West Shore School District

Some parents feel ill-served on special-education concerns

By KARI ANDREN, The Patriot-News

November 03, 2009

Jennifer King envisions her son going off to college, having a career and maybe even getting married.

Those might sound like the average mother’s dreams for her son, but for the parent of a special-needs child, they can sound downright extraordinary.

“Everything will be his decision,” King said of her son’s future. “But I work very hard to not limit his own thoughts of his own potential.”

King is fighting the West Shore School District to keep her third-grade son, who has Down syndrome, in mainstream classrooms as much as possible.

When the district proposed transferring her son to a special-education classroom for two core academic subjects, King said she requested a meeting with school and district officials.

In the past, when she requested a meeting, no changes were implemented during the process of working out their differences, she said.

But this time, King found out her son’s classroom placement was changed before the meeting took place because she did not initiate mediation or file a due-process complaint to halt the changes.

So King helped organize a group of parents and supporters who co-signed a letter to the school board and attended the Oct. 15 board meeting.

Midstate schools aim for international standard

Students graded globally in IB program

BY KARI ANDREN kandren@patriot-news.com

October 30, 2009

A program known for its world-class standards shows students how to really learn, teachers say.

Last year, Harrisburg Academy graduated its first group of seniors with an International Baccalaureate diploma and became the second school in the midstate to offer the rigorous two-year diploma program.

Now Cumberland Valley High School is poised to become one of the next schools in the area to offer the degree. The district expects to begin offering courses in the 2011-12 school year, with the first IB students graduating in 2013.

International Baccalaureate, or IB, students take high-level courses in each of the major academic subjects, a foreign language and a philosophical course called Theory of Knowledge. They also must complete a full-fledged research paper and community service.

Again, a little out of order

Shortfall prompts furloughs

BY KARI ANDREN kandren@patriot-news.com

October 09, 2009

Lower Allen Twp. officials say the township took in nearly $1 million less than expected in 2008, which is prompting one-day-a-week furloughs for all nonunionized employees for the rest of the 2009 calendar year.

At a Tuesday morning meeting with employees, township manager Tom Vernau said the township’s fund balance, or net worth, lost $988,000 from Jan. 1, 2008 to Jan. 1, 2009.

“We didn’t overbudget,” Vernau said. “And we didn’t overspend.”

A little out of order…

Capitol displays student murals

Creating the art depicting intolerance inspired a passion for acceptance and diversity, one of the painters says.

BY KARI ANDREN

September 14, 2009

Cedar Cliff High School graduates unveiled a series of their murals depicting intolerance Friday at the state Capitol.

Inspiration for the murals stemmed from a two-day training session on diversity and conflict resolution last year by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the state agency that enforces anti-discrimination laws.

The murals were painted by a group of Cedar Cliff students, who were then high school seniors, in small groups during their final marking period last spring. They will be on display in the East Wing Rotunda until Sept. 18.

Beautification project draws criticism

Taxpayers’ anger shadows Wormleysburg beautification project

The groundbreaking ceremony/Photo by Sean Simmers, of The Patriot-News

By KARI ANDREN, The Patriot-News

October 01, 2009

The project has been labeled ludicrous. Senseless. A frivolous waste of money. An embarrassment.

The project is an effort by Wormleysburg, Cumberland County, to beautify the riverfront approach to what was the western span of the Walnut Street Bridge.

The borough broke ground this month on the $212,000 plaza that will include benches, planters, decorative brick walkways, fences and landscaping at the approach to the former span. It’s been nearly 14 years since a flood carried away chunks of the iron bridge, leaving a gap of several hundred feet between City Island and the West Shore.

In a question posed to readers last week, The Patriot-News asked if the project, funded through state and county grant money, was a good use of public tax dollars. Nearly 60 percent of the 266 people who responded said no.

Student can wear t-shirt

Schools relent on T-shirt messages

BY KARI ANDREN, kandren@patriot-news.com

October 20, 2009

A temporary agreement will allow a Crossroads Middle School student to wear a homemade “Abortion is not healthcare” T-shirt that school officials had ordered him to turn inside out.

Under the agreement approved Monday by a federal judge, the West Shore School District will also permit other students to wear anti-abortion and religious T-shirts. Additionally, the district will not enforce other portions of its dress and grooming policies that are being challenged in a federal lawsuit filed by the student’s father, William Boyer.

Boyer, of New Cumberland, claims his son, identified as E.B. in the lawsuit filed in U.S. Middle District Court, was unfairly censored on Sept. 8 when he wore the anti-abortion shirt and was told to turn it inside out.

Anti-abortion shirt not allowed

The t-shirt in question.

West Shore School District unfairly censored T-shirt, father’s lawsuit says

By KARI ANDREN, The Patriot-News

October 06, 2009

On the day President Barack Obama was to address students nationwide, a Crossroads Middle School student donned an anti-abortion T-shirt to protest Obama’s proposed overhaul of the nation’s health care system.

The student wore the T-shirt, which read “Abortion is not Healthcare,” with no disruption and no problems until his fifth-period teacher sent him to the principal’s office. He was ordered to turn the shirt inside out because it might offend other students, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

William Boyer, the student’s father, filed the lawsuit against the West Shore School District in U.S. Middle District Court. Boyer, of New Cumberland, alleges that his son, E.B., was unfairly censored by school officials Sept. 8 when they made him turn his shirt inside out.

Neither district officials nor their solicitor wanted to comment on the lawsuit because they had not seen it, said Rob Cox, an attorney with Eastburn & Gray, the law firm that represents the school district.

In the West Shore School District…

Member of Cedar Cliff High School color guard claims she was bullied

by KARI ANDREN, Of The Patriot-News

Saturday September 12, 2009, 12:00 AM

The parents of a Cedar Cliff High School student have filed complaints with school officials and the state Human Relations Commission alleging that their daughter, who has a form of autism, was bullied by her peers and an instructor for the school’s color guard.Anita and Patrick Martin filed the complaints last week, the first with the West Shore School District. The complaints state that their daughter, Konstance Gregory, has been singled out for unfair treatment and has been called names, including “retard.”

The Martins’ case illustrates the growing number of issues that are arising as more special-needs students are mainstreamed into school classes and after-school activities, an advocacy organization for people with disabilities said.

A spokeswoman for the district would not comment on the Lower Allen Township family’s complaints. But Cedar Cliff band director Ben Goldsborough said last week that statements made about instructor Brooke Feldman are “completely baseless.” Repeated attempts by The Patriot-News to contact Feldman for comment have been unsuccessful.

Speech to the nation’s students becomes heated debate

Schools weigh whether to show President Barack Obama’s speech to students on Tuesday

By KARI ANDREN AND AMANDA PALLESCHI, Of The Patriot-News

Saturday September 05, 2009, 12:00 AM

At least three midstate school districts won’t broadcast President Barack Obama’s speech to the country’s students live Tuesday, reflecting a chorus of concerns nationwide over the potential infusion of Obama’s political agenda in public classrooms.

The Central Dauphin, Northern York and Susquehanna Twp. districts won’t stream the 15- to 20-minute noon speech live on the White House’s Web site and C-SPAN, nor will they make it a mandatory part of the day’s curriculum.

Most other area districts will broadcast the speech in classrooms or the auditorium, incorporating it into the day’s lessons.

“The goal of the speech and classroom activities is to challenge students to set goals, work hard and stay in school. This isn’t a policy speech,” said Moira Mack, a White House spokeswoman.

In many cases, districts that plan to show the president’s address sent a letter to parents, informing them that their children could opt out of watching the speech or participating in discussions.

Hitting a sports store near you

Michael Vick’s No. 7 Eagles jersey expected to be a hit in the midstate

by KARI ANDREN, Of The Patriot-News

Wednesday August 19, 2009

When this year’s NFL season kicks off, midstate Eagles fans will be able to don jerseys and T-shirts supporting the team’s newest player, Michael Vick, even though Dick’s Sporting Goods stores won’t be selling them.

The Philadelphia Eagles announced Thursday that Vick, a former Atlanta Falcons quarterback and ex-convict, had signed a two-year contract with the team.

Vick was convicted in 2007 of conspiracy and running a dogfighting operation. He served 18 months in prison and six months in a halfway house before being conditionally reinstated to the NFL last month.

Dick’s Sporting Goods, which operates nearly 400 stores in 39 states, has said it is not participating in the sale of Michael Vick jerseys. An employee of the Dick’s in Lower Paxton Township didn’t know why the chain would not sell the jerseys, and a message left at Dick’s corporate office went unreturned.

Many area stores, though, soon will have on their shelves Eagles gear bearing Vick’s name and his No. 7.