Pattye Benson

Community Matters

Month – January 2010

Control of Tredyffrin Township in the Hands of 4 . . . Residents Will Now Play by Their Rules!

I preface the following post by saying that there are very few times in my life that I have been left speechless but tonight was one of them. For me, tonight’s Board of Supervisor Meeting represented community injustice of the worse kind. If there was ever a subject for Community Matters, this is it!

Tonight I attended Tredyffrin Township’s Board of Supervisor Meeting. Over the last few days, there had been scuttlebutt that Supervisor Paul Olson would once again bring up St. Davids Golf Club and the sidewalks. Although the agenda for tonight’s meeting did not include St. Davids Golf Club, my understanding was that Supervisor Olson intended to make a motion to return the $25,000 escrow to the country club. As part of St. Davids contractual land development agreement with the township, the country club was to build sidewalks. Since July 2008, the country club has been in default for failure to build the sidewalks.

If you recall, at the December 1 Board of Supervisor Meeting I questioned the supervisors concerning the $50,000 cash offer from St. Davids Golf Club which appeared in the pages of the BAWG report. This ‘offer’ (of which there was no written evidence) became widely discussed on Community Matters and in the Main Line Suburban and Daily Local newspapers. There was an outcry from many in the community about this ‘offer’ from St. Davids and the message its acceptance would say to contractors and builders doing business in Tredyffrin Township.

Tonight under the category of ‘new’ supervisor matters, Supervisor Olson made a motion which Supervisor Lamina seconded to ‘return the $25,000 escrow money’ to St. Davids Golf Club. Supervisor Lamina started to call for a vote as Supervisor Kichline asked to offer her opinion. Supervisor Lamina cut off Supervisor Kichline and went to the audience for comment.

Bob Whalen, chair of the Planning Commission spoke and explained that the sidewalks were part of the contractual agreement with St. Davids GC for their land development project. Representatives from the country club had returned to the Planning Commission asking for forgiveness on the sidewalks but the Planning Commission fearing that precedent would be set, voted against the club. Mr. Whalen explained that there are at least six other projects in the township with escrow money that has not been returned because of unfinished projects. Allowing escrow money to return to St. Davids GC will now allow the other contractors to be off the hook, for completing those projects. He adamantly opposed the motion. Next I asked the supervisors if St. Davids GC had come to the Township and asked for their $25,000 escrow money to be returned. Although Supervisor Olson said that he had ‘talked to some people at St. Davids’, the other supervisors confirmed that there was nothing written from St. Davids, in other words the country club never asked for the return of their escrow money!

Other audience members spoke passionately that you cannot make a motion on a matter that was not on the agenda . . . that procedurally you must advertise the matter to the public . . . that you cannot just give a country club a ‘gift’ of $80,000 (the estimated cost to build the sidewalks). Several audience members suggested that Supervisor Olson orchestrated the motion to coincide with the fact that many members of the public would be at the TESD meeting and unable to attend the Supervisor meeting. Remember St. Davids Golf Club was not on the agenda so it was believed that very few residents would attend (making it that much easier to push the motion through). It was obvious that Supervisor Olson had notified local St. Davids residents so they came prepared with written statements that agreed with his motion. Rather than full disclosure to the public by advertising the St. Davids sidewalks discussion, Supervisor Olson (+ Kampf, Lamina and Richter) preferred to tell only a select few residents.

Following resident comments, Supervisor Kichline, an attorney and an ex-member of the Zoning Board spoke passionately about procedural law and the inappropriateness of the proposed motion, stating further discussion was needed with the township solicitor. Supervisor DiBuonaventuro likewise argued against the motion, suggesting for many reasons why the Board of Supervisors should not pass the motion. Township Manager Gleason added, when asked, that the passing of this motion would set precedent for all future township projects.

Hearing the comments from the residents and objections from Supervisors Kichline and DiBuonaventuro, Supervisor Lamina called for a vote – Supervisors Donohue, DiBuonaventuro, Kichline voted against the motion, and Supervisors Olson, Lamina, Kampf and Richter voted for the motion. The motion carried 4-3 in favor.

Tonight was a rude awakening for me . . . I learned that in Tredyffrin Township it is OK for 4 individuals (Olson, Lamina, Kampf and Richter) to make up the rules as they go along. At one point, when Supervisor Kichline offered that in Tredyffrin Township, the Planning Commission actually had the ‘last say’ on the land development process rather than the Board of Supervisors – Supervisor Lamina declared that he thinks that the Board of Supervisors will take back their control. I discovered tonight that the government procedures do not apply if you are Supervisors Olson, Lamina, Kampf and Richter.

This is a sad reality . . . but if you are the ‘Block of 4’ (Olson, Lamina, Kampf, Richter), you rule the township. Your other fellow supervisors do not matter, the public does not matter, the Planning Commissioners do not matter, the township solicitor does not matter, and the township manager does not matter. These 4 will get to make the rules (or break the rules) as they see fit.

What does tonight’s actions say for the future of our township? What does it say for the residents or all the many volunteers who serve on our township boards and committees? If tonight is any evidence, transparency of our local government, full disclosure of information, public communication . . . all gone.

Please Let's Not Put the Children in the Middle!

Based on the 2 following comments, I am asking the School Board, the administration and the teacher’s union (TEES) to please not put our school children in the middle of this school budget tug-of-war. I am hopeful these comments do not represent the majority of our teachers. We are agreed that this is a difficult time for taxpayers and teachers alike, but it should not be classroom discussion with our children.

Ray Clarke, on January 25th, 2010 at 2:43 pm Said

” . . . As of today, the teachers are already talking to the students about program cuts – reduced electives, etc. As far as I know, nothing has been decided, so this seems rather a scare tactic.

Parent, on January 25th, 2010 at 4:48 pm Said

” . . . It may very well be true that the email campaign originated on the teacher’s home email accounts on their own time, i won’t argue that point. But be very sure that there is discussion in the schools about this topic. If fact it is occurring fairly regularly in some classrooms by some teachers directed toward the students… Yes, some teachers have used the classroom as a forum to have kids encourage their parents to attend the meetings, others have taken to making their UNION case toward 6th, 7th & 8th graders!!!

So, to the T/E Teacher who authored the previous post, save your indignation, or direct it toward your coworkers who are crossing the line by bringing this into the classroom on a regular basis. It is clear that not all of your coworkers share your level of judgement or uphold their professional responsibilities as well as you.

Agenda and Fact Sheet for January 25 TESD Meeting

Here is the Agenda for tonight’s TESD School Board Meeting. I warn you that it is 74 pages but it might be useful for your review before tonight’s meeting. Several residents have called or emailed to say that they will attend; I hope that many of you will take meeting notes to share on Community Matters. Continuing this important dialogue tomorrow will be important.

I put together some basic information for myself about the budget that I thought I would share. I am not quite sure about the difference in #2 and #3 approach, should the School Board decide tonight to apply for an Act 1 exception. Perhaps one of our resident experts could explain. If any of this information below is incorrect, also please let me know.

Fact Sheet for January 25 TESD Meeting:

Proposed Budget Revenues: $101.9 million
Proposed Budget Expenses: $111.5 million
Proposed Budget Deficit: $9.2 million

Major contributing factor to $9.2 million budget deficit: $5 million increase in employee fringe benefits (example, Blue Cross health care benefits increased by 28%)

Additional contributing factors to budget deficit: decrease in real estate transfer tax, decrease of interest income

Preliminary budget will be discussed and voted on at January 25 TESD Board Meeting; final budget and tax rate will be voted on at June TESD Board Meeting

At January 25 TESD Board Meeting, School Board must vote to take one of these 3 options:
(1) Pass a resolution certifying tax rate will be at or below Act 1 index of 2.9%
(2) Apply for exceptions to Act 1 index (would allow district to raise taxes above the 2.9% without voter referendum)
(3) Authorize the administration to start process to seek voter referendum in May to increase taxes above the 2.9% Act 1 index

TESD tax increase with Act 1 exception can be has great as 6.7%.

TESD Student now Parent Offers His Perspective

This is an interesting perspective from a TESD parent who was also once a student in the district. I don’t know that anyone has commented from this particular angle.

TE Dad speaks directly to the quality of teachers in the district. He makes a point of how the system will protect those teachers of seniority, and perhaps that may be viewed as the flaw by some. On one hand, younger teachers with their enthusiasm (but lack of experience) could be the ones that are best able to engage and excite the students whereas the older, more senior teacher may not be able to reach those same students. On the other hand, a seasoned teacher can offer experience and advice for students (as well as parents) that can be invaluable.

Maybe we can get confirmation from TEEA members on this one . . . how will teacher seniority affect the process? Will teacher seniority make any difference if there are program cuts? What about TE Dad’s suggestion of performance reviews for teachers? Comments anyone?

From TE Dad . . .

What a terrible email from Ms. Ciamacca . . . both of them. She isn’t helping ANYONE. It certainly doesn’t help the teacher’s position. Wow, potentially alienating the parents who are the teacher advocates . . . dumb plan. Maybe the 70 – 80% of TESD taxpayers who don’t have kids in the district will fight for higher taxes in order to save TESD teacher jobs? I hope her tone is much different tonight otherwise she will deepen the division she has already aggravated.

In my experience, as a TE student many years ago, and as a TE parent now, there are many, many, excellent teachers in the district. Some of these terrific teachers also lack meaningful seniority. In fact some teachers are truly a bargain with what they deliver to the kids daily and what they are paid relative to their more senior coworkers.

Conversely, there are teachers in the district now, some with significant seniority who are poor performers, some were poor performers from day 1. Not a lot of them, but not an insignificant number either. The other teachers know who these teachers are, most of the parents probably know them too, especially if they taught your children at any time… These are the teachers most protected and are the ones who most benefit from the misrepresentation of the union.

The union, by protecting poor performing teachers from performance review and reduction isn’t representing the interests of the many, many good teachers very well, and certainly isn’t representing the interests of a junior, high performing teacher AT ALL. Frankly, the union is more concerned with protecting the jobs of senior teachers than the quality of the educational program, and that is by design.

Which teachers out there reading this blog and worried about their jobs would not be willing to be subject to performance review if reductions become necessity?? The likely answer: the poor performers with seniority . . . they are hurting us all . . .

TESD School Budget Marks a Milestone For Community Matters

I started Community Matters approximately 2 months ago in hopes of presenting important local issues that would engage the community. It was always my goal to deliver information in as balanced and honest a manner as possible, all the while understanding that some topics had the potential of creating a firestorm of debate.

As more and more people have found Community Matters, the daily average of visitors has continued to rise. Since late November, total visitors have now reached 25,000 people. Yesterday marked a milestone for viewership, I am reporting 1,350 visitors, the highest one-day total to date. The Tredyffrin Easttown School District (TESD) 2010-11 budget was the major ‘topic of interest’ with nearly 60 comments left by community visitors.

Reading the online comments, whether from concerned residents, school district teachers, T/E parents, you realize a collective theme; the severe economic downturn is affecting many in this community. Delivered with passion and commitment, visitors provided personal insight; many stakeholders feeling they cannot afford a 6-7% tax increase and suggesting the administration must come up with significant spending cuts. Teachers passionately responded that they fear the quality of the education in the district is in jeopardy unless the standard of programming is maintained. Some residents suggested that their personal financial issues should not be construed as caring less for the teachers, but rather they simply cannot afford aadditional taxes. Overwhelmingly this community supports their teachers and the school district, but there is no escaping the economic realities and the financial struggles facing many in this community.

Attend the School Board meeting tonight (Conestoga High School, 7:30 PM) – help to make a difference in the outcome by participating in the process.

TEEA President Debra Ciamacca Speaks Out . . .

As I often have in the past, when someone makes a comment that I do not want to see buried on an old post, I put it on the frontpage. I received the following comment from Tredyffrin Easttown Educational Association President Debra Ciamacca. Per her request, I have removed the teacher email. In removing the post, I stated that I was forwarded this email from a T/E parent who had received it from a teacher. I just contacted the T/E parent and they reconfirmed that the email they received from a teacher did not contain any confidentiality statement on the email nor did it have a signature of the writer.

I believe that the TESD budget situation is an extremely important topic for all residents. Equally important is that all sides be allowed the freedom to express their opinions. Below is Debra Ciamacca’s comment in its entirety.

First of all, let me say that you were not authorized to print an email from me to the teachers in this District. If you read the entire email, you will see that there is a Confidentiality agreement at the bottom.

I am asking you to remove this email from your blog immediately.

Secondly, to insinuate that teachers would hold grades over the heads of parents or children is so utterly defamatory I don’t know where to begin. Personally, as a former Marine Corps officer who served her country HONORABLY for five years, I would NEVER use grades to hurt children or parents. I have taught for TEN years in this school district as a teacher….and I do not appreciate having my reputation or the reputation of the other teachers in this district dragged through the mud.

As far as a “conflict of interest”….it is NOT a conflict of interest to stand up for the educational program and the children of this District.

Debra A. Ciamacca President,
Tredyffrin Easttown Education Association

Tredyffrin Easttown Teachers Email Campaign

Below is the email being distributed by Tredyffrin Easttown teachers in regards to Monday’s school board meeting. Having made the decision to include this email on Community Matters, I offer my opinion. Although I think it is extremely important for parents (taxpayers) to come to Monday night and offer opinion in the process, I do not support the tone of this email. If I were a TESD parent, I would feel that I ‘better come out and support the teachers (programs) or else’ — what I mean is, I’d feel that my child’s school career (grades) could be resting on whether or not I supported the teachers. But we also should not lose sight of what this ‘exception’ could mean to the district stakeholders in the way of a tax increase. I think we could be facing a tax increase of nearly 7% from TESD if the Act 1 exception is approved.

A friend suggested that if the following letter had originated from a parent to other parents (rather than from the teachers) I probably would feel differently . . . I think she’s right. For me, I perceive this type of campaign as a ‘conflict of interest’ on the part of the teachers. I don’t want to see Monday night’s School Board meeting pitting T/E parents against taxpayers without children in the district.

_______________________________________________________

As a result of an email from Debra A. Ciamacca, I have removed the email campaign letter from my blog. For the record, the email that was forwarded to me from a T/E parent, did not contain a signature of the writer nor was there any Confidentiality statement included on what I received.

_____________________________________________

First of all, let me say that you were not authorized to print an email from me to the teachers in this District. If you read the entire email, you will see that there is a Confidentiality agreement at the bottom.

I am asking you to remove this email from your blog immediately. . . .

Debra A. Ciamacca
President, Tredyffrin Easttown Education Association

TESD Teachers Organizing Email Campaign

In case you missed Ray Clarke’s comment on an earlier post, he is reporting that an email campaign is being organized by Tredyffrin Easttown teachers against any program reductions and in support of the Tredyffrin Easttown School District School Board’s Monday, January 25th vote on asking for exceptions.

The deadline to receive an Act 1 exception is coming quickly. An exception application must be filed by February if the TESD tax increase is to be higher than the 2.9% allowed by Act 1. I think that the exception can allow an increase as high as 6.9%.

Any school teachers want to weigh in? Residents? School Board members?

West Chester Area School District Superintendent is Suggesting 19 Staff Cuts to Help Budget Deficit

Tredyffrin Easttown School District taxpayers should not feel that they are alone with challenging school budget problems. One of the purposes of looking at other districts (such as Great Valley and now West Chester) is to see if can learn anything new or examine other ways to handle similar problems. Dan Kristie is reporting in today’s Daily Local that West Chester Area School District Superintendent Jim Scanlon announced that he is recommending that the school board cut 19 district jobs. The cuts will be carried out by attrition – when current staff members retire, their jobs will not be replaced. Cutting of these 19 jobs (which include 3 assistant principal jobs) will save the district $1.4 million annually. The suggested cuts were developed by the administration and the Community Budget Task Force, a group of more than 150 stakeholders who met last year to help the district identify cuts. Here’s one West Chester Area taxpayer’s take on the announcement:

Attrition means forced retirement or risk termination for some folks. As a former Educator that is the one field that you never thought would be impacted by economic downturns but they are quietly finding that they have stood behind their union protection for far too long almost to the point of holding the very people whose children you educate are paying to keep you there hostage.

They are no more entitled to job security than anyone else. If you can do more with less people then by all means do more with less.

To those who will lose jobs in all of this…WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD.

Mr. Scanlon . . . I know it’s tough to tell your people tough times call for tough decisions but then again that’s a part of your job too. “

Continuing to Discuss TSED Teacher Pension Plan

Following up on my last post about the Great Valley School District, I think that I am beginning to understand their resident involvement. One of the best parts of Community Matters is that readers bring new information to the discussion. I received a comment from ‘Berwyn Reader’ that offered interesting insight on the Great Valley School District (GVSD) residents and their ability ‘to hold the line’ on school tax increases. A few years ago, Brian O’Neill of O’Neill Properties (Worthington project) asked GVSD to be a lender on his Worthington project. In the end, GVSD choose not to lend money to O’Neill. However, because of residents concerns, Great Valley Stakeholders was formed about 18 months ago and has become a sort of watchdog organization for the Great Valley residents. The purpose of the Great Valley Stakeholders is to provide information to the public and School Board to ensure fiscal responsibility, transparency and better communication between school board and taxpayers.

Here’s hoping that Community Matters will be able to provide similar information to taxpayers and Tredyffrin Easttown School District school board members. Many of our residents who have provided commentary to this site on the school district topic have helped us better understand our own budgetary process.

Beyond the current 2010-11 school budget discussion, I remain concerned that many of our taxpayers do not understand the PSERS (Public School Employees Retirement System) teacher pension plan and how our taxes are going to be affected as a result. I found an interesting statement from the Commonwealth Foundation on pensions. The Commonwealth Foundation is an independent, non-profit research and educational institute that develops and advances public policies based on the nation’s founding principles of limited government, economic freedom, and personal responsibility.

Public Pensions: Beginning in 2012-13, taxpayers will see a dramatic increase in their contributions to pension plans for state and school district employees. This scenario is due in large part to misguided policy decisions-including substantial increases in pension benefits in 2001 and 2002, and deferring increased payments following fund losses-as well as the recent downturn in the stock market. Pension contributions are estimated to rise by $1,360 per homeowner/household, resulting in higher property and state taxes. Additionally, local pension plans are facing major deficits. . .

A few weeks ago a opinion article written by Thomas Gentzel, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer. This commentary titled, Change Pennsylvania Pension System or Prepare for Catastrophe should be a must-read for all taxpayers! Here’s the link:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/80562927.html

Comments anyone?

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