Tri-County High School Art Exhibit At MCCC West Campus In Pottstown

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

High school students from Montgomery, Chester and Berks counties will showcase their artwork at Montgomery County Community College’s first Tri-County High School Art Exhibition and Competition at its Fine Arts Gallery, North Hall, 16 High Street, Pottstown.

The exhibition opens Monday, Jan. 13, and will continue through Friday, Feb. 21. The artists’ reception will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 29, from 5-7 p.m. with the awards presentation at 6 p.m. Both the exhibit and the reception are free and open to the community.

Students from approximately 20 public, parochial and private schools were invited to participate in the exhibition. The artwork features a variety of subjects and styles in an array of media. College art faculty members will be judging the artwork.

More details: http://calendar.mc3.edu/EventList.aspx?view=EventDetails&eventidn=1772&information_id=2563&type=&syndicate=syndicate

Boyertown School Board Hires Superintendent

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Boyertown School Board has hired a new superintendent whose experience with building projects should help the district as it prepares to renovate and expand the high school, officials said Thursday.

Dr. Richard Faidley, 44, who has spent the last two years as superintendent of the Derry Township School District in Dauphin County, was hired by an 8-0 vote on Tuesday.  His salary was set at $165,000.

The board chose Faidley partly because he’s a strong leader and has construction knowledge, said board President Gwen W. Semmens.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=495561

Pay Frozen For Most Boyertown School District Administrators

The Boyertown School Board has voted to freeze most administrators’ salaries for the 2012-13 year, saving the district nearly $70,000.

Dr. Dion E. Betts, superintendent, had requested that the board freeze his salary earlier this month.

At its meeting Tuesday, the board approved the freeze unanimously for a savings of about $9,000.

It also voted 7-2 to freeze the salaries of all of the district’s 17 principals, assistant principals and special-education directors, for a savings of about $60,000.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=388974

Boyertown And Upper Perk Teachers Vote For Wage Freeze

The Boyertown and Upper Perk teachers have agreed to a wage free to help both districts plug their budget deficits.  The savings realized will be in the millions of dollars!

Boyertown has a $6.5 million budget deficit and Upper Perkiomen has a $1.5 million deficit.  Boyertown teachers agreed to forgo raises for this year and next year.  This will save the district about $3 million each year. 

Upper Perkiomen teachers approved a wage freeze for the 2012-2013 school year.  This should save the Upper Perk nearly $500,000 dollars.

Pottstown administrators have agree to a wage freeze but we are still waiting to see what direction the contract negotiations will take with the teacher’s union.

More School District Drama As Boyertown Elects New Superintendent Of Schools

As if Owen J. Roberts hasn’t provided enough superintendent drama, Boyertown Area School District has now jumped on the bandwagon.

Boyertown has hired a new superintendent to succeed Dr. Morgan, who is retiring.  However, there is already a kerfluffle afoot as a divided board elected the new superintendent.  Dr. Dion E. Betts of South Western School District in Hanover, York County was elected by a narrow 5-4 vote amid cries from dissenting board members to postpone the vote and take more time to select a superintendent.

So good luck Dr. Betts.  You are starting out behind the eight ball in a new job.  Betts was given a 4 1/2 year contract and a starting salary of $145K.  Hopefully people will at least give Dr. Betts a chance but there are already questions regarding his credentials from dissenting board members and the teachers union.

Let the drama begin.