Muhlenberg Seats Vasquez; Conrad Weiser Weighs 4.6% Tax Cap

Miguel Vasquez takes the oath of office tonight as Muhlenberg's newest school board member, three weeks after a divided board appointed him to the seat of S. Wayne Hardy, who died Oct. 4, on a 6-1 vote with one abstention. The oath is item 3.A on the 6:30 p.m. Committee of the Whole agenda. The 7 p.m. regular meeting then votes on letting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sample soil at four district properties for the Exide Superfund investigation, on $129,114.81 in net construction change orders and on a $27,500 aquatics supervisor. Both meetings are in the Lecture Hall at Muhlenberg High School, 400 Sharp Ave., Reading, per the district's meetings page.

In western Berks, Conrad Weiser's board committees meet from 7 p.m. at the high school, where a Budget & Finance attachment shows the state has capped any 2027-28 Conrad Weiser tax increase at 4.6%, worth up to $1,706,725.55, per the 59-page packet. Committee items come back for votes Nov. 18.

Muhlenberg: how the seat was filled

The Oct. 22 special-meeting minutes, up for approval tonight as item 12.A, record all eight remaining members present, Kristyna Eagle and Andrew L. Eaton Sr. by phone (p. 1). Ronald J. Haas Sr. nominated Vasquez; Susan Roeckle nominated Joseph Young (p. 2).

Roeckle said she had watched "the interview that Mr. Vasquez gave to the League of Women Voters" and "had some concerns" (p. 2). The minutes record her telling the board "that Mr. Vasquez is running for state house representative for the 126," that "school choice was his answer right away" to a question about where he could make the most impact, and that on detention centers "Mr. Vasquez responded that he wholeheartedly agreed with detention centers and that was the big red flag for her," adding that "he had formerly worked as a guard at a detention center, the one in Leesport, the Family Detention Center, that was closed" (p. 3). Enrique Castro Jr. responded "as a Hispanic sitting on this board, him working at that detention center is not his concern" (p. 3); his worry was "prior comments that Mr. Vasquez made around school choice and bad comments about public schools" (p. 4). Eaton said "Mr. Vasquez served on the board, if he not mistaken, for four years and the board has enough background on him" (p. 5). Garrett Hyneman said "he would abstain also" and that "he doesn't know enough about the nominees," and Castro noted that Young "was not able to make it to this meeting" (p. 5).

A motion by Castro and Roeckle to table failed 3-5, with Hyneman joining them. The appointment then passed with Eagle, Eaton, Haas, Hyneman, Cindy L. Mengle and Robert Mengle in favor, Roeckle opposed and Castro abstaining (p. 6). The minutes do not record Vasquez or Young attending, and their page headers from page 2 on read "October 14, 2026," although the meeting was Oct. 22.

Roeckle's statement about the House race checks out: the county's unofficial summary of the Nov. 3 election (p. 4) lists Republican Miguel Vasquez with 5,608 votes to Democrat Jacklyn Rusnock's 11,708 in the 126th Legislative District. The appointment came 12 days before that election.

The resolution cites "school code Section 3-315," which requires the remaining members to fill a vacancy "within thirty (30) days thereafter" or lets the court of common pleas do so "upon the petition of ten or more resident taxpayers." The appointee serves "until the first Monday of December after the first municipal election occurring more than sixty (60) days after the vacancy," which would be November 2027's.

Lead testing on school grounds

Item 8.C approves "the consent agreement to allow the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enter the exterior portions of the Muhlenberg School District properties as part of the ongoing remedial investigation" of the Former Exide Technologies Laureldale Superfund site. The attached letter, dated Oct. 19, names 801 Bellevue Ave., 610 Sharp Ave., 400 Sharp Ave. and 801 E. Bellevue Ave., and says the properties "are within the boundaries of the site and entry is needed to determine the nature and extent of site-related contamination" (p. 1). After "decades of fugitive air emissions" from the former battery recycler at 3000 Montrose Ave., "many properties within a 1-mile radius of the site have been identified with lead contaminated soil," and "Lead is a contaminant that is especially toxic to children under the age of seven years old, as well as expectant mothers" (p. 1). Sampling can happen "during non-school hours when no students are present," and consent, revocable by the district, would run through November 2027 (pp. 2-4). EPA asked for the signed form by Nov. 6. EPA put the area on the Superfund National Priorities List on March 7, 2024, per its site page; its health page says arsenic, cadmium and selenium "may be present" too.

Change orders and a parcel

A change order is a written change to a construction contract that adjusts the work and the price. Item 9.A bundles $26,081.11 of electrical items at the high school addition, $111,439.00 of general-construction items at the new 5/6 middle school and an $8,405.30 credit on an earlier change order, for a net $129,114.81. The architects' memos trace $87,274 of the middle school cost to township-required storm-water and ADA parking changes; neither memo states the projects' total cost. Item 9.B releases up to $65,000 of the high school project's soft costs for natatorium benches, bleachers and aquatics items plus $12,594 of furniture for the athletic director's and administrative assistant's offices, an estimated $64,035 that a district memo says does "not increase the amount of the overall project." The board approved the $103,584 asbestos change order on Oct. 14 by a 6-0 vote with Eaton, Hardy and Hyneman absent, per those minutes (pp. 9-10).

Item 8.D approves an agreement moving 2439 Elizabeth Ave., a 2.3-acre parcel assessed at $69,700, to Alsace Township and Oley Valley School District. County mapping shows it entirely in Alsace, but it was assigned to Muhlenberg "decades ago as an accommodation to prior owners of the Property who were employed by Muhlenberg SD at a time when Muhlenberg SD maintained an employee residency requirement" (p. 2). The owners pay the costs, and the switch applies to school taxes no earlier than July 1, 2027, once the owners' survey is done and the county assessment office acts (pp. 3-4). At the county's 2026 rates, the school bill falls from about $2,799 to about $2,318.

Also on Muhlenberg's agenda

• Tonya Spiers, a special-education paraprofessional at the high school, becomes Supervisor of Aquatics, a new post, on Dec. 1 at $27,500 "(year 1)." On Oct. 14, Haas said the job "is a position going to be paid by a grant for three years, after three years the district may need to pay for the position" (committee minutes, p. 8).
• Memorial resolutions for Hardy, "who served as 101st Airborne" and sat on the board for seven years, 2017-2021 and 2023-2026, and for Scott Haines, a teacher and coach from 1972 to 2011.
• No budget, bond or Act 1 item; the state's 2027-28 index table gives Muhlenberg 5.1%, the county's third-highest after Reading and Antietam. The $9 million bond the township took up in September is the township's, not the district's. The board reorganizes Dec. 2 at 6:30 p.m.

Conrad Weiser: the 4.6% ceiling

Act 1 is Pennsylvania's 2006 school property-tax law. Each year the state sets an "index" for every district, and a board that wants to raise taxes by more than its index needs state-approved exceptions or voter approval. "For FY 2027-2028, the base index is 3.6%," per the state's Pennsylvania Bulletin notice of Sept. 5, and the packet's table carries the same note (p. 16); districts whose "market value/personal income aid ratio" is above 0.4000 get more, per the state's index page. Budget & Finance item 4, "Budget 2027-2028," has no motion, only Attachment A-3 (packet pp. 16-21): a state table of Berks indexes with Conrad Weiser highlighted at an aid ratio of 0.5197 and 4.6% (p. 16), a one-page calculation (p. 17) and the state's budget timeline, which makes Jan. 28, 2027 the deadline to publish a preliminary budget or adopt a resolution "indicating that it will not raise the rate of any tax by more than its index" (p. 18), and June 30 the deadline for the final budget.

The calculation multiplies the district's 37.4459 mills by 4.6% for 1.7225 mills, then by $990,836 collected per mill for $1,706,725.55, the most a full-index increase could raise. A mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value; our guide explains the school share of a Berks bill. The county's rate table confirms 37.4459 mills in all seven Conrad Weiser municipalities, so a home assessed at $100,000 pays $3,744.59 now and would pay up to $172.25 more only if the board used the whole index next June. Nothing in the packet proposes an increase.

The packet's table matches the state's spreadsheet but lists 15 of the county's 18 districts; the other three are added below from the state's file. Antietam (5.3%), Governor Mifflin (4.6%), Oley Valley (3.6%) and Brandywine Heights (3.6%) have all taken up resolutions this month.

District	Aid ratio	2027-28 index
Reading	0.8884	5.9%
Antietam*	0.7265	5.3%
Muhlenberg	0.6745	5.1%
Exeter Township	0.5739	4.8%
Conrad Weiser Area	0.5197	4.6%
Daniel Boone Area	0.5343	4.6%
Fleetwood Area	0.5336	4.6%
Governor Mifflin	0.5355	4.6%
Wilson	0.5250	4.6%
Boyertown Area*	0.4401	4.3%
Schuylkill Valley	0.4409	4.3%
Brandywine Heights Area*	0.3830	3.6%
Hamburg Area	0.3414	3.6%
Kutztown Area	0.3680	3.6%
Oley Valley	0.3730	3.6%
Tulpehocken Area	0.2293	3.6%
Twin Valley	0.3957	3.6%
Wyomissing Area	0.3800	3.6%

*Not on the packet's sheet; figures from the state spreadsheet.

Also at Conrad Weiser

• Facilities, 7 p.m., high school LGI: a "Facilities Conditions Assessment" and an "Entech Project Development Update," both discussion with no attachment (p. 4), and an $82,720 Berkshire Systems Group proposal (pp. 48-57) to convert three schools to Genetec door-access control. The agenda says "This will be funded with grant funds" without naming the grant.
• Budget & Finance, 7:30 p.m., LGI: the "Conrad Siegel ACA Proposal for Benefits Consulting in the amount of $6,400," with "no increase from the prior year" (p. 1); the proposal, labeled A-2, is not in the packet. Antietam's board heard the same firm at $5,500 this week.
• Curriculum, 7 p.m., library: a 2027-28 calendar (p. 47) starting Aug. 24, 2027. Human Relations, 7:30 p.m., library: hourly hires at $15.85 to $19.85 and eight employees placed on leave (pp. 5-6). Nothing revisits last month's assistant superintendent appointment.

How to attend or comment

Muhlenberg: Lecture Hall, Muhlenberg High School, 400 Sharp Ave., Reading 19605, at 6:30 and 7 p.m.; each agenda has a Hearing of Visitors near the start and the end, two minutes per speaker. Conrad Weiser: committees at 7 and 7:30 p.m. at Conrad Weiser High School, 44 Big Spring Road, Robesonia, in the rooms the packet's agenda headers give (LGI for Facilities and Budget & Finance, library for the others), each ending with public comment. Votes come at the Nov. 18 meeting at 7 p.m.