Good evening, I would like to remind the Board of a few things tonight about the people of the town, our educational system and Board conduct and governance.  Let me start by saying that hard work and perseverance will be required to evaluate our current situations and creative and cooperative thinking will be key in successfully finding the best solutions for both community and District.  I believe it CAN be done; my concern is that we will lose our way and make choices that are CLEARLY not in the best interest FOR ALL.

Let's examine some facts about our residents to get a 'snapshot' of the AVERAGE resident in our 22,700 member community. 

·         Avg age 36

·         Avg income $45,941 (w/per capita income of $25,044)

·         Avg property taxes paid annually are $3,460 OR 7.5% of our income                                             (comparatively, using the per capita figure taxes paid are 13.8% of income)

·         Of that tax bill 74% is SD taxes, 20% is Borough taxes and 6%, then, gets paid to the county.

·         With known and potential increases on the horizon that avg tax figure will change to $3,631 (net change +$171)

·         Avg home values are $139,764

·         We pay 2.48% of our home value in taxes (ex: a home value of $250,000 pays $6,200 in total taxes and  $4,526 is due to PSD)

·         Mean travel time TO work is 24.2min (daily commute is 48.4min)

·         People who live AND work here number 2,888 (OR) 12.7% of town population

·         Avg household size is 2.4 people

·         60.5% of households are FAMILY households (of those households, 7% are unmarried partners)

·         Most people have a HS or higher - 77%

·         Bachelor's or higher - 12.4%

·         Graduate degree OR professional degree - 3.6%

·         Unemployed - 5% (this is a 2008 reporting)

So I'd suggest we are a relatively smart bunch of hard-working individuals that have a modest lifestyle and means.  We have a right to that lifestyle.

Imagine, if you will, this scenario: a single parent making a yearly wage of $38,000 living in a modest twin home or condo that was affordable 10 years ago and where she is today:

·         She spends an hour each day in her car, most likely making use of some type of babysitting or childcare (at an additional drain on her bank account).

·         She pays $3,460 annually in property taxes ($2,560 due to PSD) and her home value should be about $117, 000 and given the market she might be lucky to get between $95,000 and $105,000 for it if she sold it today.

·         She's actually paying (assuming she can get $100,000 in a contract of sale) closer to 3.5% of the value of her home in taxes - realtors remind buyers to factor $15 for every $1,000 of  assesed value for property taxes (in this case $1,275, assuming the assessment is 85% of the purchase price - as a perspective buyer I'd wonder WHY the taxes were almost 3 TIMES that rough estimate; I wouldn't buy that house - would ANY of you?)

·         Her property taxes, alone, consume 9.1% of her income AND add $288.33 to her Principal and Interest payment for her mortgage (her principle amount might likely  be $505/mo add $288.33 and she's bound to pay $793.33/mo - add on $40 more monthly for homeowner's insurance and the grand total becomes $833.33.

·         Her monthly gross is about $3,167 and of that 26.3% is spent on housing.  Not knowing the tax exemptions she elected to be taken from her paycheck, avg grocery bills, utilities, etc. we can still assume there isn't much, IF ANY, left over.

·         How does she feel about the PSD spending money she doesn't have?  Just imagine...

We work hard and expect to not be reduced to living on so little because of overtaxation for things not related to education.

13.83% of the Pottstown population attend public school (while 7.4% of the population attend private school); we have 3,140 students in our 7 buildings.  In essence, you are charged with providing quality equitable education opportunities for roughly 21% of the Borough population.  Given some of the current rankings and statistics, I think this should be your FIRST and GREATEST priority; the future welfare of this community is dependent upon the quality of education provided in public schools.  Some data based on test scores:

·         according to schooldigger.com PSD ranks 457/536 ranked schools in PA w/ a rank score of 0.249 (highest rank being 0.999 - Infinity Charter)  (PHS ranks 468/666, PMS ranks 589/830)

·         of the Elementary rankings w/ 1,661 schools ranked our schools post these rankings Lincoln - 1,070, Barth - 1,303, Franklin - 1,311, Edgewood - 1,330 and Rupert - 1,369

·         It would seem w/ taxes higher than 96% of school districts in PA and achievement in the lower 15% of PA there is work to be done.

·         According to greatschools.com we, as a district, rate a 4/10 - our lowest rank was given to PHS (3/10)

·         Neighboring and area districts stack up as follows:

·         Pottsgrove - 5/10

·         Owen J - 9/10

·         Boyertown ASD - 8/10

·         Spring-Ford - 8/10

·         Perkiomen Valley - 9/10

·         Upper Perkiomen - 8/10

·         Oley Valley - 7/10

·         Methacton - 9/10

·         Phoenixville - 9/10

·         Evaluation is required to minimize the achievement gap and disparities among our students, to insure their best chance for continued growth and success.

Since it seems a great portion of our curriculum is teaching toward the objective, in this case standardized tests, we must examine why our scores are not higher and HOW we can improve upon these rankings.  What resources are needed by Administrators, students and staff to make PSD draw people inside the district boundaries for ultimate Pottstown Revitalization?  This is where we are now but where do we want to be, in say 5 years or 10 years?  Public schools MUST provide educational programs and, yet, the governing body must balance this NEED and be effective stewards of the public resources.

The Superintendent will recommend, later in the evening, for you to adopt the PSBA Code of Conduct; I hope you will do so.  I agree with everything it embodies.  By adopting this Code I, personally, will hold you to a higher standard in providing quality education AND being effective stewards of OUR resources.  We already have "among the highest taxes in PA" and, yet, 56% of our students (and their families) qualify for Free/Reduced lunches - this doesn't speak to a community that has unlimited resources PARTICULARLY when resources are earmarked for waste on cosmetic upgrades.  Let me remind you, it's your FIRST and GREATEST priority to provide EQUITABLE EDUCATIONAL opportunities.

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