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Pennsylvania: A textbook and funding formula in need of an update

West Chester Area School Board May Committee Meetings: Education and Property & Finance

May Education Committee Meeting  -all members of committee in attendance,  Board president absent.

 Ian Kerr, WCASD Supervisor of Mathematics and Business Education, gave an informative and interactive presentation, focusing on the need for “vertical articulation” of “common core state standards" in math.  Question from a Board member: What is “vertical articulation” in math?  Answer: Vertical articulation ensures that all areas of common core curriculum are being covered,  from kindergarten upwards, i.e., vertically,  through grade 12.  Mr. Kerr affirmed that while the need to “teach to the test” remains, the “tests are changing”, with      40-45% of Keystone exam material taught by end of Algebra 1.  So, will such vertical articulation become a reality by spring 2013, the proposed date for the Keystone Algebra 1 exam?  Most emphatically yes. Why? Because in our district, the “triumvirate of need”, comprised of involved parents, engaged students and committed teachers, is strongly met.  Thank you, Mr. Kerr, not only for the beautiful turn of phrase, but for validating the positive strength of parents, teachers and students in the district to meet any and all challenges together.   

For more on  PA’s adoption of common core state standards: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/ current_initiatives/19720/common_core_state_standards/792440 

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 Dr. Elisha Ozer, WCASD  Supervisor of Social Studies and Library/Media,  informed us of the adoption of a new  4th grade Pennsylvania social studies textbook,  Pennsylvania, Our Home, published by Gibbs Smith.  The current textbook has been in use since 1998.  Laudatory comments from a board member who, as a parent  “lived through” the current textbook, and cited not only the lack of proper representation of women and minorities  in PA, but  also the need to better convey economic changes in the state.  Another board member questioned the cost and “shelf-life” of the new text.  Book cost is $46.95 and the district requires 1000 copies. Online access of text is available and Dr. Ozer  is confident the book will last up to 15 years.  The updated textbook will also help meet requirements of common core standards. 

Of interest here:  Policy IFAA “Textbook and Core Novel/Non-Fiction Selection and Adoption” outlines the selection process of textbooks. http://documents.wcasd.k12.pa.us/dsweb/Get/Document-879/ifaa.pdf  

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 Dr. Marc Bertrando, Assistant Superintendent/Secondary Education, provided update on student activity fees.  Question from board member: should the board consider adding an “escalation”  provision to activity fee policy so as not to have to revisit fee schedule each year?   General consensus  from board and administration was that the policy will need to be revisited next year to determine impact of fee schedule, thus no such provision was necessary.  

http://home.wcasd.net/files/_cOJ1J_/67a005a89ac4ff8f3745a49013852ec4/ Activity_Fee_Packet_rev051412.pdf

 Superintendent Dr. Scanlon  addressed yet another second reading of Policy LEB “PTO/HSA Guidelines”  with the following updates:

   1.  “Definition” of PTO/HSA now reads:  

All parents/guardians of students registered at a school in WCASD and all administrators, faculty and staff employed at that school.  

 Apparently, this “definition”  was taken directly from the bylaws of a particular district PTO.  Public comment:  some PTO/HSA require dues in order to be a “member” while some do not.  In effect, not ALL parents at ALL district schools consider themselves PTO/HSA “members”.  Also questioned was the inclusion of “administrators, faculty and staff" - are they now covered under Policy LEB?  Conclusion: since  PTO/HSA “memberships” vary throughout  the district, why not revise “definition” to “per individual school PTO/HSA by-laws” ? All agreed…for now.

  2. Addition to “#3. Authority”:  

   4. PTO/HSA may not use school district property and facilities for                          political campaigns.PTO/HSA may host non-partisan Meet the Candidates        events.   

 This distinction allows the use of district facilities and property by other “partisan”  groups in the community. PTOC can continue to host Meet the Candidates events. (For those unfamiliar with PTOC, it is an organization comprised of all district PTO/HSA leadership.  In school board election years,  PTOC hosts a public Meet the Candidates forum at a district high school, inviting all prospective school board candidates.  The intent is simple and most definitely “non-partisan” : afford all candidates the opportunity to introduce themselves, answer questions and  tell the community why it is they want to serve on the school board.)

 The meeting continues with a bit of  “calling out” by board members, accusations that “partisan” literature was indeed distributed by PTO/HSA during “the election”.  Public comment volleys back, asking for evidence of such “partisan” behavior but none provided. Rehashed arguments from both public and board about  the distinction of actions we take as “individuals” vs. “official members” of an organization.

 In the midst of all the election “baggage” surrounding discussion of Policy LEB, one BIG question remains unanswered:  does the school board  lead by example by adhering to comparable guidelines such as those proposed for parent organizations in Policy LEB?  Well, it  appears they do. On the Pennsylvania School Board Association  website, West Chester Area School District is listed  (#404) as “having adopted”  the PSBA  “Standards for Effective School Governance”.  Included in those “standards” is the  PSBA Code of Conduct .  The  following excerpts from that Code are “comparable” to the “non-partisan” provision in Policy LEB:

"Board members should work together in a spirit of harmony,respect and cooperation, despite differences of opinion.  Personal decisions should be based upon all sufficient facts, we should vote our honest conviction, without partisan bias, and we will abide by and uphold the majority decision of the board. Individuals have no legal authority outside the meetings of the board, and should conduct their relationships with all stakeholders and media on this basis.  We will not use our positions as school directors to benefit ourselves or any individual agency."

While one realizes that PSBA guidelines are no more binding than those set forth in Policy LEB, we can at least be assured that the community can hold all board  members accountable to some ‘professional’ guidelines comparable to Policy LEB.  

Check out the entire PSBA “Standards for Effective School Governance”, including the Code of Conduct,  at  http://www.psba.org/issues-advocacy/issues-research/effective-school-governance/ESG-benchmarks_10-06.pdf 

 

May Property & Finance Committee – 3 of 4 committee members in attendance, Board president absent

 Approval of contract with Berkheimer to collect real estate taxes.  This will save the district  a minimum of $50,000/year in operational costs due to the fact that  2012/13 staff vacancies in the business office will absorb the tax office staff, thus avoiding furloughs and unemployment costs.  The only “negative” will be that customers needing  to speak face-to-face with a Berkheimer representative will need to travel to their West Whiteland office.  Fulton Bank will still accept tax payments.

 Approval of Bid Awards - all approved  jobs  are “under budget”

Partial roof replacements at two district schools, including “alternate” bids to fix issues that will worsen with time.   Board question:  Explain  need for “alternate” bids in addition to "base" bids.  Answer from administration:  repairs are less expensive to fix while contractors (in this case, roofers) are mobilized  vs. having contractors come back at a later date for a problem that will inevitably worsen in the near future.  A clear example was provided to the board:  a current “alternate bid” for  $112,000 will cost the district approximately $200,000 if pursued 2-3 years from now.

Additional lockers are needed at district high school at a cost of approximately $16,000.  Included is “alternate” bid for  $790 for 12 locker doors, some to replace damaged and some “extra” in case of future damage.   Board question:  if a student destroys their locker door, shouldn’t that student be liable for replacement cost? Answer from administration: students usually do not destroy their own locker doors, along with reminder that  many community groups rent our school facilities. In the end, high school locker doors get damaged and it is prudent forethought to have a few extra on hand shipped with a large order vs. ordering and shipping individually at a later date.

Second reading of Policy KE: Advertising and Sponsorships, with one major addition  “Construction and Maintenance of Advertising on Property” , basically clarifying what entity is responsible for construction, installation, removal, repair, etc. of advertisements.

Dr. June Garwin, Director of Information Technology, introduced Policy GAO: Intellectual Property, created to “clarify ownership of intellectual property produced within the scope of an employee’s job and to limit where district files may be stored”.  There was much board and public comment here that will be taken into consideration as this new policy evolves. 

Ending public comment/questions:

Public: What was the cost of the recent negotiations and budget videos starring Mr. Carpenter and Mr. Murphy? 

Board answer: The matter will be discussed “internally” and an answer provided after such discussion.  Stay tuned.

Public: Citing and applauding both the prevailing wage and pension reform resolutions recently adopted by the board, will the board now adopt a resolution to reform cyber/charter school funding formulas?

Board answer: Any member of the board can suggest a resolution, but three members – a “triumvirate,  if you will -  must agree to “move forward” with the resolution. To date, that “triumvirate of need” for cyber/charter school funding reform has not been met on the board.

No one can dispute the fact that cyber charters and charters work, sometimes better than traditional public schools, for many students in this district. No one can dispute the right of any parent to choose what delivery method of public education works best for their child.  However, there are few in the state that will dispute the fact that the current funding formula for cyber/charter schools is in desperate need of reform.  In 2010,  Auditor General Jack Wagner warned the PA General Assembly that the charter/cyber funding problem was “accelerating at an unaffordable rate”.  Wagner is a supporter of charter schools, having voted for the original charter bill in 1997 while serving as a state senator. However, he believes that the funding method for charter and cyber charter schools is a “bad deal for taxpayers”:

  "The big problem is that we are trying to finance 21st century education with 19th century methods.  With Pennsylvania still mired in its greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression, we can’t afford to be wasting precious financial resources on schools whose costs have absolutely no basis whatsoever on what is actually needed to educate our children."*                                                            

 Perhaps another, admittedly simpler, way to look at it: if our 1998 Pennsylvania textbooks are in need of updating, isn't it time to give our 1997 charter funding formula serious review?

 

http://www.auditorgen.state.pa.us                                                                                                

Wagner’s 2010 cyber/charter funding report: http://www.auditorgen.state.pa.us/reports/performance/special/ specharterfundingreport100510.pdf

Pennsylvania School Board Association sample resolution for school boards,“Reform of the Cyber Charter and Charter School Funding formula”: http://www.psba.org/issues-advocacy/issues-research/cyber-charter-schools/

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