A fact is… lacrosse in our district has taken off like a rocket. If anyone is interested in some standing scores for over the past several years from the girls teams in our district I am sure I can gather this up for you. We boarder the md. county that has excelled in this sport for years. Guess what our girls are smearing them. (with only several years undertheir belts) Also one of our lax teams that has not yet made it to high school , but will be there this fall are going to the Lax Splash next wkend a privledged tornament for those who have proven themselves. Did I mention this team went all season unefeated!!! OH yeah they went undefeated all last season and went to the Lax tourn and not only won it, but was undefeatd there too!! There is a great intrest in our district for this sport. These girls are playing *SCHOOLS* fron all over Md, and Pa. Even back when I was in high school there was alot of different sports to choose. We choose to live in this district, we can chose to move. I am not for hgher taxes, but lets face it if its not a tax hike for this it will be for that. Just take a look over the years. We can t escape taxes anywhere you go. Now I do agree in our dist. things have gotten to be way out of controll, but should the children pay for the adults decissions? We have to keep up with the times, or in this case catch up… in this sports intrest. We have good families here and I love my little community. I dont want to hear any others call us Walnut Grove, because we had to play their school through our rec. team because our school wont get a team!!! This could go on back and forth for the rest of the summer, what is it going to do?? Just cause alot of people to become attaked and others to raise the blood pressures. Our kids are what we need to be looking at here. If it helps 12 kids to stay off drugs and the steets then it was well worth it. Our kids need to be proud of where they are from. In teens and children alot of their pride for their community comes from there school stats. If we can stand out as THE KENNARD DALE RAM LAX TEAM!!
and be well known for it, their sense of pride goes up, which results in higher gpa’s (yes it is proven), and which we have a respectable community that others look apon. I am not trying to ruffle feathers here, just giving my thoughts on this matter. Parents we need to give this a closer look, befor we go Lax bashing. It goes way further than tax issues ... Katgirl
Katgirl,
I don’t think there is any disputing that the lacrosse team is good. I think that the discussion here is where does the spending end? I don’t know how many children you have in the school system, but I would like to talk with you when your kids are out of the system for say 10 years, and then see if your opinions about are the same about just “facing it” about higher taxes.
I have said this before and I will say it again. I OWE the children of the SESD an education. I am a product of public education and it has served me quite well. However, I do not believe that I owe them an (insert extracurricular activity here) in these very difficult economic times. We have a school board that has been tasked with wrangling costs in to control the budget. The last election showed that the voters wanted that done. This decision to fund these new activities and sports seems contrary to their task.
Somewhere in this thread a cost of $1000 per lacrosse player has been mentioned. Would you pay $1000 for your child to play lacrosse for KDHS?
Finally, in my opinion the argument that “If it helps 12 kids to stay off drugs and the steets then it was well worth it.” is a tired and stale argument. I would like to see a statistic that shows that high school athletes have lower occurrences of drug or alcohol use. I have seen the parties that sports teams have, and I have heard kids talk about the “wild parties” that they have attended with the team this weekend. I think of the children every July when I write that big ole’ check to the tax collector and that vein is starting to run dry.
Not flaming you, just putting my opinion into the mix. BTW, I got a solicitation from the booster club for a donation from my business and I am donating.
[BTW, I got a solicitation from the booster club for a donation from my business and I am donating.
thank you - thats what we need more of and its greatly appreciated. We donate to the boosters every year and make sure to hit the concessions every game we attend. If the boosters can get stronger support, we can fund the activities without rasing taxes. Susquehannock has a very strong booster program (of course they have the benefit of more businesses over that way too). Every bit helps. of course, we need to support our local businesses too! its a win-win.
Mark G, I have 3 children in the district. Over the years I have put out alot of cash for them to play sports, gas, to and from, uniforms, reg. fees, sports equip. fund raisers,photos ,doctor bills( un) the list can go on. I will work on finding stats for you on kids who play sports. I do understand your frustrations about not having a child in the district schools, thats a hard one to swallow. I wonder if all Pa districts have school taxes? I never owned a home in Md, but I have a sister in Md and they have 1 real estate tax no other things like per capita, 1% to your township etc… Thats another question if we already pay school tax to live here, why do we pay again to the township> Isn’t that a creative way of double dipping into our pockets???
Sorry, I got away from the subject, anyway I wonder if anyone here against the Lax in our school, is also against the more traditional sports baseball, football, basketball, etc...??? If so, is this because we were brought up on these sports and are considered the norm.? Things change, kids are certainly not as we were. Our job is to be open to them and hear their voices too.
The tax issues will have to be taken up with the proper channels, I have a feeling whatever channel we( the community) decide to take , I don’t think will change a darn thing. For some reason this district is getting un Godly amounts of our monies, and we are still a hardship case. Some people cant even get their roads paved, even after they built a large community and was told after a certain aount of houses are built, then the roads would be paved. Hasn’t happened!! Its been years now. No I don’t live in a commUNity.
I just cant understand where all the friging money goes, I have seen the detailed expenditure list of some things , I just don’t get it>>
Isnt there someone or a group that watches over all the out going money? Getting frustrated , Katgirl
If you live in Stewartstown borough and have the 1% EIT, half goes to the borough and half goes to SESD, it is not a rumor. Your spring property tax goes to the boro, and the fall property tax goes to the school district.
Mark G, I have 3 children in the district. Over the years I have put out alot of cash for them to play sports, gas, to and from, uniforms, reg. fees, sports equip. fund raisers,photos ,doctor bills( un) the list can go on. I will work on finding stats for you on kids who play sports. I do understand your frustrations about not having a child in the district schools, thats a hard one to swallow. I wonder if all Pa districts have school taxes? I never owned a home in Md, but I have a sister in Md and they have 1 real estate tax no other things like per capita, 1% to your township etc… Thats another question if we already pay school tax to live here, why do we pay again to the township> Isn’t that a creative way of double dipping into our pockets???
Sorry, I got away from the subject, anyway I wonder if anyone here against the Lax in our school, is also against the more traditional sports baseball, football, basketball, etc...??? If so, is this because we were brought up on these sports and are considered the norm.? Things change, kids are certainly not as we were. Our job is to be open to them and hear their voices too.
The tax issues will have to be taken up with the proper channels, I have a feeling whatever channel we( the community) decide to take , I don’t think will change a darn thing. For some reason this district is getting un Godly amounts of our monies, and we are still a hardship case. Some people cant even get their roads paved, even after they built a large community and was told after a certain aount of houses are built, then the roads would be paved. Hasn’t happened!! Its been years now. No I don’t live in a commUNity.
I just cant understand where all the friging money goes, I have seen the detailed expenditure list of some things , I just don’t get it>>
Isnt there someone or a group that watches over all the out going money? Getting frustrated , Katgirl
katgirl- No one is anti-lacrosse, I played lacrosse in high school. It is about the spending. The 2 taxes aren’t double dipping because you are funding 2 totally different things, your borough/township, then the school district. I understand the property taxes from the borough/township side, but I don’t like the school tax being a property tax as well. As far as where all the money goes, it’s all out there posted for the public, which makes it frustrating because when you see what is paid for things, we could go out and get them cheaper, the services seem so marked up, and then you hear about new pianos and wooden whatever it was too, it is frustrating. Sorry that it’s getting taken out on lax, but 120k for a field is a bit much on top of everything else.
Does anyone know why the field across from the 7-8 building cant be used as a Lax field? yes Lax would have to share with other sports, but they already do this for alot of sports. Even the rec Lax games are held there. Why do we need a new playing field? Did I miss something?? Katgirl
Does anyone know why the field across from the 7-8 building cant be used as a Lax field? yes Lax would have to share with other sports, but they already do this for alot of sports. Even the rec Lax games are held there. Why do we need a new playing field? Did I miss something?? Katgirl
I don’t think anyone is against Lax or any other sport. We all understand the benefits of kids playing sports. As BevyJean said, it’s the tax dollars being spent on the sports.
The field on the other side of 851 is rented to the Rec center and therefore, SESD cannot use it. The football field is currently used for soccer in the Spring. The new field will be a multi-purpose field, not just for LAX.
To answer a question posed to Markg—yes, the resolution will help. I was at the Buildings & Grounds Committee meeting tonight. Dr. Shank said several times, no money from the budget will be used for any (new) sports. The sports booster club is working on a sponsorship for a new scoreboard. The sponsor will pay 100% (poles, wiring, board, etc.) In addition, SESD is looking into a Capital Campaign whereby donations from individuals, businesses and corporations will be accepted to pay for a stadium. Again, not from taxpayer dollars. They will eventually look into sponsor signs to pay for maintenance. All of this info was very welcome news.
I again urge the community to attend the various Committee meetings. This is where the details are shared and you can provide input.
If you live in Stewartstown borough and have the 1% EIT, half goes to the borough and half goes to SESD, it is not a rumor. Your spring property tax goes to the boro, and the fall property tax goes to the school district.
The majority of the spring tax goes to York County.
Spring tax bill goes to the following (and is line itemed on your bill):
County (largest amount)
Municipality in which you reside (next smallest amount)
Per Capita to the municipality in which you reside
Fall tax bill:
School district in which you reside
YAITB 1% “local” tax paid with your income taxes in April:
1/2% goes to the municipality in which you reside
1/2% goes to the school district in which you reside
YAITB is a “company” formed by all the local municipalitires and school disticts to make collections easier. It decreases the number of checks an employer has to send out each month when they collect from employees. Even that not withstanding, many out of state employers do not collect it. Don’t forget to set that money aside or pay it quarterly.
Spring tax bill goes to the following (and is line itemed on your bill):
County (largest amount)
Municipality in which you reside (next smallest amount)
Per Capita to the municipality in which you reside
Fall tax bill:
School district in which you reside
YAITB 1% “local” tax paid with your income taxes in April:
1/2% goes to the municipality in which you reside
1/2% goes to the school district in which you reside
YAITB is a “company” formed by all the local municipalitires and school disticts to make collections easier. It decreases the number of checks an employer has to send out each month when they collect from employees. Even that not withstanding, many out of state employers do not collect it. Don’t forget to set that money aside or pay it quarterly.
katgirl- No one is anti-lacrosse, I played lacrosse in high school. It is about the spending. The 2 taxes aren’t double dipping because you are funding 2 totally different things, your borough/township, then the school district. I understand the property taxes from the borough/township side, but I don’t like the school tax being a property tax as well. As far as where all the money goes, it’s all out there posted for the public, which makes it frustrating because when you see what is paid for things, we could go out and get them cheaper, the services seem so marked up, and then you hear about new pianos and wooden whatever it was too, it is frustrating. Sorry that it’s getting taken out on lax, but 120k for a field is a bit much on top of everything else.
Just to update you, I understand that the soccer coach jumped up and down and now the ‘new’ field will be strictly for soccer. He made a big announcement at the soccer banquet that he fought long and hard for a new soccer field. So, you can quit dumping on the lax girls and take aim at the soccer team instead! Luckily, the lacrosse team could care less what field they get to play on. Just that they get to play for good ‘ole KD. BTW, I am also told that he showed everyone a picture of the new scoreboard (shaped like a soccer ball) that will be put up there. And possibly lights! Seems like someone gave him some money (not the school district).
