A big welcome to Marlys Mihok, today's guest blogger, as she appeared in the BCCT.
At least we have the answer to the Kate Fratti's question of "What are they hiding?" The answer: A big fat super-grande enchilada filled with nada.
Updated May 12 with more comment goodness from the BCCT website. Who knew Marlys had so many fans?
Raising scores, lowering costs
Bucks County Courier Times
The Morrisville school board has four seats to fill in the primary election. Every candidate has cross-filed and the ballot positions do not follow any order. But beware; there is a world of difference between the "Stay On Track" candidates and the other hopefuls.
Over the last 16 months the "Stop the School" board majority has kept the promise of increasing test scores and lowering taxes without affecting the educational programs. Just ask our superintendent and business manager. Rumors rumbling around town could not be further from the truth. We have not cut funding for special education, music or sports. We actually added girls JV Softball to the extracurricular roster. We will not fire para educators or classroom aides and in fact hired four more. We have only reduced our administrative staff by one elementary principal and one high school assistant principal, through attrition.
Do we really need a principal and assistant principal for the high school and two principals at the elementary school when total district enrollment is just 855 students? Morrisville has been top heavy with highly paid administrators for decades.
Our opponents say we don't have a plan. Truth is in just 16 months the Morrisville school board has installed fire alarms in every classroom. Placing children in classrooms without smoke detectors was outrageous to us. A kitchen ventilation system and fire suppressant hoods have been installed in the cafeteria. We have completed renovations in our junior/senior high school to upgrade the electrical system. This summer all the windows will be replaced with state of the art triple pane windows which will keep in the heat from our new gas-fired boilers scheduled to be installed before students return in the fall.
Since taking office, the Stop the School majority has reduced health insurance costs keeping the same coverage, telephone system costs, and copier lease costs. Remember the Sandy Gibson School Board said renovations to our buildings would cost more than building new? New building costs from Vitetta Architects and engineers predicted their new school building costs to be $48 million for the new Pre K through 12 campus. The renovation budget in reality is only $7 million and all of our bid proposals are lower than estimated.
And speaking of the budget, Morrisville Borough School District has a balanced budget this year. Taxes in our borough decreased last year by 39 mils or 600 for the average homeowner. This year on July 1 your tax bill will be another pleasant surprise as the board majority will propose another reduction to our business manager.
Two men running on the opposition have publicly stated that they were in favor of building the new K through 12 campus and if elected they will build a new school. With enrollment declining every month does this make sense to you? They have invited everyone receiving their flier to a rally serving free hot dogs and soda. Trust me, that free hot dog in exchange for your vote will really cost you $1,500 dollars a year every year in tax increases to house their own children in unnecessary new construction.
In summary the Morrisville school board "Stop the School" majority in our first 16 months has raised test scores, lowered taxes, reduced wasteful spending, and has renovations under way. So it is my recommendation that we "stay on track" on May 19. Re-elect Brenda Worob, a board veteran now in the majority; and we need your vote for Ronald Stout who saved us almost a million dollars with his common sense suggestions; and Jack Buckman, who has served Morrisville residents in many capacities for years; and John DeWilde, a special education teacher who will be an advocate for students and families in our district.
May 11, 2009 02:00 AM
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charley, 05-11-09, 8:38 am | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
Raising scores, lowering costs, exploding boilers...yep. The current Mo'ville school board is doing a fabulous job.
charley, 05-11-09, 10:11 am | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
"...in just 16 months the Morrisville school board has installed fire alarms in every classroom."
Well, I'm sure those fire alarms came in handy when the boiler exploded. Safety first, huh?
leatherk, 05-11-09, 1:32 pm | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
There is no plan. The district business administrator, under penalty of perjury, has certified that the six point plan that both Bill Hellmann and Brenda Worob claimed the district was developing (as reflected in approved and posted board meeeting minutes) does not exist. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Open Records has confirmed this finding and also cautioned the district regarding factual errors of this type causing legitimate cause for concern.
https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/o...
It's too bad that Marlys was unable to attend the candidate meet and greet last Sunday at Williamson Park even though she called up one of the "opposition" candidates and asked to be invited. As a result of her phone call, all four candidates from the stop the school side were invited. Not one of them showed. Two mayoral candidates did attend and some excellent discussions took place between the public and the candidates that were present.
The point isn't the hot dogs and soda. It's the open communication between people that makes this important. Instead of hiding things from the public, like the $2.5 million spent to re-sell the defeased bond monies back or holding secret meetings out of the public eye, the candiates and the public met openly. For example, we openly discussed that the "new" K-12 school idea is completely dead. Everyone who attended is in agreement that any new school would need to be approved by public referendum and that there is no way the town would approve. Only the stop the school people continue to dredge up the memory of the "new" school just to scare people.
charley, 05-11-09, 2:37 pm | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
Hey all you "thumbs downers." Why not try to rebutt some of what has been posted here instead of clicking a little red down arrow and thinking that somehow qualifies as thoughtful debate.
From an AP article reprinted in EducationWeek.c om: "No one was injured, but the explosion seemed to some to be another indication that the Morrisville School District needs to get out of the education business. Despite having one of the highest school tax rates in Bucks County, students learn in aging facilities and have less-than-stell ar test scores to show for it."
Hear that? Members of the current Morrisville School District need to get OUT OF THE EDUCATION BUSINESS!
Anonymous Coward, 05-11-09, 3:08 pm | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
"stay on track" includes blowing up schools. "stay on track" means trailers for elementary school kids. "stay on track" means looting the emergency fund to appear to balance the budget. It means lying about the other candidates who have NEVER said they are building another school. It means lying about a 6-point plan. It means forcing Dr. Yonson to take a contract cut. It means forcing the principal to do two jobs. It means shipping out the high school students to the lowest quality alternative school (stopped only by huge numbers of irate parents). It means lowering taxes with no consideration to the safety or education of the students.
floating duck, 05-11-09, 3:36 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
How about being told to GET OUT OF YOUR HOME? That is just about as rediculous as telling families that sorry but Morrisville needs to get out of the education business so we cannot have your children here so there goes your home value! Some young families moved here FOR the small school system. Our child is not a number but has a name and I do not feel that children should wonder were they are going to attend school! How would you feel not knowing were you go to work day to day. Ignorance is bliss and I'm saddened by all of the ignorance in this could be amazing small town. If you do not want to live in a family oriented town YOU GET OUT. We are staying and fighting FOR OUR CHILDREN and quality of LIFE.
False Profit, 05-11-09, 3:49 pm | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
More than a few lies or distortions packed in there, including:
1. This board majority raised test scores.
This board majority had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the higher PSSA test scores. The most recent tests Mihok's crowing about were taken in Spring 2008, before the board majority's 1st budget was even passed. BLATANT LIE!
2. Taxes in the borough decreased last year by 39 mils or 600 for the average homeowner.
Huh? First off, 39 mils equates to $702 in Morrisville, so Mihok's math is WRONG. Actually, school taxes decreased by 17.8 mils ($321) for the average homeowner. Another $217 per homeowner (12.1 mils) came from gambling revenue that the school board had NOTHING TO DO WITH. Way to try to take credit for that!
Boro taxes INCREASED by 3.5 mils ($70) - does Mihok want to take credit for that?
Why did school taxes go down $321? The board defeased (gave back) most of the bond money for new school construction or renovations (which cost taxpayers $2.5 million long-term), and took $1.1 million (19 mils) from the district's "fund balance" (savings account).
So, in effect, Mihok's really saying..."Hey, reduce taxes last year, we cost taxpayers $2.5 million over the long-haul, and drained over $1 million from the savings account left by prior boards - don't we look GOOD???"
No, I don't think you do.
False Profit, 05-11-09, 3:57 pm | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
"I will never, never, ever be responsible for any child because I am a school board member."
- Marlys Mihok
Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 9:27 a.m.
False Profit, 05-11-09, 4:07 pm | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
Mihok sez --> That free hot dog in exchange for your vote will really cost you $1,500 dollars a year every year in tax increases to house their own children in unnecessary new construction.
Then why does the flier being handed out by her allies say the tax increase will be $3,300?
Forget about the fact that no new school can be built without voter approval. Can you and your cronies at least get your lies straight and settle on a number?
At least the blowhard McCarthy-like Senator in "The Manchurian Candidate" eventually settled on 57 card-carrying commies in Congress after checking out a Heinz Ketchup bottle!
False Profit, 05-11-09, 4:15 pm | Rate: Flag -4 Flag | Flag Report
Oh, and why did Mihok and crony board candidate Ron Stout camp out across the park on the rainy Sunday when many citizens and school board candidates were under the pavillion actually having reasonable discussions with their hot dogs & soda?
Creepy and sad, but TRUE!
Mihok should have taken a picture - it would have lasted longer! Then again, maybe she did?
ADDED May 12: Wow. Who knew Marlys had so many fans?
Note To Self, 05-11-09, 5:07 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
Call the IRS:
To make sure I am correct that the QSRE is violating their 501C3 status by campaigning in any way for/against political candidates during any election cycle!
Have a nice day :)
davidi n Morrisville, 05-11-09, 5:32 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
I have been accused of wanting a new school, by Mrs. Mihok. I believe that in a perfect world, we would all like to live in, go to school in, work in, brand new buildings. I have said that the people of Morrisville would like a new school, but we flat out cannot afford it --- and state law mandates a referendum to decide the matter by the people of Morrisville. Apparently, again, Mrs. Mihok doesn't know the law. She spews lies about people she disagrees with but won't have the respect to face someone and argue truths, not fantacy of her own making. She claims 2 candidates made pro new school comments. She doesn't even know who they are. One of those she accused isn't running for anything, he made some comments at a meeting about closing M R Reiter school. Shes not a very detail orriented person I guess. I haven't heard them talk at all about the students during ANY of their meetings. When asked if they could hire a 1 on 1 aide since 5 have left the district, Hellman and Mihok only asked what was their salary, did they get benefits, and do we pay into retirement for them. How about do we need them? how are they being utilized now? How many students are they helping and do we need more? The only way any were hired is because the pres and his wondrous sidekick Al weren't at the meeting. Sad, very sad. They care only about the checkbook. I care about the students and the taxpayers. I have payed taxes here for 18 years and have 1 duaghter who grasduated from Morrisville and 1 in 9th grade. Between the entire sitting board, there is 1 child in the system. Mrs. Mihok has told bald faced lies for her own agrandizement and benefit. It's sad she can't hold her head any higher than the curb she has stooped to.
slimjim01, 05-11-09, 5:34 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
The above article is a low blow...even for you Marlys! Marlys seems determined to destroy Morrisville. As the mouthpiece for the "Stay on Track" team, she should get her facts straight before spouting off in the press...maybe the water in the hot tub was too much, and she is not able to think clearly these days, or maybe it was the flash from her camera while taking pictures of children(creepy , I know!!)and she is not able to see things for what they are. Morrisville deserves better!!!
charley, 05-11-09, 5:42 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
Does anyone have pictures of the post-explosion boiler from M.R. Reiter? Those pics need to be circulated throughout Mo'ville so the residents can see how effective the current board has been and how much they care about the students.
It's a shame that a nice town like Mo'ville gets shackled with a school board that is led by a sneaky, arrogant knucklehead like Hellmann.
To "floating duck," my point in my last post was that the current school board is rotten and they should not be in the education business. I'm sorry to have not made that more clear. I have nephews in the Mo'ville school system and they've had wonderful teachers. There are great educators, staff, and students in that school district. The kids are loyal to their schools and my one nephew who was in Reiter and is now stuck in a portable at Grandview still talks about his "old" school and misses it terribly. I feel the current board has woefully short-changed the students in Mo'ville and should be too ashamed of themselves to even consider asking to be re-elected.
gratefullee, 05-11-09, 10:16 pm | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
As the blog so nicely points out, Quid Pro Quo.
From http://savethemorrisvilleschool.blogs... :
-----Original Message-----
From: bill hellmann [mailto:bill hellmann cpa@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 10:55 AM
To: Heater, Gloria
Cc: bill hellmann
Subject: RE: engineering services, high school boilers
i am the one that stirs the drink. if i sit there, yonson's spending
will kill this town. she has two puppet board members that do whatever
she tells them, and the TINY pro-schoolers crew. ha ha ha! they are all
sand pounders. ha ha ha !
one by one they are either leaving or being replaced. soon, yonson will
be by herself. i have been talking to bill farrara and i like him and
so do other board members. he likes the consolidation we are talking
about (tuitioning out). i assured him we will always need a super and
at least one principal.
i know i am not polite at the meetings. i will work on that and try to
be more patient and respectful to the other fools. my problem is i
have little patience for incompetence and i am surrounded by those
types of people up there.
--------------- --------------- --------
Is this the kind of person you want running your town's school? No school = no one moving in and investing their family's future and money. Ironic that he talks about Yonson's puppets, given that Mihok and crew vote lockstep with Hellmann who, as you can see from the aforementioned e-mail, is a mature, thoughtful, individual who cares so much about the future of the school and students (can you feel the sarcasm?).
leatherk, 05-12-09, 7:24 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
A vote for Worob, Buckman, Stout, and DeWilde is a vote for Hellmann and Mihok. Staying on track is voting to continue intolerance, secrecy, and an "us versus them mentality".
charley, 05-12-09, 8:57 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
"Mr. Leather filed a timely appeal of the denial on April 3, 2009 seeking copies of the “six-point plan.” Mr. Leather subsequently indicated that he was only appealing the denial of a copy of the “six point plan.” After the filing of the appeal, Mr. DeAngelo provided the OOR with a sworn attestation that a record containing a “six point plan” does not exist."
Is this the kind of school board the students of Morrisville deserve? I believe they deserve much MUCH better than Hellmann and his current cabal.
lurch03, 05-12-09, 9:30 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
I find it mindboggling that Marlys and her crew would take credit for the higher test scores. They had nothing to do with it. The real test will be this years PSSA results. The current board majority has done nothing for the education of the children. They are only interested in lower taxes!!Some in their crew even want to eliminate them altogether!http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/l...
Isn't the author of this a big supporter of Hellman&Co? Morrisville voters should be vary aware of the tactics Marlys and her crew are up to. Unethical...yes ....Do not vote for the "stay on track" candidates!!!!T hey will further derail Morrisville!
lurch03, 05-12-09, 9:44 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
"Placing children in classrooms without smoke detectors was outrageous to us."
Marlys.....why did it take you 16 months to install fire alarms? If children were of your concern don't you think this should have been done sooner?? Oh that's right....
"I will never, never, ever be responsible for any child because I am a school board member."
- Marlys Mihok
Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 9:27 a.m.
You have already answered that for us!!
ANGRY PARENT, 05-12-09, 10:04 am | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
Marlys is there any reason you need to LIE? Are you scared you're going to lose? You know darn well that there is NO TALK about a new school being built!!!!! Test scores ha ha That's a big THANKS to Dr Yonson! She is the one who made the difference, how can you take credit when you weren't even on the board yet? you could careless what our test scores are. you know if they keep falling Moville will be in trouble,,,like shutting down schools...That would just make your day HUH?
We need BECK, MILLER, JENKINS & STONEBURNER for our school board. THEY CARE ABOUT OUR CHILDREN'S FUTURE!!!!
KEEP UP ALL YOUR LIES BECAUSE THEY WILL JUST HIT YOU IN THE FACE LATER.....
False Profit, 05-12-09, 10:05 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
PSSA scores have been trending higher for about the last 5 yrs., which coincides with Dr. Yonson's arrival as Superintendent.
When the Mihok board majority took power at the end of 2007, what did they do? They spent a couple grand of taxpayer $$$ for a law firm to evaluate Dr. Yonson's signed 5-yr. contract, then ripped it up and handed her a 3-yr. deal - take it or shove it.
Dr. Yonson easily could have not signed it, sued for breach of contract, and won - all at taxpayer expense. She didn't, which is a testiment to her placing children's and taxpayer concerns above her own personal concerns.
But Dr. Yonson knows a hostile board majority that doesn't properly value education when she sees one. She's now a finalist for a Superintendent postion in Springfield, Montgomery County. More turnover, more turmoil.
Just another of many short-sighted, hard-headed, hostile, arrogant decisions by the board majority.
A gimmicky tax cut isn't worth the price. Let's give others a chance. Please vote: BECK, MILLER, JENKINS, STONEBURNER.
lurch03, 05-12-09, 10:11 am | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
Well said angry parent!!!
The whole town knows the new school is a dead idea!!If ever a new school idea is brought up again it will have to go to a vote by the people of the town(ie: referendum). The only ones who do not get this are the current board majority(Hellma n & co.).
Vote May 19
BECK,MILLER,JEN KINS,STONEBURNE R for school board!
They will not lie to you!
False Profit, 05-12-09, 10:19 am | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
I keep wondering when all the lies are going to catch up with her. I hope the increase in lying about baseline levels is a sign that the election is really close this time, and may not go her way.
But stranger things have happened. For example, Mihok, Worob, and many others campaigned for the now-hated Sandy Gibson board she blasts. In many ways, she helped make the stinky smelly bed we're all now lying in. Thanks! All told, we spent about $5 million to plan and then tank a new school - so in the end we're getting $7 million in renovations for $12 million. What a bargain! And still we have trailers at Grandview Elementary.
And wasn't Mihok on the 1990's board that improperly locked out teachers/aides, which ended up costing taxpayers over $1 million?
As Sonny & Cher said, the beat goes on......
False Profit, 05-12-09, 10:20 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
Ooops, I meant above, not about, baseline levels!
False Profit, 05-12-09, 10:39 am | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
Mihok was caught in a lie to Courier Times reporter Kate Fratti last year.
Mihok lied and said Dr. Yonson hadn't informed the board about a deadline for passing a tax cap resolution. Dr. Yonson had informed the board, and she had the tapes to prove it.
Given Mihok's documented history of lying, I'm surprised the Courier Times didn't fact-check her article before printing it. Newspapers have an obligation to print the truth, and she has burned them before.
charley, 05-12-09, 1:08 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
From Kate Fratti's column on the situation in Mo'ville:
"In an e-mail written to the rest of the board fewer than 24 hours after the boiler blew, board President Bill Hellmann indicated a shuttered M.R. Reiter is just what he’d hoped for. The emphasis is all his.
“If we close both elementary schools and put everybody in the high school, we will save a FORTUNE in operating costs. EVERY YEAR. The pro new-schoolers wanted a K-12 school. Well here it is. The other people who might not want a K-12 are a minority and when they see their reduced tax bill on July 1 of each year, they just may change their minds in these new tough economic times. We will save ANOTHER fortune by not repairing either of those two buildings. We will solve the M.R. Reiter problem. CLOSE THIS RAT TRAP NOW.”
Hellmann’s e-mail makes it clear why in June he eliminated Reiter from a list of buildings to be examined by engineers in preparation for eventual renovations that might have prevented the explosion. And, it’s clear, now, why the board’s been dragging its feet on fixes to Grandview Elementary School, too.
Rat traps.
Hellmann, Brenda Worob, Marlys Mihok, Al Radosti, Bill Farrell and Gloria Heater were voted into office by an electorate that desperately wanted to stop construction of a new K-12 building it could not afford. The winning slate promised voters they’d renovate existing buildings instead.
They lied. Some of them have said privately they’d like to rid the borough of the entire school system.
One school down. Two to go."
Oh, and keep up the good work clicking on all those little red down arrows. Whoever is doing that should have the guts to jump in here and defend the current board. I guess they won't because the current board is indefensible. Period.
lurch03, 05-12-09, 1:48 pm | Rate: Flag 1 Flag | Flag Report
Its people like Marlys Mihok that give Morrisville a bad reputation.
Vote May 19
BECK, MILLER, JENKINS, STONEBURNER for school board!
False Profit, 05-12-09, 2:55 pm | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
Remember this Bill Hellmann, CPA (aka King, My King, Emperor, My Emperor, etc. to Marlys Mihok) email?
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 9:51 AM
i just spoke to mike [presumably Fitzpatrick, Board Solicitor] about school closings. he said it would take a year for hearings, etc. but we could put mr reiter kids in grandview or high school in an EMERGENCY situation. this is good. it will give us an excuse to get them out, quickly. once they are out of mr reiter, lets keep them
out! also, we do not have the money to build out anywhere. we need to renovate and ADAPT, only.
False Profit, 05-12-09, 3:01 pm | Rate: Flag -1 Flag | Flag Report
Or this one, just 4 days after the MR Reiter Elementary furnace explosion:
December 17, 2008, 9:21 am, subject Injunction – “I think they [presumably the Borough] would have filed an injunction if the school board tried to reopen it without consent from the Borough Engineer as far as safety is concerned. Here is our chance. CLOSE THIS RAT TRAP NOW. TELL FRATTI!!! HA HA HA. I AM THE ANTI-CHRISTTTTT TTTT.”
Check the January 5, 2009 board meeting minutes at the link below if you don't believe it.
http://www.mv.org/files/16907/JAN.5.2...
charley, 05-12-09, 4:08 pm | Rate: Flag -2 Flag | Flag Report
Also from the 01/05/09 meeting minutes:
"Marlys Mihok read a statement:
At the February 27, 2008 school board meeting Mr. Tim Lastichen, our building maintenance supervisor stated that his main concern was the heating system at Reiter. It scared him. Tim stated that we should be looking into the heating system at Reiter. At that meeting Mr. Hellmann made a motion to have an engineering safety study done on both elementary schools. Board members voting yes were Hellmann, Farrell and Worob. I was absent. Members voting no were Kemp, Reithmeyer and Frankenfield. The motion was defeated 3-3. The safety study was not done. Mr. Hellmann wanted the record to show that the safety issues and the nay votes were not following. These are safety issues that should be fixed immediately. On March 12, 2008 when the full board was present Mrs. Reithmeyer brought up a paper called “House Rules.” This is not a part of our board policy. The House Rules state in part “motions defeated can not be reintroduced until the 3rd business meeting.” Dr. Yonson supported Mrs. Reithmeyer
Special meeting of Board of Directors on this issue. Subsequently, the engineering safety study on the elementary schools was not put on the agenda on this night. Mrs. Reithmeyer not only voted against having the engineering safety study done at the 2 elementary schools on February 27, 2008, her, Mr. Kemp and Dr. Yonson also blocked it from being put on the agenda meeting on March 12, 2008. Nine months later the furnace exploded at Reiter and windows shattered. What would the parents of children say to Mr. Kemp and Mrs. Reithmeyer if the windows blew out in their child’s face? Our children were put at risk of injury or worse by Mrs. Reithmeyer, Mr. Kemp and Dr. Yonson.
Mr. Hellmann: stated that everybody on this board has made mistakes in the past year. If we keep fighting we will not get anything done. It’s time to get together and solve our problems.
Mr.Kemp: you say this after asking Marlys to read this pointing fingers and me and Robin, Dr. Yonson and Ed who at the time said we already have a report, why do we need another one? We know what’s wrong why not fix it?
Mrs. Reithmeyer: Mr. Lastichen did say it needed to be fixed and your half-baked report, that your company admittedly told us was a ‘cursory” report. Then when we looked at the boilers I sat here and argued vehemently with you because you wouldn’t put Reiter on the list. You didn’t want to include Reiter. You only did two burners are Grandview because Tim begged for it.
Mr. Hellmann: I wanted Reiter left off because I didn’t think that school was safe.
Mrs. Reithmeyer: That’s right; so don’t be blaming me for it. It’s on your shoulders. You and Marlys can burden it."
Okay, so Hellmann & Co. KNEW that Reiter was dangerous and DID NOTHING to keep the kids in there safe, but Mihok sure was quick to lay the blame on three others, including Dr. Yonson. Oh, wait, they did install some fire alarms in some classrooms. Safety first, huh Mihok?
False Profit, 05-12-09, 4:38 pm | Rate: Flag 1 Flag | Flag Report
At the Feb. 27, 2008 meeting, Hellmann wanted to do cheapo, flimsy, walk-through, open nothing reports for the 2 elementary schools.
In Jan. 2008, he hired a firm to do this for the High School. He hired them ON HIS OWN, without board authorization.
The board had to bail him out by voting at the Jan. 30, 2008 meeting to pay for the High School report, or risk being sued by the firm for failure to pay.
Hellmann has demonstrated over and over again that he can't or won't follow rules, and only gets away with it because he has loyal followers like Mihok, Worob, and Buckman to bail him out.
Enough is enough! The ends don't justify the means!
Please vote:
BECK, MILLER, JENKINS, STONEBURNER for school board on May 19!
False Profit, 05-12-09, 4:46 pm | Rate: Flag 1 Flag | Flag Report
Refresh my memory again on who was ABSENT at the Feb. 27, 2008 meeting and could have broken the 3-3 deadlock?
Oh, that's right. Marlys Mihok.
Hellmann Mihok crony Al Radosti was absent too.
Gloria Heater was absent too, and might have voted with them back then, but I think she has since seen what a horror show they really are.
And what would a winning vote have achieved? Why, 2 more cheapo, flimsy, walk-through, open nothing reports for the 2 elementary schools, even though the inadequacies of, and problems with, all 3 schools had already been thoroughly studied.
Showing posts with label Hellmann. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hellmann. Show all posts
Monday, May 11, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Morrisville, Pennsbury can't overcome differences
From the Inquirer.
Morrisville, Pennsbury can't overcome differences
[Also printed in the BCCT]
[Also printed in the Trentonian with a great "stay on track" front page picture of desolation and despair]
You talkin about me? Our plight, and our shame, has gone national.
KATHY MATHESON Posted on Sat, May. 2, 2009
The Associated Press
MORRISVILLE, Pa. - From the outside, the M.R. Reiter Elementary School looks like any other school tucked into a quiet residential neighborhood , except there are no kids on the playground, no swings on the swing set, no flag on the flagpole. It's been closed since a boiler exploded in December.
No one was injured, but the explosion seemed to some to be another indication that the Morrisville School District needs to get out of the education business. Despite having one of the highest school tax rates in Bucks County, students learn in aging facilities and have less-than-stellar test scores to show for it.
Even school board president Bill Hellmann says tiny Morrisville, with only 825 students, is too small to have its own district.
"It's kind of ridiculous," Hellmann said.
Some think Morrisville would be a perfect candidate for a merger under Gov. Ed Rendell's push to save money by consolidating the state's 500 districts into 100. The problem is that Morrisville's nearest neighbor, the more affluent Pennsbury School District, isn't interested.
Headquartered about 30 miles northeast of Philadelphia in Fallsington, Pennsbury has about 11,500 students and much higher SAT scores, a broader curriculum and better facilities , including two pools and a football stadium.
But Pennsbury also has problems. Its 3,400-student high school is near capacity, three of its 15 schools are striving to meet all federal educational standards and officials are trying to close a $12 million gap in next year's budget.
"We're struggling as it is to try to meet the needs of our students and be responsible to our tax base," said Pennsbury school board president Greg Lucidi.
Morrisville is a 2-square-mile borough just across the Delaware River from Trenton, N.J. Its $20 million annual school budget pays to operate a combined middle school/high school and two elementary schools, though elementary students are temporarily consolidated on one campus.
The local rubber plant and steel mill have closed, leaving its 10,000 residents with little commercial or industrial tax revenue and meager room for growth. As a result, its school tax rate is 29 percent higher than Pennsbury's.
The Pennsbury district's $174 million budget covers 15 schools across a large swath of Bucks County and is supported by a broad tax base, from manicured subdivisions and office parks to farmland and shopping centers.
Talk of merging the two districts goes back decades, but money, logistics and emotions have always gotten in the way.
In 1956, the Pennsylvania Economy League determined that Morrisville would benefit from a merger in part because of projected financial difficulties. Those problems were evident by 1971, when then-Superintendent Paul Phillips warned that Morrisville students would be shortchanged unless the district reorganized.
"Our program will deteriorate ... because of the tremendous demands which will be placed on the schools by society for a better educational program, as well as by state regulations," he wrote in a memo to the school board. "It cannot be provided with a small financial base which now exists in our town."
A 1986 Morrisville study suggested that sending its 7th through 12th graders to Pennsbury on a tuition basis "could be the best of all worlds." But it never happened; Pennsbury was experiencing explosive growth at the time as developers built up farmland in its bedroom communities for Philadelphia, New York and Princeton, N.J.
In 2004, the Pennsbury board refused to participate in a merger study, leaving it unclear what costs or savings might be realized through consolidation.
Some suggest the resistance stems in part from race and class tensions. About half of Morrisville students are minority, compared with about 12 percent of Pennsbury students.
Lucidi disputes that.
"We're not rich," he said. "We have a diversity of students and a diversity of taxpayers in our district."
But there are other obstacles to a merger: transportation costs, since Morrisville doesn't use buses; teacher salaries, if lower-paid Morrisville teachers join the Pennsbury union; and concern over disparities in standardized test scores.
"Adding a whole new population of students that haven't been through our processes could be detrimental to our scores," Lucidi said.
Pennsbury's average 1040 SAT score dwarfs Morrisville's 810. But on state assessments, 74 percent of Morrisville students scored proficient or better in math compared with 79 percent of Pennsbury students; in reading, Morrisville scored 68 percent proficient to Pennsbury's 80 percent.
Some have suggested the state could grant Pennsbury "test amnesty," allowing it to omit Morrisville students' scores for a given number of years, if the districts merged.
Morrisville tried to reinvent itself by building a new K-12 campus a few years ago, but taxpayer acrimony led to the plan being scrapped. Sandy Gibson, a former Morrisville board president, left town because of that and what she calls a lack of commitment to the students.
"Morrisville is never, ever going to invest in itself," she said.
So while Pennsbury solicits bids to turn one of its 11 elementary schools into a "green" building, Morrisville may permanently close M.R. Reiter. Asbestos was dislodged when the boiler exploded.
Officials in both communities say a merger will only happen if Harrisburg forces it , and helps finance it.
State Rep. John Galloway, D-Bucks, said it's not clear that Pennsbury would be the best fit for Morrisville, and that perhaps it's the wrong question to be asking.
"The question is whether or not Morrisville can sustain a school district," Galloway said. "Half the people in that town believe they can sustain a school district. The other half believe Morrisville's in a lot of trouble."
Morrisville, Pennsbury can't overcome differences
[Also printed in the BCCT]
[Also printed in the Trentonian with a great "stay on track" front page picture of desolation and despair]
You talkin about me? Our plight, and our shame, has gone national.
KATHY MATHESON Posted on Sat, May. 2, 2009
The Associated Press
MORRISVILLE, Pa. - From the outside, the M.R. Reiter Elementary School looks like any other school tucked into a quiet residential neighborhood , except there are no kids on the playground, no swings on the swing set, no flag on the flagpole. It's been closed since a boiler exploded in December.
No one was injured, but the explosion seemed to some to be another indication that the Morrisville School District needs to get out of the education business. Despite having one of the highest school tax rates in Bucks County, students learn in aging facilities and have less-than-stellar test scores to show for it.
Even school board president Bill Hellmann says tiny Morrisville, with only 825 students, is too small to have its own district.
"It's kind of ridiculous," Hellmann said.
Some think Morrisville would be a perfect candidate for a merger under Gov. Ed Rendell's push to save money by consolidating the state's 500 districts into 100. The problem is that Morrisville's nearest neighbor, the more affluent Pennsbury School District, isn't interested.
Headquartered about 30 miles northeast of Philadelphia in Fallsington, Pennsbury has about 11,500 students and much higher SAT scores, a broader curriculum and better facilities , including two pools and a football stadium.
But Pennsbury also has problems. Its 3,400-student high school is near capacity, three of its 15 schools are striving to meet all federal educational standards and officials are trying to close a $12 million gap in next year's budget.
"We're struggling as it is to try to meet the needs of our students and be responsible to our tax base," said Pennsbury school board president Greg Lucidi.
Morrisville is a 2-square-mile borough just across the Delaware River from Trenton, N.J. Its $20 million annual school budget pays to operate a combined middle school/high school and two elementary schools, though elementary students are temporarily consolidated on one campus.
The local rubber plant and steel mill have closed, leaving its 10,000 residents with little commercial or industrial tax revenue and meager room for growth. As a result, its school tax rate is 29 percent higher than Pennsbury's.
The Pennsbury district's $174 million budget covers 15 schools across a large swath of Bucks County and is supported by a broad tax base, from manicured subdivisions and office parks to farmland and shopping centers.
Talk of merging the two districts goes back decades, but money, logistics and emotions have always gotten in the way.
In 1956, the Pennsylvania Economy League determined that Morrisville would benefit from a merger in part because of projected financial difficulties. Those problems were evident by 1971, when then-Superintendent Paul Phillips warned that Morrisville students would be shortchanged unless the district reorganized.
"Our program will deteriorate ... because of the tremendous demands which will be placed on the schools by society for a better educational program, as well as by state regulations," he wrote in a memo to the school board. "It cannot be provided with a small financial base which now exists in our town."
A 1986 Morrisville study suggested that sending its 7th through 12th graders to Pennsbury on a tuition basis "could be the best of all worlds." But it never happened; Pennsbury was experiencing explosive growth at the time as developers built up farmland in its bedroom communities for Philadelphia, New York and Princeton, N.J.
In 2004, the Pennsbury board refused to participate in a merger study, leaving it unclear what costs or savings might be realized through consolidation.
Some suggest the resistance stems in part from race and class tensions. About half of Morrisville students are minority, compared with about 12 percent of Pennsbury students.
Lucidi disputes that.
"We're not rich," he said. "We have a diversity of students and a diversity of taxpayers in our district."
But there are other obstacles to a merger: transportation costs, since Morrisville doesn't use buses; teacher salaries, if lower-paid Morrisville teachers join the Pennsbury union; and concern over disparities in standardized test scores.
"Adding a whole new population of students that haven't been through our processes could be detrimental to our scores," Lucidi said.
Pennsbury's average 1040 SAT score dwarfs Morrisville's 810. But on state assessments, 74 percent of Morrisville students scored proficient or better in math compared with 79 percent of Pennsbury students; in reading, Morrisville scored 68 percent proficient to Pennsbury's 80 percent.
Some have suggested the state could grant Pennsbury "test amnesty," allowing it to omit Morrisville students' scores for a given number of years, if the districts merged.
Morrisville tried to reinvent itself by building a new K-12 campus a few years ago, but taxpayer acrimony led to the plan being scrapped. Sandy Gibson, a former Morrisville board president, left town because of that and what she calls a lack of commitment to the students.
"Morrisville is never, ever going to invest in itself," she said.
So while Pennsbury solicits bids to turn one of its 11 elementary schools into a "green" building, Morrisville may permanently close M.R. Reiter. Asbestos was dislodged when the boiler exploded.
Officials in both communities say a merger will only happen if Harrisburg forces it , and helps finance it.
State Rep. John Galloway, D-Bucks, said it's not clear that Pennsbury would be the best fit for Morrisville, and that perhaps it's the wrong question to be asking.
"The question is whether or not Morrisville can sustain a school district," Galloway said. "Half the people in that town believe they can sustain a school district. The other half believe Morrisville's in a lot of trouble."
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Quid Pro Quo
We continue our look at the royal email chain, and this one is a doozy.
Does anyone remember the Emperor's warm endorsement of Bill Ferrara as a wonderful principal who would make a fine superintendent some day?
It's backed up by this email.
-----Original Message-----
From: bill hellmann [mailto:bill hellmann cpa@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 10:55 AM
To: Heater, Gloria
Cc: bill hellmann
Subject: RE: engineering services, high school boilers
i am the one that stirs the drink. if i sit there, yonson's spending
will kill this town. she has two puppet board members that do whatever
she tells them, and the TINY pro-schoolers crew. ha ha ha! they are all
sand pounders. ha ha ha !
one by one they are either leaving or being replaced. soon, yonson will
be by herself. i have been talking to bill farrara and i like him and
so do other board members. he likes the consolidation we are talking
about (tuitioning out). i assured him we will always need a super and
at least one principal.
i know i am not polite at the meetings. i will work on that and try to
be more patient and respectful to the other fools. my problem is i
have little patience for incompetence and i am surrounded by those
types of people up there.
That, my friends, is a "quid pro quo". You support my tuitioning out scheme and I'll make sure you have a job.
You've seen the quid pro quo in action most recently in Illinois as Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached for his attempt to sell the open U.S. Senate seat previously occupied by Barack Obama. You make a donation to me, I'll get a Senate seat for you.
I have only heard and seen good things with Mr. Ferrara, which is what makes this all the more tragic. Roland Burris, from all accounts, is a good man too.
It's also clear that they shortened Dr. Yonson's contract from five to three years "safe" in the knowledge that the Emperor had already identified her successor.
To our readers outside of the Morrisville area: Our apologies for putting on such a good show. It makes us look like a bunch of rubes who couldn't govern an ice cream truck without help. But if our bad example stops you from committing the same mistakes, you're welcome.
Parents and friends: If this does not make you think twice about what "keep on track" means, then I'm not sure what will. Keep on track is a vote for Hellmann and everything he has done.
Does anyone remember the Emperor's warm endorsement of Bill Ferrara as a wonderful principal who would make a fine superintendent some day?
It's backed up by this email.
-----Original Message-----
From: bill hellmann [mailto:bill hellmann cpa@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 10:55 AM
To: Heater, Gloria
Cc: bill hellmann
Subject: RE: engineering services, high school boilers
i am the one that stirs the drink. if i sit there, yonson's spending
will kill this town. she has two puppet board members that do whatever
she tells them, and the TINY pro-schoolers crew. ha ha ha! they are all
sand pounders. ha ha ha !
one by one they are either leaving or being replaced. soon, yonson will
be by herself. i have been talking to bill farrara and i like him and
so do other board members. he likes the consolidation we are talking
about (tuitioning out). i assured him we will always need a super and
at least one principal.
i know i am not polite at the meetings. i will work on that and try to
be more patient and respectful to the other fools. my problem is i
have little patience for incompetence and i am surrounded by those
types of people up there.
That, my friends, is a "quid pro quo". You support my tuitioning out scheme and I'll make sure you have a job.
You've seen the quid pro quo in action most recently in Illinois as Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached for his attempt to sell the open U.S. Senate seat previously occupied by Barack Obama. You make a donation to me, I'll get a Senate seat for you.
I have only heard and seen good things with Mr. Ferrara, which is what makes this all the more tragic. Roland Burris, from all accounts, is a good man too.
It's also clear that they shortened Dr. Yonson's contract from five to three years "safe" in the knowledge that the Emperor had already identified her successor.
To our readers outside of the Morrisville area: Our apologies for putting on such a good show. It makes us look like a bunch of rubes who couldn't govern an ice cream truck without help. But if our bad example stops you from committing the same mistakes, you're welcome.
Parents and friends: If this does not make you think twice about what "keep on track" means, then I'm not sure what will. Keep on track is a vote for Hellmann and everything he has done.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Economics 101: Supply and Demand
Here's an idea from an emailer. What do you think?
I have driven past several businesses in Morrisville that are displaying their red "Stay on Track" campaign signs and was wondering if you could start a new thread on the blog where we can keep track of which businesses they are. I am not asking for a boycott, but I am personally interested in knowing which business owners in my town reject my kids' education. Then, with this knowledge I can decide which businesses I will continue to support and which I will not.
To date, I have seen the red signs in front of:
* Hellmann, CPA (of course)
* The Squirrels Nest
* A-Z Music
Anyone see any others? Please post them here.
Added April 29 4:30 P.M. I received an email suggestion that these "Stay on Track" sign sightings should be photographed. I received photos from Hellmann, Squirrels Nest, Colonial Hair, and A-Z Music. Do NOT photograph or report residences. I have removed one reported sighting and the comment for a private residence.
I have driven past several businesses in Morrisville that are displaying their red "Stay on Track" campaign signs and was wondering if you could start a new thread on the blog where we can keep track of which businesses they are. I am not asking for a boycott, but I am personally interested in knowing which business owners in my town reject my kids' education. Then, with this knowledge I can decide which businesses I will continue to support and which I will not.
To date, I have seen the red signs in front of:
* Hellmann, CPA (of course)
* The Squirrels Nest
* A-Z Music
Anyone see any others? Please post them here.
Added April 29 4:30 P.M. I received an email suggestion that these "Stay on Track" sign sightings should be photographed. I received photos from Hellmann, Squirrels Nest, Colonial Hair, and A-Z Music. Do NOT photograph or report residences. I have removed one reported sighting and the comment for a private residence.
The Emperor's Mailbag
Our series on the Emperor's released emails continues with a look that is all too familiar to us.
From: bill hellmann
> [mailto:bill_hellmannXXXXX@yahoo.com]
> Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 12:02 PM
> To: Heater, Gloria
> Subject: RE: COMPETITION ON HEALTH AND OTHER
> BENEFITS
>>
i am not trying to show up the admin. i want them do
> do their job, that is all. they won't do their job
> unless i bully them first, it seems. i think they do
> not think i am serious about it because they never
> faced it before, i guess? kind of weird?
> i want to live in peace and educate the kids at a
> cost
> the town can afford instead of getting blasted each
> july.
>>
see you tonight!!
>
> bill
Oh dear. Isn't this in violation of Morrisville School District policy 252?
Then there's the Emperor's take on the pro-schoolers. (I guess I'm one of them.)
From: bill hellmann [mailto:bill_hellmann_cpa@yahoo.com)
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 1:19 PM
To: Heater, Gloria
Cc: bill hellmann
Subject: RE: FW: Notes from last meeting
well if i am not the boss how am i to get anything done? you sound like ole
mrs. reithmeyer. i need four other votes, remember? what was my promise,
please refresh my memory. i believe it was only on the tuitioning out
referendum, correct?
NOT on a k-12 consolidated school? i do not care. if this town wants to keep
the school the same, fine, but get ready to get crushed on july 1 each year.
you worry about politics all the time. let me tell you, you have not seen
anything yet as far as the public when you have to vote on the projected tax
increases the next few years. these pro-new schoolers you are afraid of will
be nothing compared to that.
these pro-new schoolers do not bother me one iota!!!!!!
if you can not take the heat, get out of the kitchen, because it will get
hotter this time next year. mark my words!!!!!!!!!
Let's have a refresher course in how to identify abusive leadership styles.
From: bill hellmann
> [mailto:bill_hellmannXXXXX@yahoo.com]
> Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 12:02 PM
> To: Heater, Gloria
> Subject: RE: COMPETITION ON HEALTH AND OTHER
> BENEFITS
>>
i am not trying to show up the admin. i want them do
> do their job, that is all. they won't do their job
> unless i bully them first, it seems. i think they do
> not think i am serious about it because they never
> faced it before, i guess? kind of weird?
> i want to live in peace and educate the kids at a
> cost
> the town can afford instead of getting blasted each
> july.
>>
see you tonight!!
>
> bill
Oh dear. Isn't this in violation of Morrisville School District policy 252?
Then there's the Emperor's take on the pro-schoolers. (I guess I'm one of them.)
From: bill hellmann [mailto:bill_hellmann_cpa@yahoo.com)
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 1:19 PM
To: Heater, Gloria
Cc: bill hellmann
Subject: RE: FW: Notes from last meeting
well if i am not the boss how am i to get anything done? you sound like ole
mrs. reithmeyer. i need four other votes, remember? what was my promise,
please refresh my memory. i believe it was only on the tuitioning out
referendum, correct?
NOT on a k-12 consolidated school? i do not care. if this town wants to keep
the school the same, fine, but get ready to get crushed on july 1 each year.
you worry about politics all the time. let me tell you, you have not seen
anything yet as far as the public when you have to vote on the projected tax
increases the next few years. these pro-new schoolers you are afraid of will
be nothing compared to that.
these pro-new schoolers do not bother me one iota!!!!!!
if you can not take the heat, get out of the kitchen, because it will get
hotter this time next year. mark my words!!!!!!!!!
Let's have a refresher course in how to identify abusive leadership styles.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Where's the plan?
For a while now, Morrisville residents have eagerly awaited the "six point plan" put forward by the Emperor, but safely hidden from the public's scrutiny and debate.
One parent has now gone to the state to force the Emperor to make the plan public. Kate Fratti has a blog entry about it.
My reading of the PA state right to know law exceptions says that this is not likely to prevail.
Here's hoping I'm wrong.
What's the plan, Mr. Hellman?
By: Kate Fratti
In Morrisville, a parent applied to receive a copy of "a six point plan," authored by School Board President Bill Hellmann and has been denied. Kevin Leather has appealled under the right to know laws. Here's hoping he's successful. Folks have a right to know what their elected leaders are planning. Or in this case, should the word be plotting? Why else would leaders be so secretive?
April 20, 2009 05:35 PM
One parent has now gone to the state to force the Emperor to make the plan public. Kate Fratti has a blog entry about it.
My reading of the PA state right to know law exceptions says that this is not likely to prevail.
Here's hoping I'm wrong.
What's the plan, Mr. Hellman?
By: Kate Fratti
In Morrisville, a parent applied to receive a copy of "a six point plan," authored by School Board President Bill Hellmann and has been denied. Kevin Leather has appealled under the right to know laws. Here's hoping he's successful. Folks have a right to know what their elected leaders are planning. Or in this case, should the word be plotting? Why else would leaders be so secretive?
April 20, 2009 05:35 PM
Sunday, April 26, 2009
The Emperor's Emails
More of the Emperor's emails were released Wednesday night by board member Gloria Heater.
We see a picture emerging of a tragic Nixonian figure, a brilliant man who cannot handle a meeting or understand that he is the main contributor to his own problems.
He sees everyone going off in all directions under his watch, yet is powerless to stop it.
He portrays himself as a brilliant strategist and planner, yet botches the execution of those plans, holding them close to the chest, letting no one else in.
Leadership is partly being in front. It also means that there are followers. Yes, yes, we all know about the board of chosen accomplices. Every dictator through time has had a band of trusted servants. "Followers" refers to more than just the people predisposed to follow you. It means you can rally a diverse group to you.
He hears only one voice. His own.
From: bill hellmann [mailto:bill_hellmannXXXXX@yahoo.com}
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 10:38 AM
To: Heater, Gloria
Cc: bill hellmann
Subject: RE: The truth is
how am i to control the meeting when reithmeyer constantly interrupts and
yonson constantly interrupts and the pro-schoolers speak out of line?
the problem, gloria, is we have to make decisions that are unpopular to a
certain segment that attends the meetings. there is no way out of it. it is
either that or the town goes financially in trouble. yonson, kemp,
reithrneyer and the pro-schoolers have no talent in the area of planning or
financial projections. they do not know what the ramifications of their
voting is. yonson wants to spend unlimited to get scores up. kemp wants a
private school for his kid. reithrneyer wants to be a popular politician and
do nothing except raise taxes extremely high. the pro-schoolers want a
private school for their kids.
NONE OF THEM REALIZE THE FINANCIAL SUFFERING TO COME THE NEXT THREE YEARS.
the old board meetings were chaotic also, even more so, because of the
CONTROVERSY. there is no way out of these raucous meetings. if you can't
take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
We see a picture emerging of a tragic Nixonian figure, a brilliant man who cannot handle a meeting or understand that he is the main contributor to his own problems.
He sees everyone going off in all directions under his watch, yet is powerless to stop it.
He portrays himself as a brilliant strategist and planner, yet botches the execution of those plans, holding them close to the chest, letting no one else in.
Leadership is partly being in front. It also means that there are followers. Yes, yes, we all know about the board of chosen accomplices. Every dictator through time has had a band of trusted servants. "Followers" refers to more than just the people predisposed to follow you. It means you can rally a diverse group to you.
He hears only one voice. His own.
From: bill hellmann [mailto:bill_hellmannXXXXX@yahoo.com}
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 10:38 AM
To: Heater, Gloria
Cc: bill hellmann
Subject: RE: The truth is
how am i to control the meeting when reithmeyer constantly interrupts and
yonson constantly interrupts and the pro-schoolers speak out of line?
the problem, gloria, is we have to make decisions that are unpopular to a
certain segment that attends the meetings. there is no way out of it. it is
either that or the town goes financially in trouble. yonson, kemp,
reithrneyer and the pro-schoolers have no talent in the area of planning or
financial projections. they do not know what the ramifications of their
voting is. yonson wants to spend unlimited to get scores up. kemp wants a
private school for his kid. reithrneyer wants to be a popular politician and
do nothing except raise taxes extremely high. the pro-schoolers want a
private school for their kids.
NONE OF THEM REALIZE THE FINANCIAL SUFFERING TO COME THE NEXT THREE YEARS.
the old board meetings were chaotic also, even more so, because of the
CONTROVERSY. there is no way out of these raucous meetings. if you can't
take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Budget Q (Minus the A)
Here's a series of budget questions posed by one of our indefatigable commenters.
Will answers ever be found? Perhaps we'll know tonight at 7:30 when the monthly business meeting of the Court of Emperor William I is held.
Jon has left a new comment on your post "George Mount Retiring":
This belongs further down, but below are some Budget Thoughts & Questions, based on looking at the 4/8/09 Powerpoint presentation in the 2009-2010 Budget Links.
Revenues
1. Overall, budgeted revenues are up $124k over last year ($18,895k vs. $18,771k).
2. Where’s the extra revenue coming from? The Federal government.
3. Local revenues are down $211k ($11,962k vs. $12,173k).
4. State revenues are essentially flat (+2k, $5,553k vs. $5,551k).
5. Federal revenues are up $332k ($1,231k vs. $899k).
6. Why are Local revenues down $211k?
Even thought the millage rate stays the same as last year (187.3 mils), this budget assumes a $102k reduction in Real Estate Tax revenues ($10,617k vs. $10,719k). That and a $147.5k (50%) drop in Investment Earnings ($147.5k vs. $295k) overwhelm a $67k increase ($102k vs. 35k) in “Rentals”.
Question: How is this near-tripling of Rental revenue going to be achieved?
7. Why are State revenues flat (+2k)?
A $338k increase in basic education funding ($3,265k vs. $2,926k) is virtually wiped out by the loss of a $102k EAP Grant for Tutoring, and a $201k drop in Extra Grant funding ($530k vs. $329k).
Question: Why did we lose this $303k in grant funding? Hopefully it wasn’t from prior cuts in grant writing resources.
8. Why are Federal revenues up (+$331k)?
Mostly from a $297k increase in 21st Century Grant funding ($919k vs. $622k).
Question: Isn’t this grant funding targeted to certain programs, and not for basic education, so it doesn't necessarily replace lost Local & State revenue?
9. Conclusions: Overall revenues are up, but mostly from higher Federal 21st Century Grant funding. But this grant funding is likely "earmarked" for certain programs, so it doesn't necessarily replace lost Local & State revenue. That means overall basic education revenues look down.
Expenses
1. Overall, expenses are down $988k ($18,895k vs. 19,883k).
2. Where are the expenses dropping?
The 6 areas with changes > $50k are:
a. 1200 (Special Programs) is down $429k ($3,454k vs. $3,883k). Salaries are up $223k ($1,211k vs. $988k), but “Purchased Professional & Technical Services” dropped a whopping $694k ($1,205k vs. $1,899k).
Questions: What makes up these Purchased Professional & Technical Services? Why such a drastic drop?Is something being deferred until next year? Why? Was something pricey bought last year that isn't being bought this year?
b. 1300 (Vocational Education) is down $81k ($758k vs. $839k), mostly from an $89k drop in “Other Purchased Services ($537k vs. $626k).
Question: Is this from Morrisville’s reduced Tech School share under the funding formula this year?
c. 2100 (Support Services) is down $119k. Salaries are up $56k ($419k vs. $363k), but “Purchased Professional & Technical Services” dropped $176.5k (from $182k to $5.5k, a 97% drop).
Questions: Again, what makes up these Purchased Professional & Technical Services? Why such a drastic drop? Is something being deferred until next year? Why? Was something pricey bought last year that isn't being bought this year?
d. 2300 (Administration) is down $208k, mostly from a $164k drop in Salaries ($495k vs. $659k), and a $21k drop in Benefits ($148k vs. $169k).
Question: Is this from the loss of Kate Taylor and Karen Huggins, and not replacing Asst. Principals? If so, I just hope this 3.5 mil savings is worth it in the long run.
e. 2600 (Maintenance) is down $112k ($1,622k vs. $1,734k, mostly from reduced Purchased Property Services (-$53k) and reduced Supplies (-$59k).
Question: Is this from not having to maintain MR Reiter as much? If so, it isn’t that big of a drop in overall maintenance spending (< 1.9 mils, < 6.5% drop in Maint. budget, but 1 out of 3 buildings is 33.3%, and MR Reiter’s 47,397 ft2 is 20% of the combined 237,689 ft2 of all 3 buildings). At < 1.9 mils, it’s certainly not the FORTUNE Bill Hellmann said we’d save.
f. 5100 (Debt Service) is up $67k ($997k vs. $930k).
Questions: Does this year's installment on paying off the $2.5 million in Bond Defeasement Expenses Hellmann didn't tell anybody about factor into this? Otherwise, why is Debt Sevice up when most of the bond money was defeased – didn’t that drastically reduce the debt?
3. Conclusions: reduced Administration and Maintenance cut expenses by $320k, about 1/3rd of the total $988k drop in expenses. Special Programs, Vocational Education, and Support Services dropped a combined $629k. Salaries are generally still rising, so a concern is that the cuts are coming from items that effect educational delivery.
Other Misc. Comments
1. p.6 --> some of the bar graph heights look wrong, based on other data in the presentation. For example, the 2008-09 Local Revenue is $12.17 million, but the bar height is over $14 million. State Revenues for 2008-09 ($5.551 million) and 2009-10 ($5.553 million) are virtually the same, but the bar is significantly higher for 2009-10.
2. p. 14 - Note that starting in 2005-06, everybody's property tax assessment was increased by a factor of 4, and the corresponding tax millage rate was reduced by a factor of 4. So if you really want to compare apples-to-apples on millage rates, you need to divide the years prior to 2005-06 by 4 - or multiply 2005-06 on by 4. Otherwise, some might be tempted to think that Sandy Gibson is really a hero because she presided over an astonishingly drastic cut in school taxes.
3. p. 38 - Looks like last year’s budget was helped by depleting the Fund Balance by $1.112 million (from $2.793 million to $1.681 million). Assuming 1 tax mil is about $60k, without this depletion of the Fund Balance, it looks like there would have been a 19 mil (~10%) tax increase last year.
So last year, the 2 main things the board did to balance the budget/hold the line on taxes were:
a. Get a ~$1+ million one-shot-deal from defeasing most of the bond money (at a long-term cost of $2.5 million);
b. Dip into the piggy bank to the tune of $1.112 million - money that was left to them by those evil "prior boards".
The budget projections from 2010-13 show the Fund Balance being further depleted by $1.456 million by 2013, all the way down to a mere $225k.
4. p. 38 - these budget figures show a Real Estate Tax collection rate of 93.5% throughout, but the earlier slides all seem based on a 94% collection rate (see p. 5). Why the difference? Which figure is right/more accurate?
Will answers ever be found? Perhaps we'll know tonight at 7:30 when the monthly business meeting of the Court of Emperor William I is held.
Jon has left a new comment on your post "George Mount Retiring":
This belongs further down, but below are some Budget Thoughts & Questions, based on looking at the 4/8/09 Powerpoint presentation in the 2009-2010 Budget Links.
Revenues
1. Overall, budgeted revenues are up $124k over last year ($18,895k vs. $18,771k).
2. Where’s the extra revenue coming from? The Federal government.
3. Local revenues are down $211k ($11,962k vs. $12,173k).
4. State revenues are essentially flat (+2k, $5,553k vs. $5,551k).
5. Federal revenues are up $332k ($1,231k vs. $899k).
6. Why are Local revenues down $211k?
Even thought the millage rate stays the same as last year (187.3 mils), this budget assumes a $102k reduction in Real Estate Tax revenues ($10,617k vs. $10,719k). That and a $147.5k (50%) drop in Investment Earnings ($147.5k vs. $295k) overwhelm a $67k increase ($102k vs. 35k) in “Rentals”.
Question: How is this near-tripling of Rental revenue going to be achieved?
7. Why are State revenues flat (+2k)?
A $338k increase in basic education funding ($3,265k vs. $2,926k) is virtually wiped out by the loss of a $102k EAP Grant for Tutoring, and a $201k drop in Extra Grant funding ($530k vs. $329k).
Question: Why did we lose this $303k in grant funding? Hopefully it wasn’t from prior cuts in grant writing resources.
8. Why are Federal revenues up (+$331k)?
Mostly from a $297k increase in 21st Century Grant funding ($919k vs. $622k).
Question: Isn’t this grant funding targeted to certain programs, and not for basic education, so it doesn't necessarily replace lost Local & State revenue?
9. Conclusions: Overall revenues are up, but mostly from higher Federal 21st Century Grant funding. But this grant funding is likely "earmarked" for certain programs, so it doesn't necessarily replace lost Local & State revenue. That means overall basic education revenues look down.
Expenses
1. Overall, expenses are down $988k ($18,895k vs. 19,883k).
2. Where are the expenses dropping?
The 6 areas with changes > $50k are:
a. 1200 (Special Programs) is down $429k ($3,454k vs. $3,883k). Salaries are up $223k ($1,211k vs. $988k), but “Purchased Professional & Technical Services” dropped a whopping $694k ($1,205k vs. $1,899k).
Questions: What makes up these Purchased Professional & Technical Services? Why such a drastic drop?Is something being deferred until next year? Why? Was something pricey bought last year that isn't being bought this year?
b. 1300 (Vocational Education) is down $81k ($758k vs. $839k), mostly from an $89k drop in “Other Purchased Services ($537k vs. $626k).
Question: Is this from Morrisville’s reduced Tech School share under the funding formula this year?
c. 2100 (Support Services) is down $119k. Salaries are up $56k ($419k vs. $363k), but “Purchased Professional & Technical Services” dropped $176.5k (from $182k to $5.5k, a 97% drop).
Questions: Again, what makes up these Purchased Professional & Technical Services? Why such a drastic drop? Is something being deferred until next year? Why? Was something pricey bought last year that isn't being bought this year?
d. 2300 (Administration) is down $208k, mostly from a $164k drop in Salaries ($495k vs. $659k), and a $21k drop in Benefits ($148k vs. $169k).
Question: Is this from the loss of Kate Taylor and Karen Huggins, and not replacing Asst. Principals? If so, I just hope this 3.5 mil savings is worth it in the long run.
e. 2600 (Maintenance) is down $112k ($1,622k vs. $1,734k, mostly from reduced Purchased Property Services (-$53k) and reduced Supplies (-$59k).
Question: Is this from not having to maintain MR Reiter as much? If so, it isn’t that big of a drop in overall maintenance spending (< 1.9 mils, < 6.5% drop in Maint. budget, but 1 out of 3 buildings is 33.3%, and MR Reiter’s 47,397 ft2 is 20% of the combined 237,689 ft2 of all 3 buildings). At < 1.9 mils, it’s certainly not the FORTUNE Bill Hellmann said we’d save.
f. 5100 (Debt Service) is up $67k ($997k vs. $930k).
Questions: Does this year's installment on paying off the $2.5 million in Bond Defeasement Expenses Hellmann didn't tell anybody about factor into this? Otherwise, why is Debt Sevice up when most of the bond money was defeased – didn’t that drastically reduce the debt?
3. Conclusions: reduced Administration and Maintenance cut expenses by $320k, about 1/3rd of the total $988k drop in expenses. Special Programs, Vocational Education, and Support Services dropped a combined $629k. Salaries are generally still rising, so a concern is that the cuts are coming from items that effect educational delivery.
Other Misc. Comments
1. p.6 --> some of the bar graph heights look wrong, based on other data in the presentation. For example, the 2008-09 Local Revenue is $12.17 million, but the bar height is over $14 million. State Revenues for 2008-09 ($5.551 million) and 2009-10 ($5.553 million) are virtually the same, but the bar is significantly higher for 2009-10.
2. p. 14 - Note that starting in 2005-06, everybody's property tax assessment was increased by a factor of 4, and the corresponding tax millage rate was reduced by a factor of 4. So if you really want to compare apples-to-apples on millage rates, you need to divide the years prior to 2005-06 by 4 - or multiply 2005-06 on by 4. Otherwise, some might be tempted to think that Sandy Gibson is really a hero because she presided over an astonishingly drastic cut in school taxes.
3. p. 38 - Looks like last year’s budget was helped by depleting the Fund Balance by $1.112 million (from $2.793 million to $1.681 million). Assuming 1 tax mil is about $60k, without this depletion of the Fund Balance, it looks like there would have been a 19 mil (~10%) tax increase last year.
So last year, the 2 main things the board did to balance the budget/hold the line on taxes were:
a. Get a ~$1+ million one-shot-deal from defeasing most of the bond money (at a long-term cost of $2.5 million);
b. Dip into the piggy bank to the tune of $1.112 million - money that was left to them by those evil "prior boards".
The budget projections from 2010-13 show the Fund Balance being further depleted by $1.456 million by 2013, all the way down to a mere $225k.
4. p. 38 - these budget figures show a Real Estate Tax collection rate of 93.5% throughout, but the earlier slides all seem based on a 94% collection rate (see p. 5). Why the difference? Which figure is right/more accurate?
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Awards and Savings and Election Hijinks
From the BCCT.
There's an interesting discussion about the plaque awarded by the school board to Ron Stout. Once again, there's some pre-electoral shenanigans going on as some commenters on this blog have pointed out as well as the commenters to this story.
Would anyone think "there is more than a slight appearance of a conflict of interest" in presenting this award? Heavens to Betsy!
Did the board pay for the plaque? Then when was the public vote authorizing it?
Was the plaque paid for and presented by private citizens? Then why was it presented at a school board meeting under the implied endorsement and consent of the school board?
BUCKS BRIEFS
Bucks County Courier Times
School renovations set
The board approved bid proposals of $3.44 million for asbestos abatement, window replacement, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical work at Morrisville Middle/Senior High School this summer.
The work was expected to cost about $4 million, but the bids came in lower.
"We're very happy with the results of these bids," said Bill Corfield of Vitetta, the architectural firm handling the work. He surmised that costs have dropped because of the economy.
Savings on major items allowed the board to accept bids on all items needing renovation, not just the HVAC and window replacement. The work on boilers, classroom ventilators, windows and other systems will improve efficiency and save the district in future energy costs, said board President William Hellmann.
Resident Ron Stout received a plaque for ideas that saved the district money. His suggestion to have the high school's hot water piping tested for reliability instead of simply replacing it saved $719,000 on renovations, said board member Maryls Mihok, who presented the plaque to Stout at the Tuesday board meeting. The pipes were found to be sound enough to continue being used.
Stout, who's running for school board, brought up ideas that should save the district $200,000 in future Grandview renovations, Mihok said. "I don't care who saved us money. I would have given the award to anybody," Mihok said.
Comments
Broken For Sure, 03-27-09, 10:46 am | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
"School renovations set"
(Stout, who's running for school board, brought up ideas that should save the district $200,000 in future Grandview renovations, Mihok said. "I don't care who saved us money. I would have given the award to anybody," Mihok said.)
Campaigning has come early to Morrisville Borough - and thanks to people like Mrs. Mihok, its ugly, but not surprising.
You would give an award to anybody? Really? I doubt it, although you did give one to Ron Stout so that statement may be very true. From what I can see, Robin Reithmeyer has saved the school district millions in legal fees for pointing out wrong-doings of the present school board majority in Morrisville, so WHERE'S HER PLAQUE?! The previous school board majority was undermining the community in a big way and the current school board majority is just more of the same. Its just disgusting. When watching school board meetings on the TV its such a dog and pony show, (and now we even have awards, WOW.)
Is this the same Marlys Mihok who, just last week, went to a Morrisville Council meeting and blasted Councilman Rivella, accusing him of accepting campaign contributions, (as Mr. Rivella pointed out, it may be new to Morrisville but it certainly isn't new to politics) and accusing him of being on council just to get a Responsible Contracting Ordinance in place, (From what I've heard the RCO was actually put before council by another person long before Mr. Rivella was even elected to council.) Mrs. Mihok, where's Mr. Rivella’s plaque for trying to save the borough millions of dollars with this ordinance?! It would be nice if Mr. Stout could formulate a sentence or two on his own for a change so that he wouldn't need his very small circle of friends like Mrs. Mihok and her cronies to try to build him up by awarding him a bogus plaque at a televised school board meeting. NO GRANDSTANDING THERE AT ALL! Yeah right.
As for Mr. Rivella and the ordinance, I’ll tell you right now that I supported this guy and I continue to do so. Mr. Rivella’s got what it takes to take on people like Jane Burger, Marlys Mihok and their kind and he and his group will actually be able to make positive changes in Morrisville once they successfully get the same old guard off council in November. I CAN’T WAIT!
I’ve been watching and I can clearly see a few things about Dave Rivella. He’s a family man who's dedicated to Morrisville Borough and he's working hard to move Morrisville forward in spite of the people on council who don’t want this. If Mr. Rivella was in any other profession, he would naturally go to the people surrounding him for fundraising purposes so why would it be any different because he’s a union guy?! Wake up people, this is how its done. Are you trying to say that everyone else should be allowed to fundraise but he should not?! As Mr. Rivella rightly pointed out at the last televised council meeting, all of his campaigning finance contributions have been public record since 2007 but are just now being brought up, as we are in another campaign cycle, ( by the very people he won his seat from, by the very people who don’t want change of any kind - unless they're dismantling the school system that is.) I believe these people are jealous and running scared because they know that Mr. Rivella seemed to actually have people who thought enough of him and his fellow "good Democrats" to support them where as the likes of Mrs. Mihok, Mrs. Burger and their kind have to rely on negativity. This kind of behavior by these naysayers puts Morrisville in a bad light and is disgusting to watch.
AwHellYeah, 03-27-09, 12:56 pm | Rate: Flag 2 Flag | Flag Report
Robin Reithmeyer hasn't saved the district anything. She is your typical politician.
Broken For Sure, 03-27-09, 2:25 pm | Rate: Flag -2 Flag | Flag Report
AwHellYeah
"Robin Reithmeyer hasn't saved the district anything. She is your typical politician."
I don't agree, although I can understand why someone may think she. She does her thing of standing up to the school board majority, but I just can't give her any credit for being a politician. She voted for Fitzpatrick not once but twice. I'm sure there were people in her own party who weren't too happy about that. Is she outspoken...yes ...is she a politician, her actions say differently...a nd I just don't see it.
AwHellYeah, 03-27-09, 2:31 pm | Rate: Flag 1 Flag | Flag Report
Go to a Democratic Club meeting then.
Broken For Sure, 03-27-09, 5:07 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
Simply being involved as a Democrat or Republican does not make you a political person per say. You are simply promoting your fundamental beliefs with others. Having a party affiliation does not make you a politician. Being involved within either the Democratic or Republican parties or any other party does not make you a politician. I believe there are many people in Bucks County alone who belong to political clubs yet are not politicians. Its a mean business and I can understand why it isn't for everyone. Mrs. Reithmeyer is clearly not politically savvy, although she is, I believe from what I can see trying to do what SHE feels is correct as a Morrisville School Director. I believe that if she was fighting with the board majority instead of***ainst them she would be there hero. But then again there is only room for one of them and this week it seems to be Mr. Stout, award in hand. (I mean no harm...just a little joke...very little though it may be)
There's an interesting discussion about the plaque awarded by the school board to Ron Stout. Once again, there's some pre-electoral shenanigans going on as some commenters on this blog have pointed out as well as the commenters to this story.
Would anyone think "there is more than a slight appearance of a conflict of interest" in presenting this award? Heavens to Betsy!
Did the board pay for the plaque? Then when was the public vote authorizing it?
Was the plaque paid for and presented by private citizens? Then why was it presented at a school board meeting under the implied endorsement and consent of the school board?
BUCKS BRIEFS
Bucks County Courier Times
School renovations set
The board approved bid proposals of $3.44 million for asbestos abatement, window replacement, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical work at Morrisville Middle/Senior High School this summer.
The work was expected to cost about $4 million, but the bids came in lower.
"We're very happy with the results of these bids," said Bill Corfield of Vitetta, the architectural firm handling the work. He surmised that costs have dropped because of the economy.
Savings on major items allowed the board to accept bids on all items needing renovation, not just the HVAC and window replacement. The work on boilers, classroom ventilators, windows and other systems will improve efficiency and save the district in future energy costs, said board President William Hellmann.
Resident Ron Stout received a plaque for ideas that saved the district money. His suggestion to have the high school's hot water piping tested for reliability instead of simply replacing it saved $719,000 on renovations, said board member Maryls Mihok, who presented the plaque to Stout at the Tuesday board meeting. The pipes were found to be sound enough to continue being used.
Stout, who's running for school board, brought up ideas that should save the district $200,000 in future Grandview renovations, Mihok said. "I don't care who saved us money. I would have given the award to anybody," Mihok said.
Comments
Broken For Sure, 03-27-09, 10:46 am | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
"School renovations set"
(Stout, who's running for school board, brought up ideas that should save the district $200,000 in future Grandview renovations, Mihok said. "I don't care who saved us money. I would have given the award to anybody," Mihok said.)
Campaigning has come early to Morrisville Borough - and thanks to people like Mrs. Mihok, its ugly, but not surprising.
You would give an award to anybody? Really? I doubt it, although you did give one to Ron Stout so that statement may be very true. From what I can see, Robin Reithmeyer has saved the school district millions in legal fees for pointing out wrong-doings of the present school board majority in Morrisville, so WHERE'S HER PLAQUE?! The previous school board majority was undermining the community in a big way and the current school board majority is just more of the same. Its just disgusting. When watching school board meetings on the TV its such a dog and pony show, (and now we even have awards, WOW.)
Is this the same Marlys Mihok who, just last week, went to a Morrisville Council meeting and blasted Councilman Rivella, accusing him of accepting campaign contributions, (as Mr. Rivella pointed out, it may be new to Morrisville but it certainly isn't new to politics) and accusing him of being on council just to get a Responsible Contracting Ordinance in place, (From what I've heard the RCO was actually put before council by another person long before Mr. Rivella was even elected to council.) Mrs. Mihok, where's Mr. Rivella’s plaque for trying to save the borough millions of dollars with this ordinance?! It would be nice if Mr. Stout could formulate a sentence or two on his own for a change so that he wouldn't need his very small circle of friends like Mrs. Mihok and her cronies to try to build him up by awarding him a bogus plaque at a televised school board meeting. NO GRANDSTANDING THERE AT ALL! Yeah right.
As for Mr. Rivella and the ordinance, I’ll tell you right now that I supported this guy and I continue to do so. Mr. Rivella’s got what it takes to take on people like Jane Burger, Marlys Mihok and their kind and he and his group will actually be able to make positive changes in Morrisville once they successfully get the same old guard off council in November. I CAN’T WAIT!
I’ve been watching and I can clearly see a few things about Dave Rivella. He’s a family man who's dedicated to Morrisville Borough and he's working hard to move Morrisville forward in spite of the people on council who don’t want this. If Mr. Rivella was in any other profession, he would naturally go to the people surrounding him for fundraising purposes so why would it be any different because he’s a union guy?! Wake up people, this is how its done. Are you trying to say that everyone else should be allowed to fundraise but he should not?! As Mr. Rivella rightly pointed out at the last televised council meeting, all of his campaigning finance contributions have been public record since 2007 but are just now being brought up, as we are in another campaign cycle, ( by the very people he won his seat from, by the very people who don’t want change of any kind - unless they're dismantling the school system that is.) I believe these people are jealous and running scared because they know that Mr. Rivella seemed to actually have people who thought enough of him and his fellow "good Democrats" to support them where as the likes of Mrs. Mihok, Mrs. Burger and their kind have to rely on negativity. This kind of behavior by these naysayers puts Morrisville in a bad light and is disgusting to watch.
AwHellYeah, 03-27-09, 12:56 pm | Rate: Flag 2 Flag | Flag Report
Robin Reithmeyer hasn't saved the district anything. She is your typical politician.
Broken For Sure, 03-27-09, 2:25 pm | Rate: Flag -2 Flag | Flag Report
AwHellYeah
"Robin Reithmeyer hasn't saved the district anything. She is your typical politician."
I don't agree, although I can understand why someone may think she. She does her thing of standing up to the school board majority, but I just can't give her any credit for being a politician. She voted for Fitzpatrick not once but twice. I'm sure there were people in her own party who weren't too happy about that. Is she outspoken...yes ...is she a politician, her actions say differently...a nd I just don't see it.
AwHellYeah, 03-27-09, 2:31 pm | Rate: Flag 1 Flag | Flag Report
Go to a Democratic Club meeting then.
Broken For Sure, 03-27-09, 5:07 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
Simply being involved as a Democrat or Republican does not make you a political person per say. You are simply promoting your fundamental beliefs with others. Having a party affiliation does not make you a politician. Being involved within either the Democratic or Republican parties or any other party does not make you a politician. I believe there are many people in Bucks County alone who belong to political clubs yet are not politicians. Its a mean business and I can understand why it isn't for everyone. Mrs. Reithmeyer is clearly not politically savvy, although she is, I believe from what I can see trying to do what SHE feels is correct as a Morrisville School Director. I believe that if she was fighting with the board majority instead of***ainst them she would be there hero. But then again there is only room for one of them and this week it seems to be Mr. Stout, award in hand. (I mean no harm...just a little joke...very little though it may be)
Friday, March 27, 2009
Dilbert Explains the Emperor
From Dilbert. The Emperor and his style of collecting feedback from the group.
And so does the BCCT.
To Morrisville school board President Bill Hellmann, who apparently considers the school district his own private domain.
We refer to the early retirement plan approved by the board this week. Call it a post-dating.
Seems Hellmann developed the plan jointly with the teachers union president and sent a letter disclosing the initiative to union members. He did so, however, without the board’s approval, involvement or even some members’ awareness, according to a few disgruntled board members. And there was no mention of the plan at committee meetings or executive sessions of the board, the members complained.
Hellmann said he mentioned his intentions in February. Nonetheless, board members complained that Hellman has a very bad habit of not telling the board what he is doing or thinking.
For all the good it will do, we remind Mr. Hellmann that the Morrisville School District is not a kingdom and he is not its king.
And so does the BCCT.
To Morrisville school board President Bill Hellmann, who apparently considers the school district his own private domain.
We refer to the early retirement plan approved by the board this week. Call it a post-dating.
Seems Hellmann developed the plan jointly with the teachers union president and sent a letter disclosing the initiative to union members. He did so, however, without the board’s approval, involvement or even some members’ awareness, according to a few disgruntled board members. And there was no mention of the plan at committee meetings or executive sessions of the board, the members complained.
Hellmann said he mentioned his intentions in February. Nonetheless, board members complained that Hellman has a very bad habit of not telling the board what he is doing or thinking.
For all the good it will do, we remind Mr. Hellmann that the Morrisville School District is not a kingdom and he is not its king.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Thanks For Your Career, Now Get Out!
From the BCCT.
In a completely standard move, the Morrisville board launched another surprise. Attention Morrisville teachers: Yes, YOU! The one with the grey hair and the college diploma chiseled into a stone tablet. We pay you too much and can replace you with someone at half your salary. Thanks for the memories. Now get out. You have one month to decide.
This is mitigated by union prez King mentioning that he initiated the talks and I do not blame him. Looking out for these people is his job. If I had the time in, I'd escape this district too. The chaos and uncertainty this board leaves in its wake is reason enough.
The administration had a hard time finding replacements for teachers one at a time. Can you imagine filling nine spots or more?
Good point. WILL these teachers be replaced? The (patent pending) Do More With Less Magic-8 Ball says *shake*shake*shake* "Fewer seats needed at 2009 staff Christmas party"
Board to offer retirement packages
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
In an effort to save money, the Morrisville school board agreed Wednesday to allow eligible staff members to take advantage of an early retirement incentive plan.
The move, approved 6-2, was not without its critics.
Board members Gloria Heater and Robin Reithmeyer opposed the offer. Reithmeyer said board President William Hellmann had acted on his own to offer the incentive plan and that other board members were not aware of it until last week, several days after Hellmann sent a March 5 letter with incentive plan details to the teachers union.
In addition, the plan was not brought up in a board committee meeting or in executive session, Reithmeyer said.
At Tuesday's meeting, union President Drew King said he had initiated talks with Hellmann and the district by presenting them with a rationale for such a plan.
Hellmann and the administration had responded to King's request and worked closely to come up with a proposal for the union, said district solicitor Michael Fitzpatrick. School code was not broken because their offer could not have gone into effect until a consensus of the board voted on it, he said.
Reithmeyer said Hellmann does not openly let the board know what he is doing and thinking. He said he had communicated his intentions regarding the retirement incentive plan to the board in February.
The incentive plan is valid for full-time permanent professional employees who have had 15 years of continuous service with the district and want to retire on June 30. It offers two options: either a lump sum of up to $70,000 or medical premium reimbursement to age 65, capped at $1,200 per month. That's if nine or more eligible staff members take the offer. The lump sum payment amount will be less if fewer people opt to take the offer.
How much the district would save depends on how many decide to take advantage of the incentive and how and if the district decides to replace them, said Paul DeAngelo, the district's business administrator. Individual teachers have until April 30 to apply.
March 26, 2009 02:11 AM
In a completely standard move, the Morrisville board launched another surprise. Attention Morrisville teachers: Yes, YOU! The one with the grey hair and the college diploma chiseled into a stone tablet. We pay you too much and can replace you with someone at half your salary. Thanks for the memories. Now get out. You have one month to decide.
This is mitigated by union prez King mentioning that he initiated the talks and I do not blame him. Looking out for these people is his job. If I had the time in, I'd escape this district too. The chaos and uncertainty this board leaves in its wake is reason enough.
The administration had a hard time finding replacements for teachers one at a time. Can you imagine filling nine spots or more?
Good point. WILL these teachers be replaced? The (patent pending) Do More With Less Magic-8 Ball says *shake*shake*shake* "Fewer seats needed at 2009 staff Christmas party"
Board to offer retirement packages
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
In an effort to save money, the Morrisville school board agreed Wednesday to allow eligible staff members to take advantage of an early retirement incentive plan.
The move, approved 6-2, was not without its critics.
Board members Gloria Heater and Robin Reithmeyer opposed the offer. Reithmeyer said board President William Hellmann had acted on his own to offer the incentive plan and that other board members were not aware of it until last week, several days after Hellmann sent a March 5 letter with incentive plan details to the teachers union.
In addition, the plan was not brought up in a board committee meeting or in executive session, Reithmeyer said.
At Tuesday's meeting, union President Drew King said he had initiated talks with Hellmann and the district by presenting them with a rationale for such a plan.
Hellmann and the administration had responded to King's request and worked closely to come up with a proposal for the union, said district solicitor Michael Fitzpatrick. School code was not broken because their offer could not have gone into effect until a consensus of the board voted on it, he said.
Reithmeyer said Hellmann does not openly let the board know what he is doing and thinking. He said he had communicated his intentions regarding the retirement incentive plan to the board in February.
The incentive plan is valid for full-time permanent professional employees who have had 15 years of continuous service with the district and want to retire on June 30. It offers two options: either a lump sum of up to $70,000 or medical premium reimbursement to age 65, capped at $1,200 per month. That's if nine or more eligible staff members take the offer. The lump sum payment amount will be less if fewer people opt to take the offer.
How much the district would save depends on how many decide to take advantage of the incentive and how and if the district decides to replace them, said Paul DeAngelo, the district's business administrator. Individual teachers have until April 30 to apply.
March 26, 2009 02:11 AM
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Bigger school districts, lower taxes?
From the Inquirer.
Bigger school districts, lower taxes? Economy of scale is a wonderful thing, but it eventually plateaus and the large bureaucracy comes into existence to be undone by the nimbleness of a smaller entity. And then the cycle begins again.
The big lesson to take from this: The Emperor speaks! (see below)
Bigger school districts, lower taxes?
By Anthony R. Wood and Dan Hardy Posted on Sun, Mar. 22, 2009
Eighty percent of the state's school districts would disappear, small districts would become parts of bigger ones, and hundreds of administrative jobs would evaporate.
In one of the more ambitious initiatives of his six years in office, Gov. Rendell has called for a major reorganization of Pennsylvania's school bureaucracy, in part to tame wildly unpopular property taxes.
But based on the early response - and the long, tormented history of school district mergers - the road to school consolidation in Pennsylvania is likely to be a torturous one that could take years to navigate.
The Rendell administration holds that enlarging districts would lead to better schools and to lower - and fairer - taxes by reducing administrative costs and spreading property wealth.
School officials in financially struggling Pottstown and Morrisville like the idea. And nationally, the trend has been toward ever-larger school districts. In the 1939-40 school year, the nation had 117,108 districts. Today, it has fewer than 15,000.
But the merger idea isn't a big hit everywhere. Home rule is an issue in Lower Merion and Jenkintown, both well-off, high-achieving districts that fear losing fiscal and educational independence.
"There is no research that suggests that we would become a better school district by becoming part of a bigger school district," said Douglas Young, spokesman for the Lower Merion district.
And the state's property-tax system looms as a huge factor in any merger plan. That system is riddled with inequities fueled in large measure by disparities in real estate wealth among districts. Those disparities have widened in the four decades since the last major round of mergers.
Consolidation, theoretically, would ease some of those disparities.
Ironically, however, the very flaws in the system loom as major impediments to changing it.
While the majority of property owners might see tax decreases, some likely would have to pay more, regardless of any cost savings.
"There would be winners and losers," said State Sen. Jeffrey E. Piccola, the Dauphin County Republican who chairs the Education Committee.
The Democrats haven't been holding pep rallies, either. "No one is saying this is the best thing since peanut butter and jelly, let's go do it," said State Sen. Andrew E. Dinniman (D., Chester), minority chair of the committee. "At this point, it's going nowhere."
Merger movements are under way in several states looking to whack administrative costs. A modest version is on the table in New Jersey, where school districts actually outnumber municipalities.
The Rendell plan calls for reducing the number of districts from 501 to fewer than 100.
He would appoint a special legislative commission to look into consolidation, so it is impossible to say yet how a reorganization might look.
In testimony before the Senate, however, state Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak said the administration had looked at states with county-level districts.
That's the system in Maryland, so The Inquirer looked at how the tax universe might change if Pennsylvania suddenly decided to establish countywide districts.
And, by the way, that was the recommendation of a special Pennsylvania legislative committee back in 1937.
The analysis found that property owners in 51 of the 64 districts in the four suburban counties would see tax decreases; 13 of the wealthier districts would get increases. In an all-Montgomery County district, for example, Cheltenham would see a 47 percent decrease; Upper Merion, a 48 percent increase.
Countywide districts could well make economic sense, said Steven Wray, executive director of the Philadelphia Economy League of Greater Philadelphia.
"It might spread development more evenly throughout a county," by lessening competition for high-tax business properties, he said. "It would also mean that if Upper Merion added a big box [mega-store] or a mall, it would benefit all the districts in the county."
Pennsylvania's school system once was far more balkanized.
In 1937, it had five times the districts it has today, and 34 of them had no schools, including tiny Millbourne, Delaware County. The town did have a board, however, that collected taxes and sent two kindergartners to East Lansdowne via cab every school day.
Finally, by 1967, after controversy, rebellion, lawsuits, and numerous compromises, the number of Pennsylvania districts was reduced to about 750.
Since the last round of mergers, however, economic fortunes have changed radically, and the gaps between the rich and poor have widened.
Janis Risch, head of Good Schools Pennsylvania, a reform group, argues that since schools are so dependent on the property tax, the disparities have driven well-off homeowners from poorer towns.
"For several decades, we've had a public policy that did a really good job of concentrating poverty and fostering divisiveness in communities," she said.
"To talk about consolidation without addressing that reality is missing a giant elephant in the room."
Piccola agreed that those wealth disparities were the biggest obstacle to consolidation. "You are not going to get any widespread mergers until you eliminate the property tax," he said.
Bill Hellmann, school board president in the Morrisville district, which has fewer than 1,000 students and struggles with high taxes and deteriorating facilities, said he didn't foresee widespread mergers "happening voluntarily."
However, he said, he believed mergers were inevitable because many districts no longer could afford pensions and teachers' salaries. "That will drive mergers," he said. "I don't know if it is going to happen now, but it has to happen."
John Armato, spokesman for the Pottstown School District, isn't so sure. "There are 501 school districts in Pennsylvania for a reason," he said. "Everyone wants to protect their piece of the world. There are real turf issues."
Bigger school districts, lower taxes? Economy of scale is a wonderful thing, but it eventually plateaus and the large bureaucracy comes into existence to be undone by the nimbleness of a smaller entity. And then the cycle begins again.
The big lesson to take from this: The Emperor speaks! (see below)
Bigger school districts, lower taxes?
By Anthony R. Wood and Dan Hardy Posted on Sun, Mar. 22, 2009
Eighty percent of the state's school districts would disappear, small districts would become parts of bigger ones, and hundreds of administrative jobs would evaporate.
In one of the more ambitious initiatives of his six years in office, Gov. Rendell has called for a major reorganization of Pennsylvania's school bureaucracy, in part to tame wildly unpopular property taxes.
But based on the early response - and the long, tormented history of school district mergers - the road to school consolidation in Pennsylvania is likely to be a torturous one that could take years to navigate.
The Rendell administration holds that enlarging districts would lead to better schools and to lower - and fairer - taxes by reducing administrative costs and spreading property wealth.
School officials in financially struggling Pottstown and Morrisville like the idea. And nationally, the trend has been toward ever-larger school districts. In the 1939-40 school year, the nation had 117,108 districts. Today, it has fewer than 15,000.
But the merger idea isn't a big hit everywhere. Home rule is an issue in Lower Merion and Jenkintown, both well-off, high-achieving districts that fear losing fiscal and educational independence.
"There is no research that suggests that we would become a better school district by becoming part of a bigger school district," said Douglas Young, spokesman for the Lower Merion district.
And the state's property-tax system looms as a huge factor in any merger plan. That system is riddled with inequities fueled in large measure by disparities in real estate wealth among districts. Those disparities have widened in the four decades since the last major round of mergers.
Consolidation, theoretically, would ease some of those disparities.
Ironically, however, the very flaws in the system loom as major impediments to changing it.
While the majority of property owners might see tax decreases, some likely would have to pay more, regardless of any cost savings.
"There would be winners and losers," said State Sen. Jeffrey E. Piccola, the Dauphin County Republican who chairs the Education Committee.
The Democrats haven't been holding pep rallies, either. "No one is saying this is the best thing since peanut butter and jelly, let's go do it," said State Sen. Andrew E. Dinniman (D., Chester), minority chair of the committee. "At this point, it's going nowhere."
Merger movements are under way in several states looking to whack administrative costs. A modest version is on the table in New Jersey, where school districts actually outnumber municipalities.
The Rendell plan calls for reducing the number of districts from 501 to fewer than 100.
He would appoint a special legislative commission to look into consolidation, so it is impossible to say yet how a reorganization might look.
In testimony before the Senate, however, state Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak said the administration had looked at states with county-level districts.
That's the system in Maryland, so The Inquirer looked at how the tax universe might change if Pennsylvania suddenly decided to establish countywide districts.
And, by the way, that was the recommendation of a special Pennsylvania legislative committee back in 1937.
The analysis found that property owners in 51 of the 64 districts in the four suburban counties would see tax decreases; 13 of the wealthier districts would get increases. In an all-Montgomery County district, for example, Cheltenham would see a 47 percent decrease; Upper Merion, a 48 percent increase.
Countywide districts could well make economic sense, said Steven Wray, executive director of the Philadelphia Economy League of Greater Philadelphia.
"It might spread development more evenly throughout a county," by lessening competition for high-tax business properties, he said. "It would also mean that if Upper Merion added a big box [mega-store] or a mall, it would benefit all the districts in the county."
Pennsylvania's school system once was far more balkanized.
In 1937, it had five times the districts it has today, and 34 of them had no schools, including tiny Millbourne, Delaware County. The town did have a board, however, that collected taxes and sent two kindergartners to East Lansdowne via cab every school day.
Finally, by 1967, after controversy, rebellion, lawsuits, and numerous compromises, the number of Pennsylvania districts was reduced to about 750.
Since the last round of mergers, however, economic fortunes have changed radically, and the gaps between the rich and poor have widened.
Janis Risch, head of Good Schools Pennsylvania, a reform group, argues that since schools are so dependent on the property tax, the disparities have driven well-off homeowners from poorer towns.
"For several decades, we've had a public policy that did a really good job of concentrating poverty and fostering divisiveness in communities," she said.
"To talk about consolidation without addressing that reality is missing a giant elephant in the room."
Piccola agreed that those wealth disparities were the biggest obstacle to consolidation. "You are not going to get any widespread mergers until you eliminate the property tax," he said.
Bill Hellmann, school board president in the Morrisville district, which has fewer than 1,000 students and struggles with high taxes and deteriorating facilities, said he didn't foresee widespread mergers "happening voluntarily."
However, he said, he believed mergers were inevitable because many districts no longer could afford pensions and teachers' salaries. "That will drive mergers," he said. "I don't know if it is going to happen now, but it has to happen."
John Armato, spokesman for the Pottstown School District, isn't so sure. "There are 501 school districts in Pennsylvania for a reason," he said. "Everyone wants to protect their piece of the world. There are real turf issues."
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Grades 4-12 will be in same building
From the BCCT. Anyone else have news from the meeting?
Downsizing the district in 3...2...
Grades 4-12 will be in same building
The restructuring decision is a safeguard against the possibility of Reiter being closed or being too damaged to open for the fall semester, said acting interim Superintendent William Ferrara.
By MANASEE WAGH
Morrisville students in grades four and up will share a building starting next year. The school board voted 6-2 to reconfigure the district Wednesday evening, with members Joseph Kemp and Gloria Heater opposed. Students in grades four to eight would attend an “intermediate school” in the Morrisville Middle/Senior High School, set apart from grades nine to 12, which would continue their schooling in the same building. Grades four to six would be separate from grades seven and eight.
Grandview Elementary would house grades pre-K to three.
Up to $7 million will be invested in renovating the two buildings.
The plan doesn’t call for new construction, but will partly rearrange the use of current spaces, said acting interim Superintendent William Ferrara.
Plans are still preliminary, but he said the administration discussed separating different grade levels in the high school by putting doors in between building sections.
Board member Kemp thought the vote was too premature because neither he nor the public had seen specific and detailed plans for how the facilities would be restructured. He wanted to table the vote and hold it until a later time, but his suggestion was defeated. Board President William Hellmann said he’s pleased with the plan. Community members expressed concern regarding the restructuring before the board has voted on whether or not to close its third school, M.R. Reiter Elementary. Parent John Perry called it “putting the cart before the horse.” About a month ago, the district held a public forum to discuss the possibility of closing Reiter, which was temporarily closed in December after a furnace explosion. The building was damaged badly enough that its students had to be relocated to other district buildings, where they remain. Some will move to modular units on the property of Grandview Elementary this year.
By law, the board has to wait 90 days after the public hearing to vote on closing Reiter.
However, the restructuring proposal is distinct from Reiter, said district solicitor Michael Fitzpatrick.
“The issue came up under the initiative of the superintendent. It’s a separate issue from Reiter,” he said.
If the district ends up keeping Reiter and it is repaired, students may be moved back there at some point, board members said.
For now, the administration is simply being proactive by planning to move all the students into Grandview and the high school building this fall, Ferrara said.
“If Reiter is not ready, we won’t be scrambling around,” he said. If the board decides to close it permanently, then the restructuring plan gives the district a place to put the 250 Reiter students, he said.
Downsizing the district in 3...2...
Grades 4-12 will be in same building
The restructuring decision is a safeguard against the possibility of Reiter being closed or being too damaged to open for the fall semester, said acting interim Superintendent William Ferrara.
By MANASEE WAGH
Morrisville students in grades four and up will share a building starting next year. The school board voted 6-2 to reconfigure the district Wednesday evening, with members Joseph Kemp and Gloria Heater opposed. Students in grades four to eight would attend an “intermediate school” in the Morrisville Middle/Senior High School, set apart from grades nine to 12, which would continue their schooling in the same building. Grades four to six would be separate from grades seven and eight.
Grandview Elementary would house grades pre-K to three.
Up to $7 million will be invested in renovating the two buildings.
The plan doesn’t call for new construction, but will partly rearrange the use of current spaces, said acting interim Superintendent William Ferrara.
Plans are still preliminary, but he said the administration discussed separating different grade levels in the high school by putting doors in between building sections.
Board member Kemp thought the vote was too premature because neither he nor the public had seen specific and detailed plans for how the facilities would be restructured. He wanted to table the vote and hold it until a later time, but his suggestion was defeated. Board President William Hellmann said he’s pleased with the plan. Community members expressed concern regarding the restructuring before the board has voted on whether or not to close its third school, M.R. Reiter Elementary. Parent John Perry called it “putting the cart before the horse.” About a month ago, the district held a public forum to discuss the possibility of closing Reiter, which was temporarily closed in December after a furnace explosion. The building was damaged badly enough that its students had to be relocated to other district buildings, where they remain. Some will move to modular units on the property of Grandview Elementary this year.
By law, the board has to wait 90 days after the public hearing to vote on closing Reiter.
However, the restructuring proposal is distinct from Reiter, said district solicitor Michael Fitzpatrick.
“The issue came up under the initiative of the superintendent. It’s a separate issue from Reiter,” he said.
If the district ends up keeping Reiter and it is repaired, students may be moved back there at some point, board members said.
For now, the administration is simply being proactive by planning to move all the students into Grandview and the high school building this fall, Ferrara said.
“If Reiter is not ready, we won’t be scrambling around,” he said. If the board decides to close it permanently, then the restructuring plan gives the district a place to put the 250 Reiter students, he said.
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.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Independent or Consolidated?
From the Inquirer.
Note the Emperor: I'll only talk by email and Reiter's closed so kwitcherbellyachin.
Monica Yant Kinney: How a district's small size can magnify its challenges
By Monica Yant Kinney Posted on Sun, Feb. 15, 2009, Inquirer Columnist
If Gov. Rendell intends to push for statewide school consolidation, he should make Morrisville the first stop on a listening tour. Presuming he can handle the drama.
In the itty-bitty Bucks County community, Rendell would find parents who suspect the school board cares more about dismantling the district than educating children.
Plans for a new school for kindergarten through 12th grade crumbled after one board paid $2.5 million in fees to annul a previous board's $30 million construction bond - all in the name of saving taxpayers money.
Some locals love the walkable community's old-timey intimacy. Others, wary of old-timey facilities, desperately want to merge with a larger district - even though previous pleas were rebuffed by suburban snobbery.
Most everyone in Morrisville agrees they got lucky when the boiler exploded at M.R. Reiter Elementary on a December weekend. No children were killed.
But what to make of last week's asbestos scare, which briefly closed Morrisville Middle/Senior High?
"Parents are in the dark," says Damon Miller, so disgusted he's running for the school board. "Nobody trusts anybody. This town doesn't know what it wants."
Maybe not. But when your child's future is at stake, does Harrisburg know better?
Home, casa
Named after Robert Morris, who financed the American Revolution, Morrisville occupies two square miles hard by the Delaware River across from Trenton.
The 10,000-person borough is 75 percent white, 19 percent African American, 5 percent Latino, and 1 percent Asian. Forty-three percent of all residents rent.
Diversity and transiency define the 831-student school district, which has been known to receive 11 enrollments in a single day.
When Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson arrived four years ago, only 11 percent of 11th graders were proficient in math on state achievement tests. By 2008, the number had jumped to 55 percent.
In 2007, Morrisville third graders topped all test-takers in the county, which still has Yonson beaming.
"You know how wealthy the rest of Bucks County is. My parents can't even afford a quality pre-K."
So she sought grants, and now Morrisville offers preschool. And college-credit courses for teens.
"Last year, one of our grads started Penn State's main campus as a sophomore!" Yonson raves.
All this and more have parents like Ann Perry committed to saving the schools, not scrapping them.
"We don't want to send Emma to private school," Perry says of her first-grade daughter. "Life is not private school."
What now?
Morrisville Mayor Tom Wisnosky can't recall how many consolidation talks have taken place in his lifetime. He just knows they rarely surpass stereotypes of race and class.
"One time, people said that merging with Morrisville would lower their property values," Wisnosky tells me. "That's just one of the lies perpetuated about us."
Since the last letdown in 2004, he and others got behind the idea of building new - only to see that movement halted by a costly changing of the school-board guard.
"So what's the plan?" asks an angry Lisa Castillo as she picks up her daughter from Grandview Elementary, which took in students scattered by the explosion at Reiter. "We don't want our kids educated in trailers for 20 years."
School Board President Bill Hellmann would talk to me only via e-mail. He says that Reiter will remain closed, and that he'd like to renovate the two other schools.
As for Rendell's bold proposal to forcibly squeeze 500 districts across the commonwealth into 100?
Some say the governor is tilting at educational windmills, but Hellmann believes it's the right idea in taxing times.
"Morrisville," he writes, "is really too small to have our own school district."
Contact Monica Yant Kinney at myant@phillynews.com or 215-854-4670. Read her recent work at http://go.philly.com/yantkinney
Note the Emperor: I'll only talk by email and Reiter's closed so kwitcherbellyachin.
Monica Yant Kinney: How a district's small size can magnify its challenges
By Monica Yant Kinney Posted on Sun, Feb. 15, 2009, Inquirer Columnist
If Gov. Rendell intends to push for statewide school consolidation, he should make Morrisville the first stop on a listening tour. Presuming he can handle the drama.
In the itty-bitty Bucks County community, Rendell would find parents who suspect the school board cares more about dismantling the district than educating children.Plans for a new school for kindergarten through 12th grade crumbled after one board paid $2.5 million in fees to annul a previous board's $30 million construction bond - all in the name of saving taxpayers money.
Some locals love the walkable community's old-timey intimacy. Others, wary of old-timey facilities, desperately want to merge with a larger district - even though previous pleas were rebuffed by suburban snobbery.
Most everyone in Morrisville agrees they got lucky when the boiler exploded at M.R. Reiter Elementary on a December weekend. No children were killed.
But what to make of last week's asbestos scare, which briefly closed Morrisville Middle/Senior High?
"Parents are in the dark," says Damon Miller, so disgusted he's running for the school board. "Nobody trusts anybody. This town doesn't know what it wants."
Maybe not. But when your child's future is at stake, does Harrisburg know better?
Home, casa
Named after Robert Morris, who financed the American Revolution, Morrisville occupies two square miles hard by the Delaware River across from Trenton.
The 10,000-person borough is 75 percent white, 19 percent African American, 5 percent Latino, and 1 percent Asian. Forty-three percent of all residents rent.
Diversity and transiency define the 831-student school district, which has been known to receive 11 enrollments in a single day.
When Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson arrived four years ago, only 11 percent of 11th graders were proficient in math on state achievement tests. By 2008, the number had jumped to 55 percent.
In 2007, Morrisville third graders topped all test-takers in the county, which still has Yonson beaming.
"You know how wealthy the rest of Bucks County is. My parents can't even afford a quality pre-K."
So she sought grants, and now Morrisville offers preschool. And college-credit courses for teens.
"Last year, one of our grads started Penn State's main campus as a sophomore!" Yonson raves.
All this and more have parents like Ann Perry committed to saving the schools, not scrapping them.
"We don't want to send Emma to private school," Perry says of her first-grade daughter. "Life is not private school."
What now?
Morrisville Mayor Tom Wisnosky can't recall how many consolidation talks have taken place in his lifetime. He just knows they rarely surpass stereotypes of race and class.
"One time, people said that merging with Morrisville would lower their property values," Wisnosky tells me. "That's just one of the lies perpetuated about us."
Since the last letdown in 2004, he and others got behind the idea of building new - only to see that movement halted by a costly changing of the school-board guard.
"So what's the plan?" asks an angry Lisa Castillo as she picks up her daughter from Grandview Elementary, which took in students scattered by the explosion at Reiter. "We don't want our kids educated in trailers for 20 years."
School Board President Bill Hellmann would talk to me only via e-mail. He says that Reiter will remain closed, and that he'd like to renovate the two other schools.
As for Rendell's bold proposal to forcibly squeeze 500 districts across the commonwealth into 100?
Some say the governor is tilting at educational windmills, but Hellmann believes it's the right idea in taxing times.
"Morrisville," he writes, "is really too small to have our own school district."
Contact Monica Yant Kinney at myant@phillynews.com or 215-854-4670. Read her recent work at http://go.philly.com/yantkinney
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Exemption Junction, What's Your Function?
From the BCCT.
It looks like Centennial and Pennsbury may need the lifelines that the Morrisville school board cut away.
That leaves the question: Are you happier having a low or no tax increase, or an above index raise? If we were part of Pennsbury today [Hail Pennsbury! The salvation of Morrisville!], we'd be preparing for our wallets for a major hull breach. Red Alert, Mr. Sulu!
See? Being part of Pennsbury isn't the magic cure-all for what ails us. It's merely trading one set of problems for a completely new set.
Do you want the Morrisville school district being handled right here in Morrisville, with Sandy Gibson, Bill Hellmann, or the next president running things where nine of your neighbors are representing you? Or do you want maybe one school board seat [maybe even NONE!] representing you?
Sounds like a no-brainer to me.
Districts will decide on state exemptions
By MANASEE WAGH
This week, the Centennial and Pennsbury school boards will vote on applying for state exemptions to allow them to raise the tax increase past the Act 1 mandate of 4.1 percent.
Applying for exemptions allows districts to prevent possible financial emergencies in next year's budget if unforeseen emergencies arise, such as unexpected high special education costs or a lack of state funding, said board President Gregory Lucidi.
Bristol Township, Council Rock and Morrisville School Districts have passed resolutions promising not to raise property taxes for 2009-10 more than the limit. They no longer can apply for exemptions.
Lucidi stressed that Pennsbury is dedicated to keeping taxes at or below the limit. The board will get a look at the revised preliminary budget on Thursday and work on looking at all areas of district operations to trim expenditures, he said.
Centennial board members have made similar statements about the desire to keep taxes lower than the state limit. On Tuesday, the board will vote on adopting its 2009-2010 preliminary budget.
It looks like Centennial and Pennsbury may need the lifelines that the Morrisville school board cut away.
That leaves the question: Are you happier having a low or no tax increase, or an above index raise? If we were part of Pennsbury today [Hail Pennsbury! The salvation of Morrisville!], we'd be preparing for our wallets for a major hull breach. Red Alert, Mr. Sulu!
See? Being part of Pennsbury isn't the magic cure-all for what ails us. It's merely trading one set of problems for a completely new set.
Do you want the Morrisville school district being handled right here in Morrisville, with Sandy Gibson, Bill Hellmann, or the next president running things where nine of your neighbors are representing you? Or do you want maybe one school board seat [maybe even NONE!] representing you?
Sounds like a no-brainer to me.
Districts will decide on state exemptions
By MANASEE WAGH
This week, the Centennial and Pennsbury school boards will vote on applying for state exemptions to allow them to raise the tax increase past the Act 1 mandate of 4.1 percent.
Applying for exemptions allows districts to prevent possible financial emergencies in next year's budget if unforeseen emergencies arise, such as unexpected high special education costs or a lack of state funding, said board President Gregory Lucidi.
Bristol Township, Council Rock and Morrisville School Districts have passed resolutions promising not to raise property taxes for 2009-10 more than the limit. They no longer can apply for exemptions.
Lucidi stressed that Pennsbury is dedicated to keeping taxes at or below the limit. The board will get a look at the revised preliminary budget on Thursday and work on looking at all areas of district operations to trim expenditures, he said.
Centennial board members have made similar statements about the desire to keep taxes lower than the state limit. On Tuesday, the board will vote on adopting its 2009-2010 preliminary budget.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Parents criticize board in writing
From the BCCT.
Parents criticize board in writing
By MANASEE WAGH
Morrisville residents have written letters to school officials expressing fears for the district’s future.
“I demand to know what is in store for my children’s education and most importantly their proper safety?!” parent Tammi Bresnen wrote.
Five people responded to district solicitor Michael Fitzpatrick’s encouragement for additional written testimony after a Jan. 29 public hearing about the closing of M.R. Reiter Elementary School.
“It’s not a lot, but it’s not bad,” board member John Buckman said of the number of people who wrote.
Bresnen and other residents criticized the board for poor communication with the public.
“This board has shown time and time again that it does not act with a publicly discussed, debated, and enacted long-term strategic plan in place. It acts in fits and starts without an overarching goal,” wrote parent Kevin Leather.
The board plans to refurbish Grandview, the district’s other elementary school, and it’s investigating putting grades kindergarten through eight in the high school building. Leather called those two initiatives “opposing avenues of action.”
Resident Carol J. Bargery proposed renovating Reiter and selling Grandview. Morrisville could send grades kindergarten through eight to the high school and grades nine through 12 to Reiter, she wrote. The district should hold a public referendum before closing Reiter or any other building, she suggested.
About 250 students attend Morrisville Middle/Senior High School in grades nine through 12. Until a December furnace explosion, Reiter housed more than 250 students.
They are sharing space currently with other students in various district buildings for at least the rest of the school year. The explosion is not the sole rationale for closing the school. Board members had planned to close at least one elementary school in the district and use the money from its sale to renovate the district’s two other school buildings. The Reiter incident and an earlier evaluation of the building provided the board justification to pick Reiter for closing.
About 20 people expressed their opinions verbally at the public hearing. Then residents had until 3 p.m. on Feb. 2 to submit written opinions as part of the public hearing record.
Representatives from Vitetta, the engineering and architectural firm hired to evaluate the district schools, said at the public hearing that Reiter was in worse shape than Grandview Elementary. It has serious cracking in the walls and water seepage indoors.
“To fix that building doesn’t seem too probable at this point. Whatever the testimony’s saying, we have to look at the problems,” said Buckman. He said he sympathized with parents who expressed frustration with Reiter’s issues.
Morrisville is installing eight modular units on Grandview’s property this month to give some of the displaced students their own space. Bad weather has delayed the units’ installation, Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson said last week.
The district has reserved $7.4 million for renovations to the high school and one elementary school.
Vitetta is about to start the design phase of window and boiler renovations for the high school. The work shouldn’t cost more than $4.8 million, said district business administrator Paul DeAngelo.
Since Reiter may be closed, Grandview is next on the list to be renovated. Vitetta’s current estimate for fixing the smaller Grandview is $2.6 million. Resolving Reiter’s problems would cost about $4 million, according to the company.
The board can only make a decision about closing a school building 90 days after the public hearing, according to school code.
“Our board will come to a well thought out decision about what is best for our educational program, the children and the taxpayers and hopefully satisfy most of the community,” board President William Hellmann wrote in an e-mail exchange Tuesday.
Bargery hopes the board will be more candid about its thinking.
“Maybe if you would be more open and forthright with the community the community would reach out, and when Americans work together there is nothing we can’t do,” she wrote.
Parents criticize board in writing
By MANASEE WAGH
Morrisville residents have written letters to school officials expressing fears for the district’s future.
“I demand to know what is in store for my children’s education and most importantly their proper safety?!” parent Tammi Bresnen wrote.
Five people responded to district solicitor Michael Fitzpatrick’s encouragement for additional written testimony after a Jan. 29 public hearing about the closing of M.R. Reiter Elementary School.
“It’s not a lot, but it’s not bad,” board member John Buckman said of the number of people who wrote.
Bresnen and other residents criticized the board for poor communication with the public.
“This board has shown time and time again that it does not act with a publicly discussed, debated, and enacted long-term strategic plan in place. It acts in fits and starts without an overarching goal,” wrote parent Kevin Leather.
The board plans to refurbish Grandview, the district’s other elementary school, and it’s investigating putting grades kindergarten through eight in the high school building. Leather called those two initiatives “opposing avenues of action.”
Resident Carol J. Bargery proposed renovating Reiter and selling Grandview. Morrisville could send grades kindergarten through eight to the high school and grades nine through 12 to Reiter, she wrote. The district should hold a public referendum before closing Reiter or any other building, she suggested.
About 250 students attend Morrisville Middle/Senior High School in grades nine through 12. Until a December furnace explosion, Reiter housed more than 250 students.
They are sharing space currently with other students in various district buildings for at least the rest of the school year. The explosion is not the sole rationale for closing the school. Board members had planned to close at least one elementary school in the district and use the money from its sale to renovate the district’s two other school buildings. The Reiter incident and an earlier evaluation of the building provided the board justification to pick Reiter for closing.
About 20 people expressed their opinions verbally at the public hearing. Then residents had until 3 p.m. on Feb. 2 to submit written opinions as part of the public hearing record.
Representatives from Vitetta, the engineering and architectural firm hired to evaluate the district schools, said at the public hearing that Reiter was in worse shape than Grandview Elementary. It has serious cracking in the walls and water seepage indoors.
“To fix that building doesn’t seem too probable at this point. Whatever the testimony’s saying, we have to look at the problems,” said Buckman. He said he sympathized with parents who expressed frustration with Reiter’s issues.
Morrisville is installing eight modular units on Grandview’s property this month to give some of the displaced students their own space. Bad weather has delayed the units’ installation, Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson said last week.
The district has reserved $7.4 million for renovations to the high school and one elementary school.
Vitetta is about to start the design phase of window and boiler renovations for the high school. The work shouldn’t cost more than $4.8 million, said district business administrator Paul DeAngelo.
Since Reiter may be closed, Grandview is next on the list to be renovated. Vitetta’s current estimate for fixing the smaller Grandview is $2.6 million. Resolving Reiter’s problems would cost about $4 million, according to the company.
The board can only make a decision about closing a school building 90 days after the public hearing, according to school code.
“Our board will come to a well thought out decision about what is best for our educational program, the children and the taxpayers and hopefully satisfy most of the community,” board President William Hellmann wrote in an e-mail exchange Tuesday.
Bargery hopes the board will be more candid about its thinking.
“Maybe if you would be more open and forthright with the community the community would reach out, and when Americans work together there is nothing we can’t do,” she wrote.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
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.
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.
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