Tag Archive | "Pottsgrove School District"

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Lower Pottsgrove Parents Get ‘Involved’ Tonight

POTTSTOWN PA – How does a school attract parents – who are busy with work, children, household chores, and the minutiae of daily life – to become more involved in its activities? A group at Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School, Buchert Road, Pottstown PA, hopes to answer that question.

The school’s Parent Involvement Committee will meet tonight (Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012) from 6-7 p.m. in its cafeteria, Principal Ruth Fisher said. On its agenda is an attempt to create what she called a “parent/teacher-friendly” survey that seeks information on family participation in education.

Of course, the meeting is open to Lower Pottsgrove parents.

Photo from Google Images

Posted in Education, Pottsgrove SchoolsComments (1)

Final Bill Paid For MS Wall Work; Total Cost: $402,318

Final Bill Paid For MS Wall Work; Total Cost: $402,318

POTTSTOWN PA – What were considered both extensive and expensive repairs to the hillside retaining wall and some support columns at the entrances of Pottsgrove Middle School on North Hanover Street are now not only completed but paid in full, following an approval granted last week (Feb. 14, 2012) by the Pottsgrove School District Board of School Directors.

Board members unanimously voted to pay the remaining $40,231 owed under an invoice from general contractor E.R. Stuebner Inc. The company’s work to rebuild the wall and support pilasters at the school, which is only 13 years old, was made necessary by water seepage behind its masonry that caused the blocks and mortar to crumble.

The total repair cost: $402,318.

Board members and district administrators acknowledge the wall and columns were poorly built, but claimed they could not pursue legal action against the original contractor. The original estimate of the project was for $381,000, but additional work required $21,318 in change orders.

Board Vice President Scott Fulmer was absent and did not vote.

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Bright Yellow Signs Flag Pottsgrove Centers’ Opposition

One of the signs in West Pottsgrove

POTTSTOWN PA – In hopes of bringing more public pressure to bear on the Board of School Directors, as its mulls choices for redistricting in the Pottsgrove School District, lawn signs began popping up last week to reinforce opposition to a proposal that would create grade-level education centers in its elementary schools.

The signs appear on front lawns and at curbside of properties along Kauffman Road, North Pleasant View Road, East High Street, and North Charlotte Street in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township; and in West and Upper Pottsgrove along Maugers Mill Road, Farmington Avenue, and Glasgow Street, Rick Rabinowitz of the “Pottsgrove Residents Against Centers” group indicated Monday (Feb. 20, 2012) in a Facebook post.

The group is fighting a plan, introduced by Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis, to balance student population across Pottsgrove’s elementary classrooms by creating two kindergarten-through-second grade centers, and a third-through-fifth grade center. They would replace the current K-5 attendance at West Pottsgrove, Ringing Rocks, and Lower Pottsgrove elementaries.

The only other alternative discussed by the board is to re-draw attendance boundaries that wold shift students from one school to another.

Directors have said they will consider voting on the matter during their Feb. 28 meeting. The board last week (Feb. 14) confirmed the meeting would be moved from the administration building on Kauffman Road to the auditorium at Pottsgrove High School. It starts at 7:30 p.m., and is open to the public; a large audience is expected.

The group also is circulating petitions to gather signatures that it intends to demonstrate the centers’ plan is opposed by families without children in the district and those whose children have already completed their education, and not by parents of current students alone.

Related (to Pottsgrove School District redistricting):

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Feb. 14 meeting):

 

Photo by Tracy Swanson Romig via Facebook

Posted in Education, Lower Pottsgrove, Pottsgrove SchoolsComments (16)

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Casual, Smiling Pottsgrove Directors Pose For Yearbook

WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE WHEN THEY’RE WORKING – It happens about this time every year: members of the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors are asked, just before a meeting, to assemble so a high school photographer can take their group picture for the annual yearbook. No one ever likes their fashion choices that day – they would have worn something different had they know this was coming, most board members say – but they all smile wonderfully nonetheless. The Post was positioned behind and to the left of the school photographer when this shot was taken last Tuesday (Feb. 14, 2012). Directors, from left, are Justin Valentine, Nancy Landes, David Faulkner, Philip Keogh, Jodi Adams, Theodore Coffelt, Michael Neiffer and Patricia Grimm; Scott Fulmer was absent.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Feb. 14 meeting):

Posted in Education, People, Pottsgrove SchoolsComments (2)

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Answer To Prayer: Academy Helps Rolling Hills Students

SANATOGA PA – An idea inspired by a prayer breakfast discussion of educational difficulties among families living in the Rolling Hills apartment complex on Buchert Road has blossomed into a tutoring-and-sports program at Coventry Christian Schools that recently won a $20,000 grant to boost its growth.

Coventry Christian's Lower Potsgrove campus

Coventry Christian, whose campus occupies the former Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School on North Pleasant View Road, received the grant from the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation for its Project Purpose program.

It offers private tutoring on Sunday and Wednesday nights with Rolling Hills students, most of whom attend the Pottsgrove School District. It also sponsors a basketball team, the Chesmont Hills Warriors, whose players must be enrolled in the tutoring program to ensure they are what Coventry Christian Director of Advancement Mark Fisher describes as true scholar-athletes.

Posted in Education, Health, Lower Pottsgrove, Pottsgrove Schools, Religion, Sanatoga, SportsComments (2)

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Pottsgrove District, Teachers Resume Labor Negotiations

POTTSTOWN PA – Labor contract negotiations have resumed between the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors and the Pottsgrove Education Association, the union representing school district teachers.

Neiffer, at last Tuesday's meeting

A bargaining session was held during January, and others are scheduled for this month and during March, board President Michael Neiffer announced last Tuesday (Feb. 14, 2012) during the final minutes of the directors’ meeting at Pottsgrove Middle School. It is not known if talks were held before January as well.

That employers and employees are meeting again represents a change in light of the teachers’ turn-out at a board meeting last September, at which they complained the district had delayed discussions after union members agreed to a one-year wage freeze valued at $515,000. The wage freeze was a major factor in helping Pottsgrove minimize its tax increase for the 2011-2012 school year.

Dozens of teachers gathered to face directors in September, coincidentally also at the middle school, and voice their dissatisfaction over last summer’s lack of activity in negotiations. Neiffer at the time said the district was unwilling to talk separately about economic and non-economic issues, and anticipated talks would not be re-opened until the start of the new year.

Teachers at the time privately said the union considered bringing unfair labor practice charges against the district.

In his announcement last week, Neiffer offered no characterization of the negotiations or either side’s proposals. “We’re just continuing to meet,” he said.

Related:

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Feb. 14 meeting):

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March On! Pottsgrove OKs Buying Instruments, Uniforms

The assembled 2011 Pottsgrove High School Marching Band

POTTSTOWN PA – March on, Pottsgrove High School band members; march on. The district Board of School Directors said Tuesday (Feb. 14, 2012) it’s willing to put an additional $21,000 worth of pep into your step.

Directors voted to use a portion of about $60,000 raised in the district’s local merchant marketing campaign to pay in advance for marching band uniforms and percussion equipment. That allows the high school music department to place orders for those items before the end of March, ensuring their delivery for the 2012-2013 fall band season. Otherwise, it might not have gotten them until the season was almost over.

Band members, parents, and department heads applauded after the board decision.

Music education in Pottsgrove is happily suffering from a success problem, teachers Kathy Williams and Victor Holladay told the Board of School Directors last October (2011). Dozens of Pottsgrove Middle School students headed for the high school next year have already indicated they intend to join the band. Dozens more are ready to follow them from the elementary school music program in later years.

“The numbers are drastically improving,” Holladay said with a smile. “The band will more than double its size next year.”

Its fast growth, and its invitations to play later this spring in locations like Washington DC, have caused an immediate demand for percussion instruments valued at about $12,400 and 25 new band uniforms that will cost about $9,050, he explained Tuesday.

The department has already added those items to its 2012-2013 budget request. Problem is, Business Administrator David Nester noted, Holladay can’t spend what the board hasn’t yet approved … and potential acceptance of any budget remains months away. If the order is delayed, band members wouldn’t have their needs met until November or December.

Board President Michael Neiffer, who is a band volunteer and whose children are band members, notably abstained from voting. He announced his conflict of interest at the start of the discussion, but nonetheless advocated board approval of the advance purchase. “We don’t want to nickle-and-dime this,” he said specifically of the uniforms.

The money will be taken from revenue raised under the district’s partnership with the MarketStreet Sports Group of Lancaster PA. MarketStreet make a business of attracting local, regional and national companies to school districts primarily for advertising and promotional purposes. In Pottsgrove, it has signed the TriCounty Area Federal Credit Union, Mishock Physical Therapy and Associates, and Hallman Retirement Neighborhoods as clients.

The $60,000 fund was initially planned to be used for improvements and renovations to the high school girls’ softball field, Nester said. Enough money may be left to do that work too, he said.

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Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Feb. 14 meeting):

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Pottsgrove High Names Second Quarter Honor Students

Pottsgrove High Names Second Quarter Honor Students

POTTSTOWN PA – Students at Pottsgrove High School, 1345 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA, were named Wednesday (Feb. 15, 2012) as having achieved “distinguished honors” on its honor roll for the 2011-2012 school year’s first quarter, and dozens more were named with “honors.”

On the honor roll were:

Grade 12 Distinguished Honors

Samantha Brockway, Matthew Cimino, Amy Defnet, Joseph Di Paolo, Erica Edwards, Kassandra Forster, Ashleigh Kleinschmidt, Benjamin Macluckie, Alysa Adams Murray, Courtney Nealy, Alexandra Schurr, Jessica Stewart, Emily Stump, Michael Vennettilli, Lara Weisbach, Allison Weller.

Grade 12 Honors

Jordan Adkins, Steven Ambs, Ahmed Amer, Lauren Antenucci, Emily Bowen, Ian Brennan, Amy Cherico, Donna Chu, Ceara Coseo, Matthew Dao, Gwendolynne Davis, Emily Delena, Shelby Edelson, Lauren Edmunds, Tyler Gross, Trevor Hallman, Maura Hannum, Tillman Harris, Samantha Hunkel, Ryan Ivins, Wasay Khan,  Achilles Kontostathis, Jennifer Korb, Elliott Koss, Matthew Krieger, Stacie Kuneck, Austin Lastoskie, Megan Lazowicki, Meghan Luna, Caitlin Macfarland, Gabrielle Mack, Storm McLeod, Mallory McMenamin, Rowan Meador, Branden Mercier, Daniel Michaels, Megan Monzo, Allison Neel, Madeline OBrien, Casey Payne, Vincent Pellechio, Kevin Phillips, Edith Pineda, Brian Price, Justin Purdom, Victoria Queen, Brooke Rafalowski, Christopher Rathgeber, Carrie Robinson, Taylor Robinson, Deanna Robles, Jenna Saylor, Nicholas Sotera, Mark Teaford, Anthony Tremble, Cordelia Urquhart, Jared Valentine, Maurice Webster, Jarrod Wentzel, Tylar White, Jessica Williams, Jessica Wrubel, Yinan Xiong, Paige Yerger, Colleen Young, Bao Steven Zheng.

Grade 11 Distinguished Honors

Zachary Birch, Nathan Breidenbach, Nathan Fretz, Nia Gonzalez, Mackenzie Gross, Kiera Howard, Nicholas Hunsberger, Kelsey Lloyd, Adam Maynard, Daniel McNamara, Ashley Monzo, Justin Munro, Tanmay Patel, Kevin Rathgeber, David Brandon Stone, Ian Yanusko.

Grade 11 Honors

Jaclyn Bealer, Amanda Birard, Dominic Bridi, Christie Christ, Nicole Chu, Patrick Collins, Danielle Czekaj, Jessica Diaz, Jessica Evans, Nicole Finn, Jessica Fiore, Chloe Grebe, Ashley Haraczka, Daniel Harp, Brittany John, Julia Kemper, Benjamin Kunrath, Marc Ludwig, Troy Lutcavage, Michael Makoid, Alexander McCarthy, Rachelle Mewshaw, Qwhadir Miller, Tiara Mitchell, Tyler Mitchell, Robert Mohollen,  Aaron Roberts, Shawn Robles, Alexandra Rodriguez, Andrew Rodriguez, Caitlin Smith, Jamira Stephenson, Abbey Sullivan, Anthony Tartaglia, Allysha Towson, Ian Valway, Bridgette Vuotto, Kaitlyn Wagner, Ceirra Walton, Jasmyn West, Cameron Williams.

Grade 10 Distinguished Honors

Jeffrey Adams, Arizona Brennan, Angelica Glaeser, Christopher Haslam, Jacob Hunsberger, Daniel Kaiser, Jaid Mark, Thomas Sephakis, Gabriella Tammaro, Hayley Tomaselli, Jay Young, Kylie Yuchimiuk.

Grade 10 Honors

Ethan Abdalla, Alexis Adair, Marquis Barefield, David Bieleski, Teodoro Calabretta, Kacy Carroll, Joshua Chamberlain, Audrey Eiland, Kylie Fulmer, Thomas Galamba, John Garges, Ferryn Garner, Noel Geniza, Abigail Girafalco, Charles Gulick, Elizabeth Harley, Ashley Hoffman, Gaia Houseal, Abagail Hudock, Taylor Inhof, Tyler Kline, Dana Landes, Kelsey Lee, Mollie Marko, Megan Montey, Natalya Nodolski, Brittany Opokwu, Sene Polamalu, Kayla Polen, Nicole Raimondi, Hannah Robinson, Ashlyn Sassaman, Kaleigh Tillman, Joshua Toth, Christopher Vecchio, James Walmsley, Grant West, Maxton Wickward.

Grade 9 Distinguished Honors

Joseph Buchler, Aubrey Christman, Samantha Goins, Renee Hunsberger, Chloe Klaus, Kyle Reed, Julia Tartaglia.

Grade 9 Honors

Andrew Bayless, Danielle Buchanan, Matthew Bush, Danielle Cook, Olivia Vanessa Cortez, Brianna Costira, Damian Creasy, Patrick Finn, Chad Flannery, Shayna Flint, Macie Frame, Caitlin Gillette, Evan Hillen, Kelsey Hutchinson, Hailey Jacobs, Katherine Likman, Sarah Lindgren, David Macartney, Cole Meitzler, Eric Mitchell, Autumn Mortimer, Meganne Natale, Sean OBrien, Andrew Phillips, Emily Ryan, Cassandra Shields, Kristi Shultz, Bernard Steyaert, Alexandria Thierry, Jacob Trexler, Hailee Tyson, Courtney Weaver, Allison Wentzel, Brianna West, Keely Zaborsky.

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Pottsgrove Multi-Tasks Through MCIU Budget Approval

POTTSTOWN PA – As they listened to administrative comments during their meeting Tuesday (Feb. 14, 2012), members of the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors were keeping their fingers busy, too.

Earlier in the evening, directors gave the Pottsgrove School District’s official approval to the 2012-2013 budget of the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, the countywide schools’ partnership through which the district purchases some goods and several services. MCIU by-laws require not only a voice vote on its budget, but also that each director complete and sign an individual ballot.

So while other business was being conducted, board members were simultaneously signing. Board President Michael Neiffer tried to be polite about the distraction. He held up a paper ballot for the audience at Pottsgrove Middle School to see, and explained the procedure. Board members were done, and attentive, by the time public comments were offered.

MCIU’s budget consists of four components. For next year, it will spend:

  • $1,030,789 on general administrative services; Pottsgrove pays no share of those costs.
  • Curriculum, instruction and professional development is budgeted at $2,338,776; Pottsgrove’s share, $1,300;
  • Legislative and grant development, $294,115, Pottsgrove’s share, $3,539; and
  • Technology and information sciences, $4,507,180, with Pottsgrove’s share as $24,139.

Pottsgrove shares of these costs do not include the tens of thousands of dollars it pays MCIU annually for services like special education, district Business Administrator David Nester noted.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Feb. 14 meeting):

Photo from Google Images

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State Suspends $3.2M In Ringing Rocks’ Reimbursement

POTTSTOWN PA – “The devil is in the details,” Pottsgrove School District Business Administrator David Nester regularly reminds its Board of School Directors. And as Nester has rummaged through details of last week’s state budget address by Gov. Tom Corbett, he told board members Tuesday (Feb. 14, 2012) he’s discovered a roughly $3.2 million devil.

Business Administrator David Nester works before Tuesday's board meeting at Pottsgrove Middle School

That’s how much money the state Department of Education promised, back in 2010, to partially compensate Pottsgrove for the $16 million debt it incurred in rebuilding and expanding Ringing Rocks Elementary School on Kauffman Road. The so-called PlanCon money hasn’t yet been paid by the state and now, under the Corbett budget unveiled Feb. 7, the potential exists it could stiff the district for that amount.

Nester announced the Education Department last year ran out of money for PlanCon, the lengthy and paperwork-filled process for planning and construction of public schools statewide. Corbett’s budget calls for a one-year moratorium on new PlanCon submissions, Nester said, and casts doubt upon the future of payments approved but not banked.

“I don’t know whether or not we’ll receive any compensation from the state for building Ringing Rocks,” he reported.

If the PlanCon cash falls through, district taxpayers might end up paying the $3.2 million, about 20 percent more of Ringing’s cost than they were told to anticipate. “It’d be a substantial amount to deal with,” Nester warned.

Worse yet, he added, there are indications the moratorium could be lengthened beyond a year, and perhaps indefinitely. Such a move probably would not affect Pottsgrove during the next few years. However, members of the Pottstown school board learned to their dismay – also Tuesday – that the moratorium will force them to re-think plans to close one of Pottstown’s five elementary schools and add classrooms on to others.

The Education Department officially takes the position that it has made no commitment for PlanCon payments until its money is actually delivered, according to Nester. He doesn’t think that argument can stand, and hints other districts with more owed than Pottsgrove probably would challenge such a contention in court, if it persists.

“We just have to wait and see how it shakes out,” he said after the meeting.

Nester also confirmed for the board earlier reports that Pottsgrove otherwise made out “as positively as we could have hoped” in preliminary estimates of state budget funding for the 2012-2013 school year. Under Corbett’s plan to consolidate four different, formula-based revenue streams into a single block grant, Pottsgrove could receive between $70,000 and $100,000 more in education and other subsidies than initially expected, Nester said.

Again, however, he warned all was not what it seemed. In future years, the grant structure abandons automatic funding increases tied to inflation or other rising costs. So if the district pays more for busing of either public or private students because fuel prices spike higher, or if it employs more teachers, it won’t necessarily win the extra state financial support it depended on in the past.

Related (to Ringing Rocks Elementary School renovations):

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Feb. 14 meeting):

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