Senators Help Untangle Computer Red Tape for Pottstown School District's Online Learning Efforts

Photo Courtesy of Pottstown School District

Some of the Chromebook computers being issued to Pottstown students to allow them to continue learning online for the remainder of the school year.

Desperately short of computers for students to take home for on-line learning, efforts at the state and federal level were necessary to unshackle the constraints placed on 200 laptop computers the Pottstown School District had on hand but could not use.

Thursday, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey's office announced it had "secured a commitment from the U.S. Department of Education ensuring that students in the Pottstown School District can use laptops purchased through federal funding for at-home learning."

State Sen. Bob Mensch

Through the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant program, Pottstown schools  had recently purchased 200 laptop computers for after-school usage. When Pennsylvania ordered schools to close in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the school district sought to assign these laptops to students to better facilitate at-home learning. "Unfortunately, the district was constrained by the grant’s parameters," according to a press release from Toomey's office.

In response, state Sen. Bob Mensch, R-24th Dist. worked with  Toomey’s office to urge the education department to allow for regulatory flexibility for all schools and districts, given the unprecedented circumstances. 

"Yesterday, the DOE changed its guidance and issued a new clarification to allow for the reallocation of federally purchased resources based on need, such as the laptops in Pottstown," according to a press release from Mensch's office issued Friday.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has everyone across our state facing many unprecedented circumstances,” said Mensch. 

“With schools closing before the end of the school year, districts had to adjust the ways in which they taught their students. Online learning is in place to keep students active and learning, similar to the way they would if schools were still open. It was of utmost importance that the students at Pottstown School District had access to what they needed to have a successful rest of their year," he said.

Pottstown Chromebooks awaiting

distribution.

"A week ago after reaching out to both Senator Mensch and Representative Ciresi, they were able to connect me with Senator Toomey who helped in a favorable decision concerning the use of 21st-century grant devices," said Pottstown Schools Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez. 

"We are grateful to them all. Much needed educational tools will now get in the hands of students and help them continue to develop the skills needed to become successful adults. This is a win for students and community," Rodriguez said. 

"Thanks to our legislators who have been working together to solve these complex problems during very challenging times," he said.

“I was happy to help the Pottstown School District cut through the red tape to ensure their students have access to at-home learning," Toomey said in the press release issued by his office Thursday. "I thank Senator Mensch, the Pottstown School District, and the U.S. Department of Education for working with me on this matter.”

Pat Toomey

Unlike wealthier districts whose students either have computers and Internet access at home, or are able to afford to provide computers to all students, Pottstown schools fell short in all three categories.

"We have some families that have issues with having access to the Internet, but absolutely our number one issue was households not having devices," Rodriguez told the school board during the April 23 meeting held, without irony, online.

One reason is the 2019 median income in Pottstown is $49,377.

Fortunately, as The Mercury reported "April 27, the district had already begun a roll-out, years behind other districts, of computers for all high school students, which is why new learning was able to begin sooner there.

New online learning, as opposed to review of previously taught subjects and enrichment, began for the high school students on April 20.

It was at the middle school that Chromebook computers purchased through the 21st-Century program, were in the buildings, but were not allowed to be issued to the students to take home because of the federal grant rules.

New online learning for the middle school began on April 27.

But it's not until this Monday, May 4, that new learning gets underway for Pottstown's elementary students, nearly a month later than many other wealthier districts in the area.

Ultimately, it cost the district about $1.2 million to get computers into the hands of all students, and teachers trained in how to use the Google systems to teach them.

That effort was helped by an anonymous $60,000 contribution toward the effort, made after the donor read about the district's plight in the April 5 edition of The Mercury.

Interfaith Forum Explores Ways to Combat Hate

Photos by Evan Brandt

Above: Darrell Brown, center, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Paoli, makes a point during last night's interfaith forum on combating racism. At left is Bishop Michael Anthony of Heart of God Church. At right is Tameka Hatcher from the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.

At left: There were about 50 people in the audience at last night's interfaith forum.

If you think this world is getting crazier by the day, and people struggle to connect in meaningful ways, you're not alone.

A lot of people who feel the same way turned out Tuesday night for an interfaith forum held at the Carousel at Pottstown and spurred by  an incident last summer outside the Royersford office of state Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-146th Dist.

A message promoting the Ku Klux Klan was discovered written

in dust outside state Rep. Joe Ciresi's office in August.

In the dust on windows opposite his office, someone had drawn hate symbols, including a swastika and comments about Anne Frank, whose diary written while hiding from Nazis documented the struggles Jews faced during the Holocaust.

He was joined by fellow state legislators state Rep. Tim Hennessey, R-26th Dist., and state Sen. Bob Mensch, R-24th Dist. and the ability of the three to cooperate on legislation that benefits the greater Pottstown area was used as an example of people overcoming their differences for the greater good.

The panel also responded to questions from the audience.

The panelists for the evening were Bill MacGregor of Pottstown Works; the Rev. Dr. Marcia Bailey,
pastor of First Baptist Church in Pottstown; the Rev. Nichole Jackson, pastor of Trinity Reformed United Church of Christ in Pottstown; Bishop Michael Anthony, pastor of Heart of God Church; the Rev. Darrell Brown, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Paoli; Tameka Hatcher, Educational Outreach Coordinator of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and Julia Katz, from the board of governors of Hesed Shel Emet, Pottstown's only synagogue.

Hatcher told the crowd of about 50 that the Human Relations Commission got its real start in the 1950s when a statewide poll of employers showed that most would not employ an African-American even if the worker had an advanced degree. She said Pennsylvania was the fourth state to adopt an anti-discrimination statute.

She said that although no one was ever charged for the incident outside Ciresi's office, profiles of such actors suggest it is a young person who feels marginalized in society. With 36 active hate groups, Pennsylvania ranks eighth in the nation for the number of hate groups operating here according to the Southern Poverty Law Center's database, Hatcher said.

More recently, the Human Relations Commission has been working with its counterparts in Pottstown, with the Exeter School District and in York County, where pro Ku Klux Klan leaflets were left on cars parked outside a theater where Spike Lee's film "Black Klansman" was showing, said Hatcher.

From left, state Sen. Bob Mensch, and state Reps Tim Hennessey

and Joe Ciresi all attended last night's forum.

Her agency does more than fight racism, said Hatcher. She noted that when a Pennsylvania company was purchased by a larger corporation, and became more automated, it began laying off older workers who were said to be unlikely to be able to adapt to the newer technology.

"They were predominantly older white men, and so many of them said to us that they did not believe discrimination really happened in the workplace, that people just didn't want to work, until it happened to them," Hatcher said.

Mensch said the state Senate is currently mulling legislation that would give the Human Relations Commission "more teeth" to combat discrimination, and that could be expanded to also include protections for those discriminated against due to their sexual orientation.

"I'm getting a lot of messages from people telling me not to do it, but those people read too much on Twitter," he said.

Marcia Bailey, center, pastor at First Baptist Church in Pottstown,

makes a point with Nichole Jackson, pastor at Trinity Reformed

United Church of Christ, right, and Bill MacGregor from Pottstown

Works, left, listen.

In fact social media and the wider Internet in general were discussed as ways that keep people from reaching a deeper understanding of each other and, as Bailey noted, "makes it easier for people to be targeted electronically."

Jackson said that attempts at conversation online can go so toxic so quickly that she prefers to speak with people face to face, or at least on the telephone.

She said her conversations with Johnny Corson, president of the Pottstown chapter of the NAACP, have eased her out of her comfort zone.

"Relationships are at the root of everything we do," Jackson said. "It's a humbling experience to hear the pain of another person without getting defensive, but if we can keep coming back to the table, it gets less so."

Those face-to-face conversations are the way to build understanding and break down walls between faiths, ethnicities and beliefs, said Brown.

Even family relationships tend be the path out of hate, said Bailey. She used an example of a family member who reveals that they are gay. "They already love this person, how can they reject them? And then all the pre-conceptions that had about 'those people' melt away," Bailey said.

Bishop Michael Anthony, center, pastor of Heart of God church,

makes a joke while the Rev. Nichole Jackson, left, and pastor

Darrell Brown, right, show their appreciation.

"I truly believe the power of relationships is how we're going to overcome," said Brown. The fact that Pottstown's leaders are having these conversations now; the fact that Pottstown Police Chief Michael Markovich attends Pottstown Ministerium meetings are all important for understanding.

"What happens to a community when they're not prepared, when they can't reach out to their leaders," he said. "One terrible act of violence can tear a whole community apart, unless people in the community can look to their leaders to have their best interests at heart."

Anthony said that this generation of children seems to have by-passed many of the prejudices their parents may hold, knowingly or not. "Kids hang out together without all the hang-ups adults have," he said.

But those children are being discriminated against by a state education funding system that has been shown to short-change school districts with a higher minority population, said activist John Tremble.

Anthony, who works in the school district, said he sees first-hand how Pottstown's school children are

"How do we get people to understand we're just like they are?"

said Julia Katz, right, from the board of governors of Temple 

Hesed Shel Emet.

denied resources wealthier districts enjoy.

"It's about priorities," said Hatcher, who emphasized she was expressing her person opinion and not a policy position of the Human Relations Commission. "The state will end up dealing with these children one way or the other. The question is whether they will pay for it on the educational level, or pay for it at a correctional institution."

"In my tradition, Christianity, we say every child is a child of God. But I think this is a justice issue," said Jackson. "I see children in my congregation who are being denied what they need to grow. And if I don't stand up say its unfair, I can't say every child is a child of God."

Anthony said while it is incumbent upon Pottstown to teach its children "how to be strong in this moment," it is incumbent upon those with the power to right this wrong to act.

"You can't tell me you love me, and then watch me suffering and not do something to help," he said. "Love is an action word."

And with that, click here to read all the Tweets from the forum.

Mulch Spreading, Firm Vetting and Open Gov't

Photo by Evan Brandt

MULCH ADO ABOUT SOMETHING: Upper Pottsgrove Township= Manager Carol Lewis, left, and Commissioners chairman Trace Slinkerd, third from left, thank the entire Pottsgrove High School football Falcons for putting down all the mulch in all the township's parks this spring.

Nine months ago, the Upper Pottsgrove Township Commissioners rejected the bids for a new $2 million public works garage on Heather Place.

Instead, a committee of residents was formed to find a better solution.

That committee no longer exists.

NEW FIRE POLICE OFFICER: Bryan Floyd, right

takes the oath of office as Trace Slinkerd, left, swears

Floyd in as the township's newest fire police officer Monday.

Instead, the commissioners tasked the township planning commission with vetting firms that could provide a more comprehensive review of all the township's building needs.

The planners narrowed it down to two, KCBA Architects of Hatfield, which designed the renovations and expansion of Pottsgrove High School, and Alloy 5, an architecture firm out of Bethlehem.

Monday night, both firms made their best case to the township commissioners. Each firm will undertake the study for about $8,000, although the Bethlehem firm is about $1,200 less, said Commissioners chairman Trace Slinkerd.

Each has fairly extensive experience in municipal buildings and each said they would give an honest assessment without trying to talk the township into an expensive construction project.

Opinion on the planning commission was split, said Commissioner Elwood Taylor, and no clear preference was made evident by the commissioners Monday night.

Instead, said Slinkerd, the board will vote to select a firm to conduct the study next month.

State Sen. bob Mensch, standing, holds up a chart showing how much

of the state budget goes to education and human services during 

Monday night's Upper Pottsgrove Commissioners' meeting.

The board also voted unanimously to hire another police officer, replacing officer Steve Sigoda, who is retiring.

And State Sen. Bob Mensch, R-24th Dist., stopped by for a visit as he does about once a year, talked about the state budget, said the state is not growing because it's business taxes are too high, and fielded a few softball questions from friendly Republicans in the audience and on the board.

He said starting in 2019, the state will begin "performance-based budgeting," which means every line of the budget being audited. He told a Mercury reporter outside, because the reporter's question was not allowed in the meeting, that those audits will be public records available through the Right to Know law, and that the audits would include the legislature's accounts as well.

In another government transparency moment, Commissioner Martin Schreiber, who is also a volunteer fireman, complained that he was told he could not be present for a conference call between township officials, a consultant and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

The call was about the fire department study the commissioners voted to ask the state to conduct last month. Schreiber was told because Slinkerd and Vice President France Krazalkovich were already participating, his participation would constitute a quorum and thus violate the Open Meetings Law.

Schreiber countered that because Krazalkovich and fire officials on the call are all members of the township's fire committee, that a quorum of that group had convened without public notice.

Township Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. confirmed it was an apparent violation of the Open Meetings Law.

But as has been observed more than once at the past two meetings, Slinkerd merely ignored Schreiber's point and moved the meeting along.

Speaking of which, here are the Tweets from the meeting.

Picking a Study Partner

Let There Be (Pottstown Stadium) Lights!

HIP HIP HORRAY! The lights are returning to Grigg Memorial Stadium at Pottstown High School!

Friday night football is coming back to Pottstown this fall.

With a unanimous vote, the Pottstown School Board accepted a $250,000 grant delivered by state Sen. Robert Mensch, R-24th Dist., which will allow new field lights to be erected at the high school football stadium.

The grant came about as the result of lobbying contact Mensch had with Schools Superintendent
Stephen Rodriguez and local businessman Aram Ecke;r and the fact that as the leader of the Republican caucus in the state senate, he had access to funds that other legislators do not.

"He told me he would not forget Pottstown," said Ecker. "And here we have a politician who kept his word."

Stephen Anspach, the district's director of co-curricular activities, said Mensch will not only have a ticket to the first night game at the stadium this fall, "but to every game!"

Mensch, who was on hand at Thursday's school board meeting for the announcement -- along with the entire football team and the ever-present Trojan Man mascot -- said he was impressed with the organization of the fundraising effort and the turnout for the announcement.

"Being in leadership, there are certain benefits, besides the long hours, and I got a call from the majority leaders office who said we have some money from the Department of Education in the form of a grant and we were wondering could you make use of that money," Mensch said.

"And I said of course. And having had conversations with Mr. Rodriguez about the need for the lights, Pottstown was the first school district that came to mind," he said. "Seeing the response here, it makes you feel good that once in a while, government can do something positive."

School board member Polly Weand is hugged by her daughter
after the 

announcement that enough money is now available
to put new 

lights in Grigg Memorial Stadium.

Among those responding to the funding was board member Polly Weand, who has spearheaded the fundraising effort for three years and said in a voice trembling with emotion that "this is a another step in the revitalization of Pottstown."

Moments later, she received a hug from her daughter Betsy.

"This is a re-kindling of the spirit of Pottstown," said Weand, who did not run for reelection to the board in Tuesday's primary election.

School board members thanked Weand and student member Courteney Parry noted that "I remember the first meeting I attended as a new board member, we talked about the lights and seeing your passion on this issue really helped me understand what being a board member is about."

"The lights are back!" declared Rodriguez.

Trojan Man rallies the Pottstown High School football team

in preparation for the announcement that night games will
return 

during the 2017-18 season.

"We did it," said student and football player Aaron Diamond, "and thank you. Thank you Sen. Mensch, thank you Mr. and Mrs. Weand for all that you do.And I also want to thank all the community of Pottstown. We came together and we did something really huge and brought back a great tradition."

It's been three years since that tradition has been in abeyance.

The lights were removed in 2014 after it was determined that the wooden poles holding them up were no longer structurally sound.

The school board at the time determined that $300,000 cost should not be born by local taxpayers when the district struggles financially, and instead a community fund-raising campaign -- Save the Lights -- was born and headed by Weand.

Lawn signs and t-shirts were sold, contributions received from the teachers federation, the Pottstown School Music Association, anonymous donors, the Foundation for Pottstown Education and all the students who paid $1 for "casual Fridays" so they could forego the required school uniform rules.

Kevin Owens, president of the Pottstown Schools 

Music Association addresses the school board Thursday.

But no sooner did the district resolve the issue of lights for one field, problems with another set of field lights were raised.

Kevin Owens, the president of the Pottstown Schools Music Association, outlined the necessity of replacing the aging lights that shine on the "auxiliary field" near the school's tennis courts.

Replacement bulbs for those lights are no longer made or available and the scheduling problems that would ripple through the school and student activities without the lights are many, he said.

Because marching band practice begins in August, the lights are necessary for night practices to take place in the cooler part of the hot summer months.

The lights on Pottstown High School's "auxiliary field" are old

and out of date. New ones can be installed as part of a $146,653

lighting project planned for the high school.

Those night practices, which continue through the year, also allow band members to participate in athletics after school and still be in the band, Owens said.

However, a solution may already be at hand.

Kurt Heidel reported that the school board's facilities committee is recommending the auxiliary field lights be replaced as part of a broader outdoor security lighting project at the high school which facilities director Robert Krippelbauer secured at a cost of $146,653.

Heidel said initially he was opposed to the expenditure, but convinced to change his mind by Anspach's explanation of all the benefits those lights provide to as many as 70 students who are in the marching band.

The board will vote on that expenditure at the Monday, May 22 meeting, along with adopting a preliminary $62 million budget for the 2017-18 school year.

You can read about that in the Tweets below.

Budget Blues and Quid Pro Quo in Upper Pottsgrove

Photo by Evan Brandt

State Sen. Robert Mensch, R-24th Dist., discusses the Pennsylvania budget at the Upper Pottsgrove Commissioners Meeting Monday night.

Bob Mensch says this year's budget discussions in Harrisburg may involve the hardest choices he has ever seen in more than a decade in state politics.

Speaking by invitation of the Upper Pottsgrove Township Commissioners Monday night, he said "we've swept all the corners for revenues. We're at the point now where the budget is hinging on gaming and state stories," neither of which has much to offer over the long term.

"State stores, if we do what's being proposed, is a one-time boost and that's it," he said.

"Gaming is not a growth industry," Mensch warned. "Only about 4 percent of the population gambles. We can expand and put more terminals out there, but we're not really doing anything to grow the economy."

"We're at the point now where, as a state, we';re going to face some increasingly difficult decisions about what we fund and what we don't fund," Mensch said.

"Our revenues are down, primarily our business revenues, our business taxes are down, which means that while the national economy is picking up steam, we're not picking up the same steam because we haven't done what we need to do here in Pennsylvania to encourage business," Mensch said.

You can see the full content of Mensch's comments in this video here:


And while the commissioners discussed a number of subjects Monday night, most of which involved more than $300, it perhaps the bill of $300 which was the most newsworthy.

It seems that when a car show was organized and staged in the parking lot of Pottsgrove Middle School a few months ago, organizers were under the impression there would be no charge.

But weeks later, they received an invoice from the district for $300 because a custodian was on duty because the outside-access rest rooms had to be made available for the event.

That did not sit well with the organizers, township recreation and open space committee and ultimately, the commissioners themselves.

They noted that Upper Pottsgrove spends thousands of dollars each year to upgrade, improve and maintain the soccer fields at Hollenbach Park at the expense of just township taxpayers -- fields made available not only free of charge to the school district, which has students from all three Pottsgrove townships -- but fields to which the district has priority of use.

To add insult to what Commissioners Chairman Elwood Taylor called "an affront," public works supervisor Frank Quinter confirmed that the district has not fertilized the soccer fields at Hollenbach as it had promised to do.

"The township spends thousands of dollars on field maintenance for free use by district and they want to stiff us for $300 bucks," said Open Space Committee Chairman Dennis Elliott in what was perhaps the most pithy quote on that subject.

As a result, Elliott said the Open Space Committee has recommended the commissioners begin exploring the idea of charging the school district for the use of the Hollenbach Park fields.

"Well we don't charge any of the other organizations that use those fields so this could get interesting," noted Commissioners Chairman Elwood Taylor.

Instead, he suggested, it might be better for the township and school district to sit down and try to reach some accommodation.

Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here are the Tweets.

Capital Music

The Pottstown High School Clarinet Ensemble performed recently in the Capital rotunda in Harrisburg.

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Pottstown School District and its omnipresent spokesperson, John J. Armato.

The Pottstown School District Music Department brought their award winning talents to the state

A portion of the Pottstown Middle School Brass Ensemble performs.

capital in Harrisburg.

Students from both middle and high school music departments were accompanied by Ben Hayes and  Nancy Mest as they performed in the Rotunda of the state capitol building as part of the Music In Our Schools Month program sponsored by the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association.

The middle school ensembles performing included brass, clarinet, and flute. 

They were accompanied by the high school flute and clarinet ensembles.

The brass ensemble received a very warm round of applause in appreciation of performing their  version of “Steal Away” and “Amazing Grace.”

“This is a tremendous opportunity for our students to perform in such a prestigious venue as the state

Other members of the Pottstown Middle School  Brass Ensemble.

capitol Rotunda," Hayes said.

"Our students are experiencing a once in a lifetime opportunity that they will remember for the rest of
their lives.”

As an added treat, State Senator Robert Mensch visited with the groups and talked to them about the value of music in our schools and related to them his involvement in music as a high school student. 

He emphasized that many of the habits which he developed as a band member have proved to be valuable to him in his adult life.

All the Pottstown music students in the Capital rotunda.