Tag Archives: Harrisburg School District

Leaving Act 47: The private sector has revitalized Harrisburg in the past. It can do so again.

September 28, 2018 | by Rep. Greg Rothman

Rep. Greg Rothman and Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse.

The Overlook Mansion on North Front Street stands after 117 years as if it is frozen in time in 1901.

William Reynolds Fleming, a mechanical engineer, built the home for himself and his wife next to the city waterworks. When Virginia Hammond Fleming passed away, she left the property to the Civic Club of Harrisburg, which was founded in 1898 with the mission of beautifying the city and improving civic engagement.

The Civic Club oversaw several citywide improvement projects, including maintaining the public water supply and the upkeep of the local jail. The Civic Club survived through two world wars, when the mansion was used as a supply site for the Red Cross. It remains active to this day.

The organization has been an outlet for generations of private citizens who care deeply about their city and invest their own time, energy and money to ensure their fellow citizens have pristine living conditions.

Almost a century after the Civic Club was founded, five of my colleagues joined me in creating a similar organization. Together we founded the Harrisburg Young Professionals in 1998. This year, we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of HYP and are proud to have watched it grow into a thriving organization.

After we returned home from college, my friends and I noticed that the city we once knew for its popular bars and restaurants was becoming run down. The YMCA, the local Presbyterian Church, the Gazebo Room, Lombardo’s and Harry’s Bar, which had been staples of the community, were barely recognizable.

To combat this, as president of HYP in 1999, I focused our group on encouraging hundreds of people to move back into the city and create jobs. Mayor Stephen Reed called for all hands on deck to help bring Harrisburg back to life, and the business community heard the call.

As a real estate broker, I was determined to revitalize the real estate in the city. RSR Realtors was involved in the expansion of Restaurant Row, Market Square Plaza and Capitol Heights residential.

This private-sector stimulus, combined with the signing of legislation by Gov. Tom Ridge in 2000 for the city rescue of the schools and the later implementation of Act 47, catapulted the city onto a healthy pace of economic growth.

Act 47 required Harrisburg to comply with certain recommendations issued by the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, which allowed the ICA to withhold all or part of the city’s revenue if these were not met. It also put a taxing authority in place for an enhanced earned income tax (EIT) and local services tax (LST).

This fall, the General Assembly will be voting on whether the city will be allowed to exit Act 47 while keeping the taxing authority.

Since stepping down as president of RSR Realtors and becoming a state representative for the 87th district, I have continued my work to help the city of Harrisburg come back to life. Although I represent the suburbs of Cumberland County, many of my constituents commute into the capital for work. They are only a portion of the more than 40,000 commuters who work in Harrisburg. I also understand the impact that a capital has on its surrounding neighborhoods in terms of crime rates and real estate value, among other factors.

I want the city of Harrisburg to succeed in the long term. My bill, House Bill 2557, would allow the city to continue its taxing authority while being free of Act 47. This would ensure that no job-killing tax hikes, such as the proposed 100-percent property tax increase and 2-percent commuter tax, would be necessary. Harrisburg would also be more attractive for businesses and investors because it would no longer be an Act 47 municipality once under state receivership.

The city has sold the troubled incinerator and its parking system, and the Harrisburg Water Authority was transferred to Capital Region Water. It has worked to renegotiate union contracts with police officers, firefighters and AFSCME.

While these solutions have aided in ridding the city of its debt, residents have been facing tax increases, especially from the Harrisburg School District.

This is detrimental to a city when 50 percent of the real estate is tax exempt, mostly due to state ownership, and when one-third of its population has salaries less than $30,000. With half of the city’s population near or below the poverty line, we must eliminate the current harsh climate for economic opportunity.

My bill would ensure that the city’s credit rating would improve and that residents, businesses and commuters would be given tax relief.

Scranton and Pittsburgh were able to diversify their tax structures when they were in an economic crisis, and, as a result, have attracted new industries to their communities, including natural gas.

For over a century, the residents and neighbors of Harrisburg worked hard to grow the city. To finish the work of revitalizing it, we must allow the private sector to develop free from heavy regulations and taxes.

As a member of the General Assembly, I have partnered with state Rep. Patty Kim of the 103rd district in helping the city. I have long admired Rep. Kim’s passion for Harrisburg. She has been a crucial advocate for the city and believes that our bill is key to its future prosperity.

The capital of Pennsylvania should be its shining city on a hill, overflowing with commerce and visitors. It has the potential to be an inspiration to the rest of the commonwealth for how to attract businesses and working families.

It is time to let the city be free to focus on how to ease the burdens facing business and property owners. There is no time to waste.

Let’s work together to make Harrisburg fruitful and inspiring again. We did it before and we can do it again, but this time, for good.

Rep. Greg Rothman represents Pennsylvania’s 87th legislative district.

School Beat: Harrisburg police visit city schools to foster positive relations with kids, community.

September 21, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Harrisburg police today spent time with students at Scott Elementary School as part of the bureau’s community policing program.

It’s back to school season for the Harrisburg Police Bureau.

Under a new partnership with the Harrisburg School District, members of the city’s community policing unit are trying to project a new image of policing and foster positive interactions with Harrisburg’s children.

The Harrisburg police have hosted six events in public schools since the start of the school year in August, according to community policing coordinator Blake Lynch, with more yet to come.

Lynch, a civilian employee, leads the community policing program with Cpl. Josh Hammer, who oversees the unit’s five officers.

They’ve distributed ice cream to more than 3,000 schoolchildren this year, thanks to an in-kind donation from Hershey Creamery. Today, the community policing unit ate lunch with students at Scott Elementary School on Derry Street and gave out ice cream for dessert.

Lynch says it’s one way the department is building positive connections with the city’s youth – a major goal of police Commissioner Thomas Carter.

“We’re doubling down on building connections in the community,” Lynch said. “We want to create more positive interactions with our youngest citizens, which we hope will translate into more connections with parents and our older generations.”

Lynch said that future school programming will have an educational component. He hopes to return to schools so officers can talk to students about gun safety, community service, bullying, drug prevention and other topics.

He would also like to allow parents to participate in school events.

The school partnership dovetails with the city’s other community policing programs, such as the block party barbecues and National Night Out events that the department held over the summer. All of the food, beverages and materials for these free events come as donations from community partners, Lynch said.

“The city hasn’t spent a single dollar on this,” he said.

Though Harrisburg schools will see more police in the coming months, the partnership with the police bureau shouldn’t be confused with a school resource officer (SRO) program, which places full-time uniformed officers in public schools. Harrisburg has not had resource officers since funding for its SRO program evaporated in 2009.

State set to appoint new chief recovery officer for Harrisburg school district

September 19, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Harrisburg school district administration building

After a year marked by administrative fumbles and tension among board members, the Harrisburg school district soon will get a new state-appointed oversight officer.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education plans to select a new chief recovery officer (CRO) for Harrisburg schools in the next two weeks, according to spokesman Eric Levis. The CRO will oversee the implementation of a new, long-term recovery plan aimed at raising the district’s academic performance and financial health.

The appointment suggests that Harrisburg has, for now, dodged receivership – an arrangement in which a state administrator takes control of the district.

A state-appointed receiver has broader authority than a CRO and assumes many of the powers of the elected school board.

Board directors retain all taxing authority, but the receiver can approve contracts, charter school applications and personnel actions without their input.

Levis said today that receivership “remains an option,” even as PDE appoints a new recovery officer.

The district has been under a financial recovery designation since 2012. State law requires any recovering district to have a CRO, but Harrisburg has operated without one since July, when Audrey Utley retired after three years in the role.

Utley oversaw an overhaul of the district’s five-year recovery plan, which expired in June with 80 percent of its initiatives in place.

State Education Secretary Pedro Rivera is charged with appointing Utley’s replacement. He sought input from state Sen. John DiSanto, Rep. Patty Kim, district Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney and Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse while making his decision, Levis said.

When approached by PDE, Papenfuse said he emphasized his belief that the district should be under the control of a receiver.

“Under the power of the law, only a receiver would produce the level of transparency and administrative changes necessary to solve the district’s clear dysfunction,” Papenfuse said. “PDE has chosen to go in another direction, but I do appreciate their seeking my input on behalf of the residents of Harrisburg.”

The district has beat back a steady stream of scandals in the past year, including a grading investigation that led to the reassignment of a high school principal, a hiring mistake that allowed 37 unbudgeted teaching positions to be filled, and criminal charges against an administrator who allegedly embezzled $180,000 from the district.

District administrators drew fresh criticism in August, when they asked 65 teachers that they hired at the wrong salary step to pay back wages.

That request was enough to make Jody Barksdale, president of Harrisburg’s teachers union, consider the merits of receivership – an arrangement she ultimately decided she could not support.

Barksdale has also been critical of the school board this year and once pleaded publicly with board members to act more professionally.

“The way you talk to each other is unacceptable,” Barksdale said at an August meeting. “You guys are the talk of the town, and it makes me embarrassed.”

Friction among board members was on high display this year, as they debated whether to retain or replace Knight-Burney, whose contract expired in June. The nine-member body frequently split on slim margins on decisions related to district personnel.

A vote on Knight-Burney’s new contract devolved into a shouting match between board members at a June meeting, leading President Judd Pittman to issue a public apology the following month.

Three board members have also resigned their seats this year, one amid allegations that he lied about his residence in the city.

This week, the board published its annual superintendent evaluation. Knight-Burney received “exemplary” ratings across nine performance standards, even though three members rated her overall performance “unsatisfactory” or “in need of improvement.”

Knight-Burney will serve in the district for at least three more years. She’ll work closely with the CRO the entire time.

PDE has not disclosed any of the candidates it’s considering for the CRO role. Gene Veno, who served as CRO from 2012 until 2015, inquired about resuming his old position but said he did not receive any response from Rivera.

Kenneth Medina, a former business manager who was demoted and later laid off, also told TheBurg he submitted his name for PDE’s consideration. Medina is currently petitioning the district to get his job in the business office back.

August News Digest

August 31, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda and Lizzy Hardison

Exit Plan Released

The commonwealth last month released Harrisburg’s newest Act 47 exit plan, which calls for maintaining the city’s current Local Services Tax (LST) and Earned Income Tax (EIT) rates through 2020, as the city concurrently seeks special taxing provisions from the state legislature.

Harrisburg’s Act 47 coordinator had to craft an exit plan based on current state law, which would require Harrisburg to relinquish some of its taxing authority when it leaves Act 47 in three years. The city currently collects $11.8 million in annual revenue from heightened LST and EIT rates permitted under Act 47.

The report encourages Harrisburg officials to continue lobbying for the right to levy those current tax rates indefinitely.

To that end, it offers a four-year budget strategy that would give Harrisburg time to continue its lobbying effort. It would allow the city to maintain its status quo tax rates and expenditures through 2020.

If the city does not secure a legislative victory by 2021, DCED would revise the budget projections in the exit plan and would ask the city to change its revenue structure and cut spending.

If state laws have not changed by 2021, the coordinator recommends that Harrisburg lower its EIT to 1.5 percent, reduce its spending, and begin using its fund balance to reduce any budget deficits.

In 2022, the city would have to reduce its EIT to 1 percent and its LST to $52 per year.

The plan also outlines initiatives that the city can undertake to curb spending and increase revenues while it implements the four-year budget strategy.

They include asking more tax-exempt organizations to make payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs), performing a cost analysis of its union and non-union represented personnel expenditures, and limiting enhancements in its future collective bargaining agreements.

DCED also recommends that the city study its split-rate property tax structure and consider moving to a single-rate system. The report says that the split-rate system benefits homesteads at the expense of landowners.

“As revitalization and property improvements continue within the City, the City’s split rate millage is not fully capitalizing on the growth—the county and school district are,” the report reads.

Councilman Ben Allatt said that the revised exit plan was a marked improvement over the first draft, which suggested huge property tax hikes in excess of 100 percent.

“We’re headed in a much better direction than the initial exit plan,” he said. “I think the strategy is to not force the city to make all these crazy decisions in a 30-day period without the state acting. Because the fact is that if we want to resolve our long-term financial situation, then we need to compel the state to act.”

DCED must now hold a public hearing on the revised exit plan.

Teachers Asked to Return Pay

The Harrisburg School District made a big accounting error when it offered dozens of teachers inflated salaries in 2016, and administrators are now asking them to pay some of it back.

Two years after it violated a collective bargaining agreement by hiring 65 teachers at the wrong salary level, the school district is asking them to take a pay cut and give back the wages they were overpaid.

The recouped wages would total almost $500,000, with individual teachers accountable for amounts ranging from $600 to $12,000, according to Harrisburg Education Association leaders.

HEA says the offer violates the contracts of the teachers being asked to take a pay cut and insults 79 longtime teachers who are currently being underpaid. They fear it will lead more teachers to resign from the district.

“It’s ridiculous,” said union President Jody Barksdale. “We’re in a position where we will lose dedicated people because of the lack of promise. When you say you’ll pay someone a certain amount of money, they budget their life around that amount of money.”

HEA filed a grievance against the district in 2016, asking administrators to either reduce the new teacher salaries or promote HEA teachers who had been frozen on the salary schedule. They put forth a $320,000 proposal to bring 79 underpaid employees up to their rightful pay grade, Barksdale said.

Now, the district is fulfilling one of their requests. They’ll cut the new salaries to match HEA pay levels, but they want the teachers they overpaid to give back their wages.

The proposal would bring in half-a-million dollars for the district, even though administrators set aside $1.9 million for the grievance settlement in the 2018-19 budget that was approved by the board in June.

Barksdale said that HEA wants underpaid teachers to be brought up to step instead. She also said the whole fiasco could have been avoided if the district’s Human Resources Department had worked with them in 2016.

“Our counsel tried to explain the language in the bargaining agreement to new personnel in the HR office,” Barksdale said. “It’s like they didn’t believe us or trust us.”

A visibly frustrated Barksdale said that the district’s administration is driving away talented teachers and hurting children.

“The only way this district will move forward is if the district sits down and has honest, transparent conversations with us,” Barksdale said.

Bridge Work Ahead

Harrisburg drivers should brace themselves for some short-term pain, as PennDOT is replacing a small, but well-traveled bridge over Paxton Creek.

Preliminary work began last month to remove and replace the rust-marred Herr Street Bridge that passes over the creek between N. Cameron and N. 9th streets near the Subway Café. That portion of Herr Street averages more than 12,300 vehicles a day, according to the state Department of Transportation.

In August, work began with single-lane restrictions, as crews drove in micro-pilings to prepare for the actual replacement of the 98-year-old single-span, steel-girder bridge.

Then, on Sept. 7, weather permitting, Herr Street, between Cameron and N. 7th streets, will close entirely for as many as 10 days so that crews can remove the existing bridge, replace it with a precast concrete superstructure and rebuild the roadway.

A detour will route motorists around the work zone using Cameron, Maclay and N. 7th streets, said PennDOT.

Atglen, Pa.-based J.D. Eckman is performing the design and construction work under a $3.2 million contract, which includes building the precast superstructure in a nearby lot along Herr Street.

PennDOT said that it expects the entire project, which also includes utility, pavement and signage work, to be finished by mid-October.

State Grant for Office Building

A new downtown Harrisburg office building is a bit closer to reality, as the 2nd Street project last month received a $1 million state grant.

Gov. Tom Wolf’s office announced that Second Street Associates, a partnership headed up by Harristown Development, will receive the funds through the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP), which aids projects deemed economically, culturally or historically important.

The money will go towards constructing a new, six-story office building at 21 S. 2nd Street, with retail on the ground floor, along with the rehabilitation of the historic, six-story structure next door at 17 S. 2nd St., which houses the SkarlatosZonarich law firm. The two buildings then would be joined inside to form a single, interconnected structure.

“I am proud to support the construction of this new office and retail tower in downtown Harrisburg,” Wolf said in a statement. “This investment supports the efforts of the region to create more jobs, bolster shopping and retail opportunities, and will strengthen the city’s tax base and local economy.”

Last year, Harristown bought and then razed the dilapidated, three-story, 19th-century structure that once housed the Coronet Restaurant. The building had been largely empty since a fire destroyed the restaurant several decades ago.

Harristown had requested $3 million for the building project. Most RACP applicants are denied funding and, when granted, awards typically are significantly lower than amounts requested.

So far, in the 2018 round of funding, the only other RACP award in Dauphin County has gone to the city of Harrisburg, a $2 million grant to begin the Paxton Creek reclamation project. In 2017, the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center (HMAC) received $1 million to complete its build out, the Salvation Army Harrisburg received $500,000 for its new building on Rudy Road and Hershey Towne Square received $750,000 towards a three-story parking garage.

So Noted

Harrisburg University last month introduced the 15 full-scholarship members of its new varsity e-sports team and unveiled their uniform, logo and team name, The Storm. The season begins this month with competition in the team-based, multiplayer game, Overwatch, and continues next semester with the games League of Legends and Hearthstone.

Higher Information Group last month announced that it had acquired Pennsylvania Telephone Products Co. The Harrisburg-based business-to-business company said that PTP would be folded into its IT division.

Lola Lawson was appointed last month to the Harrisburg school board, filling a seat vacated by Tyrell Spradley, who resigned after just four months. The board voted 5-3 to appoint Lawson, a school board veteran, during a contentious, crowded meeting at which many residents supported other candidates for the seat.

Changing Hands

Brookwood St., 2200: K. Reinoso to F. DeJesus, $62,500

Camp St., 633: Amtwo Investors LLC to J. Addison, $44,900

Chestnut St., 316: G. & M. Peck to D. Pedroza, $117,000

Derry St., 2436: M. & I. Collins to B. Wolfe, $75,000

Derry St., 2615: S. Mejia to S. Salleb & M. Aiz, $42,500

Green St., 801: Bricker Boys Partnership to Capitol River LLC, $264,900

Forster St., 217 & 222 Briggs St.: G. Rothman c/o RSR Realtors to M. Three Properties, $525,000

Green St., 1729: A. Toberman to P. Lee & S. Willard, $145,000

Green St., 1830: J. Becknauld to Berlin Group LLC, $76,000

Green St., 2345: J. Chirdon to J. Marsh, $83,700

Green St., 3236: D. Conner to C. Devaney, $71,500

Harris St., 212: R. Evanchak to G. Rhone, $138,000

Harris St., 235: M. Barrette to T. Kline, $80,900

Harris St., 429: S. Rao to McClellan Development Group LLC, $76,000

Herr St., 315: J. Montgomery to P. Shaughnessy, $124,500

Holly St., 1837: Skye Holdings LLC to E. Torres, $30,000

Hudson St., 1256: M. Shatto to Marsico Realty LLC, $105,000

Kelker St., 236: D. Zurick to E. Strobel & M. Bragers, $185,500

Kensington St., 2213: P. Flores to S. & A. Popoola, $63,500

Kensington St., 2266: D. Selvey to A. Tilghman, $66,240

Kittatinny St., 1215: A. & R. Apa to S&P Property Holdings LLC, $285,000

Maclay St., 318: Skye Holdings LLC to A. Nebbou & C. Myers, $30,000

Market St., 1920: G. Norman to F. Grooms, $99,000

Nagle St., 123: K. Snyder & C. Kaufman to L. & C. Jerome, $152,500

N. 2^nd St., 1829: M. Nolt to E. & G. Stailey, $134,900

N. 2^nd St., 1935: R. & A. Apa to G. & J. Geiges, $70,000

N. 2^nd St., 2904: F. & B. Pinto to J. Hamley & M. Nolt, $315,000

N. 2^nd St., 3007: A. Harris to E. Kotz & S. Wissler, $168,000

N. 3^rd St., 1700, L57: J. Cody to PA Deals LLC, $63,500

N. 3^rd St., 2201 & 2205: A. & R. Apa to S&P Property Holdings LLC, $275,000

N. 3^rd St., 2333: R. Oberton Sr. to 2333 N. 3^rd Street LLC, $115,000

N. 4^th St., 2225: P. Yoder & E. Murphy-Yoder to 2225 4^th LLC, $45,000

N. 5^th St., 2403: Skye Holdings LLC to A. Nebbou & C. Myers, $34,900

N. 5^th St., 2409: 2409 N. 5^th St. LLC to Harrisburg Homes Investment LLC, $31,480

N. 5^th St., 2605: 42 5^th St. LLC to Harrisburg Homes Investment LLC, $37,690

N. 14^th St., 1216: L. Dodd to S. Mejia, $30,000

N. 15^th St., 1625: C. Cade to Ma Ambashakti LLC, $30,000

N. Front St., 1525, Unit 406: Z. Fogel to J. Davis, $98,900

N. Front St., 2837, Unit 201: R. & L. Barry to H. Witte, $128,750

Penn St., 1622: S. Simon to E. & J. Mallory, $102,000

Penn St., 2232: N. & J. Weaver to T. Cook, $53,000

Pennwood Rd., 3207: C. Gaither to M. Katzman, $125,000

Pine St., 224: Pennsylvania Retailers to PSREU LLC, $110,000

Race St., 604: S. Cairns to A. Heinzel, $165,000

Reel St., 2605: J. Clark to A. Winter, $42,599

Reily St., 255: E. Harman to R. Wodele, $142,500

S. 13^th St., 333: Eastern Mennonite Mission to Herman International Ministries, $132,000

S. 14^th St., 1400: M. Vargas to City of Harrisburg, $59,000

S. 14^th St., 1405: M. Allsup to City of Harrisburg, $39,000

S. 17^th St., 1111: Federal National Mortgage Assoc. to V. Ceballos, $40,000

S. 19^th St., 1117: C. Runne to F. Payero, $93,000

S. 20^th St., 25: P. Morton to C. Arnold, $55,000

S. 20^th St., 631: F. & R. Rivera to E. & D. Cortes, $92,000

S. 20^th St., 1226: W. & M. Branche to W. & J. Venable, $143,900

S. 22^nd St., 713: A. Sahovic to EGG Gourmet Solutions LLC, $820,000

S. 25^th St., 725: K. Brown to G. & L. Davis, $130,000

S. 25^th St., 729: 729 25^th Street LLC to Y. Suero & N. Richard, $183,000

S. Cameron St., 1327: E. & R. Kehr to J. Swigart, $44,500

S. Front St., 811: Bank of New York Mellon Trustee & NationStar Mortgage LLC to R. Shokes Jr., $52,000

State St., 1502: R. & A. Sharp to S. Kochis, $73,820

Harrisburg School District asks 65 teachers to take pay cut, pay back wages in grievance settlement.

August 15, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

HEA union leaders address the grievance settlement proposal from the Harrisburg School District.

The Harrisburg School District made a big accounting error when it offered dozens of teachers inflated salaries in 2016, and administrators are now asking them to pay for it.

The recouped wages would total almost $500,000, with individual teachers accountable for amounts ranging from $600 to $12,000, according to Harrisburg Education Association leaders.

HEA uses a pay schedule to determine salary levels for employees based on experience. Teachers who remain employed with the district will advance up “steps” on the salary schedule as they accrue years of experience.

However, an ongoing pay freeze has prevented some teachers from moving up in the salary schedule.

Under a collective bargaining agreement that went into effect in June 2016, any new district employee must be placed on the same salary step as existing HEA employees with the same level of experience.

But when the district hired teachers amid an aggressive recruitment effort in 2016, the new hires were put on the pay schedule based on total years they’d worked in the industry, not at the steps occupied by similarly experienced HEA counterparts.

An employment contract shared with TheBurg shows that one employee, an ESL program specialist at Rowland School, was offered a $77,792 salary starting in August 2016.

According to salary data the TheBurg obtained via Right to Know, teachers who were hired at a $77,792 salary in 2016 are making as much as teachers who have served in the district for 20 years. Some of the highest-paid teachers in the district – those making almost $80,000 – have worked in the district for less than a year.

Meanwhile, a teacher who has served four years in the district – the median length of service – makes between $52,000 and $56,000.

Now, the district is fulfilling one of their requests. They’ll cut the new salaries to match HEA pay levels, but they want the teachers they overpaid to give back their wages.

“Our counsel tried to explain the language in the bargaining agreement to new personnel in the HR office,” Barksdale said. “It’s like they didn’t believe us or trust us.”

A visibly frustrated Barksdale said that the district’s administration is driving away talented teachers and hurting children.

“The only way this district will move forward is if the district sits down and has honest, transparent conversations with us,” Barksdale said.

She said that 90 teachers resigned from the district during the 2017-18 school year and 30 more have resigned this summer. What’s more, Barksdale worries that reneging on 65 salary offers will open the district to costly legal fights.

Barksdale said that neither the district administration nor the school board has shown leadership ability. But when asked if the Pennsylvania Department of Education should appoint a receiver, she took a long pause.

“I have thought about it,” Barksdale said. “But I’m not going to say it’s something I support. But the administration that’s in place… they’re not making very good decisions. The decisions they’re making are hurting our district and hurting our kids. When you can’t keep a certified, dedicated teacher who wants to be here, it hurts our kids.”

For the Kids: Artcan holds back-to-school book bag, supply drive

August 7, 2018 | by Yaasmeen Piper

When it comes to seeking change or shaping society, the answer is almost always, “Start with the kids.”

Artcan, a local nonprofit organization for artists, embodied this message and created its first Book Bag and Supply Drive.

With the help of Harrisburg’s Parks and Recreation Department, Artcan plans to distribute book bags and supplies at the Hall Manor pool on Wednesday. The book bags, which benefit students K-12 within the Harrisburg School District, will be filled with pencils, paper, folders, crayons and other supplies needed for student to survive those first months of school.

“We wanted to create a charity that can directly impact children and really tap into the young people of the community and to just be connected to them,” said Artcan co-founder Shane Gallup. “And start to build something with them with an offering.”

Gallup and his long-time friend, Lawrence Williams, came up with the idea of Artcan last year. The purpose for the organization is to discuss social injustice through art, whether it’s paintings, dance, music, photography or any other forms of art.

Williams, a photographer whose work has been shown in local galleries, and Gallup, who painted a mural for the 2017 Harrisburg Mural Festival, started officially putting out work under Artcan last March.

They participated in gallery showings at the District Bar & Lounge and the Art Association of Harrisburg. Still, they felt they needed a deeper connection with the community.

“We want charity to be an integral part of [Artcan’s] involvement,” Gallup said. “We wanted this organization to serve the community.”

According to Williams, Artcan chose the supply drive because it hits close to home. As the youngest of five, Williams often saw his parents struggle to prepare them for going back to school.

“We see that visual all the time—kids going to school without books,” Williams said. “They [struggle to] accomplish anything or get ahead.”

Though born in California, Gallup was raised in Harrisburg and witnessed firsthand the politicizing that goes on inside the district, which harms student performance, he said.

“I think with what’s happening in the school district—or what’s not happening—it’s super important that the people organize themselves and reach out and show these kids what they’re worth because it’s not always going to come from the school or the establishment,” Gallup said.

All items are donated from the drive through Artcan by the community and Artcan members. Through a raffle, 20 students will receive book bags customized by one of the Artcan artists.

The supply drive will be Artcan’s first charity event, but, if the drive is a success, they hope to host it again around December.

“Come out and support the book bag drive,” Williams said. “As we reach a bigger audience, we also give back bigger and bigger.”

The Book Bag and Supply Drive is Aug. 8 at the Hall Manor Pool 100 Hall Manor Pl., Harrisburg, at 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Donations can be dropped off at the Southside Boys & Girls Club or given to Williams or Gallup. You can contact them at [email protected], on Facebook or Instagram @artcanhbg.

“I’m done:” School board members threaten walk out, exchange barbs over spontaneous action on superintendent contract.

June 28, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Members of the Harrisburg school board last night.

The Harrisburg School Board reached new heights of dysfunction on Thursday night when a surprise vote on the superintendent’s contract devolved into shouting match between its members.

Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney’s term expires on June 30, and the board must negotiate new terms to avoid leaving her out of a contract come July 1.

But the board voted 5-3 against a resolution that would have bought the parties additional time for negotiations. It left them with just two days to offer the superintendent new terms.

Board Vice President Danielle Robinson said that language in the resolution made her uncomfortable and that it seemed like a veiled attempt to rescind the board’s decision to award Knight-Burney a new contract. She was joined by board directors Melvin Wilson, Ellis Roy, Lionel Gonzalez and Tyrell Spradley in rejecting the provision.

The resolution was developed by the board solicitor with help from the Pennsylvania School Board Association, board President Judd Pittman said. He later expressed “ridiculous, incredible frustration” that his colleagues had voted it down.

Since Knight-Burney’s contract was set to expire on June 30, Pittman advised the board that it needed to codify her new term before then, since failure to act could be considered a breach of contract.

The board decided in April to rehire Knight-Burney for a term of 3 to 5 years.

“We did not set the length of the term in the first vote. We said we would do it later,” Pittman explained. “That time has since come, and now we’re in a position where we need to put forth a motion.”

Gonzalez then put forth a motion to grant Knight-Burney a five-year term. His resolution did not address any other terms of her contract, such as salary or job expectations.

The motion, which did not appear on the meeting agenda, drew the ire of two dozen residents in attendance, who said that the board should not make a consequential decision on short notice, while other terms of the contract were still in negotiation.

“We haven’t discussed this as a board,” board director Carrie Fowler said.

As the board secretary called the vote, a reporter lodged an objection under the state Sunshine Act, which says any action taken by a government body must be preceded by public comment.

Since the motion was added to the agenda mid-meeting, the public did not have the chance to weigh in. Board Solicitor Samuel Cooper later agreed that the public should have the chance to comment.

Pittman called a recess, and in the melee that followed, board directors exchanged heated words while members of the public continued to shout in exasperation. One board director began yelling at the board solicitor, who joined the meeting over the phone.

Acrimony between school directors has been on full display at board meetings in the past months. But as one audience member said, “This is the best one yet.”

Board directors continued to argue after Pittman called the meeting back into order. He attempted to convene an executive session and then tried to go home when other board directors would not join him.

“I’m done,” he said.

Board director Brian Carter did leave the meeting, but later returned to vote on personnel actions.

After more discussion and procedural fumbles, Fowler put forth an amendment to Gonzalez’s motion, proposing a three-year contract for Knight-Burney. The exasperated board passed the motion 8-0.

The board also voted last night to levy a 3.6-percent tax hike and approve a budget eliminating 52 staff positions.

Business Manager Bilal Hasan said that the cuts will be made through attrition, meaning that personnel who retire or resign will not be replaced. As a result, no district employees will lose their jobs, he said.

“We’re cutting positions, not people,” he said.

The tax hike will bring the district’s millage rate to 28.8 mills, an increase of 1.0008 mills from this year. With Harrisburg’s median home value of $42,800, the tax hike will cost the average city homeowner an additional $43 a year.

Board directors Robinson, Wilson, Roy, Gonzalez and Spradley voted to approve the budget. Pittman, Fowler and Carter dissented.

Board director Percel Eiland announced his resignation from the board last week, leaving the body with just eight members.

Mandate or Suggestion? State calls on Harrisburg school district to seek new financial managers

June 14, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Members of the district’s business office, from left: acting assistant business manager Regis Barwin, interim CFO James Snell and acting business manager Bilal Hasan.

Soon after wrapping up a protracted debate over its superintendent, the Harrisburg school district may find itself in another personnel battle.

The state Department of Education is asking the district to search for new leadership for its business office, which oversees budgets and financial management.

In a letter to the district on Monday, department Secretary Pedro Rivera said that the district’s chief financial officer and business manager do not meet the criteria set forth in its five-year recovery plan, which calls for full-time, permanent, highly qualified employees to fill both positions.

The school board has final say on all district personnel actions. But board members, who diverged for the past six months over whether to replace or retain Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney, once again disagree on the need to seek new hires.

Board President Judd Pittman interprets the letter as a directive from the state, giving the district no choice but to replace interim, part-time CFO James Snell and acting Business Manager Bilal Hasan. But board Vice President Danielle Robinson thinks the district should keep the current team.

“It’s not a directive, it’s a suggestion,” Robinson said. “The team we have in place is giving us what we need.”

The business manager and CFO are responsible for developing and managing the district’s $156 million budget. This year, the district faces a shortfall of almost $9 million. The business office has proposed bridging it with a $5 million transfer from its fund balance, $4 million in staff cuts, and a 3.6 percent tax hike.

“The people we had in [the business office] before are the reason we’re in the situation we’re in now,” said Robinson. “Hasan and Snell have helped us come out of it.”

The district’s business office has seen a revolving door of interim and acting managers in the past five years. The office had permanent leadership during the 2016-17 school year, when William Gretton served as CFO and Kenneth Medina as business manager.

Gretton resigned last July to take a superintendent position near Philadelphia, and Medina was reassigned to a grants management role in August.

Pittman called the lack of consistent leadership in the business office “a cancer.” He said that, while he appreciates Snell and Hasan’s hard work over the past year, he’s been frustrated with the district’s administration – including the superintendent – during this year’s budget talks.

“I haven’t gotten answers to the questions I’ve been asking this budget cycle,” Pittman said. “I haven’t seen any creativity.”

Pittman said that the administration has lagged on actions that would generate more revenue, such as selling its vacant properties or seeking out payments from tax exempt entities in the city.

Since the state could put the district in receivership once its five-year recovery plan ends on June 30, Pittman thinks it’s imperative that the board act now on PDE’s directive.

Knight-Burney declined to comment on the letter today, but Chief Recovery Officer Audrey Utley said that the district would need to seek new personnel.

“[Hasan] does not have the required experience,” Utley said. “PDE is saying that we need to do a search now.”

Utley was referring to the criteria set forth in the recovery plan, which calls for a business manager with “substantial prior experience and… a successful, documented track record” overseeing a business office in a similar-sized district.

Hasan also lacks certifications from the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials. He was serving as assistant business manager in February when he was promoted to acting business manager at a salary of $113,000.

He was floated as a potential business manager in 2016, according to school board minutes, but passed over in favor of a more experienced candidate (the job ultimately went to Medina.)

Robinson said that she would support Hasan seeking coursework and certifications to become a full-time, permanent business manager.

Separately, the school district announced today the resignation of Percel Eiland as a school board director. The district now must find and appoint a replacement for Eiland, who served just six months of his two-year term.

This Job Could Be Yours: HBG schools CRO to retire, replacement needed.

June 1, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

The Harrisburg school district’s Lincoln administrative building.

The search is on for the Harrisburg school district’s next chief recovery officer.

Audrey Utley, who was appointed as the district’s CRO in 2015, will retire when her contract with the district expires on June 30, she confirmed today.

She submitted her letter of resignation to school board President Judd Pittman last week.

As CRO, Utley was charged with overseeing the implementation of the district’s five-year recovery plan, which outlined more than 100 initiatives to bolster its academic success and fiscal health. Utley oversaw an amendment to that plan shortly after she took office, but said that she never planned to serve after its expiration in June 2018.

“When I accepted my position, I understood that the plan was for five years, and I would finish the last three,” Utley said.

Utley was employed with the district on a year-to-year contract. Her salary was capped at $144,000 per year, according to a PennLive report.

She expects that 80 percent of the recovery plan initiatives will be complete by the end of her tenure in four weeks.

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that the city is working with the school board and the Pennsylvania Department of Education to find Utley’s replacement. The new CRO could become the district’s state-appointed receiver, if the state decides to put the district into receivership later this summer.

Even if the state rules against receivership, the district is required to employ a CRO as long as Harrisburg retains its Act 47 designation as a financially distressed city, Utley said.

Papenfuse praised Utley in 2015 when a panel of local and state officials unanimously appointed her to the CRO seat. But, today, he said that she did not choose to exercise the full power of her position.

The mayor hopes that the next CRO will be “someone who will hold the administration accountable and promote transparency in the school board, and who will not accept another day of fiscal mismanagement and academic failures of this district.”

Utley dismissed the mayor’s criticisms of her job performance. She said that the district has a standards-aligned curriculum for the first time in its history, which will help propel academic growth.

“I’m not sure what part of my job he would say I did not execute,” she said. “I was hired to monitor the implementation of the recovery plan, and we pushed the district along as quickly as we could.”

In addition to serving as CRO, Utley served as acting superintendent of the school district for fewer than two months in 2010. She left that post to become superintendent of Steelton-Highspire School District.

Harrisburg gets state grant, will begin major Paxton Creek reclamation project, mayor says.

June 1, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Artist’s rendering of part of the proposed Paxton Creek Park in Harrisburg.

Harrisburg has received a $2 million state grant to begin its ambitious Paxton Creek Reclamation project, Mayor Eric Papenfuse announced today.

The funds from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant will make only a small dent in the project’s anticipated $60 to $90 million cost, but will allow the city to begin initial work of removing bridges and buildings that restrict the creek channel.

Papenfuse announced the grant at his annual “State of the City” speech, which he delivered to a coalition of nonprofit leaders at the Harrisburg Crowne Plaza Hotel this morning.

The yearly address is typically an opportunity for the mayor to recite campaign-trail talking points and administrative achievements. But Papenfuse used today’s event to announce several new initiatives, including the construction of the city’s first traffic circle and a new summer festival in Reservoir Park.

He highlighted multiple infrastructure projects in his 30-minute speech, particularly those that will improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. That includes the Paxton Creek Reclamation project, which aims to widen the Paxton Creek and lower its floodplain elevation, making hundreds of blighted, industrial acres more attractive for development.

The project will also create recreation areas along the creek and increase connectivity between the downtown and Allison Hill neighborhoods. Papenfuse said that a new segment of the Capital Area Greenbelt trail, which runs for 20 miles in and around Harrisburg, could be constructed along the creek once the project is complete.

The city also requested $14 million in RACP funds to build a bridge over Division Street in Uptown Harrisburg, which would connect HACC’s main campus to Uptown Plaza. That application was denied, but the mayor was optimistic that the city could successfully re-apply in October.

Papenfuse also unveiled new plans for multi-modal transport along 7th Street, which will complement the construction of the new federal courthouse at 6th and Reily streets. The renderings call for sheltered bike lanes along the length of the 7th Street office corridor, as well as the construction of Harrisburg’s first traffic circle at 7th and Reily.

“This is all to ensure safe transportation and… encourage less car dependency in the city,” Papenfuse said.

With the exception of vehicle-related accidents and deaths, almost every category of violent crime has fallen in Harrisburg since Papenfuse took office. He pointed to that statistic as one of the hallmark achievements of his administration, along with growth of jobs and investment in the city.

Those investments have included corporate sponsorships for community events and festivals. The city hosted its first annual Fire and Ice Festival downtown this March, and Papenfuse said that the first-ever Weekender Festival will take place in Reservoir Park later this summer.

Papenfuse also said that that the city’s population seems to be growing, given a recent rise in revenues from the city’s local service and earned income taxes. After decades of decline, the city’s population began to stabilize with the 2010 census, ticking up by 1.2 percent, and Papenfuse believes the 2020 census will show additional growth.

The mayor assured the audience that, as the population grows, his administration is “mindful of our responsibility to make sure that everyone has a seat at the table.”

Papenfuse addressed education only briefly in his speech, when he said that the city is working with the Harrisburg school board and the state Department of Education to find a new chief recovery officer to oversee the school district’s recovery efforts.

Current CRO Audrey Utley will retire when her contract expires on June 30.

Click here to learn more about the Paxton Creek Master Plan.

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