Rally For America

Please come out and support us and the troops who protect our country!
Saturday September 25th - Indiana County Fairgrounds Grandstand 6-8 pm
We will be selling Pulled Pork and Hot Sausage sandwiches, Hot Dogs, delicious homemade cookies and treats, and drinks.
Come early to eat - stay for music, speeches, and fireworks
Scheduled - Radio talk show host Jim Quinn
Free Admission
Indiana Armstrong Patriots will be collecting cash donations for the local Soldier's Angel Project

There seems to be a lot of mistruths and rumors being passed around regarding the recent closings of the Creekside/Washington and Canoe-Grant Elementary Schools.
The facts:
It is not an irreversible decision. We are exploring every avenue available to us to help our cause.
The complaint filed in the courts has merit and resulted in a hearing being scheduled for October 14th and 15th.
Poor planning has created a very long list of unsatisfactory events and instances where children are not being afforded the safety and stability that a small community school has always given them.
More money has been spent trying to fix immediate problems resulting from the consolidation than it would have taken to keep the schools open.
Things have not gotten better as the administration has tried to "work the bugs out" this school year. Every day we hear from more parents, students and employees who are seeing the problems firsthand and realize the siuation is getting worse, not better.
We can change this with your help and support.

We have a busy time coming up! Our group has chosen to particiapte in many various events in the next few weeks to help keep the public involved in our fight be heard as a majority in this school district.
Saturday September 25th - Rally For America - Mack Park Fairgrounds - 6-8 PM
We will be there early with delicious pulled pork sandwiches, drinks and cookies available for purchase. Come support us and join the ranks of those who want to be heard!
October 1st, 2nd,and 3rd - Smicksburg Festival - We will be selling yummy chocolate, banana, and pumpkin gobs at the Country Cupboard.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Spaghetti Dinner - Friday Aug 20th 4-7 pm Marion Center Park Hall
$6 Adults, $3 children 6-12, under 5 FREE
Takeout available.
Basket Raffle will also be held.

We will also be at the following events:
Car Show - Sept 19th - Marion Center Park
Indiana/Armstrong Patriots Rally for America-
Sept 25th Indiana Fairgrounds
Smicksburg Festival - Oct 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Marion Center Fall Festival - Oct 8th & 9th

The Marion Center Concerned Taxpayers are continuing to work to save our schools and communities. We are raising funds to pay for legal consultations and associated fees in our fight to preserve the important educational opportunities our children deserve. We would like to invite anyone interested in helping us at numerous upcoming events to contact us by email at mcconcernedtaxpayers@gmail.com

THE SPAGHETTI DINNER WAS A BIG SUCCESS
Thank you to all the people who came out to support our cause. To anyone who bought tickets, donated baskets, and purchased signs and shirts - we are very grateful.
And THANK YOU to all the volunteers - we could not have done it without you.
DON'T FORGET - July 5 - 7 pm - Marion Center Park Hall - monthly meeting
Hope to see you there.
We are still fighting to preserve our community schools and the opportunities they give our children.

BENEFIT SPAGHETTI DINNER
Place: Marion Center Park Hall
Date: Friday, June 25, 2010
Time: 4 pm - 7 pm
Cost: $6.00 [Children 5 and under: FREE]

Help us SAVE our Communities! SAVE our Schools! SAVE our Money!

We can't do it alone - PLEASE ATTEND!

What could consolidation cost YOUR community?

What could the community lose with the school consolidation?
→Loss of swimming lessons for 5th & 6th graders
→Job loss for district residents (16 jobs cut - including 5 custodians & 3 LPNs)
→Loss of family time due to longer bus rides
→Loss of Title I aid for 7th & 8th graders
→Loss of natural daylight in 8 classrooms (including all first grade classes at McCreery)
→Loss of the community school as the hub of activity
→Loss of playgrounds, walking trails, basketball courts, baseball fields
→Loss of parental involvement
→Loss of community-based community services programs
→Loss of the only emergency shelters in the areas around Creekside Washington & Canoe Grant

Upcoming events

Meeting/Rally - Marion Center Park Pavillion -Monday June 7th - 7:00 PM
Benefit Spaghetti Dinner - MC PARK HALL - Friday June 25th - 4 to 7 pm
Advance ticket purchase required - See an MCCT member
Meeting/Rally - Monday July 5th - MC Park Hall - 7:00 pm
Meeting /Rally- Monday August 2nd - MC Park Hall - 7:00 pm

Rally Meeting

For all the residents of the Marion Center Area School District who want to stop the consolidation of our schools and avoid higher taxes -
There will be a rally meeting on Wednesday May 12 at 7:00 pm at the Creekside United Methodist Church.
T-shirts and yard signs will be available for purchase.
Please join us in our commitment to the preservation of our communities and of our children's education!

Please send letters to the following people who are in favor of the school closures:
Gregg Sacco 932 Hastings Rd Marion Center, Pa 15759
Ron Oswald 2484 Grove Chapel Rd Indiana, Pa 15701
Chuck LaVan 978 Getty Rd Marion Center, Pa 15759
Sandy Gandolfi 412 E. Main Street Marion Center, PA 15759
Chuck Glasser 2475 Rayne Run Rd Marion Center, Pa 15759
Dan Fleming ( I am working on this - may be a PO Box in Ernest)
Administrators names and addresses are available at mcasd.net
Please send copies of any "letter to the editor", or just your thoughts and concerns to everyone listed above.
If you don't speak up, how will they know how you feel?

The Marion Center school board voted this evening to consolidate our buildings for the 2010-2011 school year. The high school will house grades 7-12 and the Pre-K thru 6 grade students will be split between the middle school building and Rayne. Their argument is that it will save $750,000 this year, however they could not say that we will see the savings on our taxes. Some of those savings may be needed to restore programs for the 5th and 6th graders that were being cut, but due to public outrage are now being possibly reinstated. They want to do this now, and then look at renovating or rebuilding AFTER more students have been moved into the buildings.
If you have any concerns about the difficulties this reconfiguration and the closing of our small community schools will cause for our children, please email us at
mcconcernedtaxpayers@gmail.com

School Board Meetings

The following school board meetings are scheduled:
Monday April 19th @ 7:00 pm and Monday April 26 @ 7:30 pm
The meetings are open to the public and will be held in the WA McCreery Library
The school board members were elected to represent the residents of this district and they need to know how we feel about the decisions they make. Please attend!

Information for MCASD residents

There are some good articles regarding school consolidations
on the following website www.ruraledu.org
Click on the consolidation link on the right side to read them online or get a pdf file.

VERY IMPORTANT MEETING:
Monday April 5th 7:00 pm
Creekside United Methodist Church
This may be our last chance to make our opinoins known to the school board before they decide to close our local community schools.
Please try to attend and bring anyone with you who has a stake in this crucial situation we are facing.

Please plan to attend the school board meeting tonight - March 15th at 7:00 pm.
This is a BIG meeting! The board is scheduled to discuss which grades will be housed at the high school ( 9 thru 12 OR 7 thru 12) and subsequent school closings and construction issues.
Based on the date of the 780 hearing they could vote at the March 22nd voting session on closing schools.

Wanted to let everyone know that we have an email account for anyone that would like to receive email updates on meetings and other events.
If you are interested in being added to our mailing list, please send your name and email address
to MCConcernedTaxpayers@gmail.com

Scheduled Meetings

February 15
Focus group meeting at WA McCreery School
5:30 pm - open to the public
Followed at 7:30 pm by School Board work session

Welcome

This blog is dedicated to all concerned taxpayers of the Marion Center Area School District.
We will strive to keep all interested parties informed of School Board and Administration decisions that will affect residents, students, and families of this district.
Any information regarding meetings will be posted as soon as the date and time is confirmed.
Please feel free to comment on any posting, and ask questions.