School board reneges on deal
Last week, we recounted an agreement the Pottstown School Board made with Pottstown Council in 1962.
The Pottstown School District would fund and operate the parks and recreation department, and the Borough would fund the library.
The arrangement worked as planned for more than 25 years. The parks and recreation office was in the school district administration building. Its employees were school employees. The school district operated the Ricketts Community Center and Gruber Pool.
Recreation programs used school facilities after hours and in the summers. The district maintained Memorial Park and neighborhood parks.
But in 1990, the school board unilaterally walked away. “We shouldn’t be in the recreation business,” the school board said. Either the borough can take over the parks and recreation department or there won’t be one.
Council was forced to assume the management and expense of parks and recreation.
From a taxpayer point of view, it didn’t make a lot of difference. The boundaries of the borough and the school district are exactly the same. Every citizen who pays taxes to the borough pays taxes to the school district, and vice versa.
But the school board made
an agreement, which it broke without a legitimate reason.
Honesty and responsibility are core virtues we promote in our schools. School boards should lead by example.
Another consideration is each agency’s mission. The school district is in the education business. So are libraries. In fact, the Phoenixville Public Library is funded and indirectly managed by the Phoenixville Area School District.
But typically, school districts confine themselves to residents aged 5 to 18, while public libraries serve residents of all ages.
The parks and recreation department costs the Borough $1 million annually.
The library costs the Borough $172,000 annually.
The Pottstown School District recently received a one-time windfall in federal funding: $13.5 million.
Is it time for the Pottstown School District to fund the public library?