Our opinion: More than one issue ahead
When voters from most of Warren County go to the polls on Tuesday they will have more choices than they would have just a couple weeks ago, at least for school directors from Regions 1 and 2.
Write-in candidates have issued challenges in both those districts, where there had been no races previously.
Service on the Warren County School Board is probably the most demanding and the least appreciated public service job in Warren County, and we salute anyone who is willing to make the commitment in time and work to serve.
However, at the same time we wonder at the last-minute nature of these campaigns, coming as they are in the 11th hour of a season that stretches more than six months.
It has been publicly stated by two of the candidates that they are running write-in campaigns to "save Sheffield High School." They mentioned nothing about the myriad other issues this school board faces over the next several years. We don't want to take anything away from the effort to save Sheffield or any other high school in Warren County, but a school board position based on a single vote on a single issue short-changes voters and this county's educational system.
We want to be clear that we are neither endorsing nor opposing either side in the four high school/two high school debate at this point, and we will agree that the results of that debate will have far-reaching consequences for the district. However, there are issues related to technology, advanced placement, standardized testing, discipline and many others that will be confronted during their terms and any candidate should be prepared to give them just as much time and effort as that one issue that prompted their campaigns.
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BrandonTroutman
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11-10-09 1:10 AM
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I think the voters blamed themselves for the past few years, that's why voices were heard and change was made last Tuesday.
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fivealive
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11-09-09 6:06 PM
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I don't blame their fall on David Bauer. I blame him for intentionally supplying the constituents (and at least one candidate) with misinformation. The voters have only themselves to blame for the outcome.
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BrandonTroutman
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11-09-09 1:00 AM
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fivealive, don't try to blame the fall of some of the board members on David Bauer. The current board started sinking their ship as soon as they jumped on board. Now, with the recent election being decided, voices will be heard on the board from all areas of the county. I've said this in other posts and I'll say it here, this is much deeper than the "SOS" efforts everyone is talking about, it's deeper than 4 Schools 4 Warren County. The current and future students of this WARREN COUNTY School District will benefit from this. Students from every school, elementary through high school. This isn't about saving each of us a few pennies here and there, it's about education, it's not about the "city" of Warren, it's about education. The fact of the matter is that education and success happens outside of Warren's "city limits" as much as those inside them dislike it.
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fivealive
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11-06-09 7:02 AM
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On the 4 Schools FB page, it clearly talks about meetings times, etc for the Sheffield 4Schools group. Many on the FB group are both Sheffield and EHS folks. The Sheffield area write-in candidates both mentioned the 4Schools group in their comments in the WTO article. Do not be fooled -- Bauer most certainly has his hand in Sheffield, too. I would be very interested in knowing what "behind the scenes workings" of the school board Mr Bauer spoke about at the Sheffield meetings. Were they really secret, nasty meetings as implied or were they simply part of the standard process of any school board ... and Mr. Bauer forgot to mention that part? Conspiracy theories, city folks, behind the scenes...Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!
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tinasm
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11-04-09 10:15 AM
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to deslock the group from sheffield that supports maintaining our school is very grateful to david bauer for bringing much of the behind the scenes workings of the warren county school board to our attention. he was instrumental in guiding our quest to maintain our sense of community by keeping the identity of our youth sheffield wolverines. Maybe the warren county school board should vote to disban the district and run warren high the way they choose and allow the outlying schools to manage their own hometown schools.
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tinasm
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11-04-09 10:09 AM
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to warren grad you are correct sheffield is only offering one ap class at this time i was mistaken and thought honors english was one of the ap classes - my son was going to take ap history but dropped it and i was not made aware of that.. so i stand corrected . although clarion and st bon are both offering classes through all schools in the district
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BrandonTroutman
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11-04-09 1:09 AM
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I think that message I left may be taken the wrong way by some. To make it clear, I am not discrediting David Bauer, or what he's done for 4S4WC, or the help and info he's given to Sheffield SOS, and I'm not trying to make it seem as if he should not be associated with Sheffield in this issue, because he should. I am simply saying that his group, though linked to Sheffield in passion, pride, and goals, is not working under the same name, but both groups do have one anothers support.
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BrandonTroutman
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11-04-09 1:04 AM
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Since when did David Bauer become a major voice for Sheffield? Don't get me wrong, he has been a big voice for the 4S4WC group, but the efforst here in Sheffield have been run independently I guess you could say. There was no "technical" affiliation that I know of that the Sheffield SOS was part of the 4S4WC group. Yes, David Bauer did speak to the Sheffield group, giving some insight on different issues, which was very helpful. brianhagberg, thanks for the heads up on the info on the school district website, I'll check it out, thanks.
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Deslock
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11-03-09 11:06 PM
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I think maybe the people in Sheffield need to keep something in mind: while David Bauer is pulling your strings like puppets, you do realize, don't you, that if he's successful in getting Corry to take EHS, you're never going to hear from him again. And, if Corry does take Ike, or Eisenhower breaks off into a charter school, Sheffield will be closed by the remaining district, no ifs, ands or buts. So if I were y'all, I'd be making really friendly with Kane, cuz you got no friend in David Bauer.
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brianhagberg
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11-03-09 1:40 PM
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Brandon, I'm not sure about the class enrollment numbers, but the full list of AP courses being taught district wide can be found on the WCSD website. It would appear that WarrenGrad is correct in that AP US History is the only AP course listed as being taught in SAMSH.
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BrandonTroutman
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11-03-09 6:18 AM
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Warrengrad, in no way am I calling you out or trying to start a fight with your statement on AP classes at Sheffield, but out of curiosity, how did you gain this information? Is it located on the WCSD web page? Is it public record that I myself could look up? If so I'd like to take a look, not to disprove you of anything, but to look at numbers in general. If this is not public record, I am not requesting you state the name(s) of how you gained your info, unless you personally are the instructor for this course.
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BrandonTroutman
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11-03-09 6:15 AM
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Online education is not a solution for much, if anything. What online/distance learning does is offer a few extra classes to students that have interest in them, without having to travel to another school to take that class, that is the benefit. The only other benefit for an online class at the high school level is for mentally or physically challenged students whos safety and/or emotions could be affected by attending a regular school. This does NOT count the disruptive dimwit student who drops out or is kicked out of school to have us pay for his/her laptop and learning tools that are needed to use from home, this is for legit individuals with needs that could be better met at home, rather than at school. I feel most students in this position, given the choice, would most rather stay at school anyways just because they have the interaction with others, even if it's only by a smile or hearing a voice, children of all makes need interaction.
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BrandonTroutman
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11-03-09 5:56 AM
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Some people are unable to read a story and take anything from it. Mr. Werner was unable to run in the spring election because he was still employed by the WCSD. Mary Anne Paris, as stated, has become overly concerned lately with the way things are shaping up with the consolidation efforts. From the outside, it's true the she may seem like she is just running to save Sheffield High School, but if you knew this women, her work ethic, and her demeanor, you would feel very confident with her representing your region of the WCSD on the board. She's a very passionate person about her work, and very dedicated. If elected, both she and Mr. Werner will work hard to do what they feel is best for the students of the WCSD, not just for the students of the Sheffield Area.
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fivealive
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11-02-09 3:59 PM
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Technology is a great thing and the WCSD desperately needs to add more tech and get the kids' using it so they can compete in the broader world. Which makes more sense... Provide state of the art tech to two schools or skimp on it so that four schools can each have some? All of the people who are touting the online instruction as the solution really puzzle me. If it is that great, why aren't your kids enrolled in one of the PA virtual schools instead of SAHS or EHS? If the internet is the way to keep four schools, why don't we just shut them all down, save all that renovation/maintenance money and run the WCSD Virtual School? Wait...that's right, people aren't really convinced it is the best method of instruction. It is just a bandaid fix to a severely bleeding problem.
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Warrengrad
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11-02-09 10:11 AM
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Sheffield only has one AP class--that is US History for eleventh graders...there are only six students in the class, all girls. I don't know who your son is Tina but he is not in AP history at sheffield...
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aslan7
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10-30-09 10:06 PM
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Thank you.
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tinasm
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10-30-09 9:17 PM
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sheffield is now offering ap classes in history, english and one other subject. my son is a junior and he is taking these classes. the oppurtunity to view and take part in any class in the school district is now possible via the internet when my daughter was a junior and senior in high school in sheffield some students from tidiute took part in her spanish class via cumputer technology and the tv worked out well according to the feedback received from the program
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brianhagberg
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10-30-09 7:27 PM
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aslan: The difference is that AP credits can be used for virtually any college across the country. The credits earned through the St. Bonaventure program would be good for St. Bonaventure, and only those colleges/universities that would accept them as transfer credits. Even if they accept them as credit, they may only count as elective or general education, not necessarily fulfilling a specific class. As one who has transferred from one college to another I can say that having AP credits and specific school credits are definitely different.
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fivealive
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10-30-09 7:24 PM
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I think they are two different things. AP classes offer the chance to test out of req'd college classes. The St Bona classes are true college classes. The AP classes are also what colleges are looking at for admission.
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aslan7
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10-30-09 7:19 PM
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May I ask a question? If the district is offering college classes through St. Bonaventure why is there even a need to offer AP classes? Isn't the result the same, credit for a college class? What am I missing?
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brianhagberg
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10-30-09 6:45 PM
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tinasm: The opportunities that people are referring to are the opportunity to take a wider range of classes that aren't available at this time. I distinctly remember at least three Sheffield students that HAD to come to WAHS if they wanted the opportunity to take AP classes. They would then spend their entire afternoon at WAHS because it made more sense for them to stay then to come for just one or two classes during the day. If you want to name the school Sheffield/Youngsville/Eisenhower High School go ahead, it's a name. The priority should be to give ALL students the best chance of being successful through school and beyond.
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MelissaL
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10-30-09 5:42 PM
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I apologize for making inferences regarding why someone would run for the school board as I find it crazy that anyone would want to be on the board...talk about darned if you do, darned if you don't. I also that understand that there are hard decisions that need to be made, but it always seems like the solution is to close a school in the Sheffield area to help solve the financial problems that we face as a district. I have seen the possible closing of Sheffield Elem and the possible movement of the high school students on and off for years. It gets very tiring worrying about the possibility of this ever few years. As I stated earlier, this is such an emotionally charged discussion because our children are involved. I want my kids to graduate from Sheffield. That is why we have bought a house and made a home here.
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tinasm
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10-30-09 5:32 PM
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could someone please give me and example of how my child's education will improve simply from being moved from sheffield high to warren high--- if it's more highly qualified teachers then maybe the school board should be more selective in the hiring for outlying schools. more oppurtunity some might say i would like to know what oppurtunities they are referring to.
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tinasm
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10-30-09 5:28 PM
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i am not sure how many years ago it was but he warren times observer had a front page story showing the enrollment declines in warren county schools and at that time percentage wise warren high had the highest rate of decreased enrollment. the result of the first study done regarding 4 high schools vs 2 showed more economical to continue as is with 4 high schools, to the tune of another 60 grand with the same results. the monies could have been better spent on school improvements rather than repeating costly studies.
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KAngove
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10-30-09 4:31 PM
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I apologize for the grammar of my last sentence. Trying to do too many things at once .. it should read "While at those meetings I started to become involved.."
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