Today there were three articles in the local papers about and impacting the NASD.
The first from Michelle Pittman of the Express-Times (read the article here) who reports that the new State Budget includes increases for education that will result in NASD receiving 4% more than last year. Most districts across the state will receive 2%, though are schools Easton and Bethlehem are higher than Nazareth.
The second is an op-ed from the Express-Times (read the article here) regarding the decision by the NASD board to use a non-binding referendum. The Op-ed opines, as was done here, that the Board ought to step up and take responsibility for the decision regarding the pool. It further notes that the course of action chosen will be more costly if it is decided not to build a pool after all (paying for plans that could be as much as $300,000 and to date spent $35,000) and equally costly if it does (the pool will still cost $200,000 a year to operate and $425,000 a year in debt service for 25 years). In short, the Board needs to do its job and make a tough decision, which according to the editorial is to take the YMCA offer.
The third is a letter to the editor in the Morning Call (read it here). In it the writer notes that growth cannot be stopped, most new residents are from outside the area, and most of them don't find the recreational or cultural opportunities they desire within Nazareth. As a result, the NASD ought to be 'visionary' and provide a theater that could bring in music and the arts, and a pool that could provide the recreation needed by residents.
It is a well-written and impassioned call, and maybe because this writer is new(er) to the area, she is unaware of the beautiful auditorium we have at the HS (that according to the Express-Times recently cost $15 million), the recently built one at the current MS, and the myriad of cultural events in and around the Lehigh Valley.
If we had events on a regular basis at the two facilities we currently have, I could understand wanting a third. In light of the fact that we host very few events outside of those school related, it doesn't seem building one will provide us with the opportunities the writer seeks.
At the last Borough Council meeting an individual was seeking approval for use at the Borough Park for a Greek Theatre Festival. I think this is a tremendous idea and I hope he is able to make it happen. I would love to have a summer Shakespeare in the park program where each of the neighborhood parks would host one event over the course of the summer bringing this type of entertainment to everyone and making them aware of all the wonderful parks that are provided to residents of the Borough. Doing this doesn't require a new facility.
The pool is slightly different as the NASD doesn't currently have one, but the YMCA does and so too does the Borough. The opportunity exists for those who want to take advantage of it.
In short, the school is not responsible to provide residents with recreational or cultural opportunities. They do share their facilities whenever they can, but this not their primary objective. Some of our municipalities have done better than others to provide recreational facilities, but none have kept up with some neighboring communities.
If you are new to the area and these are critical to you, it is slightly unfair to demand them because they exist in the municipality in which you chose not to live. At the least, take a moment to gain a good understanding of the current budget situation in NASD and its potential impact on the education of our children. If you do, I think you will find that these 'extras' for the 'benefit of the community' are not as important as having adequate space, appropriate classroom size, student and teacher resources, and student activities. All of which are currently at risk for the 2007-2008 school year.
34 comments:
It is true that we can not stop our town from growing, and we wouldnt want to. But I get annoyed when I hear of the "newcomers" to the area that dont like what we have or what we don't have. Wasn't it there choice to move to Nazareth?
OK....let's put some things in perspective here. The NASD built a beautiful auditorium which provides very little income from outside use, and even though the school puts on masterful performances chooses not to achieve recognition for the student performers in the annual Freddies awards program. Now they want to build a new middle school, complete with another auditorium to produce more amateur thespians, yet do not see fit to provide these student artists with the recognition which they rightfully deserve (and from what I could see every other district in our area except PenArgyl participates in.) In addition, they are contemplating spending millions of dollars on a swimming pool, complete with diving well, to serve the needs of less than 3% of the high school population. And while I fully agree all children should learn to swim, we have the Nazareth Boro Pool and the YMCA which both provide these services to the community. Speaking to the comments made about preventing drownings I have just one comment.
How many NASD students have drowned in the past several decades? There is little justification for a new middle school with all the bells and whistles when a much less costly elementary school could solve the space crunch problems. And there is NO justification for an expensive to build and maintain swimming pool to serve the needs of 40 students. And yet our school board still feels justified in forking over money we don't have to continue planning such pool. My prediction is there will be a huge turnover of board members in the next election.
Wish all due respect to the pool issue and the YMCA, this should be a dead issue. National guidelines state the water temperature of a pool for High School competitive swimming should be from 78-82 degrees for health reasons, with a ceiling of 82 degrees. The YMCA has stated that their water needs to be at least 84 and the air temperature is 87 which they cannot change because they are an arthritis remeadiation facility! That is unhealthy for swimmers. In fact they should be supporting the new pool as this condition affects the YMCA swim team as well and they should ultimtely rent time at the new middle school pool. Please note of the 18 schools that Nazareth swims against 15 of them have their own facility, one swims at a college adn 2 at Kids Peace, none at a YMCA for various reasons. In addition, you fail to mention the parking facilites at the Y, where will 60 cars and 2 busses park for meets? How will paying Y members feel when they are told they cannot use the facility they paid for from 3-5:30 every day. You also fail to mention that competitive swimming is extremely popular in PA. In fact in 2005-2006 PA had the second most All American Swimmers trailing only Calf., according to the NISCA (National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association).
I was born and raised locally, albeit not in Nazareth. I agree with the newcomer when they say recreation in Nazareth is lacking. I had daughters who played softball for Nazareth Boro when they had a program.
Why don't they have a program today? Because they treated the girls like second class citizens. The worst fields, sub standard equipment, etc. After years of losing kids to Clippers softball, the Boro initially insisted that kids from Boro, Stockertown, and Tatamy return to the Boro program. Eventually they yielded and folded their program into Clippers. You know what Upper Nazareth did with all of the equipment that went along with the deal? They threw it in the trash because it was worthless. Of course, the boys program had a pitching machine at this same time.
How about a comparison to nearby Easton. They have two new community centers (Forks and Palmer) in addition to old stalwarts Saint Anthony's and Easton B&G Club. What does Nazareth offer in this vein?
From what I am told at least 50% of the paltry recreation budget is earmarked for the Community Days. That leaves precious little to spend on actual organized recreation. Is it any wonder we have all of these disconnected youth wandering the streets looking for some property to ruin with their skateboards?
With all of that said I do commend Emily and Todd for their efforts with regards to the summer recreation program. I also realize that there is a skate park in the wings. Not sure how to feel about that as I feel it will detract from the quality of life at the Boro Park but hopefully the law enforcement will enforce them not skating in and aroound the Boro.
Also please note that a nationwide study conducted by Penn State University concluded that swimming facilites raised property values in a community.
Have you ever noticed that Joseph Owens never ever is supportive of the NASD? Could it be that although he lives in Nazareth, he has chosen to send his children to Parochial school?
My children (too old) will not benefit from any of the facilities yet I am supportive of them. Yes, I am a newcomer even though my children have lived most of their lives here (unless you are born here you are a newcomer). When we moved here I was surprised at how lacking the schools were in the amenities provided compared to our previous school district.
Does anyone know what effect the 4% increase has on the shortfall Dr Lesky was working on reducing?
Did the district guess there would be an increase, or were they basing theie projections on last year's level?
I disagree with the opinion that we cannot slow growth in our area, and in fact I think this is what needs to be done. I travel an area from northern New Jersey to Berks county and have found the townships that want to control growth and taxes do. They do this by making it more difficult to build new houses. Generally this is accomplished by increasing the minimum lot size to 10+ acres. This greatly restricts the amount of houses being built, and the amount of new students moving into a district. Much of the problems the District is going thru are because of growth that is out of control. For every student moving into the district we need several households worth of taxes to educate them. Tax relief from Harrisburg sounds great but as long as our Township supervisors allow this rate of growth we will continually be building new facilities for the increasing students, this will mean substantially higher taxes. In 2005 alone Lower Nazareth approved over 100 new building permits.
I am a parent of two children in the school district and have listened to the reasoning behind building a middle school vs another elementary. Much of the reasoning for this decision is based on good educational founations. Unfortunatly if this pace of growth continues you may get your wish because the district may need another elementary school in another 10 years.
To 9:15 AM, Anonymous
Correction, Unless your parents were born here you are a newcomer.
Regarding Owens, his attitude is if he wants your opinion he'll give it to you.
Also, you are dead on with your calling out Owen's reason for being anti-NASD. He sends his kids to that lame school on the west end.
Do a annual count of Holy Familians pictures in the paper. I bet it is more than Shafer, LN, and Bushkill combined .
It is really sad that some people can only make comments that attack.
If you need to attack, attack the statements being made not the person making them. Explain why it is wrong. Suggest a better way. In short be constructive.
Why knock Holy Family? Was it fun? It wasn't in any way contributory or constructive. People make choices about the education they want their children to have, it may not be the same as yours, but it is no reason to throw cheap shots.
Regarding newcomers, I'm using it in regard to people who moved here in the last five years. And my only point was to familiarize yourself with the current issues before calling for additional spending that may negatively impact education.
To CCornell, there is a plan to help with this and it is the Nazareth 2030 plan. It is a regional cooperation that is in the process of being worked through, but with multiple municipalities I'm imagining it will be a challenge.
To JiM, I don't recall what figures were given in the discussion last week, but all districts were making a guess as to what it would be. You'd expect they were conservative in the amount of the increase. I'm sure there will be an answer come Monday.
Again, if you are only going to knock people and you have nothing that is constructive or inquisitive, please read, but don't feel compelled to comment.
Have a great day,
I'm not really sure why people talk about the lack of organized recreation and cultural events. I lived here all my life and I can tell you that organized recreational activates have grown tremendously throughout the past 20 years. You've got to remember, that in the 70's and 80's, there were very few daycare centers and most children stayed at home with their stay-at-home moms. When I was a kid, we simply went outside and played with the kids in the neighborhood for our recreational activities. The only real organized recreational activities I had growing up (before entering Junior High School) were baseball, cub scouts and going to the Nazareth pool in the summer. Quite honestly, that was fine by all my friends and me.
I understand today that today with the high amount of households having 2 working parents that these days are long gone. Just remember, that all these organized recreational activities many are requesting have only been instituted during the past 10 to 15 years. Obviously, they will continue to grow in the future. My post is merely to remind anyone who thinks that we have little recreational activities that we have come a long way and will continue to move forward as everyone’s lifestyles change.
As for the cultural events, these comments make no sense. Most people who move to Nazareth (and children who grew up in Nazareth and look to remain here with their families) realize that it is a nice quite area. Yes we have very few events, but if you are looking to more local events, the city of Bethlehem is the place to live.
How is is it that the building of the new school has been centered around the pool. Yes the YMCA and Nazareth Boro have pools but neither of them are competetive pools. Narareth Boro pool can't even have a summer team because of its shape. Here again Nazareth swimmers have to go outside the area to compete in summer league.
The meeting that was held on Feb 1, all you nay-sayers didn't hear the coach of the swim team say that the pool that is currently in design is not what we are looking for (8 lanes/diving well and seating for 200 people), 6 competetive lanes with diving is what we need. The swim team already has bleachers and a timing system paid for by them.
Everyone complains about the cost of the pool, which is only .5 percent of the total 6.5 building. That averages out to be about .15 cents per day, yes .15 perday!
11:01 AM, Anonymous
Your post makes no sense.
First you say ...
I'm not really sure why people talk about the lack of organized recreation and cultural events.
Then you say ...
The only real organized recreational activities I had growing up (before entering Junior High School) were baseball, cub scouts and going to the Nazareth pool.
And how has this changed?
You close by saying ...
Most people who move to Nazareth (and children who grew up in Nazareth and look to remain here with their families) realize that it is a nice quite area. Yes we have very few events, but if you are looking to more local events, the city of Bethlehem is the place to live.
I think you do a great job of illustrating that Nazareth doesn't have much to offer today's youth.
IF YOU DON'T WHAT A NEW SCHOOL INSTEAD OF BUILDING NEW HOMES FOR FAMILIES, START BUILDING 55 AND OVER RETIREMENT VILLAGES!
The point that I think is lost here is:
What services (educational or otherwise) will have to be cut in order for us to build this school in it's present form?
Remember, we are facing a budget shortfall of $1.4M next year and it grows every year after that. The NASD board cannot raise taxes any more than the 4.2% they have already budgeted for. The PA state legislature has given school boards strict guidelines under Act 1 as to how much taxes can increase in any given year. Any amount above the threshold, triggers a referendum vote. Last time I checked, most school tax referendums FAIL.
If NASD voters don't pass the (virtually certain) upcoming referendums, the board will be FORCED to cut programs.
I don't want to see student services cut under any circumstance.
I think there is some confusion regarding a point I was making about recreational and cultural opportunities.
I didn't mean to make an issue over who has what teams or activities, or how many there are, but instead what bricks and mortal facilities are available for recreational and cultural activities.
In this sense our Townships have provided mostly fields. We don't have gyms or buildings with indoor basketball, volleyball, fitness, jogging, etc., we rely on our schools to provide this.
In other areas as some noted the community provides it by way of a community center.
In the borough of Nazareth, the borough provides fields and parks, a pool, and soon a skate park. The borough has relied on the YMCA to provide indoor facilities. Holy Family also provides facilities for CYO leagues.
There is an undue reliance on the NASD to provide. They provide when the facilities are not being used by school groups and students, but as a result of making them available some of the time, it seems many of us expect them to provide this as a service.
Doing it on a municipal by municipal basis would allow people to make that decision amongst themselves at their respective Council or Township meeting. If there are opportunities to collaborate, as is the case with the skate park, they can do chose to do so.
I don't think it is the school's responsibility to provide (and by that I mean design and build for the purpose of doing so) public community centers be they for recreation or cultural events, and I get the impression that many people do.
Jim (and Ross)-
About the increased spending from the state:
Last years (2006-2007) final budget had revenue from state sources at:
$13,979,587
The last preliminary budget projection (1/18/2007) had revenue from state sources at:
$14,566,629
So, NASD was expecting a 4.2% increase over 2006-2007. They got a 4.0% (according to the Express Times). So it appears that NASD was expecting what they got (actually $27K less, but whose quibbling?)
Also food for thought: with Rendell's proposed plan property tax would cuts woudl average $170/year.
Don't bet on any tax cuts of any kind for a LONG time. Sales tax may go up to 7%. even tho we are going to make such big bucks thro the casinos. and that's another SAD joke
11:16 AM, Anon…so you’re saying the only offerings Nazareth has for youths (below the high school/middle school level) is spring baseball, cub scouts and the Nazareth pool? We now have many other “recreational” activities for youths (i.e., soccer, basketball, etc.). My previous post was merely illustrating that things have changed since I was a youth growing up in Nazareth and they will continue to evolve.
As for my last comment about moving to Bethlehem, reread the entire paragraph…I was referring to “cultural events” (i.e., the Celtic Classic, Musicfest, etc.). When I referred to “cultural”, I meant for adults as well as youths. Please, provide a reply as to what youth events and activities you would like to see Nazareth start so I can ignorantly reply in the same manner you did to me.
Anon 11:16, why do we need so many activities for elementary-aged youths? What’s wrong with an 8 year old playing in the back yard with friends?
Playing in the back yard with friends. Or destroying other peoples property with your skateboard or bike.
To Brad
You are right on the money, so to speak, about the referendums. If this building goes up, taxes will go beyond the 4.2 percent. A referendum will be needed and the folks will vote the tax increase down. The only thing left to cut will be athletic programs and core curriculum.
To Anonymous 2:10
You are correct about no tax cuts. The Rendell plan will put us under the yoke of socialism and keep in mind that his term has just started. Everyone needs to contact their state representatives and let them know how they will vote in 2008 if this socialist plan goes through and it is socialist. State health care, grabbing oil money, taxing employers, and we wonder why businesses go off shore and college grads leave the state.
An 8 year old destroying backyards with a skateboard?
Just a little tidbit :
Studies by the US Navy and Stanford University show that offseason swimming as training increase performance in football by 30% and baseball by 20%.
we ALL should be scared, very scared if this new school goes in as planned---it will cost us in taxes but more importantly at least to me is it will cost us in staffing and student services which will affect all students in NASD-if you don't have a student you are concerned about then be concerned about this----
student support cuts = lower academic performance (ie pssa tests) = reduced school district ratings = compromised school district reputation = lower home values
so either way, student or no student, homeowners beware you will feel it if we allow the new MS to go as planned, we will all feel it, it is just a matter of when
It is sad----that with all the need for concern over the school district's escalating costs ---we have sports fans versus art and drama, newcomers versus "oldtimers",discontent over lack of activities for our youth.
There's lots to do in this community --if you really WANT to . Get involved. and there IS alot of involvement----parent and child.
This AREA has alot to be proud and grateful for . Start vcounting your blessings
Maybe my post wasn't clear enough today - if you make posts that attack and name call or are not appropriate its getting deleted.
guys
i think alot people are under tons of stress on here. before everyone gets there panties bunched..stop...breathe..and lets be rational... you have folks who want,want,want,and want some more..than you have the people who take there time, stop, and you have to ask yourselves.."can we afford this?" for the pool supporters (and its fine to be one), please just come up with a rational, organized plan with how to afford this.. we just cant!! blowing money in years past has finally caught up to us guys.. it was all fun back in the days, but eventually you just cant have everything.
trust me, i read all the posts in the paper and in here and theres some good points made by both sides, but in the end guys YOU CANT AFFORD IT!!! you can talk water temps, life-saving, etc. it just doesnt matter.. WE CANT EVEN AFFORD THIS SCHOOL.. please also keep in mind the estimate to build is i believe 58 million dollars.. Key word is estimate.. this school could cost millions more than this..
its fine to support things..but please just be somewhat rational here guys.. this isnt parkland school district where half the taxpayers are surgeons or lawyers.. alot of regualr working class people live here, and dont feel like selling there homes.
I don't think Nazareth [lans to fail, but I am quite certain that they fail to plan.
The H.S. complex is such a disorganized mess, IMO. Pools, fields, and a track should have been addressed years ago when it would have cost less (yes, even in relative $$$$s).
As far as community centers for the surrounding communitites they can pay for themselves (or at least be underwritten) if done right. Fork's expansion from one to three gyms several years ago was funded by renting gym space, meeting rooms, hosting dances, etc. Don't know if you can be as profitiable today because more and more of them are spring up/
It is my understanding that Lower Nazareth has had land set aside for a community center for years, but can't pull the trigger.
I heard the nasd, in effect now, asked all the nasd sports and athletics teams or coaches look over the budget and decide where to take a 5% cut now. (to all sports). Also, in the near future there is talk of students pay to play.
At the last Board meeting, Dr. Lesky recommended a 5% cut in the athletic budget as one of the dozen or so cuts to try to trim the budget to within the 4.2% tax increase for next year.
Even with those cuts the budget was $400,000 short of the goal of having only a 4.2% tax increase.
Dr. Lesky did note that an option is to go to a 'pay to play' system, but this would not be only for athletics but all extra curricular activies (band, drama club, chess, debate, etc).
The pay-to-play sounds like the kind of cut that people might want to raise their own taxes to avoid.
I've not yet seen a recommendation to cut administrative budget lines by 5% or transportation or some of the other areas that do not directly impact student learning, and I'd like to before we go down the road of charging students to participate.
I wouldn't mind a pay to play. They should also get rid of the free admission for senior citizens (they should pay student rates).
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