Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Two incumbents – Rebecca Heid and Alan Earnshaw - came out on top in both the Republican and Democratic primaries for East Penn Board of School Directors on Tuesday, while the field remains competitive for others moving forward to November.
The very crowded race for East Penn Board of School Directors is now a little less congested following Tuesday’s primary election that saw eight candidates vying for four open seats on the board. All eight of those candidates were cross-filed as Republicans and Democrats in the primary, which means the top four vote-getters on each party’s ballot will move on to the November election. As a result, incumbent school directors Alan Earnshaw and Rebecca Heid will be on both the Republican and Democratic tickets in November. Chris Donatelli and Garrett Rhoads earned the remaining two Republican slots on the November ballot, while candidates Z.W. Munson and Michael Moxley will fill the remaining two Democratic ballot positions in the fall. Here …
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Emmaus resident Ziad Munson announces his candidacy for the East Penn Board of School Directors.
Emmaus resident Ziad Munson recently said that he will run for the East Penn Board of School Directors on both the Democratic and Republican ballots in the May 21 primary. Currently on the faculty at Lehigh University, Munson earned a B.A. from the University of Chicago and Ph.D. from Harvard University. Munson called “great schools the cornerstone to our community’s future,” in a prepared statement announcing his candidacy. “The biggest question facing public education today is how to meet this need in difficult economic times.” In the past 10 years, Munson has served as trustee of the Emmaus Public Library, a soccer coach in the Lower Macungie Youth Association, and a PTO member and school crossing guard. “Like many of you, I am a …
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Alan Earnshaw, vice president of the East Penn Board of School Directors, announced recently that he will seek a fourth term on the board.
East Penn School Board Vice President Alan Earnshaw recently announced that he will seek a fourth term on the East Penn Board of School Directors. Earnshaw has been a East Penn School Board member since 2001, having been reelected in 2005 and 2009. He served as president of the board for two years and has been vice president for more than five years. Earnshaw has respresented East Penn on the Joint Operating Committee of the Lehigh Career & Technical Institute (LCTI) since December 2007, serving as the vice chair for two years and the chair since December 2011. Currently in his 12th year on the board, Earnshaw was first elected when his oldest daughter was in first grade. Now she is a senior at Emmaus High School and plans to enter college…
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Directors decided East Penn School District does not need the safety net of going beyond its index this year.
The East Penn Board of School Directors on Monday unanimously agreed not to exceed its state-imposed tax cap of 1.7 percent as it hunkers down to formulate its 2013-2014 budget. Each year the state calculates a rate cap for each district. For 2013-14, East Penn's rate cap -- the maximum amount taxes could go up -- is 1.7 percent. The calculation does not mean taxes will automatically go up 1.7 percent, but they won't go higher than that. For the past several years the board voted to exceed the maximum tax rate decided for the district by the state, but this year it doesn't need to. Before the vote, Business Manager Debra Surdoval presented the budget outlook which also included a look back at the 2012-13 fiscal year. "The ending fund …
40.537169
-75.506229
800 Pine St, Emmaus, PA
East Penn School District Administrative Offices
/articles/east-penn-s-2013-14-budget-stays-withing-state-tax-cap
/locations/8885277
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Two East Penn vacation days - one in February and one in March - will become in-session days to make up for days missed in fall 2012 after Hurricane Sandy.
The East Penn Board of School Directors approved at the board’s Dec. 10 meeting several school district calendar changes for the purpose of making up two of four days of school missed in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in fall 2012. Parents should update their 2013 calendars as follows: Feb. 14 - Full School Day Feb. 15 - 11 a.m. Dismissal for Eyer and Lower Macungie middle schools and Emmaus High School March 28 - Full School Day. These dates are a slightly different than the calendar changes initially proposed by East Penn Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger. Originally, the district had proposed Feb. 15 and March 28 as make-up days. However, when the district realized that Feb. 14 had been scheduled as an early dismissal …
Thursday, November 15, 2012
East Penn Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger reports to the East Penn Board of School Directors that the district has seen a jump of 53 students compared with November 2011.
East Penn Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger told the East Penn Board of School Directors at Monday night’s school board meeting that enrollment numbers in the district are still on the rise. There has been an increase in enrollment in the district of 53 students overall from this time last year (November 2011), making the total district-wide enrollment 8,075. The biggest increase is being seen at the elementary level, Seidenberger said, while the high school numbers are down by 20 from a year ago. Seidenberger also touched on increases the district is seeing in its special education classes, including a 16-student jump in the number of autistic students being served. “Sometimes the numbers are going to dictate that we need …
40.537169
-75.506229
East Penn School District Administrative Offices
800 Pine St, Emmaus, PA
/articles/east-penn-enrollment-still-creeping-up
1760508
/locations/8147760
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
East Penn Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger tells the East Penn Board of School Directors Monday night that he will likely put in a formal request to change the 2012-2013 school calendar at the board’s next meeting.
East Penn Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger told the East Penn Board of School Directors at Monday night’s meeting that he expects the district will need February and March to make up two of the four days school was closed by Hurricane Sandy. East Penn schools were closed Oct. 29, 30, 31 and Nov. 1, and Seidenberger said he hopes two of those days will be absorbed by the “snow days” built into the school district calendar. The other two, he said, will need to come off of a scheduled break in February – presidents weekend -- and spring break in March. At this point, Seidenberger says he intends to ask the board at its next meeting on Dec. 3 to change Feb. 15 and March 28 from vacation days to regular school days. This will …
40.537169
-75.506229
East Penn School District Administrative Offices
800 Pine St, Emmaus, PA
/articles/east-penn-will-make-up-sandy-days-in-spring
1760508
/locations/8142237
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Refinancing and consolidation of Series of 2007 and 2008 General Obligation Bonds could happen in early 2013.
The East Penn Board of School Directors Monday night authorized Public Financial Management (PFM) of Harrisburg to move forward with the refinancing and consolidation of two East Penn General Obligation Bonds – one from 2007 and the other from 2008 – with an anticipated net savings to the district of $250,000. PFM managing director Scott Shearer came before the board to discuss the potential refinancing, stating that if current trends in the financial market hold steady for the next several months, East Penn will likely realize just under $100,000 in savings in the current fiscal year and approximately $150,000 in 2013-2014. “The market changes day by day,” Shearer told the board during his financial report. “We like to leave as much …
40.537169
-75.506229
East Penn School District Administrative Offices
800 Pine St, Emmaus, PA
/articles/east-penn-could-save-250-000-with-bond-refinancing
1760508
/locations/8136458
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Superintendent Thomas L. Seidenberger last night updated the East Penn Board of School Directors on the status of the current book challenges in the district and set the record straight on past book objections.
Two books on the Emmaus High School summer reading list -- "Prep" by Curtis Sittenfeld and Tom Wolfe's "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" -- became the focus of attention this fall when a parent came to a September meeting of the East Penn Board of School Directors to raise concern about the "pornographic" nature of the works. That initial public criticism of the books sparked a frenzy of activity in the district, ultimately resulting in a formal challenge to both books under an established district procedure known as "Policy 109." Last night, Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger took a moment during his report to the East Penn Board of School Directors to update the board on the status of current Policy 109 challenges and to …
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
East Penn School Board appoints members to Hamilton Crossings Tax Increment Financing Committee, despite one board member's concerns.
The East Penn School Board Monday night made a commitment to exploring a special funding option for the Costco project in Lower Macungie Township commonly known as a TIF by appointing two members and an alternate to be a part of a TIF committee. The board appointed Superintendent Thomas Seidenberger and school board member Ken Bacher to the TIF committee, and Francee Fuller to serve as an alternate. A TIF, which stands for Tax Increment Financing, is an economic tool that provides money for development of a site that requires a large amount of money to pay upfront costs. The Costco project, also known as the Hamilton Crossings Development, faces pricey mine wash remediation and stormwater issues that must be addressed before it can move …
careless fills
4:37 pm on Thursday, April 18, 2013
There are only two incumbents running for four seats. No incumbent will necessarily be involuntarily displaced by Mr. Munson or any other challenger who also wins. more ›