Pottstown OKs 3-Year $1 Million Pact With Teachers

With a unanimous vote Thursday night, the Pottstown School Board approved a three-year contract with the teachers union that will add just over $1 million to the budget over the course of the contract.

The Federation of Pottstown teachers voted in favor of the contract on Tuesday, said School District Solicitor Stephen Kalis.

No increases to the pay scale are included in the first and third years of the contract, instead putting more money in teachers pockets by moving them up one step on the existing pay scale, Kalis explained.

In the second year of the contract, increased pay rates are included in the salary steps, but not uniform increases, said Business Manager Maureen Jampo.

Also during the second year of the contract, teachers will also see a move forward in the steps, but not until half the school year has passed.

The higher pay scale and forward step motion averages out to a 2.13 percent pay hike in the contract's second year, said Jampo.

Robert Decker, a high school math teacher who spoke Thursday on behalf of the Federation, said like in the previous contract negotiation "a lot of work was put into more evenly distributing the increases across the scales."

What he means is that in the contract's second year, the pay scale increases are tilted in favor of newer teachers who will see their pay increase more quickly than in the past when many of the larger gains were enjoyed by those with more years of service at the higher pay scales.

One reason both sides of the negotiating table pursued this goal is the high teacher turnover the district has seen in recent years, years in which Pottstown was reported to have the lowest average teacher salary in Montgomery County.

That, combined with a teacher shortage as fewer and fewer college graduates opt to pursue a career in education, has resulted in many Pottstown teachers being lured away to higher-paying districts.

On the same day this contract was approved, USA Today reported passage of a bill in Illinois to raise the minimum teacher pay to $40,000 by 2023, in part to addresses a shortage of teachers in that state.

State law requires Pennsylvania school districts to pay teachers at least $18,500 a year — a rate that hasn’t been updated in 30 years.

In June, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported "the average teacher in Pennsylvania earned $67,535 per year during the 2017-2018 school year, according to a PA Post analysis of Department of Education data. But some 3,200 teachers, mostly in rural districts and small cities, make less than $45,000 annually, according to the Department of Education."

In 2017, the average Pottstown teacher salary was just over $58,000.

"In his February budget address, (Gov. Tom) Wolf called for a one-time, $14 million allocation to bring the teacher pay floor to $45,000 per year. Of the 500 districts statewide, 180 would receive subsidies under Wolf’s plan to give raises to teachers currently making less than that," the Capital-Star reported.

The proposal was not adopted by the state legislature in the final budget.

Low pay is one of the factors contributing the fewer students choosing teaching as a career. 

Last month, the Observer-Reporter newspaper reported that "since 2009, the number of newly issued in-state instructional teaching certificates has dropped by 71 percent, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education."

"Pennsylvania used to issue licenses to more than 14,000 new teachers annually. In 2016-17, the state issued 4,412," reporter Karen Mansfield wrote.  

Last summer, the Pennsylvania Department of Education awarded about $2 million in grants to eight universities to develop and implement yearlong residency programs for teachers and principals, in order to increase and retain teachers and school leaders, according to the newspaper report.

Last week, Pottstown Schools Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez said the district hired 44 new teachers for the school year that starts Monday, which he said is "one of the largest freshman classes" in district history.

"If an organization is to grow, it has to be stable, consistent and focused," Decker said during his remarks to the school board. "This year we have one of the largest group of new teachers we've ever seen. When employees feel valued, it reduces the endless cycle of hiring and training."

Contract Specifics

Jampo said the overall financial impact of the new teacher contract on the budget is $1,030,000 over three years.

In the first year of the pact, which begins with the first day of school Monday, the financial impact is $272,000. In the second year, the fiscal impact is $300,000 and rises to $447,000 in the third and final year.

Kalis said the hourly rate for non-instructional duties, but not including extra curricular activities, was raised from $29 to $30, the first time it has been raised in 12 years, said Decker.

The contract also raises from $40 to $50 per day the amount that retiring teachers get paid for unused sick days. That is the first time that rate has been raised in 25 years, Decker said. The maximum number of days that can be claimed remains at 300 days.

The contract also contains a retirement incentive that offers a $5,500 premium in the contract's first
year and in the second and third year would deposit a lump sum of $25,000 in a retirement account, a measure which Kalis said saves taxpayers $30,000 per teacher.

Medical insurance remains essentially the same, with teachers contributing 20 percent of the premium and 5 percent of the prescription premium, with no co-pay. However the contract does add a program that allows teachers to buy more medicine in bulk from on-line companies, but will cost teachers more, said Decker.

Teachers who get their health insurance through a spouse will be paid 25 percent of what their premium would have been had they taken on the district's lowest cost health plan, said Kalis.

The contract expires on Aug. 31, 2022.

Feedback and Transparency in Pottstown Schools

Last month, the Pottstown School District asked folks to take a survey about their efforts, their successes and where they could do better.

Last night, Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez gave a brief overview of the results, which will be posted shortly on the district website, if they are not there already.

The purpose of the 30-question survey was "to learn more about current perceptions of the district and our communication efforts. We want to determine how we can improve our communication and interaction with key stakeholders," Rodriguez said when the survey was released.

Among the more interesting results, was the fact that most of those who responded were satisfied with the district's early education offerings "but that seems to fall off in the secondary level, which is something we're going to have to work on," Rodriguez told the board.

He was saddened, Rodriguez said, to find that many in the survey do not believe their tax dollars are spent appropriately, although they also strongly approve of the district's advocacy efforts to fully implement the fair funding formula which would add more than $13 million to the district's bottom line each year.

To Stream or Not to Stream

ON another matter that has been brewing with the school board for some months is the question of live-streaming committee meetings on Facebook.

The irony of the fact that some board members were resisting the idea of live-streaming a committee meeting when the very board meeting at which the discussion was itself being live-streamed on Facebook was not lost on all.

Further irony could be found in the fact that having just digested the results of a survey meant to bolster communication with the public, a survey in which their constituents reported that they want more information about the operations of the school district, some members continue to resist doing just that.

Raymond Rose argued that the public deserves transparency from the board.

Kurt Heidel argued that many of those who come to (and watch the livestream of) full board meetings feel confused because the discussion has all occurred at the committees and the votes occur without discussion. "They tell me it seems like we've all made up our minds beforehand," he said.

John Armato, who in addition to being a school board member is also its unpaid director of community relations, took up these theme with a vengeance.

"We ask those people every year for $40 million; they entrust us with about 3,200 of their young people. Tonight we just voted on 16 items by consent and no one watching knows how we reached those decisions," Armato said. "I feel very deeply that we owe them this transparency."

Susan Lawrence said talk at committee meetings is very open and non-structured, including from parents and teachers who attend, but some might not feel as free to speak their minds if they knew the meeting was being live-streamed.

Kim Stilwell took another tack, saying despite the fact that the issue first came up in a public relations committee meeting; and was discussed by the full board at their July workshop meeting, that "not everyone has had their say."

This patently ridiculous claim was based on the fact that the issue had never officially appeared on a committee meeting agenda. "I believe strongly in the committee system," said Stilwell.

Well, she got what she wanted. 

With Community Relations Committee Chairwoman Katina Bearden saying she supports the move, but only wants the board to do its "due diligence" in adopting rules for the livestreams, the matter was tabled to her committee for further discussion.

Heidel, who chairs the Finance and Facilities Committee, said he will put the matter on his committee's agenda as well and pursue live-streaming that committee, even if the board ultimately decides against livestreaming the others.

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

Surveys and Live-Streams

Pottstown Packs a Punch at Fair Funding Rally

Photo by Evan Brandt

Many of those who packed three buses from Pottstown for yesterday's Fair Funding rally met out front of the capitol building first. They were welcomed by state Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-146th Dist.

One might be forgiven if, while strolling the halls of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Wednesday, you mistook it for downtown Pottstown.

After all, there were so many Pottstown people there, three buses worth in fact, that it may well have been the single largest contingent from any school district to show up to fight for fair educating funding.

Photo by Evan Brandt

Why do these Pottstown students (and one teacher) who took time 

out of their summer to fight for what's right deserve less of an
education than those in a wealthier district? Answer: They don't.
They are, from left, early education teacher Naimah Rhodes,
Trinity Rhodes-Fisher, Jesus Charriez, Grace Bainbridge,
Kyleaf July, Isabelle Dupon and

Heaven Charriez.

I mean Philadelphia is a bigger school district, but as I understand it, they only filled one bus. Not that we're bragging, but it's safe to say that while Pottstown may be one of the smallest of Pennsylvania's 500 school districts, its voice could be heard from one end of the capitol to the other Wednesday.

That may well be because Pottstown is the sixth most-underfunded school districts in Pennsylvania.

Were the "fair funding formula" adopted in 2016 to be applied to all state education funding, Pottstown would have $13 million more every single year to pay teachers, implement programs and (gasp!) LOWER its ridiculously high property taxes.

To be sure, Pottstown's was not the only voice ringing through the rotunda Wednesday.

Don't believe me? Look and listen for yourself:



And if you're wondering what "Whose side are you on?" refers to, consider that research by POWER Interfaith, the state-wide activists who organized the rally, has shown that the whiter a school district is, the more money it gets per-student under the current funding mechanism.

"How can that be?" you ask. "What about the fair funding formula?" A good question, but the answer

Photo by Evan Brandt

It was not hard to spot "We Are Pottstown" shirts in yesterday's crowd.

is a sad one. Due to politics in Harrisburg, home the second largest and second most expensive state legislature in the nation, only 10 percent of state education funding is distributed through that wonderful formula.

As for the rest of it? "The way we've always done it," which is to say unfairly and the exact thing the formula was adopted to eliminate.

I would say more, but advocate and School Board candidate Laura Johnson, who was the only Pottstown person to make it to the microphone, spoke for us all. Here's what she said:

Like so many here today I have some heros.
One of those heroes is an author named Rachel Held Evans.
I found Rachel so inspiring because she was persistently honest in matters of both faith and justice.
Tragically, Rachel passed away last month.

After her death someone shared a handwritten reminder that Rachel had made for herself and posted above her desk:
It said TELL THE TRUTH.
I’m here today because I need to tell the truth.

Photo by Evan Brandt

Laura Johnson of Pottstown speaks at Wednesday's
fair funding rally.

I live in Pottstown Pennsylvania with my husband and our three children.
Our children go to Pottstown School District.

I’ve had the privilege to volunteer and become involved in our schools.

I’ve been able to see that Pottstown’s schools are really something to be quite proud of.

Because, the truth is, we have caring and committed teachers, many of whom stand with us today.

The truth is, we have a wonderfully diverse student population.

The truth is, we have some truly excellent programs.
But since I’m telling the truth,
I need to tell you the whole truth:

As I’ve become involved in our schools, I've learned some troubling news.
The truth is, that the current education funding in Pennsylvania is racially biased.

The truth is, that students in diverse districts like Pottstown are consistently underfunded.

Pottstown’s schools are underfunded by over 13 million dollars every year.

Pottstown teachers and students deserve a fair shake.

That is almost 4,000 dollars per student.

The results are severe.
Our caring and committed teachers are underpaid.
Programs have been cut.

Our students lack the supports and opportunities they need.

Additionally, our economically hurting town has one of the highest tax burdens in the entire state.

Let’s tell the truth:

The lawmakers know there is racial bias in the current funding.

They know we are desperately hurting.
Many of them have some underfunded schools in their own districts.
Some of them, like our own Joe Ciresi, are champions in this fight against injustice.

The Pottstown NAACP visited legislators Wednesday.

Yet for many others, their approach is to be indifferent to it.
They allow the damage to keep compounding year after year because they say it’s not politically possible to fix it.

Let’s tell the truth:
If you are a lawmaker, your job is to ask what is morally and ethically right and use your power to help make it a reality.

To hide from what you know is right in the name of political impossibility is to fail to do your job.

It is time for our political leaders to find the will and the courage to correct this injustice.

It is time to end the racial bias in education funding.

POWER Organizer Nicholas O'Rourke

It is time to pass HB961 to bring 100 percent fair funding to Pennsylvania schools.

And it is time to make clear that children in districts like Pottstown are every bit as deserving of a great education as their peers across the state.

THAT is the truth.

Frankly, I couldn't improve on that.

We'll have more coverage in The Mercury, but for now, here are some more Pottstown voices via video:

Here's what state Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-146th Dist., had to say on the matter:



And members of the Pottstown chapter of the NAACP agree that with $13 million more in state funding the fair funding formula would provide, that Pottstown would be well set to revitalize by saying that the schools had been improved and the taxes lowered.



Here's what Pottstown School Board President Amy Francis had to say on the matter:



"I am so proud of our community," said Marlene Armato, who helped organize Pottstown's passage to the rally. "We came together like nothing I've ever seen before, we had churches, the teachers federation, students, the YWCA, the NAACP, this is something that has really united Pottstown because it's something that would help all of Pottstown."

Estimates calculated that last year's rally brought 600 people to the rotunda. This year, it was 1,000.

The difference, said Pottstown Schools Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez, who spoke at last year's rally "is the difference between throwing a bullet, and shooting one."

Here are the Tweets from the day's events:

Whose Side Are You On?

A Quick Pottstown Meeting With Lots of New Hires

And I didn't think Pottstown School Board meetings could get any faster than last Thursday's.

But Monday proved me wrong.

The meeting was done in 28 minutes.

One of the things that makes that easy is something called "consent items," which are things discussed at the Thursday work session about which there is no disagreement.

On Monday, that constituted 22 items on an agenda of 38 items.

Among them was the hiring of 11 teachers, a new director of technology; a new assistant director of technology; a new director of special education; a new principal, a new assistant principal and the promotion of a 10-month-a-year-assistant to 12 months per year -- all at the middle school; and other assorted hirings.

What didn't happen, was a scheduled 3 percent pay hike for mid-level administrators and principals, support staff and other workers.

That motion was tabled and sent back to the finance committee for further consideration by the request of board member Polly Weand, who last week said she is worried the community cannot afford the increase. The board voted unanimously to do as she asked.

The other item of interest was the 5-2 vote to double the district's contribution to the Pottstown Area Industrial Development Inc., from $10,000 to $20,000.

Board Vice President Emanuel Wilkerson and member Katina Bearden voted no. She said she could not justify the expense.

Board member Thomas Hylton said PAID had done useful things in the past, "but not so much lately. However, he said he was willing to give new director Peggy Lee-Clark a chance, particularly given that the increase would put PAID at a $150,000 contribution, which would then be matched with an equal amount from the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation.

Here are the Tweets from last night's meeting.

No Tax Hike, Leadership Vacuum at Middle School

Issues at Pottstown Middle School were front and center again at Monday night's school board meeting.

At this point, it hardly bears mentioning that the Pottstown School Board adopted its third consecutive final budget without a tax hike Monday night. It hasn't changed much since it was first presented more than a month ago

Monday night there were no questions or comments from the public, or the school board for that matter -- at least the school board that was there.

One might suppose that adopting a $62 million budget -- the single most important act a school board undertakes -- might at least attract interest from the board members themselves.

But only five of the nine members showed up Monday -- the absolute bare legal minimum for passing a budget.

It is surely a coincidence that none of the four who were absent -- Kim Stilwell, Polly Weand, Emanuel Wilkerson or Ron Williams -- are up for reelection this fall.

But on to more important things.

Michael DiDonato, middle school teacher and vice president of the Federation of Pottstown Teachers, triggered an overdue public conversation when he said the union is concerned about behavior problems at Pottstown Middle School.

Matthew Boyer, the principal of the fifth and sixth grades has left for greener pastures as principal of Pottsgrove Middle School and Thursday's agenda revealed that David Todd, the principal for the seventh and eighth grades has also tendered his resignation.

No word on where he is headed.

DiDonato pointed to a 50 percent staff turn-over in recent years; sky-high referrals to the guidance office and nurse; a record number of staff injuries "in the line of duty" and rampant disrespect and violence among the student body.

Board member Kurt Heidel even said his daughter's pending entry to the middle school "is a fear for my entire family."

DiDonato said the teachers appreciated the appointment of Beth Berkhimer as "dean of students in the middle of the year," which helped, and said the staff remains pledged to helping improve conditions any way they can.

I guess we'll see where it all goes from here.

That said, here are the Tweets:

Focus on Education at PottsTown Talks Forum

Fuzzy inadequate photos by Evan Brandt

From left, Federation of Pottstown Teacxhers Vice President Robert Decker, president Beth Yoder and Vice President Mike DiDonato discuss the challenges faced by the Pottstown School District and why they have the best students on the planet, at least according to Decker.

The next in Pottstown School Board member Emanuel Wilkerson's ambitious PottsTown Talk series was held Tuesday night with moderate turn-out and maximum enthusiasm.

The subject this month was education and a series of speakers talked about the advantages of each of their educational institutions and efforts.

Representatives from the Federation of Pottstown Teachers, the Pottstown School District administration, Pottstown Early Action for Kindergarten Readiness and Montgomery County Community College were present.

Montgomery County Community College teachers presented at

Tuesday night's PottsTown Talk.

There was a decided public education flavor to the presentations given that The Hill School and The Wyndcroft School, both of which are also in the borough, were not represented.

Much of the college presentation was focused on its arts programs, music, dance and theater; how successful careers are built in those fields; and how the community college prepares students for success in four-year colleges.

Valerie Jackson, PEAK's new community engagement coordinator, talked about the many initiatives the nationally recognized early education partnership have undertaken.

Newest are the effort to deal with the impact trauma has on children and families, and their ability to learn, as well as a brand new program that aims at helping healthy brains grow in children before they are even born.

Stephen Rodriguez, acting superintendent

of the Pottstown School District.

The teacher federation focused on its outreach efforts to better connect with the Pottstown community. High school math teacher Robert Decker emphasized that many of the district's teachers are there because they want to be.

"I would not want to teach anywhere else," said Decker. "Our students are the most polite, most respectful I have seen, compared to some others I have seen from wealthier districts."

Fifth grade teacher Michael DiDonato emphasized the important the federation places on fair funding for education, and its attempts to advocate for change in Harrisburg to enact it faster.

Last up was Stephen Rodriguez, the acting superintendent of Pottstown Schools.

He talked about the many ways in which Pottstown is an excellent school district, how often that excellence is recognized; the thriftiness it exercises with taxpayer dollars and the many opportunities the district offers.

Wilkerson said the purpose of Tuesday night's meeting was to highlight the partnerships in the community and to demonstrate a foundation on which future education forums would be built.

There were no questions taken from the audience.

Here are the Tweets and video from the meeting

Save the Lights Receives $15,000 in Donations

Photos by Evan Brandt

School board member and head Save the Lights fundraiser Polly Weand, in blue, accepts a $5,000 donation from members of the Federation of Pottstown Teachers during Monday night's Pottstown School Board Meeting.

You might call it the night of the big checks -- literally and figuratively.

At Monday night's school board meeting, two checks totalling $15,000 were presented to the Save the Lights effort to replace the night lighting at Grigg Memorial Field.

Myra Forrest with the framed, oversized check from the

Frances Chapin Philanthropic Fund presented Monday 

to the Save the Lights fundraising campaign.

The donations came, but were likely planned long before, a story in yesterday's Mercury outlining that with the pull-out of a $1 for $1 matching donor, the effort still has $130,000 to reach the $300,000 goal to replace the lights.

The donations received multiple thanks from the board members and Weand said she was truly surprised by the teacher contribution.

"I had a feeling I might be getting a check from Dr. Forrest," said Weand ... (perhaps because it was listed on the agenda ... ahem) "but I am truly surprised by this generosity from our teachers. Who should I hug?" she asked with a laugh.

There were a few other items of note -- such as the delaying on moving forward with a long over-due upgrade to the fields along North Franklin Street that could cost as much as $300,000.

Also, a concerned parent said the district's bullying policy "is a joke" and that her child has been bullied since the third grade and the district seems powerless to do anything about it.

Board member Katina Bearden said her daughter had also been bullied and she and board member Amy Francis both said the district's policy needs to be re-examined and possibly strengthened.

But you can find it all in the Tweets below....

Pottstown Bids Good-bye to Jeff Sparagana

Photos by Evan Brandt

Pottstown School Board President Kim Stilwell, right, and board member Ron Williams, left, present retiring Superintendent Jeff Sparagana with a resolution thanking him for his service and a plaque to the same effect during Monday night's school board meeting.

Judging by the size of the agenda, one could be excused from thinking that Monday night's school board meeting would be a long one.

With presentations by the Foundation for Pottstown Education and the adoption of an historic second consecutive budget without a tax hike, one might have expected a long night.

But with brisk efficiency uncharacteristic to most school board meetings, things moved along quickly, helped perhaps by a single unanimous vote that took care of 20 items on the agenda in one fell swoop -- not that I'm complaining.

The budget was adopted unanimously and without comment for fanfare.

Here are a few of those Early College graduates.

The bulk of the meeting was devoted to the foundation's presentation, most particularly those students who have benefited from the early college program and are graduating high school with their first year of college under their belt.

But we would be remiss if we failed to mention the night's main event, saying goodbye to Schools Superintendent Jeff Sparagana, who retires in just three days after 23 years with the district. It was his last meeting.

As you can see in the photo above, the board adopted a resolution which, among other things, thanked him for bringing "his knowledge, passion and tireless to every endeavor undertaken for improving the education opportunities and overall well-being of the students attending Pottstown School District and their families."

 "Your commitment and dedication has made a difference and your legacy will live on through the many lives you have touched," read the plaque.

Board member Amy Francis complimented Sparagana by noting that one of his favorite sayings -- "the harder you work, the luckier you get" -- is now a mantra in her household.

As usual, coach that he is, Sparagana tried to reflect some of the gratitude and attribute that sense of accomplishment to the entire team.

(You can see the full content of his comments here:)



"Some of the comments this evening were really terrific and I really appreciate it, but I think that its about us; how we have functioned together for the last four years; how we have done some things collectively with borough government to bring people to the same table and sit together, listen and talk and solve problems," Sparagana said in his final remarks.

He noted that boredom was never an option, given that in his 23 years in the district, he changed positions 11 times, if you could the two "acting" posts he took one.

"I never expected to sit in this seat, I never planned on it. I didn't leave to go other places, because I loved the work I was involved in," he said. "Building the  PEAK program and some of the other things we were doing at the time, I just never really thought about anywhere else."

We here at The Digital Notebook wish Dr. Sparagana the best.

His motives have never been in doubt. He has always been, in our experience, fair-minded, took criticism in stride and never personally, and focused on the improvement of the school district and the community.

As he said when a reporter wished him well: "this is a good place."

Here are the Tweets from the meeting:

A Healthy End to Pottstown Schools' Fiscal Year

Thursday's school board meeting was blessedly short, about an hour.

Which is not to minimize the importance of the action they are about to take Monday, which is to adopt the second consecutive budget that does not raise taxes.

Given the financial difficulties placed upon our school system by the state's extremely broken funding system for education, that is a pretty remarkable achievement.

Linda Adams, the district's business manager who engineered this feat, likely will be rewarded with a new salary of $139,225 by a vote of the board Monday night.

That's a .8 percent salary hike from her current salary of $138,119 which, if you ask me, is a small price to pay for two consecutive zero tax-hike budgets, something unheard of in most of Pennsylvania.

Also unheard of for most of us not in public education are payments for unused sick time. But as Superintendent Jeff Sparagana prepares to leave the district, he will enjoy a $38,523.57 payment for unused sick time.

His makes up more than half of the $67,043 that the board will likely vote to approve Monday in payments for unused sick time.

Also earning a tidy reward for remaining healthy will be Taffi Wolf, the district's retiring technology director, who will receive $13,940 for unused sick time.

Retiring special education director Pamela Bateson will enjoy a payment of $6,950 for the sick days she did not use.

Its in their contract, so they are entitled to the money, but I sometimes wonder why I did not decide to feed at the public trough and get rewarded for staying healthy.

Anyway, the school board declined to discuss any of this, so its probably not important.

Here are the Tweets of the things the school board thought worthy of public discussion at a meeting hardly anyone attended.

Teachers of the Year, and a Softening of Tone

Photo by Evan Brandt

OK, so they're not The Avengers but what they do can be just as heroic, they are Pottstown School District's Teachers of the Year. In the center is Ben Hayes, Pottstown Middle School music teacher who was named the district's teacher of the year. From left are the other nominees from their respective buildings: Deena Alexander from Barth, Eileen Basham from the high school, Michael Koman from Lincoln, Darla Stout from Franklin, Debbie Wilson, also from the middle school, and Nicole Leh from Rupert. They are congratulated by Superintendent Jeff Sparagana and School Board President Kim Stilwell. 

It's that time of year.

For whatever reason, spring is award season.

So, the Pottstown School Board meeting Monday was full of them.

First and foremost was the high schools Air force JROTC program winning the Outstanding Unit Award for the 18th straight year.

The district's music department receives its award.

And then Tom Kelly from Zeswitz Music presented the district's music educators
with an award from the National Association of Music Merchants, naming them as one of only 400-plus districts in the entire country to be recognized for their music program.

State Sen. Bob Mensch presents Jeff Sparagana with

a proclamation from the state Senate.

Then it was time for state Sen. Bob Mensch, R-24th Dist., who stopped by not to explain why he's done nothing to fix Pennylvania's completely skewed education funding system, but to give an award to Superintendent Jeff Sparagana who, I suspect, would rather that Mensch fixed the funding system than hand him another nice proclamation.

Then it was on to the annual Teachers of the Year ceremony.

Some of the students and teachers who went on the recent AP Government trip to Eastern Europe reviewed their travels and lessons learned.

Then the school board did some quick stuff, like adopted its second consecutive budget that will not raise taxes as well as vote to make human resources director Stephen Rodriguez the interim superintendent and guarantee him a job as assistant to the superintendent when a new superintendent is found.

Polly Weand was not happy, and said so.

But what I found interesting about last night's meeting, for what that's worth, is that everyone on the ongoing discussion about funding, salaries and teacher contracts seems to be coming closer together in terms of position, even if from different perspectives.

Let's see if it turns into anything.

Anyway, here are the Tweets:

Dueling Salary Info at Pottstown School Board

Its hard to know where to start when you weren't there from the start.

Thursday was a rough day in PottstownNewsVille because there were two meetings I needed to attend at the same time.

So I did what any self-respecting self-loathing local journalist would do, I went to both.

Yesterday loyal Digital Notebook readers read about the relatively straightforward news of the appointment of a new township commissioner and new police officer in Lower Pottsgrove.

Things at the Pottstown School Board were a little less straightforward, due largely to Internet engineers.

I have been using an app on my iPhone to broadcast live video. It's called Periscope.

As is inevitable in our technologized world, engineers decided that something that worked just fine needed an update so it no longer would. (Engineers, undermining customer satisfaction one app at a time.)

End result for you dear reader? Three videos featuring impassioned speeches by members of the Federation of Pottstown teachers are now lost to the cyber-ether.

Periscope videos only live for 24 hours and the only way to preserve them for later viewing is to save them to the camera, and then upload them to YouTube; which is what I have been happily doing over the past few months.

Well, the update hid the "save to camera" option in a place where no one who is not an engineer would look for it. End result? They're gone now.

The good news is I used the mighty Internet to find out how to prevent that from happening again.

Ironically, because my iPhone was fritzing out from all the live video, the only way to record what School Board President Kim Stilwell said at the end of the meeting was to record it the old fashioned way.

As a result, it is the only video you will see in the Tweets below.

But thems the breaks of live coverage peeps.

Roll with it.

Technical problems aside, the news out of the school board boils down to the fact that after months of hearing about stagnant salaries, the administration, through Stilwell, shot back with some salary info of its own.

Cluster Offers to Pay Some School Taxes Too

Super Cool Panoramic Photo by Evan Brandt's iPhone

Green-shirted members of the Federation of Pottstown Teachers stood for nearly an hour Monday night as teachers, students and parents testified to the school board about how a particular teacher had changed the lives of students.

The latest tactic by the Federation of Pottstown Teachers in their ongoing efforts to pressure the school board into a settlement that includes raises was unveiled Monday.

A total of 14 speakers -- teachers, parents, students and teachers reading student letters -- took to the lecturn Monday night to talk about the value of teachers.

But while that is significant, and will be addressed in an upcoming Mercury article for how it intertwines with a salary dispute on the board, it was not the most significant news of the night.

Also on the agenda was the Pottstown Cluster of Churches and their pending zoning hearing regarding the non-profit's use of 61 N. Franklin St.

Already rebuffed by Borough Council, which voted 6-1 earlier this month to oppose the zoning relief, the Cluster turned to the school board and, in a change of position, offered to pay 25 percent of their school property tax bill in the same way they had pledged to pay 25 percent of their borough property tax bill.

It would amount to about $1,000 out of a $4,009 tax bill, said Picardi.

The Payment In Lieu of Taxes offer, called a PILOT, was no more effective an offer with the school board than it was with council.

Once board member Thomas Hylton made plain that from 2008 to 2014, Cluster revenues jumped from $341,000 to $1.8 million in just six years, there seemed to be little appetite on the board to support the zoning request.

Hylton pointed to Cluster attorney Kenn Picardi that the school district "is in the lifting people out of poverty business" and that public education has a much broader impact on lifting people out of poverty than any of the Cluster education programs.

"I think we need to make a strong statement to the Cluster," Hylton told the school board in making a motion to send a letter to the zoning board in opposition to the zoning relief sought by the Cluster.." $1.8 million in revenue and they can't pay $5,000 in taxes?"

Hylton's motion to send the letter of opposition was approved unanimously.

Now, here are the Tweets, videos and links from the meeting.

Meetings Don't Get Much Shorter Than This One

Mike DiDonato addressed the Pottstown School Board.

I would like to tell you that this is a news-filled post, overflowing with insights, surprises and newsflashes.

But then I would be lying to you dear reader.

And I try not to do that.

The truth of the matter is, this meeting was over in 25 minutes and there is little new to report that wasn't reported in our previous post or in The Mercury on Sunday.

The one new thing that happened is that someone, FINALLY, showed up to offer ideas on how to save money.

However, that person is someone who would have been there anyway, Federation of Pottstown Teachers Vice President Mike DiDonato.

Which is not to say his suggestions were not welcome or useful. They were short. In essence, he suggested that a blog or some sort of electronic suggestion box be embedded in the district's web site, to allow people to make suggestions.

Also, the board voted 7-2 to hire a new director of technology to replace the retiring Taffi Wolf.

Here are the Tweets, such as they are:

Hometown Pottstown Teachers Stand and Deliver

Photo by Evan Brandt

Members of the Federation of Pottstown Teachers stand while Lincoln Elementary School teacher Kristin Lafferty addresses the Pottstown School Board Thursday night.

Once again, the Federation of Pottstown Teachers provided the headlines at the Pottstown School Board meeting.

This time, two members of the union, both of whom live in Pottstown and one of whom was also born, educated and raised here, took to the podium and, when they did, all green-shirted federation members stood in unison.

They talked to the school board how long they have worked at the district and how little their pay has risen, how they can no longer afford to live in Pottstown and how unappreciated it makes them feel.

The district is in the midst of negotiating a new contract with the teachers.

You can see video of the presentations by high school social studies Maureen Rieger and Lincoln Elementary School first grade teacher Kristin Lafferty in the Twitter feed below.

You will also be able to see video not only of the comments by federation vice president Mike DiDonato, but also by high school math teacher Robert Dekcer, who was the producer for The Wiz and reflected on the rewarding experience.

Without further ado, here are the Tweets!

With or Without You

With all the carping on social media and elsewhere, one might think that all those who know best; those who "fight when you're right;" who call in to Sound off as "one who knows," and the legion of other Facebook know-it-alls, would have flocked to a meeting last night held specifically to hear what qualities and skills people think a new schools superintendent should have.

One would be wrong.

The only person in the room for the meeting Thursday night who was not a member of the school board, a member of the teachers union, a member of the administration or a reporter, was the wife of a school board member and a former school board member.

The people who will recommend your new superintendent:

From left, Bradley Landis, Tina Viletto, John George.

I have to give the school board credit.

Criticized (here and in other places) for not being open enough with the public, they not only allowed people to post from their posteriors (with on-line survey), but also set up a special meeting to let the public have their say.

In fact, John George, the Superintendent of the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, which is conducting the search, made a point of saying "the board wanted to make sure the public had an opportunity to have a say."

It's not hard for a cynic to guess what happened.

Offered the opportunity to have a meaningful discussion on a position that will oversee a budget responsible for two-thirds of their tax bill and guide the programs which will shape their children's future, Pottstownians punted.

My money is on "It wouldn't make any difference anyway," as the most often used rationalization for taking no part when it matters.

But by all means, lecture us all next week or next year in easily mustered righteous indignation when something happens you don't like.

Just remember, you had the chance to have a say and you blew it off.

Here are the Tweets about how the next schools superintendent will be chosen, with or without you.

A Teacher Walk-Out in Pottstown .. Sort Of

Photos by Evan Brandt

OK. so yes, I'm overusing the panorama function on the iPhone since I discovered it. S sue me. Anyway, here are the Federation of Pottstown Teacher members in their inescapable green shirts before Monday's Pottstown School Board meeting.

So loyal readers of my blog, as I know you all are, you know that last night was kind of a harmonic convergence of community meetings.

Twila Fisher addresses the Hobart's Run meeting

At 6 p.m., The Hill School's Hobart's Run neighborhood revitalization effort had its kick off meeting at The Ricketts Center.

I was there for about 45 minutes of it.

Then I had to pull-up stakes and head over to the school board meeting at 7 p.m.

That means I was not able to cover the "Rock the Block" meeting which occurred at 7 p.m. at the Victory Christian Life Center.

Anemic staff levels that we have at The Mercury, no one else was available to cover that, so I'll have to catch up later.

But you're probably wondering about that headline.

Well, before I explain it to you let me amaze you with the fact that my passionate and marginally sarcastic plea in yesterday's post urging people to get involved had mixed results.

More than 50 people attended the Hobart's Run meeting and it was standing room only. I'm not saying I take credit for it, but there it is.

But at the school board meeting, where the public was invited to offer suggestions for cutting costs, not one person showed up, signed up or offered a single suggestion.

Who did show up, was a boat-load of Pottstown teachers, more than three dozen I would estimate.

But they didn't stay long.

They were there, in all likelihood, to protest the $90,000 administrative re-organization plan revealed to the full school board Thursday and featured in a previous blog post and in Sunday's Mercury.

But when Superintendent Jeff Sparagana said Thursday's discussion had convinced him to pull if off the table and bring it back to the March 2 Personnel Committee meeting (7 p.m. in the district administrative building on Beech Street), there wasn't much to protest.

That is until School Board Member Kurt Heidel began reading from a prepared statement made somewhat moot by the removal of the item in question.

But he pressed on and, it soon became apparent, the teachers didn't much care for what they heard, so they all left.

Together.

All at once.

While Heidel kept talking.

Here's the video:



Afterward, I asked Heidel for a copy of his comments, but he declined to provide them. I only caught some of it.

Then the meeting continued, but not for very much longer as the main event had been pulled from the stage.

So here are the Tweets, and look for a variety of follow-up articles shortly in your hometown newspaper, The Mercury:

Salaries and Sensibilities in Pottstown Schools

Spiffy Panoramic photo by Evan Brandt

Dozens of green-shirted members of the Federation of Pottstown Teachers stand in solidarity as their spokesperson, Franklin Elementary School teacher Lindi Vollmuth, makes her comments to the Pottstown School Board Thursday night.

Goodness there was a lot of the public's money flying around Thursday night in discussions at the Pottstown School Board.

According to preliminary calculations put together by the Federation of Pottstown Teachers, the range of raises proposed in an "administrative re-structuring" included raises ranging from 54.88 percent to 5.42 percent.

All together, it added up to $90,922, according to calculations from a group of people who last year accepted a one-year contract with no cost of living of living increase, no hourly increase and no percentage increase in the steps, but received a 1 percent bonus.

So its probably not surprising that in what was no doubt a pre-arranged show of

Federation of Pottstown Teachers members stand
for Lindi Vollmuth's comments about negotiations.

solidarity, when Franklin Elementary teacher Lindi Vollmuth came to the podium to deliver the "federation remarks," there were suddenly dozens of green-shirt-wearing teachers standing.

Vollmuth said that not only is is demoralizing for teachers to be told there is no money for raises for them while administrators enjoy them, that more than half the teachers have indicated they have considered leaving Pottstown Schools to look for work elsewhere.

By what can only be an unintended coincidence, this plan was floated to the general public exactly four days before the Monday board meeting that the public has been invited to specifically suggest ways the budget could be cut.

Really, I swear I'm not making that up.

(Although there appeared to be some confusion on the part of some board members who were bemoaning the absence of the public at a meeting to which they were not specifically invited.)

The administrative re-structuring, which would install Human Resources Director Stephen Rodriguez into a new "assistant to the superintendent" post among other changes, received what Board Vice President Andrew Kefer called a "heated but civil" discussion among the board.

It began when board member Thomas Hylton read a statement saying he would make a motion Monday to table a vote on the re-structuring plan.

He said given that the district will very shortly be bringing in a new superintendent,  it would be appropriate to give that new leader some input into the new structure.

And in what can only described as the rhetorical highlight of the evening, after board member Ron Williams recalled that in his Navy days, a new commander would always "re-arrange the furniture," Business Manager Linda Adams described herself as "one of those pieces of furniture."

This came after a truly bizarre statement in which Adams said she could envision the new superintendent doing "something unethical" which might require the board to "buy out my contract."

Solicitor Stephen Kalis soothed the frazzled hyperbole when he clarified Hylton's desire as delay, not rejection; and Board President Kim Stillwell raised a salient point when she asked if anyone had asked the person hunting for a new superintendent how a re-organization now might affect the search.

No one answered, which most often means in Pottstown School Board parlance -- "no."

But I don't want to ruin all the fun.

Read the Tweets below and it will be like you were there, except didn't have to miss your favorite Thursday night TV show:

Teachers Give Halloween Treats for Hungry Minds

Members of the Federation of Pottstown Teachers sort books this summer in the Pottstown High School auto shop that were delivered through the First Book organization.

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Federation of Pottstown Teachers. 

There’s nothing scary about Federation of Pottstown Teachers’ Halloween plan to distribute free books to students at the annual Pottstown Halloween Parade on Oct. 28 and at the Pottstown High School Homecoming Game, which is on Halloween night this year, Oct. 31.

FPT, the union representing 240 teachers in Pottstown public schools, partnered with the First Book organization to give 16,000, brand new, high-quality books to students this fall. Every student in the district already received a free book to take home at back-to-school night.

“We thought it would be a spook-tacular idea to give away books instead of candy this year at the

Federation of Pottstown Teachers President

Beth Yoder picking up some of the books that will

be distributed this week.

Pottstown Halloween Parade to continue our efforts to expand our students’ access to books in their homes,” said Federation President Beth Yoder, who teaches art at the high school. “We’ve given away almost 5,000 books already, and children and parents are thrilled to have brand-new books to read at home.”

“We know there’s probably not a ghost of a chance that children will just sit down on High Street and read right there on the spot, but after the parade, when parents are trying to settle their kids down, having a great new book to read together will be a real treat,” said Lindi Vollmuth, Vice President of the teachers’ union.

The annual Halloween Parade is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 28 with a rain date of Oct. 29. Federation members will be wearing their bright green union T-shirts and hauling wagons loaded with books to distribute to children at the annual Halloween Parade and costume contest, which crawls its way up High Street to the Borough Hall.

Two days later, teachers will join the festivities at Homecoming at Pottstown High School at 1 p.m. on Halloween with another batch of books to give to students and their families. There will even be books for the parents this time around.

“There are few things as important to us as encouraging our students to become lifelong learners and avid readers,” said Pat DeWald, a special education teacher at the Pottstown middle school.

Yoder added “Pottstown teachers are committed to getting the tools and resources we need to help our students succeed. That is our union’s mission, and this First Book partnership fits it perfectly”.