Tuesday, May 21, 2013
One day after walking out of a Nazareth Area school board meeting, director Chris Miller resigns.
Nazareth Area School Board member Chris Miller has resigned. Miller sent Patch a one-sentence email at 1:31pm today. It said: ”I resigned from the NASD as of today, May 21, 2013.” Patch tried to reach Miller for further comment. Miller, who was outspoken following sexual assault allegations against the middle school drama teacher, was harshly criticized by several school board members Monday night when he left the meeting while it was still in progress. He attended the meeting’s first part, but was not present when the board returned from the gym after watching performances by several student groups. In addition to leaving the meeting, Miller apparently confronted a second-grade teacher in the hallway Monday night after she led a …
Nazareth Area School Board Director Chris Miller leaves Monday night's meeting after student presentations.
Nazareth school board member Chris Miller ruffled feathers Monday night with two actions—one he did for certain and another that he is reported to have done. The action Miller did for certain was leaving the school board meeting unannounced after the first part of the meeting when the board and audience went to the nearby gym to watch presentations by the high school chorus, the indoor color guard and the dance team. The board returned to the board room to resume the meeting but Miller—who expressed disgust over sex assault allegations against the middle school drama teacher—was not there. Board member Darrell Crook called Miller’s disappearance “an insult” to the board “and our kids.” The second action, described by board president Lorin …
Sunday, April 28, 2013
After-school program for grieving students in 4th to 8th grades has been approved by Nazareth Area School Board.
Thanks in part to a professional caregiver with children in the Nazareth Area School District, an after-school program for grieving students in grades four through eight soon will be available in the district. The school board Monday night approved a pilot program—at no cost to the district or families—to be run by Compassionate Care Hospice, described in its website as a “community-based organization” with operations in 21 states. Its local office is on Route 100 in Upper Macungie Township. Meanwhile, board member Chris Miller, who opposes the program, says he inadvertently voted in favor of it because the vote also applied to another, unrelated motion. Miller said he has emailed district business administrator Bernadine Rishcoff, who …
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Chris Miller, a Nazareth School Board member and former history teacher in the Bethlehem Area School District, expressed concern that students aren't getting a healthy enough dose of history.
Nazareth Area School Board heard a former history teacher and a former social studies teacher exchange thoughts about how history is taught and tested in the district. And the board heard a presentation about a high school alumnus who made history and recorded it in a book. The former history teacher is board member Chris Miller, who said he wanted to make sure students are getting enough of a dose of history, particularly local history. The former social studies teacher is Tamara Gary, the district’s director of curriculum whose focus is the humanities. She told Miller she is confident students are getting strong exposure to history and that the district has a strong advanced placement history program in the high school. Gary rattled off …
40.742242
-75.300649
Nazareth Area High School
501 E Center St, Nazareth, PA
/articles/nasd-curriculum-needs-more-history-school-board-member-says
1682988
/locations/8140007
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
The decision to look into individual computer usage will be made by the district's technology department manager, and only with the approval of the superintendent, says Superintendent Dennis Riker.
- GOVERNMENT
- Eric Mark
-
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
The Nazareth School Board adopted a revised policy for Internet usage on district computers at Monday's school board meeting. The revised policy -- in the PDF document attached to this article -- passed unanimously, but not before the board's most outspoken member peppered his colleagues and Superintendent Dennis Riker with questions about how it will be enforced. Chris Miller -- who last month fought and lost a one-man battle to revise the district's dress code -- repeatedly asked how district officials will enforce provisions of the policy that call for “appropriate” usage of the district-wide computer network. “There are several ways we can do that,” Riker said. “If we have good reason… we will look to be sure an individual's Internet …
40.742242
-75.300649
Nazareth Area High School
501 E Center St, Nazareth, PA
/articles/nazareth-school-board-adopts-revised-internet-policy
1682988
/locations/7860406
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Chris Miller, the newest member of the Nazareth School Board, fights lonely battle to teach district students the importance of proper attire.
It looks like there will be no new dress code in the Nazareth Area School District this year. The district school board voted 8-1 on Monday to reject the idea of forming a committee to study the district's current dress code and involve parents, members of the public and school board members in devising a new code. Board member Chris Miller, who made the motion to form the committee, cast the lone vote in favor of the motion. Before the vote, Miller spoke for the second consecutive board meeting of the need to teach Nazareth students the importance of proper attire. “I think we should have a [districtwide] uniform dress code,” Miller said, adding that he did not mean to compel students to wear actual uniforms. “Our children are …
40.742242
-75.300649
Nazareth Area High School
501 E Center St, Nazareth, PA
/articles/school-board-rejects-committee-to-study-nazareth-s-dress-code
1682988
/locations/7674178
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Chris Miller, a member of the Nazareth Area School Board, is concerned that the district's dress code -- which he would also like to see revised -- is not being enforced.
Nazareth Area School Board member Chris Miller wants the district to institute a revised dress code for district students -- and enforce it strictly. Miller, in remarks at Monday's school board meeting, noted that he does not like what he sees when he observes students walking around Nazareth Area schools or getting on or off school buses. “I don't know how well the dress code in Nazareth is watched,” Miller said. “I have observed students not dressed according to the dress code.” Do you share Miller's concerns? If so, what revisions would you propose? The current dress code is located to the right of this article. Miller recalled one day last month, near the end of the school year, when he saw a girl at a school bus stop who was wearing a…
40.742242
-75.300649
Nazareth Area High School
501 E Center St, Nazareth, PA
/articles/nazareth-school-board-member-proposes-revised-dress-code
1682988
/locations/7471832
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Property owners in the Nazareth Area School District -- over the age of 65 -- with income under $35,000 per year are eligible for the “Homestead” property tax rebate program.
Senior citizens on fixed incomes in the Nazareth Area School District got good news on Monday. The district school board approved a “homestead” property tax rebate program for seniors over age 65 with incomes of $35,000 per year or less who own property in the school district. The maximum rebate allowed is $650 -- for those with annual incomes of $8,000 or less. The rebate amount gradually decreases as income level rises. Seniors who make $18,001 to $35,000 per year are eligible for a rebate of $250. The program also applies to widows or widowers of seniors and also to those with permanent disabilities, as long as their annual income does not exceed $35,000. Claims for property tax rebates under the senior homestead program must be filed …
40.742242
-75.300649
Nazareth Area High School
501 E Center St, Nazareth, PA
/articles/nazareth-school-board-approves-senior-tax-rebate-program
1682988
/locations/7255813
Monday, May 21, 2012
Last-minute changes to Nazareth Area School District's 2012-2013 budget reduce the tax hike from 1.9 percent to 1.8 percent.
Nazareth Area School District taxpayers got a sliver of good news just before the district school board adopted the 2012-2013 budget Monday night. Last-minute spending cuts by the district administration reduced the property tax increase in the budget from 1.9 percent to 1.8 percent. The savings -- of about $45,000 in a $68.3 million spending plan -- came from a streamlining of administrative salaries and “a new method of securing supplies,” said Assistant Superintendent Dennis Riker. The millage rate will increase by 0.86 mills, to 48.55 mills, rather than the 0.91 mills projected in the budget proposal the school board discussed last week. Apart from that small savings, the budget did not change from the final proposal. No money will be …
40.742242
-75.300649
Nazareth Area High School
501 E Center St, Nazareth, PA
/articles/nazareth-school-board-approves-1-8-percent-tax-hike
1682988
/locations/7070891
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Maher, 61, a certified public accountant, was well-known as a spending hawk and fiscal watchdog.
- GOVERNMENT
- Eric Mark
-
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Thomas Maher, a longtime member of the Nazareth Area School Board, died suddenly Wednesday morning. Maher, 61, a certified public accountant who lived in Upper Nazareth Township, served as board treasurer. He was an outspoken advocate for fiscal discipline, often casting the lone dissenting vote on budgetary and spending issues. In the Nov. 8 election, Maher was re-elected without contest to another four-year term on the board representing the district's Region 2. He was first elected to the board in 1999 and took office in December of that year. District Superintendent Victor Lesky announced Maher's death in an e-mail Wednesday morning. “I regret to inform the staff that Board member Thomas Maher passed away suddenly this morning,” Lesky…
40.742242
-75.300649
Nazareth Area High School
501 E Center St, Nazareth, PA
/articles/thomas-maher-nazareth-school-board-member-dies-suddenly
1682988
/locations/5925921
Ben Miller
10:02 am on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Rosemary, Chris Miller and I are both members of the same political party. more ›