More on the staff planning team

For those of us who do not receive the Almanac, this appeared in the 11-16 issue.  In hindsight, it may have been more helpful to consider what we are spending in bricks and mortar "and then have the staffing team take a look. In addition to the impact on programs, we have contractual obligations that would need to be touched on." Like an over the top high school renovation, Josephine.


Mt. Lebanon team explores HR savings

Mt. Lebanon schools could save more than $5 million through radical reorganization, according to a presentation at the Nov. 14 meeting.

The presentation was made by the district's staffing review team, a committee cochaired by director of human resources Steve Scheurer and assistant superintendent Dr. Deborah Allen. The team was tasked with examining human resources deployment across the district and coming up with suggestions for cost savings.

"We asked them to consider everything, keep everything on the table, even if it might be uncomfortable," said school superintendent Dr. Tim Steinhauer.

Suggestions were broken down into three broad categories: low, medium and high impact options. The low-impact category contained everything from "gimme" savings resulting from the high school renovation (from reduced square footage) to a one-year pay freeze for employees.

The other end of the spectrum, the high-impact range, included the closing of an elementary school and redistricting of remaining buildings. That plan would create three K-two schools and three other grade three-five buildings.

The option of combining both the English grammar and literature curricula into a single program of study was also suggested.

Steinhauer stressed that the presentation consisted of ideas and ideas alone--administration would not be implementing the committee's findings next school year, if ever. In effect it amounted to a "blue sky" brainstorming session.

"These are difficult conversations to have," he said, "but that's the task we gave them."

School board president Jo Posti said, "in hindsight it may have been more helpful to first review programs and then have the staffing team take a look. In addition to the impact on programs, we have contractual obligations that would need to be touched on."

The staffing review is the latest in an ongoing series of reports, which have examined everything from utility efficiency to revenue generation. A murky legislative climate and future pension obligations are applying financial pressure to districts all over the state, though to date Mt. Lebanon has been spared any painful cost-cutting.

Following the presentation, board members stressed the need to preserve student programming.

"These recommendations need to be a last resort," said director Elaine Cappucci. "They could negate our positive student outcomes."

As with the other reports, the superintendent will conduct a comprehensive review of the committee's findings before making any recommendations. Neither the board nor administration is required to implement any of the options mentioned in the report.

The staffing review team's presentation is available on the district's website.