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| Photos by Evan Brandt
During Thursday night's meeting, student performers gave the Pottstown School Board, and those lucky enough to be in the audience, a preview of the district-wide musical 'Seussical.'
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It's that time of year again folks.
That time of year when intrepid producer Robert Decker, who teaches math at the high school as his day job, brings a passel of student performers to a school board meeting to give us our first peek at what this year's musical is shaping up to look and sound like.
It would be hard to top last year's triumphant musical, "Hairspray," but by gum they're sure going to try.
And if this video is any indication, they're going to give it a run for the money:
Show times are as follows:
- Friday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 29 at 2 p.m.
- Sunday, March 1 at 2 p.m.
- Thursday, March 5 at 7 p.m. (Special sensory performance for special needs audience)
- Friday, March 6 at 7 p.m.
- Saturday, March 2 at 2 p.m.
Advance tickets can be purchased online by clicking here.
Tickets for the sensory-friendly show on March 5 can be purchased online by clicking here.
Tickets can also be purchased at the Pottstown High School office with cash or check for $8. Tickets purchased at the door on the night of the show are $10.
Reminders will come in the mail from March 26 to April 3. From April 8 to April 16, a reminder letter and a paper questionnaire will arrive to the homes of those who have not yet answered the Census online.
After April 27, in-person workers will knock on the doors of those who have not yet answered.
And if you want to be one of those workers, they are paying $27 per hour and need a total of 4,000 in these parts. They are still hiring said Richard Herr, a 2020 U.S. Census recruiting assistant in Montgomery County.
You can apply online by clicking here.
Jones told the board that an under-count will cost Montgomery County money.
An under-count of 5% will cost Montgomery County $72 million a year in federal funding for the next 10 years. And Pottstown is one area of the county that has traditionally performer poorly in the answering-the-Census arena.
That because its population has a high proportion of hard-to-count demographics like children, homeless, immigrants, language-constrained and low-income and renters.
She said contrary to some concerns, the data is encrypted and confidential to only the Census bureau and not shared with any other government agency. There is no citizenship question on the Census.
The Census also determines new Congressional districts, so failing to answer it will also diminish our voice in Washington.
(You can watch a video of that meeting by clicking here.)
He said Business Manager Maureen Jampo gave a presentation on a $66.7 million preliminary budget that shows a deficit of $2.6 million.
(You can check out the full presentation for yourself by clicking here.)
Part of that deficit is driven by rising charter school tuition costs, something Jampo briefed Pennsylvania Education Secretary Pedro Rivera about during his visit last week.
According to her presentation, Pottstown's charter school tuition costs have risen 44 percent in just
two years, from $2.5 million to $3.2 million
(You can check our her full presentation by clicking here.)
Another part of that deficit is driven by the $2.5 million in assessed real estate value the borough lost in 2019, resulting in a loss of revenue to the school district of $104,694 at the current millage of 41.96 mills.
If that millage is raised by the maximum allowed under the state's Act 1 index for Pottstown -- 3.8 percent -- it would mean a millage of 43.56 mills.
Even doing that, and using $291,000 from reserves, the district would still face a shortfall of $1.5 million.
Hylton, who has never voted for a budget with a tax hike and made clear he has no intention to start, nevertheless told the committee, and then the full board, that he realizes that position is not held by the majority of the board.
To ease the work load on the district's admittedly thin administrative staff, Hylton said the committee agreed that rather than have the staff put together a broad variety of alternatives, that it should assume the board majority is willing to raise taxes to the state maximum of 3.8 percent.
That way, it can focus on finding ways to close a budget gap of the $1.5 million that remains after a tax hike, than to try to close the entire $2.5 million gap.
There is still much more work to be done on the budget, which does not have to be adopted until the end of June, and those numbers will no doubt fluctuate as the weeks pass and more accurate and updated information is received.
And with that, click here to read the Tweets from last night's meeting.
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| The dark red areas on this map of Montgomery County, which includes two Census tracts in Pottstown and one in Royersford, area areas that had a more than 25 percent undercount in previous Census. |
Answer the Census People!
Tricia Reedy Jones, a partnership specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau, told the school board Thursday night that between March 12 and 20 we will receive our first notice from the Census Bureau, asking us to fill out the brief questionnaire online. |
| Richard Herr, a Census recruiter, holds a sign with information for those looking for a job. |
After April 27, in-person workers will knock on the doors of those who have not yet answered.
And if you want to be one of those workers, they are paying $27 per hour and need a total of 4,000 in these parts. They are still hiring said Richard Herr, a 2020 U.S. Census recruiting assistant in Montgomery County.
You can apply online by clicking here.
Jones told the board that an under-count will cost Montgomery County money.
An under-count of 5% will cost Montgomery County $72 million a year in federal funding for the next 10 years. And Pottstown is one area of the county that has traditionally performer poorly in the answering-the-Census arena.
That because its population has a high proportion of hard-to-count demographics like children, homeless, immigrants, language-constrained and low-income and renters.
She said contrary to some concerns, the data is encrypted and confidential to only the Census bureau and not shared with any other government agency. There is no citizenship question on the Census.
The Census also determines new Congressional districts, so failing to answer it will also diminish our voice in Washington.
A Budget Deficit of $2.6 Million
The full school board heard a report from board member Thomas Hylton, the new chairman of the finance and facilities committee, who reported on discussions from the Feb. 13 meeting.(You can watch a video of that meeting by clicking here.)
He said Business Manager Maureen Jampo gave a presentation on a $66.7 million preliminary budget that shows a deficit of $2.6 million.
(You can check out the full presentation for yourself by clicking here.)
Part of that deficit is driven by rising charter school tuition costs, something Jampo briefed Pennsylvania Education Secretary Pedro Rivera about during his visit last week.
According to her presentation, Pottstown's charter school tuition costs have risen 44 percent in just
(You can check our her full presentation by clicking here.)
Another part of that deficit is driven by the $2.5 million in assessed real estate value the borough lost in 2019, resulting in a loss of revenue to the school district of $104,694 at the current millage of 41.96 mills.
If that millage is raised by the maximum allowed under the state's Act 1 index for Pottstown -- 3.8 percent -- it would mean a millage of 43.56 mills.
Even doing that, and using $291,000 from reserves, the district would still face a shortfall of $1.5 million.
Hylton, who has never voted for a budget with a tax hike and made clear he has no intention to start, nevertheless told the committee, and then the full board, that he realizes that position is not held by the majority of the board.
To ease the work load on the district's admittedly thin administrative staff, Hylton said the committee agreed that rather than have the staff put together a broad variety of alternatives, that it should assume the board majority is willing to raise taxes to the state maximum of 3.8 percent.That way, it can focus on finding ways to close a budget gap of the $1.5 million that remains after a tax hike, than to try to close the entire $2.5 million gap.
There is still much more work to be done on the budget, which does not have to be adopted until the end of June, and those numbers will no doubt fluctuate as the weeks pass and more accurate and updated information is received.
And with that, click here to read the Tweets from last night's meeting.
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