Stephanie Conlon's Blog

Pennsylvania Department of Education – Alteration and/or Curtailment of Programs – the Kindergarten Discussion

stephanieconlon — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 22:30:32 +0000

The way I understand the situation from speaking directly to PDE (not anyone from the school district), is that since kindergarten is NOT a requirement in Pennsylvania, the PDE does not have authority to approve or deny an alteration or curtailment in the kindergarten program from full day to half day (or, quite honestly, from full day to no kindergarten – kindergarten does NOT have to be provided by any PA school districts).

The choice to curtail or alter the kindergarten program lies with the school board, who I am sure will take advice and direction from the school solicitor, superintendent, school administrators, ect.

MONDAY, JANUARY 10TH - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING AT 7:30PM AT THE MATTHEW BROOKE BUILDING IN BIRDSBORO.

Today’s article in The Reading Eagle -

Originally Published: 1/7/2011

Kindergarten change possible

“As a result of a projected $6.5 million budget deficit for next year, Daniel Boone School District officials will consider dropping the full-day kindergarten program and reducing it to a half-day.”

For complete article go to http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=277464

PA Dept of Ed Code:

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/purdon’s_statutes/7503/alteration_and_or_curtailment_of_programs/507333

“Alteration and/or Curtailment of Programs

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24 P.S. §11-1124

DATE OF ISSUE: July 1, 2002

DATE OF REVIEW: July 1, 2009

PURPOSE

Section 1124 of the School Code provides that: Any board of school directors may suspend the necessary number of professional employes, for any of the causes herein enumerated:

(1) Substantial decrease in pupil enrollment in the school district;

(2) curtailment or alteration of the educational program on recommendation of the superintendent, concurred in by the board of school directors, approved by the Department of Public Instruction, as a result of substantial decline in class or course enrollments or to conform with standards of organization or educational activities required by law or recommended by the Department of Public Instruction

PROCEDURES

The Pennsylvania Department of Education will review requests for curtailment or alteration of the educational program of a school district using the following criteria:

The Department will approve a school district’s request to curtail or alter an educational program if the district establishes that the curtailment or alteration is the result of a substantial decline in class or course enrollments. Generally, to establish that the curtailment or alteration is the result of a substantial decline in class or course enrollments, the school district must submit enrollment data, certified by the district Superintendent, which demonstrates the following:
1. that enrollment in the class or course has decreased at least 20% from the school year five years prior; or
2. that enrollment for the class or course is less than ten students.
The Department will approve a school district’s request to curtail or alter an educational program if the district establishes that the curtailment or alteration is necessary to conform with standards of organization. Generally, to establish that a curtailment or alteration is necessary to conform with standards of organization, the school district, through information certified by the district Superintendent, must demonstrate that the requested curtailment or alteration will effect a change in the school or school district’s organization or curriculum that results in a more effective educational program.
The Department will approve a school district’s request to curtail or alter an educational program if the district establishes that the curtailment or alteration is necessary to conform with educational activities recommended by the Department. To establish that a curtailment or alteration is necessary to conform with educational activities recommended by the Department, the school district, through information certified by the district superintendent, must identify the specific department recommendation that serves as the basis for the curtailment or alteration. In determining whether to approve the curtailment or alteration, the department reserves the right to modify or withdraw any recommendation regarding educational activities that was previously issued.
The Department will approve a school district’s request to curtail or alter an educational program if the district establishes that the curtailment or alteration is necessary to conform with educational activities required by law. To establish that a curtailment or alteration is necessary to conform with educational activities required by law, the school district, through information certified by the district superintendent, must identify the specific law that serves as the basis for the curtailment or alteration.

All requests must include a copy of the Board Action as recorded in the Board minutes as evidence of approval by the school district’s board of school directors.

For purposes of this section, certification that the district will remain in compliance with minimum curriculum requirements is not adequate proof that the curtailment or alteration is necessary to conform with educational activities required by law.

REFERENCES:

Purdon’s Statutes

24 P.S. §9-963(e)

24 P.S. §11-1124

24 P.S. §18-1850.1(b)(9)

CONTACT BUREAU/OFFICE:

School Services Unit

Office of Elementary/Secondary Education

Pennsylvania Department of Education

333 Market Street, 5th Floor

Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333

Voice: 717.787.4860

Content Last Modified on 8/31/2009 10:36:53 AM

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For additional information, please contact:

School Services Unit |
Pennsylvania Department of Education – Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
333 Market Street | Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333
Phone: 717.787.4860 | Fax: 717.214.4389
RA-PDE-SchoolService@state.pa.us | www.education.state.pa.us

2010 in review

stephanieconlon — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 04:39:56 +0000

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats.

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2010. That’s about 26 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 412 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 516 posts. There were 3 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 3mb.

The busiest day of the year was March 29th with 256 views. The most popular post that day was About me.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, mail.yahoo.com, mail.live.com, search.aol.com, and google.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for stephanie conlon, pope john paul ii high school royersford, daniel boone school district, daniel boone school district blog, and stephanie conlon blog.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

About me March 2009
3 comments

Some Great Q and A regarding Daniel Boone School District Taxes and Teacher’s Contracts April 2010
8 comments

Tuition Rates for the New Catholic High School in Royersford – Pope John Paul II March 2010

Kindergarten: Ready or not? February 2010
1 comment

100 Best Nonfiction Books March 2010

Daniel Boone Area School District – Updates Regarding the School Board

stephanieconlon — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 03:15:37 +0000

On December 1st, 2010, the Daniel Boone Area School Board held a Reorganization Meeting to nominate a new President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary for a one year term, December 1, 2010 to December 1, 2011. The following board members were elected:

President – Andrew Basile

Vice President – Kevin McCullough

Treasurer – Frank Cerminaro

Secretary – Margaret Fiset

For a complete list of the Daniel Boon School Board Members, please go to http://www.dboone.org/schoolboard/Pages/default.aspx

“Boone Meetings” provide DB school board meeting updates to residents

stephanieconlon — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 02:40:54 +0000

For “live” updates from the Daniel Boone School Board meeting on Monday, October 25th, please go to www.Community-Buzz.com “Town Meetings”. Scroll down to “Boone Meetings” and you will find postings of updates that took place during the most recent school board meeting.

If you, or someone you know, would be interested in being a “meeting liaison”, please email info@community-buzz.com. Please check back for more updates.

Boyertown School District working to get education on television

stephanieconlon — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 12:12:34 +0000

Published: Thursday, October 14, 2010 Boyertown Area Times

By Phil Ellingsworth Jr.
Times Editor
pellingsworth@berksmontnews.com

BOYERTOWN –– A Boyertown Area Senior High School teacher is on a mission to get educational programming a part of local municipalities programming on the heels of their new franchise agreement with Comcast.

Technology education teacher Bill Cherkasky explained to the Boyertown Board of School Directors Tuesday night that he began working on the franchise agreements in 2001, but discovered a majority of the municipality’s agreements did not expire until 2011.

Currently, Earl Township is the only municipality that has a provision for educational programming in their agreement. The remaining nine municipalities, Bally, Bechtelsville and Boyertown boroughs, and Colebrookdale, Washington, Upper Frederick, New Hanover, Douglass (Mont.) and Douglass (Berks) townships do not.

“That’s a lot of townships,” Cherkasky said.

Cherkasky is working to get this provision in the agreement because he wants the district to have its own channel in the future, so residents can have original productions with unrestricted time.

The district does run programming for the community, but it is on a limited basis through Pottstown-based PCTV.

The network runs two-hours of programming a week, including school board meetings, but if the broadcast goes over the time limit, it is cut short. If the district wants to have additional time, they must pay PCTV a fee.

To get this agreement off the ground, the remaining nine municipalities in the district have to add a provision into their franchise agreement with Comcast, with six coming due in 2011 and the remaining three following in 2012 through 2014.

For the six municipalities renewing at the same time, a joint agreement is in the works, which would have the same language and would have one solicitor working on the agreement.

Cherkasky explained that it is “so important” to get into the renewal now because the agreements only occur every 15 to 20 years, so the district needs to act quickly.

With the provision, it does not mean the district will broadcast now, but it will open the possibility for future, he said.

By Boyertown having its own channel, there would be an opportunity for creative content like other schools have done, like antique and cooking shows, he stated.

“It gives [students] more of a real life experience,” he said.

Cherkasky said there is a possibility the high school could also broadcast school board meetings, graduation and other events live for the community.

“It opens up that whole other realm of possibilities,” he added.

There would be a cost to the district to start broadcasting to the community.

Comcast would cover the cost of the equipment, which would send the signal to the service provider, but the district would be responsible for some costs, such as a computer system to run an information board and an automated system to distribute programming.

These two items would cost the district approximately $10,000.

Cherkasky said the district could mitigate that expense by writing it into their franchise agreement with Comcast, which the cable company could potentially pay.

http://berksmontnews.com/articles/2010/10/14/boyertown_area_times/news/doc4cb5eef27463a641343060.txt

Big increases in school taxes unlikely next year

stephanieconlon — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:10:12 +0000

This year’s Act 1 index lowest in measure’s six-year history

Originally Published: 10/13/2010

By David Mekeel

Reading Eagle

Berks County taxpayers won’t see major increases in school taxes next year – unless the public votes for them.

The state Department of Education has released the adjusted Act 1 index for schools across the state. The index limits how much districts could raise property taxes.

The 18 local districts’ limits range from 2.2 percent in Reading to several districts at 1.4 percent.

That means tax increases such as this year’s 3.7-percent rise in Boyertown or Wilson’s 5.8-percent jump are unlikely for the 2011-12 school year.

A district can file for a special exception to get the limit slightly increased.

But for hikes significantly above the index, districts need to hold a referendum. Local school officials said it’s too early to tell if that would be necessary.

For the complete article, please go to: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=256369

Jack Wagner Says Fix Charter School Payments Before Granting More!

stephanieconlon — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 23:21:40 +0000

Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner, a longtime critic of how the state funds charter schools, this morning called for Gov. Rendell and the Legislature to impose a statewide moratorium on new charter and cyber charter schools until a flawed funding system is replaced.

For complete article, go to The Pottstown Blog at http://mogallant.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/jack-wagner-says-fix-charter-school-payments-before-granting-more/

Call for longer school year seen as test of resources

stephanieconlon — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:32:16 +0000

Originally Published: 10/4/2010

President’s concept backed but practical concerns surface

By Holly Herman Reading Eagle

It’s a question of time and money.

Do you want to give up some family vacation time and spend more tax dollars on education?

A sampling of Berks County school officials showed that President Barack Obama’s call to expand the school year by a month has merit but needs more exploration.

Some educators question how Pennsylvania, already strapped for education funding, would pay for an additional 20 days of school.

Last Monday, Obama called for extending the school year to increase student performance to better compete in the global economy. He did not provide details.

Each state sets its own school year by statute. Pennsylvania requires 180 days of instructional time.

Steve Weitzman, a state Education Department spokesman, said the state will review it, but does not have an immediate reaction to the president’s proposal.

Dr. David P. Krem, Wyomissing School District superintendent, said it would cost between $1.5 million and $2 million to keep school open another month, or 20 days of school, in that district.

“We are talking about a tax increase between $150 to $200 a year,” Krem said. “Working parents would come out ahead because they wouldn’t have to pay as much for (summertime) child care. For some families summertime is valuable for summer vacations and camps.”

Krem said that students need some relaxation time.

Dr. Paul B. Eaken, Fleetwood School District superintendent, said the school calendar is an important topic.

“This is something that should be looked at,” Eaken said. “Research has shown the instruction time is related to student achievement.”

Eaken said students forget much during long summer breaks, requiring teachers to take time during the start of the new school year to do short reviews, particularly with biology and math.

“Perhaps if we cut down on the summer vacation the teachers’ review may not be as long.”

For complete article, please go to http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=253911

Boone seeks OK to make kindergarten half day

stephanieconlon — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 12:22:39 +0000

Returning to half day from full day might be needed to balance next budget, board decides

Originally Published: 9/28/2010 By Brett Hambright

Reading Eagle

The Daniel Boone School Board voted 6-2 Monday to seek authorization from the state Department of Education to cut kindergarten classes to a half day from full day next year if needed to balance the budget.

Board members Alan D. Ross and Walter P. Sheehan voted no.

Board members who voted to submit the request said they don’t want to cut kindergarten hours but would like to have the option available in the event of a budget crisis.

“From a fiscal standpoint, we are going to be in a tight spot,” said Dr. Gary L. Otto, superintendent.

Federal funding cuts could create a financial hardship for the district, he said.

For complete article go to: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=252386

Bad grades in Berks

stephanieconlon — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 02:20:47 +0000

Originally Published: 9/20/2010

These are the Berks County schools that failed the 2009-10 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests:

Antietam

Mount Penn Elementary Center

Conrad Weiser

Conrad Weiser High School

Conrad Weiser West Elementary School

Daniel Boone

Birdsboro Elementary Center

Exeter

Exeter High School

Gov. Mifflin

Gov. Mifflin High School

Hamburg

Hamburg High School

Hamburg Middle School

Muhlenberg

Muhlenberg High School

Reading

For full article, go to: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=250366