School Board Answers Residents

By Amy Edel

After Ann Amengual, Steve Dooley, Marilyn Falvey, Nancy Fredericks, Peter Gall, Thomas Lamberti, John Maulk, Jack McGowan, Jerie Newman, Hamilton Smith, and Morton Yuter all co-wrote and delivered a letter to the Garden City Board of Education urging the board to form a Citizens Advisory Committee to review the defeated bond and compile a new proposal, the School Board broke its silence on the subject at its meeting on Monday, Dec. 8. The Board stated that they would form the committee asked for by the public, but were not in agreement on all of the details of how the committee would be created.

The number of members to serve on the committee was a point of contention among the board members and one point that remains unresolved. All members agreed that no board member should sit on the committee and disagreed with the letter's recommendation for a board member to serve as a liaison to the board. Instead, they suggested a committee member serve as a liaison to Superintendent Dr. Wilson, thus removing themselves completely from the composition of the new bond proposal.

One other point from the letter that the Board members have expressed differing views about is the suggestion to not let geography determine who should serve on the committee. The authors' intent was to recommend that those with the most expertise to contribute be allowed on the committee, however, the Board does not think it advisable to not take geography into consideration. The suggestion that the POAs be involved in nominating committee members will be taken. Trustee Ryan had expressed his belief that representatives from SEPTA and the PTA also serve on the committee. The letter suggested that these parent-teacher groups be on the nominating committee with the POAs.

The details of the process of formulating the committee and any official decisions regarding the new bond composition process will not be made until the Board holds another work session in January. In the mean-time the schools must continue to operate without the bond and plan for the months ahead until a new bond can be written, approved by the board, put before the public in hearings, voted on, and finally implemented. Immediate repairs of the roof at the middle school, accommodating the numbers of students the district currently educates and expects to in the near future, and other serious repairs will need to be budgeted for and made without the bond.