Schools

The Souderton School district may promote from within to replace Superintendent Fred Johnson. The Board is scheduled to vote tomorrow night on a proposal to make Assistant Superintendent and Director of Pupil Services, Frank Gallagher, the new Superintendent. Fred Johnson recently announced that he accepted a education job in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The New acting Superintendent of the Methacton School District Tuesday night attended his first school board meeting since his hiring last week. Doctor Jeffery Miller previously served the district as its Chief Administrator for nearly four years. He came out of retirement after former Superintendent, Timothy Quinn resigned last month amid allegations of an inappropriate relationship with another district employee. Doctor Miller says, the sudden departure of his predecessor doesn’t require any damage control.

“I think it’s an event that they’re all going to put behind them and move on. I don’t really think there’s been a lot of damage, at least not among the buildings with staff and kids.”

Doctor Miller will work on a per diem basis without benefits and earn 650-dollars a day while the school board looks for a permanent superintendent. 

Three state lawmakers were in the hot seat Thursday night as the North Penn School District held a community forum about the challenges it faces putting together a budget for the next school year.   State Representatives Matt Bradford, Todd Stephens and and Kate Harper were on hand as administrators laid out in detail the impact property tax assessment appeals, slow growth in earned income tax revenues and other baggage from the recession has had on finances.    The escalating cost of funding the state pension system was also a hot topic.   The district streamed the community forum live on its web site and viewers at home were able to submit questions for the three state lawmakers.

The North Penn School Board later this month will formally vote to apply for another million dollar Keystone to Opportunities grant.   The idea behind the federal program is to promote student literacy at all levels.   This is a competitive five year grant only available in six states that the district must qualify for annually.   The money is used at the high school level to help students struggling with reading while children in pre-school are introduced to the district kindergarten experience through a virtual classroom.   District officials say reading assessment data for the first year of the program looks promising so far.