The 2016 job posting for Elaine Cappucci's son has been altered since Cappucci announced her candidacy for school board.
Original posting and altered posting
Who has the authority to do this? Who do you think?
Update May 13, 2017 10:03 PM Now that I am back in town, I am sharing the copy of the online job posting which was sent to the PA Ethics Commission. I downloaded it on April 21, 2017 at 1:42 PM. The Administration changed it after they found out about the ethics complaints. I learned long ago to make pdf's of the MTLSD website because things mysteriously change. I will be sending in the new evidence to the PA Ethics Commission.
66 comments:
Can we name this?? Lebo-gate? That would assume there's only one scandal to be had in town. Better to give individual names to tell them all apart. Cappucci-gate?
This is discusting! Where is the teacher's union in all this! Why are they so silent? As a retired teacher from Pgh. City schools, there would have been a huge uproar over these shannigans if this had occurred in the City!
Why was this changed 10 months later ? 9 months after the position was filled ?
10:12, probably because everybody thought during that period no one was paying attention. Same as with Birks' situation, they think no cares and no one is paying attention.
The trouble with the school district is that their is an environment where they THINK they are serving the community so whatever they do is OK. A sort of the 'end justifies the end' mentality.
We see it in Moorhead's response to the ethics question. Does he believe her voting on issues relating to Outreach is OK? Of course he and his ghost-counselor do (who probably needs to go) even though Birks and her lawyer concede she shouldn't vote on Outreach related matters.
Same with Cappucci, it's OK if we fudge a little or a lot on the hiring procedure. It's Elaine's son so we won't look too deep at it.
Makes you wonder what else squeaks under the cracks doesn't it.
I have heard that when they vote on personnel issues--teacher hiring it is not done individually. Either they higher the lot 5-10 teachers or they reject the lot. This has got to change. I think if it is for a family member of a board member that it must be considered INDIVIDUALLY only.
Cappucci really did not care about the predicament she put all the other hires in. Nor did she care about her fellow board members
Any item on a "consent agenda" can be objected to have it considered separately.
https://www.landarc.com/blog/2015/11/06/understanding-roberts-rules-consent-agenda
8:32 not sure what your thought process is but that site has NOTHING to do with the Mt. Lebanon School Board and how it votes on personnel issues. On the Andrew Cappucci hiring he was ONE of 10 being hired. The board voted on all of them at once. NOT one personnel decision was voted on independently. I think it should be a blind application. No name should be on the application only there RELEVANT Experience. That way you are truly hiring the BEST Qualified and not someones friend!!
connections should not be a qualification!
Land Arc is a property management company that provides professional maintenance and resident services to HOMEOWNERS
ASSOCIATIONS . Please 8:32 clarify what the HELL it has to do with the Mt. Lebanon School Board. I only pray that you 8:32 are not a school board member!
Has anyone notified the PA ETHICS COMMISSION on this change of dates posted for Andrew Cappucci's job?
I hope someone has, or I hope the Ethics Commission reads this BLOG
Rare insight into the inner workings of the oligarchy.
I believe what 8:32 is referring to are rules for holding meetings which I believe a number of years ago a school director ( might have been Kubit) said the board followed.
Most organizations zations do that I know of.
To 8:32, we've seen what happens to board members that don't toe the line. Just go back and follow how Mark Hart, James Fraasch and Alan Silhol were assualted for asking questions or going against the grain. Especially by certain PTA members and Roycrofters.
Drain the Mt. Lebanon Swamp!
RR are pretty ubiquitous for board meeting parliamentary procedure. Whether from a property management company or another grup offering a laypersons explanation of a consent agenda, the process is the same
MTLSD Board Policy BED
"Routine items not requiring public discussion by the Board (“consent agenda”) may be
adopted by one single motion. A Board member may request to remove an item from the
consent agenda for individual discussion and consideration"
Personnel decisions are most likely debated in the executive session, where I would assume names are disclosed. It would have been nice if someone had noted the individual in question was in a consent agenda item as Cappucci did see fit to resign over this issue.
While all this dialogue here is very entertaining and enlightening, I'm amazed by the lack of interest in Bill Matthews on the budget. Just 2 comments, jeez.
I'm thinking a lot of problems we blog about here would be resolved if we just paid more attention to the expenditures and revenues and accounting of the district.
Hopefully folks will vote for DePlato, Strotmeyer, Diamond and Riemer. There is a choice in this school board race. Keep spreading the word.
In our household the eligible voters are 2:19.
I hope voters realize that Riemer, Strotmeyer, Diamond, and DePlato would not stand for document tampering as we are seeing now.
Elaine
1:27pm, Bill Matthews only got two comments because the average Mt. Lebanon resident wouldn't know an economics point being made if he woke up in bed with it! - and if he did he'd probably ignore it anyway. I've also noticed that some of the damn smart people who bother to post their names on this blog are usually ignored. Do ya think that maybe that's why the people on the school board thought they could get away with the crap they've pulled? Maybe instead of bitching here we could send email to everyone we know in the bubble with a link to Matthews' letter.
Publis
Anonymous 2:19 PM,
I had planned on voting for the Riemer, Strotmeyer, and Diamond team and DePlato. However, I received what had to be the worst political mailer ever from the Riemer, Strotmeyer and Diamond team.
In another thread here, someone--who may or not be trolling for another ticket, commented on the lack of proofreading on their PTA questionnaire answers. The mailer I received also had proofreading and grammar errors. Riemer used the number 5. Strotmeyer spelled out the number six. Strotmeyer is correct. All numbers less than ten should be spelled out. I generally would think this is forgivable, but these people are trying to run our schools.
Another, more egregious, error was in their copy. They said Mt. Lebanon is a "premiere" school district. That's an incorrect usage. The word they should have used is "premier." They way they spelled it would be for a movie premiere.
If they can't take the time to even get a mailer correct, how can we trust them to handle our children's education?
This is why I'm plunking DePlato.
Seriously, 7:26 PM?
Elaine
7:26, people that live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
You wrote: "They way they spelled it would be for a movie premiere."
Unfortunately spelling and such is a sign of the times with computer publishing and smartphones.
How does the district go about advertising for jobs? What is protocol? Is there a policy? Anything in the teachers' contract? Does the principal interview? Who makes the final decision? Was the original job posting not in compliance? Please contact me privately.
Elaine
Publis, on top of emailing everybody w/Matthews report plead with them to 1) read more than a frigging lawn sign and 2) vote.
The incumbents are praying and banking on a low turnout at the polls.
Could someone refresh my memory, please?
Wasn't it just a few short years ago that the Timmy Team proposed eliminating a part-time $28k student resource person in a cost-cutting effort?
Which was reconsidered after students and parents protested emphatically that this was a staffer the kids relied on.
Seems to me the Timmy Team puts their personal needs ahead of the students.
Strotmeyer
Deplato
Riemer
Writing in Gillen!
Timmy's bonus and ridiculous salary increases approved by Cappuci, Remely and Birks over the past several years amounts to what? $60,000? That's 4 aids total salary!
I'd much rather see Gillen as a commissioner, but if she'd accept a SB win I'd be willing to write her in!
And 10:04 those aides directly interact with the students and we're not talking about pizza lunches.
The board and the administration constantly tout that things closest to the students are priorities. This reader doesn't think bonuses and extra vacation time for just doing your job fall under that priority. Especially not when one constantly whines about not get enough money.
I wonder too how many HS project change orders were rubber stamped as well without an intense review.
10:02, it wasn't just Timmy that got bonuses!
With all those bonuses, has he actually exceeded all goals? The goals are accessible somewhere, right? We probably can't see the evaluation portion, but I bet some readers out there could put their knowledge together to determine if goals were met or not.
HS renovation on time - missed
$6 million in five years fundraiser - missed
For starters
Now that I am back from a week in St. Louis, I was able to update this post with the copy of the online job posting that i submitted to the PA Ethics Commission.
Has anyone noticed a decrease in Caste, Cappucci, Riemer, Birks signs? On the way home from the airport tonight, I saw that one had been taken down.
Elaine
http://www.post-gazette.com/neighborhoods-south/2012/03/29/Balanced-budget-out-of-reach-in-Mt-Lebanon/stories/201203290307
Found it! Here's the story about the staff cut. It occurred in 2012-13 and Tim and the board decided Judith Kolko, pat-time community service coordinator at $15,000/yr just wasn't a priority.
But charging students to park was even though administrators (some making six figure salaries) and staff get to park for free.
"The list of possible cuts includes eight furloughs. That includes Ms. Kolko's position, a potential savings of $15,000. Several residents and about 10 students stayed for citizen comment in the Jefferson Middle School auditorium Monday night to stress that "a part-time position does not equate to part-time importance," as one student put it. One student brought a homemade "Save Mrs. Kolko" sign."
"In her presentation, Mt. Lebanon High School senior Jennifer Kline, 18, said it won't go unnoticed that the district announced it will pay a new social studies teacher and football coach more than $100,000 amid talk of eliminating Ms. Kolko's position.
"It doesn't really add up," she said."
Maybe we should see if Jennifer Kline is still around and run her for school board. She seems to have a better grasp of math.
I have written repeatedly how cuts were made in the School District, yet our superintendent continued to get healthy increases. 6:32 AM, there is the link to the podcast of that meeting in my March 27, 2012 post,
Above the line...below the line.
I pointed out how the USC superintendent and finance director voluntarily froze their salaries. The USC superintendent was Superintendent of the Year in PA, no less!
Additionally, I have posted Timmy's goals throughout the years and posted them here. I also wrote how his goals were comical. You want the lunacy to end? Vote on Tuesday for Riemer, Strotmeyer, Diamond, and DePlato.
Elaine
I have been at this for seven years, blogging about the wrongdoings in Mt. Lebanon. I have backed up all my observations with facts. It is all here. Through the years, I have been labeled crazy, a crackpot, busy body, whiner, that I wore a tinfoil hat, that I harass my neighbors, and that Kristen Linfante spotted me going through her garbage, etc. I have had unexpected visitors at my door. My house was reassessed before the completion of my front porch roof. I have been publicly humiliated at commission meetings and school board meetings. I have been taken to Common Pleas Court. I have been issued cease and desist letters.
With this latest coverup, I have been vindicated.
Elaine
I'm not sure if this is going off topic or not, but yesterday we received the Caste, Cappucci, Remely, Birks Campaign mailer.
On it the candidates claim "Experienced - Dedicated - Accountable"
Hmmm, one candidate voted on budget items that she shouldn't have claiming she didn't know what she was voting on."
Two of the others remain mum on the matter.
Under the fourth candidate's bio it is noted she is the Committee Chair of the Century of Excellence Campaign. Is this the fundraiser that was suppose to raise $6,000,000 in five years?
If so, where the accountability? We have no idea of how has come in and more importantly how much has been spent on this fund raising effort.
Sorry, Timmy Team I don't see much accountability. Sure there may be a spirit of volunteerism, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're good at it.
I'm all for giving some others a chance to show what they can do.
Elaine, you are certainly accumulating significant evidence to support your claim of "official wrong-doing" somewhere along the line...
And everything you say in your 7:16am post seems pretty spot-on. I still have many friends in MTL, and most are "in the middle" (e.g., don't really care about the deer one way or the other, kind of both like and hate the turf).
However, if last night's dinner is any indication, this one is being taken very seriously and talked about by many in "the middle." While citing you as "the crazy lady" (just as you said--I, of course, corrected that account and their messenger-message confusion), this story nevertheless was a main topic of conversation -- and I certainly did not bring it up. The level of potential public trust violation here is significant. The outrage is real. People are furious.
Additionally, as a teacher educator, I am concerned about the impact this has on the kids themselves... the 8th graders are beginning to weigh in as well, from what I hear...
I am still not clear on where the violation occurred, or who would be responsible if this position was filled via classic MTL-style nepotism and oligarchical rules.
I guess that is what the ethics investigation is for?
Bonuses for Steinhauer???
If they are for overseeing the behind schedule HS renovation didn't he take the job in the first place understanding that leading the renovation was part of the job? After all renovation discussion were well underway when he took over for Allison.
If the HS project was dropped on him unexpectedly after several years on the job I could understand a bonus, but not when he came on board with the understanding and supposed experience to guide such a project.
Jason, I hope your observations are correct and the middle makes it known that they won't accept empty words and promises from their municipal and school board candidates any more!
Elaine Cappucci's longtime campaign treasurer and friend is Nancy Dapper. Nancy's daughter just got a dream teaching job with the Mt. Lebanon School District. Surprise! I'm sure it's just another remarkable coincidence or is this a pattern of behavior? Is this best for the children?
Aw, come on, 11:05 AM! It never ends!!!
Elaine
To the person who was critical of the Riemer Strotmeyer Diamond ticket because of grammatical errors, check out the Caste Cappucci Remely Birks mailer. Katie Caste is a member of Timmy's Key "Commicators'" Committee.
Elaine
Elaine @ 11:35, thanks for what so far is the biggest laugh of the day.
Just reenforces my point at 9:54 that typos are so common these days that they are hardly worth mentioning anymore.
She did? Nancy is also on the board at Outreach, at the recommendation and request of Mary Birks.
Here's another example of how empty some candidate's words are.
I'll bet if you asked Birks she'd campaign for unity and say we shouldn't look at peoples' color, age, sex or religion. That none of that matters when choosing people for office, work, neighbors and so forth.
But what was her reasoning for voting against the majority's board replacement-- that their weren't enough women on the board.
I'm tired of the hypocrites.
Elaine, maybe that isn't a typo.
Perhaps that is a letfist group entrenched in the school district. 😆
When referring to hypocrites @ 11:48, I referring to things like campaign promises of frugalitity, accountability and such
How can people say things like-- the high school renovation will not go over $100,000,000 (we were told that) and still try to claim they're accountable.
Or sell people on a $6,000,000 fundraiser over 5 years (be nice if it happened) and never admit they're not going to reach their goal.
When does the accountability start or is that just another empty political ad word that people have become numb too?
Birks wanted her friend on board and didn't want a man. Cooper voted Caste because he knows her, and was probably told to do so by Birks. He's a member of that campaign now according to their letter so clearly supports them. 2 votes for Caste from friends that go back a long time.
Strohmeyer earned 5 based on what? Resume and interview? Imagine that! Votes based on merit and not nepotism!
Riemer-Diamond-Strotmeyer-DePlato...drain the swamp.
I will bet the there will not be an ethics violation found against Ms. Cappucci
You can apologize to her when that happens.
Betting the there comment @ 9:23 came from Ms. Birks
Why is the fix in, 9:23?
You may be right 9:23 since as we've seen at a national level ethics don't seem to matter much in politics anymore.
Hopefully voters will evaluate if Ms. Cappucci stepped over the line.
9:23, the other part of the equation for voters will be to decide if they think Cappucci will be able to be objective when it comes to voting on teacher contracts/benefits, football funding, and should the need ever arise teacher layoffs or a school closing.
There are probably very few people that would honestly say they could be objective voting to give their kid a smaller raise or lay them off.
The ethics decision by the state on the hiring timeline is inconsequential.
9:23pm -- Then who committed the ethics violation? Please reach out to me if you are willing to go on the record. These things can be cleansing.
Another issue with the Cappucci deal.
What principal is going to give young Cappucci a poor review or assign him a large class or unruly students knowing all too well that 'Boss' Cappucci will be looking over their shoulder.
Ethics, schmeckics, it's just not a good situation.
It'll always look bad. Did he get stellar evaluations because he's Cappucci's son? Did he get bad reviews because he's Cappucci's son?
Let's make the ethics point moot and keep both Cappucci and Birks out of the general election in November for the best reason of all: they didn't get the necessary votes. Vote tomorrow!
9:23 - Ms. Cappucci can apologize to the job applicants who were screwed over during the interviewing process when younger Cappuccci was selected !
I bet that 9:23 comment came from her son! This nonsense of hiring friends kids has to stop. Mt. Lebanon pays well and we should be attracting and hiring THE BEST QUALIFIED. Lebo should go to a blind hiring process. No name on the application only the candidates relevant qualifications. Not family connections. Perhaps Birks and Cappucci can start their own business. At that point they could hire anyone they want. To the rest of the school board you need to JUST SAY NO to these improper hirings. STOP WAISTING LEBO TAX DOLLARS.
Whether Mr. Cappucci is the best teacher ever or the worst teacher ever, his legacy will always be that he was a school board director's son. Elaine, that isn't fair to Andrew, is it?
Elaine
Cappucci had a hand in:
1. Hiring her son
2. Hiring her neighbor, Carly McGinty
3. Hiring her friend's daughter, Mrs. Dapper
4. Hiring her friend as volleyball coach, Joe Rodela
There is a pattern here of her getting the administration to hire her recommendation and probably not the best person applying.
And these are just recent ones!
There was a very qualified young woman for the volleyball coach position. Instead, a former board member and friend of Cappuci was hired because he lost his business and income. He never coached the sport before.
I agree with 7:44!
People used to talk about the good old boys club. It's apparent we've thrown that one out and started another.
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