SUS
Vol. 76 No. 22, June 2, 1976
QUEHANNA TTMES
Maytown school cuts
2 teachers from staff;
parents told building
won’t close in 76-77
Two of the twelve teach-
ing positions at Maytown
School will be eliminated
next fall, and part of the
building may be closed
down, school officials told
parents at a meeting last
week.
The officials assured pa-
rents that Maytown School
will not be shut down in
1976 or 1977. The possibi-
lity of closing the school
has been discussed by the
school board, but was
rejected for immediate fu-
ture.
The revelations were
made at a meeting of the
Maytown Parents and
Teachers in Partnership.
School Board member Dale
Arnold, Maytown principal
James Lawrence, -and
school superintendent
Ragnar Hallgren attended
the meeting to explain: the
situation to parents and
answer questions.
The reason for the plan-
ned cutbacks is an austerity
budget which has been
tentatively approved by the
Donegal School Board. The
board, faced with rising
costs and a loss of state
money, would have had to
pass a 20 mill tax increase
to keep the present number
of teachers on the payroll.
The board plans a tax
increase of only 7 mills.
A total of 112 jobs were
eliminated in the new
budget, including 4Y2
teaching positions. May-
town School lost 2 of those
positions. Enrollment at
Maytown School has been
dropping faster than en-
rollment at other elemen-
tary schools in the district,
so Maytown was chosen to
absorb the biggest loss of
teachers.
Both teachers who will
lose their jobs were hired
earlier this year as ‘‘sub-
stitutes.’
No final decision has
been made on the possibi-
lity of closing part of the
Maytown School building
next fall. The amount of
money available for heating
and maintaining school
buildings will not be known
until negotiations with
teachers’ and custodians’
unions are completed this
summer,
If the teachers and cus-
todians win a large salary
increase, less money will
be available for maintain-
ance, according to an
informed source. The
school board’s austerity
budget, which will be
passed before negotiations
begin, is roughly based on
current salaries.
Parent group leaders
fear school closing;
urge letter campaign
John L. Biesecker and
Harold L. Wilson, Co-
chairmen of the Maytown
Parents and Teachers in
Partnership, are urging pa-
rents to write letters to
individual school board
members, asking them not
to shut down Maytown
Elementary School.
School officials assured
parents that the school will
not be closed in the next
two years, but said that
whether the school remains
open indefinitely will de-
pend on future develop-
ments.
Mr. Biesecker feels that
the school board wants to
test how the people of
Maytown feel about the
possibility of losing their
school. He urges everyone
concerned to write letters
to the school board mem-
bers.
If Maytown School is
closed, students would
probably be bused to Riv-
erview Elementary School
in Marietta, where some
classrooms are now empty.
Combining the two schools
would save money.
Ratph M. Snyde
RD, op DE
Mount Joy, PA 17552
Susquehanna Times & T
MARIETTA & M(
op /
er?
Ww
Grandview students released hundreds of red, white
and blue balloons last week in what may have been the
first really big celebration of the Memorial Day
8 8 goons 8 < = pe FS a 9 R . a 1 3
Young spectator marches along with Donegal High School Band during
the Marietta Memorial Day parade.
FIFTEEN CENTS
weekend. Each balloon had a card with one student’s
name and address attached to the string. See story on
Memorial
Day
Memorial Day was cele-
brated with parades, mili-
tary ceremonies, and
church services. in Mount
Joy, Maytown and Marietta
last weekend.
There were fire carni-
vals and flea markets.
Mount Joy received the
borough’s first official flag
at the Memorial Day ser-
vice in Memorial Park.
Pictures and stories
about most of these events
can be found inside this
newspaper.
New office
for District
Justice
District Justice Raymond
B. Knorr’s office is now
open in a new location at
775 Donegal Springs Road,
Mount Joy, at the corner of
South Market Avenue.