Sunday, December 23, 2012
"The budget process begins again and we have no reason to believe it will be any less difficult this coming year than in the past two years."
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Sunday, December 23, 2012
A letter from the Bristol Township School District: Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends: The holiday season is always a time for reflection. We contemplate the triumphs, and most recently the tragedies, of the past year and ponder how to make the next year better, more productive, more thoughtful and caring. At Bristol Township School District our administrators and faculty will be using the downtime to prepare for the next two quarters. There is a lot to think about. The budget process begins again and we have no reason to believe it will be any less difficult this coming year than in the past two years. Among other things, we must begin planning for a solution to the challenges presented by our aging infrastructure. The cycle of testing…
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Superintendent Samuel Lee released a public comment on the deadly school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Dr. Samuel Lee's letter to the community: Dear Bristol Township School District Community, It is with heavy heart and continued prayers for the victims and community of Newtown, Connecticut that I feel compelled to confirm our commitment to the safety and security of the students of the Bristol Township School District. The district has a Comprehensive School Safety Plan that provides prevention, mitigation, and response protocol for numerous possible scenarios that could compromise our number one priority, the safety of our students. Both staff and students are trained and practice these procedures with the fondest hope that they never have to be enacted. We remain proactive and vigilant regarding the safety of our students and community…
Monday, December 10, 2012
The Bristol Township School District is looking into operating its own school buses.
As the final school year of bus operator First Student and the Bristol Township School District's five-year contract chugs along, the district is looking at several different options for next school year. While negotiations with First Student have gone less than stellar, Superintendent Samuel Lee said the district is looking at starting their own bus service. He quickly noted that "no plans were definite" and the district would work to "do right by the students." Lee said if the district were to take over busing of all students in the 2013-2014 school year, a minimum of 61 buses would have to be purchased to cover all the routes. The superintendent was unclear of what the cost to taxpayers would be and called it a "challenging proposition…
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Marianne Cleary has resigned from her $82,000-a-year position.
Bristol Township School District spokeswoman Eileen Kelliher confirmed to Patch Thursday morning that transportation director Marianne Cleary has resigned from her position. Cleary took the $82,000-a-year transportation director position in early 2012 and was heavily criticized by parents for her handling of the plan that slashed the number of contracted bus routes from 95 to 61. The cuts reduced the transportation budget from $9.5 million to $7 million. Many parents and students claimed the reduction in buses caused unsafe conditions. Parents took to school board meetings in September and early October to complain that the buses are overcrowded, run late and students with special needs were not being accommodated properly. The district …
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
A grandmother and a mother in Bristol Township are hoping the school district moves a bus stop away from empty homes.
Editor's note: The above interactive map displays the neighborhood where the bus stop dispute is taking place. The two circles denote the approximate location of the homes where the bus-takers live. A square sits atop Palmer Avenue and Purdue Street, which is where Joan Kravcak is requesting the bus stop be moved. The triangle marks the location of the current bus stop at Palmer Avenue and Hammond Street. A grey line marks the bus' daily route through the neighborhood. Palmer Avenue residents Joan Kravchak and Julie Capriotti have one goal: get a bus stop moved one block. The reason: the women don’t want the three elementary-aged children to have to board and disembark the yellow school bus across the street from several abandoned homes. “…
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Excel Academy is attempting to move into the township, despite mixed reactions from residents and board members.
The co-founders of a prospective charter school will meet with members of the Bristol Township School District early next month to determine the fate of a proposed academy. It was announced at Monday night's school board meeting that James Jones and Rev. Melvin Howard, co-founders of the Excel Academy Charter School, will have a formal hearing on September 12 over whether they will receive a public charter for the academy. If approved, the Excel Academy will be the first public charter school in Bristol Township. The charter school, which claims to "enhance, support and promote entrepreneurial and critical thinking skills," is currently looking to settled down in the building of former Catholic elementary school, Immaculate Conception, on …
Saturday, August 13, 2011
How do you prepare your students for a new school year?
Summer is almost over and starting Aug. 30, Bristol Township schools will be back in session. Patch spoke with Bristol Township School District Superintendent Samuel Lee about the best ways to transition students into the beginning of the school year. "You should get your children reacclimated to a routine. Try to gradually reconnect them with reading and math as early as possible," Lee said. While the district did not have any required reading, Lee said he strongly recommends parents to pick up anything age appropriate at local bookstores such as Barnes & Nobles. Many book retailers currently have displays for the most common summer required reading by nearby schools and classes, many at a discount. "Always instill reading. There's …
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
John L. Steffy has been appointed business manager of Bristol Township School District, according to a news release.
John L. Steffy has been appointed business manager of Bristol Township School District, according to a news release. Steffy agreed to a three-year contract with a starting salary of $126,000 and a start date of Aug. 15, according to a news release. The new business manager comes with more than 20 years experience in school district business management. Steffy has help top business positions at the Reading School District, the Penn-Delco School District and the Antietam School District -- all in Pennsylvania. "We are fortunate to have someone with John’s broad administrative experience and extensive knowledge of federal and state reimbursement formulas. He will function as a key member of the team during what could be difficult financial …
The effort could save the district millions of dollars in insurance costs, says superintendent.
The Bristol Township School District announced at a Tuesday planning meeting that they are attempting to make a "health insurance consortium." If finalized, the consortium, according to district Superintendent Samuel Lee, could save the district millions of dollars. The Bristol Township School District is just one of 15 other districts that decided to form the consortium. Other districts involved in the health insurance consortium include Bristol Borough, Newhope/Solebury, Quakertown and Centerbucks. Lee said the goal of the consortium is to jointly hunt for the best deal for comparable insurance coverage for all the districts involved in the group. "The hope is that we, as a united entity, can feasibly provide (healthcare) coverage …
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Truman High School student offers financial alternative to proposed music cuts.
Doom and gloom frequented the Bristol Township School Board meetings since Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed state budget slashed public school funding earlier this year leaving the township with a $3 million burden upon its back. Worried residents flocked to each subsequent meeting, fretting over which programs would be cut out of their children's education the following school year. When it was determined that it would likely be elementary music classes to get the axe, angry parents came in droves, searching for answers and equitable solutions. A favored solution came to the board at Monday night's planning meeting from an unlikely suspect -- a student. Kevin McCann, an 18-year-old soon-to-be graduate of Harry S. Truman High School, attended …
Daniel Kubacki
4:51 am on Friday, December 28, 2012
Good luck Mr. Volpe more ›