Public Forum Wednesday. November 4th, on Decision Affecting Students from Richboro Middle School (Now and in the Future) — and How That Could Impact the Two High Schools

Parents of students attending Richboro Middle School (RMS) — and parents of students in any of the Elementary Schools which feed RMS — may want to be aware of and attend a special forum being held at Council Rock High School South on Wednesday, November 4th. Up for discussion is a plan to alter the [...]

Update on Hatboro-Horsham Teachers’ Contract and Merit Pay

I’ve written a couple of times about the contract negotiations at Hatboro-Horsham, where the School Board is trying to inject some element of merit pay into the salaries teachers receive.  Here is an update from the Intelligencer on-line, posted on the 19th of October, reporting little movement in those contract talks. But the bargaining position [...]

Facilities and Finance Committee Meetings Canceled Tonight — In a Budget Year Like This, Who Needs Meetings?

Among the public meetings the Council Rock School Board holds are committee meetings such as Academic Standards, Facilities and Finance. These occur monthly and are an opportunity for some in-depth discussion and examination of issues, generally in more detail than can be given during the regular Board meetings. I have attended many of these Committee [...]

More on the Sunshine Act and the Public’s Right to Know

As I have posted recently, Council Rock School Board’s adherence to provisions of the Sunshine Act occasionally is less than ideal.  At the October 15th meeting this matter of the Sunshine Act crept up again, this time in regards to notice given about an Executive Session. As a principle, all meetings of School Board officials [...]

Clarification/Correction on State Increase in Basic Subsidy Funding vis-à-vis Council Rock Budget

A week ago I posted about a concern with the Council Rock budget not receiving as much money in the State’s Basic Instructional Subsidy as had been projected, meaning a hit to the School District’s budget for 2009-10. The reason for that post was that Council Rock’s budget had shown an increase of 3.5% from [...]

Accountability and the Sunshine Act

I think it is important for the public to hold its elected officials and Boards accountable for the execution of their duties in accordance with laws, policies, etc.  At the October 1st meeting, I interrupted the Board meeting due to what I perceived to be a violation of the Sunshine Act.  The Board’s solicitor, Derek [...]

Posting of Agenda Attachments for Public Review

Council Rock’s website provides the public access for the upcoming Board meeting agenda.  Most items on the agenda contain an attachment which contains all the details on motions to be made. The Administration has taken the position that certain items will not get posted in advance, such as contracts which are to be signed, because [...]

Pennsylvania State Budget (Finally) Passed — Education Funding Increased (Due to Federal Stimulus Money), But by Less Than in Council Rock’s Budget?

(Follow-up: See this subsequent post regarding amount for Council Rock matching what had been budgeted.) Well, the long process of the State of Pennsylvania to get its budget has been resolved.  Governor Rendell has signed a budget of nearly $27.8 billion.  This caps a process that deadlocked the budget for 101 days.  State-based spending is [...]

Robert Hawkins Trial Scheduled to Begin Wednesday, November 18th

I contacted the Bucks County Court Administrator’s Office to follow up on the trial date for Robert Hawkins, the now former) Council Rock South teacher accused of an improper relationship with a student. As scheduled, his formal arraignment was held on September 25th.  His trial is scheduled to start November 18th at 9:00 a.m., in [...]

Council Rock School Board Passes Policy to Allow Absent Members to Participate and Vote

At the Board meeting Thursday, October 2nd, Policy 006.1 was up for adoption. This is the one which would allow remote participation by members who for any reason couldn’t physically be there. Earlier in the meeting, during public comment I read for the Board excerpts from a document called “Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Law — A Guide [...]