East Penn School District

Willow Lane Update: Principal to Choose Parent Committee Members at Noon on Friday

Principal Anthony Moyer will choose parents from five developments.

Willow Lane Principal Anthony Moyer will populate the long-awaited parent committee at a public drawing at noon Friday at the school. In a letter to parents who expressed interest in being a part of the committee, he sent an open invitation to join him for the drawing. Ten parents will be chosen, two each from five developments that surround the school: Beaumont at Brookside, Brandywine Village I and II, Brookside Farms, and Graymoor. Moyer's letter also said that he plans to send another letter confirming participation on the committee along with the first meeting date. Twenty-three parents expressed an interest to join the committee -- too many for all to be included, Superintendent Thomas Seidenberger said at Monday's meeting.  …

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Patch Clips

Lower Mac Presents Off-Site Plans for Willow Lane

The township wants a commitment from the school district before it spends up to $100,000 on off-site revisions.

Lower Macungie Township and East Penn School District officials met for the first time publicly to discuss plans for revisions to Willow Lane Elementary School. The biggest challenge they share is the management of what some predict will be 300-400 cars that will queue up each morning and afternoon to pick up and drop off students. Currently about 140 cars drive into and out of the school twice a day, but if fewer students are bused in the fall, the number is expected to jump. Planning and Zoning Committee members, Commissioners James Lancsek and Douglas Brown, with Township Engineer William Erdman and Alan Fornwalt from Keystone Consulting Engineers on Thursday presented the township's off-site plans. From the East Penn School District, …

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Ron Beitler

9:56 am on Friday, April 19, 2013

Taking busing vs. not busing out of the equation. Thats a school board policy issue. I'm not a parent, so I don't get involved with that. Also take on-site improvements out the equation for now since that is not what this article is about. My concern is the mishandling from the township end. To that I agree with you @tweed. They said last night at the LMT meeting they are getting the surrounding …   more ›

East Penn School District

Willow Lane Plans Approved in Narrow Vote

Directors of the East Penn School Board vote 4-3 in favor of approving physical changes to the Willow Lane Elementary School grounds.

In a vote that couldn't have been any closer, the East Penn School Board on Monday approved the physical changes—site revisions—to the Willow Lane Elementary School grounds. Alan Earnshaw, Francee Fuller, Kenneth Bacher and President Charles Ballard voted in favor of the approval, and Lynn Donches, Julian Stolz and Michael Policano voted against. Samuel Rhodes and Rebecca Heid were absent. Ten parents approached the board during the public comment segment of the meeting to express their extreme displeasure with the plan that was presented at the Feb. 25 meeting. Parent Susan Coenen presented a 17-page report that she says demonstrates that the district's plan is in direct conflict with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's "Safe …

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careless fills

2:14 pm on Wednesday, March 13, 2013

will do mr. donches - your tape should be definitive. FYI mcall.com makes a direct quote - In siding with the parents, school Director Julian Stolz said: "When you get their approval, you'll get mine." in the present version of their story: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/eastpenn/mc-east-penn-willow-lane-0311-20130312,0,2637335.story dated 9:08 p.m. EDT, March 12, 2013 which appears to be a 17 …   more ›

East Penn School District

Willow Lane Changes Will Cost Up to $100,000

Cost for the on-campus enhancements to Willow Lane Elementary School is expected to total up to $100,000, according to the school district's engineer.

Proposed enhancements to the grounds of the Willow Lane Elementary School, as presented by the district engineer at Monday's East Penn School Board meeting, will not be inexpensive. East Penn School District Engineer Paul Szewczak presented the plan that includes two swing-arm gates, signs and new and additional parking lot striping. The price range for the improvements is $92,000 to $100,000. A list of all the expected expenses for the on-campus portion of the Willow Lane site improvements is included at "Exhibit #1" in the East Penn School District agenda for Feb. 25 meeting. Money for the off-site improvements will come from Lower Macungie Township. Within the East Penn School District, the money will come from the capital reserve fund…

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East Penn School District

East Penn Presents Willow Lane Plans

The East Penn School District's engineer presents the enhancements that will be put in place on the Willow Lane Elementary School campus before school starts in August.

Members of the East Penn School Board, at its meeting Monday, saw and heard about plans for traffic control that will begin at Willow Lane Elementary School when the 2013-14 school year begins in August. District Engineer Paul Szewczak of Liberty Engineering also laid out a timeline for when the improvements will occur and how long they will take to complete. According to the plans, the current bus and car traffic will be flipped: buses will use the driveway between the school and Lower Macungie Fire Department's Brandywine fire station. Cars will access the campus via the Millcreek Road driveway only, Szewczak said. A bump-out will be added and paved so buses can turn around, he said, and signage and striping will be added to the school …

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Eric

8:30 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Mr. Rhodes I here you are running for school board as a CEPTA candidate. Is that why you are so interested in the Willow issue? Also, are you the guy who decided to something you believed to be pornographic at a meeting where high school students were present   more ›

East Penn School District

Stolz, Ballard Clash Over Willow Lane Busing

A motion by East Penn School Director Julian Stolz to retain busing in the 2013-14 school year for those Willow Lane students being bused this year was defeated by a 6-3 vote at Monday’s School Board meeting.

The greater part of Monday night’s East Penn Board of School Directors meeting was all about Willow Lane Elementary School and the busing of its students. It began with a public comment period during which several parents of Willow Lane children addressed the board with reasons that Willow Lane should not become a walking school with the start of the 2013-2014 school year. After that, Superintendent Thomas L. Seidenberger shared the findings of an excrutiatingly detailed transportation study, designed to shed light on many transportation concerns in the district, including next steps at Willow Lane. All of that led up to debate on a motion by School Director Julian Stolz to retain busing in the 2013-2014 school year for those Willow Lane …

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Janet Persing

4:30 pm on Sunday, February 24, 2013

Correct and factual point. Thank you!   more ›

East Penn School District

Stolz’s Willow Lane Motion on School Board Agenda Tonight

East Penn School Director Julian Stolz proposed a motion at the Jan. 14 school board meeting that the district continue to fund buses for those Willow Lane Elementary School students now bused to school in the proposed 2013-2014 budget.

The controversy over who will and will not be bused to Willow Lane Elementary School in the fall continues to drive the agenda of the East Penn Board of School Directors. Tonight, the board will vote on a motion proposed by Director Julian Stolz at the board’s Jan. 14 meeting. If passed, the measure would direct the administration to continue to fund transportation for those Willow Lane students currently being bused to and from school in preparing the 2013-2014 school budget. Stolz has been a vocal proponent of maintaining district-provided transportation at Willow Lane at past school board meetings, stating that he puts the safety of the students first and foremost, above whatever cost savings East Penn School District might see from …

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optimist

4:21 pm on Saturday, February 2, 2013

Matt word is Wescosville is not a candiate to get transporation cut inside of 1.5 miles because Brookside Rd. has no sidewalks. Apprently this forces the district by law to provide busses to most of those kids.   more ›

Could 'Blame Game' Slow Willow Lane Progress?

The objective is a 'safe and successful walking program,' township engineer says.

It's time to move on. Moreover, the most important thing right now is to move forward. And, according to all involved, that would mean making the area around Willow Lane Elementary School safe for the students who will be crossing streets to walk to school in the fall. Indeed, the two statements have been repeated over and over as parents and school and township officials try to downplay the question of whether Willow Lane was designed as a school for walking students while they try to hash out the details of what's needed to make the intersection at Willow and Sauerkraut lanes -- and several surrounding intersections -- the safest they can be for the young students. But some officials are stuck in what Lower Macungie Township Commissioner…

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Giovanni Landi

8:52 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013

If I remember correctly Mr. Stolz and Mrs. Donches both voted against cutting the Willow Lane bussing from the start. The people making this political are people like "for real" who also seem to be promoting revisionist history. A simple search on Patch will show you who supported cutting the bussing before the appropriate safety steps were taken and who stood up for the safety of the children. …   more ›

East Penn School District

Seidenberger Says he 'Dropped the Ball' on Willow Lane

East Penn Superintendent listens to parents, explains.

Ten parents of Willow Lane Elementary School students addressed the East Penn Board of School Directors Monday in a continued effort to make sure their children will be safe. Each in turn addressed the nine board members with similar issues: the current lack of signage or any traffic calming measures on either Willow or Sauerkraut lanes or Millcreek Road in Lower Macungie. Since the public comment segment of the meeting is not interactive, East Penn Superintendent Thomas Seidenberger waited until later in the meeting to address the parents' comments and pleas, and to point to himself as the missing piece in the puzzle of how safety measures have not yet been placed in the school zone. Seidenberger was adamant about two things: the children…

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atthebeach

6:12 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013

My mother walked me to school and I made sure that my children made it to school. That's what parents do.   more ›