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WE ARE NOW PARSS.ORG
Because of a need to update our website and make it more accessible to the multitudes, we are changing our site to
WWW.PARSS.ORG. We will continue to use the old website and its directions to the new site. However, in another month that will disappear and we will be PARSS.ORG. Look for some new features on our site. We will also be needing the e-mail of all of our member superintendents, so that you can access these new features. If you would so desire, you may begin sending them now to
arnold@parss.org. Please tell us which school district and whose e-mail that is.
PARSS ANNUAL MEETING A GREAT SUCCESS
Having changed the venue and format of the PARSS Annual Meeting, we were anxious to get some feedback about the happenings. The consensus was that we hit the nail on the head. Rather than small group meetings, we had general sessions, with enough time for the kind of personal attention that we have come to expect from PARSS.
The agenda began with a program devoted to a grass roots effort on the part of the Pennsylvania School Reform Network (PSRN) to change the way schools are funded. Tim Potts, Executive Director, described the meetings that he has had across the state with business people, retired citizens, the religious community and many others. There appears to be an understanding that things just have to change. Panelists included, the Reverend Joy Kaufman, of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches, Rebecca Kung, of PSRN and Joanne Kondrat of the League of Womens Voters.
Dr. Terry Madonna, chair of the Political Science Department of Millersville University and a noted pollster explained the "real" way that legislation goes through. Dr. Peter Flynn, former Superintendent of Scranton and Lexington, Kentucky, now Superintendent of the Freeport School District in Illinois, reported to us about a survey that was done concerning rural superintendents (see June newsletter for results).
David Broderic, Executive Director of the Senate Education Committee and
Christopher Wakely, Executive Director of the House Education Committee (D) detailed plans for the current budget, the problems of special education funding and the future of general school funding.
In addition, Stuart Knade, General Counsel of PSBA, gave us an update on legal matters.
As noted in "Joe Says," Walter Curfman was the recipient of the first Rural Educator of the Year. Leader Business Systems of Hazelton received an award for their consistent support of PARSS and its Annual Meeting. Both the Kane and Southern Huntingdon School Districts received the award for the highest attendance at the meeting.
Kane board members Bob Hathorn (L) and Bill Swartzfager smile during the presentation of their award for their support of
PARSS.
EMPOWERMENT ACT PASSES
As of this writing the House and the Senate have approved the Empowerment (academic distress) Act.
The law has two parts. One part deals with alledged "failing" school districts. The second part deals with the ability of the Secretary of Education to waive significant portions of the school code when petitioned by local school districts.
There is no oversight to the Secretary's decisions. If within 60 days of submission, there is no response from the Secretary, the waiver is granted.
An ancillary part of the act grants the mayor of Harrisburg City control of the school district.
JOE SAYS
WALTER, YOU MAKE US PROUD!
This last year, the PARSS Board decided to create a new award, to be presented first at the 2000 AnnualMeeting. The awardee would become the Pennsylvania Rural Educator of the Year.
The Board felt that this honor could be conferred on anyone who is working for the children of rural Pennsylvania in a way that demonstrates excellence and dedication. Those to be considered may be professional educators, elected officials or simply members of the community.
Despite the award's title, the Board does not want it to be automatically given every year. To keep the standards as high as possible, it may be necessary, sometimes, to "wait till next year". In that same vein, the Board directed that for this first selection of someone to be given this auspicious title, the bar needed to be set particularly high. Not just because the year 2000 is challenging in itself, but to establish a benchmark, against which all future candidates are to be measured.
Happily, the choice was unanimous, and a standard of excellence established. The Board selected Dr. Walter Curfman, Superintendent of Tussey Mountain School District.
To Walter's many friends in Bedford County and the State, this selection is not surprising. His devotion to the children of his district (several generations of them), and the quiet persistence he brings to finding ways to better educate them, under very stringent financial conditions, has made him a nearly legendary figure to his colleagues across Pennsylvania.
Early in his tenure at Tussey Mountain, he came to realize that no matter how Herculean his, and the district taxpayers' efforts, the Commonwealth bore a significant responsibility to help, and it was not meeting that responsibility. His desire to do something to remedy this inequity, led Walter to become one of the founding members of PARSS. For this humble educator, stepping from his district to the State stage, and playing a major role in efforts to obtain school funding reform was never easy in any sense. But, he did it, and in so doing he served as our moral compass and constant goad to press on with the task.
Until this year, Walter served on the PARSS Board as its Secretary, Historian and Parliamentarian. His stepping down left such a gap at our board meetings that all of us just expect he will come ambling in at any moment.
We wanted to present this award to Walter at the Annual Meeting. We did, but it was with Walter in absentia. True to form, something had come up at home, and there was never any question as to his priorities.
By the time you read this Walter will have been given his well-deserved honor. It will be presented to him at the May Tussey Mountain School Board meeting, with those that matter the most to him in attendance. Once again, this quiet, unassuming man had things come out the way they should, in the best way.
TOM TOLD ME TO DO THIS - PRINCIPAL'S ACADEMY
The Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary Principals is holding a Leadership Academy in the 2000-2001 school year. Practioners in the art of the principalship will be the directors of these sessions that are being held in four different locations around the state. These sessions will be designed for both experienced and new principals and assistant principals. Each of these sessions will be for four days beginning in August.
The request for such sessions have come from the members of PAESSP and prospective principals. This by us, for us endeavor is being done with the support of the Department of Education. For further information, please call Mary Snyder of PAESSP at 717-732-4999 or Dr. Ed Frye at 717-732-6060. The cost for this program is $250.
Tom Shivetts, Executive Director of PAESSP, asked that we notify all school districts of this opportunity.
ACT 50 LOCAL TAX REFORM - THE CITIZENS HAVE NOT YET SPOKEN
The first opportunity for school districts to adopt an alternative tax structure under Act 50 of 1998 was the general municipal election held in November of 1999. During that election, five school districts placed a ballot question regarding the alternative tax structure before the public. Three of the five ballot questions received a majority vote of the citizens and these districts will implement the new tax structure beginning July 1, 2000. Given this relatively meager adoption rate for Act 50, many districts have assumed that local tax reform, as represented by Act 50, is a non-issue. This may or may not be the case. Even though only a handful of the approximately 200 districts, which analyzed Act 50, decided to place a question on the ballot. Act 50 contains provisions which will allow citizens to directly raise the issue again. All school districts should be aware of the process and timeliness for citizen participation prescribed by Act 50 and make strategic plans accordingly.
With regard to implementing a new local school tax structure, there are several key provisions of Act 50 that all school districts should squarely in mind.
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The referendum question to adopt Act 50 can only appear on the ballot at a general municipal election i.e. the election which occurs in November of odd numbe years. Therefore the next time the Act 50 ballot question could appear is November of 2001.
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If a school board does not place a ballot question on tax reform on the ballot prior to January 1, 2001, the citizens o a district, by petition of 2% of the number of voters in the last gubernatorial election, can require the board to appoint a Tax Study Commission to review Act 50. The Tax Study Commissio will recommend whether a ballot question should be presented to the public.
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If a Tax Stud Commission recommends the adoption of the alternative tax structure under Act 50, and the school board does not agree with the recommendation, and does not place a question on the ballot, the citizens, by a 5% petition of the number of people who voted in the last gubernatorial election can place the tax reform question o the November 2001 ballot.
Based on these provisions, there are a number of strategic considerations for school boards with regard to Act 50, as we approach the next general municipal election.
It is important to recognize that the petition thresholds of the law i.e. 2% for forming a Tax Study Commission and 5% for forcing the question on the ballot are not significant hurdles for a well-organized group of citizens. You can easily determine the number of required signatures on such petitions by checking with the County Elections Bureau to determine the number of voters ina district in the last gubernatorial election. You may be surprised at how small this number can be.
Second, although the school board appoints the Tax Study Commission under Act 50, only one member of the Commission can be a board member and the total Commission consists of only five people. Such a small group can easily be swayed by a few members with a particular point of view on tax reform.
Third, once the Tax Study Commission is appointed, it has 90 days to meet and produce a recommendation regarding the adoption of an alternative tax structure under Act 50. Based on the experience of those who went through the process prior to the November 1999 election, this is not much time to review, discuss and understand this very complex piece of legislation.
Fourth, although the next time it can be on the ballot is November 2001 there are a number of interim timeliness which the district must consider. The end result is that it is not too soon to begin to consider the tax reform analysis process. The process working back from November 2001 is as follows:
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Early August 2001, the county election bureau requires notification of any referendum questions to be placed on the November ballot.
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June 2001 the board should have a recommendation from a tax study commission regarding the adoption of Act 50 tax structure, assuming it needs to make a decision by August and assuming there is no board meeting in July.
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Early March 2001, school board appoints the tax study commission in order to give it 90 days to meet and discuss tax reform.
Given that Act 50 is not a dead issue, what is a process that a school board can use to deal with the various timeliness and requirements while still providing for careful consideration of the Act by both the school board and the citizens?
A number of school districts, who considered Act 50 prior to the November 1999 election, used a process of appointing an ad hoc tax advisory committee. The committee is charged with recommending whether a formal Act 50 Tax Study Commission should be formed. There are a number of advantages to taking this approach.
o The ad hoc committee can have as many members as the school board wishes and as many school board members as are deemed appropriate. The larger committee provides for more diverse citizen input.
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The ad hoc committee has no statutory time clock running in its examination of the issue and therefor has more time to gather and analyze information.
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If the five members of a formal tax study commission are chosen from among the members of the ad hoc committee, this may shorten the period required for the Commission to meet and make a recommendation because the Commission member will have already studied the issue.
Districts that intend to pursue this alternative course for examining Act 50 should begin to pursue that course very soon. Remember, after January 2, 2001 the citizens can petition the school board to force the formation of a formal tax study commission. Therefore, it would appear that the district would want to preempt this action by announcing the formation of the ad hoc committee in advance of January 2, 2001 and perhaps even have the committee begin to meet.
The bottom line is that the provisions of Act 50 are such that the citizens, if they so desire, can perennially require the school board to form a tax study commission. If the board does not act swiftly and fairly to gain citizen input and openly discuss this issue, there may be even a stronger motivation for the citizens to take the situation into their own hands.
FOCUS GROUPS ACROSS STATE WELL ATTENDED
From January to April PARSS has held six focus group discussions around the state. Superintendents, school board members, business managers, principals and others have answered the question, "What can PARSS do to help you provide a better education for students?"
The meetings were hosted by PARSS board members Dave Monsour of Brookville, Rick Rossi of Sharon City, Dick Neff of Canton Area, Jon Rednak of Blue Mountain, Tom Turnbaugh of Bentworth, and Dana Baker of Fannett-Metal. Forty-four school districts and five intermediate units were represented by the eighty-eight participants.
Carol Hillman of Bright Futures Unlimited, who conducted the meetings and compiled the data, has made her report to the PARSS board. A Board committee has been formed and will meet to review the data and bring recommendations to the Board at their June 16 meeting in Harrisburg. Joe Bard, executive director of PARSS said, "We are very appreciative of the work our board members did to bring all these people together. The open discussions furnished us with a list of thought-provoking suggestions. I am confident the Board will be able to use these ideas to create the five year plan PARSS needs."
See the June newsletter for an update on the results of the focus group discussions.
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