Now available for you!

A community Web site for the Octorara Area School District is now available for you at www.lancasteronline.com. To register, visit lancasteronline.com, click on My Community on the top left, and register to be notified or contribute some "buzz."

You will also have the opportunity to comment on community news and issues and send in news of community events. News items formerly posted to this site as a community service now apear just there.

Welcome and participate!

Monday, January 31, 2011

Octorara reschedules budget meeting

The Octorara School District budget meeting which was postponed due to bad weather has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, in the middle school multipurpose room, according to school board secretary Jill Hardy.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Community to get budget details Jan. 26

The Octorara Area School Board will give a special community presentation on the school district's 2011-12 budget at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26, in the middle school multipurpose room.

By a 7-2 vote, the school board on Jan. 17 passed a preliminary 2011-12 $47,829,317 budget which is up $1.8 million, or nearly 4 percent, over the current spending plan.

The school district is seeking approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Education for an exception to pass a tax increase which is 1.8 percent above the Act 1 index.

However, Superintendent Tom Newcome presented to the crowd on the snowy evening a seven-point menu with $1.5 million in potential cuts.

“These reductions are beyond freezing (salaries),” Newcome told residents who had suggested the district freeze salaries and offer reduced health care benefits to employees. “There are very few things on this page that come without some pain.”

School board members John McCartney Jr. and Robert Hume cast the dissenting votes.

Newcome is recommending: a 10 percent reduction in administrative salary and benefits to save $250,000; a 4 percent reduction in professional teaching staff to save $750,000; a 3.5 percent reduction in support staff costs to save $50,000; and a 3.5 percent reduction in instructional assistant and aide costs to save $40,000.

It is not yet clear whether the board, which is negotiating a new teachers contract, would achieve this reduction through retirements, position or salary cuts.

Also on the list of recommendations are: outsourcing evening custodial staff to save $200,000; reducing costs for career and vocational education by $100,000 by offering some accredited vocational classes at Octorara; and encouraging at least six students to return to Octorara to take cyber classes for a $21,000 savings.

Newcome said the district currently has 33 students in cyber charter schools at a cost of about $8,000 per student. According to Newcome, the district has lost some students to brick and mortar charter schools since Octorara does not offer a full-day kindergarten. Since four new kindergarten teachers would cost the district $240,000, the board has in the past rejected full-day kindergarten. The superintendent said the district plans to contact parents to encourage them to return their students.

Also, Newcome is proposing to reduce the $353,000 athletic budget by an additional $50,000; and cutting building budgets by $70,000. The menu totals $1,531,000.

School board president Lisa Bowman told residents district revenue from real estate taxes and federal, state and local sources is declining.

“If we do nothing, we are in the red,” Bowman said. “It’s cut spending and cut spending deep. That is the story.”

As if one budget at a time is not enough, Business Manager Dan Carsley showed residents a budget planning model which allows multi-year budgeting for the next three to four years.

Parkesburg resident Joe Riley told the board Octorara is “a very good school district but these increases look high to me. People are on strict budgets.”

Board members told residents the budget must be trimmed and adopted by the end of June. If the budget is approved as presented Jan. 17 -- which board members say is unlikely -- Lancaster County residents would see an 8 percent mill increase, to 30.38 mills. Chester County residents would receive a 6.66 percent mill increase, to 37.46 mills.

The Intelligencer Journal is reporting in a page one story on Jan. 25 the Eastern Lancaster County School District will lay off 15 teachers to help fill a $1.3 million 2011-12 budget gap: articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/342145.

Also on Jan. 17, Dr. David Rutledge of the high school counseling department and high school principal Scott Rohrer updated the community on the high school Pathways curriculum program. High school students may take a group of Harrisburg Area Community College courses right on campus taught by Octorara faculty for a modest cost.

Rutledge said students are also in actual co-op work experiences at local companies including Dutchland, Inc. in Christiana. He said while 100 students are currently enrolled at the Technical College High School, the newly renovated high school and caliber of Octorara’s staff will soon allow the district to offer many of these programs on campus, and save outside tuition costs.

“There have been drastic changes at the high school and a very positive spirit,“ said Rohrer, commenting on the renovations. “Our students want more positive and deserve to see more positive.“
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Monday, January 17, 2011

Cyber tuition challenges district budgets

Costs of cyber school tuition are growing in all Lancaster County school districts, according to a Jan. 16 Sunday News story by Gil Smart: articles.Lancaster online.com/local/4/338235

While the story did not include Octorara School District figures, numbers from business manager Dan Carsley show the district budgeted $417,000 for charter school payments in 2010-11; $392,665 in 2009-10; and $285,610 in 2008-09. Carsley says increasing charter school tuition costs are one factor negatively impacting district revenues.

School board member Sam Ganow suggested during a recent board meeting that Octorara administrators call cyber school parents to ascertain why students switched, and what could be done to keep the students, and the revenue, in the district budget.

Smart’s story states one school district, Solanco, began their own cyber school to save costs.

Two years ago Octorara Superintendent Tom Newcome, in a move to trim the budget while still providing services, began a twilight alternative education program which saved the school district at least $150,000 in tuition formerly paid to outside special education programs. Octorara graduated its first four students last June.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Public servants are targets, says Octorara board member

Octorara Area School Board member John J. McCartney Jr., wearing a bright yellow T-shirt, walked into Monday’s school board meeting and quietly sat down.

No one aimed a gun at the bulls-eye target on the Sadsbury Township resident’s chest. There were a few knowing smiles and nods as school board members prepared to pray and then say the Pledge of Allegiance.

McCartney - concerned about Saturday’s fatal shooting at a civic event held by Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and an incident with a gun at a school meeting Dec. 14 in Panama City, Fl. - had made his point.

“There is no way to guarantee safety,” McCartney, a registered nurse, said after the meeting. “It (Tucson or Panama City) could be here.”

Last month McCartney wrote to fellow board members and administrators asking them to consider having a police presence, a guard, bullet-proof glass or body armor available for school board meetings. McCartney said board members asked him not to speak publicly about his concerns.

“Now this has really been brought to national attention because of last weekend’s debacle in Arizona,” McCartney said. “One of the reasons for that (shooting) may be political in nature.”

“Many people are despondent because they have lost their jobs and homes,” McCartney said. “This could happen again at a school board meeting or political gathering. Anyone who is in the public service is a target.”

McCartney said Octorara Superintendent Tom Newcome has asked a state police officer to address board members next month about personal safety.

McCartney said his statement was not at all meant as a joke. “Far from it,” he said.

The school board next meets at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17 in the middle school multipurpose room to discuss a tax increase and budget for the 2011-12 school year, and high school curriculum. The board is negotiating a new contract with its teachers union.
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Quarryville debates gas service expansion

UGI may be running gas line service into the Quarryville Presbyterian Retirement Community, which is undergoing a major expansion, but residents should not expect the utility company to be expanding gas service into other parts of the borough, council members said during their Jan. 3 meeting.

“I don’t think they’re interested in bringing it (gas service) down the street,” said council member John Riddell, adding that PennDOT would require the company to do a major renovation of South Church Street if they dug up the street to install gas service.

Joe Swope, spokesman for UGI, contacted after the meeting, said the company already does provide gas service to QPRC. He said the firm is evaluating projects and providing service to other parts of Quarryville, beyond expanding service to QPRC, would be "quite an expensive venture.

"We wouldn't do it unless there are large customers who could serve as anchors," Swope said. "There is nothing imminent."

Council members said they were surprised by the appearance of UGI construction vehicles at QPRC, since gas service was not in the plans which were presented to council and the borough’s planning commission.

“They did leave that out,“ said council President Robert Landis Jr., of QPRC officials and planners. “I don’t know why they weren’t up front with us,” said Landis, adding that he did not oppose UGI running service to the borough.

Borough manager Al Drayovitch Jr. said UGI had an existing line on South Church Street and he believed the extension was an economic development decision.

Council member Mike Sullenberger said it would have shown more respect to the borough if the developers had shown the gas line project in their plans.

Council members also expressed concerns about new Uniform Commercial Code regulations which require sprinkler systems to be installed in buildings given permits after Jan. 1, 2011.

“Do we have enough water pressure?” asked Sullenberger of the borough’s water supply.

“These are the kinds of questions that come up,” said Drayovitch. “We’re not even sure what level of pressure we have to provide.”

Drayovitch said the borough needs to gather more information, and consider issues such as whether to require new dwellings to have just one water connection with a sprinkler system, or one water connection for the regular water supply and another for a sprinkler system.

In a separate matter, Major Joy Kemper asked why a new roof was put on the house the borough owns next to the borough building, when council had recently decided to look at whether to keep or sell borough properties.

Drayovitch said the roof had leaked and needed to be repaired immediately, at a cost of $5,500.

Finally, council appointed: John Chase to the vacancy board for a one-year-term ending Dec. 31, 2011; William Mankin to a five-year term on the borough authority from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31,2015; Craig Ausel and William Koch to four-year terms on the planning commission, from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2014; Jim Hassinger to a 6-year term on the Civil Service Commission, from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2016; Barbara Hastings to the zoning hearing board from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2013; Brett Curtis and Marc Hargraves to three-year terms as alternates on the zoning hearing board, from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2013; and Mark Deimler and Solanco Engineering Associates as the borough’s zoning officer effective Jan. 17.

Sunday, January 09, 2011

Reviewing a decade of Octorara teacher contract negotiations

While Octorara figures were not included in the Jan. 6, 2011 Brian Wallace story, “Teachers salaries rise here even as schools face deficits,” district residents will find this story of interest:

Articles.Lancaster online.com/local/4/333652

Wallace reports the most recent school contracts (he has previously reported Octorara is now negotiating) give teachers an average 3.6 percent pay increase and that other professions are receiving much smaller raises. The story reviews salary increases in 10 Lancaster County districts and the impact these will have on those taxpayers.

For those interested in a thumbnail sketch of the last decade of Octorara teachers contract negotiations, here are facts and figures from my news archives:

In November of 2002, the district’s (then) 193 teachers received a four-year contract which increased salaries by 14.1 percent over four years, while saving the school district about $580,000 per year (eight-tenths of a mill) in health care costs. The district switched from traditional Blue Cross to Personal Choice.

The contract increased the starting salary for new teachers to $33,250, a figure which rose to $39,500 in the fourth contract year. John Lee, the business manager at that time, said the new contract would “give the school district the ability to attract good, new teachers.”

Octorara Area Education Association president Donna Edwards characterized the contract as “fair,” but said the teachers were “treated unfairly during the process.”

Teachers threatened to strike in September and October of 2002 but continued negotiations. The contract also included a retirement severance bonus and new supplemental contract positions for teachers.

Many school bells later, in September of 2005, the school board and OAEA gave quiet, overwhelming approval to an early-bird collective bargaining agreement which increased teacher salaries by 3.18 percent for five years. The new contract ran from July 1, 2006, and ends on June 30.

The union and school board said the contract would cost taxpayers 2.72 percent per year ($411,146) in new money for the term of the contract. However, an increase in employee contributions to health care premiums cut that figure, leaving the total cost to district taxpayers at $352,533. That figure did not reflect the incremental step increases already built into the district’s compensation package for teachers, which average 1.32 percent annually.

In 2005 the median salary for an Octorara teacher was $59,187. There have been two early bird contracts for Octorara in 10 years, although a strike was narrowly averted in 2002. The union went out on a four-week strike during the 1994-95 school year over a controversy involving salaries and benefits, along with key issues surrounding academic freedom and parental rights.
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