WILLYARD: Soup’s On!

An Editorial by Becky Fullerton and Jennifer Willyard

 At this week’s ASD School Board meeting, there were several interesting things discussed….one of which is the closing of Kittanning Township Elementary School and the transfer of these students to Elderton Elementary School.

A good question to ask in regard to this, is how many additional classrooms will be constructed when the renovations occur at Elderton Elementary to accommodate the pending increase in class sizes?

While most studies show that learning in the secondary schools is better with larger classes, they also indicate that elementary students need a smaller class size to be successful. The students who have been found to have the highest achievement in class size studies are the youngest of elementary students in K-3. So what will the consolidation of KT and Elderton Elementary result in for the new class sizes for these children?

Another item for consideration in this is, will the board deny transfer requests? We know personally, if we had Lenape Elementary closer to our homes than Elderton Elementary, we would put a transfer request in, especially for Kindergarteners that are in school for only half a day.

In addition to renovations being done at the Elderton complex, it seems Ford City will be receiving some renovations and possible additions as well.

Do the directors really feel that spending approximately $24 million on (as HERO stated in one of their handouts) “the aging, structurally questionable” FCHS is a good thing? There are only so many band-aids you can put on a gaping wound before you bleed out. Exactly where did this addition come from (as it was never mentioned in the options presented originally by the architects) and where on the FCHS is it supposed to be located? Maybe the ASD board will attempt to have Ford City Borough use Eminent Domain! Gee perhaps those that live on 4th Avenue should watch out as they may be part of the pending renovations!

There was also slight discussion, by Director Solak, regarding the issue of flooding at FCHS. It was stated that none of the classrooms had taken water in, but nothing with regard to results from the mold testing that was recently done. We are very interested to read these results when they are in since, as stated by many, the mold seems to be a recurring problem at the high school.

Why does the mold problem keep recurring? Poor air circulation? Clogged drains? Leaking plumbing? How did we come up with the above probable problems? Easy! Those are the reasons listed in a mold finding report from back in 2007! Where any or all of those problems addressed? Did that stop the mold from recurring? Does anyone know exactly what that status is? Again, the mold is not a new issue in Ford City High School, but perhaps it is one that somehow, someday will be remedied, one would hope, with the $24 million band-aid being applied to that building.

So lets see….Ford City gets renovations, Elderton gets renovations, ($47 million in renovations with MINIMAL state reimbursement)West Shamokin is fine (contrary to what Ms. Yassem states)…..who are we missing? Ahhhh yes! Kittanning!

Sorry Kittanning, but no soup for you!

OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR AND REFLECT PAID SPONSORSHIP.

WILLYARD: How Does It Change?

EDITORIAL BY JENNIFER WILLIARD AND BECKY FULLERTON

“Change is inevitable, growth is optional.”-Author Unknown

President, Vice President, Senator, Congress, Representative, Governor, Mayor, Judge, Coroner, Sheriff, District Attorney, School Board, Magistrate, Council, Tax Collector.

These are just some of the positions that we, as tax payers, elect people to look after our best interests and this week’s primary races show that across the country people are want change.  But in order for change to happen, people need to become involved.

Of the 42,711 registered voters in Armstrong County, only 14,714 came out to the polls on Tuesday’s Primary Election.

Why is the voter turnout so poor in our county?   Are people so apathetic about government or do they feel so helpless as to how to change what is going on that they just throw up their hands and let the chips fall where they may?

Does this seem familiar, perhaps similar to what happened with our last school board election?  Should the lack of candidates and the lack of voter turnout for that last election tell us something about the quality of those who were elected to the board?  Is the fact that one of our board directors ran unopposed in both the primary and in the November election, the fact that of the 3,087 registered voters in his region only 958 voted and of those only 686 voted for him an indicator of what type of “growth”, or lack there-of, that we can expect for our school district in the future?    Why did we have so few candidates?

Is the job hard? Yes.  Time consuming? Yes.  Thankless?  Perhaps.  Important?  Very.  Maybe the outcome of the last election will help the silent majority have the courage to step forward, find qualified, quality candidates and VOTE!   The voters of the Armstrong School District need to say “enough is enough”.  Our children’s education is more important than the petty agenda’s of many of the current directors.

We need to find dedicated, forward- thinking, selfless individuals to lead our district.    The out of control actions and spending of the current board needs to be brought into check and there is only one way to do that…..by action not by lip service.  Our children’s educations, their future, the future of the County and maybe even to a degree the future of our Country are at stake.  Why do we have people in power who think so little of education?  Who are willing to cut teachers from a building, who by their own voice, have said is on the “warning list” for poor PSSA scores to staff a building with fewer students than said school….to staff a building where there will be classes with 10 or less students, to staff a building where some teachers will have only 4 classes to teach all day (as opposed to the customary 6-7 classes of all other building’s teachers) and fill the rest of their days doing “duties” yet are receiving the same pay as other teachers in the district?  Why was the last open caucus meeting postponed…..because they can’t get the figures in order to show that reopening Elderton will not cause an increase in taxes or not deplete the current fund balance…..they are scrambling to try to make it appear to the taxpayers and voters that reopening EHS is fiscally sound when in fact there is just no way that it is.   Apparently the agenda’s of the “super six” supersede the education of the majority of the students in the district. Why else would they be putting our students in such a precarious situation for PSSA success? Is it just so that it looks like there will not be “too many” new teachers hired to staff EHS.  So the education of all of the other students in the district means so little to the “super-six” that this is okay???

The fact is we need to get out there, vote and support those that are in line with how we feel about things…..whether it is President or School Director.

OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR AND REFLECT PAID SPONSORSHIP.