Well I was at a loss for words early this morning so I waited until I could get my voice back and put some sense to how Mr. Hellman ended the meeting last night with total disregard to all rules, regulations, guidelines, laws and written policies with regard to political campaigning on school property and during public meetings held on such property. As a parent first and foremost I am so disappointed with his political speech and showing of his flyer while facing the camera before hitting the gavel as to end all comment. I spoke last night on traffic/safety issues that have been outstanding since October 2009 and were brought up again in April 2010. I also asked for the front page of the mv.org page to reflect more of the kids activities and not that of the boards message that was posted on 4/11 and remains on top of the page. I could have mentioned the political undertones of Mr. Hellmans front page school posting but I chose not to since I follow the rules. I could have brought up the titles of the policies and the reasons why I asked Mr. Profy to look into 8 school policies to confirm back if they apply to current administration and school directors but I did not do that (yet). I can mention now how Mr. Hellman spoke to me in the hallway and outside in the parking lot as a parent and taxpayer of the school but I will not go into detail because I do not do that. But I will ask Mr. Hellman to meet with me in private to discuss the incident. If you are going to claim all you did to me last night, I deserve a meeting. Parents are passionate about their children and tax payers are passionate about their money but community members and home owners who happen to be parents and tax payers as well are passionate about the big picture, they are passionate about all topics and issues and make big decisions like choosing to run for school board. Mr. Hellman, as a parent I invite you to meet. Mr. Farrell I thank you for your plea last night for both sides to run a clean campaign.
Beautifully said, Wanda. I wish more of this made the papers.
Note that Gema Duarte asked me for a copy of my remarks and I gave it to her. I wasn't expecting it to be so prominently featured in today's BCCT.
I wish Mr. Farrell's buddy Hellmann could have stuck to Farrell's plea to run a clean campaign.
I told Farrell to his face last night that I think he has a warped sense of morality to overlook his buddies' indiscretions. I told him I'd say anything I ever said on any blogs to anyone's face.
I wasn't there to hear it personally, but heard he later gave Hellmann some grief for his egregious actions at the end of the meeting. So, I'll give Farrell some props for that.
A sincere 2 thumbs up to John DeWilde for providing an informative update as the new I.U. representative. He also refuted some of Mihok, Hellmann, & Buckman's party-line pablum about the I.U. (and the Tech School), which took courage.
We need more of this independent-thinking representation, not Mihok's 6 for 26 (23%) attendance rate and misinformation, and rote repeating of the same old party-line junk.
From BCCT Posted: Thursday, April 21, 2011 5:56 am | Updated: 6:40 am, Thu Apr 21, 2011.
Freshman year safe at least one year CHRIS ENGLISH, staff writer Calkins Media, Inc. |
Bucks County Technical High School will not be eliminating its ninth grade for the 2011-12 school year, but the joint school board that sets policy for the Bristol Township comprehensive technical school isn't making any guarantees beyond that.
"This board is informing everyone that the ninth grade will be part of this school for next year (2011-12)," joint school board President Bruce Prendergast Jr. announced at the start of Wednesday night's meeting.
"However, during the 2011-2012 school year, the board will discuss the consideration of eliminating ninth grade," he continued. "These discussions will start in public shortly after next school year's budget is adopted. Since this has a big impact on this school and our sending districts, an item such as this one will need an in-depth review of the impacts - both financially and educationally - to the community it serves. We will make sure the community is informed as to when those meetings will occur."
The idea of making the school a grade 10-12 institution has been suggested as one way to possibly cut costs at BCTHS. The school draws students from and gets its funding from the six sending school districts, which are Bristol, Bristol Township, Bensalem, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury.
Those sending districts, especially the two smallest ones, Bristol and Morrisville, have struggled to meet their financial obligations to the technical school. Bristol and Morrisville officials have said the funding formula for BCTHS places too heavy a burden on their districts. Morrisville is holding most of its scheduled $767,000 payment for 2010-2011 in escrow in protest over the technical school funding formula.
Bucks County Technical High School is a full-time comprehensive school that offers both academic and technical training so that students don't have to rotate between their home school districts and BCTHS.
In ninth grade, students at BCTHS take academic classes and sample each technical field in an exploratory program that helps them decide which technical field they will enroll in starting in their sophomore year.
That exploratory program is invaluable, said Middletown resident Mary Anne Bender. She has a son who is a junior at BCTHS and a daughter in seventh grade who wants to go there starting in 2012-13.
"I think it's very important you keep the freshman class at the tech school permanently," said Bender. "The exploratory program students go through in their freshman year was crucial to my son because he discovered interests he never knew he had."
Eliminating the ninth grade would also force students to attend only one year at the high schools in their home districts and then leave for BCTHS, Bender added.
"You would be forcing them to go through that first-year adjustment period twice," she said. "That would be very damaging to kids."
Others in Wednesday night's audience also urged the joint school board to drop any thought of eliminating the ninth grade.
But John Doyle, who represents Bristol on the joint school board, said all options must be considered given the current economy, proposed cuts in state funding for public schools and other factors.
"We need to cut back at this school," he said. "Lobby your state and federal lawmakers for more funding so that maybe we won't have to make some of these cuts."
Chris English can be reached at 215-949-4193 or cenglish@phillyBurbs.com. Follow Chris on Twitter at Twitter.com/courierc
How many more times do we have to hear Tech School rep Jack Buckman complain about being "left out of the loop" on the Tech School?
News Flash:
You STOPPED PAYING Tech. Tech lawyered up to get you to pay. You lawyered up against Tech. Litigation is very possible. You may end up either the plaintiff or the defendent in a lawsuit with Tech. It's truly asinine to think that Tech should have you in on Executive Sessions discussing legal strategies against YOU.
Oh, they kicked you off of Committees too? Yes, that's unfortunate. Ask your buddies Bill, Marlys, Al, etc. on the board. They did the same thing to people when they took office in Dec. 2007. It was a jerk move then and it's a jerk move now.
- To the possibility that Bucks County Technical High School next year could shed freshmen, becoming a 10-12 school. This award-winning trade school and community asset deserves our support. Any downgrade should be rejected.
7 comments:
Well I was at a loss for words early this morning so I waited until I could get my voice back and put some sense to how Mr. Hellman ended the meeting last night with total disregard to all rules, regulations, guidelines, laws and written policies with regard to political campaigning on school property and during public meetings held on such property. As a parent first and foremost I am so disappointed with his political speech and showing of his flyer while facing the camera before hitting the gavel as to end all comment. I spoke last night on traffic/safety issues that have been outstanding since October 2009 and were brought up again in April 2010. I also asked for the front page of the mv.org page to reflect more of the kids activities and not that of the boards message that was posted on 4/11 and remains on top of the page. I could have mentioned the political undertones of Mr. Hellmans front page school posting but I chose not to since I follow the rules. I could have brought up the titles of the policies and the reasons why I asked Mr. Profy to look into 8 school policies to confirm back if they apply to current administration and school directors but I did not do that (yet). I can mention now how Mr. Hellman spoke to me in the hallway and outside in the parking lot as a parent and taxpayer of the school but I will not go into detail because I do not do that. But I will ask Mr. Hellman to meet with me in private to discuss the incident. If you are going to claim all you did to me last night, I deserve a meeting. Parents are passionate about their children and tax payers are passionate about their money but community members and home owners who happen to be parents and tax payers as well are passionate about the big picture, they are passionate about all topics and issues and make big decisions like choosing to run for school board. Mr. Hellman, as a parent I invite you to meet. Mr. Farrell I thank you for your plea last night for both sides to run a clean campaign.
Beautifully said, Wanda. I wish more of this made the papers.
Note that Gema Duarte asked me for a copy of my remarks and I gave it to her. I wasn't expecting it to be so prominently featured in today's BCCT.
I wish Mr. Farrell's buddy Hellmann could have stuck to Farrell's plea to run a clean campaign.
I told Farrell to his face last night that I think he has a warped sense of morality to overlook his buddies' indiscretions. I told him I'd say anything I ever said on any blogs to anyone's face.
I wasn't there to hear it personally, but heard he later gave Hellmann some grief for his egregious actions at the end of the meeting. So, I'll give Farrell some props for that.
A sincere 2 thumbs up to John DeWilde for providing an informative update as the new I.U. representative. He also refuted some of Mihok, Hellmann, & Buckman's party-line pablum about the I.U. (and the Tech School), which took courage.
We need more of this independent-thinking representation, not Mihok's 6 for 26 (23%) attendance rate and misinformation, and rote repeating of the same old party-line junk.
From BCCT
Posted: Thursday, April 21, 2011 5:56 am | Updated: 6:40 am, Thu Apr 21, 2011.
Freshman year safe at least one year CHRIS ENGLISH, staff writer Calkins Media, Inc. |
Bucks County Technical High School will not be eliminating its ninth grade for the 2011-12 school year, but the joint school board that sets policy for the Bristol Township comprehensive technical school isn't making any guarantees beyond that.
"This board is informing everyone that the ninth grade will be part of this school for next year (2011-12)," joint school board President Bruce Prendergast Jr. announced at the start of Wednesday night's meeting.
"However, during the 2011-2012 school year, the board will discuss the consideration of eliminating ninth grade," he continued. "These discussions will start in public shortly after next school year's budget is adopted. Since this has a big impact on this school and our sending districts, an item such as this one will need an in-depth review of the impacts - both financially and educationally - to the community it serves. We will make sure the community is informed as to when those meetings will occur."
The idea of making the school a grade 10-12 institution has been suggested as one way to possibly cut costs at BCTHS. The school draws students from and gets its funding from the six sending school districts, which are Bristol, Bristol Township, Bensalem, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury.
Those sending districts, especially the two smallest ones, Bristol and Morrisville, have struggled to meet their financial obligations to the technical school. Bristol and Morrisville officials have said the funding formula for BCTHS places too heavy a burden on their districts. Morrisville is holding most of its scheduled $767,000 payment for 2010-2011 in escrow in protest over the technical school funding formula.
Bucks County Technical High School is a full-time comprehensive school that offers both academic and technical training so that students don't have to rotate between their home school districts and BCTHS.
In ninth grade, students at BCTHS take academic classes and sample each technical field in an exploratory program that helps them decide which technical field they will enroll in starting in their sophomore year.
That exploratory program is invaluable, said Middletown resident Mary Anne Bender. She has a son who is a junior at BCTHS and a daughter in seventh grade who wants to go there starting in 2012-13.
"I think it's very important you keep the freshman class at the tech school permanently," said Bender. "The exploratory program students go through in their freshman year was crucial to my son because he discovered interests he never knew he had."
Eliminating the ninth grade would also force students to attend only one year at the high schools in their home districts and then leave for BCTHS, Bender added.
"You would be forcing them to go through that first-year adjustment period twice," she said. "That would be very damaging to kids."
Others in Wednesday night's audience also urged the joint school board to drop any thought of eliminating the ninth grade.
But John Doyle, who represents Bristol on the joint school board, said all options must be considered given the current economy, proposed cuts in state funding for public schools and other factors.
"We need to cut back at this school," he said. "Lobby your state and federal lawmakers for more funding so that maybe we won't have to make some of these cuts."
Chris English can be reached at 215-949-4193 or cenglish@phillyBurbs.com. Follow Chris on Twitter at Twitter.com/courierc
How many more times do we have to hear Tech School rep Jack Buckman complain about being "left out of the loop" on the Tech School?
News Flash:
You STOPPED PAYING Tech. Tech lawyered up to get you to pay. You lawyered up against Tech. Litigation is very possible. You may end up either the plaintiff or the defendent in a lawsuit with Tech. It's truly asinine to think that Tech should have you in on Executive Sessions discussing legal strategies against YOU.
Oh, they kicked you off of Committees too? Yes, that's unfortunate. Ask your buddies Bill, Marlys, Al, etc. on the board. They did the same thing to people when they took office in Dec. 2007. It was a jerk move then and it's a jerk move now.
....and the people Bill, Marlys, & Al etc kicked off committees didn't even stop paying anything!
Today's BCCT:
Thumbs Down
- To the possibility that Bucks County Technical High School next year could shed freshmen, becoming a 10-12 school.
This award-winning trade school and community asset deserves our support. Any downgrade should be rejected.
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