Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Selling Your Soul to Satan Would Offer A Little More Flexibility

On Tuesday, Methacton decided to pass the budget (a full thirteen days before the deadline...for some reason), which includes a 2% tax increase and yadda-yadda--honestly, if you've followed Methacton for any amount of time, you knew what was gonna happen before it happened, like most bad horror movies. Even the talk of a zero percent increase, which gained more steam--I think--then in the past, still stalled and ultimately ended, just like in the past.

What was more of an interesting subject was that during the Work Session as well, the School Board voted on the First Student contract after the contract. If you think about it, it's a little odd waiting until after voting for the budget to vote for this item, but as per usual, the Board decided to go this route well before the vote.

(Another note: during the Finance Committee meeting, it was shown in the budget presentation that First Students apparent savings was already factored in.)

Which is the norm here--there may be a public vote, and some discussion on items that are being voted on, but most discussion and decisions were made before hand. The voting is just a formality, in essence. There was little Pro/Con discussion (mostly just the administration explaining all the Pros they saw), little real public input, and moving the goal posts in the middle of the game.

Case in point with that last one: we were initially told that the contract would last five years. On Tuesday, the Board signed a contract with First Student until 2024. That's ten years.

According to Mr. Whiteleather, it will offer the Board "more flexibility" with First Student, which I'm still trying to figure that one out. Last time I checked, the longer a contract is, the more it usually costs to break out of it. That is on top of the fact that the School District is selling it's equipment (read: buses) to First Student, and if we were to decide three years in that we got tired of kids getting on and off of rundown buses that we would go back to self-transportation, you might as well accept that inevitable 4% tax increase and budget cuts, because it will cost us.

The difference between the Aramark situation and First Student is that the Aramark contract started out yearly--which was the best idea of the whole farce! If we did get tired of Aramark, we could just let the contract expire and start from scratch. Contracts are binding, and a divorce of this magnitude will impact our district, and will be felt in every facet for years to come.

And the way I see it, if this deal sours, then that will be the silver bullet that kills the Athletic Field Project. Right now, MSD outsourced the transportation department to save money to put towards the Field Project, which totals around $800,000 per year savings. However, the lowest bid received for the project was around seven million dollars, and was rejected. Even if the board uses all of the $5.5 Million from the Bond they financed (which has to be used within three years of taking it out), and factoring the about $800,000 from the Transportation Outsourcing, the district is still one cool million dollars short.

And that isn't factoring in the Light Ordinance fight from Worcester, the Zoning Challenge of the field (remember, the field would be turf, which may or may not be considered a permeable surface), stormwater management, and every extra charge because let's be honest--nothing ever goes completely to plan, especially with Methacton.

So we are locked in with a corporate transportation service for at least five years (the way I see it), that if it sours, will completely turn our district on its head.

Welcome to the new age.

8 comments:

  1. So your picture is a joke. You do realize, whether public or private, a bus is still a vehicle, which on occasion have a chance of catching fire. Now if you can provide data which indicates private buses (owned by as you say a "corporation") catch fire more frequently, then I will give you credit, but without that research being done, you are doing nothing more than well quite simply using a really bad "scare" tactic. Also I hope that before you placed that picture in this story, you verified that no children were injured or killed on that bus.

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    1. Hm. You're a smart one. My picture WAS a joke!

      Jeez, tough crowd

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  2. so your more focused on a picture?! Methacton's track record for transportation is 100% safer than First Students! Apparently you have not been paying attention to the issues in this school district. In the over 30 years that I have been a resident in this school district, there has been NO serious issues with our transportation service! The scare tactic is what this school district did to the taxpayers! Go back and read this again, get a clue!

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  3. First Student has documented safety issues with their buses, including paying a family $5 million dollars for the death of their child. Is this a scare tactic? I think not!

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  4. so the person who made the first comment is completely CLUELESS! Your more worried about a picture then you are about the fact the the school district sold the taxpayers and the bus drivers down the river?! But then again, do you attend or watch the school board meetings? As it was stated at a recent meeting, the TAXPAYERS are to blame for the run away school board that we have, but I'm sure you were bitching when your tax bill came in the mail. Well, I didn't vote for the morons that are on this board, but have to suffer because they have no clue what they are doing. Thank you to the people who voted them in!

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  5. I do, and yes there are issues and I understand your concerns, but there is a world outside of the Methacton School District and as you broaden your horizons and begin to encompass more areas problems do arise, so you put in place policies and procedures to guide employees and provide the proper supervision from both the companies perspective and the school district. That said the "in-house" bus drivers are being offered employment by First Student. If, as a bus driver you are not satisfied, then 1.) Find another job with a different school district or 2.) Reduce your pay, benefits, pension, etc. because bus transportation should not be a "core" responsibility of a school district, you should not be entitled to these benefits. I appreciate the work you do, but it is not a "specific" function of government nor is it a "specialized" task. There should be 5 responsibilities of local governments:

    Police, Fire, EMS, Public Works, and Education - no more or less.

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  6. Education is NOT the responsibility of our "local government" i.e. Lower Providence Township! Concerning our high school and middle school have failed to make AYP, exactly what is the "core" responsiblility of the teachers in this school district? Seems you have issues with the bus drivers. The "core" responsibility of the school district is to provide an education which seems to be lacking. They are more concerned with spending millions of dollars for a "turf" project which has nothing at all to do with education! School director or teacher?

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  7. Schools Districts are in fact a form of "local government!" Teachers can only do so much with regards to educating our children, it is the responsibility of parents and guardians to ensure that their children review and understand the material being taught to them in school. Unfortunately in society today, WE expect everyone else to do everything else. In my opinion ALL extracurricular activities should be funded by the parents and guardians who take part in them and not by general tax payer dollars.

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