Mr. Meduho,The updated financials will be posted once the month of September has been closed out. This will occur at the end of the week.
The operational document is available to you through RTK request.
For the Board,
Mary D. Birks
On Tue, Oct 3, 2017 at 10:30 AM Nicholas Meduho Jr wrote:
Can we please update the financial report that is posted on the school district website for the capital campaign to include month end 9/30.Also, what about a second page that includes specific breakdowns of revenues and expenses…can that be added?
Thank you,
Let's compare how Jan Klein rewrote history over the course of the last thirty days.Nicholas Meduho
Keeping it Simple* (updated 10/11/17)
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| Jan Klein - Wait. What's that behind her? |
Next school board meeting is Monday, October 9, 2017. Agenda is here.
* Please check my numbers.
Update October 7, 2017 1:20 PM At the September 11, 2017 meeting, School Board Director Hugh Beal asked Jan Klein about the accuracy of the 8/31/17 spreadsheet. Jan Klein verified the accuracy. The video is available here. http://multimedia.mtlsd.org/Play.asp?11982118278419844!5 Could someone make a clip of Hugh's questioning which begins at approximately 48:08 minutes into the meeting? I will add it here. Thank you, Richard Gideon and Nick M.! I guess it wasn't accurate, because Jan rewrote history as I indicated above.
33 comments:
A Lebo Citizens reader sent 10 Ways to Kill Your Nonprofit. It is like Timmy, Jan, and the Timmy Ticket's 10 Commandments. Especially "Often, everyone in the nonprofit knows that expenses are exceeding income to the point of danger, but no one stops to revisit the budget. This is a human problem: no one wants to look like a failure to the board, and we identify ourselves personally by the financial success of our nonprofits. But the only “failure” here is that of your fiduciary duty to your organization. If you want to go the starvation route, help ramp up expenses and throw up roadblocks when conversations about the budget come up.”
Elaine
By far the biggest cheerleader and denier of all, Mr. Lebowitz, tying for second place it’s a race between the two stonewallers, Birks and Steinhauer.
It's the Timmy Team with Mrs. Klein at the helm running this Ponzi Scheme. They just ask for more money from more people. Yeah, you can do that but what if you run out of people to ask and also run out of time? That’s what happened to Bernie Maddox. He swindled investors. The Century of Excellence Campaign investors were swindled. The tax payers were swindled. No accountability.
"Were" and still are, 8:37 AM. I feel badly for those who invested. There were warning signs given here five years ago, but we were ignored. Maddox was caught and went to jail. What about the Timmy Ticket, Steinhauer, Klein, Lebowitz, and the campaign cabinet? Will they?
Elaine
Repeat after the Timmy Team...
“It’s all for the kids, it’s all for the kids.”
Follow with a hearty laugh.
Madoff, not Maddox.
And think about this--despite being caught, the guy is 100 times smarter then any of Team Timm, PK, or anyone with a hand on the Great New School Caper. Yet those idiots walk free. Why is that? Politics. Nobody in the state wants to do their job and investigate this because of politics. No wonder PA is listed as one of the most corrupt states in the nation. It would be nice if someone running for office (*cough...Guy...) would take a stand and openly declare their intention to go after corruption at the local level.
Ugh! I should have caught that, 12:30 PM. Thanks!
Elaine
WAT! $20,000 for a Hall if Champions mural!!!
Are you kidding me? Wasn’t the $70,000 trophy case enough?
$20,000 to memorialize alumni. Is that really necessary in a school district that constantly has to apply to raise taxes almost every year and cries that Harrisburg doesn’t send them enough money.
Mount Lebanon Mary and Lebo Larry, always whining about enriching the kids' educational experience. Thank you, thank you, thank you for putting in a Hall of Fame. My kid's HS experience has improved significantly. And all this time we thought he needed a tutor!
Let me guess who’s images will be immortalized in the mural!
To those that want/need to be enshrined in the Hall of Champions...
“Does my complete lack of interest in your existence conflict with your delusions of self-importance?
Thanks to Nick M. and Richard Gideon, you can hear the administration stand behind their 8/31/17 numbers for accuracy here:
https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aq7yK_oWz4yC4z_JEMH9zA4myZWX Jan Klein should resign before her certification is revoked.
Elaine
12:30, don’t you think it funny that Democratic candidate for Congress and past PSEA President Mike Crossey has no opinion on ours and his school district’s lack of transparency, shoddy bookkeeping and lavish spending on things like artificial turf, $20,000 murals?
After all, if this guy becomes our voice in Congress and will be voting on federal education spending shouldn’t we know where he stands on the K-12 and environmental issues confronting us right now?!
The silence by all our elected representatives is deafening.
I was intrigued by your rewriting history column and came across this gem from June 11, 2011 regarding House Bill 1326.
Dave Davare, director of research services for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, said boards are usually reluctant to raise taxes. He argues they have become the focus of the debate because schools get about 70 percent of property taxes, with counties and local municipalities splitting the rest.
"We can put out information, districts have websites, but to what extent are people looking at it, using it and understanding it?" Davare said. "You go to a lot of school board meetings, and you'll find a lot of times very few people in attendance, unless you're talking about hiring a new football coach or firing a football coach."
Apparently PSBA director of research didn’t research MTLSD since there is no reluctance here to raise property taxes.
““Mt. Lebanon School District (left) asked to raise property taxes by more than $17 million above the rate of inflation over the past 10 years. That’s more than any other Allegheny County school district.”
C’mon voters... you’ve got to quit listening to the BS from the board, their key communicators, and Lebomag and start paying attention to reality!
What is accuracy? definition and meaning - BusinessDictionary.com
“General: Freedom from error(correctness), or closeness to truth or fact, resulting from exercise of painstaking care or due diligence. Accuracy depends on how the data is collected, and is usually judged by comparing several measurements from the same or different sources.
Accounting: (1) A financial statementitem is judged accurate when all account balances included in it are correct in (a) value, (b) presentation, and (c) disclosure of material information. (2) An account balance is judged accurate when all elements included in it (such as assets, costs, equities, liabilities, reserves) are correct in (a) value, and (b) classification.”
Call me crazy for communicating this key business idea, but when your leading financial officer, Dr. Steinhauer, isn’t presenting accurate financial statements and then testifying to your board that they are accurate then it’s time to find a new financial officer.
5:30, sorry you didn't accomplish anything in High School and choose to express this negativity towards those who did, but I would think that recognition for impressive athletic accomplishments is a nice aspect of our schools. And good, 12:28, thank you for taking the time to define accuracy for us. Finally, I'm not sure if any of you know how fundraising or donations works, but if a donor (say a wealthy former MtL athlete) donated money specifically for this project, how do you justify your whining? And to those who would say, "well how does that fall under the capital campaign's mission?," should the capital campaign turn down a generous sum of money for any reason? I would say no.
4:42 PM, did you submit this under the wrong post? Are you that upset with the Steelers' loss? So you're OK with the Director of Business messing with the finances? By your last question and answer, I see that you have no scruples either.
Elaine
Ah yes 4:42, it is my dream to have my high school sports accomplishments immortalized on some high school wall so that future generations will come an worship me until the next renovation and that wall is taken down. You’re right I’m jealous.
And so 4:42, if I came with a “generous” enough “donation” I can put anything I wish in the high school? Is that what you’re going to stand on. We’ll whore out our public school system if the money is right. Elaine’s right, you have no scruples.
Oh by the way 4:42, the Campaign is in the red in case you haven’t figured it out yet.
4:42 you’re right, I apologize for forgetting the purpose of Century of Excellence fundraising campaign.
“The Century of Excellence Campaign is a forward-thinking initiative to help our school district, through philanthropy, continue to meet the high standards of educational excellence that Mt. Lebanon is known for, our students require for future success, and the community expects.
Raising private money to support public education is a new reality of school funding. Through private support, we have additional resources to invest in academic, fine arts and athletic programming that would otherwise not be possible. The funding also provides exciting opportunities in technology and innovation to help better prepare our students for the future.”
Yep, it’s right there between the lines, memorials to old jocks. I don’t know how I missed it!
So who is going to the meeting tomorrow night and asking for Jan Klein's resignation?
Elaine
Like that would ever happen.
The only real voice we ‘stockholders’ have is in the voting booth in November.
There are 9 school board members elected to be our eyes, ears, and voices regarding school district affairs. They’ve seen how many variations of the fundraiser’s financial numbers and WE have to appear to ask for a resignation!
And we suppose to vote for any of these people come November.
Wow, this is a popular post. I hope someone asks for Jan Klein's resignation tonight. I would go, but I have that thing. You know. That investigation. The thing about ethics. While some think it is because I don't have the guts or the decency to attend.
Elaine
4:42 you wrote: “Finally, I'm not sure if any of you know how fundraising or donations works, but if a donor (say a wealthy former MtL athlete) donated money specifically for this project, how do you justify your whining?”
I know you think you are vastly more intelligent than everyone else, but it seems many of us are at least able to read. Perhaps you should try it... like this article from the National School Foundation Association. https://www.schoolfoundations.org/fundraising
"People who provide support…do not want to contribute to programs and activities that are perceived as problems. In the larger sense, the request for support for a project should be addressed in terms of an opportunity." (Muro, 1995, p.51) Muro (1995) further suggests that a volunteer who solicits a peer is more likely to be successful than a paid professional person. In this case, the solicitor and the prospective donor have a similar financial status that facilitates the process. Donors need to see the donation as an investment in quality education. He considers face-to-face solicitation more effective than telephone and mail soliciting. Planning is essential to fundraising.”
Did you read that important advice, 4:42? “...a volunteer who solicits a peer is more likely to be successful than a paid professional person.”
and
“donors need to see the donation as an investment in quality education.”
What was the first thing the board/administration do with their fundraiser... yep you got it, threw money into highly paid professionals.
Strike one 4:42!
“The Education Foundation Assistance Team (cited in Clay et al., 1985, p.23) suggests an outline for the fundraising activities:
• Choose a campaign chairperson (it is preferable to have someone who is a donor himself/herself, as well as a person known in the community.
• Establish priorities.
• Identify prospective donors.
• Prepare and organize fundraising events (the work will be done by a committee).
• Design and produce promo materials.
• Design and write letters to major donors.
• Design and write letters to parents.
Keep records of funds and gifts.
• Give media releases.”
I highly doubt that DeLuca was a donor or a well known person in the community and the campaign’s quiet phase has to be one of the longest I’ve ever seen.
Strike 2, 4:42!
Then there are the remainder of the bulleted points...
“• Prepare and organize fundraising events (the work will be done by a committee).
• Design and produce promo materials.
• Design and write letters to major donors.
• Design and write letters to parents.
• Keep records of funds and gifts.
• Give media releases.”
How many fundraising events were held? Who was invited?
Can you show us the promo materials?
How about those letters to parents?
And finally keep [accurate] records of funds and gifts! Yeah r
Strike 3,4:42!
And here’s the biggest advice that ends the ballgame, 4:42.
“The foundation must account for the use of funds. An annual audit will assess the way the funds were received and distributed. The school or the district affiliated with the foundation will present quarterly reports for the funds received. By being held accountable, both parties gain credibility in front of the donors and the community.”
This fundraiser and the people running haven’t presented quarterly reports, they aren’t accurate and therefore there is no credibility.
But hey, you’re right 4:42, we’re all a bunch of bumpkins as is the NSFA.
What about the investigation prohibits you from attending?
Here’s a few more words of advice from the National School Foundation Association.
“How foundations spend the money they have raised:
• Foundations that raise $10,000 or less spend it on mini-grants and scholarships.
• Those raising $20,000 - 50,000 spend it on curriculum enrichment programs, teacher training, and teacher resources.
• Those raising over $100,000 fund teaching positions. (Merz, C., cited in De Luna)”
I don’t see sports equipment or murals in that list, do you 4:42?
“Fundraising methods vary from foundation to foundation. A common practice for a local school foundation in its early stages is to send solicitation letters to parents (De Luna, 1995, p.6). As the foundation becomes more known, solicitation letters can be addressed to alumni and businesses as well.”
Our fundraising leadership put the cart before the horse, 4:42.
Let’s see, there are 7 candidates running for seats on the board, many incumbents.
Let’s see which of those candidates agree with the National School Foundations Advice and hold the people involved in this debacle accountable!
Fun Fact Mt. Lebanon : Greater Latrobe Senior High School (45 minutes east of LEBO)has two VERY FAMOUS graduates. Arnold Palmer and Fred Rogers, I bet most of you have heard of them? They donated very nice pictures and various awards they won. Makes a great commemorative display for these distinguish alumni, however it cost the taxpayers NOTHING. Perhaps these fantastic athletes could pay for their own picture to be put on the wall. Better yet I think there should be a wall of ACADEMIC ALL- AMERICANS. How many professional athletes has Mt. Lebanon produced?
11:05, you realize the hall of champions cost the taxpayers nothing here? What is your argument?
I wish you all would drop the topic about the hall of champions and put it under the other post. Don't you realize that they are trying to deflect from the Jan Klein issue?
Elaine
“The foundation must account for the use of funds. An annual audit will assess the way the funds were received and distributed. The school or the district affiliated with the foundation will present quarterly reports for the funds received. By being held accountable, both parties gain credibility in front of the donors and the community.”
Wonder why Timmy’s administration didn’t audit the fundraiser annually and why Lebowitz kept praising the fundraiser wherever it was discussed.
Someone should be held accountable for the campaign’s negative results! Posti? Steinhauer? Klein? Birks?
Riemer asked for an outside audit of the campaign a couple of meetings ago.
Let’s see if he sticks to his guns after Klein has fudged the numbers for a third time.
It’ll be interesting to see if any board member backs him up and which ones block it and their justification for doing so.
Good point 11:05.
I guess the message that MTLSD is trying to convey is that if you’re anything but a distinguished athelete you don’t count... that is unless you want to make a sizable donation.
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