The Medical Pool Fund
The Oley Valley School board recently approved one of the most expensive teacher contracts in Berks County. The package was so attractive that the Wilson School District teachers union used it as a model for their contract negotiations.
Besides the exorbitant pay and benefits given to the union is a below the radar, Medical Pool Fund.
This fund can be described as secretive because is not listed in the yearly budget presented to the public. It is not even shown on the Form 2028 sent to the state.
It can only be found by a through review of district contracts.
This fund is designed to ..reimburse the bargaining unit member for medical expenses for items such as (including but not limited to) prescriptions, eye care office visits, orthodontics, etc., not otherwise paid or reimbursed by insurance. The phase, including but not limited to could lend itself to non-medically related expenses.
In other words, the fund will pay for what the health insurance does not cover up to the yearly rate of reimbursement.
The teacher submits their expenses to the business manager and the money is then drawn from the Medical Pool Fund.
The yearly reimbursement amount per teacher schedule depicted in the agreement is the following:
2005-06: $300
2006-07: $350
2007-08: $400
2008-09: $450
2009-10: $500
If you multiply the number of full time teachers in the district times their rate of reimbursement, the potential expense is enormous.
The Medical Pool Fund is also available to the Superintendent. His yearly schedule is:
Years 1 and 2 of contract - $400
Years 3 and 4 of contract - $500
Years 5 of contract - $600.
The Administrative Positions also have a Medical Pool Fund. The Administrative positions are the High School, the Middle School, the Elementary School Principles, the High School Assistant Principle, the Director of Special Education, the Director of Business and Support Services, and the Elementary School Assistant Principle.
They are reimbursed at a rate of $150 per year and it is cumulative during the length of their contract.
The board indicated at the August 16,2006 that the Medical Pool Fund is available to most of the district personnel.
The district already provides generous wage and benefits.
The Medical Pool Fund is nothing more than gouging the community whose wages and benefits alone pales in comparison to the district's package.
Neither the state nor the federal government mandated this fund. The school board approved this windfall.
290 Comments:
WEEU's news just announced that Oley Valley School Board wants to initiate a process that will poll the population as to their income, etc, to see what is the best ADDITION to the current tax system to get the funds to the school board's grubby little fingers. Not their words, exactly...but close enough.
Question:
Do the board members think we're as stupid as they are brazen?
They are the stupid ones! We got their number!
Who is holding that hand full of cash in the photo?
TEACHER: NO, THE BILLS ARE TOO SMALL AND THERE'S NOT ENOUGH OF THEM. Unless that's the tip for the limo driver that takes them for their gold teeth and face lifts.
TAXPAYER: Probably not. There's still cash IN the hands, so that can't be any of the taxpayers.
What are you, blind? That's not money. They're food vouchers!
They're not tax dollars, Mr. Russo. They're Food Vouchers, for a PARTY......
.....and the credentials for running for school board include what?
Oh, that's an easy one:
1. Are you willing to attend some of the meetings?
2. Do you concur with the mindset that when the school wants something big and expensive, it's up to the taxpayers to foot the bill?
3. Do you promise to do your best to consider all sides of each issue, BEFORE agreeing with your fellow board members?
4. Do you feel the job you'd be doing as a school board member should reflect on each child, or only those you did not give birth to?
5. Can you speak English?
6. Can you understand English when taxpayers are asking the questions?
7. See question number 6.
8. Again, see question number 6.
9. Can you readily understand, by eye contact, whether it's a YES or a NO vote you're supposed to cast?
See, it's THAT simple. And, there's that word again, SIMPLE.
Oh, well if it's that simple you should surely run. You'd probably win
I think they meant like "silly" type simple. Most of the reputable board members have already retired. Now we're dealing with the simpletons.
we don't see no rush of people wanting to run for school board. the way people complane than who wood want to run anyway?
Oh please!
Wow, we sure hope that's not the locally educated bloggers a few comments back.
Actually, the credentials for running for the board are three:
- over the age of 18
- registered voter
- resident of the district
Mister, I bet you could run for the Board!
Step right up folks, anyone interested in a four year term?
Those who complain the loudest will never run - they enjoy the belly aching way too much. It's more fun to just sit back and critisize than to get into the ballgame, isn't it? What do they call that, an armchair quarterback or something? Put your money where your MOUTH is!! Let's see your name on the ballot in May.
Oh get a life. We use our time, gas and health to go to board meetings, what are you doing? Sitting on your coach feeling sorry for yourself? We care about all the issues of this district. We cannot say the same for you. Why don't you run? You do not care about this district, all you care about is making fun of the people that ask questions! See you at the polls! Changes are on the way!
Single issue candidates don't have a chance. (except with like-minded voters)
What money? The school district has run people dry! What a stupid comment! Belly aching is not something that you should laugh about! People that go to board meetings actually get sick of what they are hearing and seeing! We have the guts to keep coming back and seeing this board held accountable for what they are doing to this district. You are stupid! Go on a trip!
"To people who go to board meetings..."
There are only 5 - FIVE people out of the SIX THOUSAND PLUS eligible voters in Oley's school district who EVER regularly come to school board meetings. There is NO ground swell of unhappy taxpayers. If there was, they'd show up at board meetings at least occasionally. The "blog" is dedicated to the few nasty,name calling same 4 maybe 5 people, blogging mindlessly over and over again. Yes Cindy and Mary and Al and Russ and Linda I'm talking about you.
Nice that you could call all those folks by their first name, yet found it suitable to omit your own.
.
This response represents my personal views and not necessarily those of anyone else on the school board or in the whole world.
I can't resist a couple of brief comments on the current blog. The reference to the italisized portion, "medical expenses including (but not limited to)" etc was explained to Al at the meeting. His interpretation is completely opposite to what the section actually says and means. Read it and check. His facts sometimes need to be taken with a grain of salt the size of a track -which, incidentally is estimated to cost around $800,000, not $1.3 million as alluded to several times. The latter amount includes the field and lights.
He also made a big fuss over how a lot of the teachers submitted bills to the medical pool for exactly $300. It was explained 4 times that $300 was the maximum allowable amount and bills exceeding that amount were awarded the $300 limit. I guess he finally got it.
The "polling" as to income is a requirement of the states' new Act 1. This is an election year attempt by the Harrisburg duds to fool us about property tax "reform" by giving a little money to homeowners- but not the really poor who can't even afford to own a home. They get it back, of course, by shifting it to either the earned or the personal income tax.
As was pointed out to Al, the actual total paid out in medical pool expenses seems to amount to about half of the maximum allowed not the "potential" amount he scares about. (It is true that the potential is a potential.)
There are several “facts”, repeatedly used by Al, the “Concerned Oley Citizen”, which have been explained many times to him as being false. However, they are still being trotted out on the blog site. I would like to review a few of them.
The 5 or 6 million dollars that is allegedly available for instant use and could be used to offset current expenses, is a gross misrepresentation. The money exists, but 1.2 million is already owed for expenses from last year and is in an accrual fund to be distributed this summer. If you have $75 in the bank and a $50 credit card bill, do you have $75, or actually only $25, to spend on something else?
Another $1.2 million was originally raised for the construction of the middle school and for repairs to the high school. Because of legal claims against the builder, we have not paid a large chunk of that money and are waiting for the issue to be resolved in the snail paced court system. (Our claim is related to the $600,000 overrun, which has been unfairly used as another excuse to bash the school board.) That money may or may not end up available some day for construction repairs and expenses, but will still not legally be useable for general expenses.
The capital reserve fund has 1.6 million. Some of this is already needed to fund anticipated repairs. About half is from a bond interest “swap”, which was actually suggested by Al Jacobs at around the same time we were approached by a financial planner about it. It was an investment choice that may or may not pay off over the next few years. If it doesn’t work as expected, we may have to pay back some of the money. Because of that and other reasons, we are reluctant to spend it immediately. Basically, this fund is not available for current spending either.
That leaves us with approximately 1.8 million in our general fund reserve. This is a big chunk of change for emergencies –depending on what your yearly expenses happen to be. It represents 7% of our budget. Financial advisors claim we, as individuals, “should” have 30% of our yearly income in an emergency fund in case of job loss, medical expenses or catastrophe. School boards are required to have 5-8% in case of funding screw ups by the state legislature, or other unforeseen problems.
Arguments could be made, and countered, for spending a relatively small amount of our total funds and this year we actually budgeted over $200,000 from reserves to be spent. However, the claim of 5 to 6 million dollars being hoarded by the school board, just so we can raise our own and your taxes, is obviously false.
I realize this was a long explanation but not everything is as simple as it sounds..
Another often repeated charge relates to the increase in school spending over the last 7-8 years, and how it has exceeded the rate of inflation. There are many angles to this that can be explored and debated.
An obvious one is the “rate of inflation” itself, and how valid it actually is for measuring the increase in costs that we all endure. Another is how the government measured rate applies to businesses, including the school district.
The core CPI, consumer price index, usually referred to as the “inflation rate”, is measured by taking a “basket of goods” used by a typical consumer and comparing the price today to what it was in the mid nineties, specifically 1994, I think. That sounds pretty straightforward, except for a few technicalities. It actually only applies to people who rent a home and more strangely, only applies to people who do not eat, do not drive a car, or heat or cool their homes, and who do not cook the food that they don’t eat. (It doesn’t count food or energy costs.) It also doesn’t credit the actual cost of electronics, and a host of other items, that have changed in the last 12 years. If they have added features, the CPI subtracts the added value of those features from the cost it actually uses for the item this year. For example, if you buy a new, standard issue $300 TV and it has features that were not on the 1994 standard, they allow maybe $150 toward the CPI even though you can’t buy a set with only the old features. The obvious result is that the CPI understates the real inflation rate. This is estimated to be by at least ½ to 1% each year. According to one expert, without the continuous changes, the real inflation rate compared to the 1970’s has been, not around 3%, but actually 8%. It has certainly been higher than claimed.
Even more relevant to comparing the official personal inflation rate with business inflation is that the expenses for a business are so different and may have gone up much faster. The most accurate comparison, of course, would be to compare us with other school districts. If you do, I think you will find our increasing costs are similar to theirs. One explanation that has been offered for the rise in all school budgets is that everyone who is elected to a school board instantly morphs into waste and spend, irresponsible fools. This would be in spite of the differences between them in political, religious and social philosophy, personality type, occupation and almost any other criterion that exists. We may vote the same way, but that’s because we face the same mandated and necessary increasing expenses. These are linked to the performance of our first priority: the best education for our children that we can figure out how to provide, while balancing it against the cost.
Specific factors include the 10% of our current expenses which relate to costs for the new middle school which one of your blog contributors has said was for the benefit of only one class. However, try to find unused classrooms in any of the buildings. The proliferation of added classes and requirements for state mandated special education facilities alone has consumed many of them, as well as an increasing amount of our budget. Then there are the cyber/charter schools for which we are forced to pay, and the usual massive increases for electricity, fuel, insurance etc. Our employee expenses have gone up faster than the understated rate of inflation and faster than some of our constituents’ salaries. They have not gone up faster than the overall rate of economic growth, or the rise in industry profits, or the wages of comparable skilled workers such as accountants, whose starting salary, out of college, is at the level of a teacher with 20 or more years of experience. I realize this is a very debatable subject with some people claiming teachers don’t work as many hours as those in real jobs, or that teaching is easy, or that they should be screwed because everyone else is. Most of the people making such claims obviously never lived with a teacher and don’t know what their job or hours really are. It would make more sense for those who are losing benefits and wage appreciation to do something to get them back. It doesn’t do them any good to deprive everyone else of those benefits. For example, some unions still serve that purpose well and within reasonable bounds. The bottom line is that it is not fair to compare school expenses to normal living expenses and the school boards have done what they can to restrain spending to what is necessary.
Further proof is that our wise and wonderful legislators think that the expenses are comparable. We should have a good idea of what their opinions are worth when it comes to containing expenses from their own behavior. They didn’t make any similar requirement for their own budgets.
Certainly you can find people in the peanut gallery who claim they can limit spending without compromising the educational objectives. In Oley we have former school board members making that claim. Where’s the proof? One of them voted to refuse to accept federal grant money because in her supreme wisdom, as a constitutional expert, the federal government cannot make such grants. Others voted against paying bills that we were required by law or contract to pay. If they had gotten their way, this would have led to costly legal battles. What were they trying to prove? The official and self proclaimed “Oley Concerned Citizen”, Al Jacobs, wants to make our employees pay for increasing costs by limiting their salaries to below the prevailing rate for their job or comparable jobs. This idea has worked well in China, if that’s what you want.
The claim that we are “not getting better student grades on tests” for our increasing costs is so illogical that it is difficult to argue against. If the charge is true, the answer is not so simple. For one thing, is the raw material getting better or worse? Are kids in today’s homes and with today’s TV and computer game life style able or motivated to learn? Also, do the tests really measure what is most important or even important at all? His assertion that 19% of our students were not proficient on a portion of the PSSA ignores the bigger fact that 81% were proficient, and that’s pretty good. Can or should all kids even be “proficient” on the math PSSA, or should we be making sure those with high math ability are super proficient, and that the rest are able to understand everyday math - the basic stuff required in ordinary jobs, credit card expenses, interest, etc -that they will actually use in real life? Of course we have no choice- the government says everyone will be proficient in 2014 so it certainly will be that way, won’t it? Does the rising cost of electricity, of insurance, or most of our expenses actually have any relation to the proficiency of students? Or do expenses go up for unrelated reasons? Children aren’t ball bearings that we can machine to ideal tolerances and discard the ones that don’t measure up, so that our final product is perfect. In teaching we can always do better, but it is not simply a matter of spending more money, which is determined by many other factors not necessarily related to that outcome.
As it stands our results are very good. This is contrary to the claim implying that we have been found deficient by the state for the quality of education for our general student body and have failed adequate yearly progress. We had particular problems related to some of the special education requirements, and these have been corrected. On the other hand, a particular failing of most schools that has always bothered me is the continued presence of individual poor teachers or teachers with poor methods. It’s something we continually work on but never seem to completely succeed in eliminating. That also has little to do with rising expenses.
The anti-constitutional and anti-sunshine law claims have apparently subsided after being milked for all the publicity and self aggrandizement that they weren’t worth. The final proposed policy is exactly as it was intended. It sets out expectations and procedures and leaves control of the meeting in the hands of the elected representatives of the community. It allows for expression of opinion but not for domination of the meeting by a self appointed group who have to bring in people from outside the district to bolster their illusion of support. The remaining complaints by Al are the limits on individual and total time at the formal board business meeting. The fact that this can be easily extended and that there is ample time provided for actual discussion at committee meetings doesn’t seem to matter. He has questioned the granting of more time to invited guests, such as architects, whose presentations we need in order to conduct business. He feels he should be allowed to proclaim himself an expert on any subject he chooses, and then be able to demand “30-60 minutes” to educate us by forcing us to listen at whatever meeting he chooses.
Of some interest was his response to my use of the right of free speech. I was out of state for a school board meeting when I knew Mr. Jacobs would be venting about the policy and claiming it violated his constitutional right to free speech. I sent a brief statement with my son to reply to Al’s comments which I knew would be his usual repetition of what he had already said. In my comment, I tried to point out that freedom of speech, like all freedoms is not unlimited. There are many sensible restrictions to protect the rest of us, including the right to forbid or at least limit people’s expressions or their duration. I referred specifically to the right to hang up the phone when a caller makes foul and loathsome comments or accusations, and also to a group’s right to limit someone who inflicts repetitious diatribes on captive audiences. I asserted that freedom of speech is matched by a freedom from speech- a freedom to not listen. His response to my comments, which referred very specifically to things he had done, was to request that the school board “censure” me. His rationale was that by “insulting” him, I had insulted the whole community. I think this kind of thinking, mistaking yourself for the world, is called megalomania and may explain his desire to force himself as an expert upon us.
There seem to be so many angry haters on this site who don’t seem to be concerned with reason. I suspect they will have a field day with individual statements I have included while missing any major points completely. I hope I have offered a different perspective on some of the subjects covered on this site If anyone has actually read it all, especially with an open mind, I appreciate it.
Incidentally, except for my first 2 entries back in Feb or Mar, I have initialed, with “RC”, all of my few contributions. Any ‘anonymous’ comments belong to someone else.
Be careful to whom you listen: not all who speak tell the truth. Rob Cappa
To teeter totter:
I choose to remain anonymous because the personal attacks, insults and crap in general you spew can be harmful to me and my family. Civility has left this blog a long time ago, anonymity is the only protection for the truth.
Have a nice night.
Rob Cappa,
Thanks, well done.
You guys are something else. Unless there is a big deal about any one particular thing going on, NOBODY goes to board meetings. This is not news. The meetings are boring. The rooms are usually small and stuffy. The board members usually are, too.
Stating that the masses of people that DON'T attend the meetings implies that they're satisfied with the way things are running is kind of pitiful. Compare any of those board meetings to a big sign reading...
Free Root Canals-this evening at 7:00
Think you'll see a big crowd there, either? Probably not.
It's common knowledge to MOST people that no matter how many people attend a school board meeting, the attendees do not get to hear "everything" that the board discusses. Not just in Oley, that is like that everywhere. And...the sneaky little tricks the board thinks they're playing with our money...come on, it's not like they thought of these theories themselves! haha they are not that creative. There's nothing new in the world of school boards and tax raising tricks! Most of us already know that things are run "behind" the scenes, not by what we get to see at board meetings. Nothing personal, mind you, it's just the way it is.
The board is doing a job that, really, nobody else wants, unless they happen to be extremely driven by the so-called power of a "TITLE."
We live in an apathetic world. Until something is really biting us in the behind, we're basically too lazy, disinterested, and just plain ignorant to the fact that a handful of elected board members can make or break a school. Getting most folks off their butts and out to more than one board meeting would be about as amazing as seeing the Virgin Mary in your grilled cheese sandwich. It happened once, but probably won't happen again.
Don't be so quick to criticize those that do attend any or all board meetings. When the board and it's supporters blurt out such statements, it only clarifies the fact that they have something to hide. It looks like a reaction to guilt.
Not many people attending board meetings? Maybe because whenever there is more than a few cars, they call the cops!
hey there RC...
A couple of brief comments? WOW, please warn us when you intend to get lengthy!
peace & love
If meetings are too boring,then maybe those who want to attend need to be "entertained." There are 20-24 meetings a year, so if every one of the 6,000 eligible voters went to only one meeting a year, you'd have 250 people at every meeting. But most people are too busy watching Fear Factor and American Idol to attend.
Comment to Rob Cappa
Why can't you talk like that AT a board meeting? Aren't you allowed to, or what?
Here, you make perfect sense. If you can convince the community that the other 8 people on that board are as informed AND believable, you would certainly make a whole lot of citizens feel better about how things are going.
Also, can you suggest that the details of such things should be on the school website...in a manner that regular people can understand, that would also be great.
Thank you for taking the time to clear up some of those facts and figures, Rob.
Bewildered citizen
to RC
It is better to see someone writing documentable facts, like you did, than to see pages and pages of complaints and insults. Also it is not exactly commendable for people to be so cruel to our own neighbors. We better pray our kids are not looking at much of this stuff, because many blogs make a pretty sad impression.
A rather gullible audience indeed!
Wow, we sure have a hot crowd tonight.
To rc
Did many of the people ever notice that you are a DOCTOR? Doesn't than mean anything anymore?
This blog is great. It's so much safer than drinking AND driving.
yeah, drinking and TYPING is nowhere near as dangerous, and if your not typing on a laptop while driving down 422, well then it's really great!
Hey, I'm still waiting for the FREE root canal....
What the heck, free medical is free medical....
Who wants some RICH CHOCOLATE OVALTINE?
gullible's travels?
To Rob Cappa -
Thanks for your very well written piece above @ 8:04PM. Very thoughtful. Sad that every anonymous comment the regular bloglodites don't like they assume you wrote.
It's not only sad, it's almost funny. Rob Cappa has nothing to hide. He's very "up front." Why on earth would he waste his time with foneybaloney comments on here, or anywhere?
He has been on this blog many times! He has written on this blog! Believe what you want!
Are you sure that Policy 006 was voted on? I thought it was up for a second reading. There was no mention of it in the newspaper. Does anyone know what's going on around here?
First, to the "anonymous" person who referred to me as nasty and name calling: Could you reference where I have been nasty or called anyone names? I try, as Rob Cappa did in his post, to present my arguements reasonably and factually. You might (and probably do) disagree with me but you cannot say I was ever nasty or called anyone names.
Second, I appreciate Dr. Cappa coming on here and giving us his side (or the board's side) of the issues. I would hope that we can debate the issues he raised and not turn it into an anti-Cappa vs. anti-Jacobs blog.
We had a full crowd at board meetings many times and the board still does what they want and do not care how many people show up. Cappa benefits from his wife's retirement and health coverage that we the taxpayers pay for. He should not even be on this board, its a conflict of interest same with Heckman. His daughter is also working in this district. This is what we all figured was going on, they have made Cappa the spokesmen for the board. Whats wrong with the others. Dr. Zackon only lets one board member talk at a time.
Bring it on Cappa
More than 5 people are writing on this blog. You should not target 5 people and have the public believe that they are the only ones writing. You should watch what you write about people. The 5 mentioned 2 of them are former board members. It does not look good for this district to have former board members still concerned with this district and the way you are running it. The teachers have a big enough health package they do not need any extra medical money. We need it for our own families! They need to come down to reality and see how the rest of us try to survive every month. Cappa just talk to your main st. neighbors, if any will talk to you. You are the one that wrote a letter to a dying man Don Levan and told him to stop complaining. His wife has to live now without her husband and try to make ends meat! You do not care! You are beyond cruel!
Throwing stones at Russ S. and Linda B. is a pretty low blow. It's no wonder that people don't want to run for board. It's not those 24 meetings a year, it's the way that the town just can't be pleased, no matter what.
Taking a page from the "Concerned Citizens," can get a get an AMEN for Dr. Cappa's very informative response to many of the attacks made on the Oley Valley School District over the past several months.
It's important to understand that facts are facts, but as is the case with all facts things can honestly be omitted from certain facts which makes things appear much worse than they actually are. As an example, there are scores of people still out there that honestly believe the Holocaust did not really happen. And quite honestly, if you ever read some of their rebuttals using "facts" they are somewhat convincing. However, if you take the time to get a more complete picture of what they omit from the "facts" they choose to use the ignorance of their claims becomes apparent.
The "Concerned Citizens" do play an important role in our district as the so-called "Watchdogs." However, I hope most residents are intelligent enough to objectively look at both sides of all the issues before simply slinging the mud which has becomes so prevalent on this site.
Thanks again Dr. Cappa.
Dr. Cappa, you gave an eloquent and convincing defense of the board's position on many issues. You just can't help yourself, though, in trying to demean the people who might disagree with you.
Your reference to those of us in the audience as the "peanut gallery" is an insult aimed at anyone who takes the time and interest to attend one of the board meetings. If we are the peanut gallery then who are you? Howdy Doody or Clarabelle?
Also, I did not raise my objections to the policy change for self aggrandizement or publicity. I did so because I believe you and the board are wrong when it comes to time limits on subjects. Just because I was not there Wednesday evening doesn't mean I have lost interest. Your comment about "milking" the subject is condescending but, as I said previousy, you can't help yourself because that's how you really feel: superior. I intend to hold the board accountable when it viotates the Sunshine Law. Shouldn't I? It should be the board members themselves who call Sunshine Law violations to the attention of the board president. But since no one on the board seems to know the law or care I will be glad to point them out and file complaints when necessary.
I don't recall anyone saying that the 5 or 6 million should be for "instant use". I was pleased to read, however, that at least you admitted that 5 or 6 million exists. During the budget building period members of the board denied the existance of that much money. At least progress is being made.
If there is 1.6 million in capital reserve then some of that could be budgeted for capital improvements and maintainence thereby creating the ability to reduce the capital maintainence section of the general budget. I don't believe that fund was set up to see how much we could build it up and how many dollars we could keep in it. If 1.6 mil. is in there for emergencies and 1.8 mil in the fund balance for emergencies, what kind of emergencies are we expecting? I believe the biggest emergency is the one facing taxpayers in our district. Finding a way to use some of that "reserve" to address that emegency should be your number one priority.
Re:
..."can get a get an AMEN...."
Stumbling for words and typing hasty replies?
Derogatory comments are certainly nothing new to some of the writers of long posts. Although some people do suffer from low self esteem, that is no reason to insult others.
Wow, there must be an epidemic of that low self esteem thing.
re RC:
...I can't resist a couple of brief comments?
BRIEF? Your comments are closer in length and clarity to the Dead Sea Scrolls.
You seem to be carrying around alot of sadness or discontent. Now, why don't you write a long letter of reply, you know, and get some more of this grief off of your chest. You'll feel so much better! Just ask a doctor!
Well said, RC!
"I can't resist a couple of brief comments on the current blog. The reference to the italisized portion, "medical expenses including (but not limited to)" etc was explained to Al at the meeting. His interpretation is completely opposite to what the section actually says and means."
Explained or was it defended ? Mr. Madera tried to convince the audience that it was not a mile wide loop-hole. "But not limited to" strongly suggests that medical expenses may not be the only items reimbursed.
If you want the fund to pay for medical expenses only then say so, don't put provisions in a contract that lead to wide interpretation and possible misuse.
"His interpretation is completely opposite to what the section actually says and means"
We heard this type of explanation on the first version of the public participation policy that tries to prevent the community from addressing the board. Suggesting that the public is too dumb to understand the English language is elitism.
"His facts sometimes need to be taken with a grain of salt the size of a track -which, incidentally is estimated to cost around $800,000, not $1.3 million as alluded to several times."
Perhaps, Mr. Cappa did not listen to the architect and to the responses from Ms. McCarthy at a public meeting. They were discussing the various options for the new, synthetic track.
One of the options was $1,300,000.
If the board is looking at only a $800,000 track as Mr. Cappa claims, then why is the board getting a bid for a track whose cost was estimated to be $1,300,000?
There are far less expensive choices for the track. Why isn't the board looking at them?
"He also made a big fuss over how a lot of the teachers submitted bills to the medical pool for exactly $300. It was explained 4 times that $300 was the maximum allowable amount and bills exceeding that amount were awarded the $300 limit. I guess he finally got it. "
A "big fuss" about approximately 159 teachers alone submitting $300 individual expense vouchers each year whose content should to be audited because of a poorly written contract!?
There are 47,700 reasons in 2006 to be concerned. There will be at least 79,500 reasons in 2010.
The casual indifference to accountability is disappointing.
It is interesting to note that Mr. Cappa has no problems with the Medical Pool Fund. This is in addition to a lucrative health insurance package, which the teachers contribute only, 3%. The private sector must contribute up to 40%, if they have any health coverage at all.
"There are several “facts”, repeatedly used by Al, the “Concerned Oley Citizen”, which have been explained many times to him as being false. However, they are still being trotted out on the blog site. I would like to review a few of them.
The money exists, but 1.2 million is already owed for expenses from last year and is in an accrual fund to be distributed this summer."
Mr. Cappa confuses budget figures with fund figures. If he would take the time to look at the district's Schedule of Investments he would see that as of June 30,2006 there was a total of $5,977,480 sitting in various funds, prior to the raising of taxes. This is information given him each month.
What Mr. Cappa is discussing is the art of "expensing" monies that have been budgeted but not spent at the end of the fiscal year.
The district says for example that they budgeted $200,00 for expenditures. At the end of the year they were not incurred. Instead of putting that excess money in the fund balance, the district claims it is an expense in the next fiscal year.
As taxpayers, we are being charged twice for such an accounting maneuver, once in the budget process, then when they "expense" the unspent money at the end of the year.
"Another $1.2 million was originally raised for the construction of the middle school and for repairs to the high school. Because of legal claims against the builder, we have not paid a large chunk of that money and are waiting for the issue to be resolved in the snail paced court system. (Our claim is related to the $600,000 overrun, which has been unfairly used as another excuse to bash the school board.) That money may or may not end up available some day for construction repairs and expenses, but will still not legally be useable for general expenses."
A half-truth. The money cannot be used until the lawsuit is adjudicated. If the district wins the suit, then the funds are available to general use in terms of capital project undertakings, for example, building repairs or even a track.
If the district loses the suit, we will be on the hook for more legal fees and the lose of substantial tax dollars. More than likely the lost funds will have to be made up with new tax dollars because of the rate and amount of spending by the board.
"The capital reserve fund has 1.6 million. Some of this is already needed to fund anticipated repairs. About half is from a bond interest “swap”, which was actually suggested by Al Jacobs at around the same time we were approached by a financial planner about it."
Mr. Cappa maintains one private citizen influenced the entire board to make a decision about millions in debt obligation investments.
This is rather amusing since, he and the board go out of their way not to listen to the community. They are passing a public comment policy to reinforce their actions.
At no point did I or any other member of our group or anybody else make any suggestion as to selling options on debt or to the use of proceeds. That was the sole province of the school board.
Let us hope there are no problems with this financing because it sounds like Mr. Cappa is establishing an excuse for board follies. They blame the state for their spending decisions each year. It sounds like he wants to blame citizens for his "swap" vote.
Our interest was how the monies raised would be used. The financial planner said they could be used for any purpose whatsoever.
They were to be put in the general fund. The school board voted to transfer approximately $850,000 of proceeds into the Capital Reserve Fund.
When the board does this, it restricts the use of the money to only capital projects and cannot be use for property tax relief.
Perhaps a more interesting question about the swap arrangement is how one financial institution was selected over others. Was there a need for any board member to abstain for the vote to select and use the financial advice of a particular institution?
"It was an investment choice that may or may not pay off over the next few years. If it doesn’t work as expected, we may have to pay back some of the money. Because of that and other reasons, we are reluctant to spend it immediately. Basically, this fund is not available for current spending either."
This is an astounding explanation. The agreement with the financial institutions expires in the year 2012. During that period, they will decide whether to exercise their options on our debt or not.
The idea the board would sit on $850,000 until that date tests credulity.
It is ironic that the proceeds appear to match the money the board plans to spend on the track.
Let us not forget, the board voted to expose approximately $22,000,000 of our debt into unregistered, unsecured investments for a paltry return of $115,000!
"That leaves us with approximately 1.8 million in our general fund reserve."
Again, it is recommend Mr. Cappa reads the Schedule of Investments given to him each month.
It reads that as of June 30,2006 there is $3,023,241 sitting in the General Fund.
"However, the claim of 5 to 6 million dollars being hoarded by the school board, just so we can raise our own and your taxes, is obviously false."
Oley Valley School District
Schedule of Investments
For All Funds
As of June 30,2006
$5,977,480
Facts have a way of rooting out the truth.
"Another often repeated charge relates to the increase in school spending over the last 7-8 years, and how it has exceeded the rate of inflation. There are many angles to this that can be explored and debated. "
Mr. Cappa dislikes the idea that he will be under modest spending controls by the state.
He can hypothesis and prognosticate all he wants about the accurate rate of inflation, but he will have to adjust to the reality that the state will place inflation index controls on school spending.
The state is saying the school boards have been spending at such a rate, that they need to be held accountable.
The school boards blame the state for lack of funding and for unfunded mandates, but the truth of the matter is that the major part of school budgets is determined by the board.
The dissing of an inflation index by a school board member will not will be enough reason for voters to approve spending over the rate of inflation.
"The bottom line is that it is not fair to compare school expenses to normal living expenses and the school boards have done what they can to restrain spending to what is necessary."
Mr. Cappa tries to make the argument that school districts and more particularly school boards should not be held to the same fiscal standards as the private sector.
Unfortunately, school board members are not swayed by fiscal responsibility and instead spend and waste money at an alarming rate.
The state does not buy Mr. Cappa's assertion either because they have instituted spending controls on his spending.
The board will no longer have blank checks to fund non-state mandated, non-educational extravagances.
You can administrate a district as a business and still have more than enough funds to meet the needs of education.
"Certainly you can find people in the peanut gallery who claim they can limit spending without compromising the educational objectives."
Mr. Cappa cannot lay claim to "educational objectives, when he plans to spend up to $1,300,000 on a track.
"The official and self proclaimed “Oley Concerned Citizen”, Al Jacobs, wants to make our employees pay for increasing costs by limiting their salaries to below the prevailing rate for their job or comparable jobs."
Mr. Cappa asked for the petitions for a No Tax Increase 2006 budget.
Apparently, he did not take the time to read the 150+ signatures of the Oley Concerned Citizens.
Teacher unions and certain school board members who have financial vested interests always point to other school districts when it comes time to negotiate wage and benefits.
To make this comparison suggests that the teachers, superintendent, etc. are doing the same job as well if not better, than the other district.
By what standard do they make such an argument? Certainly if can't be by educational or fiscal results.
The wages and benefits are reached by unions and school boards using children as pawns or hostages to an agenda of higher wages, benefits, and power and not by performance.
"The claim that we are “not getting better student grades on tests” for our increasing costs is so illogical that it is difficult to argue against."
Educators and school boards have a hard time explaining why billions have been spent on education, yet independent test scores show little results.
This is not a reflection on students, but on those in charge. They have ignored the problem with excuses and alibis.
The state is tired of hearing the same rhetoric from the school systems, so they have instituted educational goals through PSSA testing.
If the district does not improve the student test scores each year, the district will be subject to oversight by the state.
This is called accountability. It is long overdue.
"As it stands our results are very good."
If you do not recognize a problem how can it be solved?
The state says the district must improve each year on PSSA results. This law came about because school boards did not hold the educational system accountable for substandard performance.
Mr. Cappa's assurances do not have much foundation when you look at the 11th grade PSSA results where a large percentage of students do not test proficient in Reading and Math.
The school board member's claim to academic excellence does not appear to be shared even with fellow school board members. One has taken their child out of the school system, and another may plan to do the same.
The state sees the problem, concerned citizens see the problem, why doesn't Mr. Cappa see the problem?
"The anti-constitutional and anti-sunshine law claims have apparently subsided after being milked for all the publicity and self aggrandizement that they weren’t worth. The final proposed policy is exactly as it was intended. It sets out expectations and procedures and leaves control of the meeting in the hands of the elected representatives of the community."
Mr. Cappa disagrees with a Lackawanna judge, two Reading Eagle editorials, and a number of citizens who voiced their concerns about his vendetta couched in a policy against the public.
The policy's intent has been made crystal clear by Mr. Cappa's tirades against public participation.
His attempt to hide behind the fluff and circumstance of "procedures" and "policy" is transparent.
"It allows for expression of opinion but not for domination of the meeting by a self appointed group who have to bring in people from outside the district to bolster their illusion of support."
Mr. Cappa needs to identify this mysterious outside group otherwise, he must mean the Reading Eagle. Their editorial staff states his policy may violate the constitution as well as the intent of the First Amendment.
Besides attacking the public for their participation, he has publicly attacked the paper for their support of the Bill of Rights.
Mr. Cappa's anti-free speech fanaticism would be entertaining were it not for the fact he is a school board member imposing his hate in the form of a policy.
"The remaining complaints by Al are the limits on individual and total time at the formal board business meeting. The fact that this can be easily extended and that there is ample time provided for actual discussion at committee meetings doesn’t seem to matter."
It is interesting to note that Mr. Cappa' lecture would have taken him well over the three minute time limitation he would impose on the public at meetings.
Lucky for him, we believe in the First Amendment.
We will not require him to fill out a card or make him stop posting past a three minute time limit.
Nor will we prevent him from posting under his new rules of conduct with degrading words like "peanut gallery, megalomania" or insulting community intelligence.
We have the patience to read the words of hypocrites.
"He feels he should be allowed to proclaim himself an expert on any subject he chooses, and then be able to demand “30-60 minutes” to educate us by forcing us to listen at whatever meeting he chooses"
Mr. Cappa is very sensitive when he is exposed for not being up to date on school matters. Frankly, a number of people are "experts" in his eyes.
"Of some interest was his response to my use of the right of free speech. I was out of state for a school board meeting when I knew Mr. Jacobs would be venting about the policy and claiming it violated his constitutional right to free speech. I sent a brief statement with my son to reply to Al’s comments which I knew would be his usual repetition of what he had already said."
Using Mr. Cappa's rules of a statement's relevancy to the meeting, his son may not have been allowed to present his father's comment.
"In my comment, I tried to point out that freedom of speech, like all freedoms is not unlimited. There are many sensible restrictions to protect the rest of us, including the right to forbid or at least limit people’s expressions or their duration."
"Sensible restrictions" does not appear in the First Amendment. Mr. Cappa has already called citizens "diatribes" and compared them to Fidel Castro.
We fully understand his contempt for people who have differing views than his.
If he is tired from hearing from taxpayers, then he should resign.
"I asserted that freedom of speech is matched by a freedom from speech- a freedom to not listen."
Meetings Policy 006, Section 7, Hearing of Citizens makes it official that the board does not want to hear from the taxpayers.
"His rationale was that by “insulting” him, I had insulted the whole community. I think this kind of thinking, mistaking yourself for the world, is called megalomania and may explain his desire to force himself as an expert upon us. "
Mr. Cappa was not present when a room full of citizens came to voice their concerns over his attempt to trample on free speech.
Instead, he sends his son to take the heat.
"There seem to be so many angry haters on this site who don’t seem to be concerned with reason. I suspect they will have a field day with individual statements I have included while missing any major points completely."
Mr. Cappa once again demonstrates his elitism. He thinks the community is incapable of reason and logic. His self appointed wisdom can be described as narcissism.
"Be careful to whom you listen: not all who speak tell the truth. Rob Cappa"
So true......
In the end, we encourage all points of view on this blog. We are not afraid of open discussions.
"...you can't help yourself because that's how you really feel: superior"
You must have quite the gift - knowing how other people feel. Maybe that's why some of you have so many issues with the board. Not only do some of you have the ability to know how someone feels, but you are also able to judge a person's intentions and character without even knowing that person.
The problem that "gift" presents is this: spending so much time judging others allows for little time examining ourselves and our actions and words!
Mr. Cappa,
It must be difficult to type all of that while wearing a crown.
Town of Oley
The taxpayers of oley are not filled with disgust for ALL board members. The one (1) that makes US uncomfortable is the same one (1) that makes YOU uncomfortable. That is the only way a civilized citizen can make that statement without using terribly hurtful words. The words are, however, our true feelings.
Al, your not wasting your time with all of this. You've opened a door that was long closed to any sort of doubts or questions the public has or had with our board. Thank you Al, keep up the good work.
Al is correct again. The Oley School district has been in trouble for sloppy bookkeeping from the state of PA in the past. We have lost 8 business managers in the past 10 years and Mr. Cappa is all wrong with his above blog. If he read and really cared about this district he would know that the monies that Al talks about and holds to the board are their own figures that he gets from their own books. Mr. Cappa open mouth, insert foot! Did Dr. Zackon know that Mr. Cappa went of this blog. Mr. Cappa is wrong!
Are you sure that Policy 006 was voted on? I thought it was up for a second reading. There was no mention of it in the newspaper. Does anyone know what's going on around here?
Eight business managers in the past ten years? And the board doesn't think they've got a problem?
"Are you sure that Policy 006 was voted on? I thought it was up for a second reading. There was no mention of it in the newspaper."
The second "reading" was at the August 16,2006 meeting.
There was no reading, discussing,contemplating,commenting or anything about the Public Participation Policy designed to limit Free Speech at Oley Valley School Board meetings.
The board remained silent as usual.
The Policy Committee, headed by Cappa, knows the effort to silence dissent is a shoe-in.
A small band of liberals in the community will turned the First Amendment on its head.
There is still the matter of the board voting on issues not on the agenda given to the public. This is against the Sunshine Law.
But if our local Prolotariet can wink at the United States Constitution why should they worry about a lowly Sunshine Law.
The next Policy Meeting is September 11,2006 at 5:00 PM in the Administration Building boardroom.
Cappa insisted on 5:00. Anyone want to guess why he choose such a convenient time for the community?
Of course, the board may decide to cancel this meeting as they do with Combined Meetings.
"Does anyone know what's going on around here?"
This question needs to be asked at school board meetings.
A 5:00 p.m. meeting? Okay, everyone can make a meeting at that time, right? Even the court jesters can be there at that convenient time.
And I'm certain that anything of importance which WOULD be covered at that meeting will already be posted on the school website?
How many business managers? What if there were 8 Superintendants in 10 years? Would it look kind of strange then?
"In the end, we encourage all points of view on this blog. We are not afraid of open discussions."
...but understand that we will not truly listen to your comments, or even consider them. In fact anything that opposes our opinions will be met succinctly with 5 or 6 posts (possibly more depending on the level of ignorance being demonstrated) berating the foolish person who could hold such insane ideas.
Obviously this is not directed towards everyone who has posted on this site. However, it would be nice to see a more educated and civil debate take place between certain members of the opposing sides.
...more educated....
....living in Oley....
D U H !
That spells it out quite clearly.
You're looking for the elite crowd only.
Keep jacking up the taxes, you won't have any problem finding them.
We agree 100% up here in our neck of the woods. If you need to see this for yourself, go to the Oley Fair. The good old farm boys and girls are what made this valley what it is today. But you'd never know it. The way these citified folks gawk at the farmers is terrible.
I'll take the farmers any day over the crowd with the master's degree or doctorate.
Farmers have a big heart and a great work ethic. Most of these so called elite folks could not handle the lives that the real folks have. They don't have what it takes.
As I said, 5 or 6 posts. We are at 2 within 25 minutes. Thank you for proving a point.
I haven't posted for some time, but I see things haven't changed. I'm glad we can once again lump all human beings in Oley into two categories (Farmers and those with maters and doctorate degrees) and determine that one group is honorable and the other unstrustworthy human beings! Who made you people GOD? The problem I observe is that you don't RESPECT anyone other than your own pitiful selves. The truth is that the ONLY thing you are concerned about is your own pocketbooks; not your community, not the children, not other citizens, or anything else. SELF, SELF, SELF, is all you care about. I would suggest that is why you are so upset. You continue to look in the mirror, and are repulsed by what you see!
Have any of you attended an Oley Township meeting recently? Why do you NOT QUESTION their rationale and practice of ordaining their little kingdom as "historical" and "agricultural?" Being as wise as old Al is, he certainly must recognize the FACT that the Oley Township practices mentioned above are one of the PRIME reasons your taxes will continue to climb! Who pays for land preservation and historical limitations. YOU DO! As Oley and Pike townships exclude business growth and expansion, WE must pay the difference in lost revenue to the townships and the school! Why don't some of you show up there and start asking some questions? Maybee it would actually do some good!
Silence Begood
That above post is right on the moeny. There is good and bad in every type of person. Remember what the Bible says, "Judge not...."
As for the township meetings, they are different from the school board meetings, to me anyway. They seem less hostile! In my life I've never seen such tension at a school board meeting.
You're also right about the pocketbook thing. However, there is concern for people that are not getting cost of living adjustments like teachers do. (and many other professions of course) Just the same, it's as if we're all ready to camp out in tents or something. Let's pray that finances never take anyone in our community to that point.
To Silence Begood -
Thank you. Excellent posting.
Ben Franklin would be proud of you.
- An Observer
It is peculiar that people are seeming to get upset by Al Jacobs, because he spends time researching where our tax dollars are going. And, where they're not going. Generally speaking, when funds are spent honestly and appropriately by the school board, people do not get upset. When there are figures that don't add up, of course, someone is going to notice this. Do some more research, find some more facts that don't add up, and you see what happens.
If the board is totally sure that their figures are correct, they need to be absolutely certain that those facts and figures are printed where everyone can see them. That is NOT at a meeting. Face this fact: More people than ever are working more than one job to make ends meet. Nearly everyone has computer access. These facts and figures need to be entered on the school website ALL THE TIME. If the board is 100% correct, as they claim, then they should have no problem putting this information into print for all to view, not just those that have time to go to school board meetings.
I have bumped into several folks that new nothing of a new track, and many other items.
Ben Franklin is dead.
But, he would have been proud of any blogger that is concerned with education first and a fair tax system second.
There is a man that strikes an amazing resemblance to Ben Franklin, though. We saw him at a really big mall in Philadelphia. Oh, yes, it was FRANKLIN MILLS!
Hey, when they put that chicken recipe on here, I wonder if anyone actually made it, and didn't get sick? Yuckeeee, it was terrible!
My kids would not take a second bite of it. Did you end up serving it to your inlaws? You will turn them into outlaws!
Francine
Al cares about accountability! When you see this school board spend OUR MONEY recklessly and do not care about the public that pays the bills, things are going to get hairy! People are going to notice something is wrong with this school board. People I have spoken to are very upset about what is going on here, but they are afraid to attend the board meetings as they do not want anything to happen to the children, children have been recked by this school board and system. I came name a bunch of them!
If the board has nothing to hide, then why are they appearing to be threatened by Al Jacobs?
Because the truth can be very scary.
Do whats right board and everything would be fine! Why do you continue to sneak things through and not be honest with the public. We are the people that pay the bills and salaries. Our children should not be at a school that the administration and board are liars. We bring our children up to be good citizens at least that is what we try to do and then they see you being sneaky and what are they supposed to do. They are always getting mixed signals. Be bad somewhere else!
Information and articles discussing possible track options have been in both the Reading Eagle and the Boyertown Times newspapers multiple times, in building newsletters, and the district newsletter that gets mailed to every household. If someone is unaware of the discussions/pledges for the track project, they haven't been reading these publications. Those who've missed it in all of these other areas would miss it on the website too.
Look under Community Foundation news.
SILENCE BEGOOD is exactly right, with all of the Oley farmers getting their Clean & Green tax reduction it's at someone else's expense - you and me.
PS: Google Ben Franklin and read a quick biography, find the clue as to why he was the original anonymous blogger for a "hissstoree" lesson that you must have missed in school.
"...If the board has nothing to hide, then why are they appearing to be threatened by Al Jacobs?..."
I have attended many board and committee meetings and I have never thought that they apperared to be threatened. I have always appreciated Mr. Jacobs comments and efforts, but I have never thought that he was providing a unbiased and fair representation. Equally, I have never thought that the school boards excuses are anymore unbiased.
I always viewed the meetings as watching the the talking heads on Sunday morning TV. Get someone on the right and left with equally unrepresented opinions and try to get the audience's attention.
I read all 77 comments above me (Sunday evening TV stinks) and Dr. Cappa and Mr. Jacobs have each presented 2 different points of view, without factually disproving one another. The scary thing is that they did this by citing facts.
Why does the earlier posting feels that the board is threatened by Mr. Jacobs? To me, it looks as if they just blatenly disagree. I don't have a problem with the complete oposite view points, because as Mr. Jacobs has pointed out throughout the operation of this blog, that is the privilege granted to us through constitution and our bill of rights.
God bless America, and God bless the people of the Oley Valley.
Stating that the track was mentioned in several publications is true. Stating the ACTUAL COST, OR SOMETHING VERY CLOSE TO IT...HAS NEVER BEEN TRUE. To most "seasoned" citizens, there would have been nothing wrong with revamping our current track. If it was in such a state of disrepair, that did not happen overnight. My wife and I read the paper every day. Over the past several years, we noted nothing that pointed in the direction that we'd be considering the funding of a really big deal that has nothing to do with education. Physical education can be obtained anywhere. In a field. On the gym floor. Anywhere. A fancy track is great for schools that have a massive tax base. We don't.
My wife and I, and our children, have never been contacted by anyone for a fundraiser for a new track. Isn't that what most schools do to raise large amounts of money? Nobody is trying to deny our kids a top-of-the-line track, or any other "thing." We just don't like the way our board presented the facts. All different figures, and many board members against it, and now it's a great idea? How does that change take place?
Someone with actual knowledge of this and the figures, votes, whatever...please explaine this to us. I'm guessing that we're not the only old folks that are borrowing from our children to make the new tax payment. We are lucky to have good kids that are willing to help us, and able. The board must be counting on that.
Clean and green, etc, yes, that is a joke against the rest of us that don't have enough land to qualify for it. Anymore, it's like you need a college degree just to figure out how you're supposed to pay your insurance, health care, and taxes. Forget about money for clothing and food, some of us are down to Buy-Rite twice a month to buy sub standard food, just to make ends meet. Coincidently, we have not bumped into many teachers and administrators shopping there or at Goodwill. We have seen some teachers in Walmart though. They were complaining about the help and groaning about waiting in line. One stated, I'm a teacher and I'm in a hurry! I can't put into print how that made me feel, but it surely was not a feeling of pride. She told my wife that she teaches in Oley. My wife told her to get out of bed earlier if she didn't want to worry about stopping at a store and being late. (What a puss she made to that reply)
Many of today's teachers act as if they are MORE IMPORTANT than anyone else. They get great pay and benefits, more than many. Yet they still cry the blues about their jobs. For those that feel they've made a mistake with their career choice: Quit. You're the type that will not be missed.
To the board:
the whole darned town is talking about you. Many of us can't make it to school board meetings, or in my case, I'm an amputee. This past year has been rough on me, but I'm not giving up of course. I am pooped by the evening and don't feel able to get off my chair, let alone out to a board meeting. I heavily rely on my computer for news. Could the board please see to it that "all the school board news that's fit to print" gets on the school website? Please?
Dr. Gotwals and Mr. Richard both that are on our board benefit from clean and green, also no track parents and children have ever started a fund raiser, or if they have never asked anyone I know. The person in the above comment is 100% correct. I feel very sorry for him, the board could care less if he does not have any food, meds, money etc. God Bless the good, caring people of Oley.
To the person 2 blogs above, Al's blog was full of facts, Rob's blog was full of ----. If you do not believe me go ask the school board for the budget and look carefully at it. They seem to switch things in the middle of the night. I have been going to board meetings for 5 years and the board is still sneaking around. This so call business that Mr. Heckman says is getting deeper and deeper in trouble. $25 million budget and look who has to come up with that money, you and me. The budget does not have to be that high if the board did not mishandled this system. Many items that we spend money on are not mandated by the state. Example: new track, new middle school, football that is in the works that the board will deny, pool that people want and Dr. Zackon is on that group that wants the pool. Only a matter of time and our budget will be at $30 million and greater. Are the test scores going up? Are the children happy? Hows the drop out rate? Are children doing more drugs than ever? We need to get back to the basics, math, writing, reading!
We are not Wyo, Wilson, Boyertown and the rest of the big tax base schools. We are Oley Valley small, quaint, pretty and people that want to keep their homes. Get it into your head board members.
The 2006-07 preliminary budget, which is also the final budget can be found on the school district's website. Go to Oley Valley School District, then down the left-hand side go to Administration, and then down the right-hand side go to budget. Double click on budget. Then it will bring up a page which has the 2006-07 preliminary budget on it. At the board meeting where the school board voted to accept this as a final budget, none of the figures changed, however, at the end of that meeting a few of us requested to see the treasurer's report and monthly financial, and it was on that particular paper that it was discovered that the school district, did, in fact, not disclose the true money that they had. There was closer to %3.5 million in the General Fund.
If they are using $1.2 million for expenses for the last fiscal year, it should have been shown in reserved fund balance section which is reserved for encumbrances. This, too, was not in the budget.
Also, I just reread the article in the Boyertown Times regarding all the track options, and NONE OF THEM STATED AN OPTION WITH LIGHTING.
Base Price - $847,606 - eight lane artificial track and two paved areas for shot-put, long and high jump and pole vault. Below are other options available with a savings or increase as per the option.
1. $741,096 - Six lane synthetic track with eight lane straight-away using downgraded polyurethane material with two D areas and new shot-put area - Savings $37,636
2. $772,486 - Eight-land synthetic track with one D area and new shot-put area - Savings $75,386
3. $778,732 - Six lane synthetic track with eight lane straight-away and two D areas with new shot-put area - Savings $68,874
4. $801,378 - Eight lane synthetic track using downgraded polyurethane material and one D area with new shot-put area - Savings $46,228
5. $835,606 - Eight lane synthetic track with two D areas and no new shot-put area - Savings $12,000
6. $921,106 - Eight lane synthetic track with two D areas and new shot-put area with expanded field hockey field - increase $73,500 (this is another field, and not the one inside the track)
7. $1,318,825 - eight lane synthetic track with one D area, new shot-put area, and a synthetic turf field inside - increase of $471,219.
No where were LIGHTS MENTIONED, Dr. Cappa, or was that discussed in one of the board's famous closed sessions?
Refer to the Article by Aaron Jenkins in the the April 13, 2006, Boyertown Times, and incidentally, Mr. Jenkins and the reporters from the Reading Eagle are given handouts on these things, so there are no apparent mistakes with these quotes, other than the fact, I believe they have gone up.
So, not only do they want to put a new track in, they want to put artificial turf in the infield, which will then cause an issue because soccer and hockey teams will both want to use the field, which then causes another issue, practices will have to be staggered and someone will have to practice in the early evening or night, which then brings us to the issue of LIGHTS!
To the person who wrote be careful to whom you listen, not all who speak tell the truth - the taxpayers who go to these meetings have no say about what is put into the budget and how the monies are spent, so the TRUST ISSUE is related to the SCHOOL BOARD AND THEIR CONTINUOUS EFFORTS TO NOT TELL ALL!
Rob is short for robber!
school board or school bored
To Dr. Cappa, my thanks for the time and thought that went into your detailed explanation of how and why the Board and administration manage our money the way they do. We disagree on many points, but I respect your right to your perspective and thank you for taking the time to engage in intelligent debate.
However, since I seem to be bunched into the 4 or 5 people who are accused of dominating this web site, please let me share some facts. I just returned from vacation ... which was to have been one week but became two because I was in a hospital in Maine for emergency care on iv antibiotics for 6 days ... and far from, or caring about, a computer.
So, Dr. Cappa, it would seem you accuse me the same way others are accusing you. I have not made one comment on the the Medical Pool Fund posting until this one. On other occasions I have used my name, as I do now, because I am not ashamed of my thoughts or track record as a former board member. I have not called you or anyone else "names." However, if others are driven to do so, that also is their right. I've been called a lot of names and demeaned ever since I was on the board .... it comes with the territory. I must say, the people on this blog are gentle compared to the vicious attacks Barbara Frey, David Miller and I received during and after our tenure.
Yes, I often did vote against "new" programs that were started with "Federal and State grants." Because, by accepting the grants, we also then were required to fund additional "mandates" out of local taxpayers' pockets for us to continue receiving the money -- ultimately, the grants demanded much more than they gave.
Many other programs that I voted against were harmful for the students -- such as new educational programs that had no empirial data that they would improve learning. I refused to allow our students to be used a lab. experiments for the latest educational fad. I voted against a "Texas Instruments" grant to provide calculators for early elementary students to use in math class.
The deciding factor for every vote was "to do no harm to anyone." Because Barbara Frey, David Miller and I were generally the lone votes against such programs, and for which we explained our votes, we were endlessly mocked, demonized and slandered.
I never voted for the medical plan, not only because it's far more than the taxpayers should be "forced" to pay; BUT also because it provides "abortion on demand," for teacher union and administrative members and families covered by the plan. I do not believe that the public, with many differing religious and moral convictions, should personally be forced to pay for something that they believe to be wrong.
I never cast a vote that wasn't first seriously considered from ALL aspects as to what was best for the students AND the people who ultimately would have to pay for the consequences of those votes -- the Taxpayers, who have my utmost respect.
As to why so many cannot attend meetings -- all of the other bloggers have already answered those questions.
Hate me all you will, Dr. Cappa, and those who won't accept any other point of view. But don't accuse me of things I've never done or said. My record speaks for itself whether you like it or not.
Linda, I hope you are feeling better and thanks again for sharing your thoughts with us. You sure are a ray of sunshine! I am very glad I got to know you. It makes me feel good to know that former board members like you still care about us the little people that pay the big bills. Thanks so much for giving your time to us. You are great!
I also read in the paper the different track options. But the board refuses to say that the 1.3 million option is too much. I am sure the big option with happen along with the lights. Why not have it all,after all the big schools have this. I think the board feels we are the money bags. We must have money trees in all of our yards. It is sad that some people are losing their yards and homes because of this board and the action they take.
Sorry will not with
To Linda:
Glad you are back, and sorry that you were in the hospital. That's never what anyone plans during a vacation.
All of the regular bloggers knew you were not on here because your comments are courteous and HONEST. Two features missing in many other posts. It seems as though when you and Russ left the board, all the class left, too. I am new in town and did not get to know David Miller. I have read several posts from both yourself and Russ Swisher. Anyone with two cents worth of brains and 5 minutes to read your posts should know that you care as much as the rest of us. It's not necessary for either of you to sign your real names, because your real feelings and convictions shine right on through the comments by some lesser "adults." The truly caring parents around here know exactly where you're coming from, and why you're no longer on the board. How much can anyone take of that sort of abuse? Our hats are off to you, Linda, and Russ. I am certain that nobody knows all you put up with. The same with Barbara Frey.
Down the road, I can't imagine some current board members receiving much of a thank you for their brand of serving on the board. The thank you would be more in the form of, "Thank you, I heard you're leaving the board." No, I'm not trying to be unkind, I'm being totally honest.
Some of these blogs, freedom of speech and all, are pretty icy. I think that we need to keep the lines open, and try for correspondence closer to helpful than hurtful.
Like many, I have children within the school system, and I don't want anything taken out on them. Anyone that thinks this does not or could not happen, needs to chat with more of their neighbors. It's a real eye opener.
Again, thank you Linda. You are a rare breed.
Welcome back, Linda. Sorry to hear you were ill. Hope all is well now.
Linda, you always write the truth. If that's a problem to anyone on here, it's THEIR problem, not yours!
Someday, maybe those others will learn that it's much easier to tell the truth. So much less baggage!
By the way, we hear BEN FRANKLIN was fond of telling the truth. Right on up until he passed away! He's very silent now! Begood? Nobody is sure!
Welcome back!
Less hurtful would be good for all of us. It is very hard to be nice when you see what we see at board meetings and the way they treat us. It is truly shameful. I have never seen a group of people with so much hate for others as I do with this board. The minute you know the truth of this system the minute you are put on the bad list. God forbid you question them! It is terrible. God is watching the evil. Time will tell what happens to these folks. The good folks are the ones that care about all the people and children of this district, myself included.
Ask Barb Bieber how they used to treat her when she was one of us! Now shes on the board and she turned into one of them. She used to hate them and the way they treated her when she asked a question. How brain washing works ask Zackon and Heckman. They must put a spell over the board to think like them and vote like them. It is discusting. Barb Bieber totally changed. Sad, sad.
Like someone said before, when somebody askes a question at a board meeting, they all look like they're sitting in the electric chair and if they answer wrong, the KING will zap them. Seems like they are a bunch of puppets. And THAT is SAD!
A school board member claims his numbers are the truth about fund balances prior to the raising of taxes on June 30,2006.
He asserts ..the claim of 5 to 6 million dollars being hoarded by the school board, just so we can raise our own and your taxes, is obviously false.
A link is provided in this post to the Oley Valley Schedule of Investments. The information was obtained from the district and it is a Public Record.
As you will readily see from the schedule, the district had $5,977,480 available prior to raising our taxes for the sixth consecutive year.
The only fund that could not be used for operational expenses entirely was the Food Service Fund.
When he speaks of raising his taxes, his household income goes up, ours goes down.
In terms of other school board members raising their taxes, perhaps they are not understanding its impact on the community majority.
There is a school board member in another district who raised her school taxes so much, so ended up on the tax delinquency list.
Mr. Cappa is either uninformed or he is misinforming.
Schedule of Investments
See the dark side does not lie. Read the above schedule of investments, right out of the horses mouth! Cappa is wrong!
disgusting not discusting. Sorry for that error. Do not go off on a few misspelled words now! Ok be nice if you can! I know it is very hard to do. Bye, bye!
Unusually quiet on here ever since Al posted the official figures. Cat got your tongue???
last week's lesson..Ben Franklin
This weeks lesson...Sigmund Freud...
As usual, the Oley Concerned Citizen resorts to truth twisting and insults in his attempt to rebut an opposing opinion. Most of his twists, in his reply to my reply, are self evident and I will ignore them. (You’re welcome!).
He claims the length of my blog answer to his ‘facts’ represents far more than the 3 minutes he is allowed under the new, pending policy on public comment at the formal school board meeting. As usual, he misses the main point which is simply that no one is being forced to listen to, or read my blog. YOU can choose to walk away or skip it. You are not being forced, as Al would force everyone in the room, to listen to “30-60 minutes” of his self proclaimed, expert testimony on anything he wants to present. He says he can’t discuss a 25 million budget in 3 minutes. He well knows that the vast majority of the school budget is committed to items like salaries, fuel, electricity, cyber/charter schools, special education requirements, etc, and that a relatively small amount is discretionary. His blather about the full budget is about as true as his misinformation when he was campaigning for Act 50. Then he claimed that the voters could keep the district from paying the increased state levy for retirement obligations. The truth was explained to him at several public meetings but he was still claiming otherwise on voting day.
.I have called his (and only his) speeches, “diatribes”, and compared his desire for a captive audience to Fidel Castro’s use of such forced audiences.
His idea of limits on speech times at the formal school board business meeting being a violation of the first amendment and the Sunshine Act is pure, unadulterated nonsense. It is an excuse to made a fuss and get attention. Where was he during the last election when people were being ‘exiled’ to Free Speech Zones when they tried to carry placards on public streets?
This is Freedom of Speech: I am allowed to say anything I want for as long as I want (within many limits), but only in a setting where you are free to decline to listen. A forced audience is not evidence of freedom but of tyranny. Al doesn’t like the idea of “sensible restrictions” on free speech. I think anyone else can think of many situations that we accept and applaud: start with the old example of “yelling fire in a theater”. Limiting length as well as prohibiting obscenities, slander, etc. at a formal board meeting seems sensible to me.
He also insinuates that the next meeting of the policy committee is being held at 5 o’clock in order to prevent a massive turnout like we had at the last meeting- when around 3 participants showed up. (We had that meeting at 7 to accommodate attendees.) He was at the board meeting when we tried to schedule the next one at 7 but couldn’t because of a week of conflicting events. Still he just has to imply that it was out of fear of his numerous, phantom supporters.
He refers to the Reading Eagles’ mistaken editorial about the pending comment policy. I had sent a reply to the editor pointing out some relevant facts about which they seemed to be unaware. He says I “attacked the Reading Eagle for their defense of the Bill of Rights.” They chose to publish my letter under their chosen heading, “EAGLE ignored some details”.
That letter said:
“1. The time limits only apply to the formal board meeting, not to committee meetings including the combined committee, which all of the board members attend. Therefore, there is ample time for comment.
2. At least half of the other Berks school boards have similar time limits. Oley has had the 10 minute per topic limit for years, and it was instituted or approved by the same ex board member who now threatens to sue us if we enforce it.
3. There is provision for a separate meeting or carryover of the comment period.
4. The comment period can be extended by the president or a majority of the board.
5. The Sunshine Act specifies a “reasonable” period. Is a 30 minute period less reasonable than the no limit you prefer?
6. Why don’t we have the same comment right at the state and federal level if it is in the constitution?
7. Many judges issue foolish rulings which get overturned. Maybe your mentor in Lackawanna is, or should be, one of them. You published a similar ruling in your “news of the weird” recently.
8. Every right has accompanying responsibilities and usually a counterbalancing opposite right.
9. Serving as an elected official doesn’t completely abrogate my rights.”
The Eagle subsequently made no further comments on the matter.
Regarding any ‘excess’ money in the general reserve fund, our wonderful, responsible legislators, are lovingly called “the state” by Al. They are admired because they call for a limit on school spending tied to inflation. At the same time, they are forcing us to present a budget long before they deign to tell us what our 30 % allowance from them will be. They also, of course, have no such limits on their own spending. It would, therefore, seem to be prudent for the board to keep a little more of a reserve right now rather than cutting it.. Of course, we have to worry about getting the job done, including keeping the school district functioning and solvent. Some bloggers only have to be concerned with ingratiating themselves with others whose main concern is to save money for themselves without regard for anything else. Among them are those who want to reduce the property tax on all homeowners, including and especially the wealthy with expensive homes, and shift it to the middle class and working poor through an increase in the earned income tax.
He asks about the “mysterious group” who brings in members from outside the community. It is, unless I am seriously mistaken, none other than Mr. Jacobs. He is also the only one who ever complained to the board about people from outside the district not being able to express their opinions of district matters.
The fact that we are reluctant to spend the ‘swap’ windfall immediately does not mean we will “sit on $850,000 until 2212” as he claims. It means what it actually says, that we are going to think about how to spend or save it, for awhile. It was almost funny that when I gave him credit for the one good idea he has ever presented to the board –the swap- that he turned it around into an insult and an attempted cover-up in case we regret it someday.
He speaks about “non-educational extravagances.” What have they been for the last 5-10 years that account for his so often repeated charges?
He says I “plan to spend up to 1.3 million on a track”. As I pointed out, the track cost is in the range of $800,000. Sorry I misremembered the cost of the full track, PLUS field and plus lighting, as $1.3 million. The point was that the figure for the track which is what he was reporting, is not $1.3 million, and he knows it. It is still a lot of money and I believe I was the only one on the board who did not vote in support of it. That does not mean I will not support it in the future after hearing more reasons for and against it. And no, it will not be because Dr. Zackon or Mr. Heckman, or the Alien under the table twisted my arm while washing my brain. Mr. J’s reading my mind is just one of his great talents, or just another example of truth twisting.
He says that I “think the community is incapable of reason and logic”. I was clearly referring to the bulk of early bloggers on this site, who fortunately seem to have recently been joined by a more discriminating and reasonable minority. The total of all of the good, bad and ugly bloggers still seem to make up a tiny minority of the whole community-even counting ALL the 150 who signed the famous, overwhelmingly popular petition. Incidentally, I might have signed it too, since I also don’t want my taxes to go up---unless it’s necessary and not going to be wasted.
I am sure I could keep on for an even longer time responding to his comments, but I think I can force myself to desist. Those of you who choose to believe what he says have picked a peculiar prophet. (You might do better to pick a peck of pickled peppers.)
In response to some anonymous misinformed contributor, we are currently paying full price for our medical insurance which is not paid by the school district for retirees.
Once more, for Mrs. B and friends, I do not submit anonymous blogs, except two in the beginning of the site, as noted before, plus a single one line question a few months ago. Rob C
Mrs B, When I first met you, approaching a board meeting, you introduced yourself as "the board member everyone loves to hate". I thought that was kind of a strange intrduction to be so proud of. Sorry but I still don't hate you despite your assertion that I do. I have only seen the side of you that you seem to reserve for addressing the board, giving back the abuse and scorn that you garnered back in the days of your service. However,I've read that outside the board audience you're even a nice person. That's good!
Here is a cold hard fact, Taxes are outstripping the rise in income levels, as they will soon see in this income poll. I commend Dr. Cappa for finally articulating an intelligent response and explaination of what he beleives is really going on.
I submit to you good people of this great school district. If the majority of folks had to actually sit down and write that one tax check out every year, rather than what most do, which is take that wonderful bill to their respective financial institutions. I promise you, there would be nothing short of riots at those wonderful meetings. This some would say is a barbaric way of thinking, but think about this. How high must the non-collection rate push before the eyes open?
I only ask of these board members to be honest, forth-coming, personable, able to respond to a public question as if they possess the ability to be professional and RESPECT those who may have put their asses in the seat. Beyond those requirements I couldn't care less.
They claim they are there to do the business of the school district. I disagree. I beleive they are there for the best interests of the public to conduct smart business practices.
Always with the community in mind.
Who paid the above blogger!!
I have not been paid thank you
To Rob and Al:
Although the two of you live (probably) less than 10 miles from each other, you are using this means of communication to accomplish two things:
1. To address the problems of our school district...education and our wallets
2. blogging counteless insults while allowing up to 6,000 eligible voters observe your ways. This is like watching a couple of old men play checkers. The entire blogging audience is awaiting the day that one of you pounds your fist on the game board and all the checkers go into orbit.
Let's get back to the 10 miles apart theory. Rob and Al, you seem to have two different sets of figures. You are acting like brothers that can't stand to lose an argument. Back in the olden days, the two of you would have had a fist fight by now. why don't the two of you get together for a cup of coffee, and present your facts to each other? Maybe you can understand things better if you're both seeing the other's paperwork.
You can't BOTH talk, and BOTH refuse to listen. Cappa represents the Board and Jacobs represents the HAND THAT FEEDS YOU. You can't have one without the other. And, yes, we're all aware that the members of our Board are also taxpayers. At times, it's very difficult to believe that ALL of the Board members are in the same boat as the rest of us. Regardless, this is how MOM sees it:
Rob and Al:
This is MOM blogging.
Your father and I feel there is far too much contention between the two of you. Now, the two of you either shake hands, work for the good of the community - together - or you're both grounded. You're upsetting a whole lot of folks that are taking one piece of information at a time and starting riots with it. This is not how you were raised. It's not what you learned in Sunday School, is it? Remember - The Golden Rule?
This was taught to you in your "BOSCO" days. Before you both reach your Golden Years, your father and I need to know that you've absorbed what we have taught you.
Please, boys, do what is right.
Love,
Mom
p.s. Your father could not be here to sign this letter, as he's working the third shift at Redner's. At his age, he was "lucky as all get out," to get a stock boy job. If he didn't have this job, we'd be in trouble with our taxes this year.
Al's figures are the school's figures. Cappa should have them.
Regardless.
Cappa and Jacobs need to hash this out face to face. Not on a blog. Our community deserves better than what we're seeing here.
Dear Mom:
That is the best interpretation of the dialouge that have seen in a while, and probably the best posting I have read in the past week.
Thank you, I enoyed the read. I say that because my mother would have scolded me exactly the same way if I was involved in a dispute like the one transpiring here.
Best Regards.
There is nothing wrong with them debating this issue on the blog while "allowing 6,000 eligible voters" to observe (although that figure might be slightly inflated). This allows everyone to hear both sides, see each person's figures and make a judgement as to which one makes the strongest case. You aren't going to get that if they meet for coffee somewhere. Isn't that the purpose of a blog? To air opinions and debate issues? Well, that's what they are doing and we are all learning from it.
RS:
Yes, the blog is a great was to get "started." And the 6,000 figure came from somewhere on this blog. I surely don't know 6,000 people in the Oley area. I do, however, know what all good "Moms" know. And that is not what I'm seeing on here. Immature, arrogant, defensive, and totally lacking in class. Wow, all the good things rolled up into one.
The blog is serving many purposes. I am learning way more than I thought I would. Some is not too impressive. I'm "old school." I'm not ashamed of that, either. "Do unto others," always worked for me, and my adult children have willingly followed suit.
Look at the shape our world is in today. If we can't get a handful of Oley folks to chat about the differences of opinions, and facts, and get to a sensible agreement in a timely fashoin, how can we expect the higher-ups in our country to do any better? We're full of criticizm of their every move, and yet here, in the local level, we are no better. This is OLEY! Old School Oley has never intended to sway in the direction we're seeing this school board issue go in.
I will stand my ground on this one. "GROW UP, BOYS." When Mom isn't happy, nobody's happy...."
love,
Mom
Mom you are wrong on this one.
Al has gotten his figures from this school board and district. I do not know what Cappa is looking at. He seems to make up his figures as he goes along. And if you do not like what is said on this blog do not read it. Nobody is making you read this blog site. Brainless people in this district. We are right with the figures Al has presented. Please wake up!
Dale and Rob and the rest of the leftist are up to know good again! What else is new.
Well, Dr. Cappa is back to "attacking messengers" rather than the facts. And, Mom, your advice to Mr. Jacobs and Dr. Cappa would be amusing if so many people weren't being taxed out of their homes and deceived by this Board; and the education system wasn't so flawed. Everyone is losing at great, wasteful expense.
Remember the old saying, "liars figure but figures never lie." The truth is revealed when the school needs to hire "9th grade REMEDIAL READING teachers," and our PSSA scores rival "below or just about average." At the nearly $8000 per year we're spending on the students, our PSSA's ought to be off the charts.
As to the Medical coverage for teachers and administrators and additional medical pool funds -- you know, the issue which Dr. Cappa has pretty much ignored on these postings -- are way out of whack with what taxapayers should have to provide for "their employees," and compared to what the rest of us are often personally paying. Try $800 a month for health insurance and co-pays for a couple, which does not include eye and dental.
As to Cyber Schools costs, these parents just want the BEST for their children in a SAFE environment. They pay school taxes and those school taxes go to paying for their children's education, as it should be. Every home school or cyber school parent who I know has chosen this route because the government schools often just don't measure up. It's a personal decision that parents still have the right to make. It's all about free market competition -- does anyone understand that concept anymore?
These are the issues: mediocre education at exhorbitant costs to people who've paid and paid and paid, and can no longer afford the excesses, while taxpayer dollars are sitting in fund balances instead of lowering taxes. So, what's the solution, School Board? OUTSIDE of creating the taj mahal of sports complexes and throwing more of our money at the problems? How about some "solutions" as opposed to "empty explanations?"
Right on Linda! You blog is 100% correct.
no not know!
Oops, some misspelled words up above. I need some coffee to get me moving. I am writing too fast. My mind cannot believe what I am reading. Mr.Cappa is way out there!
To the "editor" who delights in pointing out everyone else's spelling errors -- we know what people mean. Give 'em a break.
"As usual, the Oley Concerned Citizen resorts to truth twisting and insults in his attempt to rebut an opposing opinion"
Mr. Cappa considers informing the public about the Medical Pool Fund, the district Schedule of Investments, and his efforts to shut down public meeting, "truth twisting and insults."
Facts have a way of angering those who think the public is not capable of logic and reason.
"He claims the length of my blog answer to his ‘facts’ represents far more than the 3 minutes he is allowed under the new, pending policy on public comment at the formal school board meeting"
Your entire post could have been deleted, but it was not because we believe in the First Amendment.
"As usual, he misses the main point which is simply that no one is being forced to listen to, or read my blog."
No, Mr. Cappa, we read many times in the news media and on the blog, that you do not want to listen to members of the community.
As a board member, you can do want most do and that is just ignore what is being presented.
Instead, you choose to smirk and deride taxpayers having problems keeping their home.
Engineering a policy to reduce your irritation and having accomplices approve it, is nothing more than an attempt to bully, intimidate, and silence the citizens.
"He says he can’t discuss a 25 million budget in 3 minutes. He well knows that the vast majority of the school budget is committed to items like salaries, fuel, electricity, cyber/charter schools, special education requirements, etc, and that a relatively small amount is discretionary."
Over 75% of the school budget is comprised of salaries and benefits.
The school board determines the size of both, not the state or the federal government, as he would like us to believe.
The board negotiated or should we say surrendered, one of the most lucrative teacher contracts in Berks County. It was such a windfall, that the Wilson School District used it as the model for their negotiations.
Mr. Cappa's claim that he has no control over the budget is nothing more than a school board member acting like a politician not wanting to be held accountable for his actions.
"His blather about the full budget is about as true as his misinformation when he was campaigning for Act 50. Then he claimed that the voters could keep the district from paying the increased state levy for retirement obligations. The truth was explained to him at several public meetings but he was still claiming otherwise on voting day."
The school board spent thousands of tax dollars for propaganda and the teachers sent children home with stories to defeat the concept of the community having a say about district budgets.
They won their little battle but lost the war, because the state passed House Bill 39, which has a referendum.
We do the right to vote on excessive budgets. Mr. Cappa will have to live with that fact.
"His idea of limits on speech times at the formal school board business meeting being a violation of the first amendment and the Sunshine Act is pure, unadulterated nonsense."
Mr. Cappa has a hard time explaining why then a judge and a newspaper state he is wrong. His only defense is to call them names.
"Where was he during the last election when people were being ‘exiled’ to Free Speech Zones when they tried to carry placards on public streets?"
The school board member has still not gotten over the 2004 election !?
Three minute per speaker time limits, thirty-minute public comment limit is Mr. Cappa's imposed Free Speech Zone on people addressing the board.
He complains about his time to voice his opinions, but wants to deprive others of the same rights at his meetings.
"This is Freedom of Speech: I am allowed to say anything I want for as long as I want (within many limits), but only in a setting where you are free to decline to listen."
We have witnessed Mr. Cappa's right not to listen to the public at meetings many times.
He still has the right not to listen, but he needs a policy to justify his contempt for citizens.
"A forced audience is not evidence of freedom but of tyranny."
The disgruntled school board member has the right to resign from the board if he feels forced to perform his duties.
" Limiting length as well as prohibiting obscenities, slander, etc. at a formal board meeting seems sensible to me."
Anyone who has attended a board meeting would be amused at Cappa's attempt to portray citizens as lawbreakers.
This same school board member tried to intimidate speakers at a meeting by turning his camera on them. One woman politely asked that he stop. He refused.
Apparently, Mr. Cappa thinks he also has the right to intimidate people who address the board.
Does anyone think he will include board members bullying and insulting the audience in his anti-free speech rules ?
"He also insinuates that the next meeting of the policy committee is being held at 5 o’clock in order to prevent a massive turnout like we had at the last meeting- when around 3 participants showed up."
The room could have been filled with community members and Mr. Cappa would still have exercised his right not to listen as he has done many times.
Unlike this school board member, people have jobs and are not able to attend meetings at 5:00 PM.
"He refers to the Reading Eagles’ mistaken editorial about the pending comment policy...The total of all of the good, bad and ugly bloggers still seem to make up a tiny minority of the whole community-even counting ALL the 150 who signed the famous, overwhelmingly popular petition....Many judges issue foolish rulings which get overturned. Maybe your mentor in Lackawanna is, or should be, one of them."
Mr. Cappa thinks everyone is out of step except him so belittles and attacks.
He has the right not to listen, but at some point, voters may decide his eccentricities are a burden and an embarrassment on the community.
"Serving as an elected official doesn’t completely abrogate my rights.”
Nobody has abrogated Mr. Cappa's right not to listen. He exercises this right frequently. He thinks his hate policy will bolster his actions.
"At the same time, they are forcing us to present a budget long before they deign to tell us what our 30 % allowance from them will be. They also, of course, have no such limits on their own spending."
The school districts that opted into Act 72, which has the requirement of formulating early budgets, did not have any problems.
In fact, one school district used the legislation as a means of negotiating a reasonable teacher contract.
Of course, most board members were afraid of losing their power and they spent most of their time propaganding against the act as they did with Act 50.
Now, all school districts will have to do what they should have been doing all along, developing a budget within the confines of accountability.
A school board member blaming the state for a lack of funding is nothing more than an excuse for waste and mismanagement.
"It would, therefore, seem to be prudent for the board to keep a little more of a reserve right now rather than cutting it."
A school district the size of Oley having nearly $6,000,000 sitting in funds is outrageous.
Just what are the spending plans of the school board when they have nearly 9.6 mills of tax dollars sitting in off budget funds !!
Thank goodness, we now have the referendum available to us to put an end to this egregious fiscal action.
"Among them are those who want to reduce the property tax on all homeowners, including and especially the wealthy with expensive homes, and shift it to the middle class and working poor through an increase in the earned income tax."
No doubt, Mr. Cappa is talking about the Commonwealth Caucus Plan, which shifts school revenue source from homeowners to a state sales tax and a state income tax.
He is against anything that will change the status quo of school board power, whether it is Act 50, Act 72, House Bill 39, House Bill 1,or the Commonwealth Caucus Plan.
It is rather amusing that a school board member now claims he is for the workingman and woman.
Where was this board director when he voted on tax increases, year after year, after year ?
"He asks about the “mysterious group” who brings in members from outside the community. It is, unless I am seriously mistaken, none other than Mr. Jacobs."
Group = 1 ?
Somebody, helps us out here...
"He is also the only one who ever complained to the board about people from outside the district not being able to express their opinions of district matters."
Mr. Cappa may have been exercising his right not to listen when a person from Reading spoke at a school board meeting in a lobbying effort for an educational program.
Whether an outside group decides to speak at board meeting has no significance to me, other than them suing us because a board has not taken the time to fully contemplate a flawed policy they are bent on implementing.
The board thinks they have the luxury of glossing over mistakes with taxpayer wallets at their disposal.
"It was almost funny that when I gave him credit for the one good idea he has ever presented to the board –the swap- that he turned it around into an insult and an attempted cover-up in case we regret it someday."
Mr. Cappa is confused, again.
There are nine school board members not ten.
The school board brought in a financial advisor not the public.
The school board voted on the debt options, not the public.
The school board voted to take the $850,000 swap funds out of the general fund and put it into the Capital Reserve Fund, which eliminates most these monies for property tax relief.
Mr. Cappa's attempt to rewrite history reminds us of a politician waging his finger at a camera proclaiming his innocence.
"He says I “plan to spend up to 1.3 million on a track”. As I pointed out, the track cost is in the range of $800,000. Sorry I misremembered the cost of the full track, PLUS field and plus lighting, as $1.3 million. The point was that the figure for the track which is what he was reporting, is not $1.3 million, and he knows it."
The ultimate cost of the track will be what the board decides to vote on.
The range of options announced at public meetings was $650,000 to $1,300,000.
Mr. Cappa did not listen.
"It is still a lot of money and I believe I was the only one on the board who did not vote in support of it."
Mr. Cappa has a selective memory.
He voted to proceed with the track.
If he is so concerned about the track cost why isn't he looking at less expensive alternatives?
The architect said at a public meeting, that costs could range from $650,000 to $1,300,000.
The board member must have been exercising his listening rights at that moment.
" That does not mean I will not support it in the future after hearing more reasons for and against it."
Spoken like a true politician.
"...the Alien under the table twisted my arm while washing my brain. Mr. J’s reading my mind is just one of his great talents, or just another example of truth twisting."
Mr. Cappa's paranoia is getting the better of him. A politician should not be afraid to answer questions unless he has something to hide.
"Incidentally, I might have signed it too, since I also don’t want my taxes to go up---unless it’s necessary and not going to be wasted."
Mr. Cappa's assertion has to be taken with a "grain of salt", because when he raised our taxes his household income went up but ours went down.
That "Mom" article got my attention. Al Jacobs presents very good points. And he is nothing but polite. As polite as he's able to remain under the conditions that Dr. Cappa puts him. Al, it would seem, puts nothing but the truth in his script. If I were a board member, like Dr. Cappa, I would feel the need to deal with the situation face to face. One or two typographical errors on here, and somebody is ready to start a war.
By the way, if everyone is trying so hard to save money for their tax bills, should some of this blogging time be spent looking for work that pays?
Sorry folks, I'm with "Mom." These boys, well meaning as they may be, are setting a terrible example for our community. What next? Throwing tomatoes at each other? Knocking the books out of each others hands at meetings? Grow up! If you both feel this strongly that each of you is correct, get this over with. We can set it up in the school gym. Like the old debating teams.
Finally, at the risk of coming down to the level of some others...I'm a great grandmother that would pay to see this debate. And I'd be chanting:
"Go Al GO...!" I'm a mom, and I know a liar when I hear one. It's not Al.
I remember when MTV first came on the scene - each new music video seemed to be weider that the last. They seemed to go for the shock value and departed further and further from the actual music or even the song lyrics. It wasn't long before I stopped tuning in at all.
Writers on this blog remind me of those days. Entries are becoming more and more bizarre.
I'll be tuning out of this soap opera as well. Some of you have apparently gone off the deep end.
Amen Mom and Edna.
The child like behavior (on both sides) needs to end. If this debate/disagreement was happening with the students in the school. the bloggers would be pointing out how poorly today's kids are raised and behave.
I enjoy Al's comments which generally use school supplied facts. Unfortunately, we can all use FACTS to support whatever we want. Just watch a sleezy politician (O'Pake, Rendell, etc.)
The problem I have with the topics discussed on the blog is that I rarely see any constructive solutions to the problem.
"Don't raise taxes" is not a constructive solution, it is jibberish. As a group, let pose solutions to the gripes. What changes are needed in the curriculm? What text books should be eliminated? Why waste time on the silly Senior Project? How do you encourage more student involvement in foreign languages and computer related classes?
If there is a true desire to reform the laging Oley education, then these are the questions that need to be addressed, along with crazy thoughts like a new track and horrible teacher contract.
If this sort of "ranting" was going on between school students, they'd probably be suspended, or expelled if it didn't stop. Why is this fair treatment for the students, but acceptable for the adults?
Fan of MOM's way of thinking....
It's clear that there IS a discrepancy (or several) between Rob's figures and those presented by Al. Al states that his figures are those provided by the school. So does Rob. Wellllll, someone is incorrect. And neither of these guys seems to be incorrect on anything.
Both are stating that they are in fact touting the facts. Chances are they are both doing just that, except one is providing facts related in one manner and the other in a different manner.
Just another example of how the school board could be and should be utilizing technology and the web site, etc., to communicate facts to the taxpayers.
Bottom line is, everything I have heard seem to be quotes from various vendors and consultants. And until I see the copies of all of the correspondances side by side, I won't believe any of the numbers.
Although I don't know Al or Rob very well, I have spoke with both of them, and don't believe that either of them are blatenly lying, just evaluating ever changing data from different perspective.
Linda B...
This is Mom blogging. My observations and notations concerning "the boys" was not meant to be amusing. My illustrations were probably exactly the way my mother would have talked to my brothers....had they been stupid enough to bicker like this, in print, and do goodness knows what to our family name. Way back when, that truly mattered. You may remember those times, or hearing about them. This was way back when a good girl was not confused with a nice girl. And, if the girl were to become pregnant, they either sent her away to a distant relative, or the whole family moved. Yes, this is off the beaten path, but it's still concerning how families USED to behave in private and in public. Those things certainly have changed.
Here's something else that has changed:
Way back when, if a family suffered a hardship, their whole family and circle of friends pitched in and helped them. That included paying taxes. You didn't hear much about a family that could not pay taxes and actually lost their home. Their family and friends would not let that happen.
We're currently faced with higher taxes than ever, and there seems to be no end in sight. Yes, our board does need to recognize this fact. They claim to, but many of us do have our doubts.
The folks on the board should better appreciate the ones that come to school board meetings and are willing to contribute their time, their thoughts, and they should feel free to ask questions.
I'm tempted to call my son and ask him for a ride to the next board meeting. But, alas, my cover would be blown. I know I'd have "Mom" written all over my face. And I'd want to stick a big doggone bar of Ivory Soap into the first "kid's" mouth that made a wisecrack or uncalled for comment. I have heard several stories and also read on here that Dr. Cappa has a bad habbit of talking out of turn and with a great lack of respect for people at the meetings. Actually, everyone I know has heard this and they're not impressed with this behavior, either. I'm older than old and I'm not especially healthy. I am not sure my nerves could take it.
I will be keeping an eye on this blog site to see how things are going. I type with one finger and usually spill my decaf somewhere near the keyboard, especially when one of my cats pays me a surprise visit.
I will not stop reading this, because it is important to our children. That's what it's all about, right?
love,
Mom
linda,
Did you actually address yourself as "the board member people love to hate?"
Leave Linda alone once and for all. She has helped this district out many times and gave alot of time to the public and children, approx. 20 years.
Also the people in the above blogs are not getting the fact that Al's figures are those that the school district gave us. Look at the schedule of investments and you will see over $5 million in 3 separate reserves. This money could be helping the education of our children. Not for a track and other non-educational items, and legal problems this district had caused. You should come to a meeting and ask Al and Rob to show you. You will see that Al is correct. Rob is not.
Rob the robber go away!
The common reply from Al's fans are almost always...
A. "We know the facts and you don't."
B. Name calling
C. Insults.
Like Billy Joel said, "you can never argue with a crazy mind..."
If Rob is sure he's correct, how about if he addresses this "situation" face-to-face with Al. In private, or in front of everyone. Al will have no problem presenting his factual information to everyone, it's easy when you know you're telling the truth. If Rob's certain his figures are accurate and truthful, let him be the bold one. Let him go first. I'm sure this attraction will bring one heck of a crowd.
I quote another blogger...
"go Al go !"
A quick question to most of the bloggers on here....
Do you have a Mom?
Interesting info:
In Melbourne, Florida being on the school board is a paid position. It's a job. There seems to be alot less ego involved in a paid position, as opposed to a position that carries a title and some other perks.
Has anyone else heard of this practice?
I'm not looking to insite a riot here, by suggesting that we create some new salaries. However, if a paid board staffed full time employees that ran an honest, efficient system, the budget and the test scores would either secure their employment or terminate it.
How's that for a new twist on this blog? I didn't call anyone a creep, jerk, or moron. Wait a minute, I never did. I may have thought it, but I kept those thoughts out of print.
Oh, and I didn't use any words that you'd have to look up. Except for "Budget." Some might not know what that one means.....
hehehe...scroll way up to the top of this blog and look at 7:12 pm.
"What are you doing? Sitting on your coach feeling sorry for yourself?" Your COACH?
This is not editing of spelling. This is humor. hehehhehe Are we ALLOWED to laugh at that slip? Or do we just rip people up by name, people that live in our same town and we have to see them in public?
That is sad. The above is funny.
"In Melbourne, Florida being on the school board is a paid position. It's a job. There seems to be alot less ego involved in a paid position, as opposed to a position that carries a title and some other perks."
Maybe another thought is to consolidate the 18 school districts administrative functions into a county school district.
This would eliminate the bloated overhead, superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals, assistant principals,business managers, assistant business managers, public relations positions, sports directors,etc.and have them under one roof.
This would save taxpayers millions in salary and benefits which could be invested in education.
In addition, we would eliminate the need for 18 school boards.
Florida as well as other states have county school districts.
Does anyone think our current school board directors would give up their power for the common good ?
Most feel, more than likely, the school board members would not give up their positions. Then again, some day they may not have a choice. They like to boast that they attend some or all of 20-24 meetings a month. If they have that many meetings and still run a sloppy ship, what good are they? If the taxpayers are not happy, (even the small portion that go to the bother of mentioning this) then the day may arrive in the near future that Titanic type school systems will have to hop in the row boat and paddle on over to a system that is fair to everyone.
You know how you ask someone, "Hi, how are you?" And they answer, "What's the use of complaining, it doesn't do any good, or, nobody listens anyway....?" Well that is it in a nutshell, that's why most people don't go and state how they are affected by taxes at the school board meetings. The majority is so used to being blown off, they just accept what's handed to them and deal with it. Until the burdon of rising taxes reaches a level that they can't swing it, you just don't hear from them.
Yes, a county school system would solve many problems. I don't think anyone on this board or in our area should feel that this option is not workable and that they'll never see it. You don't have to do much research on the web to see that lots of areas have switched to county school systems, and they are surviving...and saving money. You know, maybe the school systems took after the Mormons. Imagine having a wife to do each little task in your home. Wife number one does the dishes and cooks. WIfe number two goes to the store to get the food for wife one. Wife three gets the coupons from all papers. Wife four checks for expiration dates. etc, etc. Sort of like the Superintendant having an assistant coupon clipper, etc. Everyone knows that if the Super had to do 10 jobs instead of 3 or 4, he'd still get them done or he would not have a job. The school professes to be a business, yet they change the rules as they see fit. That does not work in most businesses, most homes, really anywhere.
Well, I'd like to write more on this interesting subject, but only one of my wives showed up today, and I've got to help her! Come to think of it, Only one wife has shown up here for the past 43 years. Was it something I said?
A county system worked down in North Carolina which is were we lived before being transferrred up to PA and this beautiful place except for the fact that outsiders are not welcomed. I have seen alot of cold hearted people in my day but Berks Cty. takes the cake. Even going to board meetings and listening to them lie after lie after lie I have found some real nice folks that care about the system like I do. I am talking about Al, Cindy, Linda, Russ and some others. Thanks to them I feel more welcomed in this neck of the woods. The system in NC is great. 1 Super to run a couple of 100,000 kids. It was not the best but the people, teachers, children and community really cared for each other and tried their best for good quality education. My children did very good in NC. They are doing good here at Oley because they want to succeed and move on and they have 2 very caring parents that are involved with their education and ask questions and when they have any concerns that speak up. We are not affraid. We know we are doing the best we can and feel very strongly that a change is needed asap. A county system here would be wonderful. Alot of money could go to the education instead of big salaries, benefits etc.
Several of my neighbors are from other parts of the state/country originally. My family is from another state, also. It took YEARS to be recognized, and being accepted is something else again. It's funny how we're not exactly welcome, but our tax dollars are. And you wonder why any of us get worked up about the school board? They are the FIRST ones that should be rolling out the welcome mat. Don't hold your breath waiting.
Yep...
Welcome to Berk$ County, Folk$
You're not kidding about some of the "Welcome Mats" you get here.
But this one was even worse. Years ago, at an Oley Valley PTO meeting, a group of young mothers got together to cook up a fundraising event for the kids. The usual conversations were in the air. Boy Scouts, church events, outgrown shops, etc. I overheard this:
"You're new here! Welcome!" And the young mother looked pleased to be greeted so nicely. The conversations went in several different directions. Shortly after that, I heard one of the other woman whisper..."That one over there is not from around here, either. She's from LEESPORT!" For heaven's sake, they made it sound as if she was from Mars.
A simple lesson here on how hard it is to "fit in" with the homegrown crowd.
board meetings are good for something. I have met some nice people while sitting there listening to the nonsense!
That's where I met Mary Swartz. She's not from around here originally. She went out of her way to greet me, ask me how I liked living here, and made me feel 100% welcome to the community. She should give some other folks some lessons.
to Rob Cappa,
First, may I state that this is not a slam in any way, shape, or form. Anyone that reads your heartfelt comments can see that you have a passion for doing what you feel is the right thing to do. Some may wonder, like myself, if you feel satisfied with how your years are going on the school board. I'm sure that's nobody's business but yours, but I have nothing to lose to ask you that question. You have a keen eye for details and great knowledge of government and it's procedures. Are you considering running for an office in government one day? Your writings appear to be akin to how lawyers think, which puts you a peg above most folks that stumble onto the school board positions. Not being disrespectful in any way to the other members, past or present, just observant to the obvious. I can already hear the comments that will get posted after the less enthralled read even part of this. Well, I don't care. I like checking in on this blog because it certainly is different than any other one I've ever stumbled upon. I don't like the disrespect I see bounging back and forth on here, though.
So, Dr. Robert Cappa, tell me then, would you consider running for something more suitable to your qualities?
I sincerely hope you answer these few questions. You've got more curious readers than you're aware of, I'm sure.
Also, I liked your daughter's contribution. I hope she reads some posts on here that don't point in such an infantile direction.
PAT
Dr. Cappa would be a good candidate for the Socialist or Communist Party. He'd fit right in.
are they hiring?
An application will be mailed today Cappa. Anything to get you off this board. You really have made this board and district look like a bunch of stupid fools. The board was not good before you got here but you really have 100% ruined any potential to make it better. Go off to retirement now!
Well, Rob? No comments on that entry about you becomming president?
Heckman in the paper today saying he went to the auction on the vo-tech home in Oley and missed it all and had to park 2 blocks away. Thanks for something. We do not need him any closer to this school district. Stay in Alsace! I am surprised he would have that kind of money to buy that house. This was in the Boyertown Times.
After 17+ years on this school board Heckman had the need to get a little closer. Stay away. You along with Cappa have done more harm then good to this district. Maybe their is a handful of people that like you but thats about it.
Speaking of home auctions, did anyone see today's Notice of Sheriff Tax sales in the "Reading Eagle." There are quite a few in the Oley school district. Other suburbs have more than their share too. It used to be the City of Reading had the majority of sheriffed homes. Not anymore.
Yes, that was quite a list of names on there. I seem to recall hearing a board member state that if a few people lose their homes, "that's not so bad."
Of course it's not so bad, if that roof isn't over YOUR head. What ever happend to compassion and common sense?
The sheriff is coming! Pay your taxes or else. Sorry if you cannot eat or take your meds. This is what the Oley school board thinks and acts. They keep raising and raising the taxes. And look what we have to show for it, education that is barely average, kids that do not want to go to school, teachers and administrators that keep wanting more higher salaries and benefits, sports parents that want the top of the line fields. What is going to become of our children in the future. We need the basics that is it.
Considering as much time and effort that Al Jacobs, Mary Swartz, Cindy, Lind B., Rus "Red but used to be gray" Swisher and a few less noisy co-conspirators expend on this blog, they owe it to every resident in the Oley school district to RUN FOR THE SCHOOLBOARD!!! Prove to us the ground swelling mass of public support you have to crush the evil snake people now on the board. If elected their combined knowledge and answers to everything will have the district in great shape and lower all of our taxes faster than the teachers can be in their cars and out of the parking lot at 2:30.
It is time for them all to do the right thing and run. Put your money where your mouths are. Put up or shut-up. <-- Swartz's favorite word. If they have a shread of integrity, they will be on the ballot. We can't hear any excuses why they can't run either...like "I was already on the board" or "I don't have the time" or "it will interfere with my bowling league." Being on the board might cut down on your blog time but sacrifice must be made for the greater good. Therefore Al Jacobs, Mary Swartz, Cindy, Lind B., Rus "Red but used to be gray" Swisher, please post an address where I can mail a cash contribution to your campaigns. God bless the Oley Valley.
- An Observer
Yes I am up early writing on this blog. Thanks for the vote and money you want to send my way to run for school board. I have seen very nice people get voted into the board and look what happens to them. No thank you. I will volunteer at the schools and help out at my church but I will not run for the board as long as the current administration and board president are still present. Also I have seen good people that wanted to run and they were told they better not down at the courthouse. They eventually moved out of the district in disbelief, that they wanted to serve and could not even get their name on the ballot. We have very evil people around here that will do anything to keep us off the board. Do what is right for the children and people of this district and you would not have us on here stating facts that upset you. You are the ones that are recking the district not me. I care about all the children. They actually like seeing me come in an volunteer. Maybe that hard for you to believe. I'll try my hardest to stick to the facts on here but you should do the same.
to: an observer...
Hey, why don't YOU run? Or, are you already on the board? Or it's president? Or a teacher? Or are you just another blogger that is sick of the same things we all are, but not sick enough to do anything constructive about it. Its bloggers like you that keep this thing going.
I would not pick apart folks like you mentioned in your posting. Unless you know them, you really have no right. I have gotten to know a few of them and they are very good people that are filled with the same frustrations we're all going through.
I'm sure you would never notice this, but those folks you mentioned would give you the shirt off their back, if you were truly in need. Would you do the same? Or would you try to sell them one? Why don't you ask your UNION how they feel about that?
Why am I anonymous? Do the math!
And then, follow Mary Swartz's advice...and shut up. She's right on the money. And, her kids are lucky to have a mom that's willing to speak up when something is wrong. That's not her opinion, it's practically everyone's. Get out of your cave and see for yourself. Leave your zip-code once in a while. Drop your big stinking platter of pot-pie and check out the real facts.
Thank goodness we're not allowed to swear on here, my keyboard would catch on fire, that's how annoying you are!
And I'm sure we don't know your face, as we would not see "it" at charity functions, family outings, or anywhere nice people go.
No thanks. Can't run for office. Still too busy working 6 days a week along side my also working "retired" husband to keep our school taxes, county taxes, local taxes, Federal taxes and medical premiums, and co-pays and other insurances up to date.
Haven't been to any meetings lately. Too ill to do so right now. Besides, it has become a monumental waste of time. I'd rather put my time into working outside of the meetings to replace the board with younger and fresh, new faces, whose futures and those of their children are at far greater stake than we aging boomers.
The leadership at Oley Valley Schools continues to attempt to present a good facade and dazzle us with the foot work. Name calling of the messengers doesn't change the facts. The financial situation and test scores are the true measure of reality.
See, I didn't call you any names. You are entitled to your opinion and actions. Why don't you run for board? If the majority wants the status quo, then the "alledged minority" of we free thinkers will just have to move away or deal with it. That is our personal choice, as it is your personal choice to live and be the way you are.
Please try to discuss the issues, and not be so counter productive
Observer,
Are you going to follow your own advice?
Where should we send the campaign contributions?
To the people who think that we are seeming to make a terrible fuss over nothing, just for your information, I did not wake up one morning and decide to take out my wrath on the Oley Valley School Board and administration.
I had a problem that I tried to get resolved for my child, which in the end did get resolved, and that is what originally brought me into contact with the district administration and the school board. I was met with hostility from the beginning, and was lied to, and I went through the chain of command and ultimately had a meeting with Dr. Zackon, then the Personnel Committee meeting, and then I finally spoke at a board meeting with questions.
AFter a two month hiatus of lies, don't worry, and questions that could not and would not be answered, conveniently everything went away and things were resolved. However, the person in charge made a comment to me one day as I was checking in at the high school, and told me that I might be surprised at how things were going to work out.
In response to that comment, I told this particular person that they should not be giving me what I wanted, but should be doing what is best for the children, and that I was not out to get my way.
That is what brought me to these meetings, and after I saw what went on and started to do a little investigating of finances, etc., it is amazing what one will find when they look and ask questions.
To the people who like to blog on this site, and have never attended a board meeting, I challenge you to not take my word for anything and start writing letters and getting your own answers from this district, and you may find that they will not be as forthcoming as you might think.
I see people who assume all is well, and a few years from now when all is not really well, I personally do not want to hear anything from any person who is disgruntled - because at that point, I will have to say WE TOLD YOU SO.
I hope you can all have a great day and continue to have no worries in the world.
Incidentally, even though I spoke against having the track of all tracks, at the last Property and Transportation Committee meeting, that no one but myself attended, not even the Committed Track People, I brought to the attention of this esteemed committee, the fact that there was another grant out on the horizon that perhaps we should apply for. This grant has the possibility of providing the school district with an extra $50,000, if they can get a matched contribution. My question to these Committed Track People would be, Why did you not find this grant money, or are you not looking any further, as the school district has already assured you that they will foot the bill? It took me exactly 2 minutes to find this grant. How much time are you really putting in to raising your HALF OR MORE of the money for this track?
to LB
I don't know how you keep your cool, but you're sure good at it, for which we thank you!
For all you've seen and heard, it must be like sitting on a keg of dynamite. So, here's a "thank you," for all you have done, and how you carry yourself. The Lord didn't make enough folks like you.
Hope you're feeling better soon, we're praying for your speedy recovery.
old fashioned Oley folks....
Dear Old fashioned Oley folks and others,
Thank you for your kind words of support, and especially for your prayers. I have failed so often at "keeping my cool" which has truly grieved me. Only by the grace of God can I hope to stay calm.
Blessings to "all."
Sure, "anonymous" I used to be gray but that was only until I left the board. I don't think it's red, though, it's more light brown. You see, when you can't debate issues you (whoever you are) try to resort to personal attacks and hurtful comments. Sorry, but that won't work with me. So what if I have my hair colored? Am I the only one? What in the heck is it anyone's business? And we are the ones who are accused of being meanspirited?
By the way, count me out for running for school board again. I don't need the hassle and I sure don't want gray hair again.
Hey Russ, I color mine too! Ever since coming to Berks Cty I have had the need to color. Yours looks good.
When they resort to picking on hair color, or lack of it, we clearly see the problem we're facing. Perhaps this winter, the genius who wrote that will get their tongue stuck to the flag pole....again.
That would hurt! Hey Russ looks good with his new hair color. He looks nice and refreshed not being on the school board. Did you ever look closely at some of the current members. The Pres. has a big pot belly and everytime he talks he turns into tomato Bob. Sorry I could not help myself. And know it is not MS writing, someone else that has seen this for themselves.
Older business people, working in a young world, need to stay current with fashions and grooming. That is part of being a professional in a world where first impressions mean everyrthing.
Most of my business peers color their hair, young and old, male and female. So what's the big deal.
Someone is really getting desperate if they have to resort to this low down kind of criticism.
You're right! And if we were as hard up for digs as they seem to be, we'd mention things like chicks with gigantic butts and retired professionals that come to board meetings wearing sandals with socks. But we're above that!
Well you all - Al Jacobs, Mary Swartz, Cindy, Lind B., Rus "Red but used to be gray" Swisher, failed to accept the "put up or shut-up challenge" to run for school board. I am deeply dissapointed. But this is no surprise. It is so much easier to sit on the side and armchair quarterback or throw rocks than to be in the game. I am no big fan of the current school board... I don't support a new track, I think the teacher contract was a joke, and I believe Zackon and Heckman shoulder the blame for the bulk of the problems in the school district. But the unending attacks on some board members that you personally know to be good, honest people are reprehensible. You can not lump all these volunteer board members into your "evil snake" catagory. You better look deep into your own conciences befor you start throwing rocks around your own glass houses. Of the 13 comments posted today after mine this morning, 5 were clearly from you 6. This blog is your own personal chat room to bitc- and moan. There is NO significant number of people who read this blog or who are even aware of this blog. What really matters is the people, board members who are willing to put themselves out, and sacrifice time, get NO reward and expose themselves to the attacks of peolple like you to do the business of the school district. Shame on you all for not being civil.
P.S. I most likey will run for school board. See you in the fall.
- An Observer
obviously not!
"And if we were as hard up for digs as they seem to be, we'd mention things like chicks with gigantic butts and retired professionals that come to board meetings wearing sandals with socks. But we're above that!"
The "obviously not" was meant for this statement.
chill out there Bif. I think that was a JOKE. A CHUCKLE...you know, like lighthearted. For one thing, as far as what I ever saw at a recent board meeting, none of those chicks, babes, women, ladies, etc....none of them had or have big hineys. As for the sandals with socks???Maybe the person has those wicked toenail monsters growing under their nails, who knows? And, who cares? Oh, and I think there's way more than 5 or 6 people writing on here, but it does at times look more like instant message! hahaha. The school board is in trouble, none of their problems are really funny. I think we all know that. The are in trouble because they can't please all the people...all the time, and mostly can't please any of the people, really, ever. If you want to run for board, and honestly want to give it a shot....I guess we'll know who you are soon enough. Good luck, honestly. Whoever runs, they will probably win, that's the nature of the beast. If you don't like the things you stated that you are not satisfied with, good luck doing anything about it if you are elected. But many do admire your gumption, etc. I will wish you good luck, and I really mean it. It takes a thick skinned person to stay on the board and eat the crap everyone else wants to throw at them.
Hey, what's with all the touchy people reading this blog lately? This is like watching "DEADWOOD!" The new HBO OLEY EXCLUSIVE !!!
You guys need to lighten up a tad. The guy that whipped up this little doozie had all the best intentions in mind. Let it happen. This IS the freedom of speech deal, remember? You're going to get the same cross section you get with everything else:
10% dead serious
30% inquisitive readers
50% poking jabs just for kicks
and 10% that have no idea how they got on this blog and don't care about anything but their next meal.
I have a dye job and a big butt. Guess I can't run for the board!
Observer,
Where should we send your campaign contributions?
To: Anonymous (or "an observer")
Wow, I'm being criticized for not running for school board after serving 13 years. So what you are saying is a person can't take issue with the board unless they get on the ballot and run.
I will say again, I have never called anyone a snake. I have never attacked anyone on the board or made meanspirited attacks on them or anyone else (unlike you). I happen to know they have a difficult job and. even though I disagree with most of them, I realise they are dedicated to what they do.
I doubt very much that you will be on the ballot in May. You can't even identify yourself here so you surely won't expose your identity on a ballot. No, you will remain in the shadows.
I'll make a deal. You identify yourself and I will run for school board in May...
I have my own natural hair color(of course there's only about 35 or 40 of them left, and most of them are on my feet), all of my own teeth (they go in a cup at night but what the heck, I paid for them...they're mine), I have not had cause to look in a mirror for quite some time, but I can still walk through a single doorway without needing to spray my hips with PAM to allow passage, so I'm not quite sure of the exact square footage of PLANET BUTT, I wear contact lenses, and sometimes I get them in the correct eyes, and I'm not currently wearing DEPENDS, or anything close to it. So, if those things qualify me for being a candidate for THE ILLUSTRIUS SCHOOL BOARD IN OLEY, allow me to toss my Fedora into the ring. Wow, I hope I don't accidently knock anyone on the noggin when I give that hat a fling!
The above is....called....humor. If it's not to your liking, go on to the next post. I think a little chuckle here and there is better than pointing the ever-present finger at anyone that did run, get elected, and serve. But that's just my point of view!
To the person saying we are not being civil, excuse me. I was civil for a long time until they made nasty faces and gave me very mean answers when I spoke at a board meeting and asked a question about an issue or just about anything related to this school district. They hate me for being a concerned parent. I would love to get along with these board members but for the past 5 years they have not been held accountable for anything that they do. We are trying to hold this district accountable. Mr. Heckman and Dr. Zackon are responsible for the bulk of the problems and what do we do, we give Dr. Zackon a 5 year deal which is more than other Supers in this county are making and you keep electing Mr. Heckman. The time has come for change. Good luck if you run for as long as the 2 men up above are in this district you will not get anything accomplished. Ask Barb Bieber how being on the school board has been. She cannot change things due to the fact she would be the only no vote, so instead she votes yes like the rest of them and she totally dislikes them all. Maybe not all but most of them. They treated her the same way they treated us when she was in our boots. Come to a board meeting ask questions tell the board your concerns and issues and see what happens. You will be put on the bad list of parents, citizens whoever you are. Do not talk about me or anyone else when you have not been in our shoes. We are the ones that care the most of this district. I will not put myself in a situtation at the courthouse when you go their to put your name on a ballot and your are greeted by Dale B. who says you better not run, we know who your children are. I have known a family for a couple of years that were so upset with the way Dale greeted them downtown that they moved away. Dale is Heckmans buddy and when called for duty he comes running. Plus he will dog you are the polls. If you are a friend of his you will have no problem. He is a scary man. I invite you to a meeting and you can ask questions like we do and if you have any issues you can ask about them and you will see what happens. We cannot make this stuff up. I lived in a couple of different states and my family and I never had this kind of mean spirited people from any district that we dealt with. Everyone treated us as they should. After all we are the ones that pay the bills. They take our tax dollars as fast as they can, but do not talk or else.
Since March 2, 2006, the Oley Concerned Citizens blog had 6,235 visitors.
They read about topics such as the 2006 budget, the new synthetic track, details of the teacher, the superintendent, and the administrators' contract, small class sizes, enormous taxpayer money sitting in various funds, a belligerent board member, a petition for a No Tax Increase 2006, and finally the anti-First Amendment Public Participation Policy.
All the above information comes from the district. It is a public record available to the community.
The reaction from the posters ranges from interest to anger.
Most did not know about these topics because the local media does not usually print this information. A number of people are interested in knowing what is happening in the district.
Those who support the status quo are not receptive to the idea that the public should be made aware of these details. They think citizens are not capable of making intelligent judgments.
Name calling, belittling, challenging,deceiving are their retort to facts.
As more and more people read the blog, they will have more and more questions about how the school district is managed.
Informed voters are good not bad.
Thanks Oley Concerned Citizens.
Looks like there are a lot more than 5 or 6 people checking out this site. Probably we'll see someone accuse 5 or 6 people of logging on 1,000 times each. Hmm, only the shadow knows.
If only people who are going to run for school board are allowed to make statements: on that basis, we should have about 1,000 candidates for the primaries next May. That would make for an interesting vote count. How absurd to think only those seeking office have a right to participate in how the money is spent and the policies that attempt to rule us, as some have suggested.
What's the hurry to make people declare candidacy now. The world could blow up by next March when before the fling process begins.
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Saw that on a MIA/POW billboard on the Bypass. But if also fits the taxpayers situation with government bodies that would roll over us and deny our rights.
Okay, someone out there. Get me into your sights and start the barrage of ugly rhetoric.
Thanks Oley Concerned Citizens.
Looks like there are a lot more than 5 or 6 people checking out this site. Probably we'll see someone accuse 5 or 6 people of logging on 1,000 times each. Hmm, only the shadow knows.
If only people who are going to run for school board are allowed to make statements: on that basis, we should have about 1,000 candidates for the primaries next May. That would make for an interesting vote count. How absurd to think only those seeking office have a right to participate in how their money is spent and the policies that attempt to rule us, as some have suggested.
What's the hurry to make people declare candidacy now. The world could blow up by next March before the filing process even begins.
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Saw that on a MIA/POW billboard on the Bypass. But it also fits the taxpayers situation with government bodies that would roll over us and deny our rights.
Okay, someone out there. Get me into your sights and start firing another barrage of ugly rhetoric.
Sorry about the repeat. Kinda new at this.
That's OK, it was worth repeating.
To Semper Fi and all Vets:
Nothing but compliments and thanks from this end of town. People can think whatever they wish, but our country is NOTHING without it's dedicated Military. Past, present, and future.
"THANK YOU, SEMPER FI, FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY!"
This blog is pretty new, and Al Jacobs had a great idea starting this. It opens up avenues of conversations and new ideas, and gives folks that can't get to meetings some sort of a voice. Thank you, Al, for all of your efforts.
Despite the problems of our country, right on down to the school board level, we're still way, way ahead of the country that's in second place. But there's nothing saying that we can't improve on every level. This is what folks like myself fought for. Many died, or were drastically injured in ways that affected the rest of their lives. Sometime when you've got a spare couple of hours, go visit a Veteran's Hospital. If you need any further inspiration for standing behind your country and making it the best it can be, you will find it in the eyes of our disabled and wounded Vets. Anyone that could see what these men and women have given of themselves, for the price of our freedoms, should have nothing but respect for them and a deep feeling of thanks for what each and every member of the Military does for us, every single day.
As for our local problems/concerns with the Oley School Board, the answer is not an easy one, but nothing is impossible. It's clear that we need a lot of NEW FACES on the Board. You must see that our Board and it's supporters LIKE, LOVE, TOTALLY ENJOY SEEING THIS FRICTION. IT'S A BULLYING TACTIC. I don't want to point fingers, but shame on anyone that is stirring up the fire and standing back to watch the sparks fly. It's not impressive. Our Board members are the very people that we are entrusting our children/grandchildren's futures to. I would like to think that everyone mature enough to bring children into this world would also be aware of the fact that a "so-so" education is not acceptable. We need to stress the fact that Oley is not seemingly willing to allow the tax base to broaden itself by industry. When we're working with nickles and dimes, we can't expect a solid gold education.
God Bless America
Let's keep things going in the right direction. Talk to your neighbors, tell everyone you meet to check out this blog, it's reaching more people each week.
The only "snake" I'm associated with is the one on the flag that says..."Don't Tread on Me."
"I'll make a deal. You identify yourself and I will run for school board in May..."
THAT will be your deciding factor!?! hmmm, you must have given a lot of thought to this important commitment.
"Ask Barb Bieber how being on the school board has been. She cannot change things due to the fact she would be the only no vote, so instead she votes yes like the rest of them and she totally dislikes them all. Maybe not all but most of them."
Gee, I surely hope Barb Beiber is aware that someone is posting her thoughts on her behalf! You're treading on dangerous territory here!
"Since March 2, 2006, the Oley Concerned Citizens blog had 6,235 visitors."
That does not necessarily mean that 6,235 people visited this site, it most likely means that it was accessed that many times. Most counters count the number of visits, not the actual number of people. For example, if one faithful reader accessed this site twice per day for for the past six months (approximately 180 days), that ONE person's visits would have counted as 360 visits. Ten people each accessing the site twice a day would contribute to 3,600 visits. I'm sure that some of you access this site even more often than that! ;)
Oh boy, an anonymous math coach! And a blog wizzard to boot.
Of course it does not mean over 6,000 people visited here. But it certainly was not 5 or 6 people that racked up all those hits. After all, we're all working 2 or 3 jobs, remember? Maybe we've got laptops and use them in the bathroom at Walmart.
Ask Barb Bieber yourself. She is honest she will tell you the truth. Did you ever go to a meeting when she spoke to the board about concerns and issues and the way they treated her? Ask yourself or mind your own business and not go on this blog if you do not like what the facts are. She used to be a parent with concerns now she is a board member with concerns. She unfortunately is out numbered. At least she has given 4 years of her time, even if we did not agree with her votes! If we could of gotten more people on the board that had the same concerns as her things would of been different at the district. She had 2 neighbors that tried to get on the board with her but they were not voted in.
The Oley Concern citizen is correct. There is alot more than 5-6 people on this. My neighbors are on this, my church friends that go to Oley are on this, people I have met and told them about this have told me they go on this. Even board members are on this. Cappa, Dale who told me he goes on this. So please stop the nonsense. Get with the facts! Stop wasting your time. Don't you have anything else to say. Hey why not you tell us how to fix the district. You seem to have all the answers.
Are you sitting on your brain! I sure seems like the people that do not want to believe the Concern group are not all with it.
It instead of I
Barb is my friend and she has had alot of concerns with this district. She even has decided to take her daughter out of this district so she would not have to go to the middle school.
Laptop while on the toliet at Walmart, now that would be interesting. I have seen alot of Oley families at Walmart maybe we could ask for a stall just for us.
More power to Barb if she can afford to send her child elsewhere and get a BETTER education, good for her. I met Barb as she was running for Board, she was very nice. Once you get on the school board, you're not ever going to please everyone, at least she has tried!
Finally it seems as if someone understands - you are not going to please everyone. Many of our greatest politicians had their detractors too.
That was a safe "deal" to make on my part because there is no way that coward would ever expose their identity to the light of day.
You're naive if you think that would be my only reason for running. I might run, though, just to p*ss off people like you...
Wow, what an action packed day this has been on "our blog!"
If only I had more time, I'd like to respond to many of today's posts. Maybe tomorrow!
RS:
RUN - RUSS - RUN
The only way we're going to make real headway with this board is to get members with experience like yours. Linda B would be great, too, but with any health problems, it's not fair to her for people to keep nagging her about running. It will be difficult to get appropriate candidates that have the know-how AND the time. Frankly, if a few current board members were replaced by people with a backbone that won't crush under pressure, we could see some real progress. And that change, alone, would encourage more support than we've had in ages. Past board members would be your best bet. They already know what to expect.
I just came from Walmart. I didn't see anyone from Oley exiting the lavatories. And what a relief that was!
Is Rob Cappa back yet?
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