Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Tax hikes have become the norm for property owners in the Easton Area School District.
When the Easton Area School Board signs off on its preliminary 2013-2014 school budget, chances are a tax hike will be attached to it. After all, a tax hike is among two of the three options school administrators have offered as options along with staff reductions. And tax hikes also appear to be the norm for the school district. School taxes have been raised in 19 of 20 years. And that figure astounded school board member Frank Pintabone when he raised the question during the board's most recent work session. "I've been here a year now and we keep talking about how the future is bleak," Pintabone stated. "When was the last time we were doing OK?" Superintendent Susan McGinley responded: 2007. "When was the last time the district didn't …
Easton Area High School will sell its used football jerseys Wednesday.
Want to own a piece of Easton sports history? You'll get your chance on Wednesday when Easton Area High School sells its used football jerseys. The sale runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the school equipment room. Jerseys sell for $25 a piece, or $40 for a set of home/away jerseys.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
One Easton Area School Board member recently suggested that holding lecture-style classes may help alleviate teaching staff cuts.
Easton Area School Board member Robert Moskaitis believes he has an "outside-the-box" suggestion that may provide an answer to handling upcoming teacher cuts for next school year. At the board's recent worksession, when faced with options to cut staff and raise taxes, Moskaitis proposed lecture halls of 50-to-100 students after Schools Superintendent Susan McGinley stated that teaching resources are going to have to be reallocated next year. "In difficult times we have to be open to doing things differently," Moskaitis said. McGinley, though, disgreed with the suggestion. "We're trying to get away from lecture hall style," she responded. To have students get involved, that is what's best for students." Then an exchange started on the topic…
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Non-profit Kellyn Foundation working to give Easton Area students green thumbs.
In addition to math and spelling, students at March Elementary School on Easton's College Hill will be getting a lesson in gardening this spring. On Friday, students at the school will begin planting peppers, cherry tomatoes, peas and other vegetables. With luck, they'll start eating them liking them, and asking their parents to bring them home, said Dr. Meagan Greaga of the Kellyn Foundation, which is overseeing the project. "We have parents tell us their kid came home and said 'I tried this at school and it was really good,'" Greaga said Monday as the volunteers dug in the dirt outside March to prepare for the gardens. She's speaking from experience. The March garden is part of an effort by Kellyn to get gardens into all seven Easton …
Friday, April 19, 2013
Palmer Elementary's Odyssey of the Mind teams shows the Easton Area School Board what they've learned.
How do you demonstrate how e-mail works in an eight-minute skit? How do you do it when you're 8 or 9 years old, without help from adults? Can you answer those questions? The Palmer Elementary School Odyssey of the Mind team can, as it demonstrated Tuesday to the Easton Area School Board. The team—made up of Palmer third- and fourth-graders—came in fourth place recently at the statewide Odyssey of the Mind competition. The competition challenges teams to demonstrate how to solve problem with a short skit. This year, the team problem was "The E-mail Must Go Through," with the Palmer team using a Rube Goldberg-style contraption to demonstrate three different types of e-mail: one with artwork attached, one with a return-receipt request, and …
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Officials say Pat Vulcano violated confidentiality, but longtime school director says he did nothing wrong.
The Easton Area School Board has censured one of its members for revealing details about the search for a new superintendent to a local newspaper. The board passed a resolution Tuesday that "admonished and condemned" Pat Vulcano Jr., saying he “brazenly violated confidentiality” by speaking to the Morning Call. The action came on the same night board President Robert Fehnel said the district would name an interim superintendent, while still searching for a permanent replacement for current Superintendent Susan McGinley. For his part, Vulcano maintained he did nothing wrong, although he did apologize for revealing that Easton Mayor Sal Panto had applied for the superintendent job. "I did slip on bringing his name out," Vulcano said …
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Easton Area School Board can't decide on tax increase, but says music won't be cut.
Although it was unable to decide on whether to raise taxes Tuesday night, the Easton Area School Board did come to one decision: Easton's elementary school music programs are off limits. The board made this decision Tuesday night after hearing from parents and students speaking in favor of the elementary music program, which would have been cut had the board voted for a no-tax-increase budget. The zero percent tax increase is still a possibility, as are budget scenarios that raise taxes by 1.7 and 2.1 percent, the option recommended by the school district administration. School officials—who had planned to wake up Wednesday with a preliminary budget approved—will instead continue working on balancing the $134.8 million budget for …
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Robert Culp tells Easton school officials he's no longer interested in superintendent job.
Robert Culp, assistant director of Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21, has withdrawn his name, according to the Morning Call. He had been named as one of two front-runners for the position last month. Board Member Pat Vulcano told the newspaper another candidate might be waiting "in the rafters," but declined to say much more. But his colleague Frank Pintabone contacted Easton Patch Tuesday morning to say he's not sure what Vulcano was talking about. "We have no third candidate. I've been to every meeting he has," Pintabone said. "We had two candidates, two withdrew. I wish we had a third." Culp's decision comes just five days after Michael Schilder, superintendent of the Bridgewater-Raritan School District, told the district he no …
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Easton Area School Board meets Tuesday to choose among three tax/staff cuts options in voting to adopt its 2013-2014 preliminary school budget.
The Easton Area School Board has a big decision before members Tuesday night. The board will decide among three options of staff cuts and tax hikes in voting to adopt the school district's 2013-2014 preliminary budget. But while the meeting's main focus will be on financial concerns, the board will also address a few other issues outlined by Business Manager Michael Simonetta at Tuesday's work session. Simonetta said he'll ask the board to approve a property tax rebate program that is usually done annually. He told board members that the proposal has not changed from prior years. Also on the agenda is expected approval of fuel oil bids. The bids are for biodiesel and octane and were organized by the IU, Simonetta said. Board Member Frank …
Cetronia Elementary School in the Parkland School District creates a peace painting with thumbprints of students and staff as 'healing' gift to Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Cetronia Elementary School's act of "kindness"—a peace painting created with the thumbprints of its students and staff—has made its way to Newtown Public Schools in Connecticut. Cetronia art teacher Susan Hardy, who spearheaded the project, learned in an email last week that the painting is currently being displayed in the Newtown Public Schools Central Office until a decision is made on the future Sandy Hook Elementary School. "I was actually very surprised," said Hardy, who figured the painting might be put in a storage area for some time since Sandy Hook has likely been inundated with cards, paper snowflakes and other symbols of support following the shooting tragedy there. "What a beautiful creation of thumbprints!" wrote Newtown …
Rasterone
10:28 am on Monday, April 29, 2013
districts that do poorly deserve less state aid not more? more ›