A Letter from the Superintendent January 5, 2015 Community Member: In the December 28, 2014 edition of the Pottsville Republican-Herald an advertisement with the headline of Schuylkill Technology Center was published. The advertisement stated that the Blue Mountain and Pottsville School Districts are attempting to amend the Articles of Agreement to change the payment structure for financing vocational education. It further stated that the proposed changes are detrimental to vocational education. The purpose of this letter is to give you a balanced analysis of this complex matter. First, it is true that the two districts are seeking an amendment to the above mentioned Articles of Agreement; however, in this letter I can only address the issue from the perspective of Blue Mountain. Please note that the attempt to amend the Articles is not based on any dissatisfaction with the educational programs offered at the STC. We value the role of vocational education. The Articles of Agreement assigns each district in Schuylkill County a set number of seats based on student enrollment. School districts do not pay on actual attendance at STC but on the assigned number or quota. For example, the assigned number of seats for which Blue Mountain paid in 2013-2014 was 114 but actual attendance was 65. In short, Blue Mountain paid for 49 seats that were not used at an approximate cost of $300,000 and this only reflects one year! Hence, the reason for our desire to amend the Articles to be more reflective of actual attendance. Since 2011 the Blue Mountain School District, due to both national and state economic problems and decreasing state aid to public education, has been diligently attempting to be economically prudent but also attempting to maintain programs. We have lost staff through attrition, we have furloughed a teacher, we have curtailed programs at the elementary level and we have reduced electives in the high school; none of which may necessarily have occurred if we were paying for the actual use of seats at the STC instead of through a quota. It is not the intent, in seeking to amend the Articles, of the Blue Mountain School District to harm vocational education; nor is it our intent to limit availability for Blue Mountain students to attend the STC. It is our intent to be responsible to the taxpayers and all Blue Mountain students and to attain an equitable basis for funding tuition at the Schuylkill Technical Center. If you would like to discuss this matter, please email me at [email protected] or call my office at 570-366-6582. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Robert L. Urzillo, Ed.D. Superintendent
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 15:06:57 +0000
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