Author: SPY

Former board member alleges political scheming on school board

 
Former board member Fran Resch
About 100 citizens convened at the district administration building for Thursday’s Columbia Borough School Board meeting, largely in response to a recently released video of a classroom assault at the high school.
Bullying among students was not the only topic discussed, however. Bullying is alleged to have occurred among board members themselves. At Thursday’s meeting as at previous meetings, allegations surfaced regarding political scheming by some on the board.
Fran Resch, a former board member, brought to light incidents he says occurred during his tenure:

“These comments are long overdue, but I had to get them off my chest.

Number one: Back in May, when I was still on the school board, I was approached at home by a current board member and in the course of the conversation I was told we must do what Ken and Tom want. I said I would do what I thought those who voted me into office wanted. No one was going to tell me what to do. I was not doing anything wrong. I could not believe that I was actually approached in this manner, and I ask the board members before me, were any of them approached by anybody on the board?”

“Part two: When I gave my resignation letter to Thomas Stickler – my resignation – he asked me if Kathy [Hohenadel] had got to me. I was shocked, I said, no, absolutely not. Tom then asked me if I knew anybody that I thought might be a good replacement for me on the board, and I suggested Iris Garrido since she had received the second highest number of votes in the November election. At this time Tom looked at me – and this is the truth, I’m not a liar – and said, ‘No, I don’t want her.’ And these are the things that have been eating at me for the longest time. I plead for Dr. Hollister to make sure these things are straightened out. Please give some thought to what I just said. I’m not looking for anybody to lose a job. But I’m finding out now that I’m off the board, I have a better chance to express my views and express them the way I want, because when I was on the board I really did not have a chance to say what I wanted to say.”

Director of Operations Tom Strickler

UPDATE: CHS THREAT SUSPECT IN CUSTODY

GAME RESCHEDULED: 2 PM SATURDAY AT YORK SUBURBAN
UPDATE: CHS THREAT SUSPECT IN CUSTODY
GAME RESCHEDULED: 2 PM SATURDAY AT YORK SUBURBAN
According to Mayor Lutz, a suspect has been apprehended related to tonight’s public safety threat during the Columbia-York Suburban game.
“Everyone left the stadium in an orderly fashion. No one panicked,” former Councilman Jim Smith said. Smith is a member of the Columbia High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee and was a presenter at tonight’s ceremony.

From school district website

WGAL interviews a Columbia player Friday night about his reaction to the threat.


Frustrated residents demand answers from school board on bullying

Ernest Wiker
An assault at Columbia High School on September 8, 2016 was recorded and a firestorm of outrage was ignited after that video surfaced on social media.

At Thursday’s school board meeting, over 100 residents filled the room looking for answers.  One by one they lined up to comment and ask questions.  At times, comments were heated.

Ernest Wiker, whose daughter was attacked, was first to take the podium:

“I wanted to address the board tonight about violence in our schools.  About disrespect of the teachers, the bullying that’s happening in our classrooms not being addressed. Our school claims to have zero tolerance policy and we do, but we’re not enforcing it.

There is behavior happening in those classrooms everyday that is totally unacceptable. The teachers are to the point where they don’t even report it anymore, and I think that’s the fault of the administration, that they haven’t supported.

I’ve witnessed incident after incident going back 30 years to when I was in school there, and things that I witness in those classrooms that should never have occurred, and over the years this has been allowed to go on, where the teachers don’t even recognize what’s happening in front of them anymore.

My daughter was assaulted in that school, and I think most of you probably saw that video, and that was an assault.  But within minutes of it happening, I received a phone call telling me that my daughter was being suspended from school and being cited for disorderly conduct.”

Board President Cole Knighton interrupted Wiker at this point:

“Mr. Wiker I have to interrupt you for a second, we can’t discuss any school…”

Wiker:  “I’m not going to go into that, I’m just feeding you this as in general. I’m not going into my daughter’s suspension. I think that’s something we can address individually.

I got that call telling me that my daughter was being suspended and she was being cited for disorderly conduct my daughter. If you saw that video – I don’t think there’s a person in this room that can tell me that was a fight. That wasn’t a fight; that was an assault. The things that led up to that should have been addressed long before it got to that point.  I’m sorry I’ve got a lot I want to say and I know I gotta be careful how I say it, because I don’t want to get into addressing students names and stuff. I have no intention on going there.”

“The administration here is not supporting our teachers.”  When I called and I spoke to officials at the school, spoke to the principal on Friday, I was told we don’t have that problem here. No one has ever been assaulted in this school in the three years I’ve worked here.   That’s wrong. Just because we label them as fights doesn’t mean they’re not assaults.  What happened to my daughter was an assault, it wasn’t a fight, but the rush to label that as a fight and rush her out the door and treat her as part of the problem.

My daughter couldn’t come to this meeting because she’s prohibited from school functions right now. She’s still suspended for what happened on Thursday.  That’s wrong, it shouldn’t be happening.  My daughter is being treated as part of the problem. She was the victim of a crime in that school.  It never should have occurred.”

Wiker’s remarks were met with enthusiastic applause.

MORE TO FOLLOW

Columbia mayor wants to regulate BYOB venues after recent downtown double shooting

Lutz and Columbia Borough Council discussed three proposals aimed at regulating businesses such as Venues during Monday's council meeting:

BYOB ordinance: an annual or one-time permit that would regulate hours of operation and include stipulations on conduct.Entertainment license: a license for a fee that would allow business to have set entertainment hours and follow conduct rules including a noise ordinance.Disruptive conduct ordinance: a three-strike policy for commercial rental properties, where three accounts of proven offense result in closure.

MORE:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/columbia-mayor-wants-to-regulate-byob-venues-after-recent-downtown/article_9011975a-7b8b-11e6-ae11-6b81416f12ed.html

President of Susquehanna Glass pens opinion piece

The real issue is that small businesses are helping to foot the bill for big businesses, and local communities are feeling the cost. We need to focus on the real tax issues facing small businesses, which means instituting fairness in our tax system and getting rid of corporate tax loopholes.  
MORE:
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/295669-repealing-the-estate-tax-wont-level-the-playing-field-for