Jenkintonians residing here since 2006 might have experienced a twinge of deja vu upon reading the latest email from Superintendent Jill Takacs. That year, the school district completed construction of “the link”, connecting the elementary and high schools, paying for it with debt that weighs on its budget today. While the facility provided improved working conditions for administrators, it improved nothing about educational outcomes for the children they teach. The […]
Jenkintown School District
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Video of Jenkintown School Board Meeting
Our efforts in the name of transparency eventually prompted Jenkintown Borough Council to livestream its monthly meeting. Now it’s the School Board’s turn. For well over a year, the JSD tip-toed into the 21st century by providing audio archives of its meetings. At the time, that was much more than its Borough counterpart bothered to do, it’s become painfully obvious that their effort is insufficient. While audio does provide a […]
Jenkintown School District
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Peeking under the rock of the Jenkintown School District
Dr. Takacs suggested that I do my research on the school budget, and so I have. In some ways, it’s even worse than I originally believed. Dr. Takacs asserted that a capital budget can’t be used on things such as lunches, pencils, and laptops, and she is of course correct. What she didn’t say is that this capital budget comes from yet another $1.2 million loan acquired by the school […]
Borough Council / Jenkintown School District / Latest News / Old York Road
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Council Meeting Roundup: A real debate, smokescreens, and warm turds
A packed house witnessed Jenkintown Borough Council engage in some actual debate and three presentations for developments that promise to have real impact in the community. Here’s a quick roundup of the lengthy but lively meeting. Proposed Taco Bell Development Handed the chance to redeem themselves for gutlessly supporting a project that abrogates their own zoning and degrades our town, Borough Council treats it like a warm turd. Council member […]
Jenkintown School District / Latest News
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Stepping on Jenkintown’s political third rail
It’s time to talk School District and why the school tax is unravelling our community Any discussion of Jenkintown inevitably leads to how much the community values its tiny little schools, and if the school has any shortcoming at all, it’s an unnamed need not yet met. By most measures, Jenkintown schools fare well in most state-wide comparisons of test scores, and everyone from parents to administrators to realtors all but […]