Friday, May 24, 2013
Parkland Community Library is unhappy with a proposed lowering of the library tax by the Parkland School Board. School officials argue that the library tax is to be used to maintain the library not to fund new construction.
Lawyers for Parkland Community Library said Friday in a release that they would take the Parkland School District to court over its proposed lowering of the library tax that has been on the books since 1998. On Tuesday, school board board directors voted to lower the proposed special library tax pegged for the Parkland Community Library from .3 mill to a proposed .1 mill. The library tax was approved by voters in a 1998 referendum. Lawyers for the library said the planned reduction in millage would further postpone the construction of the new library project planned in Upper Macungie. Library lawyer Samuel Feldman said the board's lowering of the millage rate "is without basis in law," and that a millage change can only be approved by …
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Bartman will replace Assistant Principal Megan Bauer, who will move to Orefield Middle School as a guidance counselor.
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Wednesday, May 22
The Parkland School Board appointed Jeffrey Bartman as assistant principal at Springhouse Middle School during its Tuesday night meeting. Bartman will replace Assistant Principal Megan Bauer, who will move to Orefield Middle School as a guidance counselor. His salary will be $94,778, board members said. Bartman received his Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education, General Science/Biology and Master of Education degree from Kutztown University. He completed his principal's certification at Wilkes University, majoring in Education Leadership. His most recent experience in the Parkland School District was serving as Dean of Students. Prior to his administration role, he was a classroom teacher for 17 years. "Mr. Bartman is a …
Parkland School Directors approve a proposed final budget tax increase of 2.43% for the 2013-14 school year Tuesday night. However, further savings could trim the hike to 2% by June's final adoption.
The Parkland School Board approved a proposed final budget for the 2013-14 school year Tuesday night that carries a 2.43% tax increase, translating into a 13.90-mill hike. However, Business Administration Director John Vignone said that an increase closer to 2 percent when the final budget is adopted next month "is a realistic number." The total budget for the 2013-14 school year is $143,685,085. The fund balance appropriation for the budget is $4 million, which equates to 0.56 mills to offset the tax increase. That will reduce the district's fund balance to $17 million from $21 million. "We were able to mitigate the tax impact and will continue to do so until the final budget in June," said Parkland Superintendent of Schools Richard …
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Development assessments and tax collection are expected to increase in Parkland School District, school officials say.
The Parkland School Board reported during an all-day 2013-14 school budget seminar Friday that development in Upper Macungie, South Whitehall and North Whitehall townships will help keep school-related property taxes down. North Whitehall, however, will see a reduction in growth because new filtration system regulations require storm water runoff to be retained on a lot and will require large lot sizes, the board said. South Whitehall: North Whitehall
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Parkland School District Administration Center
1210 Springhouse Rd, Allentown, PA
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Sunday, April 28, 2013
Parkland School District administrators, during an all-day budget seminar Friday, pointed out some of the major Upper Macungie development projects that will increase tax revenues in the district in coming years.
Assessments and collection of taxes are critical to every school district and the Parkland School District is no exception. During an all-day budget seminar Friday, district administrators pointed out some of the major Upper Macungie Township development projects that will increase tax revenues in the district in coming years. According to the school district:
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Parkland School District Administration Center
1210 Springhouse Rd, Allentown, PA
/articles/development-to-help-keep-parkland-taxes-down
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Friday, April 26, 2013
Parkland School District administrators and school directors met Friday to examine and discuss 2013-14 budget issues.
Parkland School District administrators and school directors met Friday to examine and discuss 2013-14 budget issues. At the meeting's opening at the district administration building in South Whitehall, Parkland Superintendent Richard Sniscak said, "Challenges continue to impact school funding and that continues to impact Parkland. We've done more with less for three consecutive years." District officals and school board members were examining every facet of the proposed 2013-14 school budget. The proposed $144 million budget, which is a 4.36 percent increase over 2012-13, carries a 2.73 percent tax increase totaling 13.94 mills, but work continues on it. Sniscak has predicted that the final budget presented in June will carry a lower tax…
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Citing 'philosophical differences,' Parkland School Board director Robert Cohen resigns from Lehigh Carbon Community College's Board of Trustees.
Parkland School Board Director Robert Cohen said he resigned from Lehigh Carbon Community College's Board of Trustees earlier this month, citing "philosophical differences." Cohen would not elaborate, citing confidentiality reasons. "I decided I needed to remove myself from that environment," Cohen said. Cohen, who has served as the school board's representative for the last four years, said he submitted his letter of resignation April 3. The board accepted his resignation at its April 16 meeting. It is unclear whether his resignation is tied to several Parkland school directors' public rebuke Tuesday of LCCC's request to raise the district's annual contribution to the college's budget while the college has a $17 million surplus. LCCC …
40.60568
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Parkland School District Administration Center
1210 Springhouse Rd, Allentown, PA
/articles/parkland-school-director-resigns-from-lccc-board
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/locations/9315609
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Lehigh Carbon Community College is sitting on a $17 million budget surplus but asked Parkland and other school districts for more money.
An angry Parkland School Board rejected Lehigh Carbon Community College's request for more money from the district after it learned the college was sitting on a $17 million budget surplus. Several board members said they were outraged LCCC asked Parkland for $1.23 million, a 2.1 percent increase, for the 2013-2014 school year when the college's surplus was nearly 40 percent of its $41.8 million budget. Although the board voted 5 to 3 against LCCC's budget, Parkand will still have to pay the amount unless the majority of the 13 Lehigh County member school districts rejects the college's budget. LCCC asked Parkland for $25,751 more than last year to help fund the $439,830 more it needs to fund next year's budget. Board member David Kennedy …
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Parkland School District Administration Center
1210 Springhouse Rd, Allentown, PA
/articles/parkland-board-outraged-at-lccc-budget-request
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Tuesday, April 16, 2013
$1.4 million in proposed reductions would bring the Parkland Schools tax increase below the promised 3 percent threshold for the 2013-14 school year. More cuts are possible.
The Parkland School Board was presented with a round of $1.474 million in additional budget cuts at Tuesday night's workshop meeting, which would reduce the proposed tax increase in the 2013-14 school year to below 3 percent if enacted immediately. The recommended adjustments, presented to board members by Director of Business Administration John Vignone, would reduce the proposed tax increase from 14.16 mills down to 13.94 mills. That would place the proposed tax increase for the 2013-14 budget at 2.73 percent, down from a 5.82 percent increase presented in February's preliminary budget. The reductions would bring the total Parkland 2013-14 school budget down to $143.8 million. The preliminary budget was at $145.7 million. Budget numbers …
40.60576
-75.5453
1200 Springhouse Rd, Allentown, PA
/articles/1-4m-in-cuts-brings-proposed-parkland-tax-hike-to-2-73
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Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Parkland Superintendent Richard Sniscak told a board committee that work continues on the 2013-14 budget. A budget presentation is scheduled for April 16.
Parkland School District Superintendent Richard Sniscak told a school board committee Tuesday that the current 2013-14 budget scenario is not desirable, but is better than a year ago. "We're not kicking the can down the road," Sniscak told a board committee during a Tuesday meeting. "We're going to come through this tough time." Sniscak noted that a borrowing of $10 million will give the school district some flexibility. School administrators have promised directors a 2013-14 budget that will come in with a tax increase of less than 3 percent. Last month, following the passage of a preliminary budget, administrators introduced $1.5 million in savings, some of which includes not filling open teaching positions. Sniscak told school board …
40.60568
-75.545313
Parkland School District Administration Center
1210 Springhouse Rd, Allentown, PA
/articles/parkland-school-district-continues-budget-work
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/locations/9213747
Martha
2:50 pm on Saturday, May 25, 2013
Such a shame to be spending the taxpayer's money on Lawyers and court. Please settle this to benefit all. I do think that the library should be more centrally located to all residents it serves. Although I am sure that reasonably priced land in South Whitehall is hard to come by. more ›