Dear Commissioners and School Board Directors,
I have emailed you at various times about situations that were embarrassing moments for the community. We have a commissioner who lied about paying his taxes and yet voted on issues that affected all of us. We have a school board president who apologized for not citing all of her sources and the school board does nothing about it, yet all vote on policies that affect our students. We have a candidate for Ward 1 who thinks nothing of running for commissioner and has a criminal record. And now we have a swimming coach who is charged with leaving his five and seven year old children alone in a car. Yet, when I bring up these situations, I become the issue. Why is that?
Must you create new policies or update our comprehensive plan Home Rule Charter for our leaders, or at some point, should our leaders take responsibility for their actions?
Elaine Gillen
Update September 13, 2011 4:20 p.m. Mt. Lebanon suspends coach accused of leaving kids in car
Are you talking about this, Elaine?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wpxi.com/news/29133898/detail.html
Sarah Morris
Sarah, as soon as I answer your question, you will hear the sound of cowards crawling out of the woodwork taking their shots at me, but here it goes. Yes.
ReplyDeleteIn two instances, people have come to me anonymously and asked me to bring information to the public's attention. Mission accomplished.
You won't be hearing words like B.S., stooping to such levels, axes to grind, etc., on this thread because I will not be accepting anonymous comments.
Elaine
If he leaves his kids alone in the car will he leave your kids unattended in the swimming pool? Sarah Morris
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wpxi.com/news/29133898/detail.html
cut, paste listen
Our leaders don't need "No Parking" signs on the stadium turf to know that they can't park their cars there. Since there aren't any "No Idling Zone" signs on the track, doesn't mean that we are allowed to idle.
ReplyDeleteOur community IS losing its lustre, but not for reasons that were mentioned in recent newspaper editorials.
Of late, our newspapers revealed a former commissioner who claimed double exemptions on his homes, a cross country coach acting inappropriately with a student, a swimming coach endangering the welfare of his children, a school board president and professional caught plagiarizing by definition using the District's standards, a teacher as an online child preditor, a mismanaged renovation, outrageous tax increases, which is prior to the press getting wind of a candidate's criminal record.
It is unfortunate that people choose to attack you instead. Therein lies the problem.
Judy Harris
Ms. Harris:
ReplyDeleteThe problem therein is we elect people who are above the law. Something happens to them after they get elected. It goes to their head. Cheryl Owens
I just deleted a comment that was submitted anonymously. Please sign your name and resubmit.
ReplyDeleteElaine
Here's a perspective from someone who doesn't usually agree with Elaine on policy issues (well, almost never). The four items mentioned in the post are all a little different. Let's take a look one by one:
ReplyDelete1. Posti and plagiarism. I believe it's true (as Tom Moertel suggested) that almost anything would cause Ms. Gillen to call for Ms. Posti's resignation. I, on the other hand, agree with Ms. Posti on most policy issues. I think, however, the incidents of plagiarism on the blog probably should lead to Ms. Posti's resignation from the board. However, as Mr. Moertel has also pointed out, demanding that the Policy Committee of the Board take action doesn't make sense. This is not their job.
2. Brown. This one is easy. Assuming Ms. Gillen's info is correct (and it certainly appears so to this observer), a blog journalist bringing out a candidate's criminal record (and an allegedly violent one) is an obvious thing to do.
3. DeIuliis and his taxes. Again, if the info is accurate, who could complain about a political opponent raising the issue in a campaign or even about a citizen raising the issue before the Commission (though they probably have limited authority to act against their members).
4. Schraven leaving kids alone in a car. Again, linking to that story (as Blog Lebo did) or referring to it (as Ms. Gillen did) seem pretty much a no-brainer for a blog journalist. It's what they do. I'm unclear, though, about the swim coach angle. Who employs Mr. Schraven? Is it the school district or municipality? If not, then I'm not sure of the purpose or efficacy of including him in the open letter (other than in a sort of "Mt. Lebanon is going to hell-in-a-handbasket" sort of way).
In general, then, my perspective (again, as someone who disagrees with Ms. Gillen on almost every policy issue) is that these are important things to be raising via a blog. I'm not always sure that she pursues the right avenues for redress (sometimes, you just have to settle for influencing public opinion).--Neil Berch
OK, so further research suggests Mr. Schraven is employed by both the school district and the aqua club (I guess I'm the only one who didn't know that!!). In that case, it certainly is a matter for the school board to address, with due process. I'm not sure what I think the outcome should be without hearing both sides.--Neil Berch
ReplyDeleteBut you disagree so nicely, Neil. B>)
ReplyDeleteLet's go item by item.
1. After it was written about on my blog, in the Trib, and also was sent via emails, there was never a peep from any of the SB directors. Since I was at the Policy meeting and knew that I couldn't attend Monday evening meetings due to work conflicts, I felt that I would approach this as an opportunity for any of the Board members to step up to say, "This is an important issue and we will take it back to the Board for further discussion." But that didn't happen. I doubt that it will be mentioned at tomorrow's meeting.
2. Thank you. Enough said on that one.
3. I presented the proof at a Commission meeting. There is nothing in the Home Rule Charter that says you have to be current on your taxes. It goes without saying.
4. Here is the link which should answer your question.
http://www.mtlsd.org/district/athletics/highschoolcoaches.asp
Hope that helps, Neil.
Elaine
Here is the rest of the link that didn't get printed.
ReplyDeletehighschoolcoaches.asp
Elaine
If I didn't have a prior commitment during tomorrow's meeting, I would have brought up the Posti plagiarism. I hope a teacher, a parent, a grandparent, or all of the above raises this issue. Jodie Gallagher
ReplyDeleteJodie, I do too. On tomorrow's agenda, residents' comments aren't until the end of the meeting.
ReplyDeleteVIII. Questions or Comments from Residents – Presentations or comments are to be limited to (5)
minutes.
Elaine
Judy Harris, Thank you for a wonderful job of summarizing recent news articles about the District.
ReplyDeleteSome other items are:
1) Dropping test scores, and
2) The Constituent Satisfaction Survey failed to show improvement in any category reported in 2010 vs. 2007; if fact the School Board satisfaction was not reported at all in 2010 so we don't know if that score dropped too, and
3) The Policy Committee now finds it necessary to draft a Substance Abuse Policy.
John Ewing
I am not from Mt. Lebanon, but was considering moving my family here.
ReplyDeleteI have been following this blog for some time now. Where I live, plagiarism is not taken lightly. As an outsider looking in, I think I have seen enough.
Wendy Hudson
Mr. Ewing the constituent satisfaction survey that showed no improvement happened in 2010 under President Ed Kubit who is running for reelection.
ReplyDeleteBill Hook
Just a heads up, folks, in case someone wants to bring up this up tomorrow night.
ReplyDeleteTonight, Josephine Posti emailed me, along with the rest of the board AND the Commission her definition of plagiarism. She wrote, "Plagiarism involves taking credit for someone else's work, doing it without their permission and receiving a grade or compensation in return."
Page 13 of the Student & Parent Handbook says nothing about receiving a grade or compensation in return. http://www.mtlsd.org/highschool/stuff/parentstudenthandbook.pdf
Elaine
Grrrr. The links never work for me in a comment. Go to the link in a previous thread, "Can your kid get away with this?"
ReplyDeleteElaine
Wendy,
ReplyDeleteI'm really sorry to hear you say that. I hope that this blog hasn't given you a solely negative impression of the community, though.
I have lived here my entire life and I can tell you personally that there is a lot of good here. Good that doesn't always show in the news on this and other community blogs (or in the tone of the ensuing comments, for that matter).
Nevertheless, some of the best good, in my opinion, comes from the concerned and motivated discussion taking place here. There are a lot of people in this town who want only the best and are working hard to influence that outcome. The public discussion, good or bad, is working to increase awareness and ensure that the town leadership is held in check. And isn't that exactly what the founders of the country wanted?
I can't say whether or not you're right to be put off, or whether you've found a place that's free from issues such as these. But I hope that, regardless, you're just as fortunate to benefit from full disclosure, and are making your choice with complete information. As bad as it seems - it's worse when no one even realizes, right?
Whatever Mrs. Posti calls it, it looks bad. It looks bad for our schools; it looks bad for our community. And that the president of the school board, the last person on earth the public would expect to make our schools and community look bad, did – and is now apparently trying to pretend she didn't – makes it look worse.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't about plagiarism. It's about the public servant who leads a treasured local institution doing the exact opposite of what that institution stands for. And then not seeing her conduct as a problem.
If Mrs. Posti doesn't accept responsibility for what she actually did – making our schools look bad while she was uniquely entrusted to speak for them – she will cast doubt upon the integrity of our school leadership. And that will force the rest of the school board to accept responsibility for her to protect the reputation of our schools. And if they won't accept responsibility, ...
It just looks bad.