Community Matters

 I read the following update on the Radnor School District in the Main Line Suburban: Assistant superintendent Kim Maguire outlined a plan to the Curriculum Committee that would have all Radnor ninth-, tenth- and eleventh-graders take the PSAT in October with school-district funding and with across-the-board scores allowing teachers to “check for trends [as well as] [...]

Filed under: 2011 Tredyffrin Budget, TE School District, TESD Budget, Tredyffrin Easttown School District | 17 Comments »

How do we keep our dominoes from starting to fall and our house of cards from crashing? The debt battle in Washington is raging. The deadline by which Congress must decide to increase the nation’s debt limit or find ways other than borrowing to pay the interest on the huge national debt, is only days [...]

Filed under: TE School District, Tredyffrin Easttown School District | 11 Comments »

There is an interesting report out this week about Pennsylvania schools, which states that schools across the state are holding more than $3 billion in reserve funds.  There is an ongoing debate about drawing from fund balances to balance school budgets, particularly in light of the current economic crisis.  We have seen in the past 6 [...]

Filed under: TE School District, Tredyffrin Easttown School District | 1 Comment »

Gov. Corbett’s plan to de-fund public education in Pennsylvania in his proposed $1.2 billion funding cuts is becoming the backdrop for school district budget discussion statewide. Corbett’s education-funding proposal has left many communities wondering how they are going to make up their budget deficits and are looking to the teachers and non-instructional workers for help. [...]

Filed under: Andy Dinniman, TE School District, TEEA, TENIG, Tom Corbett, Tredyffrin Easttown School District, Tredyffrin Township | 5 Comments »

One school district in crisis . . . can others be far behind? The Duquesne School District is located in Allegheny County, a suburb of Pittsburgh.  A former steel mill town, Duquesne is no newcomer to hard times.  The last couple of decades the population in this cash-strapped community has steadily declined. In the age [...]

Filed under: TE School District, TEEA, Tom Corbett, Tredyffrin Easttown School District | 7 Comments »

As Tredyffrin-Easttown School District works through the 2011-12 budget, it is interesting to watch how other school districts are handling their budget shortfalls, particularly in light of the public education cuts in Gov. Corbett’s proposed budget. This week the Radnor School District and the Radnor Township Education Association reached a tentative agreement for a new teacher [...]

Filed under: TE School District, TEEA, TESD Budget, Tredyffrin Township, Unionville-Chadds Ford School District | 11 Comments »

On the eve of the Special T/E School Board meeting, there is much discussion on the $8.8 million deficit for the district’s 2011-12 school year and its challenge.  Over the last couple of weeks, I do not recall much discussion about the possibility of adding an activities fee to the 2011-12 budget. If you recall, [...]

Filed under: Lower Merion Township, Radnor Townsip, TE School District, Tredyffrin Easttown School District, Tredyffrin Township | 17 Comments »

In the midst of packing to leave for a family holiday, Ray Clarke was still able to attend last night’s School Board’s Finance Committee meeting.  We are all grateful that Ray attends the meetings and then kindly supplies his notes.  Thank you my friend and happy travel! Below are Ray’s notes and I think you find [...]

Filed under: Earned Income Tax, Easttown Township, TE School District, TESD Budget, Tredyffrin Easttown School District | 47 Comments »

The vote last night by the T/E School Board stunned me – they voted 7-2 against sending a notification letter to the Tredyffrin and Easttown Townships that the school district would consider a voter referendum on the EIT on the May ballot.  Their vote last night was only to continue the process of discovery – there [...]

Filed under: Easttown Township, TE School District, Tredyffrin Easttown School District, Tredyffrin Township | 52 Comments »

I think that we all agree that there is a looming pension funding problem in the Commonwealth.  Knowing this, I read with interest of the Harrisburg meeting yesterday calling to attention ongoing issues between the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) and the State Education Committee.  Sen. Dinniman is the minority chair of the Education Committee and [...]

Filed under: Easttown Township, Pennsylvania State Education Association, PSERS, TE School District, Tredyffrin Easttown School District, Tredyffrin Township | 15 Comments »