Speak out

OK ,lets hear what you think of this . Not only was the budget taken into consideration  but also the taxpayers  and needs of the children by Union 38.
We have Warwick, Bernardston and PVRS High School and Northfield Elem.  The different depts could be moved to another School such as Special Ed etc and Warwick is a large school with a low student count which could be used for Superintendent . Why are taxpayers footing a bill for a large  building which is a large expense , when we have other options in front of us that are more reasonable and already have the available space needed and paid for ?




WHATELY — Union 38 central school offices will likely move into converted classroom space at Frontier Regional School.
Following months of looking for a new building to house administration staff, after tests found poor air quality in the current administration building on Christian Lane, the school district has decided to use existing school space.
A report on air quality in the building found the health of employees’ has been adversely impacted. The report recommended the school district remedy the situation as soon as possible — by either moving employees or upgrading ventilation systems to ensure clean air quality.
In a statement, Superintendent Lynn M. Carey said a sub-committee formed to investigate potential locations agreed earlier this month to move the school offices from Christian Lane to other district-owned locations.
“A vote was made to pursue the Frontier Regional School as the most appropriate relocation of the central office,” the statement said, noting that the space the offices will move into is “surplus to the educational needs” of the school district.

Before deciding, the sub-committee also looked into what it would cost to repair the current building, and considered renting space in the Whately Town Office building on Sandy Lane at more than $20,000 per year — a location that is also being considered as the future home of South County EMS.
When the news first broke earlier this year, members of the sub-committee estimated it would cost the school at least $50,000 just to patch up the current building, a former elementary school. Repair costs would be in addition to the roughly $24,000 it takes to annually maintain the building.
In the end, Carey said, the school sub-committee decided based on costs and a need for more space than the town of Whately could offer.
“The space at Frontier Regional School was 4,500 square feet as opposed to 2,600 square feet at Sandy Lane,” she wrote, adding that costs to modify existing structures owned by the school is the most financially responsible path to take.
“The best use of district funds includes using the space that the taxpayers own and currently maintain,” the statement concluded.

Special shout out to Mr. Duprey

Your presence is missed and sadness fills  many of our hearts today as this year begins and you are not here to welcome us .

We wish you all the best and we thank you for all the years you gave us and what you taught us.

Those children who walk into your  building today are blessed beyond measure to have someone like you to guide them.

Be well and we hope to see you at some of our games. You are and always will be a part of PVRS.

Welcome PVRS Students and Teachers to 2016/2017

Welcome to a new year and Congrats to the new Seniors.
Lets hope not much damage has been done and we can keep a lid on things.

What we need to watch closely is the budget .. first and foremost .

Secondly, because enrollment is down we have alot of available space within the school , now would be a good time to  move back from main street to the school or fix the old Superintendents building . Way to much money is being wasted on a rental and no, we should not be buying a new building when we have available ones that can be used . This money can be used in others areas where its needed more.
 I can guarantee you that  this building and buying it  is first and foremost on Millers agenda .
 Also now  that we are also paying LESS for qualified teachers etc,( all high paying teachers were forced out or left ) we should also have a surplus and if we rid tax payers of the burden of extra expenses of the building no longer really needed , when as I stated room is available in the school , this only adds to the surplus.  Again, the warning is clear , watch the budget . 

Next Meeting is 9/22/16 @ PVRS

                                                                   We are watching ..

Whats up Mass ?

 What is going on with Mass schools?  Seems like  the Head of the Dept of ED is NOT on the job.  You can also tell who  the ones are  creating the issues they are the ones who see no issues or problems , and YES , it very much so affects the kids . This we  have seen and will see more so in a few weeks .
Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee we have a Superintendent who will fit right in for  you , gladly given.  :) For that matter a SC who is just as useless.





Suspicion, mistrust and deception on the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee, and its continued dysfunction, are cited by Leverett representative Sarah Dolven in a resignation letter to the nine-member panel.
In the email sent to her former colleagues Aug. 19, and released by school officials to the Gazette Wednesday, Sarah Dolven wrote that “I felt I could no longer ethically continue participating in the process” after resigning following the committee’s Aug. 17 meeting.
Dolven, who rejoined the regional board in May after a year in which Kip Fonsh served as Leverett’s representative, added “I am truly heartsick at the level of dysfunction in this committee, and the level of suspicion, mistrust and deception that is apparent.”
Dolven wrote in her email that she regarded her return to the regional committee as provisional because she was not sure she could make the time commitment due to professional and family obligations. Dolven also thanked her colleagues.
“I respect each and every member of the committee and honor their commitment to serving the school district, and I hope that somehow the committee and the community can get back on track and work together to support our schools,” she wrote.

Dolven continues as a member of the Leverett School Committee.
Her resignation came a week after regional committee and the Union 26 School Committee agreed on a $309,238 payment to former superintendent Maria Geryk to leave her position. The agreement was reached following four executive sessions and the issuing of a demand letter in which Geryk is alleged to have threatened legal action against the committee and its members.
Amherst School Committee his Chairwoman Katherine Appy said in an email Wednesday that she shares Dolven’s view that there is dysfunction on the regional committee.
“In response to her comments, I agree that the committee has been dysfunctional and I too hope that the community will rally in support of the schools,” Appy said.
But Appy said that she is “very sad” Dolven chose to depart from the regional committee’s work.
“She was an intelligent voice of reason on our committee,” Appy said.
Differing views Vira Douangmany Cage, another elected Amherst representative, said she is not sure that dysfunction is the right term.
”Disagreement is not dysfunction, challenging is not dysfunction,” she said. “Part of our democracy is to have differing opinions.”
Being elected to a school committees carries more responsibilities than being on a parent-teacher group, she said.
“It’s a very serious issue, a very serious job and we should come prepared to handle a lot of pressure and stress,” Douangmany Cage said. “It’s a commitment, not a hobby.”
Rick Hood, who served six years on the Amherst School Committee, said he believes the talk about dysfunction is overblown and not a good thing, though it only has minimal impact on the day-to-day learning in the classroom.
He attributes the dysfunction to people not talking to each other to clarify and resolve issues, instead making assumptions that can inflame relationships.
Second, Hood said there is what he calls an “invisible hand” that restrains public debate in favor of support for the superintendent’s position.
“We get into a vicious circle where restraint on debate causes an angry response, which in turn clamps down more on debate, and creates more angry response,” Hood said.
Having more sense of humor about even serious matters could reduce this tension, he said.
Jean Fay, president of the Amherst-Pelham Education Association, said in an email she is confident that Geryk’s departure, and the internal dynamics on the school committee, will not have an impact on the schools, observing that staff in all school buildings in Amherst and Pelham have been working hard in recent weeks to prepare for the new school year.
“The educators of the Amherst schools have always and will continue to be focused on the students,” Fay said. “It’s who we are as educators.”
As a special education para-educator, Fay said she is excited to start the new school year and to make connections with her students that last long after they graduate.
“I’m not sure if I can put into words the joy that educators feel when we see our students grasp a concept, or when they’re able to do a task all on their own for the first time,” Fay said. “That’s what we’re focused on; everything else is just noise.”
Former Regional School Committee Chairman Lawrence O’Brien said he observed disagreements during time on the board, which ended in March 2015, but not dysfunction.
“Certainly there were differences of opinion and points of contention between members, but that is to be expected on a democratically elected governing body that represents a community with a diversity of opinion about our schools,” O’Brien said.
Like Hood and Fay, O’Brien said he is confident that high-quality instruction will continue in Amherst’s classrooms.
Previous issuesConcerns about turmoil on the regional committee have existed for several years, and the board held a retreat at Amherst College in August 2014 in which it brought in a trained mediator.
Dolven, who was on the regional committee at the retreat in 2014, expressed optimism at that time, saying, “My hope is that starting today we can really figure out a way to heal our committee, and hopefully the community can come together.”
An earlier retreat was held in July 2010, moderated by the executive directors of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents and Massachusetts Association of School Committees in which the committee discussed how to engage in conversations about how members behaved toward each other and toward the administration.
At that time, John Connolly, a representative from a consultant hired by the committee, told the members that there was not a great response from Massachusetts candidates during a search for a permanent superintendent because of publicity about the “dysfunction” of the regional committee.
“A superintendent wants a School Committee that works together,” Connolly explained.
Hood said having more time for retreats, including a representative from the state association of school committees, could help members answer questions and discuss how they should go about their work.
“The retreats we have had in recent years were not long enough to do enough good, and have only been annual,” Hood said. “At the last one I attended, I felt like some really honest discussion was about to happen, but then we ran out of time.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.

PVRS WE ARE WATCHING

VERNON UPDATE

VERNON VOTES TO KEEP SCHOOL CHOICE.
Vernon Vermont Brattleboro Union High School District withdrawal vote 374 yes 124 no

WILL UPDATE MORE TOMORROW  

UPDATE

THURSDAY AUG 25TH @ PVRS - SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING .

MAKE SURE TO ATTEND.

Ok I will say it , what a bunch of BS

Pioneer superintendent clarifies budget situation

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• Pioneer Valley Regional School RECORDER FILE PHOTO

By SHELBY ASHLINE
Recorder Staff

Monday, August 08, 2016

• Print
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• NORTHFIELD MA
• edpick
• Pioneer Valley Regional School District
• Superintendent Ruth Miller

NORTHFIELD — More than a month after the last Pioneer Valley Regional School District Committee meeting, members of the public now have answers to some of their most frequently asked questions.
Superintendent Ruth Miller posted on the Pioneer Valley Regional School District’s website outlining what became of a reported $477,487 budget shortfall and whether exit interviews had been conducted with resigning Pioneer employees.
Understanding the finances
 Miller did not  understand the finances plain and simple. She was digging to discredit Dayle Dorion PERIOD. This also has been shown to be a fact . Ruthless had no idea how to do school choice nor did she understand that certain districts paid at different times. She than chose instead of trying to find these facts out, to go to the media and report this money missing . This was Ruthless trying to make a name for herself and discredit Dayle Dorion which only made her look more of an ass than she already was .
Miller came under fire from concerned parents and faculty at the June 23 committee meeting and earlier as a result of an article published by The Recorder on Sept. 14, 2015, which stated Miller, going in her first year, had discovered a significant budget deficit.
Miller said she never used those words to describe the district’s financial situation and the district was not in financial danger. Rather, money had been allotted in different accounts than she had originally expected.
“In the past, (the district) put all the expenses into the general fund, but that’s not the way it’s supposed to be done,” she said in a phone interview. (LIAR.. she had no idea of any of this and now shes treading water to cover her ass , sorry but its all in black and white )

The district operates two separate pools of money: a general fund and a School Choice revolving fund. The School Choice fund, which comes from tuition from out-of-district students, should not be included in the budget presented to the district’s towns, she said, though former superintendents have done so. Not factoring in the School Choice fund would cause it to appear like the district was short on money.
“I want our account to line up with the requirements of the Department of Education,” Miller said. “That’s the way you’re supposed to do it.”( Maybe someone should of told her this when She was at Templeton before She destroyed a whole town that went without emergency services in order to recover from her budgets )
Miller said she also included facets in the budget that the previous superintendent had not.
“It was just a little murky,” Miller said. “What was unclear was did we have the right amount of expenses coming out and did those expenses balance what the town was going to give us.”
Another issue arose because Miller could not factor in anticipated grant funding at the time of the budget’s completion.
“We did not have new grant figures when we completed the budget,” Miller explained. “We always get a special education grant that comes in at around $400,000 … We always know we’re going to get the grant, so we should be fine, but we didn’t know the number at that point.”
The district also regularly receives a Title I grant and an early education grant, Miller continued. However, because grant funding has declined significantly in the past five years, it has become more difficult for administrators to anticipate funding and Miller did not want to incorrectly account for grants.
Miller said Daniel Haynes of Scanlon & Associates completed an audit of the district and found her calculations made sense.
“I spent many hours on understanding the budget, revenues and projected expenses,” Miller said on the district’s website. “I reviewed the auditor’s recommendations and implemented many of them.”
Some of Haynes’ recommendations included separating the School Choice revolving fund from the budget presented to the towns and working to increase the district’s reserves, which have been decreasing each year.( NOT ONE NEW CHILD CAME TO PVRS FROM SCHOOL CHOICE THIS YEAR AND THE LARGEST CLASS OF SCHOOL CHOICE STUDENTS GRADUATE THIS YEAR . )
“I made it clear (to the School Committee) … that we would be in OK shape this fiscal year,” Miller said on the website. “But we need to tighten our spending and find inefficiencies. There is just not enough in reserve to continue spending the way we have been able to in the past.”  
HMM ,,I CALL A $32000.00 A YEAR RENTAL A UNDO EXPENSE WHEN A BUILDING IS AVAILABLE OR A SPACE IN THE SCHOOL COULD BE MADE FOR HER OFFICE, SHE HERSELF STATED ENROLLMENT WAS DECLINING A THAT HUNK OF CHANGE COULD  COME IN HANDY , IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG TO MOVE TO NORTHFIELD I AM SURE IT WOULDN'T TAKE LONG TO MOVE BACK .  ALSO, THIS WOULD HELP WITH THE LUNCH PROGRAM ISSUE AS WELL . 
One problem, Miller said, is the school lunch fund.
“The school lunch fund is $198,000 in the hole,” she said. “Essentially, we don’t have any reserves. Any amount of money we had left over last year, we needed to apply that to the school lunch fund and it’s still in the negative.”
“Hopefully, at the end of this year, we might be able to get rid of that in its entirety,” she said. Miller has a goal for the district to eventually have 5 percent of its budget in reserve.
Miller said the auditor also recommended enhancing the district’s internal controls in financial reporting. NOW COME ON YOU HAVE MANAGED TO GET RID OF THE HIGH PAYING JOBS  TO PUT IN A PRINCIPAL, A VICE PRINCIPAL , AND A SPECIAL ED TEACHER AT LOWER PAY RATES , SO HERE'S EXTRA CASH , NOT TO MENTION THE  PARAS , CAUSE ITS ALL ABOUT THE KIDS .WHAT WILL THIS EXTRA CASH BE USED FOR, YOUR BUILDING WHICH IS COSTING TAX PAYERS A UNDO EXPENSE ?
“My staff and I sat down and we went through every different control that we need and rewrote our control manual,” she said. Such protocols would control the district’s transactions and eliminate fraud.( FRAUD?? )
Exiting faculty On the district website, Miller wrote that “exit interviews have been done for some, but not all of the staff that have left the district.”
Faculty, parents and students had asked that exit interviews be conducted with departing staff members after several announced their resignations from the high school. Pioneer Principal Bill Wehrli, Assistant Principal — and then Acting Principal — Mike Duprey, Computer Network Manager Mike Holloway and Director of Special Education Sharon Jones are four of the long-term staff members to leave the school since fall 2015.

 Yes, lets  start here  with Wehrli-  Ruthless was after him from day one. Her intention was to rid the school of high paying  employees , ( which as you can see she succeeded in doing ) but lets talk about the verbal abuse . Ruthless had no idea  about the Superintendents Award which Pioneer does yearly , and wanted it done by Mr Wehrli who had no idea  how to do this , it was the SUPERINTENDENTS  job. So after her threats of him doing it  and given a short time frame in which she demanded it be done, he called together 4 others ( which will remain nameless to protect them) who sat in his office and had her on speaker phone and heard it all. The threat and vulgar language of abuse is something nobody should have to endure .Again, another  job she seems to be not able to handle. 

Than we have Mike Duprey .  She was relentless calling him on the phone, checking his work , humiliating him, writing letters demanding he sign, forcing him to choose to go against his own principals or be fired . In a case where a teacher should of been fired Ruthless chose to allow  him to stay . Mike  left because the abuse and constant harassment became to much  and its called INTEGRITY.   In the end PVRS lost  a large part of who it was and made us who we were .

A book exists of what happen in our school in 2015/2016 .. but its up to the one person who has it to allow us to bring it forward without releasing names  but to show the  abuse Ruthless is doing to our beloved teachers past and present  .





“I think it would appropriate for teachers to do exit interviews with their principals, for administrators to interview with me,” Miller said. “The exit interviews would be conducted by their direct supervisors.”
There is currently no format for exit interviews within the district, Miller said, but she intends to have administrators create a process for conducting exit interviews with all staff who resign or retire.

Just not with the ones we lost loss from your abuse . 


 NOPE NOT OVER AND WE WILL BE BACK WITH A VENGEANCE THIS YEAR TO ENSURE OUR SCHOOL AND TEACHERS ARE PROTECTED .