POTTSTOWN — To say that the Pottstown School Board’s newest member is a hometown booster would be a bit of an understatement.
Chosen from among four other candidates last week, Katina Bearden took the oath of office Thursday night and will complete the year left in the term of former board vice president Dennis Wausnock who died last month.
Born in Pottstown, educated in Pottstown, living in Pottstown and raising her family in Pottstown, you might say Bearden is fond of the place.
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
POTTSTOWN — The school board elected Andrew Kefer as its new vice president Monday night, filling the post left vacant by the Aug. 19 death of Dennis Wausnock .
But Kefer’s election did not happen without some objections.
Hylton argued Monday, “Since we knew we would need a vice president, it would have been appropriate to bring this up for discussion Thursday since (Ron) Williams had already indicated he would not be at tonight’s meeting.”
Hylton proposed tabling the motion, noting that solicitor Stephen Kalis had confirmed there is no legal requirement that a vice president be appointed immediately.
Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140826/kefer-named-new-pottstown-school-board-vp
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
POTTSTOWN — The word most spoken by those reflecting on Tuesday’s death of longtime public official Dennis Wausnock, who served in public offices in the borough for more than 20 years, was “dedicated.”
Wausnock, 77, died Tuesday at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center after a long battle with congestive heart failure.
A U.S. Air Force veteran of the Korean War, Wausnock’s public service included 16 years on the Pottstown Borough Council, where he served as both vice president and president.
He was three years into his second four-year term on the Pottstown School Board, also serving as vice president, when he passed away.
You may remember a while back that Mr. Hylton and his Neighborhood Schools Committee (NSC) were reigned in by the board for operating outside the normal limits of a committee. They were placed under the Facilities Committee so that decisions would be made that included the entire board, not just “selected members”.
Oh, how times have changed. Mr. Hylton’s power grab has landed him back in the catbird seat once again. Mr. Hylton now has a majority of five votes on the board that will predictably go his way. The NSC is now unfettered and free to act without the pesky interference of those other four trouble makers on the board who disagree with him.
On August 8th, the NSC held an 18 minute meeting to discuss a few issues. Chairman Dennis Wausnock and Committee members Valerie Harris and Thomas Hylton were in attendance. Déjà vu anyone. There were some others in attendance, members of the administration, two other board members, Crabtree and Rohrbaugh folks and a couple of spectators. Just a cozy little group, the way Mr. Hylton likes it 🙂
Mr. Thees (a former board member) asked some pointed questions:
Mrs. Weand asked Mr. Hylton if the other eight members of the board are not to be involved in the day-to-day decisions. Mr. Hylton replied that the board decided the Neighborhood Schools Committee has been appointed to oversee the work. Ms. Harris chimed in that every board member has a say but that Mr. Hylton is the point person for the day-to-day dealings. (The answer to Mrs. Weand’s question is a resounding NO!).
So Crabtree and Rohrbaugh have four weeks to provide a timeline to the NSC on the completion of renovations to Pottstown’s five elementary schools. Of course, this motion passed with three yes votes.
Another motion was passed to authorize the preliminary work necessary to issue the $15 million bond ASAP.
Of course, the NSC voted to make Mr. Hylton the sole point of day-to-day contact between the PSD administration, Crabtree and Rohrbaugh, Stephen Kalis and others involved in the upgrade of our five elementary schools.
A motion was made and passed to develop a contingency plan for emergency student housing if the construction takes longer than anticipated. (We can only imagine what this will entail!)
Eighteen minutes later, Mr. Hylton made the motion to adjourn.
Future meetings will be on an “as needed basis”. (Sounds like the Shade Tree Commission)
If this doesn’t raise a few eyebrows then I am not sure what will. Mr. Hylton has made himself Elementary Emperor. He will be the only board member involved in this process and has effectively shut out the other seven elected school board directors from the day-to-day process of spending $15 million dollars to “band aid” five school buildings.
Does this seem unusual to anyone else?
You know those historical windows will end up in Rupert. What you don’t know is that those windows will enrich the quality of education in the Pottstown School District tremendously. Why I bet they will even make test scores in the high school go up to meet the state required levels. The sense of pride in those historical windows will inspire our students to greatness.
Just another day in Pottstown.
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