Karen, just keep right on plowing through this! Your work will pay off. We are all extremely passionate about this issue :)

Karen, it looks like you've gone off the deep end.

Get some help.

We all realize that the only thing that will make you happy is if the Board chose to keep Mattison open.
Now you are doing what all LIBS do who don't get what they want.. you are attacking those who you disagree with personally.
So typical, so expected.
If the Board announced that there are 365 days in a year, you'd object and say that no, there are actually 365.25 days in a year.
We all get it and we all realize that this is just the beginning.

Welcome to 2013.. the start of the new America..

I think you must have misread Karen's post. There were no personal attacks. She said that there were secret meetings held and that holding secret meetings is illegal.

If the board members involved didn't want someone to point out they were doing illegal things, perhaps they shouldn't have done them.

It is evident that someone here has an ax to grind though....it's just not Karen.

How ironic is it that Mattison just started a 'anti bullying campaign' for the students.
I think we need a similar campaign for the Mattison parents.

You may want to re-read your own statements before accusing others of bullying. The Mattison parents have spoken about the issues and their children. You have made personal attacks on the parents, their sanity, and their politics.

Maybe you need to read the various articles on the Patch about the Mattison situation.

The parents are making threats and they are acting like children.

I am defending the process and the Board members. I don't agree with the Board on all issues but this Mattison situation is an embarrassment to the community. Charges of racism and back door deals are sickening.

Get over it. The Board has made their decision. The school is being closed and the kids will be fine. Prepare your kids for what's coming and stop acting like babies.

We agree on one thing, the Mattison situation is an embarrassment.

However, from my perspective, it's embarrassing to have a board that is so disconnected from the will of the people they represent (did you know that board members actually stated that they didn't represent the people of the school district in spite of being elected by the people of the WSD?). It's embarrassing that the school board have made such an important decision in a vacuum of evidence. It's embarrassing that each and every meeting about this closing, the school board proposed a different reason for it because the parents collected evidence disproving the reason that was used in the meeting before. It's embarrassing that we now find evidence that board members have been holding secret and illegal meetings.

There is plenty to be embarrassed about here.

So let's keep the school open. Let's waste money on fixing it up while we have empty classes across the other 4 schools ... let's just throw the money down the drain for 177 kids that is needed for the ENTIRE district and for these 177 after 3rd grade.
You should get what you want just cause we all FEEL BAD.
Isn't that what's this is about.. you guys all cry and scream bloody racism and you get the rest of us to run under our desks .
Who cares about the elected Board or the other thousands of kids in the district.
Let's keep the money flowing.
Bailout City.. why not? The rest of the country seems to be fine with it.. Let's pay now and worry about the bill later. Who cares if the school isn't needed.. KEEP IT OPEN.
What a great future we're leaving for our kids.

Mattison Elementary comprises less than 3% of the WSD budget. There is no fiscal reason to close it.

If fiances were the reason for closing it, why was the first reason given to be "enrollment projections" and then after that the reason given was incorrect evidence of poor performance?

I know, I know, those facts are getting in the way of a good story again.

If there was a valid reason for closing the school, that would have been what the board gave. Instead it was like speaking with a child when they're caught lying, they continue to change their excuses as the discrepancies in their story are exposed.

The FACTS are clear and most of us having been saying this for years. Mattison is not needed, it needs to be upgraded, and it can be rolled into the other schools.
MAYBE the Board wasn't perfect in their process but the result was correct.
I have a good idea. I know of a District near by.. really close by. (Starts in U and ends in UBLIN)
It has some great elementary schools (with no air conditioning) , a crappy Middle School.. and a MECCA of High Schools .
Taxes are higher than Wiss but hey, you can FEEL good when you write the check. Hell it goes to a good cause.. ($125 M High School) and crappy other schools.
Don't worry about all the problems they are having paying their bills or all the teachers that will be laid off or the kids that will ultimately suffer.
You can move there and feel better.
I know of many people who would love to buy your house and send their kids to a good elementary school .
Yes, WSD is not prefect but at least they have a plan, and for now it seems pretty fiscally responsible.

I hate to break it to you, but the current WSD School Board is planning on going down the path of Upper Dublin. They have plans for their own Mecca of a High School. closing Mattison is their first step on that path. (this isn't an opinion, this is part of the plans that the board announced)

You keep insisting you have the facts, yet your posts show otherwise.

@ Stop the madness -- Oh, really? I'm glad you seem to be confident in their "plan"? Please, enlighten us!! What is thier plan, Mrs. Know-It-All?

You seem to be utilizing this 177 children like there aren't enough children to fill Mattison Avenue? You fail to realize that the school board redistricted where children go to school. Do you realize that 1/2 of Ambler attends Lower Gwynedd Elementary so not to close that school down for low population? They have shifted the children around to suit their needs. If everyone went to school in the actual area that they live, then the new buildings wouldn't be feasible and it wouldn't be warranted. There has been discussions in the past that Shady Grove was to close for too old a building and that got nipped in the butt early. But that doesn't mean that it won't come back around - once Mattison Avenue has been virtually sold and there are no possibilities of returning. You don't know what you are talking about. Start with reading school board processes and manipulation that I can actually see as far back as the 60's here. Others can see how the schools in Ambler were shut down and relocated.
And yes UD is in over their head.The school board continued the process to get their names on a plaque at the front door.

Oh.. so this is a big conspiracy that dates back to the 1960's.. now I get it.

Let's take all the schools away from Ambler and make life miserable for the kids and parents.

Everyone is out to get you. You finally figured it all out.

I have discussed the issue.
What attack?

You probably weren't even born yet. Probably live in an apartment and have no financial responsibilities. Let alone children in the school district. Most likely this is the actual case. And because of the way you stir the waters here, I wouldn't be surprised if you knew all or part of the immediate school board. Personally. That should answer Curious me's question perfectly.

Nutty
Don't quit your day job (if you have one.. doubt it)
Your detective skills are pretty bad.

My accusations stay. You don't know anything.

It's incredible how this has turned into a mud slinging witch hunt.

Some of the Mattison families seem to only care about a 4 year period of their child's lives instead of looking at the bigger picture.. ALL 13 years of school..

Most of us who have kids in the district won't see any of these changes . Our kids will be finished school.

Improved schools help the entire community and the Board is finally looking ahead and they seem to have a good plan. Do I know all the details??. do they have it all figured out.??. NO.

The bottom line here people is that SOME of the Mattison parents have taken this way too far. It's not only about THEM and THEIR kids. This is about the future of WSD and ALL the kids in the district.

Let's give the Board a chance to do their job.

OK, really? Why do we have to sling labels and call people names? We, in this country to are allowed to speak freely. It is up to the individual to chose how they speak. I would hope that despite the obvious passion and differing opinions that we could please refrain from name calling. Unless you have a horse in this race, you can't know what we - and I can say we - have been through.So, please excuse us if we are upset. Understand that there are more underlying issues than the ones that seem obvious. Agree to disagree, but please, please stop being so vicious.

here we go again Liz.. exactly what I am referring to .

ME ME ME .. read your comments . It's all POOR ME. Pretty much sums up why the country is in the state it's in.

You can say whatever you want and I do not need a kid at Mattison in order to comment. We are all tax payers and most of us have kids in the district.

Vicious? the nasty comments are coming from the selfish Mattison parents. I am just defending the rest of the community and the Board.

And that makes you the hero of the day ! Yee ~ Hah!

just keeping it real and telling it like it really is