Throughout her years in the Central York School District, Princess Gabriel never sat in a classroom where a person of color stood at the chalkboard and lectured.
It didn’t seem that strange, for the most part, she remembers. All her neighbors were white, all her friends were white the lead characters in her favorite television shows were white.
As a student, she recalls reading only a handful of books that featured nonwhite perspectives titles such as To Kill a Mockingbird or Huckleberry Finn come to mind. But even when those novels featured people of color, she realized, the books were often written by white authors who failed to portray the Black characters with depth and thoughtfulness.
manich@leaderherald.com
JOHNSTOWN The Greater Johnstown School District like other school systems is working hard on trying to get more students connected to the internet for remote learning purposes.
Superintendent William Crankshaw, in his recent report to the Board of Education, said 8 percent of the Johnstown students don’t have internet connectivity.
The connections are important in the learning process during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
He said instruction has been “strong,” but not always coordinated.
In conjunction with the fight against COVID, Crankshaw reported that district staff and faculty are “actively making appointments” for COVID vaccinations The superintendent said he already had his first of two shots.
WHYY
By
(Office of Gov. Tom Wolf)
Pennsylvania distributes billions of dollars of education funding based on enrollment numbers last updated in 1991. As a result, some wealthy school districts are getting far more dollars-per-student than others in lower-income areas.
That’s one of the conclusions reached by a new report on inequities in how the commonwealth funds education, published Wednesday by the nonprofit advocacy group Public Citizens for Children and Youth.
The report focuses on Pennsylvania’s ‘hold harmless’ policy. Enacted in 1991, it bars the state from funding school districts at levels lower than the prior year. When it was implemented, districts appreciated its guarantee of predictability, making it easier for school boards to make long-term plans. Over time, as the student enrollment plummeted in some places and surged in others, it’s added to the wide inequities that exist in Pennsylvania public schools.
manich@leaderherald.com
JOHNSTOWN The Greater Johnstown School District Board of Education on Thursday authorized a public referendum in May to reduce the number of its board members from nine to seven.
The board passed a resolution to allow voters to downscale the board via a proposition at the district’s annual election May 18. If approved, the change wouldn’t take effect until May 2022.
Board President Christopher Tallon indicated that three volunteer board members’ seats are up this year and two of them might not be running for reelection. They are: Ronald Beck, Susanne Fitzgerald and Kathryn Zajicek.
The Johnstown school board in recent years has had a problem finding persons in the community interested in running. Still, Tallon put the word out Thursday.
manich@leaderherald.com
JOHNSTOWN The Fulton County Industrial Development Agency board recently reviewed a 2020 Payment In Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT report.
“Each year, we monitor the PILOTs,” said IDA Executive Director James Mraz. “We have to make sure the companies are making the payments we require them to make.”
The agency board monitors all PILOT agreements it has on projects to verify that PILOT payments are being made per the agreements. Each year, the IDA sends a letter to every company it has a PILOT with asking that they fill out a PILOT report. The IDA also sends a similar letter to all local taxing jurisdictions impacted by an IDA PILOT. The information from local taxing jurisdictions is used to compare against the information received from companies.