The Feasibility Study and the Future of Carlynton

The informatin below is posted at the request of a member of the community. I do not personally agree with this movement nor with building new facilities at this time.

In my opinion, the first step before taking either of those paths should be to conduct a study on whether it would be more beneficial for the education of the students to consider merger with another school district or to consider disbanding Carlynton and merging the 3 communities into different school districts. The school board has chosen to ignore this possibility, although their own data show declining enrollment in the district.

There are several adjoining school districts with declining enrollment, just like Carlynton. Rather than undertake new construction or an update of existing structures, both of which will put the district back into debt and likely lead to an increase in taxes, merger with another district or districts will likely lead to a decrease in taxes and and possibly an increase in student performance. As well, ALL the adjacent districts provide more academic and enrichment programs than Carlynton. There will be more opportunities for our children.

The school district and parents should first assess the feasibility of the long term viability of Carlynton, one of the smallest school district in the county but with one of the highest tax rates. Only after that is done should the district determine its next move.

The following is information that I was asked to post:

IMPORTANT INFO:

If you are a current Carlynton resident and you do not want Crafton and Carnegie Elementary schools closed, Please use one of the links below (or all) to make your voice heard!

Carlynton SOS Website
Sign the Petition
Facebook page

Reform Network coverage: Citizen Sues School Board

Sunshine Law Violated Alleged; Resident Sues School Board Sunshine Law Violated Alleged; Resident Sues School Board

You'll have to go there to find out where.

The winds of merger are being blown about by the PA Governor

Governor Ed Rendell, D., is talking about school district mergers. Humm....

What is the feeling about a merger with the Carlynton School District? Would a merger discussion be something you'd welcome and entertain? Or, not?

What directions and pathwaay should be some of the first steps on the merger journey? Would it make better sense to merger with: Montour, or else Keystone Oak, or else Pittsburgh Public Schools, or else another, or else all, or else none.

Think about it and post in the comments.

In southern states, they often have school districts the size of an entire county. One public school district for everyone in the county. Wow. That's big when looking at Allegheny County and all the various school districts.

Another more creative way to manage the merger of school districts is to have districts for K-8 grades and then larger, merged districts for high school and adult / night school grades. Face it, most schools can work for elementary and middle school aged kids. But the more specialized education and extra activities for high school students gets more of a challenge to deliver -- and parents are often less capable of teaching advanced courses to the high-school aged students.

So, perhaps there could be K-8 districts and larger, high school districts.

Greenwood swimmer helps save coach in pool - News- msnbc.com

Here is a lesson you don't want to repeat.

Greenwood swimmer helps save coach in pool - News- msnbc.com: "Greenwood swimmer helps save coach in pool

Swimming one length and doing THREE is the difference between smart and dumb.

Weight Room Tour

This mini tour is from 2006. Conditions might have changed.

Getting excited for winter sports

 

Are you getting excited for the winter sports season?

You betcha!

How did the fall sports banquets go?

Others are fighting the good fight on similar grounds

New blog worthy of watching.

School Board Transparency — Sunlight on Board-Union Contract Negotiations: "School Board Transparency"