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 [...]

Amount of Revenue from Sports Admissions that Went to Turf: $24,691

As I pointed out in a post several days ago, part of the money the District claimed came from fundraising actually came instead from a surcharge that was applied to sports event tickets.  The District has been charging this extra cost for three years, and plans to continue.  The additional gate receipts as of July [...]

What Qualifies as Community Fundraising and What Is District-Imposed Revenue?

Since Turf-the-Rocks will continue to require fundraising (either for potential added costs for the North delay or for a field at South), it’s important to keep looking at the issue of “community fundraising” and what sources the District lumps into that total.  After all, it looks better to the public if the District can point [...]

This Is an Overview of Turf-the-Rocks on the Council Rock Official Website?

In looking at the Council Rock website home page, there’s a link in the left column for the Turf-the-Rocks project.  It gets you to a tab called “Overview.”  Earlier this summer amid all the hubbub I clicked there to see what details the project overview captured.  I was surprised that there wasn’t an overview, but [...]

Turf-the-Rocks Delay and Added Costs

As reported here last Friday, the installation of artificial turf was postponed until Summer 2010, as reported in today’s Courier Times.  You can read their article here.  The District’s website carries a statement about potential increased costs, with a reassurance to the public that the extra money won’t be coming out of our pockets. Construction [...]

Turf-the-Rocks Installation Delayed to 2010

The installation of artificial turf at the stadium at Council Rock North was scheduled to occur over the summer and to be ready in time for the start of school and the football season.  Based on project delays and potential impact to the school year and various sports/activities, a decision has been made to delay [...]

Angst Over Turf Delays — Students Getting Concerned

For those of you who may not have seen the article, today’s Courier Times contained a piece about a group of students protesting the timing and delay of artificial turf installation. Concern was expressed that it could jeopardize a variety of events held at the North football field. This would impact the home-game feel of [...]

What’s the Fate of the Synthetic Field at North? Will It Get Done in Time? Will It Cost More?

Yesterday I drove over to Council Rock North for the second time this summer to take a look at the football field to see if there was any work underway with replacing the natural grass with the synthetic stuff.  The field looked as good as always, nothing appeared disturbed yet.  No stripping of the grass [...]

Will Artificial Turf Be Safe for the Life of the Turf?

Council Rock’s powers-that-be have reassured the public that the artificial turf at North’s field will be safe.  Don’t worry, be happy. While the turf may be safe when it’s new and hasn’t been subjected to a lot of wear-and-tear, that doesn’t automatically mean it will stay safe for the ten-year life cycle.  Many of the [...]

Fees from Naming Rights ≠ Community Fundraising!

During the June 17th meeting, a point kept being made that $452,000 had been raised in public contributions.  But that counted $200,000 in naming rights. Naming rights are not public contributions; they are the sale (or rental) of an asset — in this case a taxpayer asset.  Businesses choose to acquire naming rights because they [...]