Tag Archives: Sybil Knight-Burney

May News Digest

May 31, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda and Lizzy Hardison

Sanitation Changes Weighed

Harrisburg’s existing rules governing trash collection may soon get canned.

City Council is considering a new, more comprehensive sanitation ordinance that would usher in stronger enforcement tools and more efficient billing for its trash collection services and lay out clearer rules for city recycling programs, Mayor Eric Papenfuse announced last month.

It would also waive annual trash fees for the owners of vacant lots and properties, eliminating an unpopular provision of the current ordinance, Papenfuse said.

The revised sanitation code aims to curb the city’s perennial problems of illegal dumping and excessive trash accumulation. It would grant the city stronger enforcement powers by creating two categories of offenses and a new fine structure.

Under the proposed ordinance, serious offenses—including illegal dumping, accumulation of trash exceeding 1,000 pounds, improper waste disposal and failure to register as a private trash hauler—would be considered category 1 violations punishable by a $1,000 fine or up to 90 days in jail.

Category 2 violations are more minor acts that are likely to recur without deterrence, Papenfuse said. These violations, which include failure to bag waste, obstruction of streets and sidewalks or interference with enforcement, would be met with fines starting at $100. Fines would increase up to $500 for each subsequent offense.

The ordinance would also permit the Public Works Department to designate enforcement officers to patrol public streets for violations. It also would authorize police officers to issue citations and enforce the ordinance.

Papenfuse said that the new legislation also would codify the city’s free and mandatory recycling services, including its new glass recycling program.

“This will bring us into the new century in regard to recycling,” Papenfuse said. “We’ve more than tripled recycling in the last few years but very little is laid out in existing code.”

One of the most significant changes would be an annual billing structure designed to save money for the city and its residents.

Harrisburg residents currently make monthly payments for trash services. Under the new ordinance, the city treasurer’s office would include trash fees in property tax bills. The separate charges would appear on the same invoice and would be subject to the same due date and discount period.

Residents may opt out of yearly billing in favor of monthly direct deposit payments. However, those who pay their trash fees within 60 days of billing would receive a 2-percent discount.

City Treasurer Dan Miller said that streamlined bills would save the city $100,000 in mailing and labor costs each year. He also hopes it will increase the city’s collection rate and improve early-year cash flow.

Miller said that the city has a 98-percent collection rate for its real estate tax, with 70 percent of that revenue coming in during the 60-day discount period.

“We assume trash will be the same, which would increase cash flow and generate more interest for us throughout the year,” he said.

Staff Cuts, Tax Hikes in School Budget

Kindergarten cuts might not be coming to Harrisburg after all.

Members of the Harrisburg School District administration unveiled a new budget proposal last month that would preserve the full-day kindergarten program in favor of cutting 31 district employees. The proposal calls for eliminating nine administrators, 11 teachers, and 11 AFSCME union members for a total of $2.132 million in savings, which would narrow the district’s deficit to $4 million.

The budget still calls for maximum tax hikes for the next three years.

District Business Manager Bilal Hasan said that over-hiring has contributed to the district’s annual deficits, which are projected to deplete the district’s fund balance by 2020. Thirty-seven teachers who have been hired since 2016 took positions that were not in the district budget, Hasan said.

Interim CFO Jim Snell explained that salaries alone don’t account for the district’s high expenses. Costs like healthcare benefits and pension payments only emerged in long-term budgeting projections, he said.

“When you start to look at the reality of recurring costs over multiple years, that’s when you appreciate the true consequence of those decisions,” Snell said. “Some of those consequences are starting to get in the way and cause financial challenges for us.”

Budget and finance chair Ellis Roy was incredulous when Hasan confirmed the extent of the over-hiring.

“You’re telling me we hired 37 people we had no money to pay for?” Roy said. “We’re self-destructing here.”

Hasan said that the district has not had a position control mechanism in place to monitor its total number of staff positions and vacancies. The administration has implemented a new policy so that no position can be added to the payroll unless it is approved and included in the budget, he said.

Hasan and Snell said that developing a position control program is a lengthy and tedious process that requires collaboration between the district’s human resources, IT and business departments. Employees must code each permanent position with a unique identification number, which can be difficult in a large organization with high turnover, Snell said.

“At any point in time, there are staff coming and going, so there was a never a snapshot that said ‘at this moment in time, these are all our positions,’” he said.

The district’s mistake, Snell explained, was anticipating expenditures in line with previous years without accounting for vacant positions that the district wanted to fill. When the administration ramped up its recruiting efforts and hired dozens of new teachers at the beginning of this school year, it unwittingly took on employees that were not included in the budget.

The implementation of a position control system was one of the initiatives outlined in the district’s state-mandated recovery plan, which it adopted in 2013. The task ultimately fell to Hasan, who began developing the program in August 2017 and oversaw its implementation earlier this year.

“This will provide structure and order, and that was not always the case when we were hiring,” Snell said.

School Board Votes to Retain Knight-Burney

Sybil Knight-Burney will remain the superintendent of the Harrisburg school district for at least three more years, the city’s school board decided last month.

After almost an hour of public comment during which district residents overwhelmingly called for Knight-Burney to be replaced, the board rejected a motion that would have hired a search firm to find a new superintendent and passed another measure to retain her for a term of three to five years.

Frustrated residents began jeering the board before its members could vote on the second motion.

“You don’t care!” one resident yelled. “This is insanity, clear as day. You don’t care.”

“This is ridiculous!” Gerald Welch yelled, before chanting “Shame!” as he and two-dozen other exasperated residents left the gymnasium.

Yanna Kent, a Harrisburg High School alumnae, said she did not want to see the district put in state receivership, which is one possibility facing it when its five-year recovery plan expires in June.

“We need to do a better job,” Kent said, addressing the board and the administration. “We put you here to work for us and, if you don’t want your job, leave.”

Other residents pointed to the fact that state test score and graduation rates have remained stagnant or declined under Knight-Burney’s leadership. Some called out the administration for not yet completing the initiatives outlined in the district’s five-year recovery plan.

Almost 70 percent of the initiatives have been fully completed as of February 2018, according to the most recent report available from the state’s chief recovery officer.

“If I only complete at 70 percent of what my job had asked me to do, would I be able to continue, especially when other people are willing to go 100 percent?” said Carmen Dones. “It’s time to say thank you, but I think it’s time that we say goodbye.”

Board President Judd Pittman, who voted against retaining Knight-Burney, pointed to other sobering facts from the past two years: $180,000 in district funds were embezzled by an employee, 70 teachers were hired at the wrong pay step, and the district revealed two years of over-hiring by its business office.

Those factors have contributed to an $8 million budget deficit this year, as well as a structural deficit that threatens to eat up the district’s general fund by 2021.

Pittman cited these incidents as evidence that the district has not implemented strong accountability systems during Knight-Burney’s tenure.

“In 11 years, if you have not had time to put systems in place it’s time to come to the table with [solutions], or it’s time for us to look at other opportunities to put systems in place,” Pittman said before the board voted on the superintendent’s contract.

Pittman has been advocating since December for the board to launch a superintendent search. The board passed a motion to do that in March and then tried to rescind that action in April.

Board director Tyrell Spradley raised the motion to rescind in April, after voting in March to consider new candidates for Knight-Burney’s post. Spradley voted to retain the superintendent, along with board directors Ellis Roy, Lionel Gonzalez, Melvin Wilson and vice president Danielle Robinson.

Board directors Brian Carter, Carrie Fowler and Percel Eiland joined Pittman in the minority.

Substation Cost Rises

The Harrisburg Police Bureau last month made a plea for an additional $165,000 to construct a substation on S. 15^th Street.

That sum represents a 13-percent increase over the project’s $817,000 budget.

City engineer Wayne Martin said that bids for the project came in above early estimates and insisted that the added cost was “not an unusual” margin for error in publicly bid projects.

Several council members lamented the fact that the project’s timeline has lagged as its costs increased.

“Three years ago, we planned a $300,000 precinct with a turnaround of three to six months,” Councilman Cornelius Johnson said. “Now, it’s more expensive, and it’s only a substation.”

Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Carter said that early plans to retrofit a facility at S. 15^th Street became impossible once it was found to be structurally unsound. That structure was razed in December to make way for a new modular building.

Police officials say they don’t have enough manpower to staff a full-time precinct, but they still think a substation would benefit officers and residents. Carter reported that increased police presence in South Allison Hill has helped drive down homicides there this year.

“The cost is what it is, but I know that, since we’ve been concentrating on that area, we have not had homicides,” Carter said.

Tough Road for CAT

Harrisburg’s public transit network has a bleak road ahead of it.

Capital Area Transit (CAT) will end the year with a $700,000 deficit, but new Executive Director Richard Farr can’t explain why.

“It’s like an archeological dig trying to figure out how we got this far in the red with no foreseeable way out,” Farr told Harrisburg City Council last month.

Farr said that CAT’s “worst case scenario” would be to reduce service to narrow the deficit. Administrator salaries have been cut to the furthest possible extent, he said, which leaves the company eyeing its other major expenditures—insurance and maintenance—as possible areas to shave costs.

CAT has the highest maintenance costs in the state, Farr said, outpacing major public transit authorities like Philadelphia’s SEPTA system. It also has the third-highest labor costs.

And yet, CAT buses leave customers stranded every day due to driver shortages, Farr said.

CAT executives hope to join an insurance network to help mitigate some of its maintenance costs. But the source of the high labor expenditures remains hazy, especially since the agency has slashed administrator salaries in recent years by leaving high-level positions vacant.

Like most public transit authorities, CAT derives little revenue from fares and other consumer sources. State and federal dollars constitute the bulk of its funding, which make its annual revenues relatively stable and predictable.

“This isn’t a revenue problem, it’s an expenditure problem,” Farr said. “Some of these costs are legacy… but we have a big hurdle we need to work through.”

Farr hopes to avoid service reductions and said he has already averted driver layoffs once since taking the helm of CAT earlier this year.

Even if service reductions are avoided this year, they may be inevitable, said Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse.

“Eventually, they’ll have to cut service because they’ll have to use next year’s funding to pay this year’s line of credit,” Papenfuse explained.

HACC to Vacate Midtown Building

HACC plans to vacate one of its Midtown Harrisburg buildings after its lease expires in four years, the college said last month.

HACC, a community college with campuses in Harrisburg, Gettysburg, Lancaster, York and Lebanon, announced plans to leave Midtown 2, the former Evangelical Press Building, moving its trade and technology programs out of the building between mid-2019 and June 2022, with the expiration of its 15-year lease.

“No programs are being cut, and the transition will occur at times that have the least impact on classes,” said college President John J. “Ski” Sygielski. “Requirements to complete these programs will remain unchanged.”

HACC leases the building from GreenWorks Development, which fully renovated the landmark, century-old building at N. 3^rd and Reily streets starting in 2006. HACC moved into the 80,000-square-foot building a year later, signing a long-term lease.

Soon after, HACC also moved much of its administrative staff across the street to GreenWorks’ newly built Campus Square Building, but returned these employees to the main campus at Wildwood several years ago. It plans to continue to occupy a third building, called Midtown 1 at N. 4th and Reily streets, which houses its workforce development, continuing education and welding programs, according to the college.

The move from Midtown 2 will save the college about $1.9 million in annual rent, maintenance and expenses, according to HACC. A portion of the savings initially will be used to renovate spaces for the relocated programs, HACC said.

So Noted

Capital Region Water has received the Award in Excellence for Sustainability from the American Planning Association, Sustainable Communities Division. CRW received the award in the Sustainable Green Infrastructure Project category for its “Community Greening Plan: A Green Stormwater Infrastructure Plan for Harrisburg.”

Chad Dion Lassiter was named the new executive director of the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission last month. Lassiter has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of race relations, conflict resolution, mediation, teaching, counseling, policy and prison reform.

George Scott captured the Democratic nomination last month for U.S. Congress, besting a field of four candidates. He will face Republican incumbent Scott Perry in the November general election.

Harry Young has been named the new executive director of the Central Pennsylvania Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. In this role, Young will serve as the organization’s voice to build business, promote economic development and fulfill its mission to foster LGBT business equality and inclusion in central Pennsylvania.

Kathryn Aumiller announced her retirement last month as executive director of the Pennsylvania Regional Ballet. This summer, Aumiller will retire after 25 years leading the organization, which is searching for a new director.

S&T Bank has announced Shannon Golden as vice president, business banker, serving the Harrisburg market. In this role, she is responsible for fostering and strengthening business relationships in the region.

Stosh Snyder last month was named the new executive director for Theatre Harrisburg, responsible for the organization’s overall operations. A Harrisburg area native and actor, Snyder replaced Allison Hays, who served in the post about one year.

William B. Hawk, Lower Paxton Township supervisor, has been elected to a one-year term as president of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors. The association represents the commonwealth’s 1,454 townships of the second class.

Zembo Shrine is back on the market after its proposed sale fell through. Arkansas-based Beaty Capital Group had the iconic, Moorish-style Shriners building in Uptown Harrisburg under contract, but backed out of the purchase after further examination of the mid-Atlantic area’s entertainment market, according to the company.

In Memoriam

Samuel Sloan Auchincloss died on April 27 after a brief illness. Born in New York, he was the long-time co-owner with his wife Susan of Auchincloss & Auchincloss, a Harrisburg-based marketing communications firm. Over the years, Sloan was active in many organizations, including Historic Harrisburg Association, Harrisburg Rotary, Harrisburg Lions Club, St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Susquehanna Art Museum, the Rockhill Trolley Museum and the Harrisburg Chapter National Railway Historical Society, among others. Sloan also was a great friend, mentor and supporter of TheBurg. He is survived by his wife Susan, son Lloyd Brian Auchincloss, daughter Elizabeth Auchincloss Strickler, stepdaughter Leah Peak, their spouses and three grandchildren.

Changing Hands

Adrian St., 2436: S. Stroyan to PA Deals LLC, $30,000

Allison St., 1502: SWM Properties LLC to T. Mullally, $53,400

Barkley Lane, 2502: S. Vetock to J. Guerrero, $68,000

Berryhill St., 1101: Biks Auto Collision LLC to J. Garcia, $185,000

Bigelow Dr., 39: R. Johnson to J. Mayweather, $52,900

Briggs St., 211 & 213: Rockville Enterprises LLC to Grey Rex LLC, $230,000

Calder St., 105: A. Brett & K. Magagna to K. & G. Tennis, $150,000

Cameron St., 620: L. Aronson Family Trust & R. Aronson to Gini LLC & J. Pal, $225,000

Chestnut St., 2035: T. Coley to W. Seago, $62,500

Conoy St., 104: E. & K. Eckman to D. Wolf, $142,500

Croyden Rd., 2832: D. & B. Ratcliffe to J. Core, $51,000

Green St., 810: M. Hillman to S. & J. McGrath, $145,000

Green St., 1318: R. Bullock to G. & E. Gibeau, $93,500

Green St., 1802: BM Investment Group LLC to Asprodites Simpson Trust, $183,500

Green St., 2428: S. Tagle to T. & N. Blank, $137,500

Kensington St., 2223: PA Deals LLC to A. Womer, $64,900

Kensington St., 2326: E. McCloskey to I. Chatman, $69,900

Kensington St., 2431: Wells Fargo Bank to T. Dieu, $31,500

Lexington St., 2632: D. Grossman to A. Memic, $63,500

Luce St., 2306: T. & T. Parson to P. Almodovar, $69,900

Market St., 1025A: J. Lamb Sr. to J. Colron, $45,000

Market St., 2468: C. Jackson to S. Green & J. Burnett, $122,600

Mulberry St., 1845: V. Rivas to F. & R. Garcia, $70,000

North St., 1616: B. Davenport to C. Brooks, $39,000

N. 2^nd St., 1937: US Bank National Association to M. Horgan, $92,000

N. 2^nd St., 2053: 7 Eleven Inc. & Sunoco Retail LLC to Realty Income Trust 6, $3,221,477

N. 2^nd St., 2538: T. & L. Magaro to M. Parsley, $110,000

N. 2^nd St., 3033: A. Myers to D. Madsen, $100,000

N. 3^rd St., 1014: 1014 N. 3^rd St. LLC to O’Sullivan Realty, $660,000

N. 3^rd St., 1231: E. Gabler to N. Wahby, $107,450

N. 3^rd St., 1824: B. Strike to T. Miller & L. Wood, $79,900

N. 3^rd St., 2329: CPenn Properties Old Uptown LLC to M. Mtere & F. Laoukili, $50,000

N. 6^th St., 2407: Hobbeze Inc. to Elliots Enterprises LLC, $34,000

N. 6^th St., 2528: Premier Property Solutions LLC to H. Foka, $31,000

N. 6^th St., 2933: P. & E. Devenshire to C. Wise, $62,000

Paxton St., 1619: JC Hunt Management LLC to NAR Investments LLC, $110,000

Peffer St., 269: G. Neff & M. Baltozer to Heinly Homes LLC, $101,000

Penn St., 1925: WCI Partners LP to G. & K. Capoferri, $135,000

Race St., 566: I. & S. Milnes to B. Shisler, $119,000

Rudy Rd., 1919: M. O’Neill to A. Ross, $74,900

Rumson Dr., 298: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development to J. & J. Avila, $41,000

S. 17^th St., 1040: Wells Fargo Bank NA to B. Nguyen, $40,000

S. 20^th St., 12: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development and Information Systems & Networks Corp. to D. & L. Romero, $30,010

S. 25^th St., 701: O. Huynh to G. Coppersmith, $69,900

State St., 1323: J. Ward to A. & S. Shelly, $71,000

State St., 1325: J. Ward to A. & S. Shelly, $71,000

Susquehanna St., 2112: E. Reichert to T. Hage, $45,000

Swatara St., 2158: Reverse Mortgage Solutions Inc. to D&F Realty Holdings LP, $30,500

Valley Rd., 2407: D. Loughery & J. Levine to E. Mena, $249,900

Verbeke St., 124: R. and M. Gordon to Kyzer Rentals LLC, $105,000

Superintendents to State: We need more funding to support our students.

May 23, 2018 | by Yaasmeen Piper

Superintendents from a number of urban school districts in Pennsylvania gathered on Tuesday inside the state Capitol to ask for additional funding.

A group of Pennsylvania superintendents, students and parents rallied inside the state Capitol for increased school funding on Tuesday, saying that, due to a lack of resources, vital programs and staff were being cut.

“We as superintendents of urban school districts came to Harrisburg today to speak with our legislature about what it is that they can do and what we can do to help them improve the lives of our young students,” said Dr. Juan Baughn, superintendent of Chester Upland school district.

Dr. Stephen Butz, superintendent of the Southeast Delco school district, told the story of a student named Brittany and her journey through the district. Butz first met Brittney a decade ago when she was in kindergarten. While Brittney struggled with reading, she enjoyed the music program that was then offered to kindergarten students.

“She was singing in the chorus that year,” Butz said. “I remember her mom– her mom was working two jobs that year just to make ends meet, but she was concerned about Brittney, concerned that Brittney get a good education.”

By the time Brittney was in fourth grade, the music program and a physical education program had been cut, the average class size had risen from 25 to 33 students, and, by Brittney’s second year of high school, the district’s staff of more 700 had been slashed to fewer than 600.

“Brittney is now a 16- or 17-year-old student looking ahead toward college, looking ahead toward being successful, and that’s what state funding [toward] education can provide,” Butz said. “We must adequately fund our schools for our students. All of our students.”

About eight years ago, the Harrisburg school district faced a $22 million deficit, closing five schools and furloughing hundreds of employees. According to Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney, that was just the beginning.

As a new superintendent, Knight-Burney said she was forced to eliminate music, athletics, pre-K and kindergarten programs. Now, Harrisburg is in danger of losing of kindergarten completely.

“No new superintendent should have to tell her community that their neediest and most vulnerable student population would be at risk for failure because there will be no pre-K or kindergarten program to provide them with the fundamental tools needed to learn just [how] to read,” she said.

According to Knight-Burney, the lack of funding is a vicious cycle. It leads to a reduced quality of education, which contributes to parents taking their children out of the district.

“Families and businesses that have the ability to relocate often choose to do that and move to the more affluent districts, contributing to the upward spiral of real estate values there and the downward spiral that often occurs in the urban or otherwise economically disadvantaged areas,” she said.

Knight-Burney estimated that the Harrisburg district is underfunded each year by more than $35 million.

“I’m often asked, and I struggle to try and understand, ‘Why is it that our lawmakers don’t want our students in our urban districts to receive a fair and equitable education?’” she said. “I am still struggling, as my colleagues are struggling, to understand why this inequity is allowed to continue to the eventual detriment of our greatest commodity, our children.”

Several speakers at the event strongly denounced Senate Bill 2, which would allow students who live in the state’s lowest academically performing districts to use public money for private school tuition.

Alan Johnson, superintendent of the Woodland Hills school district, said his school would suffer under the proposed law, which would divert tax money away from public schools to private entities.

“We don’t just educate,” Johnson said. “We clothe our children, we feed our children, we care for them after school, sometimes we care for them on weekends. We see to their physical health, we see to their mental health, we see to their behavioral health. We do so much more than educate.”

Despite inadequate funding, Johnson said his school still holds an 88-percent graduation rate, with 60 percent of students going on to a two- or four-year college. He and other superintendents criticized wording from some school voucher proponents, who have described lower-performing public school districts as “failing.”

“And out of this building [the Capitol] came a system that says my school district is failing,” he said. “I don’t think the school district is failing. I think the system is failing our school districts.”

School board to vote on tax hikes, staff cuts in budget meeting next week.

May 21, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

The Harrisburg School Board will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, May 29 to vote on its proposed budget for the 2018-2019 school year.

The most recent budget proposals call for hiking taxes by 3.6 percent and eliminating 31 teaching, administrative, and support positions — steps that administrators say are necessary as the district tries to plug an $8 million deficit.

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Lincoln Administration Building at 1601 State Street.

The first budget vote was originally scheduled for the Monday, May 21 board meeting. However, that vote was postponed as the board devoted most of its session to discuss the future of superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney, whose contract with the district expires June 30.

The board voted to retain Knight-Burney for at least three more years.

Business manager Bilal Hasan said that the district must vote on its budget at least 30 days before it is officially due to the state Department of Education.

The most recent budget proposal from the district business office calls for the elimination of 31 employees across the district, including assistant principals, counselors, security personnel, teachers and district administrators.

Last week, teachers appeared before the board to protest cuts to administrative staff and ask for positions to be eliminated in the district’s central administrative office instead.

The cuts would narrow the district’s projected deficit from $8 million to $5 million for the 2018-19 school year, if the board authorizes maximum tax hikes.

The district has not levied a tax hike since 2012, but, this year, administrators are proposing an increase of 1.0008 mills, or 3.6 percent of its current 27.8 millage rate – the maximum rate allowed under the Act 1 Index.

With a median home value of $42,800, the tax hike will cost the average city homeowner an additional $43 a year, Hasan said in April.

Budget projections presented last month call for the board to authorize tax hikes of the same magnitude every year through 2021, one year after the district is expected to deplete its $21 million fund balance.

Amid jeers and boos, Harrisburg School Board votes to re-hire Superintendent Knight-Burney.

May 21, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Sybil Knight-Burney will remain the superintendent of the Harrisburg school district for at least three more years, the city’s school board decided on Monday night.

Frustrated residents began jeering the board before its members could vote on the second motion.

“You don’t care!” one resident yelled. “This is insanity, clear as day. You don’t care.”

“This is ridiculous!” Gerald Welch yelled, before chanting “Shame!” as he and two dozen other exasperated residents left the gymnasium.

The vote was met with a smattering of applause before the board called a five-minute recess.

Almost 100 people attended tonight’s board meeting, where a vote on the district’s 2018-19 budget was postponed until later this month. About a dozen contributed public comments on the superintendent’s contract, but only one, Earl Harris, spoke in favor of retaining Knight-Burney.

The other residents called for a change in leadership, making charges of nepotism, poor money management and unprofessional conduct among the district’s administration and school board.

Yanna Kent, a Harrisburg High School alumnae, said she did not want to see the district put in state receivership, which is one possibility facing it when its five-year recovery plan expires in June.

“We need to do a better job,” Kent said, addressing the board and the administration. “We put you here to work for us and, if you don’t want your job, leave.”

Almost 70 percent of the initiatives have been fully completed as of February 2018, according to the most recent report available from the state’s chief recovery officer.

Those factors have contributed to an $8 million budget deficit this year, as well as a structural deficit that threatens to eat up the district’s general fund by 2021.

Pittman cited these incidents as evidence that the district has not implemented strong accountability systems during Knight-Burney’s tenure.

Speaking after the board meeting adjourned at 11 p.m., Knight-Burney said her main priority entering her next term is promoting the academic achievement of students.

“I’m hopeful that the board and the community can see the work I’ve done, and see that this is a chance to build on it,” she said. “I hope that the people who want change can help with solutions and help get it right, not just point out [problems.] A school can’t do that alone, it takes a community.”

Pittman has been advocating since December for the board to launch a superintendent search. The board passed a motion to do that in March and then tried to rescind that action in April.

Board directors Brian Carter, Carrie Fowler, and Percel Eiland joined Pittman in the minority.

This story was updated to include comments from Sybil Knight-Burney.

HBG school board to consider motion to rehire superintendent on Monday.

May 16, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

The Harrisburg School Board will meet next week to elect a superintendent for a minimum three-year term, a letter sent to board directors announced today.

Members of the school board received notice by email late this afternoon that the vote will take place at their monthly meeting, scheduled for Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the district offices at 1601 State St. State school code requires board directors to receive at least five-days notice for such a vote.

The notification letter signed by board secretary Carol Kaufman, as well as an accompanying memo from board President Judd Pittman, were shared with TheBurg this afternoon.

The vote offers the board a final opportunity to re-hire Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney for a period of three to five years.

Before the board votes to offer Knight-Burney a contract, though, it will consider a motion to appoint a search firm to find a new superintendent.

Knight-Burney’s contract with the district expires on June 30. The board voted in March to consider new candidates for her position, then tried to rescind that vote in April in an action that was found invalid under state law.

The debate over the district’s top administrator has fiercely divided the board and its leadership since December. Pittman has consistently voted to consider new applicants for the position, while Vice President Danielle Robinson has pushed for Knight-Burney to be rehired.

The issue has drawn dozens of district residents to board meetings, where they spoke out in near equal numbers to support and oppose Knight-Burney’s contract being renewed.

A memo Pittman sent to board directors today explained that placing the two divergent motions on Monday’s agenda would “honor the diversity of public comment over the last five months,” as well as “the actions and legal obligation of the board as a result of the March 19 meeting” and “Madam Vice President [Danielle Robinson’s] request to hire Dr. Knight-Burney for an additional 3-5 years.”

The resolution that the board passed in March allowed it to consider new superintendent candidates, but it did not preclude board directors from offering Knight-Burney a new contract before her current one expires.

Robinson told TheBurg this week that she hoped the board would offer Knight-Burney another term.

Knowing that Robinson wanted to consider a motion to re-hire Knight-Burney, Pittman decided to place it on Monday’s agenda rather than allow it to rise from the floor, he said.

The two motions the board will consider on Monday carry mutually exclusive outcomes. Since only one director, Tyrell Spradley, has voted inconsistently on the superintendent issue, his vote could decide which one comes to fruition.

Currently, the board is also contending with an $8 million budget deficit, which may require the district to cut more than 30 teachers, administrators and support staff for the 2018-19 school year.

Spradley declined to comment on the vote by phone on Wednesday evening. Robinson could not immediately be reached for comment.

“People they love will go away:” Teachers plead with board to preserve school staff for students’ sake.

May 14, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Teachers from Foose Elementary School attended the school board budget and finance committee meeting tonight in support of their vice principal, William Hicks, who may be transferred under proposed budget cuts.

Harrisburg teachers worried about impending budget cuts brought their concerns to the school board tonight, where they asked board directors to trim fat from the district’s administration before eliminating educational and support staff.

At least 30 teachers were joined by members of the public and district parents at a budget and finance committee meeting, where public comment ran for more than an hour.

Teachers said that the proposed cuts to classroom staff and school administration offices would hurt students and disrupt school operations. They also questioned the salary expenditures in the district’s central administrative office.

The cuts would narrow the district’s projected deficit from $8 million to $5 million for the 2018-19 school year, assuming the board authorizes maximum tax hikes.

Tonight, teachers implored the board to prioritize salary cuts in the district’s central administrative office rather than in school buildings.

Suzanne Williams, a veteran teacher at Downey Elementary School, said that the teachers, security guards, school counselors and food service personnel who interact with students every day should not have their jobs in jeopardy.

“Each year, we’re faced with more problems than the last, and everything is cut from the bottom, nothing ever from the top,” Williams said.

Another teacher said that the cuts would unfairly strain administrative and educational staff in schools. She contended that central administrative offices are fully staffed, pointing as an example to the six employees in the district’s human resources office.

“None of the people at 1601 are expected to work alone, without assistance, but our principals, secretaries, security personnel are,” the teacher said, referring to the district’s central administrative offices at 1601 State St. “These cuts directly affect the academic climate of our schools.”

Business Manager Bilal Hasan said that the proposed budget would cut some central administrative positions. He said that every department in the district’s administrative building was asked to identify one position to eliminate.

The budget proposal also calls for eliminating assistant principals at buildings with fewer than 500 students, which includes both Downey and Foose elementary schools.

More than a dozen teachers from Foose appeared at the board meeting in support of the school’s vice principal, William Hicks, who may be transferred to another building due to the cuts. Teachers said that Hicks has formed a formidable duo with Principal Alexis Wertz, and they urged the board not to separate the administrators.

“Breaking up the team will reinforce the trauma our students already know, which is that people they love will go away,” said Kayla Mini, a music teacher at Foose.

Teachers also called out specific salaries and spending choices by the district. Angela Holmes, an elementary school librarian, wanted to know why $7,100 had been taken from the district’s library funds to pay for a high school excursion to an amusement park.

Many teachers questioned the district’s $280,000 grant-funded budget for consultants, and more than one commenter remarked on the $100,000 in annual salary and incentives for Hasan, the business administrator.

The final comment of the night came from district parent Kia Hansard, who asked why Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney was not at the meeting.

“She needs to be here. It’s her responsibility to help figure this out,” Hansard said about Knight-Burney, who was notified in March that her contract will not be automatically renewed when it expires on June 30.

The school board will hold its monthly meeting on Monday, May 21 at 5:30 p.m. in the district administration building at 1601 State St. The budget and finance committee will next meet on Monday, June 5.

TheBurg Podcast: Dysfunction Junction

May 4, 2018 | by TheBurg Staff

This week’s episode of the Burg Podcast takes a deep dive into the recent tumult in the Harrisburg School District, including back-and-forth votes over the superintendent and a burgeoning funding crisis. Lizzy and Larry also discuss the city’s new project to improve road safety and the latest challenge facing an embattled Midtown bar.

You can stream the episode on Soundcloud, or subscribe to TheBurg Podcast in the Apple or Android podcast apps.

Read more about this week’s topics on TheBurgNews.com:

Full-day kindergarten on the chopping block, tax hikes loom, as Harrisburg District struggles to balance its books.

School Board can’t un-do action on superintendent contract, solicitor says.

Burg View: Harrisburg’s School Daze (Editorial)

Burg View: End the Road Carnage Now (Editorial)

To Zero: “Vision Zero” aims for no auto-related deaths in Harrisburg.

Another Round: Third Street Cafe back in court, this time to defend liquor license.

TheBurg Podcast is released semi-monthly by TheBurg Magazine. It is recorded in the offices of Startup Harrisburg and produced by Lizzy Hardison. Special thanks to Paul Cooley, who wrote our theme music.

School Board can’t un-do action on superintendent contract, solicitor says.

May 1, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

A recent attempt by the Harrisburg school board to reverse action on the superintendent’s contract does not stand under state law, district officials announced today.

Following a judgement from its solicitor, the board must now continue its search for a new superintendent, board president Judd Pittman said this morning.

Sitting superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney may participate in that search process if she wishes to keep her job. Her contract with the district expires on June 30.

Pittman welcomed the solicitor’s decision, saying it offered clarity for a board that has been tensely divided over Knight-Burney’s tenure.

“We need to have a clean break so we can start our search,” Pittman said in an interview last week.

The board voted in March to open a search for a new superintendent, but then rescinded that vote in a surprise action earlier this month.

Board Solicitor Samuel Cooper determined that the attempt to rescind the March vote conflicted with Pennsylvania School Code, which requires boards to take action on superintendent contracts at least 90 days before they expire. Before that deadline, the board must either notify the sitting superintendent that her contract will be renewed for a period of 3-5 years, or that other candidates will be considered for her job.

If the board fails to act before the deadline passes, the superintendent’s contract is automatically renewed for a one-year period.

Some board directors – including Tyrell Spradley, who motioned to rescind the March vote – believed that nullifying the board’s action from March would result in a one-year contract extension for Knight-Burney.

But Cooper’s reading of school code determined that the some of the options before the board were mutually exclusive. When the board chose to act before the 90-day notification deadline, it eliminated the possibility of a one-year contract extension.

However, the decision to launch a superintendent search does not prevent the board from offering Knight-Burney another three to five-year contract. They may do so if she participates in the search process and emerges as the best candidate, or if they decide to abandon the search all together in favor of retaining her for another term.

An expert on school code questioned the board’s rescission vote in an interview last week, offering an interpretation of school code that was consistent with Cooper’s ruling.

“An attempt to rescind that after the deadline has passed is of questionable validity,” said Stuard Knade, chief legal counsel at the Pennsylvania School Board Association. “You can’t un-ring that bell.”

April News Digest

April 30, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda and Lizzy Hardison

Superintendent Decision Reversed

The Harrisburg School District may not be getting a new superintendent after all, thanks to an unexpected vote last month.

In March, the board voted 5-4 to approve a resolution opening the position of superintendent to new applicants. The move signaled to current superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney that her contract would not be automatically renewed when it ends on June 30.

But last month, Tyrell Spradley, the board member who cast the deciding vote on that contentious resolution, motioned to rescind it. His motion passed 5-4 with board members Carrie Fowler, Percel Eiland, Brian Carter and board President Judd Pittman in the minority.

Asked what the vote meant for Knight-Burney’s contract, district Solicitor Samuel Cooper pointed to the Pennsylvania school charter. That law states that the board must give the acting superintendent 90-days notice if it doesn’t intend to automatically renew her contract.

But if the board fails to take action, the terms of Knight-Burney’s contract extend for one year, Cooper said.

By nullifying the vote from the prior month, the board has essentially chosen to forego any action on the superintendent’s contract. It will automatically renew for a one-year provisional period, but Cooper said the board could act before then to renew it for up to five years.

After the meeting, Spradley said that he changed his mind about the search because the board received new information about personnel and budget matters.

Allowing Knight-Burney’s contract to renew for one additional year will preserve consistency in the district and lead to better decision-making by the board, he said.

“I don’t have an issue looking for candidates, but we need time to find the correct ones,” Spradley said. “The board may feel rushed.”

Pittman was disappointed, but not surprised, by the board’s action. He said his position on Knight-Burney’s tenure has not changed in the three years he’s served on the board.

“When you look at our academic data and the evidence we put forth for our success, it just isn’t there,” Pittman said. “If we’d done a search and Knight-Burney came out as the best candidate, I would have supported her… but our responsibility as a board is to hold everyone as accountable as possible.”

School Finances “Bleak”

The Harrisburg School District’s finances are “more bleak” than anticipated, said the president of the Harrisburg school board.

Board President Judd Pittman offered that assessment last month following a presentation by Chief Financial Officer James Snell, who told the board that the district is facing serious financial challenges.

Budget projections prepared by consultants at Philadelphia-based Public Financial Management (PFM) anticipate that rising expenditures and flat revenues will generate years of consecutive deficits and ultimately draw down the district’s $21.6 million fund balance.

PFM consultant Marissa Litman told the board that the fund balance could be depleted in as few as three years, even if the board levies the highest allowable tax hikes.

Expenditure projections anticipate no salary increase for HEA-represented employees, but they do expect that bargaining will move some teachers up a salary step based on a grievance settlement. Social security and pension payments will increase along with those salary expenditures, and the projections also call for $3 million for facility enhancements. The expenditure projections assume that the district will continue its debt service payments and will not borrow any more money.

Litman reminded the board that projections are based on assumptions that are subject to change. Nonetheless, she advised the board to correct its spending to avoid drawing down its fund balance.

“This has been projected for a number of years, and now we have to deal with it,” Litman said.

The district was able to add to its fund balance as recently as the 2014-15 fiscal year. But the district ran a $3.7 million deficit in 2015-16, followed by a deficit of roughly half a million in 2016-17. The current 2017-18 budget anticipates another $6 million deficit.

DBEs Debated

For months, Harrisburg City Council members have raised seemingly the same question to members of the city’s administration.

How many women and minorities are being hired for public works contracts?

Last month, they got their first firm answer from Harrisburg Business Director Marc Woolley, who appeared at a legislative session to review the city’s success in hiring disadvantaged business enterprises, or DBEs, for its public contracts.

DBE is a recognized business category that includes minority business enterprises (MBEs) and women business enterprises (WBEs). A business can seek MBE or WBE certification if 51 percent of its ownership is controlled by minorities or women, respectively.

Most large cities across the country have policies aimed at drawing DBEs into public projects. TheBurg reported in March that Harrisburg’s own policies became the subject of scrutiny late last year, when council members grilled city officials on the rate of DBE participation in a major repaving project.

Last month, Woolley confirmed that DBE contracts for the 3rd Street Multimodal project, which will enhance two miles road and sidewalks from Uptown to downtown Harrisburg, amounted for just 3.8 percent of the project’s $3.1 million construction budget.

“There’s a lot of room for improvement if we want to increase our participation percentages,” Woolley said.

Working with colleagues from the Department of Community and Economic Development and the city’s Affirmative Action Office, Woolley set out to determine how many DBEs have participated in city contracts in the past three years and how city departments can reach more through bidding and solicitation.

According to Woolley, the program currently under development will have three objectives: removing impediments to business certification, participating in business development, and elevating small businesses and suppliers by moving them up the supplier chain.

Woolley said that Harrisburg’s current process for certifying DBEs is cumbersome, which could discourage businesses to seek DBE certification and, in turn, skew the city’s participation rate.

Woolley and his team plan to simplify the certification standards and are in the process of verifying the DBE status of every vendor that the city has hired in the past three years. The verification process has already revealed some vendors who were not listed as DBEs and who have since been added to the city’s Certified Minority Business Directory, Woolley said.

While some cities try to enforce minimum participation levels for DBEs, Harrisburg’s own DBE program will focus on education and business development, Woolley said.

City officials also plan to bolster outreach efforts by advertising public bidding opportunities on social media and in public service announcements.

More Apartments Downtown

Another downtown apartment project received the official go-ahead last month, as Harrisburg City Council agreed to a residential conversion on Pine Street.

Council voted 5-1 to allow Harristown Enterprises to proceed with converting the circa-1952 office building at 124 Pine St. to a 25-unit apartment building with commercial space on the first floor.

The lone no vote came from council President Wanda Williams, who stated that she would refuse to vote affirmatively on future Harristown projects until she was satisfied that they contained what she considers to be affordable units.

With the affirmative vote, Harristown can move forward with purchasing the six-story, 30,000-square-foot building from current owner Keystone Human Services, which has it on the market for $1.5 million.

Once the sale is complete, Keystone is expected to lease the building until it can find a new home, meaning that the office-to-residential conversion probably won’t begin until early 2019, according to Harristown CEO Brad Jones.

The Pine Street project, Jones said, will consist of 18 one-bedroom and seven two-bedroom units that will range from about 700 to 850 square feet in size. He expects rents to be about $1,095 to $1,395 a month. The project includes 19 off-street parking spaces, which would be rented separately.

Over the past few years, Harristown has converted several other downtown office buildings to residential use, adding about 60 apartment units in all.

At last month’s meeting, City Council also approved a resolution that will allow broadcaster ABC27 to construct a 3,500-square-foot addition to its Uptown Harrisburg building. The project entails consolidating three parcels at 3235 Hoffman St. and at 560 and 600 Alricks St., demolishing several existing structures on the Alricks Street parcels and adding to the main building on Hoffman Street.

In other action, council passed an “aerial easement agreement” with Harristown, allowing the company to continue to string about 580 lights over S. 3rd Street between Market and Chestnut streets. Harristown hung the lights last year after receiving temporary authorization from the city. Since then, several evening block parties have been hosted on the street.

Council also approved a $2 million, 10-year loan from the state Department of Transportation Infrastructure Bank to fund the repair and improvement of streets, including accessibility upgrades, in south Harrisburg.

Lastly, council passed a resolution allowing New York-based Smart City Media to install about 25 digital kiosks in downtown and Midtown Harrisburg. The kiosks will display city-based information such as events, businesses, dining options, schedules and history, with Smart City footing the $100,000 cost per kiosk, said Councilman Cornelius Johnson. The displays will contain advertising, with the revenue split between the company and the city, he said.

Glass Recycling Re-Starts

Glass is trash no more.

That was the message of Mayor Eric Papenfuse last month, as he announced the return of glass recycling to Harrisburg.

“We are pleased to be able to provide a way for our residents to recycle glass jars and bottles,” Papenfuse said. “This is just another way we’re trying to implement environmentally friendly programs that will make us a green and progressive city.”

Three years ago, Harrisburg suspended glass recycling, citing its high cost and difficulty. At the same time, it began to accept paper products for recycling, which previously had not been allowed.

While glass recycling will re-start, it will not be picked up with other recyclables during weekly curbside collection. Instead, the city has identified areas in the following places where glass can be dropped off:

Shipoke
Hall Manor
Kline Plaza
Fire Station Two
Fire Station One
Fire Station Eight
Broad Street Market
Uptown Shopping Plaza
Harrisburg Department of Public Works
William Howard Day Homes

Each location will provide a clearly marked dumpster or bin for recycled glass products, Papenfuse said.

Specific glass products, including jars and bottles without lids or tops, will be accepted. Other glass products such a mirrors, windows and drinking glasses, will not be accepted.

Papenfuse said that glass recycling has re-started because the new program will keep glass out of the waste stream of other recycled products. A major challenge for glass recycling has been that broken glass is difficult and expensive to separate and handle when intermingled with other recycled waste.

The city has contracted with Mount Pleasant, Pa.-based CAP Glass, a glass recycler, to collect and recycle the glass.

Papenfuse said that, since he’s been mayor, recycling in the city has increased three-fold, and he stressed the importance of glass recycling to keep down the city’s cost of burning solid waste at the incinerator.

“Not only are we concerned about the environment,” he said. “We’re also concerned about taxpayer dollars.”

River Walk Repaving Funded

Harrisburg will soon start repairing its pockmarked riverfront walkway, working with a budget that’s 50 percent larger than initially anticipated.

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse announced last month that the city has received an additional $500,000 in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation to repair concrete on the entire length of the city’s historic river walk—11,000 linear feet stretching from the Shipoke neighborhood to Maclay Street in Uptown.

The city learned a year ago that it had received $1 million from the federal Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) grant, which is designed to assist and promote non-motorized transportation.

City officials knew then that $1 million would not cover the whole project, Papenfuse said. They successfully lobbied PennDOT, which administers the federal TAP grant, for more money.

“It’s a massive project,” Papenfuse said. “With the price of concrete and total scope of the project, we needed more.”

Papenfuse said that work could begin as early as this year. He declined to say how long it would take to complete the repairs, but did say that the city might have to work quickly to comply with terms of the grant. Harrisburg expects to receive its funds almost immediately after City Council grants approval for the grant agreement.

“I think PennDOT is ready to go,” Papenfuse said. “This isn’t that complicated and won’t require a separate design phase. So, we’ll move into the contract and bidding phase next.”

The 100-year old river walk is pummeled by floods, snow and ice every year, which leads to erosion and cracks in the concrete. The walkway is currently marred by potholes and uneven surfaces, making it difficult to navigate for anyone riding bikes, pushing strollers, or travelling in wheelchairs.

The funds from this grant will not permit the city to repair the stairs leading from Riverfront Park to the riverside promenade, nor the steps that descend from the lower walkway into the river. Papenfuse said that those fixes, as well as other enhancements like landscaping, could be made by the city with in-house labor after the walkway repairs are complete.

“This is a major investment, and it will be up to the city to maintain it,” Papenfuse said.

HACC Tuition Rises

HACC students will have to pay a bit more for the next academic year, as the college plans to raise tuition and fees to close a budget gap.

The Harrisburg-based regional community college announced last month that its board of trustees passed a $142 million budget with an average 2.9-percent tuition hike.

“HACC faces enrollment challenges similar to other colleges and universities across the commonwealth and throughout the country,” HACC President John J. “Ski” Sygielski said.

Sygielski said that HACC faced a $1.7 million shortfall for the 2018-19 academic year. The higher tuition and fees will yield an extra $2.4 million, he said. HACC’s tuition will increase by $6 per credit hour for sponsoring, non-sponsoring and out-of-state tuition rates.

For an in-state resident who lives in one of the 22 sponsoring school districts, tuition will increase from $174.25 to $180.25 per credit hour (3.4 percent increase). For non-sponsored, in-state residents, tuition will go from $211 to $217 per credit hour (2.8 percent increase). Out-of-state residents will pay $262 per credit hour, up from $256 (2.3 percent increase).

There also will be a $25-per-credit-hour increase in tuition rates for “College in the High School” and dual enrollment programs, and a $1-per-credit-hour increase in technology fees for students.

So Noted

Barley Snyder last month announced that it has formed a “Senior Living Industry Group” to address legal issues facing the growing senior living industry. The law firm has offices throughout central PA, including in Harrisburg.

Devan Drabik began last month as the new director of marketing and communications for ExploreHBG, Visit Hershey & Harrisburg’s tourism branding program for Harrisburg. Drabik last served as director of business development for the city of Harrisburg

Gary Lenker was named last month to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. Appointed by Gov. Tom Wolf, Lenker is executive director of Tri-County Housing Development Corp.

S&T Bank last month announced two personnel moves. Melissa Doss was named mortgage banker to serve the Harrisburg and East Shore markets. In her new role, she will originate mortgage loans and foster relationships with new borrowers in that region. Katie Rittel was promoted to mortgage banker, responsible for originating mortgage loans and growing the bank’s existing loan portfolio in the Camp Hill and West Shore markets.

Shores Veterinary Emergency Care Center cut the ribbon last month on its facility at 835 Sir Thomas Court, Harrisburg. The 9,600-square-foot hospital features two surgical suites, eight treatment rooms and a dedicated trauma entrance, in addition to a 40-seat conference room.

TheBurg last month announced that it received 16 2018 Keystone Professional Awards from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. TheBurg received peer-judged press awards in a wide range of categories, including for reporting, writing, headlines, graphics, photography and design. For the third straight year, TheBurg also won the prestigious “Sweepstakes” award for best performance statewide in its category.

Traditions Mortgage last month held a grand opening for its new location at 3421 Market St., Camp Hill. A division of York Traditions Bank, the mortgage company lends in York, Dauphin and Cumberland counties.

Changing Hands

Boas St., 405: V. Zahorian to J. Varner & C. Fowler, $119,900

Briggs St., 223: P. & J. Moran to D. & L. Butcher, $175,000

Brookwood St., 1915: R. Carter & S. Hill to Edwin L. Heim Co., $50,000

Chestnut St., 2043: V. Oster to P. Geltmacher, $128,500

Cumberland St., 211: Summerhill Partners LP to B. Sholtis, $118,000

Derry St., 1333: Leonard Dobson Family Limited Partnership to S. Costa. $50,000

Emerald St., 247: US Bank National Assocation to M. Bekelja, $31,000

Green St., 1611: L. McLeaish to M. & S. Topping, $177,500

Green St., 1918: J. Leahan to D. Haubert, $145,000

Green St., 2009: J. Croft & M. Kmiecinski to L. Crandall & C. Wagner, $206,000

Green St., 2220: M. & L. Craig to Harrisburg Properties LLC, $34,000

Harris St., 216: D. & R. McLean to D. Zimmerman, $161,500

Harris St., 220: D. Grossman to D. Merkt, $184,000

Harris St., 234: D. Barclift to Big Leaf Properties LLC, $40,000

Hillside Rd., 105: W. & L. McBride to J. Runyan, $149,900

Kelker St., 204: W. Manley to A. Nebbou, $125,000

Kensington St., 2223: Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. to PA Deals LLC, $31,000

Logan St., 1730: E. Tisdell to B. & W. Bechtel, $145,000

Manada St., 1914: T. & R. Black to W. Fischer, $30,500

North St., 254 & 256: Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority to Alli Lin LLC, $34,300

N. 2^nd St., 1200, 1202, 1204 & 1206, Harrisburg Second Street Apartments LLC & Nish Realty Inc., to WCI Partners LP, $235,000

N. 2^nd St., 2053: Sunoco Retail LLC to 7 Eleven Inc., $1,248,000

N. 3^rd St., 2600: D. & V. Alvear to L. Freed, $160,000

N. 4^th St., 1422: Leonard J. Dobson Family Limited Partnership to B. Esworthy, $80,000

N. 4^th St., 2747: A. Sieger to S. Gamble & C. Kilb, $135,000

N. 4^th St., 3212: L. Bowers to C. Gibson & R. Landon, $100,000

N. 5^th St., 2606: M. Pitts to M. Napper, $67,900

Parkside Lane, 2906: R. & K. Riley to S. Webb, $350,000

Peffer St., 216: SL Realty to S. Gallagher & C. Prestia, $60,750

Penn St., 917: B. Fritz to B. Golper & J. Wu, $96,000

Penn St., 1908: WCI Partners LP to K. & D. Smyth, $165,000

Putnam St., 1625: S. & M. Mavric to J. Avila, $36,000

Radnor St., 618: Dziko Properties to D. Nelson, $45,000

Rudy Rd., 2311: N. Ishman to V. McCallum, $151,000

S. 14^th St., 1408: M. & B. Graybill to City of Harrisburg, $42,000

S. 14^th St., 1445: G. Neff to City of Harrisburg, $43,000

S. 14^th St., 1446: D. & T. Patterson to City of Harrisburg, $52,000

S. 14^th St., 1448: G. Neff to City of Harrisburg, $50,000

S. 14^th St., 1450: G. Neff to City of Harrisburg, $49,000

S. 14^th St., 1452: G. Neff & City Limits Realty to City of Harrisburg, $51,000

S 17^th St., 1034: NationStar HECM Acquisitions Trust 2017 to D&F Realty Holdings LP, $45,000

S. 19^th St., 533: PMSC Investments LLC to V. & D. Morales, $58,500

S. River St., 321: S. Cammack to J&S Home Solutions, $60,000

Susquehanna St., 1739: A. Otterson to A. Nebbou, $85,500

Susquehanna St., 1833: J. Secrest to C. Straub, $110,000

Susquehanna St., 2018: Unite LLC to P. Truong, $30,000

Verbeke St., 1723: J. & C. Weathers to Harrisburg Properties LLC, $49,900

Woodbine St., 214: Monte Design Studio LLC to E. Whittaker, $105,900

Woodlawn St., 2710 & 2712: Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. to Fruition Holdings LLC, $80,299

Burg View: Harrisburg’s School Daze

April 19, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

You’ll have to forgive the residents of Harrisburg for a certain case of whiplash.

On Monday night, the city school board voted 5-4 to retain the district’s long-serving superintendent, at least for another year. Minutes later, board members sat through a crushing report on the district’s dire financial condition.

In fact, the district’s finances are so bad, the board was told, that years of deficits are projected, even if the district imposes the maximum allowable annual tax hikes.

How do we make sense of this?

The short answer—it doesn’t make sense.

But the problem isn’t just financial. The poorly performing district has shown scant academic improvement since Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney was hired in 2011. In fact, it consistently has fallen far short of academic goals imposed by the commonwealth, meaning it probably will stay in the state’s recovery program for troubled school districts past its scheduled exit in June. Nor is the appointment of a state receiver for the district out of the question.

Meanwhile, over just the past year, the district has experienced crisis after crisis, including high teacher turnover, mass student suspensions, a faculty revolt over abusive students, a supervisor who admitted stealing almost $180,000 from the district, and the bizarre, administration-led investigation—at the district’s expense—of two of its own school board members (who just happened to be vocal critics of the superintendent).

Indeed, Knight-Burney has her strong supporters, who believe the system has shown some improvement during her tenure. They often cite a district-wide curriculum management plan, restoration of full-day kindergarten and a few, rather isolated academic bright spots. So, I guess, it’s not all bad news.

But, after seven years, “not all bad news” is weak sauce for students struggling to get by, for teachers who feel besieged in their own classrooms and for city property owners who, evidently, are looking at rising tax bills as far as the eye can see.

Apparently, though, it is good enough for the five board members who voted to retain Knight-Burney, who earns $179,208 annually, for the 2018-19 school year.

We’ll have to see if any board members change their minds come July, when city residents receive their new tax bills. So far, residents have shown remarkable patience as they wait for city schools to improve, but nothing erodes good will faster than a tax shock. Will they sit idly by while being asked to pay more to support an administration that clearly is not succeeding?

Lawrance Binda is editor-in-chief of TheBurg.

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