Lower Merion School District Screws Up Again?

Ayup, can't swing a cat (not that I would, mind you, just a figure of speech)and not see Lower Merion School District looking like jackasses on television and in the papers today...Oh boy, they did it, they really did it this time: Lower Merion School Board voted to be the fiscally irresponsible, black hearted, uncaring prickish pigs that they are.

Lower Merion School District has ignored the walkers in Lower Merion...and they will be busing....call me crazy but they probably will get sued for being a bunch of racists, right?

From overpriced school rebuilding to other LMSD drama, these are folks in need of a takeover by someone. But will Fast Eddie Spendell intervene on the part of the people affected? After all, Lower Merion is a Harrisburg power base, right? Stay tuned and fasten your seat belts, it's gonna be a bumpy ride! My guess is this is far from over.


Tue, Jan. 13, 2009
Lower Merion school board approves redistricting plan
By Bonnie L. Cook
Inquirer Staff Writer

After months of controversy, the Lower Merion school board voted last night to adopt a redistricting plan that would bus students in some areas of the township to Harriton High School, although they could walk to Lower Merion High.

The plan, approved by a 6-2 vote during a raucous two-hour public meeting that included accusations of "institutional racism," balances enrollment between the district's two new high schools by forcing pupils in narrow strips of South Ardmore, North Narberth and Penn Valley to attend Harriton, though Lower Merion High is closer to their homes....The only possible impediment could be 32 complaints that were filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Education late last year by residents of South Ardmore, according to community member Ivan Haskell.

The complaints allege that the African American community has been unfairly singled out to bear the brunt of redistricting, and that that constitutes discrimination, Haskell said.

The department could not be reached for comment, but Haskell said he had been told the complaints were on hold until after last night's vote.

The redistricting controversy has given rise to several activist groups. One is called Narberth Walks, and its red-and-white signs can be seen along roadways in Narberth and Ardmore.

A second is led by the Rev. Albert G. Davis Jr., pastor of Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Ardmore and president of the Main Line Branch of the NAACP.

The Ardmore group has concentrated on letter-writing and gathering signatures on petitions opposing plan 3-R. Both groups have been active in picketing and testifying at school board meetings.

Citizens have argued that the plan divides South Ardmore and Narberth, creating small pockets of students who are isolated from their peers once they attend high school.

NBC10:Lower Merion Approves Unpopular Redistricting Plan

Protesters lined the sidewalks in front of Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pa. Monday night to show their distaste for a plan to shuffle around the student bodies of the township's two high schools.
...In the end, the school board voted 6-2 to approve the plan.

Narberth and South Ardmore, predominately African-American neighborhoods, are most affected by the plan.

Also, some parents will no longer have a say in which high school their student attends, depending on where in the township they live.

The plan will not affect students currently enrolled in either school. It will go into effect in fall 2009.

Opponents say they may seek legal action to overrule the decision.