Pottsgrove Draft Budget Holds School Taxes Steady

The Pottsgrove School Board plans to avoid a tax increase for the coming school year.

The board voted unanimously Thursday night to adopt a proposed final $68.7 million budget for the 2020-2021 school year that keeps taxes at the same millage as the current rate of 38.102 mills.

The state's tax cap would have allowed the board to raise taxes by 3.4 percent this year, but Pottsgrove taxes have been raised significantly less than the Act 1 index in recent years.

According to the budget document posted in last night's agenda, the preliminary budget estimates revenues coming in about the same level as two years ago.

Graphic by Evan Brandt

Pottsgrove might be lucky to get that.

The preliminary budget projects a revenue loss of $1.6 million.

But the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials recently released a report predicting severe revenue shortfalls for school districts across the Commonwealth as a result of the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

PASBO used two methods to come up with estimates and under each one, Pottsgrove could see between $2 million to $2.5 million less than the previous year's revenues.

According to the budget document being sent to Harrisburg, about $44 million of next year's revenues will come from local sources, $37.6 million of which is property taxes.

The state will kick in another $21.1 million and only $1.2 million from federal sources.

The district has a combined total reserve of $12.4 million, according to the budget document sent to Harrisburg.

By law, the board has until June 30 to adopt a final budget, and "there are hard choices yet to be made," said School Board President Robert Lindgren.

Robert Lindgren

"But our goal, the decision we've reached jointly, is no tax increase," Lindgren said. "It's not an easy thing, but we're going to make the decisions its going to take to get there."

Not only will the board have to contend with tough budget decisions for the coming year, but also the possibility that revenues for the current year may drop off due to the pandemic's economic impacts on things like local earned income taxes that may dip due to job losses.

Lindgren said Business Manager David Nester reviewed the budget during a recent facilities and operations committee, "and there were lots of holes punched in the budget, lots of hard news, one thing after another."

Everything that might be positive in the budget, "was 'proposed,' 'maybe,' or 'possibly,' but everything that was on the other side of the equation was very real," Lindgen said.

Things like the regular rotation of school buses, replacing retiring teachers, hiring a new French teacher "are all put on hold for now," he said.

Nester told the board that while the district has little control over tax payments, it does have the ability to provide some flexibility for taxpayers.

Although most pay their property taxes through their mortgage and so, have a 12-month-payment plan, Nester said the district currently allows for property taxes to be paid in three installments on Aug. 15, Sept. 15 and Oct. 15 without penalty.

He said if the board wants, it can add a fourth installment payment and can also waive the 10 percent penalty currently imposed if taxes are not paid by Nov. 1. He suggested, taxpayers could be given up until Dec. 31 to pay their tax bill without penalty.

There might be some minor costs involved if the board votes to follow that advice at the next meeting in two weeks, Nester warned. The bills would need to be re-designed and tax collectors are paid based on "the number of bills issued," so adding another installment could increase those costs by 25 percent.

"I think it's a great idea to help the community," said school board member Patricia Grimm.

Pottsgrove Prepping for Impact of Corona Virus

Although it was not on the agenda, talk inevitably turned at Tuesday night's Pottsgrove School Board meeting to preparations to deal with the impact of the corona virus sweeping the nation.

As discussion turned from Charles Nippert's lengthy treatise on the need for charter school funding reform and his views on cyber charter schools, board member Bill Parker said he had to ask.

What preparations, Parker asked, was the administration making in case Pottsgrove decided to, as other schools have, to close schools for a lengthy period of time, either because of the threat of the virus or to conduct a "deep clean" of the school?

Superintendent William Shirk replied that he had met that day with the teachers union to work out the particulars of how that might work.

For grades 6 and older, there are ways lessons could be provided at home through computers and the teachers could provide those lessons remotely.

For younger students, lessons would have to be provided largely through "packets" that they take home because "the technology stays in the school," Shirk said.

Shirk also mentioned a consideration not much raised in these discussions, the meals the schools provide to students. For low-income students, that breakfast and lunch may be the most nutritious meals of their day and without the schools to come to, they may go hungry.

Parker raised another point, the potential economic impact of the virus keeping people from fully participating in the economy, which could have a ripple effect through people's finances and their livelihoods.

He suggested that the board and administration begin considering a tax freeze, or even a tax cut in the coming budget deliberations in order to provide some relief to taxpayers.

"And then ask the townships to follow suit," Parker said.

School Board President Robert Lindgren thanks the board members for their thoughts, and offered extensive thanks to the staff and administration for the thoughtful way they have approached this potential health crisis.

He said there had been discussion with Shirk for several days about making preparations, "and we thought we would have a week or two, but it came on us a little faster than we anticipated."

Lindgren was likely referring to the announcement made earlier in the day that a health care worker and the mother of a student, and another child who was a part-time worker at Ringing Rocks Elementary School, worked with someone who had tested positive for the virus.

The mother was self-quarantining herself for 14 days, although she has shown no symptoms of the illness. The district also informed parents the mother's potential exposure occurred March 3 and the Ringing Rocks worker had not been in the building since Feb. 27.

"We will continue to be as measured, as rational, as reasoned as we can be in our approach to corona virus," he said.

Click here to read the Tweets from the meeting.

Pottsgrove World Language Curriculum is Thriving

Photo by Evan Brandt

From left, Pottsgrove language teachers Lisa Merritt, Colleen Krum and Natacha Dubuisson with a display put together by their 7th grade World Language students about what they are learning in the exploratory class.

It's been a year since the Pottsgrove School Board decided to return the teaching of French to the school district.

Tuesday night, some of the district's language teachers offered a report on how things are going.

Seventh graders take a class split into trimesters, in which the students sample German, Spanish and French, said Spanish teacher Colleen Krum.

The students are learning how the three European languages are related to each other, and to English, and that is also helping to improve their vocabulary in all four languages, she said.

A student survey among the seventh graders revealed a desire for more languages -- and snacks.

Natacha Dubuisson, who teaches French, said her surveys showed that 80 percent of the seventh graders hope to continue with the language in high school. Further, she said 62 percent of her high school students have also indicated a desire to continue with the language.

High School Principal William Ziegler said the staff will know in just a few days whether that desire shows up in the class selection students there are now completing.

Like the seventh grade class, Dubuisson said her class teaches about cultures of French-speaking nations around the world.

Nevertheless, she said when she asked the students why they want to take French, "50 percent say it because they want to go to Paris," she said with a laugh.

And with that, click here to read the Tweets from last night's meeting.

Pottsgrove Extends Superintendent Shirk's Contract

Photo by Evan Brandt

Pottsgrove junior cross country star Naomi Hellen, left, 

is congratulated by School Board President Robert Lindgren

January being not only the coldest and most forlorn month, but also School Board Appreciation month, (the two may be distantly related), the Pottsgrove School Board got appreciated and did some appreciating of its own Tuesday night.

The district's special education staff gave a presentation about their "Pottsgrove Village" initiative to make the district more inclusive of special education students, who, at 650 students, represent fully 20 percent of the district's student population.

The administrative staff  presented the board with cell phone chargers with the Pottsgrove logo emblazoned upon them. Neat.

Then it was the school board's turn, and it recognized three longtime employees who are retiring, Judi Wrigley, Kathy Causey and Daniel Freese, and expressed their appreciation.

The school board expressed its congratulations and appreciation to the district's athletic community in several ways:

• It congratulated Naomi Hillen, who placed 15th in the PIAA 3A state cross country championship.
• It congratulated the girls soccer team for winning the Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division championship and its best season in school history.
• It congratulated the boys soccer team for another winning season, winning the Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division championship
• It congratulated the boys cross country team for winning the PIAA district One 2A championships.
• And this Saturday, they will recognize past athletes during the first-ever Athletic Hall of Fame ceremonies.

And then it was Superintendent William Shirk's turn to be congratulated when the school board unanimously extended his contract, under its current terms, for another year.

"I feel like my last stop will be my best stop," said Shirk, who will now serve another 18 months as superintendent.

The school board has also begun discussion about rotating out the laptops used at the high school, and replacing them with the iPads used in the lower grades.

Reception to the idea was lukewarm to say the least.

And with that, click here to see the Tweets from the meeting.

Pottsgrove Gives 2% Raises to 19 Administrators

Without discussion or revealing the contents of the package prior to voting, the Pottsgrove School Board approved 2 percent raises for 19 mid-level administrators and building principals Tuesday night.

In fact, it was not even it's own vote, but was bundled together with several other personnel items on a motion by Board Vice President Al Leach.

The agenda, which listed numerous other voting items in detail, including the cost to taxpayers, identified the pay raises only as "approval of ACT 93 Salaries per the ACT 93 Administrative Compensation Plan."

No amounts were listed.

After the meeting, Assistant Superintendent Robert Harney provided the press with a pre-prepared list of the of the administrators, their positions and their new salaries.

He indicated all of them received 2 percent raises.

Business Manager David Nester said, after the meeting, that the cost of the raises to the budget totals is $59,648, a figure he did not have available at the meeting.

However, before calculating the figure at the request of the media, he nevertheless assured us they are within the current budget.

The raises became effective on Dec. 1.

Added together, the salaries of those 19 employees add up to $2,153,738.86.

The largest salary goes to high school principal William Ziegler, whose annual salary will rise to $150,904.84 as a result of the vote. He is followed by Daniel Vorhis, director of education, at $141,459.03.

The lowest salary, $60,077.53, belongs to custodial supervisor Perry Rosado. Rosado, Lower Pottsgrove Elementary Assistant Principal James Dargan ($92,920), High School Dean of Students Todd VanHorn ($91,267) and Athletic Director Steve Anspach ($87,567) are the only four of the 19 on the list earning less than $100,000.

In a discussion on Twitter, Leach took issue with this blogger's observations about a lack of transparency and defended keeping the salary information veiled before the vote.

He said individual salary information is available for anyone who asks for it.

"Personnel is for executive session. And although I TOTALLY disagree a public school employee should have their PERSONAL salary displayed for the public to discuss, it is avail at request," he Tweeted in response to complaints from this blogger about the information not being available for the public to comment to the board before the vote makes it moot.

In items voted on prior to the administrator salaries, the salaries and pay rates of a new teacher, kindergarten assistant, support staff substitute, part-time secretary, duty aide and even supplemental payments for staff taking on other duties were all published in the exact same agenda.

Perhaps Mr. Leach's concern about "PERSONAL salary" being "displayed for the public to discuss" does not extend to those making less than $100,000 a year in the Pottsgrove School District.

Leach also noted that employee's "reviews" are appropriately discussed in closed-door executive session. "I wouldn’t want to discuss individual’s reviews publicly," he Tweeted.

Also voted on prior to the raises for administrators were the 2019-202 goals for Superintendent William Shirk. Those goals were made publicly available ahead of time by being attached to the agenda and were reviewed by Shirk himself before the board vote.

In other matters, the board:

• Unanimously approved the aforementioned $215,000 cost of replacing six burners on boilers in three school buildings;
• Unanimously approved spending another $3,750 for an additional piece of software needed to effectively run the new bus GPS tracking system;
• And unanimously approved four new high school courses: calculus 3, robotics engineering, "music uncharted," and "design thinking and prototype creation."

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

2% Raises for 19 Pottsgrove Administrators

Pottsgrove Will Track School Buses With GPS

It took a couple of meetings, but the Pottsgrove School Board finally got on board Tuesday night with a plan to install global positioning systems on its 56 school buses.

Discussion of the matter began last month, but some board members, specifically Ashley Custer and Jim Lapic, questioned the installation costs.

Subsequently, Business Manager David Nester convinced the company, Eagle Wireless, to shave about $2,000 off the cost, bringing the price down to initial installation price down to $15,323.

Nester told School Board Member Tina McIntyre that the district did no-t have to sacrifice any service in exchange for the reduction. "I think they were really interested in our business," said Nester.

There will also be a monthly charge of $571.20 to access the web-based program that allows Pottsgrove to track the buses.

To be clear, only the district will be able to track the buses. Unlike in Boyertown, where a system was adopted in June that would allow parents, or anyone with the appropriate phone app, to located any bus, parents will not have that option in Pottsgrove.

Parent Stacy Herbert wanted to know why.

Pottsgrove School Board President Robert Lindgren offered several reasons, the first of which is that such a system is more expensive.

The second was that Pottsgrove has a culture of taking things slowly. "In fact, we're only doing this because the state said it does not like us tracking our bus mileage with pen and pencil anymore," said Lindgren.

"Conservative, cautious, stupid, take your pick," he said.

More specifically, Lindgren said, is student safety.

"There are issues of custody rights, who has the ability to track the bus. Anybody can have that app, and we want to limit that ability to people who work for the school district, who have passed background checks and have been vetted," Lindgren said.

He said in the future, if it becomes evident that access to the system can be extended to parents, the district will take another look.

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

3 Top Pottsgrove Administrators Get 2% Raises

Pottsgrove Schools Superintendent William Shirk

The three top administrators in the Pottsgrove School District all received 2 percent raises Tuesday
night.

The new salaries of Superintendent William Shirk, Assistant Superintendent Robert Harney and Business Manager Davids Nester were all approved Tuesday night by the board without any public comment.

As a result, Shirk will earn $188,695 in the 2019-2020 school year, up from $184,074.

Robert Harney, assistant superintendent

Shirk, who had served as the district's assistant superintendent since 2013, was promoted in January of 2017 at a salary of $178,000.

For five months, he had served as acting superintendent in the wake of the departure of his predecessor, Shellie Feola.

Harney, who was hired in November of 2017 at a salary of $150,000, will be paid $156,071 in the coming school year, up from $152,250.

This is the final year of Shirk and Harney's contracts Harney said.

Nester, who has worked for the district for decades, has an "open ended contract," meaning it is automatically renewed each year unless the board takes action.

His salary for the 2019-2020 school year will be $176,191, up from $171,877.

David Nester, business manager

Last year, all three received 1.5 percent raises.

Harney said all three have goals set for them every year by the school board and their raises are based, in part on their performance in achieving those goals.

In February, the school board unanimously adopted a new three-year agreement with lower level administrators as well.

The administrators, 21 building and mid-level supervisors, are known collectively as the Act 93 employees for the Pennsylvania law that governs the manner in which they "meet and discuss" with the school board to negotiate employment conditions.

This group is different from the teachers' union, which is protected and operates under federal and state labor laws and are allowed to strike in Pennsylvania. Technically, the Act 93 employees are not negotiating a union contract.

That contract set up a "market place" of eight school districts to help determine "target salaries."

The Act 93 agreement does not govern higher level employees, like the superintendent, assistant superintendent or business manager, each of whom has an individual contract with the school district.

In January, the school board adopted a three-year early bird contract with the teachers union, the Pottsgrove Education Association. That contract re-structured the salary sclaes to direct more money into the newer teachers, making exact figures varied.

However, Harney said at the time the budget impact would add about 3.3 percent to the payroll each year of the contract.

In June, the school board adopted a $68 million budget that raised property taxes by 0.7 percent.

Get on the Bus

The board also further discussed the proposal to install GPS systems on all 56 Pottsgrove buses, which are owned by the district but operated and managed by CMD Services bus company, the same company that operates the Pottstown Area Rapid Transit buses.

The board did not vote, although one is planned at the first meeting in September.

Business Manager David Nester told the board he had knocked about $2,000 off the installation price, bringing the price tag for the entire project to about $15,000.

He said Pottsgrove is one of the last districts in the county to install the system, and that is a basic
system that does not permit parents to access data about the location of school buses in real time as the Boyertown system does.

However, having the system in place will likely allow Pottsgrove to maximize its transportation subsidy from Pennsylvania, which clocks in at just over $1 million. Of that subsidy, $760,000 was related to mileage.

The board also adopted a new contract with CMD for services.

There was no overall cost associated with the contract, but the agenda did not the management fee of $149,909 represents an increase of 4.55 percent.

Hourly driver rates are up 2.4 and 2.5 percent under the new contract, depending on the vehicle being driven. It also contains a 3.6 percent increase in the hourly labor rate.

According to information posted in the agenda, "CMD has worked with the District to keep costs down for years. As a result, Pottsgrove's transportation costs are among the lowest in the area."

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

Top 3 Pottsgrove Administrators Get 2% Raises

Pottsgrove Holds Off on Voting to Track School Buses

The Pottsgrove School Board held off on voting to install global positioning system software and hardware in its school buses Tuesday night.

Board members Ashley Custer and Jim Lapic questioned the price of about $200 per bus for installation when they had information suggesting process takes just minutes.

The overall cost of the contract is just over $17,000 according to the information included in last night's agenda.

There would be another monthly fee of $571 for the software if the school board ultimately accepts the recommendation to go with Eagle Wireless and its Geotab System.

Business Manager David Nester said the district runs 56 transportation vehicles and that there are several advantages of the system.

The fact that the Pennsylvania Auditor General will no longer accept the district's tracking software as acceptable documentation for the $1.1 million in transportation aid Pottsgrove gets every year is one of the things that makes the new system advantageous Nester said.

The alternative is to have drivers keep track by hand. School Board President Robert Lindgren was incredulous that the district's tracking software is no longer acceptable.

"Did the length of Mauger's Mill Road change in the last year?" he said in exasperation.

The GPS system would also allow the district to more quickly locate buses during emergencies, such as the November, 2018 surprise snow storm which had some buses get stranded and students hours late in arriving home, said Nester.

He also said Pottsgrove is one of only three districts in Montgomery County that do not have such systems.

In June, Boyertown Area School District announced GPS and internal and exterior camera systems would be installed on all 185 of its vehicles at no cost to the district. The cost was borne by the Quigley Bus Company which at the same time signed a five-year contract with Boyertown.

Boyertown also announced a smartphone app called "Here Comes the Bus," which allows parents to track their children's school bus in real time. partnership with

Launched in 2015 by Indiana-based Synovia Solutions following more than a decade in the school bus fleet management industry, the mobile app has more than a million downloads and boasts approximately 350,000 daily users across North America.

Lindgren told Schools Superintendent William Shirk that the board would take up the issue again at an upcoming meeting.

And with that, here are the Tweets from last night's meeting:

Bus Tracking and Middle School Snacking

Pottsgrove Seems Ready to Settle for .7% Tax Hike

By the time the talking was done Tuesday night, Pottsgrove School Board President Robert Lindgren said his sense of the school board is that it will support a tax hike of seven-tenths of a percent (or .7%) in June when the board votes on the final 2019-2020 budget.

But not before Business Manager David Nester made a plea for inching it up a little higher to begin to sock away money for the remaining $10 million  in capital needs the district will have in the next few years.

"We've had a good budget this year," Nester said during a review of the numbers. "We started low and we've had the ability to trim the budget down to a workable level."

That trimming involved coming up with ways to deal with an increase in expenses of $2.3 million that has a variety of sources -- $1.2 million in personnel costs "just to maintain the people we have here now;" a $588,000 increase in charter school tuition in the coming year; $240,000 to add a third language to the curriculum and the hiring of a "crisis counselor to deal with the mental health issues we're seeing on the secondary level, among other things.

Offsetting that is the retirement of 12 teachers, health care savings and more revenue than was expected, needing just .7 percent more in taxes to close a $240,000 budget gap.

But Nester suggested a little bit more might be wise, either going to 1 percent, 1.25 or even 1.5 percent, to prepare for known capital needs, as well as the unknown.

He said in the last four years, budgets have raised taxes less than 1 percent and that is no way to come up with the targeted $11.2 million of the $15 million in capital projects the district outlined several years ago.

Nester said the capital reserve fund has $7.6 million and the district spent $2.7 million on capital costs this year and has another $2.2 million teed up for next year's construction season.

"It's better to add a small amount to the revenue stream now, when it has less impact on taxpayers," said Nester. "When I first started here, we had three years of zero tax increases and then we had to raise taxes 9.9 percent. It was not pretty."

It is much easier for taxpayers to absorb three years of 3 percent increases "than three zeros and a nine," Nester argued.

But it's an uphill argument.

Board Vice President Al Leach said he had spoken with many stakeholders after this suggestion was raised and it was uniformly rejected. "I understand the point you're making, but nobody tells Comcast to charge them an extra $50 to keep the bill lower next year."

Nester noted that in addition to the capital needs, unexpected things outside the district's control, like the 2008 collapse of the economy "when all those homes we were expecting vanished," could create occur, leaving the district's revenue stream constricted by the tax limitations of the Act 1 Index.

Then it could be programs and teachers on the chopping block to balance the budget, he warned. "I'm not saying we're there, but we could be there in the blink of any eye."

But there is no housing crisis right now in the district, quite the opposite noted board member Ashley Custer.

She questioned if its true that Nester's budget anticipates 20 homes being sold at the new Spring Valley Farms subdivision in Lower Pottsgrove, noting "they've sold 55" and that they are selling for higher prices than the first "because these new homes have basements."

She also pointed to new commercial construction in Upland Square in West Pottsgrove as well as new "affordable homes along Route 100" in Upper Pottsgrove -- all of which would increase property tax and property transfer tax revenues.

Nester said he does not anticipate revenue increases by counting houses, but has announced for an increase of $3 million to $4 million over the current assessed value of the district's taxable property.

Robert Lindgren

"This is what we are elected to do, to pick the route we take," said School Board President Robert Lindgren, who is a longtime member of the facilities committee and added that he would support going as high as 1.5 percent for the tax increase in the next budget.

He also said he could accept .7 percent, but is opposed to zero tax hike.

Lindgren said the district has already spend about $5 million of the $15 million in capital outlay planned for. "You do the math, we have $10 million still to do and $7.6 million. We have to rebuild that somehow."

"Part of our responsibility is to make these decisions, then defend them and explain them," he said, adding that those explanations will be much more difficult if they result in delayed revenue enhancements and big tax hikes or program cuts down the road.

"When you have people with pitchforks in the audience, that is a less-than-desirable atmosphere for making good decisions," he said.

And he agreed with Nester, noting "we've outlined the things we see coming, but the things that mess you up are the things you don't see coming and we should ask ourselves, 'do we have a plan for that?'"

Board members Scott Hutt and Charles Nipper both said they could support the .7 percent increase. "Zero is irrepsonsible, but I think we should hold the line," said Hutt.

"Sticking at zero is creating a disaster," said Nippert.

No vote was taken, but Lindgren summarized that unless he heard otherwise from board members, he would suggest the administration move forward with plans for a final budget that raises taxes .7 percent. He did not hear otherwise.

As my Twitter followers know, I was unable to access the district's wifi system Tuesday night, so my Tweets were labored and limited by the one-bar of coverage I had inside the high school. So, here are the Tweets from the meeting, such as they are:

To Tax or Not to Tax

Pottsgrove Gets a Peek at Cities of the Future

Photos by Evan Brandt

The Pottsgrove Middle School Future City Team is comprised of Avery Huber, Jayden Francis, Emelia Schwulst,  Liam Lapic,

Addie Fulmer-Sicher, Jackson Hansberry, Ryan Stoy and their advisor Deb Frasca.

At right, is a closer look at their city.

They say the children are our future, and that's true.

But sometimes, those children also envision that future. And that is the case with the Pottsgrove Middle School Future City Team led by Deb Frasca.

The students build a cyber city in Sim city, and then a scale model of a future city in which they planned, researched and solved some of the problems that today's cities face.

Unfortunately, bad weather prevented them from traveling to the competition for which they had prepared. So they did the next best thing and presented to the school board.

I expertly managed to miss the song they sang to their city at both the beginning and the end.

But I did manage to catch some of it on video. Here it is:



In other news, Pottsgrove School board President reported that the initial preliminary budget had called for a tax hike of 2.1 percent, but recent developments have knocked that down to a more palatable 1.5 percent.

Business Manager Dave Nester has once again asked the school board to set aside a $1 million surplus from the previous year's budget into the capital reserve fund. A vote will likely occur at the next meeting.

He said in the next few coming years, money will be drawn down from the PSERS, pension reserve to cover increases, but that surpluses will be less likely.

The board also voted to give .5 percent raises to the district's three top administrators: Nester, Superintendent William Shirk and Assistant Superintendent Robert Harney.

According to the information posted in the agenda, that works out to an extra $920.37 for Shirk; $859.39 for Nester and $761.25 for Harney.

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting:


Cities of the Future

Pottsgrove OKs Adding French as Third Language

After years of discussion, the Pottsgrove School Board voted 5-2-1 Tuesday night to add a third world language to it's curriculum.

And just in case you're not up on your vexillology, which, as we all know, is the study of flags, and the above photo has left you flummoxed, the language Pottsgrove added is French.

Board members Bill Parker and Patricia Grimm voted against the measure, which was not on the meeting agenda and was brought to the floor at the request of Superintendent William Shirk. Board member Charles Nippert abstained from voting, but did not give a reason for his abstention.

Shirk indicated that the board has been nibbling around the edges of the question, and asked that the board "commit," so his administration could immediately begin looking for the best French teacher they can find.

"If we wait until August, that's not going to work," he said.

"If we're going to do it, we should really commit to it and do it right," agreed board member Scott Hutt.

Currently, 66 students have already signed up and the cost has been built into the preliminary budget.

(On that front, Business Manager David Nester had some good news -- the projected 2.1 percent tax hike now looks like it would be closer to 1.5 percent unless something changes.)

"It might cost us a couple of extra bucks to get someone who has experience," said Shirk. "But it might be worth it. We want someone who really knows how to build a program."

As of now, there has been little drop off in the other two languages offered in Pottsgrove -- German and "Spanish -- said Shirk, noting that feeder programs in the middle school "will fill those gaps."

Board member Jim Lapic also noted that some students intend on taking more than one language.

In other new program news, board member Ashley Custer, reporting on discussions in the board's Curriculum, Integration and Technology Committee, said the district may add an advanced science course at the middle school, most likely Biology.

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

French Press

Pottsgrove Admin Raises Are Budget Cost Savings

Photo by Evan Brandt

CORE COMPETENCIES: Pottsgrove Schools Superintendent William Shirk, left, recognizes the administrative team whose efforts resulted in Pottsgrove High School and Pottsgrove Middle School being named Apple Distinguished Schools. From left are David Ramage, director for Integration for Learning and Instruction, Pottsgrove High School Principal William Ziegler, Tony Bickert, director of technology and Pottsgrove Middle School Principal Matt Boyer.

"What's that?" you say.

"How can that be?" you ask.

Read on dear visitor and you shall be enlightened. (Hint, it had to do with a resignation with a high salary.)

One month after approving an early bird three-year contract with the teachers union, the Pottsgrove School Board Tuesday night unanimously adopted a new three year-agreement with its administrators as well as their raises for the year.

The administrators 21 building and district-level supervisors, are known as the Act 93 employees for the Pennsylvania law that governs the manner in which they "meet and discuss" with the school board to negotiate employment conditions.

This is different from the teachers union, which is protected and operates under federal and state labor laws and are allowed to strike in Pennsylvania.

The Act 93 agreement does not govern higher level employees, like the superintendent, assistant superintendent or business manager, each of whom has an individual contract with the school district.

The salary information provided by Assistant Superintendent Robert P. Harney did not provide the previous salaries for those whose salaries were approved last night, so it is impossible to determine how much of a raise each of them received.

What is clear is that whatever the increases, the overall budget impact will actually decrease by more than $45,000.

 He explained that the savings was the result of the resignation of Lower Pottsgrove Elementary Principal Yolanda Williams, who was making nearly $146,000 per year. Assistant Principal Steven Sieller, who stepped in, was being paid about $91,000 until he took the reins in January, and is now only being paid $112,500.

The difference, plus the vacancy of his old job, produced the savings, said Harney.

The highest salary among the Act 93 group is that of High School Principal William Ziegler, who will be paid $147,945 for the current school year.

Coming in second is Daniel Vorhis, director of education, who will be paid $138,685 in the current school year. Third is David Ramage at $130,202. He is the director for Integration for Learning and Instruction.

Rounding out the top five salaries are Kate Pacitto, director of pupil services at $128,408 and Middle School Principal Matt Boyer at $124,950.

Harney said there were a few changes to the agreement governing these salaries, primarily the addition of some positions, including those that did not exist when the last agreement was adopted.

It sets a "market place" of eight school districts to help determine "target salaries."

It sets raise levels at four levels, 3 percent for "distinguished performance; 2 percent at proficient performance; 0 to 1.5 percent for "needs improvement;" and 0 percent for "failing performance," all of which is determined by evaluating how the administrator has performed in meeting goals set at the beginning of the evaluation period.

Harney said the another change included in the agreement is that if any of the administrators make contributions to the 403(b) retirement plans the district offers, the district will make match the employee's contribution up to 1 percent of base salary as well.

The agreement also limits tuition reimbursement for pursuing higher degrees to 12 credits per year, provided a grade of B or better is achieved. The agreement uses the current Immaculata University per-credit rate and anything above that is the responsibility of the administrator/student.

As in previous agreements, an administrator who gives early notice of retirement receives a $500 bonus and, once retired, will receive 50 percent of the cost of the district's core healthcare insurance plan for 10 years.

Both the new agreement and the new raises were adopted unanimously by the school board without comment Tuesday night.

Here are the Tweets from the meeting.

How Big Was Your Raise?

Pottsgrove OKs Early Bird 3-Year Pact With Teachers

Photos by Evan Brandt

BALANCING ACT: From left, Pottsgrove School Board members Scott Hutt, Brenna Mayberry, Al Leach and Savannah Lear are coached by 3rd grader Lily Sainger-Hauck ("almost 9") in a cooperative exercise that encouraged cooperation, coordination and collaboration. 

The task was to build a pyramid of cups using only four strings tied to a rubber band.

At right, before the school board gave it a shot, West Pottsgrove students demonstrated for the board how it's done.

With a 7-1 vote Tuesday night, the Pottsgrove School Board approved an early bird contract with the teachers association that will add nearly $2 million to the district's payroll over the next three years.

Patricia Grimm was absent and board member Bill Parker cast the only vote against the contract.

Megan DeLena, president of the Pottsgrove Education Association, said her membership approved the pact Monday night by "an overwhelming" majority.

DeLena said the contract re-structures the salary scale with a goal of raising the salary of starting teachers.

"That will make our district more competitive in keeping younger teachers here with other, larger school districts paying much higher salaries," said School Board Vice President Al Leach.

The salary re-structuring means different teachers in different steps in the salary scales will receive different raises, so the most accurate way to describe the financial impact is the additional money is how much it will add to the payroll.

Although he did not have the exact numbers at hand, Superintendent William Shirk said the higher salaries with add 3.3 percent to the payroll, or "more than $600,000," each year, meaning by 2022, the payroll will have risen by at least $1.8 million.

JUST ADDING THIS PHOTO: Because of how incredibly cute and 

charming Lilly is. (She giggled through her whole presentation.)

However, the district may save some money out of the payroll if at least 12 Pottsgrove teachers take up the retirement incentive offer included in the new contract.

Teachers who have been in the state retirement system for at least 15 years and at Pottsgrove for at least 10 of those years, concurrently, are eligible to receive a $20,000 pre-tax contribution to a 403B retirement account.

However, at least 12 teachers have to accept the offer before it's valid, said Assistant Superintendent Robert Harney.

With 12 teachers taking it, despite the various savings depending on their seniority and resulting salary, the district will "come out ahead" financially, with each additional retiree above 12 adding to that financial benefit for the district, Harney said.

That retirement incentive expires June 31.

Another change in the new contract is that after six years of no change, money will be added to the stipend paid to coaches and staff club advisers.

In the Pottsgrove system, different positions are worth different stipends, calculated using a point system with each point worth $119. A common stipend is worth five points, said DeLena, which adds up to $595.

What the new contract will do is add $3 to the value of a point each year for the first two years, meaning two years after the contract goes into affect on July 1, that same five-point stipend will be worth $625.

Before voting against the contract, Parker said "I’ve worked with educators across the state. I can say with some expertise, that ours are the best that anyone could ask for."

Parker further stated "No amount of financial compensation could ever really cover what they deserve, however, we, as elected officials, are also tasked with representing the taxpayers, and as such, I can not vote for a contract that includes raises for many of our staff over 6, 7, and 8 percent a year."
School Board President Robert Lindgren reminded the board that in 2011, teachers accepted a one-year contract that froze salaries and again in 2012, when the economy was teetering, the teachers union "agreed to pay freezes to help out our community, and we have long memories."

He said early bird contracts such as this occur only if "there is enough trust on one or both sides."

The board, administration and teachers union representatives "have developed good relationships" making the exploration of an early bird contract possible, Lindgren said.

Negotiations began in September, DeLena said, adding that the tentative agreement was explained to the teachers at a Thursday meeting in advance of the Monday vote.

"I think the mood, the character of a school district flows from the top down," DeLena said when asked about the relationship between the two sides at the negotiating table.

"It was a collaborative effort," said Shirk. "We've laid a really good foundation in the last three years and to have seven years of labor peace means so much."

"We have some friction points and some disagreements, but we've moving in the right direction and we're trying to build on that," said Lindgren.

"You never get everything you want, but we've taken care of some inequities in the steps and we do things incrementally," said Lindgren. "I'm very happy to be able to for this."

Tax Cap Pledge

In other news of interest to taxpayers, the board unanimously to keep any tax increase in the 2019-2020 budget at the state-imposed cap of 3 percent or less.

The vote allows the district to avoid the process of putting together and adopting a preliminary budget in February that invariably changes as the figures become clearer closer to the end of the fiscal year.

Last month, the Pottstown School Board voted to do the same.

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

Pottsgrove OKs 3-Year Teacher Pact

Pottsgrove Faces Pricey Middle School Bridge Repair

Corrosion was evident beneath the Pottsgrove Middle School pedestrian bridge even before further investigation found the problems are much worse than initially feared.

Remember when the repairs to the Pottsgrove Middle School pedestrian bridge were supposed to cost $35,000?

Yeah forget that.

Try as much as $350,000 instead.

Tuesday night, Pottsgrove School Board Robert Lindgren said "the damage was much more extensive than we first thought."

Last month, Pottsgrove Facilities Director Jeffrey Cardwell told the board that the bridge failed an inspection in January and at least two blocks of concrete need to be removed in order to replace the steel waffling underneath.

He said the investigation by a contractor found that three drains in the bridge had allowed water to penetrate and rust the bridge’s steel decking.
The concrete and decking need to be removed and replaced, and the drainage system re-designed to prevent the problem from occurring again, he said.

Engineers also examined steel support girders for signs of rust and once a soffit was removed, the damage was revealed to be much more extensive, said Lindgren.

That said, Cardwell said he believes the $350,000 cost estimate to be a "worse case scenario," and he hopes to lower the cost to between $150,000 to $200,000.

One way that can be done, he said, is to change the work times. The estimate was based on starting work after school let out. But starting in the morning and moving students who would be disturbed by the noise would allow the project to be done more quickly and more cheaply.

Business Manager Dave Nester said the project, when combined with the $2.4 million roof replacement at the building and some changes to the HVAC system put a pretty big bite into Pottsgrove's capital budget reserve.

The capital reserve budget has been reduced by about $5 million, reducing by about a third from $15 million, he said.

Another item of note to taxpayers is the sudden jump in the district's special education budget.

Since July 1, the first day of the fiscal year, Pottsgrove has seen 45 new special education students, at lease seven of whom require enough special assistance that seven new one-on-one aides need to be hired to meet their IEP's, or individual education programs as set out in special education laws.

"We're going to have to hire some people we had not planned on hiring," said Superintendent William Shirk.

Kathryn Pacitto, director of pupil services, said the number is not unusual as much as the severity of the issues which need to be addressed among this particular group of special education students.

Although no cost to the special education budget was made available to the public Tuesday night, Nester said it is over the special education budget, but can be absorbed by the budget's fund balance, an example of why such funds are built into every year's budget, he added.

But a taste of special education costs came a few moments later in the meeting when the board unanimously approved a contract for a two students at Cottage Seven that will cost $140,140 per year.

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

Pricey Bridge Repair and Special Education Su

New Leaders and Social Media in Pottsgrove

Photo by Evan Brandt

Pottsgrove High School Junior Brenna Mayberry is the new student representative on the Pottsgrove School Board.

Pottsgrove School district's school year got started this week with some fanfare, three new leaders on the school board, and a discussion about the role of social media.

In the wake of the resignation of former school board president Matt Alexander, his seat not only had to be filled on the board, but a new president needed to be chosen as well.

Robert Lindgren is the new 

Pottsgrove School Board President

Earlier this month, the seat was filled by Kim McIntrye, mother of former student board member Mason McIntyre.

But the board held off choosing a new president until Tuesday night.

There was little surprise when sitting Vice President Robert Lindgren was chosen unanimously to fill the spot.

Two board members, Al Leach and Scott Hutt were nominated to replace Lindgren. Leach won by a 7-2 vote with Hutt and board member Bill Parker, who nominated Hutt for the post, voting for Hutt.

And while Lindgren is a long-time board member familiar to many, a fresh new face was added to the table Tuesday night when Pottsgrove High School junior Brenna Mayberry was named as a new student representative to the board.

She will serve for two years.

Good luck Brenna.

Life in cyber-space took center stage for a time last night.

New board member Tina McIntyre asked about the release of information about a medical "lock-down" at Pottsgrove High School Monday. A medical for a student with a pre-existing condition  made it necessary to clear the halls for a stretcher.

McIntyre wondered if it was entirely necessary to release that information to the public. Superintendent Bill Shirk and board member Jim Lapic explained to her that a building full of teenagers with smart phones would most certainly have ensured word got out, but not necessarily accurate word.

Better, Lapic said, to have accurate information put out to the public, than to let social media fill the information gap and fuel speculation.

Lindgren said his personal preference is that "the district always put more facts out there."

One step beyond speculation comes threats on social media and the board is looking into a company that promises to help monitor that as well.

Called "Social Sentinel," the Burlington, Vermont-based company has offered, for $2,000, to monitor social media around the district and look for threats by matching posts against a vocabulary of thousands of threat words.

Concerns were raised about whether the words will be put into context. "So suppose someone asks how a friend did on a test and he replies 'I really bombed.' We might get an alert from something like that," Lapic said.

Shirk said he did not yet have enough information to answer such questions, but said he would like to see the board vote at its Sept. 11 board meeting.

He said he is trying to balance the need to be transparent, and to keep security measures out of the public view.

"We don't want kids setting us up," he said.

Here are the Tweets from the meeting:

New Member, New President

6-2 Vote Puts McIntyre in Pottsgrove Vacancy

Photo by Evan Brandt

Pottsgrove School Board Vice President Robert Lindgren, right, enjoys himself swearing in the board's newest member, Tina McIntyre, center, while her son Mason, holds The Bible for her. 

Usually, a child follows in his or her parent's footsteps, but sometimes it's the other way around.

Last night was witness to one of those rare occasions when, from among of five very qualified candidates, the Pottsgrove School Board voted to appoint Tina McIntyre to fill the vacancy left by last month's resignation of Matt Alexander.

McIntyre, in addition to being a St. Pius X High School graduate and an accountant, is also the mother of Mason MacIntyre, who for two years served on the Pottsgrove board as a student member.

"She's going to have to learn to eat dinner earlier," he acknowledged with a laugh Tuesday after the board vote.

McIntyre's relationship to a former member was more than coincidence. It may have provided the tipping point to her appointment.

Allow me to explain.

In addition to McIntyre, four other candidates applied for the post. They were Rick Rabinowitz; Jody McMahon; Andrew Korman and Mark Jorgensen.

McIntyre, who lives on Mock Road, is an accounting specialist with United Phosphorus Inc. in King of Prussia.

She is a 1990 graduate of the former St. Pius X Catholic High School in Lower Pottsgrove and received a bachelor’s in business administration from Kutztown University.

Rabinowitz, who lives on Lee Drive, was a board member who ran unsuccessfully for reelection in November.

He is an executive recruiter for Nationwide IT and worked for two other recruiting forms previously.

Rabinowitz holds a degree in political science from State University of New York at Oswego and an MBA in technology and e-commerce from West Chester University.

McMahon, who lives in Anthony Wayne Drive, is a language arts teacher at Owen J. Roberts High School and an adjunct professor at Delaware Valley Community College.

No education or prior work experience was listed for McMahon.

Korman, who lives in Gilbertsville Road, is a project manager with Suburban Water Technology.

He holds a bachelor’s in journalism, specializing in broadcast news, from West Virginia University.

Jorgensen, who lives in Yeager Road, is director of quality and food safety at AIRGA USA LLC in Radnor.

He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and holds an MBA from Lehigh University.

Nearly every board member marveled at the qualifications of those who applied for the board and were interviewed during a public meeting Monday night.

In making a choice Tuesday, Board Vice President Robert Lindgren said he wanted to be as transparent as possible about the process. 

"People who have observed this in the past may well have gotten the impression that the choice had been made before the vote," Lindgren said.

So board members all voiced their preference in a round of quasi-voting. Korman and McMahon were eliminated in the first round.

Rabinowitz was eliminated in the second round.

With the board left to choose between Jorgensen and McIntyre, the benefits of each choice were made clear.

But it was not until board member Jim Lapic talked about being the parent of four children, and the role parents play in how their children turn out, that things seemed to tip in McIntyre's favor.

He observed that in addition to having lived in the community all her life, the board had two years to learn what kind of child she had raised. 

"Mason was an excellent board member and she obviously had something to do with that," said Lapic.

After that, board member Charles Nippert moved for another vote and McIntyre was elected with a 6-2 vote. Board members Bill Parker and Patricia Grimm cast the two no votes.

Afterward Lindgren said the matter of electing a new school board president would be decided at the next meeting. He said the board decided it would be best to choose a board president with a full nine members on board and having a say.

(Sounds like something a future school board president would say ....)

And here are the Tweets you've all been waiting for:


McIntyre Chosen from Among 5 for Pottsgrove School Board Vacancy

$67.5M Budget Hikes Taxes 1%, 0% Tax Hike Looms

The Pottsgrove School Board voted unanimously last night to adopt a $67.5 million preliminary final budget that would raises taxes by 1 percent.

For a home assessed at $120,000, the district average, that works out to another $45 in taxes.

But even that amount may not be levied. Superintendent William Shirk and Business Manager David Nester both said the administration has "a plan to get to zero."

"We do have a plan to get to zero, but there are still some big questions out there," such as tuition to charter schools and state budget numbers, Nester told the school board.

"If nothing astronomic happens, we feel pretty confident we can reduce this and get this to a zero," he said.

School Board President Matt Alexander said he appreciates the diligence the administration has demonstrated in following the board's directive to get to a zero budget.

"I feel it's better to adopt a budget at 1 percent and go down to zero once final numbers are in, rather than to budget zero and have to go back on it," Alexander said.

Board member Robert Lindgren agreed and said he sees the vote on the preliminary final budget as a vote of confidence in the administration.

"I fully expect to vote for a zero percent tax increase when we vote on the final budget. The zero options have been presented, but if something goes drastically wrong that is out of our control, we haven't tied the administration to a tree," he said.

Even board member Bill Parker, who had initially indicated he would vote against anything but a budget with no tax increase was convinced, although he said if the final numbers are off, he would prefer further trimming to using fund balance as Lindgren had indicated is an option.

Nester noted that district expenditures have gone up $1.6 million in this budget. "We have cut, and we have cut drastically. It will be difficult to find more without some pain," he warned.

In other business, the board also passed a resolution opposing the closure of the Pottstown YMCA, as well as appointing Athletic Director Gary DeRenzo as the new director of community relations and extra-curricular activities with no change in salary, although a new athletic director will be hired.

(Everyone needs their own John Armato ...)

Here are the Tweets from the meeting:

Pottsgrove School Board Off to a Slow Start

This is going to be a hard blog to write.

I covered the Pottsgrove School Board meeting last night.

It lasted for 2.5 hours and guess what?

Nothing happened.

OK, that's not entirely true. Stuff happened, but it wasn't exactly news.

The high point was second graders from West Pottsgrove Elementary School, where the meeting was held, who made a presentation about a STEM activity they had undertaken.

And, with a little help from their teachers, they had the board members undertake it as well.

It was quite charming, but not exactly headline news.

Board President Matt Alexander made some appointments, they paid the bills, but really; it was pretty routine.

If I haven't made you stop reading yet, you can always read the Tweets from the meeting here below:

$2.5M for New Roof, 2% Raises for Administrators

A view of the Pottsgrove Middle School roof, now 20 years old, which must be replaced.

The Pottsgrove School Board re-organized Tuesday night, returning Matt Alexander to the presidency and installing Robert Lindgren in the vice-presidency.

Two new members, Charles Nippert and Scott Hutt, were sworn in, and then the board proceeded to make some decisions.

One sad one was to accept the resignation of the now-legendary Rick Pennypacker as football coach, due to his pending retirement.

Another was a long time in coming, the spend no more than $2.5 million to replace the roof at Pottsgrove Middle School, now 20 years old.

(I must point out the construction of this school is one of the first things I covered for The Mercury, meaning I am in the midst of my 20-year anniversary at the paper. Wow. I still think of this building as "new.")

The board also approved across-the-board 2 percent raises for building principals and mid-level administrators.

Board member Bill Parker questioned whether he could support such increases given the poor performance of so many Pottsgrove school buildings on recent School Performance Profile scores.

But Superintendent William Shirk noted that there is a rubrik used to determine goal meeting, of which SPP is just one part, and assured Parker that the raises were warranted under that rubrik.

Changing it would mean re-negotiating the agreement, which has one more year before it expires.

That said, here are the Tweets from the meeting: