2
3
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Taxes won’t go up in Mount Joy —page 10
School Board -page 5
Vol. 77 No. 48 December 14, 1977
Mouiit Joy
rate hike delayed
The Mount Joy Borough
Authority heard a report on
the financial condition of
their water project at their
last meeting. They also got
some good news.
The proposed 14% water
rate increase will not be
necessary at this time. The
increase was to have taken
effect on January 1st, but
now the Authority says it
won’t need the increase
until later, after the end of
this fiscal year next April.
At that time, the Authority
will take another look at its
financial condition and
make a new decision.
In other business, an
agreement - with Rapho
Township is ready to be
signed by the Rapho
supervisors. The document
will allow Mount Joy to
provide sewer service to
the Meadows apartment
complex just east of the
borough limits. The agree-
ment calls for service to
152 units in that complex.
The Meadows is the only
such area serviced by the
Mount Joy Authority at this
time.
Mount Joy will not pay
any installation costs for
the Meadows’ sewers. The
borough will be paid a rent
for processing the sewage.
[continued on page 9]
Susquehanna Times & The Mount Joy Bulletin
MARIETTA & MOUNT JOY, PA.
How it feels
“It’s like waiting
to go to the gas chamber.”
Joyce Reimherr Perry
to run a radio talk show
story on back page
vy
SUSQUEHANNA '} IMES
FIFTEEN CENTS
FREE! FREE! FREE!
And now the good news:
Mayor Flanagan has
announced that all metered
parking in Marietta will be
FREE until January 3rd.
Now you can spend your
last dime on Christmas
presents.
Marietta Ambulance
needs $20,000
The Marietta Ambulance
has answered 181 calls
this year — and their old
ambulance is getting tired.
A new one will cost 20,000
dollars, and the crew pians
to start a big fund drive
soon to raise money.
At their last meeting, the
ambulance crew unani-
mously re-elected Steve
Bailey as operations chief.
Sgt. Steve Englert was
elected assistant chief and
Charles Marley was elected
training officer.
The crew trained on their
new portable suction unit.
The unit, which cost $240,
can be used to clear a vic-
tim’s respiratory tract of
blood or vomit. ‘‘It’s an
expensive, but necessary
piece of equipment,” says
Mr. Bailey.
The crew also trained on
their new burn kit.
An appreciation banquet
for the crew will be held
next Saturday at the
Colonial Inn. The fund
drive will get underway at
that banquet.
5 @ ® 9 @ :
Sib cr ski S hearing before the Donegal School Board —6 hours of legal debate
{ERY EA n a. a " —--
v ENR EG ws TET esate
The meeting started at 8
PM, but around 9, three
lawyers trooped into the
room and took over.
For six hours, their ob-
jections, motions, and legal
haggling filled the air, and
by three in the morning,
the board members were
having visible difficulty
keeping their eyes open.
Mr. Siberski, who was
fired by the board on
Superintendent Hallgren’s
advice last month, was
accompanied by his attor-
ney and a PSEA represent-
ative. Mr. Wagonseller
represented the administra-
tion, and another lawyer,
Mr. Kagle, presided over
the hearing in the manner
of a judge.
The hearing took the
form of a trial, with the
school board acting as a
jury.
In fact, the attorneys
seldom addressed the
school board directly. Mr.
Siberski and the lawyers
were the only people in the
room who were able to
muster a sustained interest
in the proceedings.
In fact, most of legal
wrangling seemed aimed
not at the ‘‘jury,’’ but at
the record, in case the
question goes to court on
appeal (which will happen
if the board doesn’t
reinstate Siberski, a dis-
tinct possibility.)
In spite of this circum-
stance, several bleary-eyed
reporters from local news
media sagged in uncom-
fortable chairs throughout
the legal ordeal.
Mr. Hallgren was sworn in
as the first witness by the
shorthand man. He made
the following points:
Each teacher is responsible
for obtaining his own certi-
ficates;
Harrisburg will not accept
certification forms, which
i must be filed on Nov. 1st
each year, without official
transcripts;
He claimed that Mr.
Siberski had promised
repeatedly to get the
needed documents, but had
failed to do so by the 17th
of November, when he was
told not to come back;
Mr. Siberski’s long overdue
transcripts from Millersville
State had arrived since the
firing, but no transcripts
from the Colorado school
were in yet.
Mr. Hallgren at one
point was stopped by Mr.
Scott, when he stated that
the correspondence courses
taken by Mr. Siberski from
the University of Northern
Colorado were making a
““mockery’’ of post grad-
uate education.
Mr. Scott objected that
Hallgren was not qualified
to pass judgement on
courses offered by an
accredited university. The
objection was sustained by
Mr. Kagle.
Scott asked Hallgren if
he had ever let a teacher
keep his job without proper
transcripts before. Mr.
Hallgren said he didn’t
remember. Mr. Scott then
refered him to the case of
Kermit Norris, who is now
a teacher at Donegal. Mr.
Wagonseller objected. Hag-
gling ensued. Finally Hall-
gren was directed to
answer the question. He
replied that he ‘‘probably”’
had let Mr. Norris teach
without proper certification,
but said that the state is
much stricter now on such
matters.
Hallgren said that he had
requested ‘‘emergency cer-
tification’ for Siberski by
phone, but did not file a
formal request because he
was told he wouldn’t get it.
Hallgren charged that
Siberski had offered him a
‘“‘deal,’’ saying he would
drop tne Human Relations
charges of discrimination in
return for reinstateme it.
Mr. Scott, on the basis
of mentions of Siberski in
the board agenda, showed
that the firing was not
contemplated until shortly
before the meeting.
After Hallgren, Mr.
Norris testified that he had
taught special education for
one year at DHS without a
special education certifi-
cate.
Mr. Siberski next took
the stand. Mr. Scott, by
questioning him and pro-
ducing documents
proved that the story
Siberski had given the
press was true. Siberski
had indeed been sick; had
paid for transcripts to be
sent from Millersville years
ago; and proved that he
had made an effort to
obtain the proper docu-
ments for certification. It
was also brought out that
Siberski had begun teach-
ing at Donegal prior to
getting his certificate. In
fact, he did not even
officially graduate before
he started teaching.
The three-year story of
Siberski’s failure to get the
transcripts was complex. A
large part of his explana-
tion was based on his
health problems (obesity,
hypertension, and fainting
spells). All the medical
excuses were documented.
Besides the lost tran-
script from Millersville and
the ‘‘quarter-credit’’ mixup
at the University of
Northern Colorado, and his
health problems, Siberski
testified that is mother
had had a heart attack just
before his final exam for
the Colorado school.
While Wagonseller was
cross-examining Siberski on
the chronology, Mr. Scott
(who had appeared to be
the most alert person in the
room) suddenly began
rubbing his eyes and asked
for an end to testimony in
consideration of the late
hour. Mr. Kagle, who
perhaps recalled Scott’s
earlier statement that he
would go till S in the
morning in the interests of
justice, overruled his re-
quest. Mr. Wagonseller
smirked at this point.
In their concluding re-
marks, the attorneys made
these summaries of their
cases:
Mr. Scott claimed to
have shown that Siberski
had made an effort to keep
his position. To a relatively
objective non-lawyer, he
seemed to have indeed
shown this. (Mr. Siberski’s
obvious anxiety during the
hearing indicated that he
was at least concerned
about getting his job back.)
Mr. Scott also brought
up certain previous cases
as precedents. In one case,
a teacher had produced the
transcripts but had not
obtained the certificate
itself. He was re-instated.
In another case Mr. Scott
mentioned, a woman had
taken a year’s maternity
leave, and the courts had
[continued on page 7]