Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde

Does anyone remember M*A*S*H? Not the Donald Sutherland/Elliot Gould movie version, but the ubiquitous Alan Alda television version.

In the second season episode “Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde”, Hawkeye sends President Truman a rather terse telegram. (For our younger readers, a telegram is sort of like a 1880s version of an email.)

Anyway, the entire text of Hawkeye's telegram is “Who’s responsible?”

That question has been posed rather frequently here, but thanks to an emailer, here's the answer in writing. Let's set the wayback machine to April 2007, just days before the primary that paved the way forward to the Stop the School control of the Morrisville school board. Location: The Bucks County Courier Times legal notices.

So when those board members try and point the finger of shame about "inherited problems" or "you stopped the cursory March safety inspection", all they can point to is their own reflection in the mirror. These five people knew the schools were crumbling, yet chose to stop the only solution in play, and then didn't have a solution of their own as a replacement.

Who's responsible? There's five names there. Book 'em, Danno.

Hellmann Removes M.R. Reiter Without Authorization

Let's not forget this gem either.

On June, 12 companies submitted proposals to work on all three school buildings. Bill Hellmann, the board president, later cut that down to five and removed M. R. Reiter from the equation without consulting the rest of the board, said board member Robin Reithmeyer at Tuesday's board meeting.

She voted against going forward on the boiler replacements without a plan that included all three schools.

Where's all the "safety of the students" protests now?

District takes steps toward restoring schools

By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times

MORRISVILLE -- After several decades, it's time to initiate serious updates in Morrisville schools, say area residents.

The school board recently voted 7-1 to start preliminary work to replace the boilers in the high school building and Grandview Elementary.

Some school board members and residents call it the first step toward restoring the schools, which have been in need of repairs for years.

“This is the beginning of something. People should applaud this beginning,” said resident Sharon Hughes.

The district will use Vitetta, a Philadelphia-based architectural and engineering corporation, to begin assessing the work necessary to replace the boilers, as well as looking into two new burners for the elementary school.

Morrisville residents have been calling for a plan to get the deteriorating high school and both elementaries in better shape since the current board canceled plans to build a consolidated K-12 school.

But there's a problem with taking action on the boilers now, the board minority said.

Evaluating the needs of two schools, designing a custom boiler for each and completing installation could take six months. That would put the project's conclusion well into the heating season, according to Tim Lastichen, district facilities director.

The price tag for the boilers alone is more than $100,000, not counting the labor and any expenses that could crop up along the way, he said at the Tuesday board meeting.

Some residents and the board minority complained this is a poor time to start an expensive project without a long-term restoration plan that would take the schools' many other problems into account.

In May, the board voted to hire Wick Fisher White, an engineering firm, to do a $30,000 study of the work needed at the high school and two elementaries. The next step was to advertise for several companies to do that work.

On June, 12 companies submitted proposals to work on all three school buildings. Bill Hellmann, the board president, later cut that down to five and removed M. R. Reiter from the equation without consulting the rest of the board, said board member Robin Reithmeyer at Tuesday's board meeting.

She voted against going forward on the boiler replacements without a plan that included all three schools.

However, some board members and residents attending the meeting thought it was a bad idea to wait any longer.

“The reason for moving forward is to address an important item,” said board member Brenda Worob, referring to the boilers.

Plus, part of the original $30 million bond that the previous board borrowed to fund a consolidated school needs to be spent soon, Hellmann said.

Board member William Farrell suggested the district not delay the boiler project just because it would take a long time. Maybe the district wouldn't complete it in time for this year's cold season, but at least the preparation work would be done, he said.

As for the second elementary school, M. R. Reiter, Lastichen didn't think it was worth investing in a new boiler, though residents complained that it was too cold for comfort there during the winter.

“Reiter's so bad, I think it should be bulldozed. I wouldn't spend money on it,” Lastichen said during the meeting.

M.R. Reiter's future is still up in the air.

In May, Hellmann unveiled a tentative plan to save money by combining the schools somehow, but no clear action has been taken in that direction yet.

A temporary fix for providing heat in the winter may be to bring modular heaters into Reiter and the other schools, said board member John Buckman.

The district will hold a community action plan meeting at 7 p.m. July 22, in the LGI room of the high school to discuss the boilers and other issues. Residents are encouraged to participate.
Manasee Wagh can be reached at 215-949-4206 or mwagh@phillyBurbs.com.

July 19, 2008 6:27 AM

Special Meeting Reminder: Tomorrow

Don't forget that there is a special meeting being held tomorrow evening, Tuesday, July 15, 2008 to approve engineering resources.

The Emperor is at it again. He has decided what will be done without consulting the much of the board (accomplices only, please!) or the parents and taxpayers. See the Reports from the Facilities Committee post for more details.

"The RFP was for all 3 schools but all vendors presented only for the HS and Grandview. Why? Because, Hellmann said, 'I decided' "

"Lastly (ACTION ALERT), they expect this vote to happen at the meeting on 7/15 even though some of the board members had not yet received copies of the responses. The question you need to be asking yourself -- and the Board -- is why the rush? All of the vendors agreed this project from start to finish will take about 28 weeks. And since the actual construction (the last 6 weeks or so) should be done in the summer (read: it's not happening for this coming school year), then a decision should be made by approx December. So why the rush? Let's get a plan together, discuss it, and THEN take action. It does not have to be voted on in 5 days."

I guess the shocker would be if Marlys Mihok, Angry Al Radosti, Brenda Worob, and Bill Farrell voted AGAINST the Emperor. No dictator is ever out there alone. He needs his minions to feed and stroke his massive ego. I expect Jack Buckman will be a newly empowered and reliable accomplice vote (ergo, his selection). What about Gloria Heater?

The final question is the same one: WHAT'S THE PLAN? (Shout out to the late Ed Frankenfield.)

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Special Board Meeting
The Board of School Directors of the Morrisville School District will hold a Special Meeting for the purpose of approving engineering services on July 15, 2008 at 7:00 pm in the LGI Room of the Middle/Senior High School. Marlys Mihok Secretary

Archives 2007

Here's two You Tube videos from the 2007 election.

Current board secretary Marlys Mihok describes how the Stop the School candidates are just too busy to answer questions. Wait...isn't that how the current board works now?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=990iDVUF8aU

Then there's this video. Each of these people now serve on the school board.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TCxKstSPw-g&feature=related

“This is ridiculous.”

Here's a background article on Wednesday night's meeting from the BCCT this morning.

Raucous? That's mild understatement. It started in the past with an extremely hostile audience led by those same people who now grace the dais. Soda cans and food packages made their start here too, provided back then by the stop the school side as a disruption for the pro school board members. The change in board majority ensured that the practice would eventually shift over to the other side now.

The food thing is a little over the top from BOTH sides. A quiet drink or small snack might be in order. After all, these are four or five hours marathons, but the practice THEN and the practice NOW of using these snacks as disruptive tools is childish at best.

The identification of the Hellmann-Radosti-Mihok voting axis is accurate but is missing a few members. Brenda Worob and Bill Farrell talk a big game about "independence" and "self-directed thought", but in the end come down on the short-sighted side far more often than a true "independent" would.

Jack Buckman has had an issue with late night meetings through his borough council days, so this is not a new position for him. I would like to know how he had enough information about the budget to be able to cast a vote approving it. Was he aware that he can be held PERSONALLY liable for civil damages as a result of his vote?

Until this school board remembers that they are NOT the local board of taxation, but the SCHOOL board, we're in for more late night meeting follies. The irony is that the Emperor and his accomplices themselves have created the firestorm they find themselves enmeshed in. When they were in the audience, they discarded reasoned discourse and discussion in favor of shouting, screaming, and outright mis-characterization of facts to make their points. Now that they are in charge, the wheel of karma has spun and they are now reaping what they have sowed in terms of audience behavior.

I'd like to say that the anti-board audience is wrong (and in the real world they are!), but it's also the only language these yahoos on the dais understand. Confrontation, maximum disruption, and agitation are their signatures. IRONY ALERT: We've elected a board largely made up of the village idiots to control the schools where we educate our young. And we did it only because we wanted to save a few bucks.

They also never, ever, even to this day, thought about a long term plan and released it to the public. "Stop the school" was all they had. They did it. Now what? I've been asking that question for almost a year now and silence is still the only response. Has it occurred to the Emperor and the board of accomplices that if they dialed back the angry rhetoric a bit and actually opened their mouths to EXPLAIN, that the results would be better?

"Those sitting near the front could hear Yonson say under her breath, 'This is ridiculous.' ” Oh, no, Dr. Yonson. Ridiculous is still a few miles down this pothole riddled highway. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses...

Raucous atmosphere at school board meeting

By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times

Morrisville meetings are known for their raucous mud-slinging. But Wednesday's meeting was one for the books.

From the shortening of Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson's contract from five to three years to the board president's proposal of across-the-board hiring freezes in the district, diehards on both sides of the issues stuck it out to watch events unfold past midnight.

One spectator started singing “It's the end of the school as we know it,” to the tune of rock band REM's “It's the End of the World as We Know It.”

At least eight people stood at the microphone to protest the board majority's decision to cut Yonson's five-year contract. Some said it was “a slap in the face” and “an insult.”

The routine replacement of aides and teachers who leave the district became fuel for a debate that raged for more than an hour.

Board President William Hellmann got worked up over hiring new staff. To save money, he suggested a hiring freeze, which elicited gaping mouths and stares of disbelief from administrators and boos from audience members.

Yonson explained that the employees are necessary, that they fulfilled vital educational functions, helping to make significant academic gains in the last couple of years.

For example, elementary math performances have risen in the past couple of years. This year's raw unofficial PSSA data shows considerable improvement in 11th-grade scores, from 11 percent proficiency to 55 percent proficiency, said Yonson.

“Do not expect to have the same results if we reduce staff,” she said.

Hellmann's determination to freeze hirings stems from the district's teachers contract, which stipulates a roughly 12:1 student to staff ratio.

Though most general classes are more than 20 students in size, according to Yonson, some kids who need particular help have more aides or teachers.

The bottom line for some board members was the ratio, though.

“It's too much. It's a problem,” was Hellmann's constant refrain about the number of staff needed to teach fewer than 1,000 students and run the district at an annual cost of $19.88 million.

“Our budget's way too high,” he said repeatedly.

Residents who didn't like what Hellmann had to say settled back with containers of goodies, opening them loudly and rumpling them during Hellmann's remarks.

The approximately 75 spectators filling the meeting room in Morrisville's high school during the five-hour meeting seemed as if they were a sporting event.

They booed and cheered repeatedly depending on who was talking.

Some demanded that Hellmann be heard. Others talked over him.

In the end, at least some of the votes did swing toward staff replacements, though Hellmann and board members Marlys Mihok and Alfred Radosti tended to vote against them. Their practice of siding together on just about every vote prompted a resident to demand that the board not “follow the leader.”

Throughout the noisy meeting, Hellmann and opposing board member Robin Reithmeyer drowned each other out, and Hellmann seemed to turn a deaf ear to Yonson's explanations of how the school system works.

Those sitting near the front could hear Yonson say under her breath, “This is ridiculous.”

John Buckman, who replaced the late Edward Frankenfield on the board last week, thought the meeting dragged on too long.

“It was way too long, that's crazy. If I was getting paid and paid by the hour, maybe I wouldn't care,” he said Friday, chuckling. “We've got to find a way to cut the time.”

Buckman, a former school director and borough councilman, said taking so much time is unfair to board members and the public. But he noted asking questions and airing grievances is good. He believes it's valuable to be up-front and communicate.

However, the board and the administration seem to clash frequently.

“In politics, forget it. It's just that way,” said Buckman. “They talk the subject over and over and over. You're not going to get away from it totally.”

BUCKMAN!!

To the utter surprise of, well, no one, John "Jack" Buckman, formerly of the Morrisville School Board and formerly of the Borough Council, is once again, a school director.

Vacancy filled by former board member
By ELIZABETH FISHER

The Morrisville school board on Thursday night appointed John Buckman, a former board member and a former councilman, to replace board member Ed Frankenfield, who died May 28.

Board members Alfred Radosti, Bill Hellman, Brenda Worob, Bill Farrell and Marlys Mihok voted for Buckman; Joseph Kemp and Robin Reithmeyer voted no.

Buckman was previously on the school board from 1987 to 1991. At the time, he did not run for a second term. He also served on the Morrisville council for several years.

Four other residents had sent resumes expressing interest in taking, including former borough police Chief Victor Cicero, currently a substitute teacher in the district.

Each candidate underwent 15 minutes of scrutiny, offered a statement and answered questions from board members. Buckman said his main concerns centered on money — an important issue in the cash strapped school district — and quality education.

“I’d like to keep the taxes down as much as possible while inspiring the kids,” he told the board.

Suggestions from the candidates included pressuring Harrisburg to come up with more school funding and adding muscle to their demands by forming coalitions with other local school boards.

Buckman’s appointment didn’t go through without friction. Reithmeyer objected to inclusion of candidates whose resumes were received after the 9 a.m. June 13 deadline.

Buckman’s and Cicero’s resumes were among those that missed the deadline.

“Why do we have deadlines?” asked Reithmeyer. “It’s a bad precedent. In the future, if the deadline is 9 a.m., and if they have to be [turned in] at the school district, we should adhere to the rules.”

Buckman’s and Cicero’s applications were dropped off at Chairman Bill Hellman’s office and did not reach the office until after 10 a.m.

District Solicitor Mike Fitzpatrick intervened, saying board members could nominate anyone, even someone who did not submit a letter, up to the time the vote was taken.

Worob, who nominated Buckman, was pleased. “I was persuaded by the fact that Jack had been on the school board in the past and was very productive. He’s a caring person and has a lot of integrity. I feel he is the right person to replace Mr. Frankenfield.,

As Promised, Monday's Followup

Here's the column that Kate Fratti promised last week from her recent discussions with the Emperor and Angry Al.

Roadblock to drastic changes

Continuing their investigation into ways to reduce costs in Morrisville School District, Bill Hellmann and Al Radosti met with a Delaware Valley High School representative Tuesday afternoon.

She arrived at Hellmann’s West Bridge Street office just as a reporter and I were leaving it. We’d spent 90 minutes with Hellmann, Radosti and board member Bill Farrell, who agreed to share their rationale for proposing drastic changes to the financially strapped school system.

How drastic? They seem to have given up hope of any merger with neighboring Pennsbury. So, by September 2009, some board members hope to have closed at least one grade school, maybe two, and consolidated all grades in the middle/senior high school building. That is unless, by then they’ve been able to tuition highschoolers out at substantial reductions in cost per student. In that case, the current high school building would hold just K-8.

DVH is best known for educating at-risk kids, but President Dave Shulick has said it is accredited and experienced in regular education. Although Shulick has expressed interest in privatizing Morrisville High, Hellmann maintains he met with DVH this time to learn more about how alternative schools work. I have trouble buying that, but he’s insistent.

As for changes, Hellmann acknowledges the high school would need renovations to accommodate new grades, but that’s the least of obstacles.

The roadblock to consolidation and severe cost-cutting is a 5-year teacher contract that prevents furloughs or any substantial change to the student-staff ratio until 2012. Morrisville’s student-staff ratio stands at12.3 to 1, which doesn’t always give a true picture of class size, but does dictate the number of professionals who must stay on the rolls. There are 71 teachers, 1 psychologist, 3 guidance counselors and a nurse and two gifted/instructional support aides for fewer than 1,000 kids.

Hellmann said savings realized by farming out high-schoolers could be used to reduce teaching ranks. “Maybe retirement incentives,” Hellmann said.

He conceded Morrisville, under the direction of Superintendent Beth Yonson, is successfully educating children in its elementary schools, but says the high school has become a last resort for kids failed by the Trenton school system across the river. They move into Morrisville at very low reading and math levels. “We can’t be the special education center for Bucks and Mercer counties,” he laments.

Radosti, whose gruff way of expressing his unfiltered thoughts about kids today, changes in society and Morrisville’s proximity to the Trenton school system has won few friends among more liberalminded residents, says he’s weary of being accused of being racist and anti-education just because he wants to cut costs so people his age can keep their homes. He raises his voice two decibels to explain to me just how weary.

A Morrisville grad and a retired police officer, he worked two and three jobs to send a son to Notre Dame High School and a daughter to Grey Nun Academy. In each case, because he feared Morrisville classrooms were too disruptive. Nothing like the school system he enjoyed years before them. Don’t tell him he doesn’t value education.

Hellmann sent all but one of his kids to Conwell-Egan Catholic. He has approached CEC about a tuition program for Morrisville.

Neither man pretends to have any warm and fuzzy emotional ties to a school system they say is a drain on its townspeople. It’s a problem, Hellmann says.

It looks like he’s working to be rid of it — and soon.

Hellmann Schools Death Plan

Here's the BCCT article on the Hellmann death plan for the schools.

For all of his deficiencies as a human being in general (supreme arrogance being the most glaring) the Emperor is not stupid. He can do this. Yes, I take back what I said yesterday after having some time to think about it. He has three solid puppet accomplices who would vote for anything as long as Hellmann wished it: Al Radosti, Marlys Mihok, and Brenda Worob. (Did you notice that is now the "leadership" on the board?) That's a 4-4 tie vote at best. The the fifth vote comes over the dead body of committed schools champion Ed Frankenfield. A reliable new toady will be appointed and the fait is truly accompli. Forget about (no direct disrespect to any of these four people, but it's the truth) the unsteady waffling of Bill Farrell and Gloria Heater. They are as irrelevant as Joe Kemp and Robin Reithmeyer, and if they happen to support the plan, that's just another vote in favor.

The teachers union negotiations will ultimately result in concessions of one sort or another that will begin to pave the road. Financing will appear. So will the buses to Pennsbury, Bristol, Council Rock, or even DVHS at the deep, deep discount Joe Kemp mentioned earlier.

It's only money. That's the only thing driving this latter day Scrooge-like board. There's no happy ending for Tiny Tim here. His special ed is being cut too. Paging the three ghosts of Christmases past, present, and future: Your table is ready. The Emperor is already seated.

The Emperor's vision for Morrisville was conceived during his long, long period of isolation as a rusting Tin Man longing for a heart. The difference here is that instead of journeying to see the Wizard and obtaining that heart, (or remixing my metaphors, being visited by the ghosts), he realized that rusting away in the field was his highest ambition, and he wants Oz-like Morrisville to rust right alongside him.

Give the Emperor his kudos. He's played his hand well and the public has played their role to perfection: They stayed home and did nothing. It's just about too late and we're watching the end of MHS. We're gathered at the bedside of the dying patient and we're waiting for five votes to pull the plug.

Beep....beep......beep..........beep.........................beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

MORRISVILLE SCHOOLS
Board president presents school consolidation plan
By MANASEE WAGH

The three public schools in the Morrisville School District could shrink to just one in the future.

School board President William Hellmann announced a three-pronged plan of how he would do that at Wednesday’s board meeting:

Grades nine through 12 would be absorbed by other districts
Renovate the existing high school
Transfer remaining grades — kindergarten through eighth now at two elementary schools — to the high school building.

“My overall theme is consolidation,” he said Thursday. “Instead of keeping three buildings, we consolidate into one.”

Hellmann unveiled his plan to much outcry from diehard community members who remained planted in their chairs past midnight.

Hellmann stressed that the idea was just a plan, and that it was up to the entire board to make a decision.

“I know some people don’t like the idea but tough choices have to be made,” he said Thursday. “These are my thoughts. I’m not telling everyone what to do. These are my recommendations.”

The former school board wanted to create a new $30 million consolidated school for the district’s approximately 1,000 students, a plan that would have raised taxes for several years. However, the current board nixed the idea on the promise to keep taxes low. It elected to return most of the remaining bond money the previous board had obtained for its merged schools plan.

Hellmann said his plan would use $7 million from capital reserve funds to renovate the high school.

“I want to center renovations on the high school. But it’s a very solid building. That building will be there after I’m gone. I cannot see knocking that down,” he said.

The new school board has been trying to figure out how to accomplish school renovations since the beginning of the year. There is no fixed plan in place, but the board accepted an engineering firm’s proposal Wednesday to provide bid specifications for electrical safety issues at the high school.

There are 273 students who attend ninth through 12th grade in the high school building this year. That’s not counting those who attend services outside the high school building.

Hellmann did not explain how sending students to other districts would work, adding he’s not sure how to implement all parts of his plan at the moment.

“Our No. 1 problem is teacher contracts. No. 2 is special education costs,” he said.

Teacher contracts are binding and can’t be altered without union approval.

“The only way is to bargain with them, but we’re not at that point yet. The problem is, the prior board approved contracts in February 2007. It was a very expensive contract. Prior board members didn’t anticipate the cost over the next several years. That’s the biggest problem,” Hellmann said.

An average teacher salary in Morrisville is about $70,000, according to the state Department of Education.

Next year’s budget calls for about $10 million in employee salaries and benefits.

Hellmann said rising special education costs are a problem, too, but the state mandates that districts pay for any necessary services. Hellmann didn’t describe his plan to reduce next year’s cost increase by about 30 percent. He said the board would stay within legal territory.

“This board is not going to do anything illegally. That’s guaranteed. That’s why we have a solicitor.”

The department of education said it would not comment on any district’s situation unless the board approves such changes.

On May 21, the board voted to consider a $19.7 million budget that’s about $250,000 short of the budget the administration recommended.

The lower budget would reduce necessary funds for incoming special education students, as well as money for students expected to attend charter and alternative schools.

Based on the number of students anticipated and their educational needs, the district is looking at a $2.1 million bill for special education services next year. The administration doesn’t have a choice in how much to pay for special education, said Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson at Wednesday’s meeting.

“Since December we’ve been looking at ways to cut costs without infringing on the needs of our children,” Yonson said Thursday.

Hellmann’s proposed cuts to the increase in special education expenses are about 30 percent. It would have been 40 percent, but the price for administrative services is lower than earlier thought, Yonson said.

Still, Kimberly Myers, supervisor of pupil personnel services, said she doesn’t see how the reduced budget could cover projected needs for special education requirements.

Hellmann thinks there’s a way to do it.

“My goal from the beginning was to provide an education for children that the town can afford. I’m trying to be reasonable. That’s it,” he said.

According to Yonson and Myers, the only way might be to reduce other expenditures.

“At this point, we’re hoping to convince the board not to do this. We are giving them a barebones budget,” Yonson said.

Retreat!

I received a message from Joe Kemp reporting on the Cinco de Mayo School Board Director's retreat last night. The forecast for the greater Morrisville area: continuing cloudy, thunderstorms likely with intermittent snarkiness.

[UPDATED May 7, 2008 3:30 P.M.: Thanks for the blog mention.]

Retreat was attended last night (Cinco de Mayo) by directors Radosti, Farrell, Kemp and Reithmeyer and administrators Yonson and Dunford. Dr. Barry Gallosso and Joanne Perotti of the BCIU (for free) put together a PowerPoint and had the big easels out. The goal of the retreat was to find common ground and put together a short list of short-term goals we could all agree on for the district. Since we were several apples short of a consensus tree, we amended the goal to trying to figure out if there can be any trust built up between board members and administrators. Outlook gloomy, but we're going to try to do it again with full participation. Corner me sometime for comments.

Kudos to members Radosti, Farrell, Kemp and Reithmeyer, and Yonson and Dunford. Frankenfield remains on the injured reserve list. Assign an incomplete to members Mihok, Heater, Worob, and the big enchilada himself, the Emperor.

I hereby renew the open invitation to any of the nine school board members who want to comment or contribute.

Inexperienced Board Members?

We've had the members of the school board referred to as "inexperienced" recently. Is that really the case?

The Emperor: School board, zero. Former Morrisville controller.
Al Radosti: Second term
Maryls Mihok: Second tour on board.
Gloria Heater: Second term
Brenda Worob: Second term
Joe Kemp: Completing first term
Ed Frankenfield: Completing first term
Bill Farrell: Newcomer
Robin Reithmeyer: Newcomer

Let's keep in mind the board president is the inexperienced one. He also hates rules and regulations that apply to him. Combined with his natural arrogance, this is a bad way for a leader to operate.

His accomplices on the board have plenty of experience. They're the ones not doing the job to educate and guide the newbie.

Did you notice that for a newcomer, Robin Reithmeyer seems to be doing just fine?

Defease The Emperor Poll

Thank you to everyone who contributed their vote to defease the Emperor.

The runaway winner was Robin Reithmeyer, formerly of the QSRE and running mate of the Emperor, and now an open dissenter of the Emperor's rule while still sharing the same dais with him. (I've heard of the doctored signs from the 2007 election where Robin's name is crossed off boldly, acknowledging her apostasy and heresy from the one true faith. Has anyone else heard about this or seen one?)

Joe Kemp came in second in this informal poll. Everyone else came in far behind these two.

Robin Reithmeyer: From Queen of the Q to...?? 20 40%
Joe Kemp: A principled no! 11 22%
Other... 6 12%
Ed Frankenfield: You still need a plan! 4 8%
Bill Hellmann: Don't mess with Bill! 3 6%
Brenda Worob: Two for one! You get Steve too! 3 6%
Marlys Mihok: Minutes? They take months! 3 6%
Al Radosti: You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. 0 0%
Bill Farrell: Email? 0 0%
Gloria Heater: Whatever Bill says! 0 0%

I do not agree with everything either of them have done. That doesn't matter. What matters is that each of them take the time to do the due diligence and the homework in the off hours that makes their time on the dais count. The Emperor and the Court of Toadies lack this ability to grow, reconsider, and independently evaluate. They slavishly follow one person, and this one person has a frozen view of reality. Following sheepishly is no way to go through life.

There were also several "other" votes. "Someone with a clue" was one. "A leader with vision and common sense" was another. Former board candidate Jon Perry also received one vote. All three are worthy.

Then there were a series of rather baffling votes pointed at the same two people that really left me rather confused and uneasy. They match a number of comments to postings that I have deleted rather than posting because they really didn't make sense. Yet the persistence of these comments over several months seems to point to some sort of truth. I'm not sure what to make of it all.

Yes, I've been vague and non-specific and I'm beating around the bush. Would the person(s) who have been making these comments please let me in on the secret? You can comment to this post anonymously and just note "do not publish" if you're more comfortable with that.

Keeping the public at bay in Morrisville

Kate Fratti has a column in the BCCT today looking at the SHHHHHH...*secret meeting* from last Sunday.

So here's another documented time when these yokels refuse to follow standard public meeting procedure and hide away from the public here in Morrisville.

They hid the Hellmann Report (although the Emperor did that more on his own, his accomplices backed him up. Accomplices are held equally accountable in the eyes of the law.); they hid the farming scheme; they hid any discussions or contacts with Delaware Valley High School. Now they're hiding their opposition to the special education kids. Maybe they want to farm them out too? Who knows? The Emperor never wants to tell us what silly stuff he's thinking about.

Our rights to free and open deliberations by our governmental representatives are being violated. Speak up and tell them you will not allow this to continue! *THEM* means all of this immoral majority. Despite the obvious imperial performance by William Hellmann, CPA, he cannot do this without accomplices: "Angry" Al Radosti, Marlys "Minutes take Months" Mihok, Brenda "Two for One" Worob, Bill "Honest Talker" Farrell, and Gloria "Do What Bill Says" Heater.

Look below and see about the emails going to Hellmann's private email address. This is another example of this board's skirting of laws and not leaving a public record. In the U.S. government, the checks and balances are there, and a House of Representatives Government Oversight committee is functioning. In this situation, YOU, the public, is the oversight.

If you don't speak up now, don't complain when they ignore you too.

Keeping the public at bay in Morrisville

I was muttering about open meeting laws again last week after getting off the phone with a caller who alleged Morrisville’s majority school board members were set to meet secretly on a recent Sunday.

He gave me the time, the address, and a tip about the agenda — a sexual harassment complaint by one worker against another.

Just what this little district needs: more controversy.

The board majority elected to block high school construction appears to want to do away with the high school program entirely. Without public deliberation, the majority contacted other schools about taking Morrisville kids on a tuition basis. Next, a Philadelphia outfit offered to privatize the high school. No public discussion about that either, so there’s no way to know where the offer stands.

Also without public debate, the board contracted with engineers for a cursory review of conditions in all three district schools. This, instead of the more thorough review and renovation action plan the board unanimously voted on in December.

We learn this month that the solicitor who protested the secret hiring and insisted on a public vote after the fact to “clean this up,” is expected to be replaced as early as the next school board meeting. Originally, school board President Bill Hellmann asked that all resumes for the job be sent to his private certified public accounting office instead of the school administration building.

And recently, the American Civil Liberties Union expressed interest in Morrisville schools. Why?

Here’s a clue.

Saying special ed costs must be controlled, Hellmann acknowledged he asked for the names and addresses of all special educations students, along with the services they receive and the individual cost for each child. Hellman said he’d settle for knowing whether each child lives in a house or an apartment if he can’t have names and addresses.

That kind of stuff will perk up the ACLU’s ears.

A week ago Sunday, I drove by the address my caller gave me — the home of school board member Brenda Worob and husband Stephen, a borough councilman.

The house was gaily decorated with patriotic buntings. An American flag was flapping at the front door. Surely the caller was mistaken.

But, I’ll be darned. I wrote down the makes of several cars to match them with board members later.

But I needn’t have been so Brenda Starr.

Hellmann conceded to Sunday’s gathering as soon as I asked him about it. No sleuthing needed.

“I’m not sure what there is to comment on,” he said, since there was never a quorum Sunday.

“This was a gathering of friends, some of whom — never more than four school board members — happen to be on the school board. … We will continue to meet with each other, mindful of the law, whenever we wish.”

Although five school board members were at the Worob home Sunday afternoon — Worob, Hellmann, Marlys Mihok, Bill Farrell and Al Radosti (who left before some others arrived) — we are asked to believe no specific school business was discussed.

That harassment complaint? There was one. It was brought to the full board’s attention at a legal executive session after the agenda meeting.

“The way I see it, we have to do just three things,” Hellmann told me after that executive session. “We have to provide students with an education, to do it in a way that is affordable, and to follow the law.”

Patriotic buntings aside, I think he refers to the letter of the law, not necessarily the spirit.

Kate Fratti, whose column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, suspects that once this board concedes to deliberate all matters in public, they’ll do it in pig Latin.
Editor: Carl LaVO, 215-949-4227 clavo@phillyBurbs.com

Just Another Night in Morrisville, Part III

I may need some assistance on some of the details of this part of the story, because the reconstruction I have seems to have some portions at odds with each other. SO...while some of the details of this may have to be clarified, the result is spot on.

If you remember back to the time following the revelation that the Emperor self-commissioned the $2500 Hellman building report to cover his tracks for the defeasement, it was suggested and broadly hinted at, that the Emperor was given a talking to by Counsel Kelly and the rest of the board. (Disclaimer: I was not there and those that were there are not talking. At least not to me. But if you want to, my email is listed at the top.) He was basically told, you're new and inexperienced, and you're eager to push your agenda, but this is not allowed. You can't run your own show here. You act in the name of the board only. We're covering you this time by an 8-1 vote. Go and sin no more.

Now, last night, we find out that the Emperor has been lunching with the district health care provider contact and/or other health care provider contacts (please, someone clarify!) in order to promote "competition" among the providers.

The problem is that the board did not sanction this. The Emperor also apparently casually mentioned that he was "the boss" and he wanted action taken to reduce costs to the district. (Clarification requested.)

Let me stop here and applaud the idea that the Emperor was promoting, not the way it was done. Stimulating competition and lowering costs is worthy. The Emperor has a problem with the "red tape" stuff and clearly and loudly proclaimed this for all to hear.

Captain Obvious reports that many people who have a high disdain for authority and controls have an authority and control problem of their own. Not that I'm making a correlation here, you understand.

So, that's when Robin Reithmeyer unleashed her latest load of lèse majesté and told the Emperor that this board runs on red tape.

Momentary reality check: A self professed experienced CPA with extensive contact with the US Tax Code and the IRS, as well as several municipal governments in Pennsylvania, is unaware that red tape runs the world. Um...I'm thinking, maybe...NOT!


But then, the other four board members, even Mrs. Steve "You Squandered Two Million Dollars Of Our Money" Worob began chiding him. So did Counsel Kelley. So did the audience. They had all already privately told him once not to overreach and to operate beyond his mandate. Now, the public got to watch and join in.

With last night's performance, quite a bit was lost. The openness and honesty that the Stop the Schoolers supposedly ran on, and that Bill Farrell (honestly and sincerely, I believe) mentions quite often, is revealed as nothing but hollow words, as empty as the chocolate bunnies on Easter morning when you bite their ears off. With these acts, one man has made a mockery of the eight remaining members of the board, the school administration that he holds in high disregard, the parents that he openly ignores, and yes, even the taxpayers that he is allegedly crusading for.

Don't believe me? See for yourself on the replays all next week. Watch and check back in with us here and let us know what you think. Unless the tape is mysteriously damaged or lost.

When the name "Bill Clinton" is mentioned, I'm sure the first association you made to a word was "liar". I'm not sure what one word will stick here, but for William I, Emperor of Education, I have no doubt that the single word will show itself sooner rather than later.

I believe my three minutes are up. Feel free to add as you will.

Just Another Night in Morrisville, Part II

When we last left our story, an open insurrection was beginning against the autocratic rule of the Emperor. The members of the Q in the audience were aghast at her insolence. The Emperor himself was rocked and resorted to babbling semi-coherently about school safety issues.

But before we visit this storyline, let's take a look at the delivery of the Q-gram last weekend that was discussed by several speakers. For some bizarre reason, it was disclosed that pictures are taken of the houses that receive a Q-gram. Do me a favor and leave me off the distribution list.

The shocking revelation that the class of 2008 did poorly on the mathematics section of the PSSA was not shocking. The only people that were shocked were the dilettantes who bungee in to piously shed mock public tears about our education woes and then obliviously bungee out again until the next pseudo-crisis arises.

I am as disappointed in the math score as anyone is, but the truth of the matter is that real watchers and supporters of the Morrisville school district knew this already, because they were briefed by Dr. Beth Yonson.

The percentile scores for the class of 2008 were 28% scoring proficient or higher in mathematics. In reading, it was 58%. In writing, it was 86%. We have work to do in math, but it looks like the reading and writing scores are pretty good.

There was also a speaker who did an analysis of the complete scores for the entire state. Again, while the math scores were disappointing, they were not wildly out of synch with the rest of the state.

Kudos to Robin Reithmeyer, who had the audacity to openly proclaim that the Emperor had no clothing. She laid out her case rather well (does anyone have a copy of her statement?) and had several pointed exchanges with His Highness.

Then came the insurrection. Robin pointed put that the Emperor was trying to spend money without a comprehensive plan, and that if he has allowed the original December RFP for bids to have gone out without meddling with it, the board would be reviewing the bids already, not just the process. She also properly noted that the items listed as code violations are longstanding items that are grandfathered in. She further noted that the bids will be opened next week and spending the money now without a plan was foolish.

My understanding is that the Emperor melted down quite like the Wicked Witch of the West when Dorothy doused her. He babbled about fires in the school and how the children were in danger.

Isn't it curious how these same items existed last year and candidate Hellmann didn't want them addressed, and now that he's holding on to personal responsibility for it, he's the Mother Theresa of repairs?

The $200,000 in repairs only covered the high school, not the two elementary schools. These schools are even worse off than the high school.

Speaking of the elementary schools, The Emperor arranged for his buddies to do another study, this time at the elementary schools. This time, he even managed to mention it to the board before the study started.

Both of these items failed to be approved, by a 3-3 tie, with Hellmann, Worob and Farrell wanting to plunge along without a plan, and Reithmeyer, Kemp, and Frankenfield wanting a comprehensive plan. **NOTE ADDED: I should mention that Bill Farrell has a deep and genuine interest in the safety of the schools and the students, and I believe that he is more interested in safe schools "right now" so that our kids are safe.**

On another note, I don't understand all of this, so if someone has the info, please share, but apparently Hellmann has a serious personal issue with the banking institution holding the district's money. A move out of here was not approved as well.

Then came the revelation that Billy-Boy stuck his hand in the cookie jar. Again.

More to come.

Smackdown at the MV Auditorium

Great show at the MHS auditorium last night. I haven't attended a board meeting in quite a while but figured I would join the fun. I'll link to any articles later.

1: Front Page - It is our future
2: Kate Fratti - Morrisville Needs Heroes

Want to go through the mental snapshots I took?

William Hellmann CPA: My God, what an arrogant SOB! He pointedly ignores the public comment, even to the point of not responding to it. He is dismissive with the other board members. His body language is very much outward facing negative. Bonus arrogance points for cutting off public comment, but just lay off Reba Dunford, would you? It's clear you don't like her, but the way you belittle her at every possible turn is just infantile. Bully-Boy reminds me of a cocky arrogant know-it-all can't-tell-me SOB currently living in Washington DC. By the way...what's all this with "I didn't get a chance to review this" stuff. Running a one man show beginning to get a little tiring? This isn't "Hellmann's Heroes". Turn in your Type A obsessive compulsive membership card at the door.

Angry Al: Yep. The name is back. Apparently Al's been using words he shouldn't be. Tsk, tsk. At least we know now why John Jordan, former board member and head of the Bucks NAACP asked to speak last night to ask for Angry Al's resignation. Don't think this one is going away too soon. Ed Bailey may be a board member yet.

Bill Farrell: Our dark horse winner from last night. The man described as Captain Algebra (and we're still a little uncertain on why that question was asked, but...) was the one seeking to put some peace and calm on a situation that's been brewing for years. I'm not certain it's at the point of bringing Begin and Sadat to the table at Camp David, but it's a positive development.

Gloria Heater: Please stop vigorously shaking your head in agreement whenever William Hellmann CPA speaks. It appears sycophantic. Or that your bobble-head needs readjustment.

Marlys Mihok: Still on the secrecy bandwagon I see. You wanted to have an executive session at the agenda session two weeks ago and the lawyer told you no, giving you the five explicit reasons available. Now you're going after Joe Kemp for allegedly releasing information from an executive session, and it wasn't him. Rule #1: Almost nothing in an executive session remains completely executively quiet. So stop trying to negotiate in secrecy (wasn't that one of your campaign promises?) and bring it out into the open for all to see and discuss. Reflect on Bill Farrell's remarks, would you?

All Nine Members: Shame on you for limiting the public comment. The "People's Board" doesn't want to hear from the people. More supreme arrogance. Tell you what guys...go back through your propaganda from the last few years, cross out that "Sandy Gibson", insert "William Hellmann CPA" and re-read it. That's what you looked like last night.

William Hellmann CPA, part II: You get extra special "creepy" points for trying to nickel and dime the special education positions. Unfunded and/or underfunded federal and state mandates are a fact of life. Special education needs are a fact of life. It took the superintendent, quite properly, noting that the board as individuals could be civilly liable yet again (see, you've got to listen and drop the know it all act) before the approval was grudgingly given. (I believe your vote was Yes, With Reservations, followed by Bill Farrell's vote of Yes, With No Reservations. Look. Listen. Learn.) But then there's this diatribe on how the town needs to watch where the money goes. It does, but the money and the numbers have a human face. They're called students.

The students: Kudos for even showing up, and that's not meant to be condescending. Your teen years are for hanging out with your friends, doing your homework and McJob, and preparing for life, not experiencing adults playing poorly with your future. But you showed up and did a commendable job. For the most part you were quiet and respectable and direct, and that goes a long way.

Morrisville Farming Plan: It's dead, all except for the official funeral. The board members botched this one pretty well. "Brainstorming" is collecting ideas. When you start acting upon them, it's not just brainstorming anymore. Calling around to other districts was the equivalent of Commissioner Gordon shining the Batlight on a cloud for all to see. The secrecy stuff does not work.

Bond Defeasment: We don't know what we want, how we're getting it, or how much it will cost, but we're getting rid of the bond. William Hellmann's buddy apparently needs the work after the rocky economic news so far for 2008. What's he getting anyway? Even a 1% management fee is some $24,000. The Six Million Dollar Shell sits there, patiently crumbling, er, waiting for someone, anyone to fix it. Even the board members are confused by this maneuver. Call them, write them, and be sure to attend the special meeting on January 30 to discuss it. Remember that the devil is in the details: Where are the engineer reports, the specs, the bids, the cost analysis, the due diligence?

M.R. Reiter and Grandview RIP: The shouts of "what about the other schools" were met with silence last night and here's why. Both those schools are in poor physical shape, especially Reiter. The stop the schoolers campaigned against a K-12 building because they didn't want those age ranges mixing. So, close the two elementary schools, make MHS a K-8 building, farm out grades 9-12 and we're done! Except that it's now looking like the Six Million Dollar Shell will be a K-12 building. One order of Karma Crow for the Stop the Schoolers, extra spicy!

Enough from this side of the monitor. Anyone else have anything to share?

Interesting Document

I wonder what the payback to the unions might be for these endorsements on Election Day 2007. Did anyone else see this? And why would Marlys Mihok and William Hellmann CPA be unworthy of this honor, but Bill Farrell, Robin Reithmeyer, Al Radosti, Gloria Heater, Nancy Sherlock, Kathryn Panzitta, and David Rivella would be?

I'm not against unions. I come from a long, long line of union members in my family. I just want to know if stopping the school and seeking to award reconstruction and renovation work locally are at all connected or not, either then, now, or in the future.

Morrisville School Board: The Next Generation

According to the Courier Times, it appears that President Bill Hellmann and Vice President Al Radosti will lead the crew of the Starship Enterprise-NSN for the next two years. So much for my guess that Radosti would emerge as the new Jean-Luc Picard.

MORRISVILLE

The Morrisville school board welcomed new members, including William Hellmann, who was elected president. Alfred Radosti, who has served on the board since 2003, was elected to serve as vice president.

Other members joining the board were Robin Reithmeyer, Marlys Mihok and William Farrell.

Hellmann and Radosti were elected by votes of 7-2, with Edward Frankenfield and Joseph Kemp voting to elect Kemp as president and Frankenfield as vice president.

Mihok was unanimously elected to serve as school district representative to the Bucks County Intermediate Unit Board.

Power has an interesting dynamic all its own, and I admit that I am somewhat surprised that Radosti, Heater, and Worob (oh my!) having survived so many years of silent second banana-hood under the alleged dictatorial iron thumb of Dr. Gibson would decline an opportunity to gloriously lead this board. May their golden tongues be loosened.

The next two years are also going to be tough on Ed Frankenfield and Joe Kemp. In much the same way the Republicans have found that minorityhood in Congress is not fun (and they are retiring in record numbers for the 2008 election cycle), they will be largely ignored by the NSNs unless they maintain strident and loud dissent or moderate their positions to more closely match the NSN positions. I remember reading about Richard Nixon's first few days as a private citizen following his resignation, and he wanted to send a letter to a supporter. They looked and looked, and the only stationery available was the apple green letterhead reserved for the President of the United States. An aide took a pair of scissors, cut off the presidential seal, and handed the remains of the page to the former president remarking, "This is the new reality."

Any thoughts about the power dynamic with the former borough controller now president of the board? How about board member Mrs. Worob and councilman Mr. Worob? Is Vice-President Radosti running for a second shot at Mayor Wisnosky's job? And how about relations between the borough council and the board of education? Who runs who? Any other thoughts?