1% Tax Hike in Pottsgrove, New MS Principal

Photo by Evan Brandt

Pottsgrove High School Principal Bill Ziegler, himself a former Pottstown teacher and former Pottsgrove Middle School Principal, welcomes Matthew Boyer, currently at principal at Pottstown Middle School, who was named the new principal at Pottsgrove Middle School Tuesday night.

Tuesday night, a former Pottsgrove Middle School Principal, who once worked in Pottstown Schools, welcomed the new Pottsgrove Middle School Principal, who currently works in Pottstown Schools.

The naming of Matthew Boyer as the new middle school principal was one of several important votes taken by the Pottsgrove School Board last night.

They also adopted a preliminary budget, but more on that in a minute.

Boyer, who will be paid $122,500 in his first year, is the current principal of grades 5/6 at Pottstown Middle School, a post he has held since 2011.

Prior to his administrative position, he taught at Pottstown Middle School for 16 years. He received his Bachelors of Science in Education from West Chester University. He continued his education earning his Masters in Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology from Temple and completed his Principal Certification from Alvernia.

According to information in the meeting agenda, Boyer brings several valuable experiences to the district including his strength in aligning curriculum to meet Pennsylvania Common Core Standards; he lead the implementation of STEAM initiatives with in-core curriculum; and he lead and implemented a school-wide behavior modification system at Pottstown Middle School.

Board member rick Rabinowitz thanked the administration for letting board members sit in on the first round of interviews and called Boyer "a superb choice."

Now, to the $66,379,955 budget, which, as first proposed, would have raised taxes by 1.1 percent, or about $50 for the home assessed at $120,000, the district average.

But, as the result of an amendment offered by Rabinowitz, who has sought a zero percent tax hike every year he has sat on the board, the tax hike was lowered to .8 percent.

The amendment involved the recent $700,000 math and English curriculum purchase and how to pay for it and in which year.

Rabinowitz's proposal prevailed by a 6-2 vote.

Business Manager David Nester emphasized that the budget is still not "set in stone," and that is was necessary to adopt something in order to meet the law's requirement that a budget be available for public view for 30 days.

Thus it was necessary to adopt it last night to have it ready by June 30, the last day the board can legally adopt a budget.

In the time until then, Nester and Superintendent William Shirk said the administration will continue to work on the budget in pursuit of that ever-elusive zero tax hike.

Here are the Tweets from the meeting: