The Sanatoga Post

Derek Menaldino, left, and Brian Hess at Thursday's economic forecast breakfast

LIMERICK PA – One regional economist believes manufacturing jobs are poised to return to the U.S. because global financial events have made it more expensive for competing nations to export goods, local business owners and leaders learned Thursday (Jan. 5, 2012) during an economic forecast breakfast in Limerick PA.

Brian Hess, senior research analyst at Brandywine Global Investment Management, told guests at the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce forum that rising wage costs in China combined with rising oil costs worldwide had narrowed the price gap between it, other countries and the U.S. in the race to sell durable consumer goods like appliances. The possibility for renewed competitiveness could spur manufacturing growth here, he said.

Hess and Derek Menaldino, chief investment officer of Main Line Financial Advisors in Pottstown PA, were featured panelists during an hour-long discussion of the coming year in business and finance, held at the Copperfield Inn at Lakeside.

Both focused their comments in reaction to results of a recent client poll undertaken by Main Line, in which its clients said they felt better about improvements in their own personal finances during 2011 even though they believed the global economy simultaneously worsened.

“Consumers look at the prices of things they buy, and feel better when cash is freed up in their own pocketbooks,” Menaldino said. Oil and food prices are major factors in personal expenses, he noted, and in the year just ended both were comparatively lower than those in 2009 and 2010. In that light, he added, “the global issues sort of fade away.”

Media reports on financial turmoil in Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain certainly attracted public attention, Hess acknowledged. He said he was nonetheless “excited by prospects outside the U.S.,” where several governments with “very stable” economies were promoting investment opportunities with lower risk.

Other predictions from the pair:

• The pump price of gasoline is likely to hover between $3 and $3.50 for much of 2012;
• National economic growth will be somewhere between 2 and 2.5 percent for the year;
• Marcellus shale oil drilling will again have a significantly positive financial effect on Pennsylvania this year, and for several more years as well; and
• Job creation will be slight, and unemployment will remain high nationally, because the U.S. is still reeling in the “long hangover period” that follows a recession.

Watch a video (above) of comments made during the breakfast, or see it at The Post’s YouTube channel.

A sign Saturday outside the college's Pottstown campus announces availability of casino training

POTTSTOWN PA – A free information and registration session on learning to become a casino dealer, which potentially could lead to a job at the Valley Forge Casino Resort scheduled to open next spring in King of Prussia PA, will be held Thursday (Jan. 5, 212) from 7-9 p.m. in the South Hall community room at the West campus of Montgomery County Community College, College Drive, Pottstown PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The college has partnered with the resort, located at the Valley Forge Convention Center complex on the east side of U.S. Route 422 at First Avenue, to train its dealer candidates. Attendance at the informational session is required to be considered for employment, the college said Thursday (Dec. 29, 2011) on its website.

A similar session is being held in the grand ballroom of the convention center’s Valley Forge Radisson Hotel, 1160 First Ave., King of Prussia. Advance registration is required for either information session; call 215-641-6550 or use an online form here.

Those accepted into the program will “learn everything (they) need to know to become a dealer and begin a potentially lucrative career in the exciting casino industry,” the college promotional material claimed. Its classes are scheduled to begin Jan. 12.

The college said it created a “state-of-the-art mock casino training center, equipped with 14 tables,” where students can “acquire the gaming skills leading toward obtaining a dealer license.” Its courses include Introduction to Table Games, Blackjack and Carnival Games, Craps, Roulette, Mini Baccarat, and emergency cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

Candidates for the courses and employment must be 18 years or older. Obtaining a course Certificate of Completion does not guarantee employment with the casino, the college warned.

BIRDSBORO PA – A family-owned regional tire and automotive business, which marked its 40th anniversary this year, started from a simple idea that came to its founder as he worked a full-time job in the former Firestone tire plant on Armand Hammer Boulevard in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township.

CJ's Tire And Automotive founder Paul "Skip" Levengood Sr., right, and son Paul Jr.

Today, Birdsboro-based CJ’s Tire & Automotive Services operates 12 retail stores throughout southeastern Pennsylvania; a separate automotive parts franchise, called “Mighty Auto Parts,” serving four counties; and an e-commerce division. Ironically, it also includes a wholesale division that occupies 80,000 square feet of space in a township industrial park that was once home to Firestone itself.

But Paul “Skip” Levengood Sr. says he didn’t envision that kind of growth in spring 1971, when the company began as “C&J Tire.” He had something far more basic in mind: earning a living by treating customers better than he felt he was being treated.

Too many area tire dealerships back then had bad reputations, Levengood said Wednesday (Dec. 28, 2011). He considered himself a victim of some of them. He’d been working as a tire builder in the Firestone plant since the early 1960s, and like everyone else occasionally replaced a tread or two on the family vehicle. Lousy customer service from vendors was a common complaint.

“I knew I could give better service than what I was receiving at these places. I didn’t want to gouge customers and I was tired of being treated poorly,” Levengood said. “So I decided to open my own store.”

He had help, of course. Levengood, his wife Judy, and a partner and his wife, Carol, combined efforts to launch their store – with its name, C&J, taken from the women’s first initials – inside a converted boat shop in Birdsboro.

The early going was rough, even “tumultuous,” Levengood recalled. The four struggled to keep the business afloat. Levengood would work at the tire plant, while his partner operated their retail store. When his shift was over, Levengood headed to the shop and finished the day’s business, often working well into the evening.

In time, although the store was still small, it was “doing a decent business.” However, differences arose in the partnership, Levengood claimed, that took their toll on the operation and its customers. It “couldn’t survive with a split personality,” he figured, and made an offer to buy out his partner.

It was a barely affordable proposition, according to Levengood, that “took every dollar” the couple had. So in addition to the Firestone job and running the shop, he picked up additional hours as a bouncer at a local night club. He and Judy spent nights and weekends managing the tire inventory, paying the bills, and balancing their books.

More adversity struck shortly after the buyout was completed. Burglars ransacked the fledgling business in the middle of the night, Levengood said, stripping the store of most of its assets and just about every tire in inventory. That forced him to work “creatively” with suppliers, he joked.

The business survived, even thrived, and by 1973 Levengood reports he left his job at Firestone and immersed himself full-time into C&J Tire. Slightly more than a year later, the store celebrated its first year “in the black.”

In 1991, C&J Tire evolved into CJ’s Tire & Automotive, and Levengood opened a second location in West Lawn PA, outside Reading. That was followed with locations in New Holland (1993), and Lititz (1994). The wholesale division was also taking root as a regional tire distributor. More family members got involved, too.

“Tires are a commodity, so it’s up to us to show our customers how and why we’re different,” explains son Paul Levengood Jr. “Our formula is really pretty simple. We emphasize that it’s not about who is right, it’s about what is right. Taking care of the customer, hiring people with very high morals, and treating both customers and employees like they are family is what we are all about.”

From just four employees in 1971, CJ’s now employs more than 200 full and part-time sales people, tire and auto technicians, managers and administrative staffers.

As it looks ahead to 2012, the Levengoods said their company plans to open another two retail stores by June; locally, it already operates stores in Limerick, North Coventry, Kimberton and, naturally, Birdsboro. It’s also re-styling several showrooms to make them more functional and comfortable, revising its websites, and taking a new approach to marketing.

All of it, the elder Levengood noted, is to ensure that people who patronize his business feel like they got value for their money … the same feeling he craved four decades ago.

The K-Mart store on East High Street in Sanatoga

SANATOGA PA – The fate of the K-Mart department store that occupies the largest building in the Sanatoga Village shopping center on East High Street isn’t yet known, following an announcement Tuesday (Dec. 27, 2011) by its owner, Sears Holdings Corp., of plans to close up to 120 under-performing Sears and K-Mart locations.

But the local K-Mart has weathered similar storms before – it survived Sears’ last round of closings earlier this year, and others in previous years – and surely its fans hope it will do so again.

“Terrible holiday sales, during what is the most crucial time of the year for retailers,” prompted Sears’ decision, according to an Associated Press story.

It noted that “Sears has yet to determine which stores will be closed, but there has been a clear shift in where the retailer will devote its resources.” It expects to “concentrate on cash-generating stores” rather than prop up marginally performing ones. Sears would not discuss how many, if any, jobs would be cut.

A list of the stores to be closed is expected to be made available separately.

The company, which operates Kmart stores, Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Land’s End, has seen rival department stores like Macy’s Inc. and discounters like Target Corp. steal customers away, according to The AP. The economy, it added, put a sustained financial squeeze on Sears’ most loyal customers, those in the middle-income bracket.

Sears regularly extended its namesake’s branded products into the K-Mart retail mix. At the Sanatoga store during this year’s Christmas holiday sales, for example, Kenmore-brand appliances were on display in the electronics department, and Craftsman-branded tools were being offered in the hardware department.

Sears, based in Hoffman Estates IL, said the closings would generate $140 to $170 million in cash from inventory sales. The retailer anticipates additional proceeds from the sale or sublease of real estate holdings.

Other coverage:

• Sources say Coventry Mall Sears among those to be closed (The Mercury)
• Sears plans to close up to 120 stores (WFMZ-TV)

The municipal building

SANATOGA PA – The Civil Service Commission is an agency that’s usually little heard from in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, not because it’s unimportant but because much of its work attracts little resident attention. The commission deals primarily with personnel matters relating to public employees; the testing of police officers for promotion, for example.

At least once a year, though, the commission and other boards and agencies are forced into the spotlight by the process of reorganization, in which they must officially meet to choose leaders, seat new members, acknowledge meeting dates, and conduct other start-of-the-year business. Otherwise, commissioners meet only on an as-needed basis.

For commission members, that meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday (Jan. 3, 2012) at 5:15 p.m. in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA … and it’s open to the public. An advertisement announcing the date was published Dec. 21 (2011) in The Pottstown Mercury newspaper, the township’s publication of record for legal notices.

MCCC plans a fall career expo at its Pottstown campus

POTTSTOWN PA — The annual fall career expo at Montgomery County Community College’s West Campus is scheduled for Oct. 26 (2011; Wednesday) from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the college’s South Hall Community Room, 101 College Dr., Pottstown PA. More than 50 area employers are expected to recruit for part-time, full-time, temporary and seasonal employment, as well as for internships.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The fair is free of charge and is open to the community.

Businesses and organizations interested in participating should contact Cindy Murphy in the college Office of Career Services; call 610-718-1802, or send her an e-mail, here.

Photo from Clipart.com

In its first incarnation, Hilltop Drive-In was a Carvel Ice Cream franchise

By Beth Scherer
of the Lower Pottsgrove Historical Society,
for The Sanatoga Post

SANATOGA PA – “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!” And if you were in Sanatoga PA from the 1950s on, the place you’d scream loudest was the Hilltop Drive-In.

Hilltop opened during the summer of 1952, at what is now 2910 E. High St., as a Carvel Ice Cream franchise. It’s the same year Harry Truman was president, when Ernest Hemingway published “The Old Man and The Sea,” and when the movie “A Streetcar Named Desire” won a slew of Academy Awards. The Bucci family of Birdsboro was one of its original owners.

Several years later, in 1958, the franchise was dropped, the Carvel Ice Cream name changed over to Hilltop Drive-In, and more than just ice cream was served. Once the new name was in place, the ice cream cone atop the building was taken down. In the early 1960s the Tobias family partnered with the Buccis, and the cone was re-built. It still stands on the roof today, allegedly due to some winnings at the horse races.

The Albitz family, long-time Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township residents, took ownership of the restaurant on April 1, 1984. Ron and his wife Wendy continue to dish out burgers, fried chicken, and soft-serve ice cream there today, and they have annually provided employment for a countless number of local high school teens.

The restaurant’s unique appearance, and its close proximity to the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422, makes it a popular stop for motorists on a pleasure cruise.

Hilltop’s food rated a five-star review earlier this year on Yelp, the online social networking platform for dining and entertainment. “I LOVE this place! My family and I have been going there for years,” a Phoenixville reviewer wrote.

Eighty-four percent of voters on Urbanspoon Philadelphia, a regional restaurant online rating guide, gave Hilltop a thumbs-up. Two independent bloggers, Burgatory and Retro Roadmap, also have given it raves.

Although last Friday (Sept. 23, 2011) officially marked the first day of autumn, and the area has said goodbye to summer, some contend ice cream tastes oh-so-good any time of year. No surprise, then, that pumpkin ice cream is now on Hilltop’s soft-serve menu, as well as its constant favorites: vanilla, chocolate, and vanilla-and-chocolate swirl.

Just remember, it’s closed on Tuesdays.

Its appearance in recent years has been highlighted with neon

Hanging at Hilltop on a Sunday afternoon (Oct. 2, 2011)

Editor’s note: The Lower Pottsgrove Historical Society was formed in 1985 to share the heritage of Lower Pottsgrove Township with its residents. It meets on the second Wednesday of every month at its museum and offices in the former Sanatoga Chapel, 2341 E. High St., Sanatoga PA. Author and society President Beth Scherer writes about Lower Pottsgrove history monthly for The Post.

Articles in this series:

• Hilltop’s Still Making History, 59 Years After Opening
• Historic Answer To Heat: Township Swimmin’ Holes
• Need A Local Hotel? There Once Were Four, Right Here
• What’s Changed Most In ‘Grove Grads? Their Schools
• Shantz’s Mound Presence Made Sanatoga ‘Pheverous’
• Stars Danced In Lower Pottsgrove Long Before TV Show
• Never Heard Of Sanatoga’s Longview Hotel? Here’s Why

Photos from Hilltop Drive-In; Twitpic

POTTSTOWN PA – One hundred thirty-three supplemental positions and corresponding payments for sports coaches, their assistants, and other duty service providers in the Pottsgrove School District were approved during the past two meetings (last Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011; and Aug. 23) of the district Board of School Directors.

An asterisk by an individual’s name designates those who are not district employees, the administration reported. For employees, amounts to be paid are in addition to their regular district salaries or wages. Individuals named more than once receive multiple payments for various assignments.

Commonly used abbreviations in the lists are HS, designating high school; MS, middle school; LP, Lower Pottsgrove; RR, Ringing Rocks; WP, West Pottsgrove;  F, female; M, male; and K, kindergarten.

The lists – which describes the position being filled, the individual named to the position, and the compensation to be paid – include:

Approved Sept. 13:
Academic Challenge Team Coach HS, Madeleine Tierney, $1,928;
Athletic Director Asst HS, Rick Pennypacker, $7,056;
Audio Visual Advisor HS, Jim Regensburg, $2,766;
Band Concert HS, Victor Holladay, $1,008;
Band Marching HS, Victor Holladay, $5,040;
Band Percussion HS, Eric Williamson*, $1,752;
Band Stage HS, Victor Holladay, $1,512;
Children’s Play HS, Todd Kelly, $1,512;
Choraliers, Cynthia Foust, $1,512;
Chorus HS, Cynthia Foust, $756;
Color Day Chairperson HS, John Shantz, $166.32;
Color Day Chairperson HS, Gary DeRenzo, $159.06;
Color Day Chairperson HS, Cindy Wozniak, $166.32;
Costume Coordinator (split), Cindy Wozniak, $504;
Costume Coordinator (split), Liz Rodenbaugh, $504;
Dance Team, Denichole Holden*, $2,190;
DECA, Megan DeLena, $1,008;
Detention Monitor HS, Heather Renn, $3,528;
Detention Monitor Saturday HS/MS, Rich Burke, $3,528;
Drama Production HS, Kim Sheeler, $1,928;
Faculty Manager HS, Jim Regensburg, $7,712;
Faculty Manager MS, Paul Exley, $5,838;
Falcon Advisor HS, Jason Gault, $2,892;
Falcon Business Manager HS, Jason Gault, $922;
Freshman Class Advisor HS, Mark Shuster, $1,008;
Graduation Project, Beth Mays Coleman, $4,032;
Homecoming Day Chairman HS, Cynthia Foust, $230.50;
Intra Basketball Fall HS F, Mike Brendlinger, $1,260;
Intra Basketball Fall HS M, Scott Palladino, $1,260;
Intra. Golf HS, Rich Burke, $1,260;
Intra Hockey HS All, Christine Campbell, $1,042.50;
Intra Tennis Spring HS, All John Shantz, $1,260;
Intra Weight Trng HS, Rick Pennypacker, $630;
Junior Class Advisor HS, Wil James, $1,668;
Junior Statesman, Eileen Forsyth, $964;
Key Club Advisor, Jaime Reinhart, $2,016;
Maximi Advisor HS, Della Caldwell, $1,008;
Maximi Technical Advisor HS, Jim Regensburg, $1,008;
Model UN, Andrew Clark, $1,008;
National Honor Society HS, Lindsey Stock, $1,042.50;
Orchestra HS, Victor Holladay, $657;
Pottsgrovian Advisor HS, Dani Small, $5,040;
Pottsgrovian Business Manager, Dani Small, $964;
Senior Class Advisor HS, Ralph Werley, $3,024;
Senior Class Play HS, Todd Kelly, $2,520;
Set Construction, Todd Kelly, $2,016;
Show Choir HS, Cynthia Foust, $2,016;
Sophomore Class Advisor HS, Heather Renn, $1,008;
Stage Equipment & Scenery HS, Rick Moore*, $2,502;
Student Government Advisor HS, Tom Stock, $2,085;
Video News Advisor, Jim Regensburg, $756;
Webmaster, Jim Regensburg, $1,008;
Chorus RR, Cynthia Foust, $252;
Elementary Band RR (split), Kristen Hyde, $126;
Elementary Band RR (split), Darrell  Weyman, $126;
Chorus WP, Cynthia Foust, $252;
Dept Coord English HS, Todd Kelly, $2,500;
Dept Coord Math HS, Ralph Werley, $2,500;
Dept Coord Spec Ed HS, Christine Campbell, $1,770;
Dept Coord Science HS, Gary Christ, $2,500; and
Dept Coord Social Studies HS, Tom Bannister, $2,500.

Approved Aug. 23:
Chorus LP, Cynthia Foust, $252;
Elementary Band LP, Darrell Weyman, $504;
Intramurals LP (split), Julie Farris, $521.25;
Intramurals LP (split), Jen Cover, $602.50;
Orchestra Elementary LP, Kristen Hyde, $208.50;
Safety Patrol Sponsor LP, Melissa Vishio, $504;
Web Page Editor LP, Shari Costanzo, $1,008;
Safety Patrol Sponsor RR, Rebecca Diehl, $504;
Elementary Band RR, Kristen Hyde, $504;
Orchestra RR, Kristen Hyde, $208.50;
Web Page Editor RR, Kristen Hyde, $834;
Club Coordinator RR – Fall, Gretchen Radswillas, $1,008;
Club Coordinator RR – Spring, Gretchen Radswillas, $1,008;
Chorus WP, Heather Hodgdon, $252;
Elementary Band WP, Darrell Weyman, $504;
Intramurals WP, Christine Moyer, $1,260;
Orchestra Elementary WP, Kristen Hyde, $208.50;
Safety Patrol WP, Kay Vogt, $417;
Web Page Editor WP, Kristin Rambo, $1,008;
Club Coordinator WP – Fall, Kay Vogt, $834;
Club Coordinator WP – Spring, Kay Vogt, $834;
Dist Department Coordinator Art, Cindy Scherer, $2,500;
Dist Department Coordinator Music, Kathy Williams, $2,500;
Dist Department Coordinator Physical Ed, Melissa Vishio, $2,500;
Dist Department Coordinator Reading, Linda Rendina, $2,500;
Dist Department Coordinator Library, Shelby Kqira, $2,500;
Dist. Curriculum Coordinator Guidance, Don Petrella, $2,500;
Dist Department Coordinator Foreign Language, Tony Montes, $2,500;
Lead Teacher of Technology – District, Kathy Keefe, $1,165;
Lead Teacher of Technology HS, Christine McLaughlin, $1,165;
Dept Coord Language Arts MS, Kathleen Woods, $1,162;
Dept Coord Math MS, Rosemary Bilinski, $1,162;
Dept Coord Science MS, Jeff Devlin, $1,162;
Dept Coord Social Studies MS, Barbara Fagan, $1,162;
Dept Coord Special Ed MS, Rich Burke, $1,009;
Lead Teacher of Technology MS, Christine Henry, $1,165;
Team Coor 6-1 MS, Rosemary Bilinski, $2,114;
Team Coord 6-II MS, Susan  Rutter, $2,114;
Team Coor 6-3 MS, Terry Rhinebold, $2,114;
Team Coord 7-I MS, Michelle Maack, $2,114;
Team Coord 7-II MS, Cheryl D’Aiello, $2,114;
Team Coord 8-I MS, Tom Bailey, $2,114;
Team Coord 8-II MS, Susan Smith, $2,114;
Team Coord 8-III MS, Jodi Sproule, $2,114;
Team Coordinator – Encore MS, Marilyn Eaton, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator LP K, Crystal Lloyd, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator LP 1, Lauren Delp, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator LP 2, Allison Foraker, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator LP-3, Shari Costanzo, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator LP 4, Veronica Lightcap, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator LP 5, Amy  Miller, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator LP Encore, Melissa Vishio, $2,114;
Lead Teacher of Technology LP EL, Tom Yenchick, $1,165;
Elem Team Coordinator Spec Ed LP, Jaime Cross, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator RR K, Maria Benedict, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator RR 1, Mary Bradley, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator RR 2, Nancy Albright, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator RR 3, Jen Leinhauser, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator RR 4, Samantha Kuzniar, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator RR 5, Janet Schreiber, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator RR Encore, Rebecca Diehl, $2,114;
Lead Teacher of Technology RR EL, Sarah King, $1,165;
Elem Team Coordinator Spec Ed RR, Telat Skeath, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator WP K, Lynn Reichenbach, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator WP 1, Terri Minotto, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator WP 2, Sharon Yacovelli, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator WP 3, Pat Novak, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator WP 4, Kristin Rambo ,$2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator WP 5, Brenda Novak, $2,114;
Elem Grade Coordinator WP Encore, Marianne Harrison, $2,114;
Lead Teacher of Technology WP EL, Brenda Novak, $1,165;
Elem Team Coordinator Spec Ed WP, Susan Michener, $2,114; and
Elementary Clubs (36 district-wide), $16,596.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ meeting of Sept. 13):

• Pottsgrove OKs Pay For 133 More Coaches, Advisers
• Pottsgrove Personnel Decisions Affect 15 Positions
• Pottsgrove Sets Dates For Redistrict Committee Work
• Teachers Challenge Pottsgrove Board: ‘Return To Talks’

POTTSTOWN PA – Personnel actions recommended by the Pottsgrove School District administration were accepted Tuesday (Sept. 13, 2011) by the district Board of School Directors.

Approved as professionals’ resignations:

• Katja Wahrhaftig, teacher, High School and Middle School;
• Melissa Rosen, substitute teacher; and
• David Moyer, alternative education teacher.

Approved as professionals’ appointments:

• Brad Burpee, principal Alternative Education program, $31 per hour; and
• Tom Stock, lead teacher Alternative Education program, $31 per hour.

Approved as professionals’ substitutes:

• David Moyer, substitute alternative education teacher, $31 per hour.

Approved as support staff retirement:

• Ray Wagner, district maintenance technician, effective Jan. 20, 2012.

Approved as support staff assignment or classification change:

• Bonnie Mosteller, custodian at West Pottsgrove, from second shift 8 hours, to custodian at Ringing Rocks, first shift 8 hours.

Approved as support staff appointments:

• Kelly Towson, intervention tutor at Lower Pottsgrove, $20 per hour.

Approved for student teacher placement:

• Joshua Minner of Drexel University, supervised by Janet Schreiber of Ringing Rocks Grade 5, from Sept. 12- Dec. 9, 2011.

Approved as resignations from supplemental positions:

• Gary Reichenbach, faculty manager, Middle School; and
• Heather Hodgdon, chorus, West Pottsgrove.

Approved for attendance at conferences:

• Marilyn Eaton, Pottsgrove Middle School health and physical education teacher, to attend PA State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.  The cost is $408. Substitute coverage is not required.
• Kellie Natale, Ringing Rocks Elementary speech therapist, to attend ESAP training.  The cost is $101. Substitute coverage is not required.
• David Nester, business administrator, to attend Business Administrator’s Retreat.  The cost is $400. Substitute coverage is not required.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ meeting of Sept. 13):

• Pottsgrove Personnel Decisions Affect 15 Positions
• Pottsgrove Sets Dates For Redistrict Committee Work
• Teachers Challenge Pottsgrove Board: ‘Return To Talks’

Photo from Clipart.com

If approved, Pope John Paul II High in Royersford would reopen Tuesday

ROYERSFORD PA – Students at Pope John Paul II (PJP) High School in Royersford PA, the successor facility to the now-closed St. Pius X High School in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, may go back to school Tuesday (Sept. 20, 2011) if its teachers ratify a tentative labor contract agreement with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, both parties announced Sunday (Sept. 18) at 6 p.m.

Pope John Paul II High as it appeared last Tuesday evening, before closing due to a labor strike

In an e-mail sent to regional media outlets, the archdiocese and Local 1776 of the Association of Catholic School Teachers jointly said they had reached consensus “for a new contract for high school lay teachers in the 17 Archdiocesan high schools” in the greater Philadelphia area, including PJP. Teachers are scheduled to vote today (Monday, Sept. 19) at 10 a.m. at Penns Landing Caterers in Philadelphia on whether to accept the deal.

Terms have not been disclosed. “Both parties have agreed not to comment” until after ratification during the general membership meeting, their statement said.

If teachers accept the tentative agreement, they “would return to their schools for orientation … and classes would resume on Tuesday,” it added. No matter what the outcome, all schools will be closed Monday.

PJP, on Rittenhouse Road, and its companion high schools were shuttered last Wednesday (Sept. 14) by the archdiocese in the wake of a strike by its more than 700 high school lay teachers. The schools officially opened on time, but could not continue operation with only limited non-union staff available, the archdiocese determined.

In Royersford, the school’s facilities were open for activities like athletic raining and choir rehearsals, its president, the Rev. Alan Okon Jr. said, even though classes had been discontinued.

Related:

• Labor Contract Vote Today For Catholic HS Teachers
• Strike At PJP Cancels Classes; Some Activities Still A ‘Go’