Last Tuesday we learned that 14 candidates will be contesting five school board seats in three regions of the Dallastown Area School District.
Then last Thursday Dallastown's superintendent, Stewart Weinberg, put a new budget plan on the table that would not raise property taxes this year.
Are the two things related?
They most certainly are.
The new plan borrows nearly three million more dollars from the district's reserve funds and cuts 80 support positions, mainly teacher aides, from full time jobs (40 hours) to part time time jobs (20 hours).
Just a few months ago when budget plans already involved using some 1.7 million dollars in reserves, it was said that borrowing any more money would hurt the district's credit rating.
What has changed?
What has changed is the credible threat of taxpayer oriented outsider candidates who oppose Stewart Weinberg's agenda being on the ballot in the May primary...
More to come.......
Showing posts with label Dallastown School District. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dallastown School District. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The Dallastown Board Majority Picks A New Business As Usual Member
One thing was certain going into this school board election year at Dallastown.
If longtime board member Earl Miller stood for re-election he would suffer a crushing defeat in Region 3. Taxpayers aren't just angry about his longtime support for higher property taxes and increased spending, but they are also incensed at the massive new intermediate school built right in their own backyard.
Miller's sudden resignation last month opened the door for the tax and spend school board majority to appoint a new member not tainted by Miller's past who could stand for this year's election.
Their pick was Ronald Blevins, who has some impressive credentials as a certified public accountant and a vice chairman and treasurer of the Wolf Organization. He is now a consultant.
But those credentials also establish Mr. Blevins as someone who has worked for York's richest and most influential liberal Democrat, Tom Wolf. Wolf served as Revenue Secretary for former governor Ed Rendell.
Along with Dallastown School District resident and leading York County RINO Louis Appell, Wolf has been in the forefront of efforts to promote liberal-left causes in York County ranging from Planned Parenthood to the attempted eminent domain land seizure at Lauxmont Farms.
The business as usual school board majority (Don Yoder, Mary Shoemaker, Lauren Rock, Kenneth Potter and Fred Botterbusch) cast the deciding votes for Blevins in the second round.
Pro-taxpayer board members Don Jasmann, Margaret Ibex and Carroll Tignall supported Bill Lytle for the seat.
Will Blevins and Lytle face off in the school board primary election for Region 3 in May?????????
If longtime board member Earl Miller stood for re-election he would suffer a crushing defeat in Region 3. Taxpayers aren't just angry about his longtime support for higher property taxes and increased spending, but they are also incensed at the massive new intermediate school built right in their own backyard.
Miller's sudden resignation last month opened the door for the tax and spend school board majority to appoint a new member not tainted by Miller's past who could stand for this year's election.
Their pick was Ronald Blevins, who has some impressive credentials as a certified public accountant and a vice chairman and treasurer of the Wolf Organization. He is now a consultant.
But those credentials also establish Mr. Blevins as someone who has worked for York's richest and most influential liberal Democrat, Tom Wolf. Wolf served as Revenue Secretary for former governor Ed Rendell.
Along with Dallastown School District resident and leading York County RINO Louis Appell, Wolf has been in the forefront of efforts to promote liberal-left causes in York County ranging from Planned Parenthood to the attempted eminent domain land seizure at Lauxmont Farms.
The business as usual school board majority (Don Yoder, Mary Shoemaker, Lauren Rock, Kenneth Potter and Fred Botterbusch) cast the deciding votes for Blevins in the second round.
Pro-taxpayer board members Don Jasmann, Margaret Ibex and Carroll Tignall supported Bill Lytle for the seat.
Will Blevins and Lytle face off in the school board primary election for Region 3 in May?????????
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Lets Get Real About Public School Salaries
Much is being made about deals being cut by unions representing teachers in various York County school districts.
The deals often involve early retirement for some teachers and in the case of one school district (Eastern) the union cut a deal that gives its members small increases of under 2 percent (increases for years of service with top paid teachers getting a $1,000 dollar lump sum).
The bottom line is that after these deals are made, property taxes will continue to go up in those school districts for the 2011-2012 school year starting July 1st.
In Dallastown, where a pay freeze request was made by the district to its teachers, it was estimated that 2.3 million dollars would be saved if all employees from administration on down (union and non-union) took a pay freeze for the next school year.
The offer was rejected by the Dallastown Area Education Association's president.
If the Pennsylvania State Education Association thinks these half way measures are the way to go, they are wrong to think so.
In the real world, people who pay property taxes have lost jobs, had their pay frozen or cut etc. in the recent economic slowdown.
Its time for public school employees in general in York County to "give back to the community" by taking a pay freeze.
And for administration led by the 150-thousand dollar a year league of superintendents its simply time for their pay to be cut up to 10 percent for the next school year.
These steps would be a major step towards eliminating the need for any property tax hikes next year.
In the Dallastown School District, the ten percent cut for administration would easily translate into an additional 400-thousand dollars worth of savings on top of the 2.3 million that would be saved by a pay freeze.
The deals often involve early retirement for some teachers and in the case of one school district (Eastern) the union cut a deal that gives its members small increases of under 2 percent (increases for years of service with top paid teachers getting a $1,000 dollar lump sum).
The bottom line is that after these deals are made, property taxes will continue to go up in those school districts for the 2011-2012 school year starting July 1st.
In Dallastown, where a pay freeze request was made by the district to its teachers, it was estimated that 2.3 million dollars would be saved if all employees from administration on down (union and non-union) took a pay freeze for the next school year.
The offer was rejected by the Dallastown Area Education Association's president.
If the Pennsylvania State Education Association thinks these half way measures are the way to go, they are wrong to think so.
In the real world, people who pay property taxes have lost jobs, had their pay frozen or cut etc. in the recent economic slowdown.
Its time for public school employees in general in York County to "give back to the community" by taking a pay freeze.
And for administration led by the 150-thousand dollar a year league of superintendents its simply time for their pay to be cut up to 10 percent for the next school year.
These steps would be a major step towards eliminating the need for any property tax hikes next year.
In the Dallastown School District, the ten percent cut for administration would easily translate into an additional 400-thousand dollars worth of savings on top of the 2.3 million that would be saved by a pay freeze.
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