Colonial School Board to Select Solicitor on January 4th

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All Around | Education , Local News

January 3rd, 2018 | By Kevin Tierney

Remember the stink before the holidays about the Colonial School Board and it issuing a RFP for solicitor? If you don’t, watch the video here (start at 20:00). An update was put out by the School Board over the holidays about the RFP. It reads:

The Colonial Board of School Directors wishes to provide an update on its review of solicitor services. The Board issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on December 5 and also contacted the top public school solicitors serving school districts in Montgomery County. All five firms that submitted proposals have been interviewed by the Board and administration.

“We wanted to conduct our due diligence to make sure that Colonial is getting the best possible service for the value,” said School Board President Felix Raimondo. “We were pleased with the firms that responded to the RFP and were impressed with their presentations.”

The firms interviewed by the Board included Fox Rothschild, LLP – Rudolph Clarke, LLC – Sean Kilkenny with Dischell Bartle Dooley, P.C. – Sweet, Stevens, Katz and Williams, LLP – and Wisler Pearlstein, LLP.

The Board will consider a new agreement for solicitor services at a special public meeting on January 4, 2018 at 7 p.m. in the District Office General Meeting Room located in Colonial Elementary School, 230 Flourtown Road in Plymouth Meeting.

We spent a couple hours researching all the school districts in the county and who is appointed as solicitor at each one. Here is the list:

  • Wissahickon School District – Jeffrey T. Sultanik (Fox Rothschild)
  • Colonial School District – Jeffrey T. Sultanik (Fox Rothschild)
  • Upper Merion School District – Jeffrey T. Sultanik (Fox Rothschild)
  • Souderton Area School District – Jeffrey T. Sultanik (Fox Rothschild)
  • Spring-ford Area School District – Mark Fitzgerald (Fox Rothschild)
  • Boyertown School District (partially in Berks) – Jeffrey T. Sultanik (Fox Rothschild)
  • Springfield Township School District – Jeffrey T. Sultanik (Fox Rothschild)
  • Pottstown School District – Stephen H. Kalis (Fox Rothschild)
  • Pottsgrove School District – Marc Davis (Fox Rothschild)
  • Upper Dublin School District – Kenneth Roos (Wisler Pearlstine)
  • Lower Merion School District – Kenneth Roos (Wisler Pearlstine)
  • Abington School District – Kenneth Roos (Wisler Pearlstine)
  • Upper Perkiomen School District – Kenneth Roos (Wisler Pearlstine)
  • Cheltenham School District – Kenneth Roos (Wisler Pearlstine)
  • Jenkintown School District – Justin O’Donoghue (Wisler Pearlstine)
  • North Penn School District – Frank Bartle (Dischell Bartle Dooley)
  • Hatboro Horsham School District – Jack Dooley (Dischell Bartle Dooley)
  • Methacton School District – Eric Frey (Dischell Bartle Dooley)
  • Perkiomen Valley School District – Bruce Castor (Castor and Rogers)
  • Norristown Area School District – Michael Clarke (Rudolph Clarke)
  • Lower Moreland School District – Pool of Lawyers (Sweet, Stevens, Katz, and Williams)
  • Bryn Athyn School District – Couldn’t determine

As you can see, the Colonial School District’s current solicitor, Jeffrey T. Sultanik of Fox Rothschild, serves as the solicitor in six school districts and all together Fox Rothschild handles nine.

Kenneth Roos of Wisler Pearlstine is the solicitor for five school districts. His law firm represents six districts all together.

Dischell Bartle Dooley, which has three attorneys representing school districts, has partnered with Sean Kilkenny on its proposal. Kilkenny , who is the elected Sheriff of Montco and serves as solicitor for several municipalities, doesn’t have any education clients in Montco, but is the solicitor for the Bristol School District in Bucks County.

Everyone else represents just one, including Michael Clarke of Rudolph Clarke (who donated $2,500 to Building Colonials Future, the campaign of four recently elected school board members).

Were not sure what defines “top,” but it based on our research, the Colonial School District currently has the most sought after education attorney in the county.

What is also strange is that the agenda item for states the contract is only good from January 5th through June 30th. Two members of the school board stated on social media and at the reorganization meeting in December that the current solicitor has an agreement through June. So that needs to be addressed.

The special meeting (because this is such a pressing issue) to select a solicitor will be held on Thursday, January 4th at 7:00 p.m.