The Almanac ran this opinion piece last month,
Districts need to set fiscal priorities. (
saved in Google Docs)
First, on top of its multi-million dollar high school renovation, Mt. Lebanon is actually considering spending nearly $74,000 on a trophy case for the athletic building. To put that into perspective, the district recently approved a contract with Kristen Friedrich Schaffner for psychological services on an as-needed basis. Mt. Lebanon assistant superintendent Dr. Deborah Allen noted that she didn’t expect the cost of said services to exceed $15,000 – and should that expenditure increase, it will be brought to the board’s attention.
We ask you this – what is more important, a trophy case or the mental well being of students?
...thankfully, at the board’s Jan. 20 meeting, it was decided to delay the vote on the bid. The board is now trying to decide if they will fund the trophy case with funds from the district’s capital campaign or as a capital project.
I wonder if Ms. DeLuca is telling potential donors that their donation is not going toward education, but to a $74,000 trophy case. Another little factoid that was posted on
a previous thread concerning the ONLY bidder:
"Low bidder" for trophy case, Viking Woodworking is owned by the father of the author of the Devil's Advocate article entitled "You and I are not equal."
January 31, 2014 at 10:26 PM
Will Viking be using renewable timber such as bamboo? Bamboo is an eco-friendly and green building material.
ReplyDeleteApparently, the Almanac must be another irrelevant "wingnut" since they're questioning the wisdom of a purchasing a $73,000 trophy case just like Lebocitizens.
ReplyDeleteThe paper writes this: "The board is now trying to decide if they will fund the trophy case with funds from the district’s capital campaign or as a capital project."
The Almanac isn't clear on the matter, but it sounds like the board (except for Remely) is debating the $73,000 price tag, but rather how they can slide it into the budget.
Perhaps they'll use the Corbett increase in state funding to public schools just announced in his budget.
Remember the old "its eleven o'clock, do you know where your children are?"
Maybe we need a new version.
"its school district preliminary budget time, do you know where your taxes, fees and donations are going?"
$15,000 budgeted toward healthy school culture (if needed)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/school-shootings-continue-despite-safety-emphasis/2014/02/03/6bd8a05a-8cae-11e3-9ed8-259977a48789_story.html
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2014/02/05/Allegheny-County-concealed-guns-multiply/stories/201402050107
Just for perspective for Lebocitizens readers here is one company selling what appears to be an attractive wood and glass 66" H x 72" W trophy case for $1,900.00.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.schooloutfitters.com/catalog/product_family_info/cPath/CAT4_CAT41/pfam_id/PFAM3383
We could buy 10 of them for less than $19,000. That's 66" x 20 yards (that's yards, not inches or feet or 1/5th of a football field in length) trophy display area.
I wonder, will the board give me a $1,000 bonus for watching out for taxpayer money?
Hey, what is the current status of the DeLuca-led $6 million fundraising campaign ? It's supposedly been underway for months, but have not heard of anyone being contacted ?
ReplyDeleteShhh. This is the "Quiet Phase."
ReplyDeleteI do know that the school board made a small donation in honor of outgoing school board directors Posti and Ostergaard.
Elaine
4:44, we're in the "Quiet Phase", don't you know?
ReplyDeleteFolks like you are sabotaging the whole fundraising effort.
Not sure how long the phase takes or when it will be over.
http://www.zielinskico.com/uploads/quietphasemg3-09.pdf
There seems to be a lot of "Quiet Phases" by our local boards and commissioners lately.
ReplyDeleteI thought most of these people ran on more transparency agendas?
5:06 PM, thanks for the link. Wouldn't the red light, green light PK feasibility study be considered as the quiet phase?
ReplyDeleteElaine
From everything I've been able to research on the subjwct the Quiet Phase takes place before the launch of the campaign.
ReplyDeleteThe key participants - the board, the administrators, teachers and staff are suppose to make substantial contributionsto establish their confidence in the value of the campaign and set precidents for giving.
Then when donations reach around 40% the campaign is announced to mid-level donors.
A run through PKs website will support the above, I believe.
Announcing that the board may use donations to finance an apparently controversal (the Almanac thinks so) $74,000 trophy case seems incredibly stupid when the whole rational behind the campaign is supposedily for advancing kids education.
Glitzy trophy cases don't fall in that catagory in this readers opinion.
Distribution of $1,000 bonuses to top administrators hardly suggest a pressing need for money to potential donors either!
ReplyDeleteDon't forget the teachers grievance either.
ReplyDeleteDonors will surely want to contribute to that.
My kids don't need a $73,000 trophy case, they need an education. They need quality teachers, quality textbooks and access to strong classroom support. An expensive trophy case is a blatant waste of money, especially when other services provided by our schools are being cut. Why can't my kids have a full time guidance counselor if the district can afford such an extravagance? This infuriates me.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it Odd that about a year or two ago the board was prepared to layoff a student advisor to save money in the budget. It wasn't until students spoke up on her behalf that the board cancelled the layoff. Funny how intent they are to buy a $74,000 trophy case.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we need an itemized list of all the cutbacks from the school district, so that everything is transparent for the parents.
ReplyDeleteMy kids tell me their gym class time was cut back modestly. Is this true? I do know that their gym teacher now also teaches health to them. Is this because they off-ed the health teacher and made the gym teacher do both tasks?
My kids tell me a random non classroom teacher provides them with the bullying program info that used to be the responsibility of the guidance counselor. No elementary has a full time guidance counselor right? So now the band teacher provides guidance lessons in bullying.
There have been cut backs on recess time, but that was for better test scores, right -- so the schools could be rewarded by the state. So I am qualifying that one as a cutback nevertheless because recess is an amazing health, social and learning break that the kids *need*.
Some music books for instrumental lessons (elementary) were cut, along with the scholastic newspaper, what else?
Art teachers' supply budgets usually get whacked despite the rising cost of paints, paper, brushes, etc.
ReplyDeleteHere's an idea.
ReplyDeleteKnow how we have a student parking fee. How about a student trophy parking fee? If your names on a trophy or plaque and you want it displayed in the $74,000 trophy case, you pay to park it there.
Yeah, that'll go over like a lead balloon.
8:54 PM, I see that the guidance counselors were cut back for this budget:
ReplyDeletehttp://lebocitizens.blogspot.com/2012/05/change-order-was-tabled-budget-approved.html
The cost reduction list included student parking fees, cutting guidance counselors, and eliminate part time library clerks, so that Timmy could get his increase, along with the other administrators.
A link to the cost reduction list is in that May 21, 2012 Lebo Citizens post, 8:54 PM.
Elaine
Mary Birks and other school board directors blamed Corbett for cuts, except when he came to praise 9 out of our 10 schools. We had a school board candidate tell us that there really were no cuts from Harrisburg, and then mysteriously, he dropped out of the race.
ReplyDeleteThe Trib wrote tonight that those were just Liberal lies.
Elaine
One thing's for sure. Just like Jello, there's always room for increases and expensive trophy cases.
ReplyDeleteElaine
And vaguely worded change order request.
ReplyDeleteI got an idea... Close the schools. Fire all the admins, teachers and staff. Sell off all the schools. And send the kids to Shady Side where they will get a good education and the tax payers will save a ton of money!
ReplyDeleteIs this a first? Nobody from Lebo. Top 10 Western PA Recruits
ReplyDeleteElaine
3:26, Interesting discussion topic when you look at the massive spending increases in public education spending vs tudent performance (especially in rankings with the rest of the world).
ReplyDeleteWhat is the alternative 3:26, shut up and let them buy all the $74,000 trophy cases they can fit into their Taj Mahal?
ReplyDeleteNice that in your world, public education is like a light switch— either on of off.
Dr. Steinhauer quote
ReplyDelete"As workers disassembled the main gym in the old portion of the school, the new athletic building was nearly complete. Students were taking an exam in the dimmed main gym as craftsmen made the final tweaks to the two competition gyms, putting a final coat of shine on the wood floor. 'We’re all pleased with the space,' says Superintendent Tim Steinhauer. Walls, painted in Lebo blue, gold and white, will soon become the Hall of Champions once a trophy case is installed."
I guess that trophy case is coming.
Elaine
"Hall of Champions"!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat is this Cooperstown, Akron?
In what wing will there be a Hall of Brilliant Mathematicians, Scientists, Doctors, Musicians, Artists, etc., etc.
There's something wrong with these administrators in my opinion.
Altoona and Kittanning aren't in Western PA.
ReplyDeleteThe new athletic building was to be "completed" last August, 2013 according to the published project schedule -- and the Super, who hands out bonuses to administrators for supposedly keeping things on course and on time, now in February, 2014 claims "the new athletic building was nearly complete" ?
ReplyDeleteIs no one in the District held accountable for anything ?
Interesting article from the Trib.
ReplyDeletehttp://triblive.com/mobile/5344582-96/students-class-technology
Where does MTLSD fall on BYOD and students working from home?
A recent post on Cyberdays instead of snow days sent a couple of people into mild convulsions that we couldn't afford it.
But we can afford $74,000 trophy cases.
3:14 according to the WPIAL, Kittanning is since it falls in Armstrong County one of the 9 counties served by them.
ReplyDeleteAltoona is in Blair and not one of the 9 WPIAL counties I believe.
Long as we're focusing on details...
Like the suggestion of selling off and closing down of all the schools and giving the parent(s) of each student a set amount of money for their education. Those that are gifted could attend a college. The parent(s) would have control over their kid's education and who knows better than them. Taxpayers would save and more people would want to move here for the educational choices.
ReplyDelete5:52 AM, not gonna happen.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but let's try to focus on what is happening now.
Elaine
"'We’re all pleased with the space,' says Superintendent Tim Steinhauer."
ReplyDeleteWho is "all?"
Why doesn't the woodshop class or votech kids build the trophy case from the old gym floor. Lebo teachers are so great I am sure he/she could pull that off for a lot less than $74000?
ReplyDelete