Primary and Special Election News UPDATED

The League of Women Voters is sponsoring a debate for the 42nd State House District special election. It will be held on May 15, 2013, 7 PM, at the Bethel Municipal Building. If you have questions for George Brown, Dan Miller, or Dan Remely, this is your opportunity to submit questions. All questions submitted that evening will be subject to the approval of the League of Women Voters moderator(s).

Finally, some news about the school board race! The League of Women Voters will be sponsoring a "Meet the Candidates" night at Jefferson Middle School on May 8, 2013 at 7 PM. Again, you can submit questions on index cards which will be subject to the approval of the League of Women Voters moderators.     [Note: Event has been canceled. See update below.]

It is been an extremely quiet race for school board. Dan Remely is running alone, but there is a slate for the four remaining candidates.  Their website is here. I received an email this morning about one of the candidates, Durwood Hill.

Durwood Hill is running for school board and kicking off his campaign with a series of community meetings. These are intended to be informal and honest conversations. Attached is a flyer with meeting information, hope you are able to join Durwood at one of these times. Also, please feel free to pass along to other community members, especially friends and family outside the Lincoln area.


Durwood is running as part of a slate (http://www.leboeie.com/durwood-hill/); however, these meetings are set up by Durwood alone. If you have any questions, you can contact me at montoyase@verizon.net.

When I met Durwood, I told him that I would never vote for Mary Birks and that I really didn't know anything about him. I promised that I would share his information here on Lebo Citizens. I am glad to see that he is reaching out to the community.

Update April 30, 2013 11:00 AM The Candidate's Forum scheduled for May 8, 2013 has been canceled. It is my understanding that the PTA canceled the forum due to lack of interest. In its place, the school board candidates will provide written responses to a uniform set of questions and the responses will be posted online.
In addition, Durwood Hill asked me to share this with Lebo Citizens readers:

I took a look at the blog and it probably should be noted that, while friends of mine organized the events, I am running with a slate of candidates and they all plan to attend some of the events. I will be at every event and will be accompanied by various members of our slate.

Don't know and don't care

"Don't know and don't care."  I got to thinking about those five words that were mentioned in the previous set of comments. Those five words have gotten us to where we are today. That can be said for both sides of our local government, as well as the typical response by many residents here in Mt. Lebanon. A case could be made for the following questions:

1. What about those uncollected parking tickets?
2. What is the warranty for the Public Safety Building?
3. What can we do with the property on McNeilly Road?
4. What are the rules and regulations for 25 acres of property in Scott Twp. and who is going to patrol it?
5. What is Wildlife Services' safety record?
6. Have our elected officials paid their taxes?
7. Have the guest bloggers on our municipal blog paid their taxes?
8. Is alcohol permitted on school grounds or municipal property?
9. Do we really need two Public Information Offices?
10. Who is running for school board?
11. What do we know about the candidates who are running?
12. How can we have elected officials run simultaneously for two offices?
13. How do we hold our elected officials accountable?
14. What is the new millage going to be?
15. Whatever happened to the owners liaison?
16. How many elementary schools do we have, five or seven?
17. Are there enough parking spaces for the high school renovation?
18. When are the Superintendent and Finance Director going to walk the walk and I don't mean Relay for Life?
19. What about the kids who are struggling with TERC Investigations?
20. What do we do with school board directors who plagiarize?
21. What do we do when our administrative staff submits false documentation to the PA Department of Education?
22. What ever happened to the District task force established in 2009 to fight student drug and alcohol use?
23. How can we build another Taj Mahal without a referendum?
24. When will our elected officials be more respectful of their constituents?
25. How are we going to pay for all of this?

There are 25 questions that quickly came to my mind. I am sure there are others, including the one that precipitated this post. Until we have a community wide attitude adjustment and take back our community, there will continue to be more.

Is this what they mean by 21st century learning?

The latest entry on the Superintendent's food blog, "My Monthly Breakfast with High School Students," just above "Lunch with Mellon Middle School 8th Grade Students" is:

My monthly breakfast with high school students turned into a quick tour of the renovated 6th floor. After seeing some of the completed work they realize that this temporary inconvenience will result in some great learning spaces. Several of the students mentioned that it has been very interesting watching the construction close up. Thanks to our students for reminding us why we are doing this work.

After seeing some of the completed work they realize that this temporary inconvenience will result in some great learning spaces.  Say that again? Aren't they standing in the...the...bathroom?

Remember Ben Franklin's quote? “Eat to live, don't live to eat.” As someone wrote to me, "Does he eat to work or work to eat?" 

Laura Pace Lilly wrote for lebomag.com making progress back in October,

Ironworkers wearing safety ropes traipse along steel supports, a sight that often transfixes Steinhauer, he says. Students with the luxury of window seats in their classrooms also report daydreaming while watching the men at work.

I get chastised for comparing USC to Mt. Lebanon, but come on. Their superintendent writes budget summaries while ours writes about eating, watching the men at work, or some great learning spaces in our bathrooms.

Assistant Manager to retire

Marcia Taylor, assistant manager of Mt. Lebanon, announced her retirement after 34 years with Mt. Lebanon. She will be retiring on July 1, 2013.

Best of luck, Marcia. You will be greatly missed.

Real Estate Revenue Discrepancy

On page 2 of Jan Klein's April 15, 2013 Proposed Final Budget, her own numbers show the millage to be 27.67 mills.

Through a Right To Know to the PA Department of Education, the millage is being shown as 23.05 mills.  Also, there is a difference of $1.725 million in approx. tax levy for Tax Rate Calculations.

On the State form from the State
Approx. Tax Levy for Tax Rate Calculation: $61,863,271

On the State form to the State
Approx. Tax Levy for Tax Rate Calculation: $60,137,898

WHAT IS GOING ON? Are there two sets of books?  Isn't that FRAUD???

Proposed Final Budget posted

The Proposed Final Budget has been posted on the District website and is available here. It is still under the old mills.  The Proposed Final Budget using the State Required Form is here.

Upper St. Clair School Board on April 22 (Saved in Google Docs) adopted a proposed final budget for 2013-14 that lowers the real estate tax millage rate by 16.6 percent.

The board had a goal of not raising taxes, and in fact is being forced by state law to lower its tax rate to account for an overall increase in taxable real estate value in the township as a result of the Allegheny County Reassessment, which takes effect this year. School districts are prohibited from gaining a so-called windfall in revenues solely as a result of increased property values, whereas municipalities are permitted a five percent increase in revenues.

Upper St. Clair's tax rate dropped from 25.718 for 2012-13 to 21.438 for 2013-14.  Superintendent Patrick O'Toole will be posting a letter and budget summary on their district website by the end of the week. [Our super Super only posts pics of lunches and construction.]


A blog reader submitted this math problem to me, which I found compelling.

If you own a $250,000 home in the #1 USC school district (21.438 mills) you'll owe $5,359.50 in taxes.

That same home in Mt. Lebanon will cost you $6,917.50 in school district taxes. (27.67 mills)

Or a premium of $1,558.00 to send your kids to the #2 school district.

We have dropped to #11

According to U.S. News, we dropped from # 8 to # 11. U.S. News Releases 2013 Best High Schools Rankings The Mt. Lebanon School District website posted last year's rankings here. 

U.S. News and World Report, a leading source of education rankings in the nation, released their "Best High School" rankings of the top high school's in the nation. Mt. Lebanon High School received a Silver rating, ranking 8th in the state and #557 nationally. Our high school is the highest ranked Western PA school on the list. The 2012 rankings include data on nearly 22,000 public high schools from 49 states and the District of Columbia.

Pennsylvania rankings show Upper St. Clair at #7, Mt. Lebanon at #11, and North Allegheny at #12.

National rankings improved for 2013. We came in at #510, from #557 last year.
The Mt. Lebanon High School overview can be found here.

Another Budget "Fast One"

The School Board is at it again. Under law, the Board must have the final budget available for inspection for thirty days prior to the vote. According to their web page Budget News, the final vote will take place on May 20, 2013. The following is on the Home page:
School Board Approves Proposed Final Budget

At the April 15,2013 Regular Board meeting, the School Board approved a Proposed Final Budget for the 2013-2014 school year in the amount of $83,249,503 at a millage rate of 27.67, an increase of .54 mills over last year's budget. The Board will vote on the final budget at the May 20 School Board meeting.

I sent this email directly to Jan Klein since the Board tends to ignore my emails.
Ms. Klein was kind enough to respond.

From: Jan Klein <JKlein@mtlsd.net>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc: School Board Email list <SchoolBoardEmaillist@mtlsd.net>
Subject: RE: Budget
Date: Mon, Apr 22, 2013 7:57 am

The budget will be posted before the end of this week.

Respectfully,

Jan

Janice Klein
Director of Business
Mt. Lebanon School District
7 Horsman Drive Pittsburgh, PA 15228
412-344-2098 (office) 412-559-9310 (cell)

I prefer the errors of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom - Anatole France

-----Original Message----- From: egillen476@aol.com [mailto:egillen476@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2013 9:25 PM
To: Jan Klein
Cc: School Board Email list
Subject: Budget

Ms. Klein

Where is the budget posted? I don't see it on the website.

Thank you.

Elaine Gillen

________________________________
MTLSD DISCLAIMER: THIS TRANSMISSION IS INTENDED ONLY FOR THE USE OF THE ADDRESSEE AND MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS PRIVILEGED, CONFIDENTIAL, AND EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW. IF YOU ARE NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT, OR THE EMPLOYEE OR AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR DELIVERING THE MESSAGE TO THE INTENDED RECIPIENT, YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT ANY DISSEMINATION, RETENTION, DISTRIBUTION, OR COPYING OF THIS COMMUNICATION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY THE SENDER IMMEDIATELY.________________________________

In addition, the District Budget page has included the video of the April 8 meeting. The April 2 Budget Forum was never uploaded to the District website. As it has been pointed out many times here on Lebo Citizens, I asked nine questions at the Budget Forum and was treated rudely by Mrs. Birks and Mrs. Cappucci.  In addition, Mt. Lebanon resident Bill Matthews gave an excellent presentation and was treated rudely by Mrs. Cappucci.

Tongue in cheek, the website also offers:

Contact the School Board
The Mt. Lebanon School Board is interested in your feedback. Residents are encouraged to email the Board with questions or comments at schoolboard@mtlsd.net.

I presume that the Budget is available in the District Offices somewhere, in the meantime. If not, they are pulling another fast one, as they are with not posting the Budget Forum.

Meanwhile, back at the Commission

During Monday's Commission Discussion Session scheduled for 6:15 PM, the Commissioners will be discussing, among other things:

• Preliminary discussion about a possible location for an offleash dog park.
• Preliminary 2012 financial results and beginning discussion on fund balance.
• Public information role and services.

The Commission will be introducing an  Ordinance Allowing Domesticated Animals in Twin Hills Trail Park during the regular 8:00 meeting following the Discussion Session. This park is in Scott Township. Has anyone checked to see if the Scott Township Zoning Board permits an animal park? Can we make ordinances for property that is not in Mt. Lebanon? Perhaps that will come up in the Commission Discussion Session.

Beginning discussion on fund balance might be how the Turf Board, I mean the Sports Advisory Board, will be able to get turf snuck in.

Finally, the topic that is near and dear to my heart, "Public information role and services." There is fifteen minutes allotted for that topic. Are there changes in store for the Public Information Office? I am not trying to start any rumors, but it is nice to see that on the agenda.  Defining the role of the PIO is definitely in order here.

Increase State Funding for Our Taj Mahal!

No budget posted as of 3:00 PM today on the District website, but the Board still has approximately nine hours until 30 days before the vote for the Final Budget for the 2013-2014 school year in the amount of $83,249,503 at a millage rate of 27.67 (unadjusted for any change in assessed value) an increase of .54 mill(unadjusted for any change in assessed value) over the 2012-2013 school year on May 20, 2013.

What has been posted on the District website is:

RESOLUTION URGING INCREASED STATE FUNDING

WHEREAS, a significant delay in receiving the state reimbursement at Part H of the PlanCon process has already cost $1.4 million in delayed funding and will force the Mt. Lebanon School District to make, a significant delay in receiving the state reimbursement at Part H of the PlanCon process has already cost $1.4 million in delayed funding and will force the Mt. Lebanon School District to makes already cost $1.4 million in delayed funding and will force the Mt. Lebanon School District to make costly financial choices which may involve an increase in taxes, borrowing additional money or financial choices which may involve an increase in taxes, borrowing additional money or reduction of programs or services totaling over $11 million; of programs or services totaling over $11 million;

It won't be the School Board's fault when the taxes increase.
It won't be Tim Frenz from Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's fault when the taxes increase.
It won't be Jan Klein's fault when the taxes increase.
It won't be the Administrators' fault when the taxes increase.
It won't be the Master Design Team's fault when the taxes increase.
It won't be the unions' fault when the taxes increase.

It will be the PA Department of Education's fault, the agency that received our fake budget.

Shhh...for your eyes only

As directed by the school board on the February 11, 2013 agenda and the February 18, 2013 agenda, Dr. Timothy Steinhauer submitted an application for Act 1 Exceptions to the PA Department of Education.

Preliminary Budget – Act 1 of 2006 requires us to prepare and the Board to approve a preliminary budget in order to be able to apply for exceptions to the Index limitation on real estate tax rates for the 2013-14 school year budget. As discussed at prior meetings, this budget is not the detailed budget which will be available for Board and community review in the spring once additional information is known on both revenue and expenditure accounts. This budget totals $84,469,784, which is high enough to enable us to apply for all applicable exceptions. Approval of this preliminary budget does not require the Board to approve this millage amount when the final budget is adopted in May. The superintendent recommends approval of this legally required budget.

Most school districts post this on their websites. Not Mt. Lebanon.  Through a Right To Know to the PDE, here it is.

Act 1 Exceptions Application

Mrs. Cappucci was adamant about all budget information being posted on the school district website, when I questioned the board at the April 2, 2013 Budget Forum.  I found it fitting to pair up a 1972 Mt. Lebanon yearbook photo along with the podcast. I feel that it summarizes the school board directors' attitude towards the community.

Amazing. The document shows a budget shortfall of $1,865,309. Wow, almost like the song, 867-5309.  No disclosure to the public.  The school board was saying it was maybe, perhaps, not sure, something like $800,000 or so.

Please keep this a secret.  We can't let this out.

"Even Our Critics Have Chosen to Remain in the Community"

Last evening's board discussion concerning the budget starts at the 1:00:35 mark (about half way through) of the podcast found here. Some of the highlights include:

• There is no windfall. Act 1 will permit 1.7% in real estate dollars plus exceptions.
• Goldman, Ostergaard and Remely will not support the budget. 
• No Cooperisms other than he could not hear parts of the meeting while phoning in.
• Posti indicated that residents' income in 15228, our largest zipcode, have collectively seen an increase in their incomes of 12.6% since 2010.
• Posti (approximately at the 1:20:00 mark) also stated that while some of the critics bet three years ago that the millage increase needed to fund the high school project would tax people out of their homes, impact our housing market, and make our community undesirable for new families to move to, it has not been the case.  In fact our housing market has remained strong, the increases have not been as high as predicted. Even our critics have chosen to remain in the community. Betting on failure is always a losing bet.
• Goldman felt that we have not had those hard conversations.

I, for one, have not "chosen" to remain in the community. I am stuck here. I am working to fix up my house for when I am forced out when the deer killing begins. I have virtually no income and have been living a modest life since the first time I spoke about the budget in 2010. So it has been a slow process.  I resent Posti saying that critics have chosen to remain here. I absolutely hate what our elected officials have done to this town. 

You DO have a choice

In America, the first dark horse in the political arena is credited to President James Polk, an unknown outside of Tennessee. Is there a dark horse in the 42nd State House District race? In the Special Election for State Representative, Libertarian George Brown has stepped forward, so that ALL registered voters have an opportunity to vote.

With the special May 21 election being held during the Primary, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents can cast their votes. This Special Election will be held the day after the Mt. Lebanon School Board approves the 2013-14 budget. Republicans have a choice. Democrats have a choice. And now, Independents can vote in the Special Election.

Don't know anything about George Brown? Here are links to his campaign literature. George Brown page 1 and George Brown page 2.

PA House Bill 1901: A Game Changer?

PA House Bill 1901 was passed in 2012 and has many provisions which could be a game changer for the school board. I hope they are following it closely. Here is the entire bill. HB 1901

In it, school board directors must give superintendents a minimum 150 day notice prior to the end of their contract during a regular board meeting, or the super's contract will be automatically renewed for the similar length of time. See page 32 of HB 1901. See page 37-38 for terminating assistant superintendents.

On page 36 of HB 1901, the school board must post the superintendent's and assistant superintendents' date of evaluation and whether they met their goals on the district website.

Starting in 2013-14, teacher evaluations will change. NEW EDUCATOR EVALUATION SYSTEM in 2014-15, principals (Nonteaching Professional Employees) evaluations will no longer be based primarily on PSSA scores.

Evaluation Criteria for “Nonteaching Professional Employees.” Nonteaching professional employees will be evaluated in the 2014-15 school year with a new system that considers the following areas of performance:

1) planning and preparation; 2) educational environment; 3) delivery of service; and 4) professional development. PDE is currently working on specific rubrics for pupil services personnel that reflect
these four categories. School-wide student performance measures must comprise 20 percent of a nonteaching professional employee’s overall rating. Specific elements of this measure will be established by PDE prior to 2014-15.

PSSAs will account for 15% of principals' evaluations. See page 42 of HB 1901.

The bill also allows, in terms of school finances, a provision for reopening budgets.

There is so much more in the 95 page bill that I hope readers will enlighten us of more changes.

Where the H is H?

On Monday's school board agenda, the board will approve a resolution urging increased State funding for school construction and renovation projects in the form presented.

The PG reports:

Meanwhile, the board plans to approve a resolution next week as a formal objection to not receiving state reimbursement for a portion of the ongoing high school renovation project.

Participation in a long-standing process called Planning and Construction Workbook, or PlanCon, entitles school districts to be compensated for embarking on capital improvement projects.

According to Mr. Steinhauer, Mt. Lebanon is owed about $450,000 per year, eventually totaling $11 million, but the state budget has not provided for any reimbursements to school districts the past two years. Some 125 districts are being affected, and many have drafted similar resolutions.

The documents are being sent to the offices of Gov. Tom Corbett and Education Secretary Ron Tomalis, as well as to state senators and representatives. Many of them are unaware of the lack of reimbursements, Director Mary Birks said.

"We are bringing it to their attention so that they know what the issue is," she said.

How can the State reimburse Mt. Lebanon when we're behind in filing the proper documents for the PlanCon process? Part H (PDF), Project Financing addresses the financing used for a project. Calculation of the temporary reimbursable percent for a project's financing occurs at PlanCon Part H. Once PlanCon Part H is approved, reimbursement on a project commences.  Have we done this?

The High School Renovation Process (saved in Google Docs) illustrates how behind the board is in the process. It shows that PlanCon Part F was the last submission approved. However, the February 20, 2012 agenda indicates "That the Board approves submission of PlanCon Part H to the Pennsylvania Department of Education in substantially the form presented."  This is the last item I can find pertaining to PlanCon Part H.  Was it ever approved by the PDE? Did the board approve it after that - approve the approval? 

I have been told that even after PlanCon H is submitted, approved by the state,
and the state's approval is accepted by the District, that an application for state subsidy must be submitted for each scheduled payment.  Has that been done?

Reimbursement is not reflected in the budget. Once approved, the budget cannot be reopened, unlike the Municipality.  Just as the Covenant tax money was never shown in a budget, this PlanCon money will disappear as well. How could the State provide reimbursement in the past two years when the paperwork was allegedly submitted last February?

The Lebo Shell Game lives on. As a reader commented previously,

"Jan Klein has and will continue to plug the state reimbursement hole with our tax dollars to balance the budget - read that extra millage - and that extra millage will not be reduced when the state payments are finally paid !"

It is all about pizza these days UPDATED

Still listening to the podcast from Monday night's school board meeting, but I see that a couple of documents have been added to the District website.

Proposed Budget Reduction Concepts for 2013-14 shows that the board will gain $5000 by increasing the student parking fee from $50 to $75 per year. Still yet to be determined is the student activities fee structure, but the cost of that line item is $50,000.  Still no mention of administration concessions.

The Proposed Final Budget of April 5, 2013 shows a proposed budget increase of .54 mills.

In The Almanac article, Mt. Lebanon Schools announce savings, look for more cuts, Bill Cooper wants the full .54 mill increase.

Board member William Cooper, on the other hand, advocated for the full proposed .54 mill increase, comparing it to “two large pizzas” on a $100,000 house. He laid the blame for the pension crunch on the state and individual school districts, which held back pension contributions in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

If that is the case, may I collect Little Caesars Pizza coupons and pay the increase with those? They could be used for Timmy's monthly pizza lunches with the kids. Speaking of Tim, The Almanac reports:

If the board would like to further reduce millage, and the superintendent is unable to make headway with the union on pay concessions, the best option would be to use leftover fund balance to rein in taxes.

How are those union concessions working for you, Tim? Have you offered to personally make concessions, along with the rest of the administrators? I am betting as I do every year, that you will be getting that tidy increase, instead of a freeze or concession.

Update April12, 2013 9:30 AM Mt. Lebanon school board still working to cut tax hike

eComments: A new feature on the Municipal website

A new feature has been launched on the municipal website. E-Comments are another way to communicate with commissioners prior to a commission meeting. The website, http://mtlebanon.org/index.aspx?NID=2151 allows for comments to be submitted up to 1:00 the day of the meeting. I had to register my email address along with a password.

This is what I saw on my screen after clicking on eComments:

       04-09-13 Commission Meeting

Date: April 9, 2013 at 8:00 pm.

Public Comments can be submitted online until April 9, 2013 at 7:00 pm.

Tell us what's on your mind. Your comments and information will become part of the official public record. If you do not want your personal information included in the official record, do not complete that field.

I am not sure if the deadline for comments is 1:00 or 7:00 since there is conflicting information. It will be interesting to see how Commissioner Linfante will handle the ecomments, since she will be presiding at tomorrow's meeting.

It would be nice to see this feature available for school board meetings. However, it would deny Elaine Cappucci the opportunity to ask for feedback, or invite you to attend meetings, and then chop off your head when you do. Come to think of it, that is a Linfante move too. 

Good luck, folks. I won't be attending tomorrow's meeting.

PSSA 'opt-out' movement growing

Staff reporter Kari Andren has an article in the Trib, Pennsylvania parents take stand against standardized tests.

As students prepare to take the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams this week, a growing number of parents are refusing to let their children take the high-stakes standardized exams aimed at showing which schools are excelling or failing.

We can see the what is at stake with the PSSA scores.  Just ask any administrator at Mt. Lebanon as I mentioned here. PSSAs - No pressure here

The performance on the PSSAs are the primary metrics used by the
Superintendent and Board to evaulate how the principals leadership has impacted student achievement.

With Mt. Lebanon prepping kids for the PSSAs, we can see the pay-off in the Pittsburgh Business Times Guide to Western Pennsylvania Schools. We've moved up to Number 2 in the State.  Evan though it is budget crunch time, jobs are secure and raises are guaranteed.

Ms. Andren had contacted me, in hopes that I could steer her to Mt. Lebanon parents, but none were willing to come forward.

Dr. Timothy Slekar, founder of United Opt Out and Lebo Citizens commenter, did speak with Ms. Andren.

Slekar excluded his son, Luke, from standardized tests three years ago and helped found United Opt Out, a national group that protested standardized testing this weekend in Washington with a sit-in outside the Department of Education and a march to the White House.

A few opt-outs does not impact Mt. Lebanon's scores, but if enough parents opt-out their kids, we will fail to meet AYP, or Adequate Yearly Progress.  What does that mean? Read more here Some Children Left Behind or here About making AYP for students with disabilities UPDATED 2x or here Yes, he is very deserving. UPDATED

Parents, make sure your kids get enough sleep this week.  There is quite a bit at stake here.

Change order list updated

According to the April 8, 2013 agenda, the following change orders are being considered:

7. Change Orders for High School Renovation Project – The following change orders are presented for Board consideration. All the change orders listed below have been reviewed by the architect, PJ Dick and the District administration.

a. IN-01-03 for (-$278,363) credit to Farfield – Reversal of insurance claim for the 5KV line break,
b. GC-33-71 for (-$47,231) credit to Nello – Reconciliation of GC-001 for earth materials,
c. EL-15-72 for $19,851 to Farfield – Fire alarm modifications based on Municipal review,
d. EL-16-73 for $2,336 to Farfield – Vanity lights which were not originally intended to be replaced,
e. EL-17-74 for $2,037 to Farfield – Added light fixtures F Bldg 4th floor,
f. EL-18-75 for $18,484 to Farfield – Lighting changes due to ceiling modifications in B and D Buildings,
g. EL-19-76 for $32,269 to Farfield – Fire Alarm changes required by Municipal Fire Department,
h. EL-20-77 for $9,467 to Farfield – Crosswalk changes due to change in loading dock for pushbutton lights,
i. EL-21-78 for $6,133 to Farfield – Added card readers to elevator in H Building,
j. EL-22-79 for $9,797 to Farfield – Added zone box for data circuits in F Building to be within length limits,
k. EL-23-80 for $3,930 to Farfield – Power to Swimming Pool Heat Exchanger
Pump,
l. EL-24-81 for $621 to Farfield – Light fixture change due to unforeseen condition of F Building ceiling,
m. EL-25-82 for (-$11,036) credit to Farfield – Upgrade light fixtures in F Building Lobby, and
n. GC-34-83 for $23,144 to Nello – Raise floor on third floor G Building due
to elevation discrepancy.

Draw your own conclusions

Examining the 2013 Guide to Western Pennsylvania Schools published by the Pittsburgh Business Times, I was able to come up with more details per school.  I continually get comments from snipers, accusing me of putting negative slants on articles. Draw your own conclusions, folks. You are not going to see this on the school district website.

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
1	1	USC	11	90	93	98	75
2	2	MTL	11	90	94	99	74

                                   

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
1	1	Ft. Couch (USC)	8	99	99	98	91
2	4	Jefferson MS	8	94	99	94	90
8	10	Mellon MS	8	93	95	92	90

                                   

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
1	1	Ft. Couch (USC)	7	98	96	NA	NA
2	5	Jefferson MS	7	96	97	NA	NA
7	8	Mellon MS	7	95	98	NA	NA

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
4	3	Boyce (USC)	6	96	94	NA	NA
5	7	Jefferson MS	6	95	92	NA	NA
25	26	Mellon MS	6	93	87	NA	NA

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
2	3	Lincoln	5	100	97	95	NA
4	4	Aiken (KO)	5	94	89	97	NA
5	5	Howe	5	93	96	83	NA
7	16	Foster	5	98	93	100	NA
13	49	Hoover	5	93	88	91	NA
16	13	Jefferson	5	86	93	89	NA
30	33	Markham	5	91	83	88	NA
40	38	Washington	5	87	83	82	NA

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
2	7	Howe	4	100	98	100	NA
6	15	Lincoln	4	99	96	99	NA
9	24	Foster	4	100	98	100	NA
12	49	Markham	4	100	97	99	NA
18	26	Aiken (KO)	4	100	91	100	NA
29	29	Hoover	4	95	89	100	NA
35	55	Jefferson	4	95	95	96	NA
44	50	Washington	4	95	90	97	NA

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
1	7	Lincoln	3	98	100	NA	NA
18	23	Baker (USC)	3	93	93	NA	NA
24	34	Markham	3	96	90	NA	NA
32	46	Jefferson	3	98	90	NA	NA
42	40	Foster	3	92	90	NA	NA
48	47	Washington	3	94	92	NA	NA
70	42	Howe	3	93	95	NA	NA
74	109	Hoover	3	94	97	NA	NA