bare bones, no frills estimate of expenditures for the next school year, on the heels of two consecutive years of outrageous tax increases.
Since that December meeting until June 25 when the final budget was approved, the majority members of the Morrisville School Board dropped the proposed 21-mil increase to zero and further reduced the budget by another 18.7 mils for a total reduction of 39.7 mils.
The administration has acknowledged that we did not disrupt any educational programs with the cuts; however, we are being unfairly criticized for not fully funding the increases requested for special education, charter schools, and alternative schools, although the business administrator is satisfied with the increase the board has provided. None of next year’s projections factored the amount of students graduating out of these programs and therefore, in my opinion we have grossly over budgeted in these areas.
After six months of diligent number crunching with the projected $21 million budget, board President Bill Hellmann found “extra expenditures” that we could eliminate without affecting educational programs in the district. Reducing 39.7 mils in my opinion cut deeply into a bloated budget. The school board did its fiduciary duty but has been relentlessly criticized by a vocal minority for not raising taxes.
Adding the first year of Homestead Rebate from gambling revenue is an additional $241 decrease as the proverbial cherry on top; $600 less is about what the average assessed homeowners have saved in Morrisville school taxes. [Moderator note: The BCCT claims a $218 Act I credit for a $539 decrease. To put it into perspective, that's $1.47 a day. A large coffee at 7-Eleven costs more. We're selling the future of the town for the price of a large coffee. ]
To unify the borough I have a proposal. Parents who are not happy with the extra money and are experiencing guilt about keeping their windfall can purge themselves of that money by donating it to the Morrisville Education Foundation, which will provide our district with additional educational tools not funded by the taxpayers. I suggest that the residents who are not satisfied with the new school board tax reductions donate it back to the district. Donations in the amount of your reduction may be sent to the Morrisville Education Foundation, 550 Palmer St., Morrisville, Pa. 19067. Tax deductions for donations will be less guilt ridden than the actual money itself.
Let’s get this foundation off to a wonderful start. Thank you in advance for your participation in funding the Morrisville Education Foundation.
MARLYS MIHOK
Resident of Morrisville for 25 years and member of the Morrisville School Board
UPDATE 6:30 PM
Great comment posted for this story at the BCCT website.
No Bob, the teachers union isn't the "vocal minority", it's citizens who have been critical of the methods used by the school board. I'll give you a few examples, which Mihok didn't mention in her article, because they don't make her or her compadres of the board members look too good:
1. The lion's share of the tax reduction is a "one shot deal" from the board "defeasing" (giving back to bondholders) $20+ million in bond money set aside for construction of a new, space-efficient K-12 campus. Defeasement reduced taxes this year only, but cost taxpayers about $2.5 million, a fact that was NOT shared with the public before the board voted on it;
2. The board is plowing ahead with replacing boilers based on a cursory $2,500 walk-through by an engineering company unilaterally hired by board president Bill Hellmann, whom Mihok staunchly supports. The board had to vote "after-the-fact" to authorize the work and pay the company because the work was already completed. The bidding for the boiler work did NOT follow procedures that would have resulted in reimbursement by the PA Dept. of Ed., so it will cost taxpayers additional money that could easily have been saved;
3. To date, I believe Mihok has kept the $250 stipend she receives as board secretary (something other board members almost always donate back to the district), yet she was unable to produce timely meeting minutes (one of her main responsibilities as secretary), resulting in the board hiring someone to take notes and write minutes;
4. Mihok was caught in a lie claiming that Superintendent Dr. Beth Yonson hadn’t notified the board about a deadline to pass a resolution capping the district’s budget increase to 4.4% when in fact she had informed the board – it was all caught on tape with reporters present. Those who are familiar with her know that that's just one instance in which she was CAUGHT lying;
It's simply assinine for Mihok to state that the criticism is for NOT raising taxes. Nobody wants their taxes to go up. But people do want school boards to make prudent decisions that balance both educational and financial concerns, not boards that make irresponsible decisions for short-term gain and long-term pain. We've got the latter in Morrisville right now.
There's two problems with this. The first is that a fresh set of eyes can find things to cut from any budget. It's the second year when things get harder to cut. Among the things that can still be cut are the sports programs, the band and chorus programs, any other extra curricular activities, and utilities. We can choose to fire half the teachers and staff, make the classroom size up to 45 students, and have Ferris Bueller's economics teacher providing the education. It's not the fact that cuts were made, it's where the cuts came from and what will be defunded. What is your focus?
When the state is investigating why we ran out of money early in 2009, we can point to this op-ed piece as one piece of the puzzle. "None of next year’s projections factored the amount of students graduating out of these programs and therefore, in my opinion we have grossly over budgeted in these areas." Of course not! Just in inflation alone, the costs have risen significantly. Still buying the same gallon of milk each week costs much more than it used to. It's the same with special ed, copier paper, and number 2 pencils. Only time will tell if "grossly over budgeted" is right or not. It's standard practice to budget conservatively using at least the same number as last year unless there is significant evidence to not do so. Paging the Auditor General: Your reservations are ready.
The second item is defeasement. The centerpiece of their election campaign is never even mentioned. That's where the cut in taxes really came from.
Instead of making the investments in a new building, we're plunging ahead recklessly without a plan and without receiving state reimbursement making piecemeal emergency renovations among two or three existing buildings. Add back in the millage from not investing in the future and what's the real savings? Every dollar spent today in any repairs, major or minor, "emergency" or routine, is wasted money in the sense that the repair is only temporary. It's a band-aid on failing infrastructure that will need complete replacement sooner than you realize.
Does anyone want to examine this article further and point out the fallacies?
It's not a windfall when you purposefully choose to ignore the needs of the future.
UPDATE 6:30 PM. Scroll down to the bottom of the post.
Taxes up everywhere except in Morrisville
As sure as fireworks on the fourth, Bucks County homeowners have received their school tax bills for the 2008-2009 school year. Every school board in the county has raised taxes for the next year, some significantly, with the exception of tiny Morrisville Borough. In fact, Morrisville School District taxes have plummeted. Let’s examine the phenomenon.
At the first regular meeting of the new school board, Business Administrator Reba Dunford presented the new board with a preliminary budget including a 21-mil increase equaling approximately $425 to the average assessed household of $20,000. State law allowed a 4.4 percent increase without going to referendum by the voters to increase that percentage. This budget was presented to the board as a bare bones, no frills estimate of expenditures for the next school year, on the heels of two consecutive years of outrageous tax increases.
Since that December meeting until June 25 when the final budget was approved, the majority members of the Morrisville School Board dropped the proposed 21-mil increase to zero and further reduced the budget by another 18.7 mils for a total reduction of 39.7 mils.
The administration has acknowledged that we did not disrupt any educational programs with the cuts; however, we are being unfairly criticized for not fully funding the increases requested for special education, charter schools, and alternative schools, although the business administrator is satisfied with the increase the board has provided. None of next year’s projections factored the amount of students graduating out of these programs and therefore, in my opinion we have grossly over budgeted in these areas.
After six months of diligent number crunching with the projected $21 million budget, board President Bill Hellmann found “extra expenditures” that we could eliminate without affecting educational programs in the district. Reducing 39.7 mils in my opinion cut deeply into a bloated budget. The school board did its fiduciary duty but has been relentlessly criticized by a vocal minority for not raising taxes.
Adding the first year of Homestead Rebate from gambling revenue is an additional $241 decrease as the proverbial cherry on top; $600 less is about what the average assessed homeowners have saved in Morrisville school taxes. [Moderator note: The BCCT claims a $218 Act I credit for a $539 decrease. To put it into perspective, that's $1.47 a day. A large coffee at 7-Eleven costs more. We're selling the future of the town for the price of a large coffee. ]
To unify the borough I have a proposal. Parents who are not happy with the extra money and are experiencing guilt about keeping their windfall can purge themselves of that money by donating it to the Morrisville Education Foundation, which will provide our district with additional educational tools not funded by the taxpayers. I suggest that the residents who are not satisfied with the new school board tax reductions donate it back to the district. Donations in the amount of your reduction may be sent to the Morrisville Education Foundation, 550 Palmer St., Morrisville, Pa. 19067. Tax deductions for donations will be less guilt ridden than the actual money itself.
Let’s get this foundation off to a wonderful start. Thank you in advance for your participation in funding the Morrisville Education Foundation.
MARLYS MIHOK
Resident of Morrisville for 25 years and member of the Morrisville School Board
UPDATE 6:30 PM
Great comment posted for this story at the BCCT website.
No Bob, the teachers union isn't the "vocal minority", it's citizens who have been critical of the methods used by the school board. I'll give you a few examples, which Mihok didn't mention in her article, because they don't make her or her compadres of the board members look too good:
1. The lion's share of the tax reduction is a "one shot deal" from the board "defeasing" (giving back to bondholders) $20+ million in bond money set aside for construction of a new, space-efficient K-12 campus. Defeasement reduced taxes this year only, but cost taxpayers about $2.5 million, a fact that was NOT shared with the public before the board voted on it;
2. The board is plowing ahead with replacing boilers based on a cursory $2,500 walk-through by an engineering company unilaterally hired by board president Bill Hellmann, whom Mihok staunchly supports. The board had to vote "after-the-fact" to authorize the work and pay the company because the work was already completed. The bidding for the boiler work did NOT follow procedures that would have resulted in reimbursement by the PA Dept. of Ed., so it will cost taxpayers additional money that could easily have been saved;
3. To date, I believe Mihok has kept the $250 stipend she receives as board secretary (something other board members almost always donate back to the district), yet she was unable to produce timely meeting minutes (one of her main responsibilities as secretary), resulting in the board hiring someone to take notes and write minutes;
4. Mihok was caught in a lie claiming that Superintendent Dr. Beth Yonson hadn’t notified the board about a deadline to pass a resolution capping the district’s budget increase to 4.4% when in fact she had informed the board – it was all caught on tape with reporters present. Those who are familiar with her know that that's just one instance in which she was CAUGHT lying;
It's simply assinine for Mihok to state that the criticism is for NOT raising taxes. Nobody wants their taxes to go up. But people do want school boards to make prudent decisions that balance both educational and financial concerns, not boards that make irresponsible decisions for short-term gain and long-term pain. We've got the latter in Morrisville right now.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Withering away?
Another editorial from the BCCT this morning. The attention on our plight is appreciated, but what does it really accomplish?
Sometimes the "just the facts" approach doesn't tell the whole story. There are times when I watch the tape and re-read the printed story and wonder why "less is more." The printed story may be factually unassailable. However, it's not a complete representation of what is unfolding.
For example, let's look at some of the recent stories. "Morrisville's tax reduction is the exception in the area, with most other districts experiencing some sort of tax increase." Why was defeasement not mentioned as the reason for the large tax decrease?
"Hellmann thinks certain expenditures have been padded so there is more money in the budget, making it a kind of wish list...Yonson has expressed frustration with this view on several occasions and stressed that the administration has specified only a “bare-bones budget.” You just printed two diametrically opposed viewpoints. Let someone who knows school budgets in the area take a look at the two viewpoints, compare them with the actual Morrisville budget, and let us know who is right. At least let us know who is more right. Either Dr. Yonson or Mr. Hellmann is making the mis-characterization.
"Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 3:01 pm by Columnist Kate Fratti: Morrisville School Board member Joe Kemp today in an email urged the board majority, yet again, to do its homework before committing the troubled district to big change." What does federal, state or local law require to be done to successfully farm out the students? Are you ready to press a Sunshine Law challenge to the well-documented secrecy from this board?
"Board President William Hellmann did not provide a concrete reason for shortening her contract. He thanked Yonson for doing an exemplary job and said a shorter contract was a better choice. Yonson herself said it was an irregular course of action. After their first contract expires, most Bucks superintendents who get their contracts renewed do receive five-year contracts, she said." Well? Who is correct, Hellmann or Yonson?
This isn't Watergate and we don't need Woodward and Bernstein style reporting. But while you're here, can you turn over a few rocks and let us know what crawls out?
Intentions unknown
Withering away?
As the Morrisville school board pecks away at the schools, parents rightfully worry about the quality of the schools. What does the future hold?
Anger, resentment and frustration are boiling over in Morrisville. School board meetings are nearly out of control as citizens find creative ways to disrupt business. In addition to bickering among board members, meetings drag on and on. Last week’s session lasted five grueling and rambunctious hours.
Still, you can hardly blame citizens for acting out.
The majority members of the school board were elected on the promise they’d stop construction of a new K-12 school, a $30 million project that was the subject of contentious debate itself. That citizens replaced the old board with one opposed to the new school can be considered a de facto referendum on the issue. Sick and tired of ever-spiraling school taxes, most citizens viewed the new school as too costly and unnecessary. That much is clear.
What’s not clear is the school board’s long-range plan. Are members committed to the schools?
We raise the question because the school board appears to be pecking away at the district, seeking to shorten the superintendent’s contract, investigating opportunities to export high school students to other districts, refusing to fill open positions.
What’s the plan? Is the board’s goal to shut down the high school, perhaps all the schools?
Citizens have a right to know. Parents are rightly concerned about the quality of education as the district is slowly disassembled — if that’s what’s happening. And so they’re jamming meetings in a frantic effort to stymie a board that appears to have little concern about the children they’re responsible for educating.
Elected officials deserve to function amid conditions conducive to thoughtful decision making. But officials need to demonstrate thoughtful concern for the people they represent by being open, honest and forthcoming.
“We’re doing the best we can with the resources we have” isn’t a good enough answer — not when the board takes actions that suggest there’s a lot more explaining to do. It’s time for school board President William Hellmann to address the question openly and honestly.
Sometimes the "just the facts" approach doesn't tell the whole story. There are times when I watch the tape and re-read the printed story and wonder why "less is more." The printed story may be factually unassailable. However, it's not a complete representation of what is unfolding.
For example, let's look at some of the recent stories. "Morrisville's tax reduction is the exception in the area, with most other districts experiencing some sort of tax increase." Why was defeasement not mentioned as the reason for the large tax decrease?
"Hellmann thinks certain expenditures have been padded so there is more money in the budget, making it a kind of wish list...Yonson has expressed frustration with this view on several occasions and stressed that the administration has specified only a “bare-bones budget.” You just printed two diametrically opposed viewpoints. Let someone who knows school budgets in the area take a look at the two viewpoints, compare them with the actual Morrisville budget, and let us know who is right. At least let us know who is more right. Either Dr. Yonson or Mr. Hellmann is making the mis-characterization.
"Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 3:01 pm by Columnist Kate Fratti: Morrisville School Board member Joe Kemp today in an email urged the board majority, yet again, to do its homework before committing the troubled district to big change." What does federal, state or local law require to be done to successfully farm out the students? Are you ready to press a Sunshine Law challenge to the well-documented secrecy from this board?
"Board President William Hellmann did not provide a concrete reason for shortening her contract. He thanked Yonson for doing an exemplary job and said a shorter contract was a better choice. Yonson herself said it was an irregular course of action. After their first contract expires, most Bucks superintendents who get their contracts renewed do receive five-year contracts, she said." Well? Who is correct, Hellmann or Yonson?
This isn't Watergate and we don't need Woodward and Bernstein style reporting. But while you're here, can you turn over a few rocks and let us know what crawls out?
Intentions unknown
Withering away?
As the Morrisville school board pecks away at the schools, parents rightfully worry about the quality of the schools. What does the future hold?
Anger, resentment and frustration are boiling over in Morrisville. School board meetings are nearly out of control as citizens find creative ways to disrupt business. In addition to bickering among board members, meetings drag on and on. Last week’s session lasted five grueling and rambunctious hours.
Still, you can hardly blame citizens for acting out.
The majority members of the school board were elected on the promise they’d stop construction of a new K-12 school, a $30 million project that was the subject of contentious debate itself. That citizens replaced the old board with one opposed to the new school can be considered a de facto referendum on the issue. Sick and tired of ever-spiraling school taxes, most citizens viewed the new school as too costly and unnecessary. That much is clear.
What’s not clear is the school board’s long-range plan. Are members committed to the schools?
We raise the question because the school board appears to be pecking away at the district, seeking to shorten the superintendent’s contract, investigating opportunities to export high school students to other districts, refusing to fill open positions.
What’s the plan? Is the board’s goal to shut down the high school, perhaps all the schools?
Citizens have a right to know. Parents are rightly concerned about the quality of education as the district is slowly disassembled — if that’s what’s happening. And so they’re jamming meetings in a frantic effort to stymie a board that appears to have little concern about the children they’re responsible for educating.
Elected officials deserve to function amid conditions conducive to thoughtful decision making. But officials need to demonstrate thoughtful concern for the people they represent by being open, honest and forthcoming.
“We’re doing the best we can with the resources we have” isn’t a good enough answer — not when the board takes actions that suggest there’s a lot more explaining to do. It’s time for school board President William Hellmann to address the question openly and honestly.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Area School Budget Roundup
The BCCT this morning compares the area school budgets and finds that Morrisville is the lone exception in producing lower taxes. The budget reporting is again not mentioning the "d" word: "defeasement." The savings in Morrisville comes at the cost of not investing in the future. Don't be fooled that this board is a tax cutting machine and that this will be a luxury-pared budget. The budget was bare bones before, and now even the skeleton is feeling the pain.
Some taxpayers smile; others frown
By THERESA HEGEL
The Intelligencer
Many homeowners in Bucks and Montgomery counties will see dips in next year's property bill — thanks to money skimmed from state gambling slots — with residents in several districts emerging as the clear winners.
Expected gaming credits will save eligible property owners in Lower Bucks anywhere from $166 in Centennial to just more than $290 in Bristol Township, according to state estimates.
In most cases, the gaming funds will help offset tax increases and allow qualified property owners to realize at least some savings on their tax bills.
But in Morrisville, where the school board is looking at ways to cut costs in the cash-strapped district, the $218 gaming credit will be assessed to eligible tax bills in addition to an average $321 reduction in taxes.
Morrisville's tax reduction is the exception in the area, with most other districts experiencing some sort of tax increase. However, residents with homestead exclusions will reap the benefits of state casino revenue. Such homeowners — and there are about 350,000 of them in Bucks and Montgomery counties — could see savings ranging from $25 to almost $200. For the rest, the annual tax bill will increase.
Two area school districts— New Hope-Solebury and Upper Moreland — budgeted higher than the property tax relief they were allotted. New Hope-Solebury residents essentially will break even, with only a $4 difference between the district's average tax hike and the $266 to be distributed to each homeowner with an exemption.
“It's a wash,” board President William Behre said at an April meeting. “That's fine with me.”
The majority of Upper Moreland's increase is slated to pay off a $34.5 million high school renovation project. Excluding that keeps the district's tax increase solidly under the 4.4 percent cap mandated by the state's Act 1.
The law is an attempt to keep school spending closer in line with taxpayers' wages. Increases higher than 4.4 percent must be approved by district voters, though districts can apply for larger rate caps to offset debt payments, as Upper Moreland did.
Centennial, New Hope-Solebury and Palisades also applied for exceptions, allowing them to raise taxes beyond 4.4 percent. Though North Penn qualified for an exception as well, the district did not push taxes past the state cap.
Because property values and incomes are lower in Quakertown, the district would have been permitted to raise taxes up to 5.1 percent without having to apply to the state. Instead, the school board approved a budget raising taxes by 4.5 percent, just a sliver above the general cap.
In addition to the usual suspects of salary and benefits, many districts credited rapidly increasing fuel and heating oil costs for inflating their budgets.
Palisades, for example, had to tack about $350,000 onto its final budget once heating bids and fuel estimates were taken into account. The lowest bid the district received for heating was more than twice its current rate.
Education reporters Joan Hellyer, Rachel Canelli and Manasee Wagh contributed to this article.
Theresa Hegel can be reached at 215-538-6381 or thegel@phillyBurbs.com
Some taxpayers smile; others frown
By THERESA HEGEL
The Intelligencer
Many homeowners in Bucks and Montgomery counties will see dips in next year's property bill — thanks to money skimmed from state gambling slots — with residents in several districts emerging as the clear winners.
Expected gaming credits will save eligible property owners in Lower Bucks anywhere from $166 in Centennial to just more than $290 in Bristol Township, according to state estimates.
In most cases, the gaming funds will help offset tax increases and allow qualified property owners to realize at least some savings on their tax bills.
But in Morrisville, where the school board is looking at ways to cut costs in the cash-strapped district, the $218 gaming credit will be assessed to eligible tax bills in addition to an average $321 reduction in taxes.
Morrisville's tax reduction is the exception in the area, with most other districts experiencing some sort of tax increase. However, residents with homestead exclusions will reap the benefits of state casino revenue. Such homeowners — and there are about 350,000 of them in Bucks and Montgomery counties — could see savings ranging from $25 to almost $200. For the rest, the annual tax bill will increase.
Two area school districts— New Hope-Solebury and Upper Moreland — budgeted higher than the property tax relief they were allotted. New Hope-Solebury residents essentially will break even, with only a $4 difference between the district's average tax hike and the $266 to be distributed to each homeowner with an exemption.
“It's a wash,” board President William Behre said at an April meeting. “That's fine with me.”
The majority of Upper Moreland's increase is slated to pay off a $34.5 million high school renovation project. Excluding that keeps the district's tax increase solidly under the 4.4 percent cap mandated by the state's Act 1.
The law is an attempt to keep school spending closer in line with taxpayers' wages. Increases higher than 4.4 percent must be approved by district voters, though districts can apply for larger rate caps to offset debt payments, as Upper Moreland did.
Centennial, New Hope-Solebury and Palisades also applied for exceptions, allowing them to raise taxes beyond 4.4 percent. Though North Penn qualified for an exception as well, the district did not push taxes past the state cap.
Because property values and incomes are lower in Quakertown, the district would have been permitted to raise taxes up to 5.1 percent without having to apply to the state. Instead, the school board approved a budget raising taxes by 4.5 percent, just a sliver above the general cap.
In addition to the usual suspects of salary and benefits, many districts credited rapidly increasing fuel and heating oil costs for inflating their budgets.
Palisades, for example, had to tack about $350,000 onto its final budget once heating bids and fuel estimates were taken into account. The lowest bid the district received for heating was more than twice its current rate.
Education reporters Joan Hellyer, Rachel Canelli and Manasee Wagh contributed to this article.
Theresa Hegel can be reached at 215-538-6381 or thegel@phillyBurbs.com
Friday, June 27, 2008
Relink to Budget Article
Thanks to the sharp eyed emailers who noted that the couriertimesnow.com website and phillyburbs.com websites have different content. Phillyburbs has more content.
I'm still disappointed in the article. It mentions nothing about defeasement being the lion's share of the savings, and the vote was not 5-2. It was 5-3.
Let's give credit where credit is due. Voting YES to provide an inadequately funded special education, charter school, and alternative education budget were: President William Hellmann, Vice President Al Radosti, Secretary Marlys Mihok, Treasurer Brenda Worob, and newcomer Jack Buckman. Voting NO were: Joe Kemp, Robin Reithmeyer, and William Farrell. Former Treasurer Gloria Heater was absent.
Budget includes $321 tax decrease
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
MORRISVILLE -- Residents in Morrisville can expect to pay $321 less in taxes next year.
Taxes will lessen to $3,371 for a homeowner with the borough's average assessed property of $18,000.
Those eligible for the homestead/farmstead exclusion will see a further decline of $218. The exclusion is property tax relief from state slot machine revenue.
It's a relief to many residents, but falling taxes come with consequences.
A pared-down budget that is a result of this tax reduction could be a drain on programs and services for approximately 1,000 Morrisville students.
The board voted 5-2 late Wednesday evening on a $19.88 million budget for next school year. To lower taxes, expenditures are down by about 3 percent from this year.
The approved budget is far short of what is necessary to fully provide for upcoming special education, charter school and alternative school costs required by the state, according to the district.
“This option is a big no-no,” as far as district auditors and the state Department of Education are concerned, said Reba Dunford, the district's business administrator.
An estimated $2.2 million will be needed just for special education for about 250 students, 11 more than this year's average. This year, special education expenses were about $1.9 million, according to Kimberly Myers, Morrisville's supervisor of pupil personnel services.
The district also had to account for teacher contracts, which account for $10 million of the budget. The average teacher salary in Morrisville is about $70,000 a year, and the district employs 71 teachers and seven professional support staff members.
Rising fuel prices pushed the final budget skyward by another $22,400.
For the past few months board members have been arguing with the administration about how to crop those expenses, which keep rising.
State law says they are uncontrollable costs that have to be paid.
Last month, board members, including President William Hellmann, requested that Dunford reduce the projected necessary increases in special education and charter and alternative schools.
Hellmann, who was voted into office on the promise of tightening belts and lowering taxes, has repeatedly said that the school district spends too much.
“It's too much. It's a problem,” Hellmann said several times at Wednesday night's meeting.
He hasn't yet explained how to cover those costs but has said he doesn't trust the administration's cost estimates. Hellmann thinks certain expenditures have been padded so there is more money in the budget, making it a kind of wish list.
Yonson has expressed frustration with this view on several occasions and stressed that the administration has specified only a “bare-bones budget.”
Several residents requested the board vote for a budget that would safeguard as much of the uncontrollable costs as possible.
To achieve some kind of compromise between board members and the administration's recommendations, Dunford presented four different budget options before the vote.
Each retained the same tax decrease and a millage decrease of 17.8 mills, yielding a total millage of 187.3.
The differences among the budget possibilities involved funding partial increases in charter and alternative schools and special education services.
The highest expenditure option was around $20.1 million because it included taking about $182,000 from savings for those schools and services. That is still far less than what Elizabeth Yonson, the district's superintendent, has said is necessary to fully provide for students who need those services next year.
The board voted for the lowest expenditure option, which leaves out much of the required increase.
Now the district will have to pull the money from other areas and look for ways to reduce costs without cutting state-mandated services, warned Yonson. What those areas may be are still up in the air.
The budget options Dunford presented utilized varying amounts of the fund balance, the district's savings account.
Yonson said the district would somehow pay for all mandated services, no matter what.
Manasee Wagh can be reached at 215-949-4206 or mwagh@phillyBurbs.com.
June 27, 2008 6:11 AM
I'm still disappointed in the article. It mentions nothing about defeasement being the lion's share of the savings, and the vote was not 5-2. It was 5-3.
Let's give credit where credit is due. Voting YES to provide an inadequately funded special education, charter school, and alternative education budget were: President William Hellmann, Vice President Al Radosti, Secretary Marlys Mihok, Treasurer Brenda Worob, and newcomer Jack Buckman. Voting NO were: Joe Kemp, Robin Reithmeyer, and William Farrell. Former Treasurer Gloria Heater was absent.
Budget includes $321 tax decrease
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
MORRISVILLE -- Residents in Morrisville can expect to pay $321 less in taxes next year.
Taxes will lessen to $3,371 for a homeowner with the borough's average assessed property of $18,000.
Those eligible for the homestead/farmstead exclusion will see a further decline of $218. The exclusion is property tax relief from state slot machine revenue.
It's a relief to many residents, but falling taxes come with consequences.
A pared-down budget that is a result of this tax reduction could be a drain on programs and services for approximately 1,000 Morrisville students.
The board voted 5-2 late Wednesday evening on a $19.88 million budget for next school year. To lower taxes, expenditures are down by about 3 percent from this year.
The approved budget is far short of what is necessary to fully provide for upcoming special education, charter school and alternative school costs required by the state, according to the district.
“This option is a big no-no,” as far as district auditors and the state Department of Education are concerned, said Reba Dunford, the district's business administrator.
An estimated $2.2 million will be needed just for special education for about 250 students, 11 more than this year's average. This year, special education expenses were about $1.9 million, according to Kimberly Myers, Morrisville's supervisor of pupil personnel services.
The district also had to account for teacher contracts, which account for $10 million of the budget. The average teacher salary in Morrisville is about $70,000 a year, and the district employs 71 teachers and seven professional support staff members.
Rising fuel prices pushed the final budget skyward by another $22,400.
For the past few months board members have been arguing with the administration about how to crop those expenses, which keep rising.
State law says they are uncontrollable costs that have to be paid.
Last month, board members, including President William Hellmann, requested that Dunford reduce the projected necessary increases in special education and charter and alternative schools.
Hellmann, who was voted into office on the promise of tightening belts and lowering taxes, has repeatedly said that the school district spends too much.
“It's too much. It's a problem,” Hellmann said several times at Wednesday night's meeting.
He hasn't yet explained how to cover those costs but has said he doesn't trust the administration's cost estimates. Hellmann thinks certain expenditures have been padded so there is more money in the budget, making it a kind of wish list.
Yonson has expressed frustration with this view on several occasions and stressed that the administration has specified only a “bare-bones budget.”
Several residents requested the board vote for a budget that would safeguard as much of the uncontrollable costs as possible.
To achieve some kind of compromise between board members and the administration's recommendations, Dunford presented four different budget options before the vote.
Each retained the same tax decrease and a millage decrease of 17.8 mills, yielding a total millage of 187.3.
The differences among the budget possibilities involved funding partial increases in charter and alternative schools and special education services.
The highest expenditure option was around $20.1 million because it included taking about $182,000 from savings for those schools and services. That is still far less than what Elizabeth Yonson, the district's superintendent, has said is necessary to fully provide for students who need those services next year.
The board voted for the lowest expenditure option, which leaves out much of the required increase.
Now the district will have to pull the money from other areas and look for ways to reduce costs without cutting state-mandated services, warned Yonson. What those areas may be are still up in the air.
The budget options Dunford presented utilized varying amounts of the fund balance, the district's savings account.
Yonson said the district would somehow pay for all mandated services, no matter what.
Manasee Wagh can be reached at 215-949-4206 or mwagh@phillyBurbs.com.
June 27, 2008 6:11 AM
couriertimesnow.com
Kudos to the new Courier Times website. There's three separate stories posted here about Wednesday night's Morrisville school board meeting.
The first story is member Joe Kemp urging the board majority to do their homework before making changes. The story is sad in that Joe Kemp needs to use BCCT columnist Kate Fratti as his means of communication because the Emperor and his blindly subservient accomplices are unapproachable and indifferent. If you're not pleased with the way the current Stop the School majority is acting, drop them a line at SchoolBoard@mv.org. If you copy savethemorrisvilleschool@yahoo.com, I'll print it as well.
In the second story, the board's shameful treatment of Dr. Elizabeth Yonson is chronicled. Memo to the Emperor and accomplices: You're lucky that Morrisville has this talented administrator at all. If she doesn't sue the ever living crap out of you, it's because she's a better human being alone than you could ever collectively aspire to be. Go. Have the common decency to be ashamed. Especially those board members who keep talking the big talk about being independent, but when the Emperor commands, you keep on running to his beck and call. You may talk the talk, but the audience can clearly see the walk, and it doesn't match the talk.
The third story mentions the dilemma of economics. How do you pay for what you need? Parents are well versed in that daily struggle. Are average taxpayers? Yes, they are. But do some of them really understand the definition of a "community"? Let's also note that the reporter neglected to mention why the millage is lower. Answer: The penny-wise and pound-foolish bond defeasement.
MV school director pleads his case
Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 3:01 pm by Columnist Kate Fratti
Morrisville School Board member Joe Kemp today in an email urged the board majority, yet again, to do its homework before committing the troubled district to big change. Kemp, a minority member, worries the board leadership’s serious interest in a plan to tuition out high-school students to save money isn’t being aired in open.”The board should have [Solicitor] Mike Fitzpatrick draft formal letters to any and all school districts or private schools that we may wish to consider for a tuition program. He should also give us his opinion about the legality of such a plan,” he said.
“Talks should be held between a committee of the board and the teachers’ union with legal representation on both sides to see if there is any way to tuition students that will be acceptable by the union.
“We should find out if privatizing our high school means that all private school students would have their tuitions paid by the district. We should consider hiring an architectural firm that works with school districts to tell us the costs of converting our MHS to either a grade school or a K-12.
“We should find out the costs regarding busing as a factor in sending high school students out of the district and would that then make the district a busing district.
Superintendent contract shortened
Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 4:37 pm by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
Morrisville’s school board majority approved shortening Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson’s contract at Wednesday night’s meeting. The contract was revised to three years instead of five.Yonson has been with the district for at least three years. The previous board renewed her contract for five years, from July 1 this year to June 30, 2013.
Under her leadership, Morrisville schools made several gains, including high performance levels in elementary school math.
Board President William Hellmann did not provide a concrete reason for shortening her contract. He thanked Yonson for doing an exemplary job and said a shorter contract was a better choice.
Yonson herself said it was an irregular course of action. After their first contract expires, most Bucks superintendents who get their contracts renewed do receive five-year contracts, she said.
Fewer taxes = fewer educational services?
Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 5:09 pm by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
Residents in Morrisville can expect to pay $321 less in taxes next year.
The school board approved a $19.88 million budget Wednesday.
Taxes will lessen to $3,371 for a homeowner with the borough’s average assessed property of $18,000.
Those who were eligible for the homestead/farmstead exclusion will see a further decline of $218.
But there will be consequences, warned administrators. The new budget doesn’t account for all of the $2.2 million needed for special education services and additional money needed for alternative and charter schools.
The district will find a way to pay for all of those uncontrollable costs, but cuts may need to be made in other areas, said administrators. The state mandates that special education and charter and alternative schools must be paid for fully.
The first story is member Joe Kemp urging the board majority to do their homework before making changes. The story is sad in that Joe Kemp needs to use BCCT columnist Kate Fratti as his means of communication because the Emperor and his blindly subservient accomplices are unapproachable and indifferent. If you're not pleased with the way the current Stop the School majority is acting, drop them a line at SchoolBoard@mv.org. If you copy savethemorrisvilleschool@yahoo.com, I'll print it as well.
In the second story, the board's shameful treatment of Dr. Elizabeth Yonson is chronicled. Memo to the Emperor and accomplices: You're lucky that Morrisville has this talented administrator at all. If she doesn't sue the ever living crap out of you, it's because she's a better human being alone than you could ever collectively aspire to be. Go. Have the common decency to be ashamed. Especially those board members who keep talking the big talk about being independent, but when the Emperor commands, you keep on running to his beck and call. You may talk the talk, but the audience can clearly see the walk, and it doesn't match the talk.
The third story mentions the dilemma of economics. How do you pay for what you need? Parents are well versed in that daily struggle. Are average taxpayers? Yes, they are. But do some of them really understand the definition of a "community"? Let's also note that the reporter neglected to mention why the millage is lower. Answer: The penny-wise and pound-foolish bond defeasement.
MV school director pleads his case
Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 3:01 pm by Columnist Kate Fratti
Morrisville School Board member Joe Kemp today in an email urged the board majority, yet again, to do its homework before committing the troubled district to big change. Kemp, a minority member, worries the board leadership’s serious interest in a plan to tuition out high-school students to save money isn’t being aired in open.”The board should have [Solicitor] Mike Fitzpatrick draft formal letters to any and all school districts or private schools that we may wish to consider for a tuition program. He should also give us his opinion about the legality of such a plan,” he said.
“Talks should be held between a committee of the board and the teachers’ union with legal representation on both sides to see if there is any way to tuition students that will be acceptable by the union.
“We should find out if privatizing our high school means that all private school students would have their tuitions paid by the district. We should consider hiring an architectural firm that works with school districts to tell us the costs of converting our MHS to either a grade school or a K-12.
“We should find out the costs regarding busing as a factor in sending high school students out of the district and would that then make the district a busing district.
Superintendent contract shortened
Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 4:37 pm by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
Morrisville’s school board majority approved shortening Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson’s contract at Wednesday night’s meeting. The contract was revised to three years instead of five.Yonson has been with the district for at least three years. The previous board renewed her contract for five years, from July 1 this year to June 30, 2013.
Under her leadership, Morrisville schools made several gains, including high performance levels in elementary school math.
Board President William Hellmann did not provide a concrete reason for shortening her contract. He thanked Yonson for doing an exemplary job and said a shorter contract was a better choice.
Yonson herself said it was an irregular course of action. After their first contract expires, most Bucks superintendents who get their contracts renewed do receive five-year contracts, she said.
Fewer taxes = fewer educational services?
Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 5:09 pm by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
Residents in Morrisville can expect to pay $321 less in taxes next year.
The school board approved a $19.88 million budget Wednesday.
Taxes will lessen to $3,371 for a homeowner with the borough’s average assessed property of $18,000.
Those who were eligible for the homestead/farmstead exclusion will see a further decline of $218.
But there will be consequences, warned administrators. The new budget doesn’t account for all of the $2.2 million needed for special education services and additional money needed for alternative and charter schools.
The district will find a way to pay for all of those uncontrollable costs, but cuts may need to be made in other areas, said administrators. The state mandates that special education and charter and alternative schools must be paid for fully.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Budget Approval Due Tonight
Don't forget that tonight is the regular monthly school board meeting. The proposed budget was approved unanimously as a working document. What work has been done on it, or has it even changed? There's only one way to find out. Be there. Meeting starts at 7:30 P.M. in the LGI.
This budget has an impact down the road. The proposed millage is 187.3, which represents quite a drop. The savings are almost completely from the costs of the now defeased bond being removed.
There's the special education costs to consider as well. This is an unfunded mandate. We have to provide these services by law, but the money to provide them comes from homeowners. Cutting them is not an option. We need to secure funding elsewhere.
Using the 4.4% cap currently in place, the most that the budget can be next year is 195.5 mills unless exceptions are applied for. You think things are tight now? Watch the 2009-2010 budget process.
This budget has an impact down the road. The proposed millage is 187.3, which represents quite a drop. The savings are almost completely from the costs of the now defeased bond being removed.
There's the special education costs to consider as well. This is an unfunded mandate. We have to provide these services by law, but the money to provide them comes from homeowners. Cutting them is not an option. We need to secure funding elsewhere.
Using the 4.4% cap currently in place, the most that the budget can be next year is 195.5 mills unless exceptions are applied for. You think things are tight now? Watch the 2009-2010 budget process.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Mike Fitzpatrick is New Solicitor
Fitzpatrick named school board solicitor
[UPDATED May 7, 2008 3:30 P.M. Kate Fratti mentions this in her blog. I don't really agree with the sentiment, but I agree it's unfortunately a real and viable option. I still prefer the smaller district. That's what brought me and my family here in the first place.]
Former Republican Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick, an attorney with Begley Carlin and Mandio in Middletown, is the newest solicitor for the Morrisville School Board.
Fitzpatrick, a Middletown resident and former county commissioner, will replace Thomas Kelly of Media.
Kelly represented a prior school board, which had begun moving forward with plans to construct a new high school despite public outcry. The new board majority, which took office in December nixed that plan and recently defeased the bond lined up to pay for it.
Although this will be Fitzpatrick’s first time as a school board solicitor, the firm has a long tradition in that arena. Currently, it represents Bristol, Neshaminy, Bensalem, Centennial and Central Bucks school districts.
In 2006, Fitzpatrick lost his 8th district congressional seat to Democrat Patrick Murphy, and was expected to challenge Murphy to regain it this year. Instead, Fitzpatrick expressed interest in running against Democratic State Rep. Chris King. Not long after his announcement, Fitzpatrick declined saying a family health consideration demanded he stay closer to home. He returned to practice law full time after 12 years.
Other candidates for the solicitorship included Karen Quinn of Steif Gross Sagoskin Gilman and Classetti and Harry Glosser, a Morrisville attorney and former school board director.
Board members said they were counting on Fitzpatrick’s political connections and legislative experience to guide their way as they decide how to maintain or reorganize the small and financially beleaguered school system.
The law firm Curtin and Heefner recently finished its review of the district’s contract with school Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson. Some board members have expressed interest in reducing the duration of that 5-year agreement. No details of the Curtin and Heefner review have been released to the public yet.
[UPDATED May 7, 2008 3:30 P.M. Kate Fratti mentions this in her blog. I don't really agree with the sentiment, but I agree it's unfortunately a real and viable option. I still prefer the smaller district. That's what brought me and my family here in the first place.]
Former Republican Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick, an attorney with Begley Carlin and Mandio in Middletown, is the newest solicitor for the Morrisville School Board.
Fitzpatrick, a Middletown resident and former county commissioner, will replace Thomas Kelly of Media.
Kelly represented a prior school board, which had begun moving forward with plans to construct a new high school despite public outcry. The new board majority, which took office in December nixed that plan and recently defeased the bond lined up to pay for it.
Although this will be Fitzpatrick’s first time as a school board solicitor, the firm has a long tradition in that arena. Currently, it represents Bristol, Neshaminy, Bensalem, Centennial and Central Bucks school districts.
In 2006, Fitzpatrick lost his 8th district congressional seat to Democrat Patrick Murphy, and was expected to challenge Murphy to regain it this year. Instead, Fitzpatrick expressed interest in running against Democratic State Rep. Chris King. Not long after his announcement, Fitzpatrick declined saying a family health consideration demanded he stay closer to home. He returned to practice law full time after 12 years.
Other candidates for the solicitorship included Karen Quinn of Steif Gross Sagoskin Gilman and Classetti and Harry Glosser, a Morrisville attorney and former school board director.
Board members said they were counting on Fitzpatrick’s political connections and legislative experience to guide their way as they decide how to maintain or reorganize the small and financially beleaguered school system.
The law firm Curtin and Heefner recently finished its review of the district’s contract with school Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson. Some board members have expressed interest in reducing the duration of that 5-year agreement. No details of the Curtin and Heefner review have been released to the public yet.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Uniformity
Let's not forget that another hot button topic is the use of school uniforms. While defeasement, farming, and other larger more pressing issues have stolen the spotlight, the idea of wearing a school uniform is being discussed.
So, do clothes make the man? Or should you not judge a book by it's cover?
There's an article in the BCCT today that suggests uniforms are a good idea and will raise test scores. However, a quick Google of school uniforms and performance show a different conclusion: I dunno!
Isn't this the same argument that raged over the new school itself? Will a new school raise student performance?
Studies divided on effects of school uniform: But studies have revealed mixed results. And many Bay Area school officials acknowledged in interviews that they have never tried to measure whether the uniforms are working.
Are uniform policies controversial? Sure. So is implementation.
E-mail fires up Florida parents: Parents have complained saying they can’t afford the new clothing..."Everyone can afford Wal-Mart and if they can't they need to think about turning off their cable TV or stop buying alcohol or cigarettes and spend their money on their children." Ouch!
I'm generally for uniforms myself. I'm tired of clothing being a coolness factor in school and the kids who can afford $25 dollar sneakers being judged harshly against the cool kid with the $200 dollar superstar endorsed "performance athletic footwear". Let the kids all go with the same $20 dollar polo and $40 dollar khakis and get back to the real issue: education.
Academic benefits seen with uniforms
Parental support is key to a successful uniform policy, according to officials.
By JOAN HELLYER STAFF WRITER
Melissa Buchanan is glad she goes to a school where all the students wear uniforms.
“It’s really good that people don’t wear inappropriate things. Everyone looks the same,” said Melissa, a fourth-grader at School Lane Charter School in Bensalem.
A mandatory uniform policy went into effect at School Lane in 2007. The kids wear light blue shirts and dark or khaki bottoms.
“It was a good idea to do,” Melissa, 9, said. “It makes me feel good.”
School Lane is one of three local school systems to move toward uniformity in the past year:
The charter school implemented the policy after parents urged its governing board to require uniforms as allowed by Pennsylvania’s public school code, school officials said.
The Bristol school board also made a move to uniforms at the urging of district parents. The board did not implement an official policy but rather a procedure for students at Warren Snyder-John Girotti Elementary School to wear uniforms beginning this academic year.
Parents also were the catalyst in getting Bristol Township to implement a voluntary uniform policy that will begin in September for students in its nine elementary schools, district officials said. The school board’s legal representatives suggested the policy be voluntary, so the district would not face any legal challenges to it.
Kyong Growney, of Curtin & Heefner, LLP in Morrisville, is one of the attorneys who developed Bristol Township’s policy. Growney said she and board solicitor David Truelove encouraged the board to go the voluntary route to avoid potential constitutional challenges involving freedom of religion and freedom of expression.
However, a constitutional law expert at Temple University in Philadelphia, said neither of those constitutional freedoms apply to the uniform issue. Statutory law, not constitutional law, covers the religious aspect of the issue, said Mark Rahdert, a constitutional expert.
SUPREME COURT DECISION
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a decision about 20 years ago, ruled that religious practices that contradict an established law are not federal constitutional issues, he said.
The decision was based on the case of Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith. It involved two members of the Native American Church who were fired from their counselor jobs at a private drug rehabilitation organization after they ingested peyote, a powerful hallucinogen, during religious ceremonies. The former counselors filed suit after being denied unemployment compensation.
The high court’s majority found that an individual’s religious beliefs does not excuse him or her from complying with a law prohibiting conduct the government is entitled to regulate, wrote Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in the majority opinion.
The same standard can be applied to the school uniform issue, Rahdert said.
“As long as the [uniform policy] is neutral with respect to religion and is generally applicable to all students in the school, it is usually upheld,” Rahdert said.
In addition, freedom of expression or speech is not a consideration with the uniform issue, the professor said. Instead, it’s an issue of conduct in the schools.
“In a school setting, students have diminished first amendment rights, partly because they are children and partly because they are in a school setting in which the state must maintain order and provide a conducive learning environment,” Rahdert said.
Growney declined further comment about the Bristol Township policy and the volunteer policy recommendation her firm made to the district.
Rahdert said the voluntary policy is sometimes implemented not just to avoid challenges that will be lost, but because school systems want to avoid the expense and distraction from a challenge.
He said even if a school opts for a mandatory uniform policy, it should provide for exceptions, including religious attire.
“[A district] should base its choice on what’s best for the school environment, and not based on constitutional principles, because I don’t think the constitution dictates one outcome or the other,” Rahdert said.
CHALLENGES RARE
There have been a few instances where the U.S. Supreme Court has heard cases about whether a uniform policy violates equal protection or discriminates against the poor, Rahdert said. However, those challenges are rare, because generally speaking, uniform policies are designed to be affordable, he said.
In recent years, a few other Bucks districts, including Bensalem and Central Bucks, as well as North Penn, and Upper Moreland in Eastern Montgomery County, have tossed around the uniform issue. However, they abandoned the idea, generally speaking, because the initiative did not have enough support from school board members, administrators or parents.
Other local districts also have not experienced a groundswell of support for uniforms, officials said.
For school systems that are considering a uniform policy, the U.S. Department of Education produced a manual to provide guidelines on how to implement such a policy. The first step is to get parents involved from the beginning of the process, according to the manual posted at www.ed.gov.
“Parental support of a uniform policy is critical for success. Indeed, the strongest push for school uniforms in recent years has come from parental groups who want better discipline in their children’s schools,” education officials said in the manual.
Melanie Scott, a School Lane parent, said the charter school’s uniform policy definitely has her backing.
“It’s a great idea,” Scott said. “Now it’s about school and not about who is cool.”
The push for uniforms began in the mid-1990s when the Long Beach, Calif., school system started requiring all elementary and middle school students to wear uniforms. The school board made the move after a statewide voucher initiative failed, according to Carl A. Cohn, who was the Long Beach superintendent during the move to uniforms.
During debate over the initiative, board members had promised residents and particularly parents that they would look for ways to improve the school environment, according to Cohn.
The district already had uniform policies in place on a pilot basis in 11 of its 70 elementary and middle schools, Cohn said. Those schools reported a better climate in terms of learning and safety than others where there was no uniform policy in place.
The district moved ahead with implementing the policy in all of its schools in 1994. Within a year, overall school crime dropped 36 percent, including a decrease of 51 percent in fights and 74 percent in sexual offenses, according to the federal education department.
VOLUNTARY VS. MANDATORY
Since then, school systems throughout the country have followed Long Beach’s lead and implemented their own uniform policies. Some are mandatory. Others are voluntary.
Not all of the policies have remained in effect, usually because parents were not supportive of the effort. For instance, Maymont Elementary School in Richmond, Va., implemented a uniform policy in the mid-1990s. The school reported improved behavior, increased attendance rates and higher student achievement, according to the U.S. education department.
However, the policy was discontinued several years ago, a school spokeswoman said, because parents were no longer in favor of the uniforms.
Other schools across the country report better success. Douglass Elementary School in Memphis, Tenn., is one of them.
Douglass implemented a voluntary uniform policy in the mid-1990s. The maroon or white shirt and khaki bottoms initiative became a mandatory policy about four years ago at the inner city kindergarten through seventh-grade school, said guidance counselor Aron Wyatt.
“[The students] are able to focus more. They are not being teased about their clothes,” Wyatt said. “It keeps you on task a little more.”
He also noted student academic performance has increased over the last few years, due in part to the uniforms.
The only challenge the school has faced because of the uniforms is from parents who said they could not afford the moderately priced clothes, Wyatt said. “We have a clothes closet to help out with that, if they don’t have the resources, so they can send their kids in the proper uniform,” he said.
Wyatt has some advice for schools planning to implement a uniform policy.
“Enforce it. Don’t just start it up and then let the kids come some days in their uniforms and some days [in regular clothes]. If you enforce it, you show them that you are serious about it. The kids will conform and the parents will conform,” the guidance counselor said.
Bristol Township officials said they went with the voluntary policy because they believe enforcement of the practice will not be necessary. Most district families will adhere to it as the district seeks to provide students with a better and safer learning environment, they said.
So, do clothes make the man? Or should you not judge a book by it's cover?
There's an article in the BCCT today that suggests uniforms are a good idea and will raise test scores. However, a quick Google of school uniforms and performance show a different conclusion: I dunno!
Isn't this the same argument that raged over the new school itself? Will a new school raise student performance?
Studies divided on effects of school uniform: But studies have revealed mixed results. And many Bay Area school officials acknowledged in interviews that they have never tried to measure whether the uniforms are working.
Are uniform policies controversial? Sure. So is implementation.
E-mail fires up Florida parents: Parents have complained saying they can’t afford the new clothing..."Everyone can afford Wal-Mart and if they can't they need to think about turning off their cable TV or stop buying alcohol or cigarettes and spend their money on their children." Ouch!
I'm generally for uniforms myself. I'm tired of clothing being a coolness factor in school and the kids who can afford $25 dollar sneakers being judged harshly against the cool kid with the $200 dollar superstar endorsed "performance athletic footwear". Let the kids all go with the same $20 dollar polo and $40 dollar khakis and get back to the real issue: education.
Academic benefits seen with uniforms
Parental support is key to a successful uniform policy, according to officials.
By JOAN HELLYER STAFF WRITER
Melissa Buchanan is glad she goes to a school where all the students wear uniforms.
“It’s really good that people don’t wear inappropriate things. Everyone looks the same,” said Melissa, a fourth-grader at School Lane Charter School in Bensalem.
A mandatory uniform policy went into effect at School Lane in 2007. The kids wear light blue shirts and dark or khaki bottoms.
“It was a good idea to do,” Melissa, 9, said. “It makes me feel good.”
School Lane is one of three local school systems to move toward uniformity in the past year:
The charter school implemented the policy after parents urged its governing board to require uniforms as allowed by Pennsylvania’s public school code, school officials said.
The Bristol school board also made a move to uniforms at the urging of district parents. The board did not implement an official policy but rather a procedure for students at Warren Snyder-John Girotti Elementary School to wear uniforms beginning this academic year.
Parents also were the catalyst in getting Bristol Township to implement a voluntary uniform policy that will begin in September for students in its nine elementary schools, district officials said. The school board’s legal representatives suggested the policy be voluntary, so the district would not face any legal challenges to it.
Kyong Growney, of Curtin & Heefner, LLP in Morrisville, is one of the attorneys who developed Bristol Township’s policy. Growney said she and board solicitor David Truelove encouraged the board to go the voluntary route to avoid potential constitutional challenges involving freedom of religion and freedom of expression.
However, a constitutional law expert at Temple University in Philadelphia, said neither of those constitutional freedoms apply to the uniform issue. Statutory law, not constitutional law, covers the religious aspect of the issue, said Mark Rahdert, a constitutional expert.
SUPREME COURT DECISION
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a decision about 20 years ago, ruled that religious practices that contradict an established law are not federal constitutional issues, he said.
The decision was based on the case of Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith. It involved two members of the Native American Church who were fired from their counselor jobs at a private drug rehabilitation organization after they ingested peyote, a powerful hallucinogen, during religious ceremonies. The former counselors filed suit after being denied unemployment compensation.
The high court’s majority found that an individual’s religious beliefs does not excuse him or her from complying with a law prohibiting conduct the government is entitled to regulate, wrote Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in the majority opinion.
The same standard can be applied to the school uniform issue, Rahdert said.
“As long as the [uniform policy] is neutral with respect to religion and is generally applicable to all students in the school, it is usually upheld,” Rahdert said.
In addition, freedom of expression or speech is not a consideration with the uniform issue, the professor said. Instead, it’s an issue of conduct in the schools.
“In a school setting, students have diminished first amendment rights, partly because they are children and partly because they are in a school setting in which the state must maintain order and provide a conducive learning environment,” Rahdert said.
Growney declined further comment about the Bristol Township policy and the volunteer policy recommendation her firm made to the district.
Rahdert said the voluntary policy is sometimes implemented not just to avoid challenges that will be lost, but because school systems want to avoid the expense and distraction from a challenge.
He said even if a school opts for a mandatory uniform policy, it should provide for exceptions, including religious attire.
“[A district] should base its choice on what’s best for the school environment, and not based on constitutional principles, because I don’t think the constitution dictates one outcome or the other,” Rahdert said.
CHALLENGES RARE
There have been a few instances where the U.S. Supreme Court has heard cases about whether a uniform policy violates equal protection or discriminates against the poor, Rahdert said. However, those challenges are rare, because generally speaking, uniform policies are designed to be affordable, he said.
In recent years, a few other Bucks districts, including Bensalem and Central Bucks, as well as North Penn, and Upper Moreland in Eastern Montgomery County, have tossed around the uniform issue. However, they abandoned the idea, generally speaking, because the initiative did not have enough support from school board members, administrators or parents.
Other local districts also have not experienced a groundswell of support for uniforms, officials said.
For school systems that are considering a uniform policy, the U.S. Department of Education produced a manual to provide guidelines on how to implement such a policy. The first step is to get parents involved from the beginning of the process, according to the manual posted at www.ed.gov.
“Parental support of a uniform policy is critical for success. Indeed, the strongest push for school uniforms in recent years has come from parental groups who want better discipline in their children’s schools,” education officials said in the manual.
Melanie Scott, a School Lane parent, said the charter school’s uniform policy definitely has her backing.
“It’s a great idea,” Scott said. “Now it’s about school and not about who is cool.”
The push for uniforms began in the mid-1990s when the Long Beach, Calif., school system started requiring all elementary and middle school students to wear uniforms. The school board made the move after a statewide voucher initiative failed, according to Carl A. Cohn, who was the Long Beach superintendent during the move to uniforms.
During debate over the initiative, board members had promised residents and particularly parents that they would look for ways to improve the school environment, according to Cohn.
The district already had uniform policies in place on a pilot basis in 11 of its 70 elementary and middle schools, Cohn said. Those schools reported a better climate in terms of learning and safety than others where there was no uniform policy in place.
The district moved ahead with implementing the policy in all of its schools in 1994. Within a year, overall school crime dropped 36 percent, including a decrease of 51 percent in fights and 74 percent in sexual offenses, according to the federal education department.
VOLUNTARY VS. MANDATORY
Since then, school systems throughout the country have followed Long Beach’s lead and implemented their own uniform policies. Some are mandatory. Others are voluntary.
Not all of the policies have remained in effect, usually because parents were not supportive of the effort. For instance, Maymont Elementary School in Richmond, Va., implemented a uniform policy in the mid-1990s. The school reported improved behavior, increased attendance rates and higher student achievement, according to the U.S. education department.
However, the policy was discontinued several years ago, a school spokeswoman said, because parents were no longer in favor of the uniforms.
Other schools across the country report better success. Douglass Elementary School in Memphis, Tenn., is one of them.
Douglass implemented a voluntary uniform policy in the mid-1990s. The maroon or white shirt and khaki bottoms initiative became a mandatory policy about four years ago at the inner city kindergarten through seventh-grade school, said guidance counselor Aron Wyatt.
“[The students] are able to focus more. They are not being teased about their clothes,” Wyatt said. “It keeps you on task a little more.”
He also noted student academic performance has increased over the last few years, due in part to the uniforms.
The only challenge the school has faced because of the uniforms is from parents who said they could not afford the moderately priced clothes, Wyatt said. “We have a clothes closet to help out with that, if they don’t have the resources, so they can send their kids in the proper uniform,” he said.
Wyatt has some advice for schools planning to implement a uniform policy.
“Enforce it. Don’t just start it up and then let the kids come some days in their uniforms and some days [in regular clothes]. If you enforce it, you show them that you are serious about it. The kids will conform and the parents will conform,” the guidance counselor said.
Bristol Township officials said they went with the voluntary policy because they believe enforcement of the practice will not be necessary. Most district families will adhere to it as the district seeks to provide students with a better and safer learning environment, they said.
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