Friday, May 18, 2012
Districts statewide have large stores of cash in reserve funds and have differing opinions on whether it’s time to dip into those “rainy day” accounts.
Monday night’s budget vote in East Penn School District mirrors a debate going on statewide these days. According to a report in the PA Independent, some Pennsylvania school districts are looking to their budgetary reserve funds to achieve a balanced budget for 2012-2013, while others, like East Penn, have voted to raise property taxes, keeping budgetary reserves intact. Those districts say that even tougher economic times are coming and it’s prudent to keep those budgetary reserve accounts intact to cover looming expenditures like ever-increasing pension costs for public school employees. The PA Independent report says that the rule of thumb offered to school districts by the Pennsylvania School Board’s Association is that reserve funds …
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Emmaus boys lacrosse tops Nazareth 13-4; the Blue Eagles, however, defeat Emmaus girls lacrosse, 10-8.
With Lehigh Valley Conference titles on the line, the Green Hornets lacrosse teams faced the Nazareth Blue Eagles Monday night. The boys came out victorious, taking the LVC championship. The Green Hornets defeated Nazareth, 13-4. The win marked the fifth-straight title for the Green Hornets. The girls, however, took a tough loss. The Blue Eagles defeated the Green Hornets, 10-8. Nazareth's Kaity Wiltraut picked up the Lehigh Valley Conference MVP award by scoring three goals, according to a report in The Morning Call.
Emmaus High School Environmental Science Teacher Steven Baier is awarded the DaVinci Science Center's Hall of Fame Grand Master Award.
Special to Emmaus Patch By Chrissy Cilento, Emmaus High School Junior Anyone who knows Emmaus High School Environmental Science teacher Stephen Baier can probably list countless reasons why Baier was been named this year's Da Vinci Science Center Hall of Fame Grand Master. Of course, there's the fact that he's led the Emmaus Envirothon team to victory 15 years in a row. He's also known for arranging all sorts of interactive activities for his students, like biking on a cycle built for eight or riding in fuel cell powered cars. Do you have a word of congratulations for Stephen Baier? Tell us in the comments. Out of hundreds of teachers in eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey, Baier and three other educators were chosen as the …
40.534352
-75.502889
Emmaus High School
500 Macungie Ave, Emmaus, PA
/articles/emmaus-high-teacher-takes-home-davinci-s-grand-master-award
875848
/locations/7037566
A New York Times story on graduates weighed down with college debt makes the case for last week’s column.
Once again, The New York Times is playing catch-up with Patch.com. On Sunday, The Times had a front-page story about the growing burdens of college loans, three days after my column ran on the same subject. The paper did a wee bit more legwork for their gazillion-word story – my research consisted mainly of talking to a friend at the deli counter at the Giant supermarket – so I’ll leave the term “copycat” out of this discussion. The lead of The Times story was about a young Ohio college graduate who owes $120,000 in loans and is working two jobs to pay the $900-a-month bill. Her mother is taking out life insurance on her because if anything happens to her daughter, she couldn’t pay the loans for which she co-signed. A decade ago, 58 …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Flyers about the East Penn School District went home with elementary school students in this week.
Registration is now open for East Penn School District’s Summer Fitness Camp, which will be held at Willow Lane Elementary School this year. The fitness camp is open to students in grades one through six and the cost for the five-week program is $55. Do you know of any summer camps/activities for elementary school kids in our area? Tell us in the comments. The fitness camp features low-impact fitness activities and non-competitive games taught by certified physical education teachers from East Penn School District. The goal of the program is to give participants the tools they need to become healthy, physically active adults. The 2012 camp will run from July 10 through August 9 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday. Two sessions are planned…
40.53507
-75.56635
6135 Sauerkraut Ln, Macungie, PA
/articles/east-penn-summer-fitness-camp-registration-now-open
/locations/7033130
The 2012-2013 East Penn School District Budget approved Monday night includes a 1.9 percent tax hike, but there were other zero-tax options on the table.
The East Penn Board of School Directors approved Monday night a preliminary final 2012-2013 budget that includes a 1.89 percent tax hike in a 5-4 vote that followed, what the Express-Times describes as “hours of, at times, acrimonious discussion.” The dissenting votes in the end came from Directors Lynn Donches, Rebecca Heid, Michael Policano and Julian Stolz. Donches, Heid and Stolz each proposed amended versions of the administration’s proposed budget that failed to gain traction during the meeting. Donches proposed a spending plan with no tax increase, stating that East Penn should be spending more of the district's fund balance to bridge the budget gap. Heid suggested using a $1,250,294 construction reimbursement from the state instead…
40.537169
-75.506229
East Penn School District Administrative Offices
800 Pine St, Emmaus, PA
/articles/take-our-poll-do-you-favor-a-zero-tax-hike-east-penn-budget
1760508
/locations/7029739
Down 12 spots from 2011, East Penn is ranked fifth in region, 94th in state
The East Penn School District ranks 94 among 500 school districts in Pennsylvania, based on its performance on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) Exam, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times. The Pittsburgh Business Times recently released its 2012 Guide of Western Pennsylvania Schools. The guide lists the school district rankings on the PSSA scores statewide. The formula for the ranking takes into account three years of PSSA test scores in math, reading, writing and science, according to The Business Journals. Three years of scores are considered, with the current year given the most weight. According to the rankings, East Penn ranked 82 in 2011, dropping 12 spots in the past year. Here's how East Penn ranked against …
40.537169
-75.506229
800 Pine St, Emmaus, PA
East Penn School District Administration Offices
/articles/east-penn-ranks-94th-in-state-for-pssa-scores
/locations/7027257
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Proposed final East Penn School District budget for 2012-2013 school year passes at Monday night's school board meeting by 5-4 vote.
In a lengthy meeting of the East Penn Board of School Directors last night that included an intermission for review of parliamentary procedure and Robert’s Rules of Order, a proposed final budget for 2012-2013 in the end was approved by a 5-4 vote. The budget that passed was the third version of the 2012-2013 budget voted on last night in the 3 1/2 hour meeting. Much of the conversation centered on a budget presentation made by School Director Lynn Donches that offered options ranging from a zero percent tax increase to a substantial tax cut. Here’s what East Penn residents need to know about the budget that was ultimately approved: School Directors Lynn Donches, Julian Stolz, Michael Policano and Rebecca Heid voted against the budget. …
40.537169
-75.506229
East Penn School District Administrative Offices
800 Pine St, Emmaus, PA
/articles/east-penn-school-board-approves-1-9-percent-tax-hike
1760508
/locations/7011904
The East Penn Board of School Directors unanimously approved a five-year charter renewal for Seven Generations Charter School at last night’s school board meeting
Seven Generations Charter School got the green light from the East Penn Board of School Directors last night to keep doing what it’s been doing for the next five years – sort of. The board unanimously approved at Monday night’s school board meeting Seven Gen’s charter renewal for the period beginning Sept. 8, 2012 through Sept. 7, 2017, but there are some strings attached. One of the conditions included in the five-year charter renewal is a full curriculum audit by an outside party to be completed before Sept. 1, 2012. The purpose of the audit would be to identify gaps in Seven Gen’s K-8 curriculum and make recommendations for filling those gaps. In expressing his support for the charter renewal, School Board President Charles Ballard said…
40.537078
-75.485151
Seven Generations Charter School
154 E Minor St, Emmaus, PA
/articles/seven-gen-charter-renewal-approved-by-east-penn-board
1776519
/locations/7010960
Emmaus High School's Steel Hornets Robotics Team takes 12th place in FIRST world championship robotics competition held in St. Louis last month.
Special to Emmaus Patch By Chrissy Cilento, Emmaus High School Junior A mere six-years old, the Steel Hornet's Robotics Team at Emmaus High School has some pretty impressive street cred these days. The team placed 12th of 2,085 teams participating in the FIRST world championship robotics competition held last month in St. Louis in the Edward Jones Dome (home field of the NFL Rams). FIRST, which is an acronym for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an international robotics league consisting of more than 2,000 teams. With its 12th-place showing in St. Louis, the EHS team is now ranked in the top .6 percent in the world. Here’s how the annual international robotics competition works: in about the second week of …
40.534352
-75.502889
Emmaus High School
500 Macungie Ave, Emmaus, PA
/articles/steel-hornets-robotics-team-ranked-12th-in-world
875848
/locations/7008325
Giovanni Landi
1:57 pm on Friday, May 18, 2012
Mr. Earnshaw – there are no misconceptions about the 2012-2013 budget. The budget presented by the administration does say that over $4 million is required to bridge the gap between expected revenues and expenditures. It makes claims like that every year. Have you looked at any of the historical data? It was included in the handouts distributed by Mrs. Donches. The 2010-2011 budget presented by … more ›