No surprise to anyone that has been paying attention to the CSB & Administrators. Thank you to those Board members who voted against the latest proposal, at the very least you have shown the community that you do not want to make rash decisions like the others. Shame on those that voted for this, it is the scenario when you voted to demolish & consolidate the elementary schools. No thought about the future and still isn't. I was actually embarrassed listening to Mr. Robinson, he was ill-prepared for the meeting proving once again, he is in over his head and the students suffer because of it. If you are going to raise taxes then please put some towards searching for someone to replace Mr. Robinson, he has desicrated the bus schedules and bus stops. He only knows how to push computer buttons & has no common sense.
Cannot wait to see how you will cover all the stops within 40 minutes of the school day ending. Of course, would not be surprising if you had the children wait in the school for an hour, do triple runs & then get them all home within the alloted 40 minutes on the bus. In fact, I'd place bets on that as well as when I placed bets taxes would be raised to solve the latest example of ineptness by Administration & some on the Board.
There is a positive to the final agreement, ALL elementary schools begin and end at the same time. Fair to all students and parents. Thank you for giving at least that.

And as an aside, noticed that the woman who supported the idiotic staggered schedule was the only person permitted to go over the allotted two minutes. Dr. Pollock of course is not biased, it was an oversight on his part, he did not hear the bell ring.

As I am sure you are referring to me, I feel the need to state something. This was the first time I have ever attended, as well as spoken at, a board meeting. Therefore, I was unaware that the bell indicated the 2-minute deadline. I had my eyes on Dr. Pollock for a signal that my time was up. As soon as he raised the gavel, I stopped. How quickly we forget that at the meeting in May, Mrs. Lynch allowed Michelle Hazlett to speak well beyond the deadline of 2 minutes.

Lauren, you are most welcome. I strive to always speak and comment with logic, without resorting to personal attacks. I did feel it necessary to point out the inconsistency in Mr. Miller's stated viewpoint about length of bus ride, and his later willingness to propose a scenario that, to date, has shown us bus rides approaching as much as 60 minutes.

Nia, I agree with you on so many points. The behavior of some board members is atrocious. It wasn't just at this board meeting; it is a pattern of behavior that I have seen every time I have watched the meetings on tv. Nobody is thinking about the extended bus times. Bus stops will likely need to be consolidated, again; however, we saw at the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year that many consolidated bus stops were changed back to the original ones after parents complained. What will happen in the fall? Will Mr. Miller fight against consolidated bus stops again, which will further increase the bus rides for the students? This is why I stated that people are thinking in a short-sighted manner.

Give me a break Dr. Pollock watches that clock as if everyone was a thief! Bang "Your 2 mins is up". He doesn't let anyone goe over. He only let people talk over 2 mins at the last meeting because the Board voted to. Mr. Miller stated last night that Dr. Pollock and himself have been trying to increase the school day for years. Watch those 2, especially with that repeated amendment trick after 2 defeats. How can our new Board claim to be more responsible, when they pass a motion without any kind of paper work from Transportation, they only rquired a promise from transportation that no child be on a bus longer than 40 mins. Does everyone remember this year when you called transportation to complain about overcrowding and late buses. "This is the first we are hearing this" "take a picture of the overcrowding on the bus, so we can see it", "It's a new driver, they don't know the route". Yeah I can see it now, come September those Board members that voted for this will say "We don't know what your talking. We haven't heard any issues w transportation" .

To Mr. Hartline, Mrs. Huf, Mrs. Lynch, and Mrs. Driban, THANK YOU for having the common sense to refuse to approve anything without printed numbers in front of you! The Board could have approved the tax increase to cover the cost of buses and held off on the bus schedule until Transportation provided number, But this will be another example of could have, should have, would have. The only good thing from this is that all schools end at the same time.

Lets be honest. NOBODY won last night!! The taxpayers lost, the students lost and the board lost. There were no winners!! Come September it will still be one big mess just like it is now..Nia, you talk about people for being ignorant when making personal attacks....Did you read your comment about Mrs. Lynch in one of your previous comments? I don't understand why you are attacking us parents that oppose the time? We did not want the extra 15min most of us wanted the half hour. We would not be complaining at all if the situation had been addressed and resolved in the last three years and not in the last three months.

Residents of Centennial have no one to blame but ourselves.

The recent unfunded teachers contract that was approved should have been a red flag to the residents. We have board members that our financial irresponsible. They show no respect to the Taxpayers whom they we elected to represent.

Until there is a major board change things will not change, Everyear we will see tax increases. Wait till the PSER (PENSION) contribution comes down the pike.......we will all be shocked by that tax bill ! And just remember all these raises the teachers get with steps will just increase the amount of tax due each resident will have to pay towards their pensions .

So if residents do not speak up , nor attend meetings and demand a finacially responsible board expect the same news

I was at the school board meeting last night and I have never seen such a disgraceful show in my life. They had to at one point not pass a budget, to get the administration to get the job done. Mr. Miller kept putting motion after motion to the board, if he did not like the result he made another motion. Does he care about taxes the answer is NO! Does he care about children riding on buses for a long period of time, NO. What does he care about, how about getting his own way. Miller and Polluck play games with the children and their parents. Do they both care about taxes NO. Do they care about about budgets NO. If Polluck doesn't like what you say, you have a time limit. If he likes what you have to say you can speak longer. Miller and Polluck like the power but don't know how to use it. Polluck is a retired teacher and he gets his large pension so what does he care? Miller just seeks glory for himself and he doesn't care! These two are on our school board, what a disgrace....

Where exactly did people think they were going to get the money to purchase new buses, since our precious children couldn't be in school until 3:45? Did you really think you could say "no staggered start" and "no raising taxes" AND "buy new buses" and that those things would just - POOF! - happen? so let's see...now, instead of leaving school at 3:45, students leave 15 minutes earlier and spend twice as long on their buses. I'm pretty sure the net gain there is basically nil - they'll still be getting home at the same time, if not later now. The meeting last evening was extremely embarrassing; that grown adults can behave like that - esoecially knowing they are being videoed - is unfortunate and sad. It's ashame that so many people have their own agendas that interfere with what is best for the community and the children. But listening to the vitriol spewed at the board when they even considered a 3:45 end time, I'm not surprised they went the way they did; not at all.

Why do you think audence members yell out? The board has done nothing but created a level of frustration and confusion thru their actions and policies in recent years..

Parents,residents and taxpayers are totally ignored,Our words go on deaf ears.

Residents in Centennial need to wake up and push for a more transparent and fiscally responsible board. Current members need to go !

Dear Nia and Emily did you see the survey results? Your opinion doesn't represent the majority.

Jane Lynch was awesome. She has more common sense then the rest of them combined. She represents the voice of most of the parents. The rest of the board members have been down right belligerent to the public for a long time. Its time they got put in their place!!! I was cheering for Jane while watching on my pc. She will be the only one to get my vote again!!!

Dear Daniella, you are correct. Do you remember the first original plan was to go to one mega-school. Imagine that. Staggered start times wouldnt have even been an option and 95 percent of the district would have to be bused.

Emily, You of all people are attacking Mrs. Lynch when your behavior at the Ad Hoc meetings was demanding and self imposing. At the second meeting of the committee you wanted your own way and argued with the committee about what they could do and what you thought they couldn’t do. You told the committee the school board had made a motion and that the committee had no authority to look into options. You totally mobilized the meeting demanding an explanation to what they were doing. At the third meeting you started fighting again and at the end of the meeting you decided to attack Mr. Miller because he treated you with disrespect and went on and on about him. You attack Mrs. Lynch for trying to get a reasonable solution. Your blogs on the Ad Hoc committee are ridicules and arrogant, it’s your way only. Your contribution to this committee was zero and you just wasted everyone’s time for your personal agenda. Many dedicated people were on this committee who wanted to find a solution and were kind enough to tell people who were not on the committee how you acted as a member of the committee. You never wanted a solution, you were in favor to the staggering bell schedule because it did not affect you at all, and you just wasted people’s time because you did not get your way. Stop leveling comments about other people when you were the one and the only one who tried to ruin this committee

Being new to the area and district from Richboro, I applaud Mrs.Lynch for her dfirect personality with other board members and calling it as she sees it. Moving from CR, everyone is so diplomatic and polite.. seemingly so false. Finally, a meeting where someone speaks out , tells someone else to shut their mouth as she speaks. She's great.

Remember the board only stated a 40 minute bus ride, THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE THE TIME SPENT WAITING FOR THE BUS TO PICK THEM UP. It only counts from when the bus leaves the school. We could still have children waiting for the bus for up to 40 minutes like at Willow Dale this year. The staggered bell time was supposed to eliminate that.

Warminster Dad, tell me where the savings from the consoldation of 6 schools to 3 schools is?? Tell me where the savings from laying off teachers is?? Tell me where the new teachers' contract saving is? Since you claim to know about budgets, please let us know, we will be listening! Do you know Huf, Hartline, Lynch, Driban voted against increasing your taxes and keeping children on buses for extending periods of time.

Let me start by saying this is my opinion and impression. I’m not saying anyone is wrong or that I am right. I’m simply sharing.
I’ve been following this school district for most of this past school year – fairly closely at times, other times not so much, but mostly when it benefited me the most. My son started kindergarten this year at McDonald-Davis. He will be at Nativity next year. Now that the school year is over, I feel compelled to share my thoughts.
Growing up in Northeast Philadelphia, I went to catholic school mainly to escape public school. I used to hear how great public schools in the suburbs were and my parents only wished they could afford to make that sort of move. Needless to say, while this particular suburban public school (CSD) doesn’t have nearly the level of problems Philadelphia has, I was hardly overwhelmed in any positive way.
There are so many things inherently wrong with public schools in general. They are, in fact, an extension of government, and therefore an extension of politics. When was the last time you trusted politics to deliver? They may say what you want to hear, but the “precious education of our youth” is nothing more than the same carrot politicians use when they talk about “our American Dream.”

<continued>

Dear Lauren, even though having the committee made up of all opinions across the board may seem fair, its not when the adhoc committee is disproportionately represented. Another words, Emily had to much say for someone representing the minority opinion.

Dear VTS, just like any workplace in this world 10% percent of the people cause 90% of the problems. So there may be some less than stellar teachers out there, but 90% of the ones I have met are exceptional. In case you have been living in cave there has been plenty of negative news about the Catholic Schools (priests) out there.

Dear Warminster Dad, They were cutting the teachers anyway with the consolidation. It’s not like we traded teachers for drivers. People were upset about the late start times. We couldn’t get the teachers back, but who wants to add insult to injury with the late start times. Our taxes are still cheaper than most. Maybe if the Anne's Choice Residents would "Annie Up" and pay it would even be cheaper.

I also watched the meeting on TV. I applaud Jane Lynch for standing up to the rest of them. Jane Rocks!!!

Daniella- who is to say that the 9-345 wasn't the best solution for the community as a whole? Just because it works for a select few does not mean that the majority benefits. I understand you all take the survey results as a true testament to how the majority feels but unfortunately that study didn't capture the general population.

Does anyone find it ironic that the three loudest protestors of the staggered school times (Lynch, Huf, Miller) are all on the Education Committee that approved the staggered start times by a vote of 3-0 back in April? The only concern at that time was getting the schedules out early to allow parents time to adjust, not the actual school times. How do you go from unanimous approval to the theatrics we witnessed Monday evening from these three members? Another interesting point about Monday's circus - Mr. Miller was clearly incensed that Administration did not use some consultant to optimize the bus routes, he made a point of saying that Dr. Cressman authorized a consultant to come in for one day and optimize the routes, but that the consultant was not brought in and that is why the committee failed. But if you check the district website, Mr. Miller clearly states on June 6th that "1) We have acquired, and are installing new software today, that will allow us to optimize our bus routes in house more quickly and for considerably less money than we would pay on the outside. This also permits greater control on variables. This resolves one of the early problems we encountered in collecting data and extrapolating results." So, how can you complain at the Board meeting that a consultant was not used when less than 2 weeks earlier, you were boasting that you are able to optimize the bus routes with the new software and save the district money? It makes no sense at all!!

Lynch flip flops all the time. She was in support of a new unfunded teachers contract when the business mananger stood up and stated projected debt figures. And now she votes agaisnst tax increases to make herself look good. She is Clueless like most of the other board members.

They have all forgotten their orth of financial responsiblity they took when they were elected. Unless there is a major change, this disctrict will become the new Neshaminy

Dear Taxpayer, Retirement Communities are not immune from property taxes. However Ann's Choice did have some sort of agreement with a ten year abatement. I guess it was for buiding on a former Superfund Hazardas waste site. I copied and pasted the following from an article regarding Ann's Choice:

Real Estate Tax – Ann’s Choice has been operating under a
Payment in Lieu of Tax agreement since its inception. This
agreement has expired. After a period of negotiation with
the taxing authorities it was deemed necessary for Ann’s
Choice to file suit in order to pursue what we believe would
be a more equitable arrangement for the community given
the economic climate and decline in real estate values. We
hope to settle this suit during 2012.

For those McDonald parents who lost the prime time of 8:30am to 3:15pm I am sorry for you. Let me ask you, how would you feel if it were reversed and Willow Dale/Davis got the earlier time and you had the later time? I bet you all would be up in arms just like us. I did not see any McDonald parents saying "We will take the 9-3:45 time" There should be no staggered times. All elementary schools should be out at the same time. If your child plays sports/dance how would you feel if there were 3 equal teams in the finals but because the umpires/judges did not show up they just decided to pick winners. Your child's team lost and another team won. It was not your childs fault that the umpire/judge did not show up so why does the other team get to win? Don't tell me that you as a parent would not be upset! Don't tell me that you would tell your child to DEAL WITH IT! There were NO WINNERS in the vote! We all lost! Nobody is gloating and cheering on here saying"WE WON"!! The board had 3 years to figure this out. They knew that more buses were needed. They tried to pull a fast one and got caught. As far as teacher cuts go, they were cutting positions before the board meeting on Monday. Positions are not being cut because we need buses. All the schools in the area are cutting back on the fine arts programs, not just Centennial. If you have an issue with the solution that go to the board. Take it out on them, not us!!

There have been staggered times in this district until now. That doesn't mean that students/parents in different schools were treated unfairly. We are one district; I agree with Warminster Dad: there shouldn't be an "us against them" mentality. The issue is over, whether you agreed with it or not. Now we just have to hope that the bus schedules will work smoothly as the board intended.

teachers get raises and guaranteed jobs, tenuring a teacher sometimes just keeps the bad ones waiting to retire . while the good teachers are laid off, why not like most people that work and inflation hits have teachers pay more for health benefits that would save the tax payers and possible save a teachers job or two have them pay more for retirement. the staggered bus schedule seemed to work you just have to work around the changes. what happen to money from the sale of the 3 schools?. and did they forget when they put new homes in a already saturated market in where the schools were, i am sure more children will need the bus. not sure about retirement homes what they pay in taxes. as more taxes being added more resident wanting reassessment due to the decline in property values to lower their taxes more loss tax income. i would like to see the school board voted out and ones that are more concerned about the residents of Warminster an CSD. i moved to warminster because of the lower taxes. but they are starting to get up there with other township might be timed to move. i vote with my feet why not because nobody listens to the taxpayers anyway

I wish they left well enough alone and took care of the elementary buildings they already had. Each building has character and a sense of its community. Elementary school kids are young it was nice to be educated in the very beginning with a smaller school they had a sense of security. I know the bus commutes are going to be awful my daughter says she gets sick on them as it is. This block schedule idea for elementary is terrible. I feel sick to my stomach about these changes I am going to have very miserable children who are not going to want to go to school on a daily basis, they are going to miss their home their previous school where they were relaxed, nurtured and truly felt a sense of belonging. The school board I'm sure no longer have small children that this affects them. I do nota want to put a scared kindergartner on a bus and ship her across town for 40 minutes alone. Has the school even thought about how many parents are going to attempt to drive and pick up the children due to such delays in time.