Vote for the first FOUR (and Charles Pike)

Here is the official order of the candidates on the Nov 3, 2009 ballot:

Delaware Valley School District School Director
(Vote for not more than FOUR)

Pam Lutfy (Democratic/Republican)
Sue Schor (Democratic/Republican)
Jack Fisher (Democratic/Republican)
Bill Greenlaw (Democratic)
Robert Goldsack (Republican)

Vote counts from the primary:

Pam Lutfy (1,337 total votes)
Sue Schor (1,269 total votes)
Jack Fisher (1,132 total votes)
Bill Greenlaw (1,106 total votes)
Robert Goldsack ( 674 total votes)

For those that care about political parties: ALL the candidates in this school board race are registered Republicans.

Three of the candidates prevailed in both primaries, the other two candidates rounded out the field of four in the Democratic and Republican primaries.

Please ask all your Republican friends NOT to select the party line vote option, but to vote for the BEST candidates in the school board race.

PA law allows School Board candidates (and candidates for the Court of Common Pleas) to petition to be put on the ballot in the Democratic and Republican primary, regardless of the party affiliation of the candidate. Pennsylvania considers these offices as non-political All of the candidates sought to be listed on both the Democratic and Republican primary ballot.

Charles Pike is the only candidate on the ballot for the two year slot, so it looks like Chuck will be on the DV School Board starting in December. Early Congratulations to Chuck!

The Tie is Broken!

The tie on the Republican side of the ballot was broken today at noon.

For the play by play, see Ryan Baton's blog, RBforDV.

There will be 5 candidates vying for 4 seats in November. Pam Lutfy, Sue Schor, Jack Fisher, Bill Greenlaw and Bob Goldsack will be on the ballot November 3, 2009.

Chuck Pike will be the only candidate on the ballot for the 2-yr slot.

An update was published in the on-line edition of the Pike County Courier, and the Pike County Dispatch.

This November...

REMEMBER...

...EVERY vote counts!

Our Teachers At Delaware Valley School District Do A Great Job!

On April 23rd I questioned the superintendent Dr. Finan on introducing four new programs in K-5. I personally feel it will be ineffective for our students and staff. Yes, I do believe we need to update our Science and Social Studies textbooks ASAP because we have very outdated books. I have not found one teacher that has shown support for the scripted teaching! We have creative intelligent teachers! I feel scripted teaching is an insult to our teaching staff. When you look at the history of scripted teaching, you will see it was first implemented in areas were schools could not find the great teachers like we have at DV school district. What we need to do as a district is identify our flaws and weakness.

We need to give our teachers the materials and tools they need to fill these gaps. The scores from our PSSA's at the secondary level shows a need to enhance some of our programs. We need not to be afraid to ask ourselves, What did we do right? What did we do wrong? How can we make it better? Our administrators do a great job hiring good teachers. What we need to do as a board is find the weaknesses of our students and take steps to strengthen them. The board should be taking more advice from our principals and teachers that work with our students at Delaware Valley not from a board member (Diane French) Who has never had her own classroom. The boards job is policy, procedure, and budget. Board Directors should not be micromanaging our teaching staff, that is why we have a Superintendent. I respect Dr. Finan very much but there will be times we have different opinions on issues.

The way Ms. French conducted herself at the last school board meeting was an embarrassment to our entire school board! The letter to the editor written by Diane French this past week in the Dispatch was full of lies which anyone who attended that meeting April 23rd is well aware of. Board members must set the right example for our students! We should follow the same policies we set forth for them. We should always be honest and have integrity and stop the bullying. The school board directors should be on the board to serve and support the students, administrators, teachers, staff and taxpayers. They should not be on the board to stroke their own egos. Our board president Bob Goldsack has poor leadership skills when he allows the shenanigans to continue.

Transparency in our district is extremely important. Our community has many individuals that truly care about the Delaware Valley School district. We should give every parent, taxpayer and student the opportunity to know what is going on at every board meeting, word for word. I strongly support the idea of having our school board meetings on web-cam. Everyone can have the opportunity to view the board meeting at their convenience. Having transparency, along with family and community involvement, will have a profound impact on our students achievement.

At this time I am happy to announce that I am now a proud owner of Biasi Distribution Inc. Hard work, dedication and continuous education has helped me achieve this accomplishment.

Sincerely,
Susan Schor
Delaware Valley School Board Director

Independent Study Finds 400 School Districts Award Diplomas without Evidence That Students Have 11th Grade Reading Skills

This holds true for Delaware Valley. During the 11th grade reading PSSA, 142 current senior students' scored under proficient. What will we do about this problem? Do we have the tools in place for our students' performance to improve? We have great teachers! What I feel we need is a reading program in the 9th through 12th grade. This will better prepare our students and give our teachers the proper materials to achieve this goal. I have been looking into the Reading 180 reading program which Pam Lutfy mentioned at the last work session. I would like the administrators to look at the Reading 180 and other reading programs at the high school level.

In a few days Pam and I will be attending the PSBA legislative conference in Harrisburg. We will be asking questions about this problem and looking into ways we may be able to solve this problem. We will bring back all the information to share with you at the next school board meeting. If you have questions and concerns please write back on this blog. I have listed a few web-sites for you to look up the latest information on some of these issues. Please let me know what you think!!!!

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pihs/reading.html

http://www.pdenewsroom.state.pa.us/newsroom/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=148536

Sincerely,

Susan Schor

School Board Director