From the BCCT.
I don't follow "As The Neshaminy Turns". It's hard enough keeping up with the plot twists on "One Morrisville to Destroy", but when the negotiations start out with "Go ahead, make my day" style pronouncements, it promises to be a less than cordial series of talks.
We should pay attention and watch this as it plays out. It's probably a preview of the Morrisville talks to come in a few years. Unless of course, by then it's the Pennsbury School District, but that's another story. And another soap opera to tune into. "All My Students" perhaps?
School board says it won’t budge
Neshaminy educators’ pay and benefits account for more than 80 percent of the district’s budget.
By RACHEL CANELLI
They’re not budging.
After the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers recently rejected the school board’s latest health care and salary offer and proposed a counter offer of their own, board President Ritchie Webb told the newspaper’s editorial board last week he believes there’s solid unity on the board to stick to its guns.
Webb’s fellow board members were quick to agree.
“The current contract … has drained the blood from taxpayers,” said Frank Koziol. “I have dug in my cleats and clamped down on my mouth piece. Reggie White couldn’t budge me. I think the only reason we only have nine votes is because [there aren’t] 10 people on the board.”
While union President Louise Boyd also was invited to meet with the newspaper’s editorial board, she declined, saying she meant no disrespect to the public, but it’s the 700-plus educators’ policy to negotiate directly with the district — not through the media.
“Unfortunately, the district has been unwilling to move this process forward in as timely a manner as the (NFT) has strived to achieve,” Boyd wrote via email. “Quite frankly, we’re disappointed that the district has chosen to be more proactive in communicating with the media than with the (union’s) negotiations team.”
Either way, board members said they’re not willing to move from a position of providing teachers with a 1 percent annual salary increase, plus about 2 percent for step increases for longevity and educational training, and asking them to contribute 15 percent to their health care premiums the first year of a proposed three-year deal, 16 percent the second year, and 17 percent in the last year.
Since Neshaminy is the only district in Bucks County where employees pay nothing toward those insurance premiums, board officials said they won’t even consider the teachers’ counter-offer of keeping the medical and drug package status quo and giving 6 percent annual salary increases, including steps.
“This board has never been as unified as it is now,” said William O’Connor. “And since there will be no retro pay, I sincerely hope the NFT will return to the bargaining table with a renewed commitment towards compromise.”
Joseph Blasch, William Spitz and Susan Cummings all concurred.
The union members do pay $15 for doctor visits and $5 and $20 for generic and brand-name drugs, respectively, through Personal Choice, the district’s human resources department reported.
Although Webb said he values the teachers as quality people, he claimed the district simply can’t afford their requests due to a looming $14 million budget deficit.
Webb added that’s why the board is trying to eliminate the $3 million cost of providing retirees with full benefits until age 65 and another $1 million to allow educators to pay the $5 generic fee for $20 brand name drugs when generics aren’t available.
Boyd said the union’s negotiating team is ready and willing to keep talking.
“Our goal is to continue providing the students and the taxpayers of the Neshaminy School District with the highest levels of educational and professional standards possible,” said Boyd. “To that end, we will continue to make every effort on our part to negotiate directly with the district in an effort to secure a fair and equitable contract for our members.”
But board Vice President Kim Koutsouradis said Neshaminy School District needs to start taking care of its financial issues, beginning with the teachers.
Educators start in the district at about $51,976 and top out at roughly $95,923. The average Neshaminy teacher’s salary is $76,000, administrators said. The district pays at least $22,000 per year to cover a family of four’s health care. The average employer contribution for a similar package is roughly $12,700, according to the National Coalition on Health Care.
Neshaminy educators’ pay and benefits account for more than 80 percent of the district’s budget, officials said.
“I … can’t see giving a cent more than what was already offered,” said Koutsouradis. “Enough is enough and it’s time the teachers wake up.”
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Save Money at What Cost?
From the Charlotte (SC) Observer. To save money, they're playing all the high school basketball games in the same gym, rather than JV at one and varsity at another. The result? Games ending way too late at night, incomplete homework, and a slow teacher day tomorrow.
Saving money, but at a cost to kids?
Schools reduce travel by holding games at one site, but some students get home late.
By Langston Wertz Jr. Posted: Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009
On Feb. 10, a high school basketball game featuring the top two boys' teams in the state started at 8:41p.m. Hopewell's team, ranked No.1, left Vance's gym, after an exhilarating 70-62 win, just before 11 to take a bus back to campus.
By the time the players got home and ready for bed, it was going to be after midnight.
This season, many games, like Hopewell-Vance, increasingly started – and ended – later.
“I've got homework to do and on game nights, a lot of times, you can't do it after school. You have to wait until you get home after the game,” said Hopewell guard Brandyn Curry, a 4.6 student who has signed with Harvard. “It's tough to stay awake in class.”
About 10 years ago, Mecklenburg County principals changed from playing three games at one gym and junior varsity boys at another to playing four games at one site.
Principals thought that by combining games, they could save on expenses.
Until last season, the JV games were played with running clocks, except during the final two minutes of the second and fourth quarters. Before the 2007-08 season, JV coaches asked to remove the running clock in exchange for shortened warm-up and halftime sessions.
In some cases, it's working fine. Myers Park athletics director Greg Clewis said his school has made a point to enforce 10-minute breaks between games and halftimes – five minutes shorter than some schools. His goal is to be done by 9:30 each night.
“I know you'll have something from time to time,” Clewis said. “You'll have a girls' overtime or something like that, but if kids leave the gym at 10:30, then you've got an issue.”
Most CMS teams are mainly playing in Charlotte. In neighboring counties like Cabarrus, late game times, plus long bus rides, can be a bad mix.
Concord boys' coach Scott Brewer has had games start as late at 8:50 more than an hour's bus ride from campus.
“That teacher who coaches is so fatigued that they're affecting 90 to 100 kids because they're too dad-gum tired to teach,” Brewer said. “So it's video day or worksheet day, especially for somebody who teaches, say, English or Chemistry. And even a PE teacher will just sit on their can and roll the balls out.”
Cabarrus County School Board member Wayne Williams said county principals were recently asked if they would like to continue playing four games at one site. Two principals voted to split the games. Six voted not to maintain status quo.
“It makes a whole lot more sense to play JV at one school and varsity at another,” Williams said. “Then you don't have possibility of starting varsity boys too late. Usually this doesn't affect girls teams because when they get done playing, they get on the bus and go home.”
In Union County, teams play four games at one site, but the JV has seven-minute quarters, down one from the norm.
In Wake and Guilford counties, teams either play the JVs at a different site or split games up by boys and girls.
In Gaston County, teams play four games at one site, but the JV plays with a running clock, stopping in the final two minutes of each quarter – a version of CMS' old policy.
“Our games are over by 9, 9:30,” said East Gaston athletics director Ken Howell.
At last week's Hopewell-Vance game, the fourth quarter started at 9:37.
“We need to get (kids) home earlier,” CMS school board member Joe White said. “Some years ago, when boys were at home, girls traveled and that interfered with wrestling. But I would say now as both a grandparent and a school board member, we need to figure this thing out.”
Next fall, CMS schools will be reorganized into new conferences, whose officials will meet in May. Vicki Hamilton, the CMS system AD, said one of the agenda items for that meeting are these late games.
Myers Park's Clewis estimates that if CMS played JV and varsity games at separate sites, for example, there would be no additional bus costs, but schools would add about $400 per night for game staffing.
Hamilton said schools would work hard to find a good solution.
“I've been in gyms this year where I looked at the clock and it's 10:40, and that's difficult when our student-athletes have to travel back to the home school, get in their parents' car and drive home and take care of academic work, and then be back at school at 7a.m. So we're going to get our heads together and see what we can come up with that can reduce the length without stepping on the integrity of the basketball games.”
Saving money, but at a cost to kids?
Schools reduce travel by holding games at one site, but some students get home late.
By Langston Wertz Jr. Posted: Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009
On Feb. 10, a high school basketball game featuring the top two boys' teams in the state started at 8:41p.m. Hopewell's team, ranked No.1, left Vance's gym, after an exhilarating 70-62 win, just before 11 to take a bus back to campus.
By the time the players got home and ready for bed, it was going to be after midnight.
This season, many games, like Hopewell-Vance, increasingly started – and ended – later.
“I've got homework to do and on game nights, a lot of times, you can't do it after school. You have to wait until you get home after the game,” said Hopewell guard Brandyn Curry, a 4.6 student who has signed with Harvard. “It's tough to stay awake in class.”
About 10 years ago, Mecklenburg County principals changed from playing three games at one gym and junior varsity boys at another to playing four games at one site.
Principals thought that by combining games, they could save on expenses.
Until last season, the JV games were played with running clocks, except during the final two minutes of the second and fourth quarters. Before the 2007-08 season, JV coaches asked to remove the running clock in exchange for shortened warm-up and halftime sessions.
In some cases, it's working fine. Myers Park athletics director Greg Clewis said his school has made a point to enforce 10-minute breaks between games and halftimes – five minutes shorter than some schools. His goal is to be done by 9:30 each night.
“I know you'll have something from time to time,” Clewis said. “You'll have a girls' overtime or something like that, but if kids leave the gym at 10:30, then you've got an issue.”
Most CMS teams are mainly playing in Charlotte. In neighboring counties like Cabarrus, late game times, plus long bus rides, can be a bad mix.
Concord boys' coach Scott Brewer has had games start as late at 8:50 more than an hour's bus ride from campus.
“That teacher who coaches is so fatigued that they're affecting 90 to 100 kids because they're too dad-gum tired to teach,” Brewer said. “So it's video day or worksheet day, especially for somebody who teaches, say, English or Chemistry. And even a PE teacher will just sit on their can and roll the balls out.”
Cabarrus County School Board member Wayne Williams said county principals were recently asked if they would like to continue playing four games at one site. Two principals voted to split the games. Six voted not to maintain status quo.
“It makes a whole lot more sense to play JV at one school and varsity at another,” Williams said. “Then you don't have possibility of starting varsity boys too late. Usually this doesn't affect girls teams because when they get done playing, they get on the bus and go home.”
In Union County, teams play four games at one site, but the JV has seven-minute quarters, down one from the norm.
In Wake and Guilford counties, teams either play the JVs at a different site or split games up by boys and girls.
In Gaston County, teams play four games at one site, but the JV plays with a running clock, stopping in the final two minutes of each quarter – a version of CMS' old policy.
“Our games are over by 9, 9:30,” said East Gaston athletics director Ken Howell.
At last week's Hopewell-Vance game, the fourth quarter started at 9:37.
“We need to get (kids) home earlier,” CMS school board member Joe White said. “Some years ago, when boys were at home, girls traveled and that interfered with wrestling. But I would say now as both a grandparent and a school board member, we need to figure this thing out.”
Next fall, CMS schools will be reorganized into new conferences, whose officials will meet in May. Vicki Hamilton, the CMS system AD, said one of the agenda items for that meeting are these late games.
Myers Park's Clewis estimates that if CMS played JV and varsity games at separate sites, for example, there would be no additional bus costs, but schools would add about $400 per night for game staffing.
Hamilton said schools would work hard to find a good solution.
“I've been in gyms this year where I looked at the clock and it's 10:40, and that's difficult when our student-athletes have to travel back to the home school, get in their parents' car and drive home and take care of academic work, and then be back at school at 7a.m. So we're going to get our heads together and see what we can come up with that can reduce the length without stepping on the integrity of the basketball games.”
Spend Now or Pay Later
From the BCCT. This may be happening in South Carolina, but it's equally applicable to the Morrisville School District. Instead of a state of the art 21st century K-12 building, we now have one building on life support (with the doctors ready to pull the plug), one receiving massive amounts of prosthetic trailer applications, and a third needing a quad bypass to clear out decades of neglect.
‘Corridor of Shame’
Spend now, or pay later
Kathleen Parker writes this column for Washington Post Writers Group:
DILLON, S.C. — When Bud Ferillo told me to dress warmly, it didn’t occur to me that he was concerned I might be cold inside the classroom.
We were heading to J.V. Martin Junior High School, the school made famous by Barack Obama’s visit during his presidential campaign. At his first news conference as president, Obama referred to the school as an example of why we need stimulus funds for school reconstruction.
Obama learned about J.V. Martin, built in 1896, from Ferillo’s 2005 documentary, “Corridor of Shame,” about crumbling schools along South Carolina’s I-95 corridor. Funded by community leaders and foundations, the film highlights problems that were presented as evidence in a lawsuit 36 school districts brought against the state for failing to provide “minimally adequate education” to all students. (The South Carolina Supreme Court is expected to rule any day.)
“All” is the operative word as plaintiffs claim unequal treatment.
Their evidence is compelling.
Plaintiff districts are 88.4 percent minority compared to the state average of 48.1 percent, according to the lawsuit. They are primarily poor with 86 percent of students getting free or reduced-cost lunches. And 75 percent of students in the plaintiff districts scored unsatisfactory or below average on state achievement tests, compared to 17.4 percent of total students in the state.
Moreover, teachers in plaintiff districts make less than similarly qualified teachers in other districts and fewer have advanced degrees. Not surprisingly, it’s hard to recruit teachers to impoverished areas to teach disadvantaged students in collapsing schools without modern equipment.
Ferillo, who heads a public relations firm in Columbia, argues that improving schools not only will help attract better teachers but also raise parent expectations and participation while inspiring children who are aware of their second-class citizenship. Earlier this month, Ty’sheoma Bethea, an eighth-grader at J.V. Martin, wrote Congress asking for help.
South Carolina isn’t the only state whose rural schools are in trouble, of course. Many of the 1,200 nationwide that Obama hopes to replace with stimulus funds have suffered declining funding in recent years as manufacturing jobs have disappeared, populations have declined and tax bases have shrunk. But problems are exacerbated by an uncomfortable fact most would prefer to ignore: Poor African-American communities are not a top priority.
Ray Rogers, Dillon School District superintendent, has been at J.V. Martin for 18 years, during which he has been forced to serve as janitor, fire marshal and handyman, battling the elements within and without. Rags fill holes, buckets capture water. A fire drill sometimes means jogging down hallways yelling, “Fire drill!”
Rogers’ blue eyes betray battle fatigue and tear up easily as he talks. He says he can take the grief from folks who don’t see why he gets so worked up, but he can’t fathom how good people can turn their backs on children. He gets plenty of grief.
At the Charcoal Grill over a fried chicken buffet, a fellow at the next table calls out: “Hey, you in good with Nancy Pelosi? I hear she’s got $30 million to save a mouse.” (He was referring to funds for wetlands maintenance that would benefit, among other things, the salt marsh harvest mouse.)
Another jovial neighbor notices the wedding ring on Assistant Superintendent Polly Elkins’ finger and says: “Hey, does Obama know you got all them diamonds?”
It’s all friendly enough, but one senses a smidgen of veiled contempt just beneath the banter. These folks remember when nobody ever heard of Barack Obama or Dillon — and when J.V. Martin was good enough for them.
None other than Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, a native son, accepted his high school diploma in the auditorium that’s now part of the junior high school. Of course that auditorium, along with one-third of the campus, is now condemned.
As it happens, I did not remove my jacket or scarf during a threehour interview and tour. Although most rooms were relatively warm, thanks to recent repairs, some still registered as low as 50 degrees. Four years ago when Ferillo was filming here, the gym was 18 degrees.
In other schools along the I-95 corridor, classroom ceilings have collapsed and sewage backs up in hallways on rainy days. Sometimes snakes wander in from neighboring swamps.
What happens in rural South Carolina may not be of paramount importance to people elsewhere, who are facing their own economic challenges. But what’s true here is true in rural communities across America, and our choices are pretty simple. As Ferillo put it: “We either educate the child or we jail the adult.”
‘Corridor of Shame’
Spend now, or pay later
Kathleen Parker writes this column for Washington Post Writers Group:
DILLON, S.C. — When Bud Ferillo told me to dress warmly, it didn’t occur to me that he was concerned I might be cold inside the classroom.
We were heading to J.V. Martin Junior High School, the school made famous by Barack Obama’s visit during his presidential campaign. At his first news conference as president, Obama referred to the school as an example of why we need stimulus funds for school reconstruction.
Obama learned about J.V. Martin, built in 1896, from Ferillo’s 2005 documentary, “Corridor of Shame,” about crumbling schools along South Carolina’s I-95 corridor. Funded by community leaders and foundations, the film highlights problems that were presented as evidence in a lawsuit 36 school districts brought against the state for failing to provide “minimally adequate education” to all students. (The South Carolina Supreme Court is expected to rule any day.)
“All” is the operative word as plaintiffs claim unequal treatment.
Their evidence is compelling.
Plaintiff districts are 88.4 percent minority compared to the state average of 48.1 percent, according to the lawsuit. They are primarily poor with 86 percent of students getting free or reduced-cost lunches. And 75 percent of students in the plaintiff districts scored unsatisfactory or below average on state achievement tests, compared to 17.4 percent of total students in the state.
Moreover, teachers in plaintiff districts make less than similarly qualified teachers in other districts and fewer have advanced degrees. Not surprisingly, it’s hard to recruit teachers to impoverished areas to teach disadvantaged students in collapsing schools without modern equipment.
Ferillo, who heads a public relations firm in Columbia, argues that improving schools not only will help attract better teachers but also raise parent expectations and participation while inspiring children who are aware of their second-class citizenship. Earlier this month, Ty’sheoma Bethea, an eighth-grader at J.V. Martin, wrote Congress asking for help.
South Carolina isn’t the only state whose rural schools are in trouble, of course. Many of the 1,200 nationwide that Obama hopes to replace with stimulus funds have suffered declining funding in recent years as manufacturing jobs have disappeared, populations have declined and tax bases have shrunk. But problems are exacerbated by an uncomfortable fact most would prefer to ignore: Poor African-American communities are not a top priority.
Ray Rogers, Dillon School District superintendent, has been at J.V. Martin for 18 years, during which he has been forced to serve as janitor, fire marshal and handyman, battling the elements within and without. Rags fill holes, buckets capture water. A fire drill sometimes means jogging down hallways yelling, “Fire drill!”
Rogers’ blue eyes betray battle fatigue and tear up easily as he talks. He says he can take the grief from folks who don’t see why he gets so worked up, but he can’t fathom how good people can turn their backs on children. He gets plenty of grief.
At the Charcoal Grill over a fried chicken buffet, a fellow at the next table calls out: “Hey, you in good with Nancy Pelosi? I hear she’s got $30 million to save a mouse.” (He was referring to funds for wetlands maintenance that would benefit, among other things, the salt marsh harvest mouse.)
Another jovial neighbor notices the wedding ring on Assistant Superintendent Polly Elkins’ finger and says: “Hey, does Obama know you got all them diamonds?”
It’s all friendly enough, but one senses a smidgen of veiled contempt just beneath the banter. These folks remember when nobody ever heard of Barack Obama or Dillon — and when J.V. Martin was good enough for them.
None other than Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, a native son, accepted his high school diploma in the auditorium that’s now part of the junior high school. Of course that auditorium, along with one-third of the campus, is now condemned.
As it happens, I did not remove my jacket or scarf during a threehour interview and tour. Although most rooms were relatively warm, thanks to recent repairs, some still registered as low as 50 degrees. Four years ago when Ferillo was filming here, the gym was 18 degrees.
In other schools along the I-95 corridor, classroom ceilings have collapsed and sewage backs up in hallways on rainy days. Sometimes snakes wander in from neighboring swamps.
What happens in rural South Carolina may not be of paramount importance to people elsewhere, who are facing their own economic challenges. But what’s true here is true in rural communities across America, and our choices are pretty simple. As Ferillo put it: “We either educate the child or we jail the adult.”
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Calhoun St. Bridge upgrade, Web site
From the BCCT.
Calhoun St. Bridge to be upgraded, gets own Web site
A new Web page will update the public on the project’s progress.
By GEORGE MATTAR
Cross the Calhoun Street Bridge in your travels? Be prepared for some traffic headaches when a major rehabilitation begins later this year.
To ease the pain, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission announced Thursday it has launched a Web page to keep the public informed of the project. The bridge links Trenton and Morrisville across the Delaware River. [Link to web page here.]
While the project is in the preliminary design phase, the commission is dedicating a specific page on its public Web site due to the volume of commuters who use the bridge, said commission spokesman Joe Donnelly.
“We also set up a Web page because of the anticipated community interest,” Donnelly said.
The executive director of the commission, Frank G. McCartney, said the Calhoun Street Bridge rehabilitation will be challenging.
“This Web page is a manifestation of the commission’s intent to keep the public informed and involved with the decision-making process as this project goes forward.”
The project will include replacement of the superstructure floor system; repair of iron trusses, the substructure and approach roadways; and improvements to the rails and sidewalk, Donnelly said.
The goal is for work to begin late this year, with completion in late 2010.
The bridge, included on the National Register of Historical Places, opened for travel on Oct. 20, 1884, and is 1,274 feet long. It is a Phoenix Pratt truss with a timber plank pedestrian sidewalk supported by the upriver truss on steel cantilever brackets. It is the longest through-truss bridge in the commission’s 20 bridge inventory and the only one built completely of wrought iron.
The Calhoun Street Bridge has a 3-ton weight limit, an 8-foot vertical clearance and a 15 mph speed limit. In 2007, an average 18,500 vehicles used the bridge each day.
Calhoun St. Bridge to be upgraded, gets own Web site
A new Web page will update the public on the project’s progress.
By GEORGE MATTAR
Cross the Calhoun Street Bridge in your travels? Be prepared for some traffic headaches when a major rehabilitation begins later this year.
To ease the pain, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission announced Thursday it has launched a Web page to keep the public informed of the project. The bridge links Trenton and Morrisville across the Delaware River. [Link to web page here.]
While the project is in the preliminary design phase, the commission is dedicating a specific page on its public Web site due to the volume of commuters who use the bridge, said commission spokesman Joe Donnelly.
“We also set up a Web page because of the anticipated community interest,” Donnelly said.
The executive director of the commission, Frank G. McCartney, said the Calhoun Street Bridge rehabilitation will be challenging.
“This Web page is a manifestation of the commission’s intent to keep the public informed and involved with the decision-making process as this project goes forward.”
The project will include replacement of the superstructure floor system; repair of iron trusses, the substructure and approach roadways; and improvements to the rails and sidewalk, Donnelly said.
The goal is for work to begin late this year, with completion in late 2010.
The bridge, included on the National Register of Historical Places, opened for travel on Oct. 20, 1884, and is 1,274 feet long. It is a Phoenix Pratt truss with a timber plank pedestrian sidewalk supported by the upriver truss on steel cantilever brackets. It is the longest through-truss bridge in the commission’s 20 bridge inventory and the only one built completely of wrought iron.
The Calhoun Street Bridge has a 3-ton weight limit, an 8-foot vertical clearance and a 15 mph speed limit. In 2007, an average 18,500 vehicles used the bridge each day.
Merger Talk: More Big Government?
Is the school consolidation just another way toward big government?
We Pennsylvanians love our communities
by Lowman S. Henry, CEO and
Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research
Governor Ed Rendell's suggestion that Pennsylvania should undergo another round of school district consolidation has reignited the debate as to whether fewer and bigger is better than more and smaller.
It is a debate that has raged for years over Pennsylvania's other units of local government: municipalities such as townships, boroughs and cities. The commonwealth has 5,334 such local governments ranging in size from the 1,450,000 residents who live in the City of Philadelphia, to small boroughs with less than 1,000 residents. Pennsylvania's tradition of local government can be traced back to the colonial era, when local communities were run by New England-style town hall meetings wherein all the residents showed up to debate and vote upon issues of common concern.
The tradition of local government is one to which Pennsylvanians cling. Over the years, polls conducted by the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research have shown that overwhelmingly local government is viewed by voters as the most responsive and cost efficient. This despite repeated efforts by state government and often times business groups who continually push for municipal consolidation.
Why do Pennsylvanians love their local governments so much? A big factor is identity. Think about where you live. If you live in a small town or community do you tell people you are "from" your town, or that you are "from" the nearest big city? If you are from Chester, you don't tell people you live in Philadelphia. If you live in Greensburg, you don't say you are from Pittsburgh. If you reside in Camp Hill, you don't tell folks you are from Harrisburg.
And then there is the issue of access and accountability. The old town meeting concept worked because people had a direct voice in the affairs of their community. Since local governments provide the services most people use on a day-to-day basis – like trash pick-up, parks, roads, police protection – we like being able to complain to someone who will listen, or have a say in who and how these services are provided.
Smaller units of government also increase dramatically public interaction with elected officials. If you live in a small town or township chances are you know at least one member of borough council or one member of your board of township supervisors or commissioners. They are your neighbors. They go to church with you, shop at the same grocery store, and their kids go to school with your kids. Local officials tend to be the most responsive because they are the most accessible.
A recent Lincoln Institute survey of township supervisors found little buy-in to the argument that consolidating municipalities would save money. Sixty-seven percent said they did not think that regionalization or consolidation of municipalities would bring about cost savings. In fact, many argue they already work together with neighboring municipalities when it is beneficial. Eighty-six percent of the townships participating in the survey said they have inter-municipal agreements.
And, while Philadelphia, Harrisburg and the state's other biggest cities are looking for a federal bail-out to survive the current economic recession, townships are holding up rather well. Seventy-four percent said they have not had to reduce services in order to avoid raising taxes and 68% said they have a "rainy day" fund set aside to help them weather any economic storm. Further, despite the economic recession, 40% report there has been some business growth in their municipality, and 35% have seen more manufacturing activity.
In fact, the supervisors told the Lincoln Institute their biggest problems are not financial. Roadway conditions and traffic problem top their list of concerns, followed by low commercial tax base, aging infrastructure, sprawl and affordable housing. Supervisors are also concerned that some of their local functions, such as planning and zoning, will be co-opted by counties or the state. Eighty-three percent want to keep that at the local level.
Another reason township supervisors resist consolidation is to protect what they see as a superior quality of life in their municipalities. Eighty percent told the Lincoln Institute that high crime rates are causing people to flee the state's cities, 72% said high taxes in cities are a problem, and 61% cite poor schools in cities as a reason why their populations are moving out.
The bottom line is Pennsylvania's system of many medium and small sized municipalities is working financially, administratively, and provides a sense of community to residents. As the debate over school district consolidation heats up, it would be wise to take some of the same factors that make Pennsylvanians satisfied with their local governments into consideration when deciding how large our school districts should become.
We Pennsylvanians love our communities
by Lowman S. Henry, CEO and
Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research
Governor Ed Rendell's suggestion that Pennsylvania should undergo another round of school district consolidation has reignited the debate as to whether fewer and bigger is better than more and smaller.
It is a debate that has raged for years over Pennsylvania's other units of local government: municipalities such as townships, boroughs and cities. The commonwealth has 5,334 such local governments ranging in size from the 1,450,000 residents who live in the City of Philadelphia, to small boroughs with less than 1,000 residents. Pennsylvania's tradition of local government can be traced back to the colonial era, when local communities were run by New England-style town hall meetings wherein all the residents showed up to debate and vote upon issues of common concern.
The tradition of local government is one to which Pennsylvanians cling. Over the years, polls conducted by the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research have shown that overwhelmingly local government is viewed by voters as the most responsive and cost efficient. This despite repeated efforts by state government and often times business groups who continually push for municipal consolidation.
Why do Pennsylvanians love their local governments so much? A big factor is identity. Think about where you live. If you live in a small town or community do you tell people you are "from" your town, or that you are "from" the nearest big city? If you are from Chester, you don't tell people you live in Philadelphia. If you live in Greensburg, you don't say you are from Pittsburgh. If you reside in Camp Hill, you don't tell folks you are from Harrisburg.
And then there is the issue of access and accountability. The old town meeting concept worked because people had a direct voice in the affairs of their community. Since local governments provide the services most people use on a day-to-day basis – like trash pick-up, parks, roads, police protection – we like being able to complain to someone who will listen, or have a say in who and how these services are provided.
Smaller units of government also increase dramatically public interaction with elected officials. If you live in a small town or township chances are you know at least one member of borough council or one member of your board of township supervisors or commissioners. They are your neighbors. They go to church with you, shop at the same grocery store, and their kids go to school with your kids. Local officials tend to be the most responsive because they are the most accessible.
A recent Lincoln Institute survey of township supervisors found little buy-in to the argument that consolidating municipalities would save money. Sixty-seven percent said they did not think that regionalization or consolidation of municipalities would bring about cost savings. In fact, many argue they already work together with neighboring municipalities when it is beneficial. Eighty-six percent of the townships participating in the survey said they have inter-municipal agreements.
And, while Philadelphia, Harrisburg and the state's other biggest cities are looking for a federal bail-out to survive the current economic recession, townships are holding up rather well. Seventy-four percent said they have not had to reduce services in order to avoid raising taxes and 68% said they have a "rainy day" fund set aside to help them weather any economic storm. Further, despite the economic recession, 40% report there has been some business growth in their municipality, and 35% have seen more manufacturing activity.
In fact, the supervisors told the Lincoln Institute their biggest problems are not financial. Roadway conditions and traffic problem top their list of concerns, followed by low commercial tax base, aging infrastructure, sprawl and affordable housing. Supervisors are also concerned that some of their local functions, such as planning and zoning, will be co-opted by counties or the state. Eighty-three percent want to keep that at the local level.
Another reason township supervisors resist consolidation is to protect what they see as a superior quality of life in their municipalities. Eighty percent told the Lincoln Institute that high crime rates are causing people to flee the state's cities, 72% said high taxes in cities are a problem, and 61% cite poor schools in cities as a reason why their populations are moving out.
The bottom line is Pennsylvania's system of many medium and small sized municipalities is working financially, administratively, and provides a sense of community to residents. As the debate over school district consolidation heats up, it would be wise to take some of the same factors that make Pennsylvanians satisfied with their local governments into consideration when deciding how large our school districts should become.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Uniforms
Thanks to the emailer for this reminder.
………don’t forget uniforms…..Marlys and Brenda will be bringing that subject up again at the meeting next week. My kids will be eating lunch as soon as they get to school, but HELL they will be fashionable. Will this stop Marlys from taking pictures????
Ugh!
………don’t forget uniforms…..Marlys and Brenda will be bringing that subject up again at the meeting next week. My kids will be eating lunch as soon as they get to school, but HELL they will be fashionable. Will this stop Marlys from taking pictures????
Ugh!
More Middle-High School restructuring?
Thanks to the emailer for this tip. Just like all the plans of the Emperor, we find out piece by piece.
Does anyone have any other information?
Apparently, the middle/high school will be going to a six period day next year (as opposed to eight). I am curious to know if this program restructuring is happening for educational reasons, or out of necessity to accommodate two additional grades What does this mean for middle and high school students? Will course options be reduced as a result? Will students still have full-year English and Math, and other core classes. Something (1/4 of each days classes) is going to give. What? Not so long ago, we moved away from block scheduling. This appears to be a move in that direction again - what changed?
Does anyone have any other information?
Apparently, the middle/high school will be going to a six period day next year (as opposed to eight). I am curious to know if this program restructuring is happening for educational reasons, or out of necessity to accommodate two additional grades What does this mean for middle and high school students? Will course options be reduced as a result? Will students still have full-year English and Math, and other core classes. Something (1/4 of each days classes) is going to give. What? Not so long ago, we moved away from block scheduling. This appears to be a move in that direction again - what changed?
District surveys residents about cost-cutting measures
From the BCCT.
District surveys residents about cost-cutting measures
Posted in News on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 4:07 pm by Joan Hellyer
Bensalem residents can make suggestions about ways for the school district to save some money over the next few years in an online survey.
Everything except salaries and benefits is up for consideration, according to a letter from the district’s superintendent posted at www.bensalemsd.org.
“While we expect a slight reduction in the cost of goods and supplies, we do not anticipate a decline in the area representing most of our budget, salaries and benefits,” Bensalem Superintendent James Lombardo said in the letter. “Given that we are a business that relies primarily on the skills of people, we do not foresee large cost savings in most expenditure areas.”
The district’s 2009-10 projected budget is estimated at $114 million. Of that amount, about $74 million will go toward salaries and benefits, according to district officials.
The budget projects a $170 average property tax hike to help cover a $7 million revenue shortfall. The district also could use as much as $3 million from its savings account, known as the fund balance, to help cover the budget deficit. The fund balance has about $11 million in it, officials said.
Despite the revenue shortfall, Bensalem is not experiencing some of the “significant budgetary gaps” neighboring districts are grappling with because of “excellent planning” by district officials, Lombardo said in the letter.
However, given revenue trends and problems with the state’s reserves “we anticipate a much grimmer picture in the next two years,” the superintendent said.
Lombardo points to several financial issues as cause for concern including revenue declines from sales taxes and real estate and interim taxes.
In anticipation of the continuing economic downturn, district officials already have taken several cost-cutting steps, including an immediate freeze on non-essential travel or conference expenses not already approved and requests to staff to reduce paper consumption and energy usage, Lombardo said in the letter.
School board members recently suggested Lombardo survey the public after he told them he sent a similar letter to district staff about ways to save money.
The superintendent’s correspondence to the community includes a link to the cost-savings survey.
District officials will collect the community’s feedback for a few weeks and then forward it onto the school board for consideration, the superintendent said.
District surveys residents about cost-cutting measures
Posted in News on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 4:07 pm by Joan Hellyer
Bensalem residents can make suggestions about ways for the school district to save some money over the next few years in an online survey.
Everything except salaries and benefits is up for consideration, according to a letter from the district’s superintendent posted at www.bensalemsd.org.
“While we expect a slight reduction in the cost of goods and supplies, we do not anticipate a decline in the area representing most of our budget, salaries and benefits,” Bensalem Superintendent James Lombardo said in the letter. “Given that we are a business that relies primarily on the skills of people, we do not foresee large cost savings in most expenditure areas.”
The district’s 2009-10 projected budget is estimated at $114 million. Of that amount, about $74 million will go toward salaries and benefits, according to district officials.
The budget projects a $170 average property tax hike to help cover a $7 million revenue shortfall. The district also could use as much as $3 million from its savings account, known as the fund balance, to help cover the budget deficit. The fund balance has about $11 million in it, officials said.
Despite the revenue shortfall, Bensalem is not experiencing some of the “significant budgetary gaps” neighboring districts are grappling with because of “excellent planning” by district officials, Lombardo said in the letter.
However, given revenue trends and problems with the state’s reserves “we anticipate a much grimmer picture in the next two years,” the superintendent said.
Lombardo points to several financial issues as cause for concern including revenue declines from sales taxes and real estate and interim taxes.
In anticipation of the continuing economic downturn, district officials already have taken several cost-cutting steps, including an immediate freeze on non-essential travel or conference expenses not already approved and requests to staff to reduce paper consumption and energy usage, Lombardo said in the letter.
School board members recently suggested Lombardo survey the public after he told them he sent a similar letter to district staff about ways to save money.
The superintendent’s correspondence to the community includes a link to the cost-savings survey.
District officials will collect the community’s feedback for a few weeks and then forward it onto the school board for consideration, the superintendent said.
Dear Mr. Obama: Pay Up
Here's an idea from the Concord(NH) Monitor
District sets out to collect on fed pledge
School boards to send special ed invoice to D.C.
By Karen Langley, Monitor staff, February 16, 2009 - 6:51 am
What's a school district to do when federal mandates arrive without federal money? Send an invoice.
That's the response of local school boards disgruntled with the perpetual gap in special education funding.
At the suggestion of their superintendent, the school boards of Allenstown, Chichester, Deerfield and Epsom have decided to bill the U.S. Department of Education for nearly a quarter of their special education costs from the past five years. The Pembroke board will consider the move at its next meeting.
Board members' qualms stem from the pledge Congress made to fund 40 percent of costs when it mandated special education programming in 1975. Funding has varied since then but has never risen much above the current 17 percent level.
The Education Department is likely to receive similar invoices, because the American Association of School Administrators is encouraging members to draw attention to the funding shortfall by billing the government.
Superintendent Peter Warburton said the campaign should not raise questions about the dedication to special education at SAU 53. It's meant rather to draw attention to the additional burden on districts, he said.
"My concern is we are now saddled with such large special education bills that in small districts lots of our other programming is being jeopardized," he said.
The SAU finance office is compiling past expense reports for filing next month.
The idea of billing the federal government for special education costs originated in Barrington, not far from the SAU 53 schools, according to Mary Kusler, assistant director of advocacy and policy at the school administrators association.
The Barrington School District first sent the government a $605,271 bill for special education costs in the 2000-01 school year.
Mike Clark, then chairman of the school board, said members were tired of drawing fire for the tax raises their budgets incurred. Board members agreed to protest what they considered failure to pay money owed.
"We weren't naive enough to think they had just not thought of the idea and would sit down and write every school district in the nation a check," Clark said.
Invoices from Barrington later included back expenses and interest. (The district never received a check, though Sen. Judd Gregg did send a letter.)
Warburton said he hopes the campaigns of enough school districts will prompt the government to increase funding. At the Deerfield School Board, Donald Gorman calls it a "political gambit" but expects to see money. If the government doesn't pay, he wants to sue.
"They said they were going to pay for it," he said. "Put the money on the table, boys."
Dick Cohen, executive director of the Disability Rights Center in Concord, said a court would be unlikely to consider the funding pledge by Congress legally binding. He questioned the argument that special education costs are truly owed to the districts.
"Education has always been seen as a local and state responsibility," he said. "The fact the federal government is providing extra in our view is a bonus."
Superintendents throughout the area said yesterday they did not plan to mail bills but were disheartened by the funding shortfall.
Recent meetings of the Andover School District featured votes requesting that congressional delegates act to fully fund special education, said Superintendent Michael Martin.
"Special education is always a topic at budget time," he said. "I think it's fair to say we are disappointed that the 40 percent is not funded."
District sets out to collect on fed pledge
School boards to send special ed invoice to D.C.
By Karen Langley, Monitor staff, February 16, 2009 - 6:51 am
What's a school district to do when federal mandates arrive without federal money? Send an invoice.
That's the response of local school boards disgruntled with the perpetual gap in special education funding.At the suggestion of their superintendent, the school boards of Allenstown, Chichester, Deerfield and Epsom have decided to bill the U.S. Department of Education for nearly a quarter of their special education costs from the past five years. The Pembroke board will consider the move at its next meeting.
Board members' qualms stem from the pledge Congress made to fund 40 percent of costs when it mandated special education programming in 1975. Funding has varied since then but has never risen much above the current 17 percent level.
The Education Department is likely to receive similar invoices, because the American Association of School Administrators is encouraging members to draw attention to the funding shortfall by billing the government.
Superintendent Peter Warburton said the campaign should not raise questions about the dedication to special education at SAU 53. It's meant rather to draw attention to the additional burden on districts, he said.
"My concern is we are now saddled with such large special education bills that in small districts lots of our other programming is being jeopardized," he said.
The SAU finance office is compiling past expense reports for filing next month.
The idea of billing the federal government for special education costs originated in Barrington, not far from the SAU 53 schools, according to Mary Kusler, assistant director of advocacy and policy at the school administrators association.
The Barrington School District first sent the government a $605,271 bill for special education costs in the 2000-01 school year.
Mike Clark, then chairman of the school board, said members were tired of drawing fire for the tax raises their budgets incurred. Board members agreed to protest what they considered failure to pay money owed.
"We weren't naive enough to think they had just not thought of the idea and would sit down and write every school district in the nation a check," Clark said.
Invoices from Barrington later included back expenses and interest. (The district never received a check, though Sen. Judd Gregg did send a letter.)
Warburton said he hopes the campaigns of enough school districts will prompt the government to increase funding. At the Deerfield School Board, Donald Gorman calls it a "political gambit" but expects to see money. If the government doesn't pay, he wants to sue.
"They said they were going to pay for it," he said. "Put the money on the table, boys."
Dick Cohen, executive director of the Disability Rights Center in Concord, said a court would be unlikely to consider the funding pledge by Congress legally binding. He questioned the argument that special education costs are truly owed to the districts.
"Education has always been seen as a local and state responsibility," he said. "The fact the federal government is providing extra in our view is a bonus."
Superintendents throughout the area said yesterday they did not plan to mail bills but were disheartened by the funding shortfall.
Recent meetings of the Andover School District featured votes requesting that congressional delegates act to fully fund special education, said Superintendent Michael Martin.
"Special education is always a topic at budget time," he said. "I think it's fair to say we are disappointed that the 40 percent is not funded."
Thursday, February 19, 2009
What 90 Day Period?
From the BCCT.
If Reiter cannot be closed until April 29, and this vote is on March 25, what 90 day waiting period is there? "Reiter is expected to be sold."
Don't you people see? Just like the big farce of "listening" to the public during the CAP meetings, the board presided over a big play about "listening" to the public and provided a nice pretty document for us all to read while they just do what they want.
"The plan still has to be worked out." Dear Mr. Emperor: Please, pretty please, can you just show us the cover page of the plan? We'll even come down to the accounting emporium to worship you there. Or you can post it on the school website.
How can any of you vote seriously on a half-baked plan and say you're doing your sworn duty?
OK. Yes. You're right. I answered my own question.
Board to vote on restructuring schools
Morrisville Middle/Senior High School would be split into two parts: an “intermediate school” for grades four to eight, and a high school for grades nine to 12. Grades pre-K to three would be at Grandview Elementary.
By MANASEE WAGH
The Morrisville School District could see a restructuring of its schools next year.
The school board will vote next Wednesday on redistributing the district’s roughly 850 students between two of its three buildings.
In the administration’s plan, the current Morrisville Middle/Senior High School would be separated into two parts: an “intermediate school” housing grades four to eight, and a high school for grades nine to 12.
Grades pre-K to three would be housed in Grandview Elementary.
“It’s a better utilization of rooms and teachers, and our funds would be better allocated,” said acting interim Superintendent William Ferrara, who has taken over some of Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson’s duties while she’s on medical leave for the next four to six weeks.
No new construction would be required, he said.
Details on the physical layouts are still being worked out, but grades four to six would be separated from seven and eight, and nine through 12 would also be kept apart, with separate entrances, he added.
The middle/senior high school building currently houses grades six through 12 in separate wings, as well as some younger students who were relocated after a furnace explosion in M.R. Reiter Elementary School in December.
Reiter is expected to be sold and the revenue used for renovation money for the district’s remaining school buildings.
At this point, the school board plans to spend up to $7 million on renovations, said board President William Hellmann.
“I highly recommend (the restructuring plan). It’s a lot more efficient use of space,” he said.
If the board votes in favor of the plan, the changes would become effective July 1.
If Reiter cannot be closed until April 29, and this vote is on March 25, what 90 day waiting period is there? "Reiter is expected to be sold."
Don't you people see? Just like the big farce of "listening" to the public during the CAP meetings, the board presided over a big play about "listening" to the public and provided a nice pretty document for us all to read while they just do what they want.
"The plan still has to be worked out." Dear Mr. Emperor: Please, pretty please, can you just show us the cover page of the plan? We'll even come down to the accounting emporium to worship you there. Or you can post it on the school website.
How can any of you vote seriously on a half-baked plan and say you're doing your sworn duty?
OK. Yes. You're right. I answered my own question.
Board to vote on restructuring schools
Morrisville Middle/Senior High School would be split into two parts: an “intermediate school” for grades four to eight, and a high school for grades nine to 12. Grades pre-K to three would be at Grandview Elementary.
By MANASEE WAGH
The Morrisville School District could see a restructuring of its schools next year.
The school board will vote next Wednesday on redistributing the district’s roughly 850 students between two of its three buildings.
In the administration’s plan, the current Morrisville Middle/Senior High School would be separated into two parts: an “intermediate school” housing grades four to eight, and a high school for grades nine to 12.
Grades pre-K to three would be housed in Grandview Elementary.
“It’s a better utilization of rooms and teachers, and our funds would be better allocated,” said acting interim Superintendent William Ferrara, who has taken over some of Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson’s duties while she’s on medical leave for the next four to six weeks.
No new construction would be required, he said.
Details on the physical layouts are still being worked out, but grades four to six would be separated from seven and eight, and nine through 12 would also be kept apart, with separate entrances, he added.
The middle/senior high school building currently houses grades six through 12 in separate wings, as well as some younger students who were relocated after a furnace explosion in M.R. Reiter Elementary School in December.
Reiter is expected to be sold and the revenue used for renovation money for the district’s remaining school buildings.
At this point, the school board plans to spend up to $7 million on renovations, said board President William Hellmann.
“I highly recommend (the restructuring plan). It’s a lot more efficient use of space,” he said.
If the board votes in favor of the plan, the changes would become effective July 1.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Dear PA Taxpayer: Pay Up
From the Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader.
Pa. pension funds tell lawmakers of major losses
By MARK SCOLFORO
Pennsylvania's two major public-sector pension plans on Tuesday gave state lawmakers the bracing news that together their investments lost more than $28 billion in value last year.
Officials who oversee the separate funds for state workers and public school employees also warned that a sharp increase in taxpayer subsidies looms because stock market losses will make a long-anticipated 2012 rate spike much steeper than recently projected.
The two funds' percentage losses on investments were similar. The value of State Employees' Retirement System investments dropped 28.6 percent in 2008, while Public School Employees' Retirement System investments fell 29.7 percent.
State Employees' Retirement System chairman Nicholas J. Maiale said such increases would represent a severe budgetary challenge for the state.
The State Employees' Retirement System, which benefits mostly state workers, valued its investments at $24 billion as of Dec. 31, a drop of $11.5 billion for the year. Maiale said investments did better than the overall market in January but still lost about 3 percent.
The school retirement system, which benefits teachers and other school employees, reported a six-month loss in value of $17.3 billion to $45.4 billion from the beginning of the state's fiscal year on July 1 to Dec. 31. A dollar total for the year was not immediately available.
The state employees' pension fund said the losses mean employer contributions could approach 29 percent of payroll by 2012, far higher than had been expected after its investments had generated impressive returns in recent years. For most people enrolled in the State Employees' Retirement System, the government is their employer. The system's current employer contribution rate is 4 percent of payroll.
The teachers' pension fund said it projects its spike could exceed 28 percent for the 2012-13 year. If that occurs, the pain will be felt acutely by people who pay property taxes to fund school districts. The current rate is 4.76 percent.
"Ultimately we've got to hope that the market does grow" in the coming years, said Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia.
No additional pension payments that might serve to reduce the spike are included in the 2009-10 state budget outlined by Gov. Ed Rendell two weeks ago.
Although they are often referred to as spikes, the higher rates in 2012 will more closely resemble the start of a higher plateau. They are expected to usher in a lengthy period of much higher payments by taxpayers.
The spike has its origins in a 2001 law that increased pension benefits for most legislators by 50 percent, with 25 percent increases given to state workers and school employees.
Retirees, who did not benefit from that change, then clamored for a cost-of-living increase, which the Legislature passed the next year. In 2003, with a big increase in mandatory pension payments about to hit, the Legislature and Rendell struck a deal to delay most of the pain for a decade.
The day of reckoning is now only a few years away.
The pension fund executives were among the experts appearing at an all-day meeting of the House Appropriations Committee as it began consideration of Rendell's proposed budget.
Ron Snell with the National Conference of State Legislatures told the committee that states do not typically rebound immediately after an economic tide turns.
"Even if the economy hits bottom toward the end of this year, we would expect state fiscal recovery to lag that," Snell said.
Another witness, Acting Revenue Secretary Stephen Stetler, said Rendell's proposed natural-gas extraction tax is projected to bring in $632 million a year by 2013-14. Another new tax the governor wants, on video poker, would eventually produce $550 million annually, he said.
State Treasurer Rob McCord, who was sworn in last month, said his department has "chronic, hazardous and time-sensitive" shortcomings in its technology systems. He said the department's aging mainframe computer broke down over Thanksgiving and required a $10,000-a-day patch through a Houston company.
Pa. pension funds tell lawmakers of major losses
By MARK SCOLFORO
Pennsylvania's two major public-sector pension plans on Tuesday gave state lawmakers the bracing news that together their investments lost more than $28 billion in value last year.
Officials who oversee the separate funds for state workers and public school employees also warned that a sharp increase in taxpayer subsidies looms because stock market losses will make a long-anticipated 2012 rate spike much steeper than recently projected.
The two funds' percentage losses on investments were similar. The value of State Employees' Retirement System investments dropped 28.6 percent in 2008, while Public School Employees' Retirement System investments fell 29.7 percent.
State Employees' Retirement System chairman Nicholas J. Maiale said such increases would represent a severe budgetary challenge for the state.
The State Employees' Retirement System, which benefits mostly state workers, valued its investments at $24 billion as of Dec. 31, a drop of $11.5 billion for the year. Maiale said investments did better than the overall market in January but still lost about 3 percent.
The school retirement system, which benefits teachers and other school employees, reported a six-month loss in value of $17.3 billion to $45.4 billion from the beginning of the state's fiscal year on July 1 to Dec. 31. A dollar total for the year was not immediately available.
The state employees' pension fund said the losses mean employer contributions could approach 29 percent of payroll by 2012, far higher than had been expected after its investments had generated impressive returns in recent years. For most people enrolled in the State Employees' Retirement System, the government is their employer. The system's current employer contribution rate is 4 percent of payroll.
The teachers' pension fund said it projects its spike could exceed 28 percent for the 2012-13 year. If that occurs, the pain will be felt acutely by people who pay property taxes to fund school districts. The current rate is 4.76 percent.
"Ultimately we've got to hope that the market does grow" in the coming years, said Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia.
No additional pension payments that might serve to reduce the spike are included in the 2009-10 state budget outlined by Gov. Ed Rendell two weeks ago.
Although they are often referred to as spikes, the higher rates in 2012 will more closely resemble the start of a higher plateau. They are expected to usher in a lengthy period of much higher payments by taxpayers.
The spike has its origins in a 2001 law that increased pension benefits for most legislators by 50 percent, with 25 percent increases given to state workers and school employees.
Retirees, who did not benefit from that change, then clamored for a cost-of-living increase, which the Legislature passed the next year. In 2003, with a big increase in mandatory pension payments about to hit, the Legislature and Rendell struck a deal to delay most of the pain for a decade.
The day of reckoning is now only a few years away.
The pension fund executives were among the experts appearing at an all-day meeting of the House Appropriations Committee as it began consideration of Rendell's proposed budget.
Ron Snell with the National Conference of State Legislatures told the committee that states do not typically rebound immediately after an economic tide turns.
"Even if the economy hits bottom toward the end of this year, we would expect state fiscal recovery to lag that," Snell said.
Another witness, Acting Revenue Secretary Stephen Stetler, said Rendell's proposed natural-gas extraction tax is projected to bring in $632 million a year by 2013-14. Another new tax the governor wants, on video poker, would eventually produce $550 million annually, he said.
State Treasurer Rob McCord, who was sworn in last month, said his department has "chronic, hazardous and time-sensitive" shortcomings in its technology systems. He said the department's aging mainframe computer broke down over Thanksgiving and required a $10,000-a-day patch through a Houston company.
Schools fall short on special education funding
From the Somerset County Daily American. Thanks to the emailer who sent the original tip.
Study: Schools fall short on special education funding
By VICKI ROCK Daily American Staff Writer Friday, February 13, 2009 11:34 PM EST
Most school districts in Pennsylvania, including all those in Somerset County, are not spending enough on special education to meet the students' basic needs, according to a new study.
Augenblick, Palaich and Associates of Denver conducted the study for the Education Law Center, Disability Rights Network and the Arc of Pennsylvania, an advocacy organization for people with disabilities.
The costing-out study found that 391 of the state's 501 districts are spending less than an adequate amount on special education. It is a shortfall of $380 million annually, or $1,947 per special education student.
The consultant determined that the base cost for the average student was $8,003 in 2005-06, not including food, transportation, debt service and capital costs. The additional base cost for an average special education student is $10,404, bringing the total to $18,407. The report is to be the subject of a hearing before the House subcommittee on special education.
In Somerset County, Windber Area School District spent the most money on special education students. The report states that Windber spends $8,287 per special education student in addition to the basic education subsidy.
“We try to look at special education a little different, not as a different program,” said Superintendent Rick Huffman. “We see it as a different way of students learning and the different way we provide education. We have adaptive learning for all students from the most challenged to the most capable. We provide an environment for students to achieve. We look at how we can provide the best learning environment for individual students.”
In the next two years, the Windber district is going to look at various issues regarding student needs, he said. Administrators will partner with Windber Medical Center to take a holistic approach to learning, looking at issues including child development, nutrition and sleep deprivation.
“I believe we all have the best interests of the students in mind,” Huffman said. “The money that we have has to be spent effectively and appropriately for the students' needs.”
Somerset Area School District spends $6,885 per special education student in addition to the basic education subsidy, according to the report. Rebecca Bittner, special education director for the Somerset district, said the state and federal government make many mandates about special education, but then under-fund programs to support the students' needs.
“The local district does a good job of meeting the needs without the state and federal funding,” she said. “Special education can be very expensive - some students have multiple disabilities. I've been here since 2003, and I'd say the local school board does a good job of meeting the needs of special education students.”
M.J. Bartelmay Jr., president of the Arc of Pennsylvania, said Gov. Edward Rendell's proposed budget calls for no increase in state funding for special education. The basic education subsidy for students without disabilities includes a 5.7 percent increase.
“My son has Down syndrome and relies on special education,” Bartelmay said in a release. “With this budget, the governor is telling me my son isn't important.”
This budget in fiscal year 2008-09 included a 1.7 percent increase for special education, while basic education received 5.5 percent.
Michael Race, press secretary for the Department of Education, said the department is aware of the study and is reviewing it. They hoped to be briefed by the Education Law Center.
“I can't comment on specific findings until we are briefed,” he said. “The Department of Education shares the concern that all students are provided the adequate resources for learning, including special education students.”
The full report is available online at www.elc-pa.org. Download the report and executive summary here.
Study: Schools fall short on special education funding
By VICKI ROCK Daily American Staff Writer Friday, February 13, 2009 11:34 PM EST
Most school districts in Pennsylvania, including all those in Somerset County, are not spending enough on special education to meet the students' basic needs, according to a new study.
Augenblick, Palaich and Associates of Denver conducted the study for the Education Law Center, Disability Rights Network and the Arc of Pennsylvania, an advocacy organization for people with disabilities.
The costing-out study found that 391 of the state's 501 districts are spending less than an adequate amount on special education. It is a shortfall of $380 million annually, or $1,947 per special education student.
The consultant determined that the base cost for the average student was $8,003 in 2005-06, not including food, transportation, debt service and capital costs. The additional base cost for an average special education student is $10,404, bringing the total to $18,407. The report is to be the subject of a hearing before the House subcommittee on special education.
In Somerset County, Windber Area School District spent the most money on special education students. The report states that Windber spends $8,287 per special education student in addition to the basic education subsidy.
“We try to look at special education a little different, not as a different program,” said Superintendent Rick Huffman. “We see it as a different way of students learning and the different way we provide education. We have adaptive learning for all students from the most challenged to the most capable. We provide an environment for students to achieve. We look at how we can provide the best learning environment for individual students.”
In the next two years, the Windber district is going to look at various issues regarding student needs, he said. Administrators will partner with Windber Medical Center to take a holistic approach to learning, looking at issues including child development, nutrition and sleep deprivation.
“I believe we all have the best interests of the students in mind,” Huffman said. “The money that we have has to be spent effectively and appropriately for the students' needs.”
Somerset Area School District spends $6,885 per special education student in addition to the basic education subsidy, according to the report. Rebecca Bittner, special education director for the Somerset district, said the state and federal government make many mandates about special education, but then under-fund programs to support the students' needs.
“The local district does a good job of meeting the needs without the state and federal funding,” she said. “Special education can be very expensive - some students have multiple disabilities. I've been here since 2003, and I'd say the local school board does a good job of meeting the needs of special education students.”
M.J. Bartelmay Jr., president of the Arc of Pennsylvania, said Gov. Edward Rendell's proposed budget calls for no increase in state funding for special education. The basic education subsidy for students without disabilities includes a 5.7 percent increase.
“My son has Down syndrome and relies on special education,” Bartelmay said in a release. “With this budget, the governor is telling me my son isn't important.”
This budget in fiscal year 2008-09 included a 1.7 percent increase for special education, while basic education received 5.5 percent.
Michael Race, press secretary for the Department of Education, said the department is aware of the study and is reviewing it. They hoped to be briefed by the Education Law Center.
“I can't comment on specific findings until we are briefed,” he said. “The Department of Education shares the concern that all students are provided the adequate resources for learning, including special education students.”
The full report is available online at www.elc-pa.org. Download the report and executive summary here.
Neshaminy looking for ways to cut costs
From the BCCT.
Neshaminy looking for ways to cut costs
Posted in News on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 5:42 pm by Education Reporter Rachel Canelli
Like many people and businesses in this recession, Neshaminy officials are going to have to get creative when it comes to the school district’s budget.
So, they’re open to suggestions-from anybody.
That’s why the focus of the next two strategic action committee meetings at 7 p.m. March 2 and 16 in Maple Point Middle School on Langhorne-Yardley Road will focus on ways to trim the fat of the $167 million 2009-2010 preliminary spending plan, administrators said.
Due to increasing health insurance costs, the next school year’s expenses are estimated to be up $4 million from the current $163 million working budget. Projected at $153 million, revenues, though, are down almost $3 million from last year, according to business administrator Joseph Paradise.
If they were to fill the current $14 million gap, that could mean a $500 tax increase for homeowners with an average $27,080 assessment. But officials said they expect to cut the deficit to at least $5 million by applying for exceptions and coming up with other ways to cut costs.
The current millage rate is 148.6 and the value of one mill in Neshaminy is $767,884, administrators said.
Neshaminy is allowed to raise taxes by 4.1 percent, according to state tax law Act 1. That equals 6 mills, or $4.6 million, officials said.
Administrators said they don’t want to rely on using some of the $1.2 million fund balance, as they have in years past because the savings account has been dwindling and they’re afraid it won’t replenish itself.
Neshaminy is applying for about $3.3 million (2.9 percent, or 4.32 mills) in exceptions. Those exemptions are: $595,558 (.52 percent, or .78 mills) for special education; and almost $2.7 million (2.38 percent, or 3.54 mills) for maintaining revenues, officials said.
If approved, those exceptions would give the district a total allowable increase of $7.9 million in taxation- 7 percent, or 10.32 mills, administrators said.
Even after using the exceptions officials would still need to come up with $5 million to balance the budget.
The district could see additional savings and revenue from renting the Tawanka Learning Center and Neshaminy Middle School this summer and moving the ninth grade up to the high school this fall.
Administrators are already reducing overtime, eliminating travel and freezing any unnecessary expenditures.
Neshaminy looking for ways to cut costs
Posted in News on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 5:42 pm by Education Reporter Rachel Canelli
Like many people and businesses in this recession, Neshaminy officials are going to have to get creative when it comes to the school district’s budget.
So, they’re open to suggestions-from anybody.
That’s why the focus of the next two strategic action committee meetings at 7 p.m. March 2 and 16 in Maple Point Middle School on Langhorne-Yardley Road will focus on ways to trim the fat of the $167 million 2009-2010 preliminary spending plan, administrators said.
Due to increasing health insurance costs, the next school year’s expenses are estimated to be up $4 million from the current $163 million working budget. Projected at $153 million, revenues, though, are down almost $3 million from last year, according to business administrator Joseph Paradise.
If they were to fill the current $14 million gap, that could mean a $500 tax increase for homeowners with an average $27,080 assessment. But officials said they expect to cut the deficit to at least $5 million by applying for exceptions and coming up with other ways to cut costs.
The current millage rate is 148.6 and the value of one mill in Neshaminy is $767,884, administrators said.
Neshaminy is allowed to raise taxes by 4.1 percent, according to state tax law Act 1. That equals 6 mills, or $4.6 million, officials said.
Administrators said they don’t want to rely on using some of the $1.2 million fund balance, as they have in years past because the savings account has been dwindling and they’re afraid it won’t replenish itself.
Neshaminy is applying for about $3.3 million (2.9 percent, or 4.32 mills) in exceptions. Those exemptions are: $595,558 (.52 percent, or .78 mills) for special education; and almost $2.7 million (2.38 percent, or 3.54 mills) for maintaining revenues, officials said.
If approved, those exceptions would give the district a total allowable increase of $7.9 million in taxation- 7 percent, or 10.32 mills, administrators said.
Even after using the exceptions officials would still need to come up with $5 million to balance the budget.
The district could see additional savings and revenue from renting the Tawanka Learning Center and Neshaminy Middle School this summer and moving the ninth grade up to the high school this fall.
Administrators are already reducing overtime, eliminating travel and freezing any unnecessary expenditures.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Bucks man testing open records
From the BCCT.
Bucks man testing open records
By GEMA MARIA DUARTE
Dave Cahill is the first Bucks County resident to take the state's new Right-to-Know law for a test drive.
He submitted two appeals to the state's Office of Open Records after he said Penndel denied his requests for public information in early January.
A year and two days ago, Gov. Edward Rendell signed the new Right-To-Know law, changing the way Pennsylvanians access public records from state and local governments. The new law became fully effective Jan. 1.
Cahill said he hopes his challenge, received by the state Jan. 23, will pay off with copies of third-party reports paid for by the borough that detail the results of inspections of two privately owned properties in the borough.
Penndel's denial letter dated Jan. 7 states that the investigation reports were conducted by Building Inspection Underwriters based in Feasterville.
"The inspections and reports were paid by taxpayer money, so it should be public information," the borough resident said.
The company inspected two homes on the 400 block of Cynthia Avenue after complaints were filed that allege those properties have apartment-like structures, also known as equivalent dwelling units, in addition to the main house on the property. If that's the case, and the EDUs are rented, those property owners would be required to pay separate fees for garbage collection, sewer service and a renter's tax.
Penndel tax records show that one of the property owners is former council president Janet Myers, who earlier this month resigned as tax collector due to health concerns. She had been appointed to the position in 2008. Myers has said that she doesn't have a rental unit on her property.
The other property is owned by James and Susan Anderson. Susan Anderson is a member of the borough's Long Range and Finance Committee. The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching the Andersons for comment Friday.
Penndel council President Ward McMasters said he didn't want to comment on the issue, saying that it's a matter between Cahill and the state.
Under the Right-to-Know law, a record is presumed to be public unless a government agency can prove otherwise by citing specific reasons detailed in the law.
Penndel did that.
In its denial letter, the borough said the law "does not mandate the disclosure of records of an agency relating to a non-commercial investigation including investigative materials, notes, correspondence or reports. In addition, it discloses an unwarranted invasion of privacy."
The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records has 30 days to determine whether the information Cahill requested is public or private, office deputy director Barry Fox said last week. The office's appeals officer, Dena Lefkowitz, contacted Cahill and Penndel in a three-paragraph letter dated Feb. 6, advising them of the procedure.
Since Cahill's appeal, the state has received four others from county residents, including one from Fairless Hills resident Jihad Ali, who has requested information from a nonprofit group in Philadelphia. Two appeals are from Chalfont resident Mitchell Meyerson. And the other was submitted by Allison Dukes of Warwick.
Bucks man testing open records
By GEMA MARIA DUARTE
Dave Cahill is the first Bucks County resident to take the state's new Right-to-Know law for a test drive.
He submitted two appeals to the state's Office of Open Records after he said Penndel denied his requests for public information in early January.
A year and two days ago, Gov. Edward Rendell signed the new Right-To-Know law, changing the way Pennsylvanians access public records from state and local governments. The new law became fully effective Jan. 1.
Cahill said he hopes his challenge, received by the state Jan. 23, will pay off with copies of third-party reports paid for by the borough that detail the results of inspections of two privately owned properties in the borough.
Penndel's denial letter dated Jan. 7 states that the investigation reports were conducted by Building Inspection Underwriters based in Feasterville.
"The inspections and reports were paid by taxpayer money, so it should be public information," the borough resident said.
The company inspected two homes on the 400 block of Cynthia Avenue after complaints were filed that allege those properties have apartment-like structures, also known as equivalent dwelling units, in addition to the main house on the property. If that's the case, and the EDUs are rented, those property owners would be required to pay separate fees for garbage collection, sewer service and a renter's tax.
Penndel tax records show that one of the property owners is former council president Janet Myers, who earlier this month resigned as tax collector due to health concerns. She had been appointed to the position in 2008. Myers has said that she doesn't have a rental unit on her property.
The other property is owned by James and Susan Anderson. Susan Anderson is a member of the borough's Long Range and Finance Committee. The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching the Andersons for comment Friday.
Penndel council President Ward McMasters said he didn't want to comment on the issue, saying that it's a matter between Cahill and the state.
Under the Right-to-Know law, a record is presumed to be public unless a government agency can prove otherwise by citing specific reasons detailed in the law.
Penndel did that.
In its denial letter, the borough said the law "does not mandate the disclosure of records of an agency relating to a non-commercial investigation including investigative materials, notes, correspondence or reports. In addition, it discloses an unwarranted invasion of privacy."
The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records has 30 days to determine whether the information Cahill requested is public or private, office deputy director Barry Fox said last week. The office's appeals officer, Dena Lefkowitz, contacted Cahill and Penndel in a three-paragraph letter dated Feb. 6, advising them of the procedure.
Since Cahill's appeal, the state has received four others from county residents, including one from Fairless Hills resident Jihad Ali, who has requested information from a nonprofit group in Philadelphia. Two appeals are from Chalfont resident Mitchell Meyerson. And the other was submitted by Allison Dukes of Warwick.
Supervision or Snoopervision?
From the BCCT.
Officials discussing student drug testing
By CHRISTINA KRISTOFIC
A decision may come before the end of the school year.
Central Bucks School District psychologists have spent the past three months meeting with focus groups to discuss the possibility of implementing a random student drug testing program.
They will continue the meetings through March and school district administrators will likely share the information with the school board in late spring. Superintendent N. Robert Laws said this week, "We just don't know yet how we're going to do this and if we're going to do it."
"We're coming on this at a time when our budget doesn't allow for a lot of frills, either," he said. "This isn't free. We're going to have to contract with a lab. No matter how much you invest in it, if you save a life, it's worth it."
Central Bucks has lost graduates to drug overdose in recent years. Jeramiah Seger and John H. Warren IV, both graduates of CB East, overdosed in 2006 on heroin laced with fentanyl. And Kyle Houck, a CB West graduate, overdosed on heroin about a year later.
Laws said the decision to discuss random student drug testing wasn't directly related to those deaths, but they were an influence.
"The unfortunate part is when you deal with young people, there are always cases," he said. "The motivation for us is that we want to put everything in place we can to help students make better decisions. A lot of kids tell us that if they know they might have to pee in a cup and they never know when that's coming, that's a deterrent."
School district officials started talking last spring about implementing a voluntary random student drug testing program in the high schools. They brought Christina Steffner, principal of Hunterdon Central Regional High School in New Jersey and an advocate for random student drug testing, to speak about how drug testing has worked at her school. And they surveyed parents.
The drug testing discussion was put on hold over the summer months and resumed in the fall with the focus groups. Laws said school administrators have met with "just about anyone who would talk to us," including officials from other schools, chiefs of police and business leaders.
Students from Hunterdon Central Regional High School will come to Doylestown early in March to share their thoughts on random student drug testing with students at Central Bucks.
If school officials decide to pursue a random student drug testing program, school officials will also have to research the legality of such a program, negotiate a contract with a lab, seek funding (Laws said the district will apply for grants) and draft a policy to be approved by the school board.
"At this point, I don't know what I'll even be recommending to the board," Laws said. "We want this to be something the community wants us to do. We don't want it to be talked down. We don't want it to be something we're forcing on people. If it's a benefit to keep the kids clean, then we'll provide it as a service."
Laws believes a random student drug testing program could be good for the community if the community wants it.
He said, "It's not about supervision or snoopervision; it's about getting into our kids' lives and protecting them."
Officials discussing student drug testing
By CHRISTINA KRISTOFIC
A decision may come before the end of the school year.
Central Bucks School District psychologists have spent the past three months meeting with focus groups to discuss the possibility of implementing a random student drug testing program.
They will continue the meetings through March and school district administrators will likely share the information with the school board in late spring. Superintendent N. Robert Laws said this week, "We just don't know yet how we're going to do this and if we're going to do it."
"We're coming on this at a time when our budget doesn't allow for a lot of frills, either," he said. "This isn't free. We're going to have to contract with a lab. No matter how much you invest in it, if you save a life, it's worth it."
Central Bucks has lost graduates to drug overdose in recent years. Jeramiah Seger and John H. Warren IV, both graduates of CB East, overdosed in 2006 on heroin laced with fentanyl. And Kyle Houck, a CB West graduate, overdosed on heroin about a year later.
Laws said the decision to discuss random student drug testing wasn't directly related to those deaths, but they were an influence.
"The unfortunate part is when you deal with young people, there are always cases," he said. "The motivation for us is that we want to put everything in place we can to help students make better decisions. A lot of kids tell us that if they know they might have to pee in a cup and they never know when that's coming, that's a deterrent."
School district officials started talking last spring about implementing a voluntary random student drug testing program in the high schools. They brought Christina Steffner, principal of Hunterdon Central Regional High School in New Jersey and an advocate for random student drug testing, to speak about how drug testing has worked at her school. And they surveyed parents.
The drug testing discussion was put on hold over the summer months and resumed in the fall with the focus groups. Laws said school administrators have met with "just about anyone who would talk to us," including officials from other schools, chiefs of police and business leaders.
Students from Hunterdon Central Regional High School will come to Doylestown early in March to share their thoughts on random student drug testing with students at Central Bucks.
If school officials decide to pursue a random student drug testing program, school officials will also have to research the legality of such a program, negotiate a contract with a lab, seek funding (Laws said the district will apply for grants) and draft a policy to be approved by the school board.
"At this point, I don't know what I'll even be recommending to the board," Laws said. "We want this to be something the community wants us to do. We don't want it to be talked down. We don't want it to be something we're forcing on people. If it's a benefit to keep the kids clean, then we'll provide it as a service."
Laws believes a random student drug testing program could be good for the community if the community wants it.
He said, "It's not about supervision or snoopervision; it's about getting into our kids' lives and protecting them."
Tobacco Tax Trivia
From the BCCT. Who knew that tobacco was so vital to the Pennsylvania economy?
Debate over cigar tax smoldering in Pennsylvania
Posted in Arts and Entertainment, Business, News on Sunday, February 15th, 2009 at 1:07 pm by Web content assistant editor David Rauch
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that makers and sellers of cigars worry this will be the year that the Legislature and the governor are finally able to win passage of a new tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco.
Foes of tobacco usage have the opposite concern — that the tax will again be sandbagged. Cigars, snuff, pipe filler and other types of loose tobacco are subject to an excise tax in every other state, including tobacco strongholds North Carolina and Kentucky.
But in Pennsylvania, attempts to place a “sin” tax on cigars and loose tobacco have been thwarted time and again by cigar-loving politicians, wholesale retailers, snuff manufacturers, convenience store lobbyists and a small but oddly powerful bloc of tobacco farmers from Pennsylvania’s midsection.
Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell proposed a snuff and cigar tax in 2007, and the proposal was defeated. His Republican predecessor, Gov. Mark Schweiker, proposed the same, with the same results.
When Rendell proposed the tax two years ago, Pennsylvania was one of just three states that didn’t collect an excise tax on cigars, smokeless or both.
Today, it is the only holdout.
This year, Rendell pitched the tax anew in his budget address — 36 cents an ounce on loose tobacco and 36 cents per 10 cigars — and said it could raise $50 million in a full year.
The proposed tobacco tax was the subject of a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week.
Why have cigars and snuff enjoyed special status in Pennsylvania? Partly it’s because of the state’s historical role in tobacco production. At one time, it was one of the top three tobacco producing states, and the word “stogie” is derived from the small Pennsylvania town of Conestoga.
Farmers still do a robust business here, and last year harvested an estimated 17.6 million pounds of tobacco, up from 2007 and 2006 harvests.
Partly it’s because as other states approved excise taxes on cigars, Pennsylvania became a more attractive state for big cigar distributors to do business, and politicians don’t want to scare that business away.
And partly it’s because of the rural culture here — Pennsylvanians consume more moist snuff than any state but Texas. Seven percent of men use snuff here; the U.S. average is 3 percent.
-------------------------------------------
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Debate on cigar tax continues to smolder
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
By Bill Toland, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Given the state's sinking revenue returns, makers and sellers of cigars worry this will be the year that the Legislature and the governor are finally able to win passage of a new tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco.
Foes of tobacco usage have the opposite concern -- that the tax will again be sandbagged.
Cigars, snuff, pipe filler and other types of loose tobacco are subject to an excise tax in every other state, including tobacco strongholds North Carolina and Kentucky.
But in Pennsylvania, attempts to place a "sin" tax on cigars and loose tobacco have been thwarted time and again by cigar-loving politicians, wholesale retailers, snuff manufacturers, convenience store lobbyists and a small but oddly powerful bloc of tobacco farmers from Pennsylvania's midsection.
Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell proposed a snuff and cigar tax in 2007, and the proposal was defeated. His Republican predecessor, Gov. Mark Schweiker, proposed the same, with the same results.
When Mr. Rendell proposed the tax two years ago, Pennsylvania was one of just three states that didn't collect an excise tax on cigars, smokeless or both.
Today, it is the only holdout.
Cigar purveyor Keith Meier wants it to stay that way. His company, Cigars International, moved to Northampton County a dozen years ago because there's no cigar excise tax here. It has grown into a $90 million company, the second-largest handmade cigar retailer in the United States, employing 150.
"That would all evaporate were we to swim to sunnier shores, such as Florida," the CEO said.
"Florida is a safer state because most of the industry is located there, and besides, it may make more sense for us to be there -- close to others in the industry, close to our manufacturing partners in the Caribbean basin and Central America," which reduces shipping.
This year, Mr. Rendell pitched the tax anew in his budget address -- 36 cents an ounce on loose tobacco and 36 cents per 10 cigars -- and said it could raise $50 million in a full year.
The proposed tobacco tax is to be the subject of a Senate Finance Committee hearing today.
"Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation that does not tax chewing tobacco, snuff or cigars, and our citizens overwhelmingly support a tax on smokeless tobacco, just as they strongly support increases in the state cigarette tax," the governor said in his budget address last week. (Florida taxes snuff, but not cigars, because the cigar industry is big business there.)
Popular support aside, the governor can expect a fight from the usual suspects, said Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, who sits on the finance committee.
"This will certainly be a controversial, contentious issue," he said. But he also noted that there's an element of fairness at stake -- cigarettes are already taxed at $1.35 per pack and the governor would like to increase that tax to $1.45, an increase Mr. Ferlo said he wouldn't vote for.
"It's continually unfair to always tax smokers of cigarettes," but not the smokers of those "fancy" cigars, he said.
Why have cigars and snuff enjoyed special status in Pennsylvania? Partly it's because of the state's historical role in tobacco production. At one time, it was one of the top three tobacco producing states, and the word "stogie" is derived from the small Pennsylvania town of Conestoga.
Farmers still do a robust business here, and last year harvested an estimated 17.6 million pounds of tobacco, up from 2007 and 2006 harvests.
Partly it's because as other states approved excise taxes on cigars, Pennsylvania became a more attractive state for big cigar distributors to do business, and politicians don't want to scare that business away.
And partly it's because of the rural culture here -- Pennsylvanians consume more moist snuff than any state but Texas. Seven percent of men use snuff here; the U.S. average is 3 percent.
"From a public health perspective, it's wise to tax other tobacco products," said Jennifer Ebersole, state policy director for the American Heart Association. In Pennsylvania, "We're seeing some of our youth switching to other tobacco products because it's cheaper and easier to get" than cigarettes, she said.
The tobacco industry itself has dug in and doled out thousands in campaign contributions.
Altria Group Inc., parent company to Philip Morris USA and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., has contributed thousands to state House and Senate campaigns over the last two years, including Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh head of the Senate Finance Committee. Cigar distributors and small vendors have done the same.
Cigar vendors here feel especially bombarded by the latest proposal. If the state tax goes into effect, it would come on top of the federal cigar tax increase included in the recently passed State Children's Health Insurance Program reauthorization bill. That tax is effective April 1.
Debate over cigar tax smoldering in Pennsylvania
Posted in Arts and Entertainment, Business, News on Sunday, February 15th, 2009 at 1:07 pm by Web content assistant editor David Rauch
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that makers and sellers of cigars worry this will be the year that the Legislature and the governor are finally able to win passage of a new tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco.
Foes of tobacco usage have the opposite concern — that the tax will again be sandbagged. Cigars, snuff, pipe filler and other types of loose tobacco are subject to an excise tax in every other state, including tobacco strongholds North Carolina and Kentucky.
But in Pennsylvania, attempts to place a “sin” tax on cigars and loose tobacco have been thwarted time and again by cigar-loving politicians, wholesale retailers, snuff manufacturers, convenience store lobbyists and a small but oddly powerful bloc of tobacco farmers from Pennsylvania’s midsection.
Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell proposed a snuff and cigar tax in 2007, and the proposal was defeated. His Republican predecessor, Gov. Mark Schweiker, proposed the same, with the same results.
When Rendell proposed the tax two years ago, Pennsylvania was one of just three states that didn’t collect an excise tax on cigars, smokeless or both.
Today, it is the only holdout.
This year, Rendell pitched the tax anew in his budget address — 36 cents an ounce on loose tobacco and 36 cents per 10 cigars — and said it could raise $50 million in a full year.
The proposed tobacco tax was the subject of a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week.
Why have cigars and snuff enjoyed special status in Pennsylvania? Partly it’s because of the state’s historical role in tobacco production. At one time, it was one of the top three tobacco producing states, and the word “stogie” is derived from the small Pennsylvania town of Conestoga.
Farmers still do a robust business here, and last year harvested an estimated 17.6 million pounds of tobacco, up from 2007 and 2006 harvests.
Partly it’s because as other states approved excise taxes on cigars, Pennsylvania became a more attractive state for big cigar distributors to do business, and politicians don’t want to scare that business away.
And partly it’s because of the rural culture here — Pennsylvanians consume more moist snuff than any state but Texas. Seven percent of men use snuff here; the U.S. average is 3 percent.
-------------------------------------------
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Debate on cigar tax continues to smolder
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
By Bill Toland, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Given the state's sinking revenue returns, makers and sellers of cigars worry this will be the year that the Legislature and the governor are finally able to win passage of a new tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco.
Foes of tobacco usage have the opposite concern -- that the tax will again be sandbagged.
Cigars, snuff, pipe filler and other types of loose tobacco are subject to an excise tax in every other state, including tobacco strongholds North Carolina and Kentucky.
But in Pennsylvania, attempts to place a "sin" tax on cigars and loose tobacco have been thwarted time and again by cigar-loving politicians, wholesale retailers, snuff manufacturers, convenience store lobbyists and a small but oddly powerful bloc of tobacco farmers from Pennsylvania's midsection.
Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell proposed a snuff and cigar tax in 2007, and the proposal was defeated. His Republican predecessor, Gov. Mark Schweiker, proposed the same, with the same results.
When Mr. Rendell proposed the tax two years ago, Pennsylvania was one of just three states that didn't collect an excise tax on cigars, smokeless or both.
Today, it is the only holdout.
Cigar purveyor Keith Meier wants it to stay that way. His company, Cigars International, moved to Northampton County a dozen years ago because there's no cigar excise tax here. It has grown into a $90 million company, the second-largest handmade cigar retailer in the United States, employing 150.
"That would all evaporate were we to swim to sunnier shores, such as Florida," the CEO said.
"Florida is a safer state because most of the industry is located there, and besides, it may make more sense for us to be there -- close to others in the industry, close to our manufacturing partners in the Caribbean basin and Central America," which reduces shipping.
This year, Mr. Rendell pitched the tax anew in his budget address -- 36 cents an ounce on loose tobacco and 36 cents per 10 cigars -- and said it could raise $50 million in a full year.
The proposed tobacco tax is to be the subject of a Senate Finance Committee hearing today.
"Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation that does not tax chewing tobacco, snuff or cigars, and our citizens overwhelmingly support a tax on smokeless tobacco, just as they strongly support increases in the state cigarette tax," the governor said in his budget address last week. (Florida taxes snuff, but not cigars, because the cigar industry is big business there.)
Popular support aside, the governor can expect a fight from the usual suspects, said Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, who sits on the finance committee.
"This will certainly be a controversial, contentious issue," he said. But he also noted that there's an element of fairness at stake -- cigarettes are already taxed at $1.35 per pack and the governor would like to increase that tax to $1.45, an increase Mr. Ferlo said he wouldn't vote for.
"It's continually unfair to always tax smokers of cigarettes," but not the smokers of those "fancy" cigars, he said.
Why have cigars and snuff enjoyed special status in Pennsylvania? Partly it's because of the state's historical role in tobacco production. At one time, it was one of the top three tobacco producing states, and the word "stogie" is derived from the small Pennsylvania town of Conestoga.
Farmers still do a robust business here, and last year harvested an estimated 17.6 million pounds of tobacco, up from 2007 and 2006 harvests.
Partly it's because as other states approved excise taxes on cigars, Pennsylvania became a more attractive state for big cigar distributors to do business, and politicians don't want to scare that business away.
And partly it's because of the rural culture here -- Pennsylvanians consume more moist snuff than any state but Texas. Seven percent of men use snuff here; the U.S. average is 3 percent.
"From a public health perspective, it's wise to tax other tobacco products," said Jennifer Ebersole, state policy director for the American Heart Association. In Pennsylvania, "We're seeing some of our youth switching to other tobacco products because it's cheaper and easier to get" than cigarettes, she said.
The tobacco industry itself has dug in and doled out thousands in campaign contributions.
Altria Group Inc., parent company to Philip Morris USA and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., has contributed thousands to state House and Senate campaigns over the last two years, including Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh head of the Senate Finance Committee. Cigar distributors and small vendors have done the same.
Cigar vendors here feel especially bombarded by the latest proposal. If the state tax goes into effect, it would come on top of the federal cigar tax increase included in the recently passed State Children's Health Insurance Program reauthorization bill. That tax is effective April 1.
Monday, February 16, 2009
M.R. Reiter Closing Hearing Minutes Available
The minutes from the M.R. Reiter closing hearing are now available at the district website.
School Board is Out of Touch...Are You?
From the Jackson (TN) Sun.
What's important in this story is not that the local school board is out of touch, whether in Jackson, Tennessee or Morrisville, Pennsylvania. If it's a Monday, then there's a school board out of touch.
It's about the video links at the end of the story. This is where education needs to be going for the 21st century. For every resident who has bemoaned how the PSSA scores need to rise, watch the videos and see if we, the community, are providing these American children (the same people who are going to be picking out and staffing our nursing homes), the tools to be 21st century global (not just American) citizens.
School board is out of touch By Tom Bohs, February 15, 2009
Thanks to technology, I was able to attend the Jackson-Madison County Board of Education meeting on Thursday night, and I didn't have to leave the comfort of my TV room to do it. Thanks to my own jacksonsun.com streaming webcast, Jackson Energy Authority's E+TV6 and WNWS 101.5 FM radio for providing live coverage of the meeting. It was a great example of technology enabling the public to connect to its elected officials and to see them in action, or inaction, as the case may be. Think of it as our own local version of C-Span.
All day long, rumors flew that some on the board had conspired to fire Superintendent Dr. Nancy Zambito. Fortunately, that didn't happen, which I believe would have been a terrible mistake. In fact, the person who made the most sense during the meeting was Dr. Zambito, though I commend board Chairman Dr. Joe Mays for steering the board through some tense and troubled waters with a steady hand.
I've followed the school board closely for 17 years, and sat through more board meetings than I care to remember. The current board is as bad as I have seen, but it's not any worse than others that have gotten seriously off track. Do I need to remind anyone of the infamous "McMillin Five" that managed to fire perfectly good Superintendent Dr. Lester Beason and shoehorn Buddy McMillan into office? It is painful to recall that at one point, we had five superintendents in seven years, and our school board was the laughingstock of state public education. In my opinion, the current school board crisis is no better or worse than those of the past.
But one important thing has changed since 1992, technology. And that is what makes the current school board infighting more dire and important, and something the community must demand be addressed, if in no other way than in the 2010 election.
Six or seven of our school board members are hopelessly out of touch with what is happening in the world. They think that what is going on in Jackson-Madison County is their chief concern. They are wrong, and hopelessly out of touch with reality. As a result, our kids could be hopelessly left behind. While these school board members argue about who should be superintendent, whether he or she should be black or white, and who screwed up the most since the last "gotcha" school board meeting, the rest of the world is running, and I mean running, away from our local education system, technologically speaking. This is the real tragedy of our current school board.
We have teachers who aren't even proficient at sending e-mails. We have teachers who don't have a clue how to use today's sophisticated education software or how to integrate technology into their classrooms. We are graduating students who don't know how to write decent English or use the Web to do simple research or understand how to use technology to collaborate with others, learn new things and plan for their futures.
Do our students know what a wiki is? Do they know what Web 2.0, let alone Web 3.0 is? There are kids all over America, and India, Western Europe, Japan and China who do. And they outnumber us by a staggering margin. There are more high school top-tier honor students in China, the top 1 percent or 2 percent, than all of our students in this country put together.
While our school board argues over race, personal agendas and other nonsense, the rest of the education world is moving ahead at breakneck speed. Computer capabilities are doubling every 18 months, while we struggle to put the latest technology in our classrooms and train teachers to use them. We are losing this battle, and our school board is missing in action. That is what troubles me.
If you care about this issue, I urge you to watch three You Tube videos. Just go to your Web browser and enter the following links: www.jacksonsun.com/didyouknow; www.jacksonsun.com/machine and www.jacksonsun.com/web2. If you don't "get" what these videos are about, you know what most of our students know. And, oh, by the way, all three videos are two years old.
What's important in this story is not that the local school board is out of touch, whether in Jackson, Tennessee or Morrisville, Pennsylvania. If it's a Monday, then there's a school board out of touch.
It's about the video links at the end of the story. This is where education needs to be going for the 21st century. For every resident who has bemoaned how the PSSA scores need to rise, watch the videos and see if we, the community, are providing these American children (the same people who are going to be picking out and staffing our nursing homes), the tools to be 21st century global (not just American) citizens.
School board is out of touch By Tom Bohs, February 15, 2009
Thanks to technology, I was able to attend the Jackson-Madison County Board of Education meeting on Thursday night, and I didn't have to leave the comfort of my TV room to do it. Thanks to my own jacksonsun.com streaming webcast, Jackson Energy Authority's E+TV6 and WNWS 101.5 FM radio for providing live coverage of the meeting. It was a great example of technology enabling the public to connect to its elected officials and to see them in action, or inaction, as the case may be. Think of it as our own local version of C-Span.
All day long, rumors flew that some on the board had conspired to fire Superintendent Dr. Nancy Zambito. Fortunately, that didn't happen, which I believe would have been a terrible mistake. In fact, the person who made the most sense during the meeting was Dr. Zambito, though I commend board Chairman Dr. Joe Mays for steering the board through some tense and troubled waters with a steady hand.
I've followed the school board closely for 17 years, and sat through more board meetings than I care to remember. The current board is as bad as I have seen, but it's not any worse than others that have gotten seriously off track. Do I need to remind anyone of the infamous "McMillin Five" that managed to fire perfectly good Superintendent Dr. Lester Beason and shoehorn Buddy McMillan into office? It is painful to recall that at one point, we had five superintendents in seven years, and our school board was the laughingstock of state public education. In my opinion, the current school board crisis is no better or worse than those of the past.
But one important thing has changed since 1992, technology. And that is what makes the current school board infighting more dire and important, and something the community must demand be addressed, if in no other way than in the 2010 election.
Six or seven of our school board members are hopelessly out of touch with what is happening in the world. They think that what is going on in Jackson-Madison County is their chief concern. They are wrong, and hopelessly out of touch with reality. As a result, our kids could be hopelessly left behind. While these school board members argue about who should be superintendent, whether he or she should be black or white, and who screwed up the most since the last "gotcha" school board meeting, the rest of the world is running, and I mean running, away from our local education system, technologically speaking. This is the real tragedy of our current school board.
We have teachers who aren't even proficient at sending e-mails. We have teachers who don't have a clue how to use today's sophisticated education software or how to integrate technology into their classrooms. We are graduating students who don't know how to write decent English or use the Web to do simple research or understand how to use technology to collaborate with others, learn new things and plan for their futures.
Do our students know what a wiki is? Do they know what Web 2.0, let alone Web 3.0 is? There are kids all over America, and India, Western Europe, Japan and China who do. And they outnumber us by a staggering margin. There are more high school top-tier honor students in China, the top 1 percent or 2 percent, than all of our students in this country put together.
While our school board argues over race, personal agendas and other nonsense, the rest of the education world is moving ahead at breakneck speed. Computer capabilities are doubling every 18 months, while we struggle to put the latest technology in our classrooms and train teachers to use them. We are losing this battle, and our school board is missing in action. That is what troubles me.
If you care about this issue, I urge you to watch three You Tube videos. Just go to your Web browser and enter the following links: www.jacksonsun.com/didyouknow; www.jacksonsun.com/machine and www.jacksonsun.com/web2. If you don't "get" what these videos are about, you know what most of our students know. And, oh, by the way, all three videos are two years old.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Pennsbury Tax Increase
From the BCCT.
Pay attention: These are the taxes the Emperor wants you to pay.
Board looks to make budget cuts
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
The preliminary spending plan calls for a $441 average tax increase.
Pennsbury board members said they're anxious to slash estimates that point to skyrocketing taxes next year.
The preliminary budget plan passed by the board Thursday night calls for a $441 tax increase for a homeowner with the average assessed property of $31,304.
Residents who attended the meeting said they weren't happy with the prospect of paying an average tax bill of $4,980.
"I can't understand why no one talked about a tax decrease. Workers are being laid off [in other industries]. Why not in the school district? I'd like to see a 10 percent decrease in our taxes," said Leo Cohen.
The budget numbers for the next school year appear high at this point because the district doesn't know how much funding the state will supply, officials said. While local revenues might generate $145.3 million, that's $2.6 million less than last year, they said.
The main local downturn is because of the loss of fees from the Keystone Industrial Port Complex, a tax abatement area which is scheduled to end payments to Pennsbury in lieu of taxes after this year. The complex is on the site of the old U.S. Steel Fairless Works.
Other tax revenues are expected to be down, as are interim taxes on new construction and transfer taxes on real estate. The district also expects lower interest returns on its investments, officials said.
The economic downturn has contributed to a deficit of about $12 million in a $180 million budget, Miller said. Balancing the budget without reducing expenses would mean an increase of 14.1 mills, bringing total millage to 159.1.
Board members have repeatedly stressed that the preliminary budget is just an early estimate that is required by the state. Several spoke against allowing the final tax increase to reach the current projection of a 9.7 percent increase, which is far above the state's mandated maximum tax increase of 4.1 percent.
"I can state that our budget will not increase 4.1 percent. Nine point seven is just a number. It's not a fact," said board member Richard Johnson.
Officials said the district is working on several areas to lower expenditures, including transportation and energy efficiencies and employee attrition at all levels. If one teacher retires and the school can adjust the professional staff to cover that teacher's responsibilities, then the administration would recommend not hiring a replacement, district CEO Paul Long said.
The administration is considering an optional reduction in the number of classes taken by seniors who have fulfilled their graduation requirements. There also might be some reduction in standardized testing and in the Extra-K kindergarten programs. Pulling funding for Odyssey of the Mind is possible. All of those options still need to be explored and worked out, said Long.
Board member Linda Palsky suggested trying to get more private corporations to fund programs and resources.
To keep their promise to limit a tax hike to at or below 4.1 percent, a 5-4 majority of the board defeated a proposal to apply for state exceptions. Proponents of the administration's recommendation to apply for the exemptions said the district would have no insurance against a possible financial shortfall such as zero state subsidies. Exceptions allow school boards to raise taxes above the state-mandated 4.1 percent limit for uncontrollable costs such as special education and grandfathered debt.
Johnson and board members Gene Dolnick, Wayne DeBlasio, Arlene Gordon and Gregory Lucidi voted against the exceptions.
"I cannot vote for a 4.1 [tax increase], so there will be no way that I would vote for exceptions," said Gordon.
The details of the preliminary budget can be found on the Pennsbury Web site at www.pennsbury.k12.pa.us/pennsbury.
Pay attention: These are the taxes the Emperor wants you to pay.
Board looks to make budget cuts
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
The preliminary spending plan calls for a $441 average tax increase.
Pennsbury board members said they're anxious to slash estimates that point to skyrocketing taxes next year.
The preliminary budget plan passed by the board Thursday night calls for a $441 tax increase for a homeowner with the average assessed property of $31,304.
Residents who attended the meeting said they weren't happy with the prospect of paying an average tax bill of $4,980.
"I can't understand why no one talked about a tax decrease. Workers are being laid off [in other industries]. Why not in the school district? I'd like to see a 10 percent decrease in our taxes," said Leo Cohen.
The budget numbers for the next school year appear high at this point because the district doesn't know how much funding the state will supply, officials said. While local revenues might generate $145.3 million, that's $2.6 million less than last year, they said.
The main local downturn is because of the loss of fees from the Keystone Industrial Port Complex, a tax abatement area which is scheduled to end payments to Pennsbury in lieu of taxes after this year. The complex is on the site of the old U.S. Steel Fairless Works.
Other tax revenues are expected to be down, as are interim taxes on new construction and transfer taxes on real estate. The district also expects lower interest returns on its investments, officials said.
The economic downturn has contributed to a deficit of about $12 million in a $180 million budget, Miller said. Balancing the budget without reducing expenses would mean an increase of 14.1 mills, bringing total millage to 159.1.
Board members have repeatedly stressed that the preliminary budget is just an early estimate that is required by the state. Several spoke against allowing the final tax increase to reach the current projection of a 9.7 percent increase, which is far above the state's mandated maximum tax increase of 4.1 percent.
"I can state that our budget will not increase 4.1 percent. Nine point seven is just a number. It's not a fact," said board member Richard Johnson.
Officials said the district is working on several areas to lower expenditures, including transportation and energy efficiencies and employee attrition at all levels. If one teacher retires and the school can adjust the professional staff to cover that teacher's responsibilities, then the administration would recommend not hiring a replacement, district CEO Paul Long said.
The administration is considering an optional reduction in the number of classes taken by seniors who have fulfilled their graduation requirements. There also might be some reduction in standardized testing and in the Extra-K kindergarten programs. Pulling funding for Odyssey of the Mind is possible. All of those options still need to be explored and worked out, said Long.
Board member Linda Palsky suggested trying to get more private corporations to fund programs and resources.
To keep their promise to limit a tax hike to at or below 4.1 percent, a 5-4 majority of the board defeated a proposal to apply for state exceptions. Proponents of the administration's recommendation to apply for the exemptions said the district would have no insurance against a possible financial shortfall such as zero state subsidies. Exceptions allow school boards to raise taxes above the state-mandated 4.1 percent limit for uncontrollable costs such as special education and grandfathered debt.
Johnson and board members Gene Dolnick, Wayne DeBlasio, Arlene Gordon and Gregory Lucidi voted against the exceptions.
"I cannot vote for a 4.1 [tax increase], so there will be no way that I would vote for exceptions," said Gordon.
The details of the preliminary budget can be found on the Pennsbury Web site at www.pennsbury.k12.pa.us/pennsbury.
Free Lunch
From the BCCT.
Mark February 28 on your calendar too!
There really is a free lunch
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Morrisville School District employees were treated by Chick-fil-A for keeping the students' education going after a furnace blast at one school.
Morrisville staff members received a treat for their recent resourcefulness in a tough time.
Chick-fil-A provided the entire district staff with free boxed lunches Friday for their efforts to continue the educational process with as few disruptions as possible following recent upheavals at M.R. Reiter Elementary. About 140 staff members enjoyed the lunches of sandwiches, wraps, fruit cups, brownies and iced tea.
"I'm overwhelmed. They were so generous. The teachers absolutely loved it," said Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson.
The Chick-fil-A "Eat Mor Chikin" cow stopped by the elementary classrooms to say hello to the students, too.
Chick-Fil-A gives the elementary students a positive character trait of the month as part of its Core Essentials Program. Teachers encourage students to explore and demonstrate that trait through classroom reinforcement and activities. The restaurant also provides supplemental materials for teachers and take-home information for parents.
If students are good at exhibiting the character trait of the month, they earn a free Chick-Fil-A nugget meal.
January's trait was resourcefulness, which district teachers and staff showed abundantly after a December furnace blast made Reiter unusable, said Jodi Hartenstine, the marketing director for Chick-fil-A on Oxford Valley Road in Middletown.
"It's using what you have to get the job done. They were exemplifying the trait there. Everybody was working together, and we wanted to do something to honor them for that, so we came up with the appreciation lunch," said Hartenstine.
Teachers and staff in Morrisville Middle/Senior High School and Grandview Elementary adjusted their activities and spaces to accommodate Reiter students as Reiter teachers worked to help their young students through the crisis.
More than 250 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grades still are displaced and in various district buildings. Grades one and two soon will leave the high school and settle into modular units on the property of Grandview Elementary School. Grade five will stay at the high school for now, and kindergarten, third and fourth grades are sharing space with Grandview's regular population. Pre-kindergarten is at the Morrisville YMCA.
"It's so nice to have something to celebrate," said Diane Woodruff, a Reiter kindergarten teacher who's now in Grandview Elementary School. "We have bounced around this year. This was just an 'Ah-haaah.' You take a deep breath and really appreciate it.
"We've had to be really resourceful. It sort of saluted what we've been doing. It was delicious, and the kids thought the cow was absolutely adorable," she said.
Woodruff said she's been teaching her students to be resourceful.
They think of ways to use materials to substitute for things they sometimes might not have since leaving Reiter.
"We talk about how animals are resourceful in getting and storing food in winter. We have to do things so that if one way doesn't work, come up with a new one. Don't give up," she said.
The Middletown Chick-Fil-A will sponsor a Morrisville School District Spirit Night Feb. 28 during which customers who mention Morrisville School District will get discounts. About 15 percent of proceeds from the event will be given to the district, according to a company press release.
Mark February 28 on your calendar too!
There really is a free lunch
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Morrisville School District employees were treated by Chick-fil-A for keeping the students' education going after a furnace blast at one school.
Morrisville staff members received a treat for their recent resourcefulness in a tough time.
Chick-fil-A provided the entire district staff with free boxed lunches Friday for their efforts to continue the educational process with as few disruptions as possible following recent upheavals at M.R. Reiter Elementary. About 140 staff members enjoyed the lunches of sandwiches, wraps, fruit cups, brownies and iced tea.
"I'm overwhelmed. They were so generous. The teachers absolutely loved it," said Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson.
The Chick-fil-A "Eat Mor Chikin" cow stopped by the elementary classrooms to say hello to the students, too.
Chick-Fil-A gives the elementary students a positive character trait of the month as part of its Core Essentials Program. Teachers encourage students to explore and demonstrate that trait through classroom reinforcement and activities. The restaurant also provides supplemental materials for teachers and take-home information for parents.
If students are good at exhibiting the character trait of the month, they earn a free Chick-Fil-A nugget meal.
January's trait was resourcefulness, which district teachers and staff showed abundantly after a December furnace blast made Reiter unusable, said Jodi Hartenstine, the marketing director for Chick-fil-A on Oxford Valley Road in Middletown.
"It's using what you have to get the job done. They were exemplifying the trait there. Everybody was working together, and we wanted to do something to honor them for that, so we came up with the appreciation lunch," said Hartenstine.
Teachers and staff in Morrisville Middle/Senior High School and Grandview Elementary adjusted their activities and spaces to accommodate Reiter students as Reiter teachers worked to help their young students through the crisis.
More than 250 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grades still are displaced and in various district buildings. Grades one and two soon will leave the high school and settle into modular units on the property of Grandview Elementary School. Grade five will stay at the high school for now, and kindergarten, third and fourth grades are sharing space with Grandview's regular population. Pre-kindergarten is at the Morrisville YMCA.
"It's so nice to have something to celebrate," said Diane Woodruff, a Reiter kindergarten teacher who's now in Grandview Elementary School. "We have bounced around this year. This was just an 'Ah-haaah.' You take a deep breath and really appreciate it.
"We've had to be really resourceful. It sort of saluted what we've been doing. It was delicious, and the kids thought the cow was absolutely adorable," she said.
Woodruff said she's been teaching her students to be resourceful.
They think of ways to use materials to substitute for things they sometimes might not have since leaving Reiter.
"We talk about how animals are resourceful in getting and storing food in winter. We have to do things so that if one way doesn't work, come up with a new one. Don't give up," she said.
The Middletown Chick-Fil-A will sponsor a Morrisville School District Spirit Night Feb. 28 during which customers who mention Morrisville School District will get discounts. About 15 percent of proceeds from the event will be given to the district, according to a company press release.
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