Community Matters

 I do not know anyone who attended last night’s Finance Committee meeting that left feeling good.  Although the Finance Committee is chaired by Betsy Fadem and includes other Board members Rich Brake and Jim Bruce, all members were in attendance.  Expecting a large audience, the meeting was at Conestoga.  Nearly all chairs were occupied with [...]

Filed under: Tredyffrin Township | 93 Comments »

Now that the dust begins to settle on yesterday’s announcement that the TE School District will not outsource jobs of aides, paraeducators and substitute teachers for the 2013/14 school year, residents and employees are again left with more questions than answers. My initial reaction upon hearing the news that 260 District jobs were saved from [...]

Filed under: Tredyffrin Township | 57 Comments »

The decision about outsourcing the aides, paraeducators and substitute teachers should not only be about money.  It should be about doing what’s right — these employees are part of our community and deserve to be treated fairly.  The outsourcing sales pitch may seem like the answer but it’s not a panacea.  I hope that the [...]

Filed under: Tredyffrin Township | 4 Comments »

The saga of outsourcing continues in Tredyffrin Easttown School District … Last week at the infamous TE School Board meeting, we listened as the Administration and School Board members presented the case for outsourcing of aides, paraeducators and substitute teacher positions.  The business manager Art McDonnell, personnel director Sue Tiede and superintendent Dan Waters provided [...]

Filed under: Tredyffrin Township | 153 Comments »

Taxpayers, teachers, PTO presidents, paraprofessionals, parents, substitute teachers, TENIG members and students brought their collective voices to the School Board meeting last night, and were heard, at least temporarily. Standing three people deep and overflowing into the lobby, all attended the meeting for the singular purpose to oppose outsourcing of paraprofessionals in the TE School [...]

Filed under: Tredyffrin Township | 109 Comments »

In advance of tonight’s School Board meeting, all  aides, paraeducators and paraprofessionals working in the TE School District received the following Q&A Fact Sheet this afternoon from Dan Waters. Is the message to the District employees and the taxpayers supposed to be — don’t bother to show up tonight with your questions because the District [...]

Filed under: Tredyffrin Township | 9 Comments »

It is almost impossible to believe that we live in a wealthy Philadelphia suburb with award winning, nationally ranked schools and our School Board is voting whether to outsource 175 aides, paraeducators and substitute teachers at Monday’s School Board meeting. Since attending the Finance Committee meeting and writing about it this week, I have heard [...]

Filed under: Tredyffrin Township | 57 Comments »

In my last blog post, I indicated there would be a follow-up post on TENIG and discussion of outsourcing.  TENIG President Dave Fillippo delivered an emotional statement at Monday night’s TESD Budget Workshop on the eve of his TESD retirement this Friday.  His statement, in its entirety, follows this post. Much troubles me about the [...]

Filed under: Tredyffrin Township | 46 Comments »

Tredyffrin Police Superintendent Anthony Giaimo did not need the Sandy Hook shootings to prioritize school safety. However, if you attended, or watched the TESD special safety meeting, or the District’s Finance or regular school board meetings, you may have come away with the mistaken impression that the Tredyffrin Police Department is only peripherally involved in [...]

Filed under: Tredyffrin Township | 13 Comments »

Highlights of 1/28/13 TESD Meeting – Adoption of the 2013-14 TESD preliminary budget:  By a unanimous vote the Board approved a resolution not to raise taxes above the Act 1 Index level of 1.7%. Reconsideration of District Safety Consultant, Andy Chambers:  Former police chief Andy Chambers attended the TESD meeting last night.  Chambers offered no [...]

Filed under: Tredyffrin Township | 75 Comments »