SANATOGA PA – Recent jottings from a reporter’s notebook:

Busily working last week outside Lower Pottsgrove's municipal garage.

Numerology As You Stare Out The Window Today

35. The number of miles of Pennsylvania-owned highway being plowed by Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township municipal workers this morning (Friday, Feb. 26, 2010) to let you get out of the house. The township is reimbursed by the state for its time and expense.

45. The number of miles of township-owned highway they’ll also plow.

50. The number of continuous hours township employees spent during the last winter storm, either inside their trucks or the municipal garage on North Pleasant View Road, Pottstown PA, to keep roads as clear and ice-free as possible. No, they didn’t go home, township Manager Rodney Hawthorne reports. Instead, they slept on cots at the garage, and ate meals provided by the township’s fire departments.

66. The number of cul-de-sacs (the asphalt circles at the end of a residential street) within the township’s borders. Consider maneuvering around those with a full-blade plow and a truck bed full of salt.

Numerology II: Far Sadder Statistics

7. As of Tuesday (Feb. 23, 2010), the number of students during 2009-2010 – so far – who have been formally expelled from Pottsgrove School District schools by the Board of School Directors in actions requested by Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis.

Actually, the students aren’t numbered. They are identified by letter, to protect their confidentiality. Their names are not disclosed, nor is the reason for their expulsion.

The school board voted unanimously Tuesday, during its latest meeting at Ringing Rocks Elementary School, to expel Student “G.”

190. The cost, in dollars per hour, that the school district will pay the Blue Bell PA law firm of Wisler Pearlstine LLP to serve as its legal council during expulsion hearings … an indication that more, and more challenging, expulsions are foreseen by the administration. The board approved the expense, also unanimously.

Getting The Word Out

As construction of Pope John Paul II Catholic High School in Royersford nears completion and prepares to open to students next fall, its representatives are eager to let the community know about their new school building, its operations, and its educational future. Local clubs and civic organizations interested in hearing a presentation about the school should call Lower Pottsgrove resident Beth Hiriak, its director of development, at 215-370-9549.

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