School Board Meeting – August 18, 2010
Aug 18th
The Northwestern Lehigh School Board will meet on Wednesday, August 18th at 7:30 pm in the conference room of the District Administrative Offices.
School Board Meeting – August 11, 2010
Aug 7th
The Northwestern Lehigh School Board will meet on Wednesday, August 11th at 7:30 pm in the conference room of the District Administrative Offices.
The Executive Office of the President pays a visit to PrideandPromise.com
Jul 9th
In an earlier post, I highlighted some of my data collection from Google Analytics. It’s been quite interesting to follow the dynamics and trends that have developed over time. However I was a little surprised to uncover the origin of one recent visitor — the Executive Office of the President of the USA.
This blog usually receives 10-20 monthly visitors from Washington, DC — primarily from Congressional offices and special interest groups — so nothing seemed unusual until I checked this month’s service provider detail. “OMG!” was my first thought…and I probably can’t post what my second thought was…LOL!
I immediately followed with a flurry of clicks to verify a few more details and confirm its authenticity. I now have further validation to a phrase I use quite often in discussions about education — it all begins with the power of one.
Board Members & Blogging
Jun 15th
As a follow-up to my post from April 30th, the article ”Board Members and Blogging” [below] appears in the June edition of the PSBA Bulletin — the bi-monthly magazine of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
A huge “thank you” goes to my fellow cyber-colleagues Dr. Fred Baldwin (Carlisle Area School District) and Mr. Jim Butt (Cheltenham Township School District). I greatly appreciate your constant support and encouragement — and eagerly look forward to November!
Reprinted by permission of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Copyright © 2010, All Rights Reserved.
School Board Meeting – June 16, 2010
Jun 14th
The Northwestern Lehigh School Board will meet on Wednesday, June 16th at 7:30 pm in the conference room of the District Administrative Offices.
Noteworthy highlights:
Item D – Facilities
1. Discussion and action on proposal for custodial services for Weisenberg Elementary School for the 2010-2011 school year.
Item E – District Finances
1. Approval of final 2010-2011 General Fund budget and supporting tax levies for Northwestern Lehigh School District as follows:
a. Budget Expenditures – $36,932,065.00
b. Local Tax Levies:
- Real Estate Tax – 50.66 mills (1.25 mill increase)
- Earned Income Tax – 1% (net .5%)
- Real Estate Transfer Tax, Act 511 – 1/2% for each of 4 townships
- Local Services Tax – $10
- Amusement Tax – 10%/not to exceed 40%
NEW — Agendas now include clickable links to discussion items.
This document reflects updated information received on Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Congratulations to the Class of 2010
Jun 13th
The 53rd Annual Commencement of Northwestern Lehigh High School was held on Saturday, June 12, 2010 at Lehigh University’s Stabler Arena.
The Class of 2010 is comprised of 193 graduating seniors including: Valedictorian, Alexander W. Masetti, Jr. and Salutatorian, Ramzy T. Burns. The class officers are: Ramzy T. Burns, President; Olivia K. Danner, Vice President; Lauren A. Gradwell, Secretary; and Joseph K. Hall, Treasurer.
Northwestern Lehigh High School — Class of 2010
Advisors: Mrs. W. Ann Way & Mrs. Tracy Smoyer
Motto: “These are our moments, these are our times, let’s make the best out of our lives.”
Colors: Black & Gold | Flower: Gerber Daisy | Song: “Our Lives” by The Calling [see video below]
Addition to Ceremony: Prior to the presentation of the diplomas, senior Brittany A. Kittle addressed fellow classmates and the audience with a special recognition and tribute to the loss of their beloved classmate, Shaunice Jarjous. In honor of her memory, the graduates have chosen to donate their remaining class funds to her Memorial Scholarship Award.
In you were unable to attend the ceremony, a copy of the commencement program is included below:
The PSERS Crisis – Kicking the Can Further Down the Road with HB 2497
Jun 11th
The House Appropriations Committee approved HB 2497 which amends the Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) and the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) codes by modifying their actuarial funding requirements.
This bill parallels the anticipated “fix” [and I that word loosely] by “kicking the can further down the road”, rather than addressing the significant issues of the looming pension crisis. Gov. Rendell endorsed this “solution” [and only a politician would deem it this] in his proposed 2010-11 state budget. It’s funny how politicians appear to develop short-term memories around election time [see below].
We should reduce the benefit level. We should reduce when those benefits accrue. We can’t afford it. It’s going to break school districts and the state. It was a giveaway. Interestingly, everyone got upset at the [2005 legislative] pay raise. The pay raise cost the taxpayers about 1/500th of what this [2001] pension grab is costing. And no one got mad at Gov. Ridge. No one got mad at the Legislature back then. I guess it’s because the impact is phased in over so many years. But this is a tsunami compared to the pay raise.
Governor Ed Rendell (during an interview with the Morning Call)
An actuarial note attached to this bill by the PERC (PA’s Public Employee Retirement Commission) estimates the higher costs in later years will far outweigh the contribution reductions in the earlier years – to the tune of an astonishing $52 billion MORE to achieve this “cost smoothing” over the next 30 years. See pages 10-11 of the document below.
Again, this legislative “solution” is projected to cost $52 billion more than the total amount of the current PSERS and SERS pension crisis already!
The following graphs are from “HB 2497 and the Pension Rate Spike”, prepared by PSERS & SERS upon request from the House Democratic Caucus, detailing the impact HB 2497 would have on the employer contribution rate spike and plateau facing both state pension systems. Note: Click on the images to enlarge them.
HB 2497′s Projection of Employer Contribution Dollars
HB 2497′s Projection of Total Employer Contribution Rate
HB 2497′s Projection of Unfunded Liabilities
HB 2497′s Projection of Funded Ratio
More information on HB 2497
Regarding PSERS, the bill re-amortizes all of the unfunded actuarial accrued liabilities of PSERS over a 30-year period using level percentage of pay amortization payments and extends from five to ten years the asset smoothing period beginning July 1, 2011. The bill also proposes to fund any increases in accrued liability enacted by legislation after June 30, 2010 over a ten-year period using level percentage of pay amortization payments. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2010, HB 2497 establishes the total employer contribution rate as the final contribution rate of 5.0% of the total compensation for all active members, plus the premium assistance contribution rate.
The bill also imposes “collars” on the rate at which employer contributions may rise from year to year, establishing temporary collared contribution rates for fiscal years July 1, 2011, July 1, 2012 and on or after July 1, 2013, that if the contribution rate is more than 3%, 3.5% and 4.5%, respectively, of the total compensation of all active members greater than the prior year’s final contribution rate, then the collared contribution rate must be applied and equal to 3%, 3.5% and 4.5%, respectively, of total compensation for all active members. For all other fiscal years in which the actuarially required contribution rate is less than the collared rate, the bill establishes the final contribution rate as the actuarially required contribution rate, provided that the final contribution rate is not less than the employer normal contribution rate.
HB 2497 was amended by the committee to insert technical changes and also to allow any active member in the SERS, who was previously an active member of PSERS, to elect to become a multiple service member no later than 365 days after becoming an active member in SERS.
Source: PSBA’s Office of Governmental and Member Relations, Weekly Legislative Update, June 10, 2010
