Hollister said he has not gotten a response from Senator Ryan Aument’s office, despite several inquiries. ”I’ve not heard a thing. That’s not good news,” he said.
Hollister asked residents to contact legislators, but was not overly optimistic. “Phone calls always help, but the other side of that story is this state is in dire financial consequences. I’m operating as if that money is not going to show up,” he said.
The grant was previously discussed by former Superintendent Ken Klawitter at Columbia’s August 2016 Committee of the Whole meeting. Klawitter said the bill authorizing the grant was the first of its kind in Pennsylvania. “They wrote it specifically for us, because we were the first ones legally to do this,” he said. He added that he had received an autographed copy of the bill and a signature pen indicating funding would be made available to pilot the program.
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Columbia Spy 
Everything about the Elanco agreement was contrived by one person in order to get a job. Over a period of at least 4 years this same person attempted to gain this position at least twice, manipulated school board members, handpicked replacement members, and convinced others to follow this path.This constitutes unethical behavior and a true conflict of interest, which is a crime.The children of Columbia are suffering from this persons' false sense of self worth. Teachers are leaving because of this person and this persons' poor judgement. This whole process of one person creating a self serving position is reprehensible and Columbia schools are fast becoming the laughing stock of county educators because of this self serving person.
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If the taxes were not escrowed into mortgages and residents received a separate monthly tax bill, they would be at the meetings demanding to know what the money is being used for. Taxes are hidden in mortgage payments and people just pay the bill without giving much thought to the tax portion. If residents were placing $300-400 in cash every month on the counter at the district office you can bet they would want to know what that money is being used for. I would not be handing anyone that much a month without questioning spending.
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Wasn't state representative Hickernill, who supposed to represent Columbia, just appointed to an education committee for the state? Maybe the residents of Columbia should crowd his office on locusts St. and voice your concerns. Going to the school board sure ain't working.
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Great comment! Make our money talk since the board refuses to respond to our voices!We all have the power to instruct the banks to withhold the tax payments from escrow until the last possible day, even better if we all would suck it up and pay at the end penalty period just one year. These delayed payments would be an attention grabber. This is our town…these are our schools…these are our children …we must be active…they count on our silence….Crowd every meeting until this nonsense with Elanco and the director of operations is removed permanently.
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Hinkernell and Aument need to be informed again and again and again about about this fiasco in our town that was cleverly disguised as an opportunity for our school to improve but was really a cleverly planned opportunity for one unqualified person to secure a job at our expense.
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Sounds like a great idea.
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ss71monte you are correct, Hickernell will chair the House Education Committee. Time to flood his office with residents wanting action.
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The interest in reforming the Concerned Citizens group is growing rapidly , with legal representation, to present the concerns of our town in a formal way that the board cannot ignore.All concerned citizens will have a voice and this corruption will be addressed.The list of names of people of integrity, who are considering running for school board, is growing. More to follow.
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If you don't like the school board decisions, do something to change it , take action. Go to the meetings, you do not have to speak, just attend. Stop complaining and do something. Action brings results. Stop thinking that there is nothing that we can do.Support the few board members who have integrity. They need our help!
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It is time to clean house. The director of operations should be relieved of duties immediately. Position can not be funded, Hollister should be it on noticed his job is in jeopardy due to funding,Gather the teachers together and let them air their displeasures with the current happenings.Set up a robocall to local state officials,(they do it to us). Support candidates to be wise spenders and care about quality education. It would have been wise to have money approved, and not go on promise.
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I totally agree with holding tax dollars. It is the only way to get attention. It cannot work with one person, has to be a team effort and Columbians can be a team. Government shut down!!
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I want to be part of the concerned citizen group, please make the meeting dates, for such a group, public so all can attend.
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Thankful for the Spy to report this. l know the LNP correspondent hands the stories in to them, but they(LNP) print it when they want.
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So far, LNP has missed this story completely.
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The Spy, thanks to you Cole, is our only true news and comment opportunity.LNP has no trouble reporting about a pickup truck with a Confederate flag ,but they refuse to report on this important corruption issue that effects all taxpayers.
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When they changed the paper, they said more local news would be reported. Sports coverage has slipped. How soon before all electronic reading?
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LNP has 60 municipalities to cover. How can local news be presented on a daily basis when they have such a large area to cover? The paper would weigh a ton and cost a fortune to print if LNP covered every single thing happening in every community. This is why it's important to have local news sources like The Columbia Spy and Columbia News and Views.
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They did a better job under pOld format,plus now more advertising.
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It is a shame that the Spy and Review can not have a paper edition so more people would know what is going on in town.
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Columbia schools rock!!!
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There are a lot of great kids, teachers, staff members, and parents in the Columbia Borough School District. Let's work together and focus on the positive as opposed to partaking in self-defeating behavior. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”. Let's show more love to our students, teachers, parents, and community!
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It is truly a shame!
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