Terc Investigations Math Petition and Website UPDATED

Updated January 1, 2013 9:25 AM 
Attention all residents of Mt. Lebanon. This affects all of us. As one wrote on the petition:  

"For all of the Mt. Lebo families - even if you don't have kids in school anymore, this is an important issue that will affect the quality education that Mt Lebanon has been known for."

If it gets out that parents are dissatisfied with their children's education, we're toast. Contrary to popular belief, it is our school system, not our fields, that bring people here. Please sign the petition and support these concerned parents. 
Elaine


A new website has been launched in Mt. Lebanon. Lebomathfacts.org "is run by a diverse group of parents, who are concerned about quality mathematics education" in Mt. Lebanon.

Lebo Citizens readers know that I have had several stories about Terc Investigations including:

 http://lebocitizens.blogspot.com/2012/11/posti-on-terc-investigations.html

http://lebocitizens.blogspot.com/2012/11/more-on-terc-investigations.html

http://lebocitizens.blogspot.com/2012/12/dream-team-change-orders-and-more.html

I see that an online petition has been posted at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/petition-to-ask-the-mt-lebanon-school-district-to/
It is sad that it had to come to this. The school board directors were amazed at the response to the Math Nights, drawing 650 people. Have they figured out that the community is deeply concerned about our TERC Investigations math program?

Please visit Lebomathfacts.org and read about the Fall 2012 meeting that concerned parents had with Dr. Steinhauer. Our Requests summarizes their requests along with recommended timelines.

Anything on your mind?

While I am taking a breather during the Christmas break, I thought I would open this up for whatever is on your mind. Now is your chance to submit a comment that is off topic. If it is civil, I will approve it.

A few ideas: How can we be a better community? What was the highlight of 2012? Suggestions for future posts? What should we do differently in 2013?

Happy Holidays!

Fiscal Cliff Poll

I see that two have voted on my latest poll. Do you think the fiscal cliff will be averted in time? Take a second and cast your vote.

Ready for Christmas

Well, the Christmas lights are up.  I need to pop the Hot Pockets in the oven soon. The family will be over in a bit. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. 

Elaine

A very disturbing post by Kristen Linfante

One week ago, our nation learned of an unspeakable event that left us devastated. The country mourns while the media is filled with stories about gun control and ways to show our support to those affected in Newtown, Connecticut.

During this time, it has been difficult for me to look at the newspaper, watch the news, and go on the Internet.  I know I am not alone.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake to look at Kristen Linfante's blog. Last weekend, Kristen wrote a very disturbing post.  An Interesting Article About Deer

While some people may be concerned about killing deer with guns or arrows, I believe that our current method of killing deer is much more dangerous to humans - killing deer with our own cars.

Now Kristen decides to write about guns and killing? To be be politically correct, we do not refer to it as "killing deer." It is "deer management through culling." It sounds so much more civilized that way. I read the article that a resident sent to the commission. I doubt Ms. Linfante read the whole thing. Had she done that, she would have seen the link to NPS plan to cull Rock Creek Park deer on hold pending federal court case.

The lawsuits assert that five residents of Washington and two of Poughkeepsie would suffer, among other things, “emotional and psychological distress” and might even have to move away if deer were killed.

I have reached that point. I cannot go through another cull or as Kristen likes to say, "Kill deer." Her untimely post shows that she only cares about one issue. Her poor judgment and cold-heartedness during this difficult time is disturbing. Kristen, give it a rest for a while. Please.

Crystal Ball, what is in our future?

Right out of The Almanac.  This will be us.  Dave Franklin was appointed as the Parks Advisory Board liaison to Dave Brumfield's newly created Sports Advisory Board. Read about Peters Township's artificial turf,  multi-use field, Gatorade, folding chairs, special interest group and all the other things that have been brought up here.

Public land easily sold in PT

Peterswood Park is for sale. At a price of $240,000 you can buy three to four acres of improved land with no future tax burden or maintenance expense. The taxpayers of Peters Township will pay upwards of $750,000 for the improvements you specify. To qualify, you simply need to secure a spot on the Parks and Recreation Board so that your personal agenda can be pushed through by your friends.

Do not worry about the Peters Township Council. Despite having authority to override the Parks and Recreation Board’s decisions, they won’t, for fear of setting a precedent that they may have to weigh in on future issues. If this sounds too good to be true, watch the proceedings of the Dec. 10 council meeting. There, you will see that the Peters Township Soccer Association accomplished just that! Kudos PTSA. Your negotiations rival that of the Louisiana Purchase!

Shame on you, Peters Township Council, for allowing yourselves to be blackmailed by a special interest group who pushed through their agenda, under the auspices of creating a multi-use field, and then threatened to withhold their payment when asked to share the field with other established users. Despite a letter from Shaw, the turf manufacturer, supported by detailed testimony, showing clearly that the PTSA’s fear of potential turf damage was unfounded, you neglected your fiduciary responsibility and allowed your previous decision to be overturned at their whim. The PTSA was not asked to substantiate their fears of damage. They simply needed to say they did not want other users on the field. There has been no response to concerns posed about folding chairs, coffee, Gatorade, dogs, etc., which the manufacturer states will absolutely cause damage to the playing surface, because those concerns are not being voiced by someone with a check. If the intent is purely to protect the investment made in the field, why are these issues not being addressed? Why is the focus on use of equipment that has been proven will cause no harm?

While the cross country team can now look forward to a new course in another soon to be beautified area of the park, I walk away baffled that public land can be sold so easily.

We don’t have to look very far to understand the problems we have in Washington!

Barbara Wehn McMurray

The REST of the story

Pennsylvania American Water announced two of twenty recipients, each receiving $2500 in special grants. Amazingly enough, Josephine Posti presented checks to Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania and Mt. Lebanon Foundation of Education (MLFE). Does MLFE sound familiar? It should. MLFE helped to fund Josephine's pet project, a feasibility study done by Pursuant Ketchum.  Did our water bills help to fund this? Here is the article from the Almanac.

Josephine Posti's Girl Scout Troop led the Pledge of Allegiance at a recent school board meeting.

Nice picture of Matt Smith with Josephine. Doesn't he realize there is a conflict of interest?  I know...

Dream Team, Change Orders, and More

I updated the change orders list (see sidebar) to reflect tabled item number 28. Dan Remely, always careful with our tax dollars, felt that the carpeting expense could be considered as a capital expense item down the road. I deducted $6,559 from the change orders running total.

We have a new Policy Committee, which one reader described as our "Dream Team." The new members consist of

• Plagiarism expert and authority on bending school board policies, Josephine Posti
• Mary Birks, our resident Harrisburg aficionado who blames Corbett for everything
• Bill Cooper, all around nice guy who never makes waves by agreeing with the status quo

Other big news, a resident expressed concern regarding the networking technology bidding and contract, and how we are implementing antiquated systems, instead of state-of-the-art technology.
I would love to hear more about this, if that resident is reading this. In fact, as always, I would like anyone "in the business" weigh in on this.

In addition, the School Board was amazed at the response to the Math Nights, drawing 650 people. Are they surprised that the community is deeply concerned about our TERC Investigations math program?

Finally, the School Board listened to the students, as Larry Lebowitz pointed out, and promoted Judith Kolko to the new activities director. Carlie McGinty is now at the USC High School as their new guidance counselor. Congrats to both women.

Show Your Support for the Families and Community of Newtown

Please take a moment to remember those families who have been so deeply affected by the unspeakable events in Newtown, Connecticut.

Newtown needs our nation's support now more than ever. With your donation, we can help them through this incredibly difficult time and offer our condolences.

Below, please find a link to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund that has been set up by the United Way of Western Connecticut to help the families and community of Newtown recover.

https://newtown.uwwesternct.org

Thank you in advance for your generosity and for assisting our fellow Americans during their time of great need.

Improved sight lines

What does that mean? "Improved sight lines." On Jo Posti's Center Court blog, Supporting students, staff and families, Josephine writes about the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut and takes the opportunity to throw in a plug for the high school renovation.

While I'm confident in the work our staff will be doing to reassure our students and staff and make any necessary improvements to our security measures, I'm also grateful for the work being done to improve the physical security of the high school. While construction is an inconvenience, the end result will be a reduced number of building entrances, the elimination of blind vestibules in B Building, improved sight lines by the elimination of C Building as well as many other security measures that could not have been anticipated when the building was originally built in the 1930s and subsequently renovated in the 1970s.

First, and foremost, I am deeply saddened by what happened on Friday. When I see children in stores or walking to school, I am reminded and burst into tears. I am thankful that the School District is offering support to our children and families. I cannot, however, comprehend that this is the time to justify the elimination of Building C.  What does "improved sight lines" even mean?  All I have ever heard from school board directors is that they will not revisit Building C. Now you decide to talk about it, Josephine?

Free firewood

Davey Tree Service came through the neighborhood last week. I was expecting the worst from all the horror stories I heard and pictures I saw at the commission meeting. They did a nice job here. There is some firewood cut and neatly stacked in a couple of areas of Rockwood Park.  Anyone need some free wood, not to be burned this year? I will be removing this post once it is gone.

"...it's not to make their taxes as low as possible" UPDATED

As you all know, the Commissioners passed a $29.84 million operating budget on Tuesday. In the Trib article, $29.84M budget passes*, Matt Kluck told the Trib that:

"...he opposed the budget because of the increase in tax revenues, given that the municipality had raised property tax rates last year and instituted a stormwater fee, and because the budget raised personnel costs with raises and new hires."

In the PG's Calculations to come Dave Brumfield was quoted as saying:

"We have a duty to residents, and it's not to make their taxes as low as possible...It's to make Mt. Lebanon the best community it can be."

Don't miss Bill Matthew's quote.

"We have to shut the spigot off," he told commissioners. "If that means we reduce the number of services, then so be it."

Kelly Fraasch posted Budget...and what I have learned. on her blog. Kelly learned five lessons from this year's budget process.  Having a Finance Advisory Board and a list of options to consider for deduction from the budget in addition to an add listing are just two of the lessons listed.

Kristen Linfante was silent, even though she got her deer survey ($12,000) and an additional $1,000 for Outreach added to the budget. Here is what is on her blog. In my own words...Mt. Lebanon, my home.... She mentions several times that she is a musician.

John Bendel had no comment.

*Article not available online

Update December 16, 2012 2:05 PM Kristen Linfante posted 2013 Budget on her blog. (and you say you don't read this blog, Kristen.) When she wrote, "As many of you know," I thought she was going to tell us that she was a musician; instead it was about deer. She also wrote:

I was pleased to successfully rally the support of both Commissioner Bendel and Commissioner Brumfield to get a deer survey included in next year's budget.

What Kristen fails to admit is that Kelly Fraasch also approved the budget, therefore supporting a deer survey. What Kristen may not know is that Kelly had reached out to residents on both sides of the deer issue. She spent countless hours writing emails, making phone calls, and meeting with constituents from all wards trying to come up with some sort of compromise on this controversial topic. Has Kristen done that? After all, she collaborates, cooperates and communicates. Sure she does.

Right-to-work...right-to-play

I was reading about Michigan's right-to-work law that was passed and started to think about Mt. Lebanon's future.

Let me back up. Wikipedia defines right-to-work laws as:

A right-to-work law is a statute in the United States of America that prohibits union security agreements, or agreements between labor unions and employers that govern the extent to which an established union can require employees' membership, payment of union dues, or fees as a condition of employment, either before or after hiring. "Right-to-work" laws do not, as the short phrase might suggest, aim to provide a general guarantee of employment to people seeking work, but rather are a government regulation of the contractual agreements between employers and labor unions that prevents them from excluding non-union workers.

KDKA reports that Pennsylvania could follow.  Could Pennsylvania Be Next For Right To Work Legislation?  Local unions are on alert, according to KDKA.

What would that mean to Mt. Lebanon?  It has been said that the MTL school board is cheerleading for the unions. I don't know if that is necessarily true, but it occurred to me that the YSA, for all intents and purposes, has unionized the ball fields in Mt. Lebanon. In effect, the new Sports Advisory Board is representing groups which are required to pay "dues"  to use school district facilities. The municipality collects no money for use of fields. Isn't that essentially what the Joint Maintenance Agreement is? It was initially an agreement to maintain school district fields. The YSA controls ALL fields for its members, in essence, the right-to -play. By the way, what is the status of the Joint Maintenance Agreement?

Tweets from our super Super

As we wait for the December pizza pics to show up on Dr. Steinhauer's blog, we can see a unique perspective of the construction, this time from the fifth floor.  I didn't want anyone to miss the tweets from our super Super. He also shared photos of two (one, two) concert programs and one concert. Throw in the picture of our new school board president and vice president, and now everyone is caught up from the November pizza lunch. Oh, so powerful! It is always inspiring to hear from the professionals. Dr. Steinhauer is in his element. Let's see...$157,000 a year...six photos per month...Yes, we are getting our money's worth.

While Dr. Steinhauer is documenting his attendance at extracurricular activities, Josephine Posti updated her Center Court blog with Math FAQs. Josephine provided a link to Lincoln Elementary School's math webpage. I thought it would nice to list the other elementary schools' math webpages.

Foster Elementary School
Hoover Elementary School
Howe Elementary School
Jefferson Elementary School
Lincoln Elementary School
Markham Elementary School
Washington Elementary School

I have gotten emails and phone calls from some very frustrated parents concerning the math program. Is it getting better? Was Family Math Night helpful? Any advice from one parent to another?

Breaking news! Don't approve tonight's budget!

Yesterday afternoon, Judge Wettick amended the March 20, 2012 court order at 1:30 PM,  extending the deadline for budgets to be approved by all taxing bodies from December 31, 2012 to January 31, 2013. Amended Court Order

Some neighboring communities have chosen to approve their budgets next month, instead of this week.  This is good news for our commissioners, since they would have been forced to meet December 24, 2012, if there were any questions on tonight's budget.

Update December 11, 2012 PM 2:15 PM The County just uploaded the amended court order. An article ran in the Trib this morning quoting our manager, Steve Feller. http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/3110279-74/millage-appeals-county#axzz2EiCORF6G

Want to hear a good one?

The Republican Committee is considering School Board Director Dan Remely as the Republican hopeful to run against Dan Miller for Matt Smith's old House seat. I understand Remely will be running for reelection with Dale Ostergaard for School Board. Does the MLRC think that Dan is doing such a bang up job with the high school renovation, to be a viable candidate for higher office? Still not going through the vetting process, guys? When will the MLRC break up the good old boy network? I wish I could be a member of a party I respect.

Top ten books

Richard Gideon had emailed me a few months ago with an idea that I thought would be nice to run in December. RG suggested that I post my top ten favorite books and ask my readers to submit their lists to the blog.

I am not much of a reader, mainly because I don't have time, but I have been able to list a few.

1. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
2. Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World! by Andrew Breitbart
3. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
4. Cookbooks by Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa

And that is pretty much all I can list at the moment. I have many books I would like to read, like this one.

Follow the Money (2010) by Lynndee Kemmet. By the description, everyone in Mt. Lebanon needs to read it.

Follow the Money: A Citizens Guide to Local Government is a citizen’s primer on how to work with local officials on the heart and soul of government: the budget. The goal is collaboration, not confrontation, over how public money is being spent. Too often there’s a clash between citizens and local officials at the witching hour of budget adoption.

Our witching hour is tomorrow night.

Richard Gideon's list follows:

EG:
Here are my top ten favorite books, in no particular order:
1. The New Testament in Koine (period Greek)
2. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
3. Free to Choose by Milton and Rose Friedman
4. The Spirit of St. Louis by Charles Lindbergh
5. Sophisms of the Protectionists by Frédéric Bastiat (in French)
6. The Four Million by O. Henry
7. Life with Father by Clarence Day II
8. The History of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
9. The Civil War by Shelby Foote
10. Law Miscellanies by Hugh Henry Brackenridge

I should tell you that I have a lot of "favorites" - but this is a "short list."

RG

So what are your favorite books?  Maybe this will give some Lebo Citizen readers ideas for the Holidays. 

'Tis the season...for more change orders

Looks like the MTLSD website is up and running again. The agenda for tomorrow's school board meeting includes more change orders totaling $38,941 for the December 17, 2012 meeting.

Change Orders for High School Renovation Project - This month’s list of change orders proposes six changes for Board consideration. They are as follows:

a. GC-14-27 to Nello for $4,430 to cut a door for a roof mechanical enclosure on F Building

b. GC-16-29 to Nello for $6,559 for carpet for the upper Little Theatre Lobby which was not scheduled for replacement

c. EL-05-30 to Farfield for $7,149 to restore power to the ticket booth and to parking lot lights

d. ME-02-31 to McKamish for $14,014 for smoke dampers in fire rated walls not on drawings

e. EL-06-32 to Farfield for $1,937 for design changes in lighting in F Building for the inside EXIT sign

f. EL-07-33 to Farfield for $4,852 to add a new emergency circuit for existing house lights in the Little Theatre

These changes have been reviewed by PJ Dick, the architects, Rick Marciniak and Jan Klein who recommend them for Board approval. The superintendent recommends approval of these change orders.

Commission Chambers - A Happening Place On Tuesday UPDATED

Looking at the agenda set for Tuesday's Commission meeting, I think it is going to be a late night.

The final hearing for the Commission revisions to the manager’s recommended budget is first on the list. The link to Bill No. 17-12 seems to be password protected, but the amended budget appears on pages two and three of the agenda. How much revenue is estimated to be generated from signs? Where is it going?

The tax rate is listed. Will someone explain to me where the 5% increase is indicated?

The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for 2013-2017 will be adopted. It can be found here.

The  2013 Comprehensive Fee Schedule will be approved. Notice no fees for fields.

The Compensation for employees for 2013 will be set.  The Ordinance is here. Pretty tricky how it is listed. It isn't clear that it is a 3% raise across the board.

Update December 8, 2012 9:40 AM Bill Matthews was kind enough to send the page right out of the budget reflecting the 4.8% tax increase. MTL 2013 Budget Revenues Yep, it is right there in black and white.

The results are in...

Elaine Cappucci is President. Larry Lebowitz is Vice President. No fights tonight. Everything was decided in advance.

From the District website:

Mt. Lebanon School Board Elects New Leadership at Reorganization MeetingThe Mt. Lebanon Board of School Directors held a reorganization meeting on December 3, 2012. In a unanimous vote, Elaine Cappucci was elected Board President and Lawrence Lebowitz as Board Vice-President for a term of one year. The School Board also took action to appointed Thomas P. Peterson as School Board Solicitor and set the Board calendar for 2013.