Thursday, April 12, 2012

School Board Mailing (Updated)

This afternoon, I sent the following email to the school board and cc'ed Cissy Bowman and Susan Morgans.  Analytics tells me that Josephine paid a visit to my blog today. Perhaps it was to see if I wrote anything about my email. So that I don't disappoint her, this is what I sent:

The recent mailing from the school board did not make the mailboxes on [my street.] Is your letter available online somewhere? If not, how do we get additional copies? We do not have a regular mail carrier and have had trouble receiving other mailings in the past.
Elaine Gillen

I am hopeful for a response from her.  In the meantime, I saw this was just added to the District website.
School Board Continues Budget DiscussionsThe School Board continued discussion of the budget at the April 2, 2012 Discussion Meeting. The Board reviewed each item on the reduction list, removing the Community Service Coordinator position and IST position. For the complete list of reductions still under consideration by the Board, and a recent Budget Newsletter sent to Mt. Lebanon residents, click the link above. The final vote on the budget will take place at the May 21 Regular School Board Meeting.
Click here for the direct link to the Budget Newsletter. 

Spoiler alert: 
For More Information

Please visit www.mtlsd.org for in-depth budget updates and videos of our budget discussions. We will con- tinue to broadcast all public meetings on Cable Channel 19 and on our website, and mail periodic newslet- ters. If you have a question and can’t attend a meeting, please feel free to share your comments with the School Board at schoolboard@mtlsd.net. Your feedback is an important part of this process.
The school board will be voting on the proposed budget at the Monday, April 16 meeting. However, it is quite difficult to provide any feedback when the proposed budget is dated February 6, 2012. In addition, Posti still doesn't come clean by informing the community that the $900,000 grievance has the potential to be recurring for the next 15-20 years.

Update April 12, 2012 11:30 PM Please check out this blog posting of September 30, 2008 by School Board Director James Fraasch.   http://lebosbupdates.blogspot.com/2008/09/current-economics-and-psers.html 
You were warned, Josephine.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Someone please tell me what I'm missing here. Posti continually writes that the state is cutting contributions to the district, causing the budget problems they're dealing with.

Looking at the Base Budget Report from February 6, 2012 here's what is listed as revenue from the state.

2010-11 Audited State Revenue
$11,387,9928

2011-12 Budgeted
$12,920,326

2012-13 Base Budget
$14,079,233

Last I heard $14 million is a lot more than $11.3 million. So what's wrong with this picture?

Dick Saunders

Lebo Citizens said...

I see that the newsletter was uploaded to the district website 34 minutes after I sent the email to Cissy and the school board. I guess that is the only response I am going to get. Our street didn't get the newsletter in today's mail either.
I wonder if anyone in 15234 got the mailing. Sure makes it tough for feedback.
Elaine

Lebo Citizens said...

Let's see. I posted the Pittsburgh Business Times School rankings article on Friday, April 6. Six days later, it finally appeared on the District website. 34 minutes after I sent an email asking about where I could see the budget newsletter, it magically appeared on their website. Why do we have Cissy again? What number was her job on "The List," if it even made the list? I am getting really tired of being an enabler.
Elaine

Anonymous said...

Dick,

The State Revenues are up 9% in the upcoming year's budget and the total Revenues are up a bit over 4% so what is the Board's problem with State funding?

John Ewing

Lebo Citizens said...

I want to thank Scott Goldman for his respectful response to my email.

"Ms. Gillen -

Attached please find a copy of the letter you have requested. Please note that I was having problems with my scanner because the document was 8.5 x 14 - and because I am not very familiar with this copier! The text of the letter is complete, but the top of page 1 was cut off. It included the District Logo, the date (April 2012), and "Dear Mt. Lebanon Resident." The rest of the attached is in tact.


Thank you for your interest in the district. Have a nice weekend.

- Scott"

Scott had two pdfs attached to his email. He is a good guy. I can always count on him for a response.
I hope I have not caused you any grief, Scott, by posting that. You could be shunned.
Elaine

Benjamin Edes said...

I thought other board members weren't allowed to speak publicly? Wasn't that JoBama's edict from on high? Poor Scott...too bad we all can't vote on a new board president. Despite his poor judgement in running mates, I'd elevate Goldman to the leadership position. Imena, any leadership would be more than zero, which is what the board now has.

Lebo Citizens said...

Benjamin, I am sure it was no accident that the two board members who have shown the decency of replying to constituents were the ones selected to have a cuppa Jo. She had to keep them in line.

Remember my RTK, where Josephine emailed Dale for a full report when he met with a commissioner?
Elaine