Someone pointed out that the research I've been referencing isn't easily accessible via this blog so here it is

Penn State Center on Rural Education and Communities

-- http://www.ed.psu.edu/educ/crec/topics/development   Schools & community development

-- http://www.ed.psu.edu/educ/crec/topics/transportation   Transportation

-- http://www.ed.psu.edu/educ/crec/topics/consolidation   School consolidation

Rural School and Community Trust

--http://www.ruraledu.org/articles.php?id=2038   School size 

If you're interested, here's the letter Blossburg Improvement Association sent the STSD board members back in Nov. 2009. It neatly summarized our overall argument: if NPHS closes, Blossburg will die; if the district loses the tax base of an entire town, it's going to be in much worse financial shape in the long term. 

BIA-SaveNPHS.pdf (66.47 kb)

One more note - I'm aware that the school board is having loud debates about the direction of the district and these terrible budget decisions, but we're not seeing that at the public school board meetings. I'd like to gently remind the board members of their duties under the state Sunshine Act and hope to hear more public debate at the next work session on June 4. (This is my position, not necessarily one that's endorsed by the Save Our Schools Coalition - I haven't asked for a policy discussion on the topic.)

Jill & I put together an ad for this week's PennySaver hoping to initiate more conversation and awareness of the complex issues around the school board's decision-making process. Feel free to print and share with friends & family or post to Facebook or other websites.

Penny saver ad 5-7-12.pdf (195.91 kb)

 Source for enrollment numbers http://www.southerntioga.org/documents/RenovateNorthPennCorrectednumbers9-2010.pdf

At the April 9 school board meeting, the board decided to accept the administration's suggestion that they hire a consulting firm to perform a feasibility study that includes an examination of the buildings and other facilities, the educational programming, staffing and cost-saving options. The feasibility study is to be conducted immediately. It's really important that parents, students and community members attend the next work session and board meeting!

• May 7, 6:30 p.m. North Penn High School - work session
• May 14, 6:30 p.m. Mansfield High School - board meeting

What we're doing:

• Mailing a postcard reminder of these meetings to Blossburg-area residents.
• Providing board members with a summary of the research we conducted in 2009-2010.
• Keeping in touch with district administration.

What you can do:

• Attend the meetings!
• Get your friends & family to attend the meetings!

SOS met tonight at the Kiwanis building and had a good conversation about how we want to approach the school board meeting Tuesday, April 10, 6:30pm, NPHS auditorium.

1. Please come to the meeting! Bring the whole family! It's important that we show our interest in this process.

2. We'll have addressed postcards for you to write a message to Rep. Matt Baker and Sen. Joe Scarnati about education funding. We'll have talking points available in case you need some help with words! We'll take care of mailing them.

3. We're all in this together - we're one school district facing a very difficult challenge. We want to emphasize that closing any school is a losing situation for the community and for the district, especially if it's done hastily. 

4. If you want to speak at the meeting, we hope you'll also emphasize the cooperative nature of this effort.

Thanks so much to John & Norma Martin for urging us to have this meeting and providing refreshments. Thanks to all who attended.

* The bond was issued about Oct. 2010 and according to IRS regulations for tax-exempt status, 85% of the total must be used for capital repairs and construction costs within three years (~Sept. 2013). See °. The bond was issued rather early in the PlanCon process because a federal income tax benefit that made the bond more attractive expired at the end of 2010.

◊ The Department of Education will only reimburse if we continue with the current PlanCon process. At the moment, this reimbursement is uncertain because the Corbett administration’s budget proposal would impose a moratorium on school construction projects and the definition of how that moratorium would work or whether it would impact STSD is unknown. However, changing the PlanCon would clearly risk our reimbursement.

° The budget has two components for which money is dedicated and cannot be reallocated:

1.    Operational budget - on-going costs to keep everything running such as salaries, utilities, books, and supplies.

2.    Capital budget - major repairs and improvements to the physical plant – roofs, toilets, buildings.

** If study is not completed on time OR does not recommend continuing with NPHS/BES renovation plan as submitted in the PlanCon, the district will have the consequences of 2 or 4. If the district chooses this option, the reimbursement may still be at risk for not following the PlanCon schedule.

STSD-20120312-options-chart.pdf (62.83 kb)

SOS Flier for community schools work - final copy.pdf (304.99 kb) Jill made a flyer for students to take home with them. You can pass it along too!

Jill Nickerson

STSD's 2011-12 Proposed Budget Information was posted on their website on June 1st. 

http://southerntioga.org/Announcements.html

Budget Information

Power Point Presentation

2011/12 Proposed Final Budget

(pending Board approval)

Please be patient, document may take a few minutes to load.

Once it has fully loaded, right click your mouse and select "rotate clockwise"

to view it correctly in the screen.

May 10, 2011

Read more at http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/563772/Battle-over-North-Penn-schools-project-may-be-heating-up.html?nav=5014

Report from May 6, 2011, Meeting with STSD Administration

Jill and I met with several members of the Southern Tioga School District administration on Friday. I’m not going to say which administrators were there other than new superintendent Keith Yarger since he is the public face of the district in partnership with the board. Carolyn Moyer from Liberty also attended. The administrators were very helpful, open, and patient, and they definitely have a “let’s work together,” problem-solving attitude. Jill and I are very grateful to them for taking two hours out of their busy schedules to listen, respond and discuss. We approached this meeting not as advocates for North Penn, but as community members listening to and reflecting the concerns of citizens of the whole district.[1] We were seeking information and understanding on issues of concern.

First, Jill described the meeting process, which you can read about in the blog post about the meetings. As we discussed the results, a couple of important points came out:

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