Spring-Ford residents vent tax frustrations at school board

Given a chance to provide their school board with input, Spring-Ford residents did not disappoint.

A parade of residents walked up to the microphones Monday night at the district's 9th Grade Center to vent their frustrations over a potential 7.6 percent property tax increase, faculty salaries that some residents said are too high, and an administrative structure that one attendee referred to as "a Taj Mahal."

Board member Thomas DiBello's announcement that the average Spring-Ford teacher received a total compensation package (i.e., including benefits) of about $93,000 prompted gasps and catcalls from the audience, which filled about three quarters of the seats in the school's auditorium.

Despite the abundance of public comment, the turnout at the meeting disappointed some board members and attendees, who wondered aloud why more parents of district students did not attend.

"I don't know where the parents are," DiBello said.

"I thought there would be people standing out in the hallway," board president Joseph Ciresi said.

We'll expand this story with a selection of public comments and other information later today.