Methacton School Board Meeting

Methacton School District held their monthly school board meeting at Oct. 19 at Arcola Intermediate School. 219 Methacton high school students were honored at the meeting for the “M” awards for students achieving an average grade of 93 or above for the 2009-2010 school year.

The meeting was held to address the issues of the curriculum writing update and the disclosure of details on the agreement terms with the National Education Association. A new curriculum was not presented, but updates or changes that should be made were addressed by the school board. Any details with the NEA will be disclosed at a future date.

Although many students and parents left after they had received their awards, two parents stayed to let the school board know what was on their mind.

“I feel that [the] school board will harm the school district and the community if you do not let us know the details of the agreement with the NEA,” John Andrews said. “I feel that there is a risk not letting the taxpayers know the agreement details.”

“We have the right to know the details,” a parent of Methacton School District said. “We are the tax payers. Without taxpayers there is no school district, and we are told to just be quiet and go away.”

School Board President Howard A. Jones told parents that the school board had signed a contract with the NEA to keep the agreement and details with the NEA confidential. Any further information will be discussed at the next meeting on Oct. 26, he added.

Diane Barrie presented updates to the school district’s writing curriculum.

Barrie said updating the curriculum would make for a more meaningful document for teachers to actually use, instead of going only by the textbook. A new curriculum would help teachers meet the needs of all students, she added.

 “Curriculum writing is a collaborative process,” Barrie said. “It is not in a textbook and it will never be finished.”