Springing to the 2024-2025 Finish Line!
Council Rock Updates and Planning As the School Year Winds Down
I hope everyone had a wonderful spring break! As Council Rock parents know, this is the first year that CR offered a full spring break, and I hope you were able to take advantage of it. My family visited Washington, DC and had a blast.
Below are the latest updates and happenings in Council Rock. Thank you for taking the time to read them, and please share this newsletter with your CR friends and neighbors.
Updates on District Facilities Planning
The board’s review of the District-wide Facility Study continues. At our April Facilities Committee meeting, we focused on the most urgent related issues. These include necessary renovations at Newtown Elementary School, Maureen M. Welch, and the Chancellor Center, and overcrowding at Wrightstown Elementary School and Holland Middle School. We also discussed methods for funding these renovations which likely would be a series of bond issues rather than a tax increase.
At our May 1st Facilities Committee meeting, the district’s consultant presented updated projections for the repairs and remodels at some of these locations.
The Chancellor Center, in particular, urgently needs repairs. Much of the building is unusable due to moisture issues, and each storm results in drainage problems that damage the foundation. We’ve been presented with the following options:
1) Prioritize only the most urgent repairs needed to ensure that the building is warm, safe, and dry, at an estimated cost of $7.5 million.
2) Do a full renovation that addresses those most urgent issues and also divides the overall space more efficiently to enable use of the building's entire square footage. Additionally, divide offices and meeting rooms to better support the district’s needs, refinish flooring, repaint, etc., at a cost of about $15m.
3) Lease another building at an estimated cost of $650,000-$800,000 per year.
4) Construct a new administrative center at an estimated cost of $21m. By state law, this would have to be attached to a school building.
I’ve openly expressed interest in continuing to use the Chancellor Center. Not only does it have historic value as the district’s first school, but retaining its use is the most cost-effective option. I hope you’ll share your thoughts with the school board. You can email the entire board at boardmembers@crsd.org.
EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE
New Leadership for Three Council Rock Schools
Over the last few weeks, the administration has been diligently interviewing candidates for leadership roles at some of our schools including new principals for Rolling Hills Elementary School, Holland Middle School, and CR South. I participated in second round interviews for the Rolling Hills principal position, and was thoroughly impressed with all the candidates. My board colleagues have shared similar sentiments about candidates for the other positions. Last week, the board unanimously approved the administration’s recommendations, and I’m excited for them to begin working for Council Rock.
Considerations for Transitioning Grade 6 to the Middle Schools
We’ve been exploring the idea of moving the 6th grades to our middle schools. To help us evaluate the pros and cons of making this change, we asked the administration to look into whether there's an academic benefit to adding 6th grade to the middle schools. They reported back that the research indicates there is none, and shows that such a move may, in fact, negatively affect students' performance and social-emotional development. Additionally, the cost would be a hefty $148m! Given the high price tag, lack of clear benefits, and potential negatives, I don’t think this initiative can be justified, especially when urgent facilities projects and renovations to both high schools are on the horizon. I’d love your feedback. Feel free to email me: tracey.osecki@crsd.org.
Council Rock Arts Programs - Creativity on Display!
We’re so fortunate to have amazing teachers and students in our arts programs—visual, theater and music. It’s a special treat when students from the musical arts program perform for the board just prior to our monthly meetings, and each year I look forward to attending the annual visual arts show, and as many of the theater performances as I can.
Every year since 2020-2021, Council Rock has been recognized as an Outstanding Visual Arts Community by the Pennsylvania Art Education Association. I was absolutely blown away by the work displayed at this year’s Council Rock Art Show. You can check out winning submissions here.
STUDENT WELL-BEING
So much of kids’ social engagement happens on our school buses. While most of those interactions are positive, several bus-related incidents have occurred since I’ve come on the board that concerned me as a parent and board member, including one last month. In many of those situations, we relied on security footage in order to understand what happened. In my opinion, having that capability across all CR student transportation vehicles is critically important, so I’m pleased to report that we recently added GPS programs to our Durham buses, and approved GPS programs and van cameras for the twenty-three Council Rock-owned vans. The entire district fleet will be equipped with these cameras, helping to assure that our students are safe on these trips to and from school.
COMMUNICATION
At the March 17th Education Committee meeting, we finalized our Special Education Plan that was presented to the board. You can view the details here.
Having attended many of these Special Education Parents Advisory Committee (SEPAC) meetings, I know that ongoing communication with parents to hear and address their concerns was central to arriving at the plan. Specifically, parents expressed the need for changes in the three areas that SEPAC had identified for focus: Personnel Development, Least Restrictive Environment (inclusion) and Structured Literacy. While we’ve made great strides in our Special Education program, I recognize that there is still a long way to go, and I’m looking forward to even more of parents’ input being taken in to account for the program’s direction. I’m very excited to see what Dr. Oberman, our new Special Education Director, has in store for this department and program.
Federal Funding Status
Since the Trump administration announced the dismantling of the Department of Education and federal funding cuts to states, I’ve heard many questions and concerns about how this may affect Council Rock. As of April 10th, our last Finance Committee Meeting, the federal government hadn’t communicated any information about funding that may be lost. In the 2024-2025 school year, the federal government provided about $4.5m to Council Rock, through our food service accounts, Title I, II, III, and IV, Individuals with Disabilities Act, and others. The district hasn’t yet received all this funding, but we haven’t been informed that it is not coming. I’ll continue to monitor and update this information.
As some of you know, I’m the Council Rock Representative on the Bucks County Intermediate Unit Board. The IU is crucial to running dozens of county-wide programs, including the Head Start Program that supports early childhood education for low-income families. For the past ten years, Head Start has relied on federal funding through five-year grants. Its current grant expires on May 31, 2025, but with that date fast approaching, the IU has yet to get any word on whether the funding will be renewed. That puts the Head Start program in a highly precarious position. In fact, the IU recently announced that without renewed federal funding, this critically-needed program will be ended. The IU has contacted our federal elected officials, Senators Dave McCormick and John Fetterman, and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, but unfortunately, none has provided any additional information.
Thanks for reading my monthly newsletter! I hope this helps clarify what's going on in the district. As always, please feel free to email me and/or attend a board meeting! Our meetings take place in the Chancellor Center, 30 N. Chancellor St., at 7pm unless otherwise noted. Here's the upcoming schedule: Monday - May 5 - Policy Committee Meeting Thursday - May 8 - Finance Committee Meeting Thursday - May 15 - Board of School Directors Meeting Thursday - May 22 - Education Committee Meeting With warm regards, Tracey