Budget Decisions and Computer Visions

Photo by Evan Brandt

Matching T-shirt-wearing Pottsgrove teachers assemble in the high school cafeteria before Tuesday night's Pottsgrove School Board meeting. They were there in a show of solidarity during their current contract negotiations.

Photo by Evan Brandt

Students Caroline Remelius, left, and Jackie Ramsey,
present a student-signed petition to support arts education.

So, as anticipated, Tuesday night's Pottsdgrove School Board meeting was a long one and, as one of the Tweets below can attest to, those metal folding chairs are extremely hard.

There was a long presentation on the progress of the district's One-for-one computer initiative which they call DiLE.

The administration said the program was proceeding well, that fewer students reported being bored in class and that there had even been a reduction in disciplinary referrals at the high school since the computers were provided

Then the board heard from a number of people, again, urging them not to reduce music, art and business teachers.

The administration, particularly Superintendent Shellie Feola, took some broadsides from a Pottsgrove alum who urged the board to knock the administration off "its high horse," but School Board President Justin Valentine came to their defense and said some things had been misunderstood.

Megan DeLena

Ultimately, the board voted to reduce a business teacher from full-time to part-time, due to declining enrollment, but to reverse the district's ill-timed advertisement for a part-time choir teacher and make it full time.

There was no clear vote on the art teacher post that I could tell.

They heard from one of those business teachers,
Megan DeLena, who is also the president of the Pottsgrove Education Association teachers union, urging the board to grant them a fair contract during the ongoing negotiations.

The board also discussed new graduation and class rank guidelines that were approved, and approved a motion to relieve tax penalties against an elderly Upper Pottsgrove taxpayer who paid his taxes on time, but whose check was rejected by the tax collector because although he had written out the ampount, he had not put numbers in the little box.

And here are the Tweets from the meeting.