I was unable to attend the meeting tonight but my sources tell me Mr. Hylton is getting slammed by angry parents concerning his plan to put 5th graders in the middle school.
Looking forward to hearing from anyone who was able to attend.
Mar
10
2010
Roy's Rants - For Your Information 
One person asked him directly about the articles regarding his involvement in other school districts problems and then directly asked him if he was the devil!!!
He did get asked many questions but answered very few! Spent a lot of time putting off the answers on everyone else. Mr Krem did some research of other admiistrators with 5 – 8 middle schools and asked if they were built for 5 – 8 or modified and what their school makeup is. Come to find out they are much smaller districts with a much different student population than Pottstown but he was told directly that this kind of situation involves students getting involved inappropriate relationships. Mr Krem didn’t really give a direct opinion I think because he is leaving although Dr Lindley and Sparagana reccomend applying for the money and then deciding what to do. I fear however if they apply it is a done deal!!!! The cost to the average $80,000 valued homeowner is 180 a year plus current taxes pus that 4% thing!!!
The money is only available for elementary modifications and I asked him where the money for the middle school modifications will come from since that is a middle school and 5th graders would be middle schoolers he said we’ll have to apply for that money elsewhere. He was asked if he will put his home up against this loan and he never answered as was Valerie Harris. Another person asked about 4K and explained how she had just registered her daughter and was then told that maybe she won’t be going to school there to which Valerie Harris said it’s always possible that the child may not be able to attend kind of insinuating that the child could die before school starts which was kind of rude!!!! 77% of respondants to the surveys are against this bt I fear this will not matter to the Fab 5!!!!
I fear that this position will be filled by someone chosen directly by Mr Hylton to further his own agenda! He needs a yes man superindentent not someone who will challenge his self given authority!
You missed a delightful display by the Artful Dodger when it came to answering questions.I asked about the great financial success his previous endeavors had yielded for Bethleham School District and Erie School district and if he had hoped to attain the same results for Pottstown schools.He denied being involved with any of those school districts and claimed little knowledge of what I was inquiring.My daughters would be quite affected by the plans to move the 5th grade to the middle school.I will place my children in Catholic school if this gentleman is successful in this crusade of his.
Thank you all for your comments.
Seems my BFF was in stealth mode, as usual (standard modis operandi). It’s the same with the Shade Tree Meetings. People ask him direct questions and he talks in circles until you give up and sit down. Love that someone asked him if he were the devil. HAHA! I would say a close second when it comes to the havoc he has caused in Pottstown.
I will be attending both meeting next week as they fall on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I am sure the fireworks will continue.
Thanks again and don’t give up. In the end right will prevail. It might not seem like it right now, but he can be stopped. Everyone has to come together and JUST SAY NO!
= fear that all this 4K and 5th grade talk is just a smokescrren to divert our attention from the real matter at hand, the fact that there is no way we can afford these loans
Concerned Mom,
You may have hit the nail on the head…he did make the mistake of using the town’s children as the deflector, however. Remember, he is not a parent himself, so he had no idea what reaction doing something like that would bring on in our town. I do believe, however, that he began to get a taste of it last night. From what I have learned about our community, there will be more in store where that came from – Pottstown folks generally get mighty feisty when they feel they have been wronged.
I’m not trying to make light of the situation when I say, “let the games begin.” And, I should really that to, “let the games begin with all of the players” – because, up until this point, Hylton and his “team” were the only ones allowed to “play.”
meant to say “I should really change that to…” in my last thought. sorry.
We (Code Blue) are actively fighting this plan but we need everyones help. Join us…the email is codeblue19464@ymail.com. Help us derail this train!!
I was at that meeting and I myself got a bit feisty!!! It amazes me how one man can thnk he has tis much power over everything!!!!! I am passionate when itcomes to my children as I saw many others also are. Mr Hylton needs to remember passionate parents are like pitbulls and when they sink their teeth in they may have to be shot in order to release their prey! In this instance I think he just needs to admit that all this talk about uprooting our kids is more about getting his way. It is actually a kind of childish tactic that i see my own children try often. “I’ll clean my room if you will take me to the mall” but in this instance “I’ll drop this 4K 5th grade idea if you just give me the money to do what I want”. I dont give my children their way because I dont feel they should be rewarded for doing what is expected of them and neither should we. It is the school boards job to do what is best for our children’s educational well being. There are so many more things this dstrict could use money for rather than a fancy heating system. I agreed with the man who said where is the figures on just giving us newer boilers like what we currently have. We kept being told if anyone has any better ideas to give them to the board yet it seemed to me any alternative ideas were immediately dismissed. The my way or the highway mentality is going to be the death of our district. I know that I would rather homeschool my children than have them caught up in this mess. Maybe i should actually ak at the next meeting what the district spends each year for children who are homeschooled or sent to charter schools and then point out how much deeper we will be in the hole if parents being pulling their students out to use these alternatives! I truely believe that the quick action on this has more to do with the fact that Mr Hylton was hoping that parents and residents would not have the time to prepare for these meetings unfortunately for him he was dead wrong!!! The other unfrotunate thing i noticed, that although I am a big fan of Dr Sparagana and Lindley, they both played right into Hylton’s hands and the volleying for the soon to be vacated superintendent position has already begun! I guess I was not the only one aware that the only person who even remotely has a chance for getting this position is someone who will help Mr Hylton get exactly what he wants!
Again, beautifully stated, concerned mom! I do personally believe Dr. Lindley and Dr. Sparagana to be smarter, and more importantly, wiser than being played by the likes of Hylton. Time will indeed tell.
Code Blue hears you and welcomes you to join our effort to demand ethical leadership that revolves around our childrens’ education – first and foremost. If you are interested, please email us for more info. on what we are doing and how you can help at codeblue19464@ymail.com.
We appreciate your “pittbullitude!”
Power to the Pottstown People!
I am so glad Mr. Hylton got a swift kick in the pants last night. He needs to know the good people of Pottstown aren’t his puppets and will not tolerate his “railroading” tactics any more.
People better remember this nightmare when Tommy-boy comes up for re-election for ANYTHING. Vote NO next time folks!
Concerned Mom…you hit the target!!
We might have all forgot that the real issue was to get the money (by hook or crook) and phase on of that mission is complete (it has been for many months) by having such a folly in public. Mr. Hylton seems to like to use tactics to rile people up and go about his ‘business as usual’; if you ask me, it’s a real reflection of everything a SB member SHOULD NOT be.
While we are stuck with him (for now) we must focus on the common goals of building up the PSD and forging a community-based network to help the town revitalize. We will not always agree on how to accomplish this but using our energy in positive ways toward reachable goals and commitments we might just create enough ‘good feeling’ to make this situation turn a corner and head in the right direction. To lift up the town and the schools at the same time will be difficult but the success will be great and it will make more success attainable.
I can say I know of one Mom that pulled her child to home-school this year and many (who can) may consider it as an option since it’s much more accepted and accessible than ever before. It is truly a viable option to safe-guard you and your children and do the very thing(s) you are fighting for (something I have considered, myself); the real question is why should you have to fight for these things…IF people were doing the jobs they were elected to do – not what they think they were elected to do – we would likely be having a very different exchange.
Keeping buildings functional is great but to appoint them with materials and resources and good teachers is better and a much better investment. To apply for money for the purpose of things ‘beyond our means’ is criminal; to ignore a HUGE deficit in the budget and allow programs to be ‘at risk’ is suicide for the PSD.
Maybe programs aren’t at risk but then what is to make up this shortage OR is the plan to raise taxes above the 4% index? This is a simple question…what is being looked at as a potential sacrifice to fund the PSER fund; the public deserves to know!!
All the NSC information is easily found on the PSD website, all the information we are ‘permitted’ to know. Mr. Open Goverment, didn’t Ms. Open Government run on the same platform? Ms. Harris chairs the Personnal Committee…shouldn’t ALL her agendas and minutes be available for the public to see? Not that I wish anymore work for Mrs. Adams but someone OTHER than the chair should keep minutes…perhaps another SB member not sitting on the committee? I find minutes by the chair of a committee are slanted and seem to have holes in them, too (BIG ONES). Impartial minute taking is best.
I am saddened to see this reccomendation go before the full SB AND I will be further upset when this ‘comedy of errors’ plays out!! People do have alternate suggestions and money will be available next year (I’m sure we’ll still make the poverty list!!). The time is now to establish a task force to look at the problems we need/want to fix and cover the bases on as many areas as possible to all feel good about the plan that we act on!!
So, what say you, Mr. Huss, will you help to get the town and SD together and make a real plan, have real open government, unify the people, work toward a tailor-made vision for the children of this community AND remove the politics and folly from this SB? That would be a bold move and something to be proud of; your actions, to date, have been disappointing! The fingers will be pointed at you as having let this occur and not acted decisively to involve the community and cement a strong bond between SD, SB, Admin and staff to serve the children to the best of our ability.
Think about it!! Code Blue needs U…join the revelation – if we can dream it we can do it!!
Power to the People!!
I would just like to point out one problem with this “brilliant” plan. While the PMS has been renovated in order to put the 5th graders there would involve yet another renovation. Several people spoke and stated that as of yet, while the numbers support space for the 5th graders, they have been unable to locate 13 vacant rooms they could use!!!! And 13 is the bear minimum if they put 26 5th graders in a class!!! What happened to smaller class sizes being more condusive for learning? Yes the bear minimum is 8 5th grade rooms and 5 special ed rooms! We currently have 10 5th grade classes in the district!!!!! This idea is a farce! The FAB 5 have absolutely no concerns for our childrens welfare, educational growth or their emotional well being!!! Nw onto another renovation for the middle school….where will that money come from because straight from the brilliant mouth of Mr Hylton the stimulus LOANS can only be used for elementary school renovations!!!!! So we are talking about borrowing 12 – 14 mill and then another unknown amount to even make this plan feasible!!!! We have no numbers for more middle school renovations because they have no idea how or even what they have to do! And as for moving the administrative offices to the high school that also will involve renovations and more $$$$$!!!! People of Pottstown I hope you all can find a way to manufacture money for this school board to spend because I easily forsee these projects costing closer to 20 million dollars!!!!!
It seems that with the Borough Council positioning themselves to implement the recommendations of the ULI Report that ANY physical changes in the schools, at this time, is presumptuous.
In my heart of hearts I feel that big changes are imminent for our community. Not only do we now have real leadership in Potttown, we have the federal and state governments discussing the need to redevelop under utilized urban areas in lieu of creating additional suburban sprawl, (Think Green), less traffic, better public transportation, fewer highway expansions and repairs. People are migrating to urban areas and we are living in a diamond in the rough!
When revitalization efforts begin to unfold we will see young families moving into Pottstown and the requirements for school structures will change radically.
I wasn’t here when the Central School proposition was nixed. If this idea is re-visited as part of the revitalization effort, and funding without tax increases become available, do you think the majority of parents & taxpayers in Pottstown now would support it?
Roy…there’s a poll for you!!
I think it all comes back to proper dissemination of facts and finding that ‘common ground’. I wish I could predict the future BUT since I can’t I’ll have to hope for the best!
Good point about the waiting till the ULI gets implemented…maybe that’s part of the rush going on with the SB?!?
Steph, we have casually discussed this with other people in our group. There is a common consensus, among many of us, that Hylton is pushing this school agenda in a race against the clock.
Once the development authority is established there will be a systematic process thru which all development/revitalization issues will be guided, including those that impact the schools.
Furthermore, Mr. O’Dell, who could likely head up the authority said, (before council), that while he is a Preservationist he recognizes that many of the buildings in our community have served their usefulness and need to be redeveloped.
I’d lay odds that T.H. is aware of this and is concerned that his reign will soon come to an end.
“I’d lay odds that T.H. is aware of this and is concerned that his reign will soon come to an end.”
And a great day of rejoicing that will be! Can’t happen soon enough!
IF this is true, Katy & Roy…should Mr. O’Dell be present at this weeks voting meeting and address the SB, in the hopes of convincing them that the best way to move forward is to do it hand in hand w/ the Borough (even if he might not head up the authority??).
He could even remind them that there are many issues on their agenda already that MUST be addressed and they, by pushing this ‘project’ through, are going to potentially cost taxpayers $300 (or more) per year by not resolving the PSER fund payback except by taxation AND they will be burdening us further with the $100 (or more) loan payment for the new debt w/ the Hylton plan.
YEP…$400 (or more) added to each person’s tax liability IF action is not taken to correct the shortfall caused by the PSER situation AND adding debt for the ES projects.
I know I can’t afford that AND for the house I own it isn’t worth it – AT ALL!!