Hugh Beal announced at Monday's school board meeting that there is a Request For Proposal (RFP) for new auditors. Maher Duessel has been the school district's auditors for over twenty-five years! Maher Duessel is also the municipality's auditor. Do a search for Maher Duessel on Lebo Citizens and you will find these posts. https://lebocitizens.blogspot.com/search?q=maher+duessel
There have been many Mt. Lebanon residents who have objected to having the same outside auditor year after year. Yet Jan Klein, Tim Steinhauer, Mary Birks, Elaine Cappucci, Jo Posti, and others were very defensive when it was brought up. How could Maher Duessel have NO FINDINGS OR ISSUES TO REPORT with the Capital Campaign? See School Board is pulling a whopper!
For years, former school board presidents have humiliated residents at school board meetings when we would question the Century of Excellence Campaign or outside auditors or even Mt. Lebanon School District's business director.
In addition to this good news, there appears to be interest in resurrecting the Audit and Finance Committee. You can see Elaine Cappucci questioning Hugh Beal through clenched teeth about this at Monday's meeting. Clearly, she was not happy with this idea. I believe it was Josephine Posti who disbanded this committee. At that time, when we questioned that move, we were publicly reprimanded for doing so.
Where were you when Mt. Lebanon mocked the PA Office of Open Records? Your "Outdoor Editor" didn't see it as mocking. In its appeal to Common Pleas Court, Mt. Lebanon "had the temerity to argue" that Mt. Lebanon residents donated their properties for killing deer, when the PA Office of Open Records determined that no property was donated, but granted access to their properties.
It sucks when it happens to you, doesn't it?
Wow! What a meeting! I was so pleased with the emphasis on education at last night's school board meeting, but then in a heartbeat, it went to hell. Except for Frioni and Diamond, Katie Caste threw the school board directors under the bus. According to Caste, the school board was responsible for all the decisions regarding the capital campaign. Nick Meduho was correct in stating that the Century of Excellence Capital Campaign is in violation of § 2-216 of the PA School Code. In October, Hugh Beal had said that the school board should take ownership of the capital campaign. https://lebocitizens.blogspot.com/2017/10/who-is-in-charge-of-capital-campaign.html
Then Josephine Posti got up to say that most of the Capital Campaign Cabinet have resigned. In fact, the personnel report confirmed my suspicions that Sloane Astorino resigned. DID YOU READ THAT, MEDIA? Where the heck are you guys?
Posti was really fired up and started going after Hugh Beal's loan/donation, and demanded answers from Mike Riemer. WOW! There will be a discussion about the Capital Campaign at the March meeting.
Before all of this, a resident - I believe her name is Dr. Melanie Austin talked about banning the rifle team. She shared her credentials, and presented her data. Bill Cooper also agreed that they should have a discussion about the rifle team program. Dr. Austin stated that the shooter in Florida was also on the school rifle team. A rifle team student from McGuffey School District took a rifle and committed suicide. She also said that people are against the deer cull here because of the guns. Coincidently, I posted the results of the deer killing earlier today.
What a meeting! Nick would have made video clips for me. Sadly, that is no longer the case. Here is a link to the school board meeting video. The comments are toward the end of the meeting.
Poor Tony. They lost some good customers because they moved away and the new owners don't think there is a deer problem.
It has been hard to convince the new landowners to participate given, from their perspective, they do not have a deer problem with reduce deer numbers in their neighborhoods.
They will try to get them to change their minds for next year. Yes. Next. Year.
Given the favorable results for three consecutive years of the archery program, we recommend that the municipality continue to include this program as part of the overall deer management strategy.
We paid Tony $9000 to manage the volunteer archers this past year. Archery season ran from the middle of September to the end of January, with a short break between Thanksgiving and Christmas and all they killed were twenty five deer. That comes to $360 per deer. Twenty five hunters. Twenty five deer killed.
Here is the breakdown:
Total Deer Harvest: 25
White Buffalo Hunters – 25
Hunter Cooperative – No data
Antlered – 1
Antlerless – 24 (1 male, 23 female) Total
Female Harvest – 23
Total Male Harvest – 2 %
Female Harvest – 92%
Public Property Harvest – 18
Private Property Harvest – 7
White Buffalo Public Property Harvest Summary
Conservation District – 0
McNeilly Park – 4
Municipal Golf Course – 10
Public Works/Robb Hollow – 4
Twin Hills – 0
Eight deer were donated to Hunters Sharing the Harvest. That doesn't sound like much sharing to me.
Our commission majority voted to pay DeNicola $77,110.11 without knowing the results of the archery hunt.
For $100,000 more than what the municipality wants the school district to pay for 21 kids to use the rifle range.
Update February 26, 2018 8:38 AM
From: Dr. Timothy Steinhauer [mailto:noreply@mtlsd.net] Sent: Friday, February 23, 2018 3:02 PM To: Mt. Lebanon School District Families Subject: Community Conversation About Safety & Security
Dear Mt. Lebanon School District Families,
I invite you to a School Community Conversation about Safety and Security in the Mt. Lebanon School District to be held on Tuesday, March 20, 2018 in the Mellon Middle School Auditorium beginning at 7:00 p.m. We will be sharing and discussing the measures, procedures, and protocols we have in place to keep our schools safe.
During our conversation, you will have the opportunity to hear about our proactive, preventative, and responsive efforts, as well as, the opportunity to ask questions and share your ideas and suggestions. Our School Board, Administration, Faculty, Staff and I work diligently to create and maintain a safe and orderly environment through which children will thrive and be successful. Know too that the Mt. Lebanon Police Department and all other community safety assets are integral partners in this effort.
I look forward to you joining me for this important conversation.
Sincerely,
Timothy J. Steinhauer, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Update February 26, 2018 4:31 PM
From: "Dr. Timothy Steinhauer" <noreply@mtlsd.net> Date: February 26, 2018 at 3:32:10 PM EST To: Mt. Lebanon School District Families Subject:**Venue Change for Conversation About Safety** Reply-To: "Dr. Timothy Steinhauer" <noreply@mtlsd.net>
Dear Mt. Lebanon School District Families
LOCATION CHANGE - Mt. Lebanon High School Auditorium
Last week I sent you an invitation to the School Community Conversation About Safety and Security in the Mt. Lebanon School District to be held on Tuesday, March 20, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. We have since changed the venue to the High School Auditorium to allow for easier parking. As I mentioned in my email last week, we will be sharing and discussing the measures, procedures, and protocols we have in place to keep our schools safe.
During our conversation, you will have the opportunity to hear about our proactive, preventative, and responsive efforts, as well as, the opportunity to ask questions and share your ideas and suggestions. Our School Board, Administration, Faculty, Staff and I work diligently to create and maintain a safe and orderly environment through which children will thrive and be successful. Know too that the Mt. Lebanon Police Department and all other community safety assets are integral partners in this effort.
I look forward to you joining me for this important conversation on March 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the High School Auditorium.
Sincerely,
Timothy J. Steinhauer, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
The City of Pittsburgh appealed today the Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records decision that ordered the city to release its Amazon HQ2 bid to the public, according to a statement released by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.
The city had until today to reveal the details or appeal the decision to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.
I emailed the commissioners this morning, asking about the agendas for Monday's meetings. No agendas have been posted for Monday's Discussion Session OR the commission meeting. (No LeboALERT had been sent out.)
I also asked when we were going to get the results from the archery hunt. We usually get them at the February meetings.
No response.
Update February 24, 2018 8:57 PM I heard back from Steve Silverman.
I understand the agendas have been posted for Monday's meetings. Also, the Deer Management report for the archery program has been forwarded to IT to be posted on the Mt Lebanon website.
1. When will the agendas be posted for Monday's meetings?
2. When will we be getting the numbers from the archery hunt?
Elaine Gillen
2/26/18 Commission Discussion Session agenda
More discussion on overnight parking. I have never seen this before: Thirty five minutes are set aside for
#4. 7:15 p.m. Extended discussion session(s)
Consideration of topics for extended discussion session(s)
Commission will discuss and suggest possible topics for an extended discussion session(s)
What the heck does that mean? They won't even list what the topics will be? They are allowing 35 minutes for this! No transparency!
So, what did the “perceived” and “non-credible” threat say?
From: Mr. Brian R. McFeeley, Principal - Mt. Lebanon HS [mailto:noreply@mtlsd.net] Sent: Friday, February 23, 2018 1:52 PM To: Parent/Guardian Subject: Graffiti in Bathroom
Dear Parent/Guardian:
This afternoon, two students reported to school officials finding what they perceived as a threat written in a bathroom stall at the high school. Upon learning this information, the Mt. Lebanon Police Department was immediately contacted. Both the Mt. Lebanon Police and our administrators immediately responded and conducted an onsite threat assessment. The threat was deemed to be non-credible and no further action was recommended.
School safety and security is our number one priority. We appreciate that these students immediately shared this information with school officials. I want to reinforce that it is important that students, parents, staff, and other members of our school community should always feel comfortable reporting any concerns they may have to a principal or to the Mt. Lebanon Police.
I appreciate our continued partnership ensuring a safe school environment for our students, staff, and visitors.
My post about the firing range has been removed from Nextdoor. Here is the email I got with an explanation. But we can have Brian be an asshole and nobody seems to mind that. I am the one who is the problem.
Elaine Gillen Subject: Your Recent Content on Nextdoor
FEB 20, 2018 | 11:17AM PST Roz replied:
Hi Elaine,
I’m reaching out because several of your neighbors have reported your posts about the proposed Mt. Lebanon firing range that have led to a heated discussion in your neighborhood.
At Nextdoor, we definitely encourage members to discuss issues that matter to them in a way that is constructive, civil and builds community. That said, we ask that members not use Nextdoor to air their personal views on non-local issues that are known to be highly controversial.
I understand why you’d want to share the information about this firing range with your Nextdoor community. Unfortunately this issue is causing frustration among your neighbors, we need to ask that you refrain from further posting about this topic in the main newsfeed. If you feel there is sufficient interest in this issue, please create a Group dedicated to conversations about this topic. We’ve found that this can be a great way to foster deep and constructive discussion, while still keeping the main newsfeed a positive and productive space for topics of general interest.
As a Lead, you set the standard for neighborly communication on Nextdoor. Moving forward, please help us to promote open, helpful, and respectful discussion by ensuring that posted content follows the Community Guidelines.
Thanks for your understanding. If you have any questions regarding our Guidelines, please let me know.
Best,
Roz
Nextdoor
Just got this email from Nextdoor. Tough crowd. Wow.
Hello Elaine,
A message you posted was reported and removed for violating Nextdoor's Community Guideline: Be Helpful, not Hurtful.
If you have concerns about why your content was reported or removed, do not post about it in the main newsfeed. Here’s what you can do:
From: Dr. Timothy Steinhauer [mailto:noreply@mtlsd.net] Sent: Friday, February 16, 2018 6:20 PM To: Mt. Lebanon Parents Subject: ***Important Message from the Superintendent ***
Dear Mt. Lebanon Parents,
I am writing to inform you that as Jefferson Middle School students were leaving school at the end of the day today, a 7th grade student was overheard saying he was going to “shoot up the school.” Students informed the principals, and the Mt. Lebanon Police Department was immediately contacted.
At this time, the MLPD indicated that no imminent threat exists. Due to the serious nature of the comment, the MLPD are still investigating and may take further action. Appropriate school disciplinary measures aligned to the student code of conduct will be applied. Due to student confidentiality laws, we cannot release specific information pertaining to the student or disciplinary action taken.
The safety and security of the entire school community is a priority for us, and we will continue to aggressively pursue comments and behavior that threaten our students or schools.
Please feel free to contact your child’s principal or me if you have any concerns.
The following letter was sent to parents yesterday, following the heinous shootings in Florida.
From: Dr. Timothy Steinhauer <noreply@mtlsd.net> Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2018 4:23:37 PM To: Mt. Lebanon Parents Subject: School Safety Letter
Dear Mt. Lebanon Parents,
A terrible tragedy took place yesterday in Parkland, Florida. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, families, students, and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Please know that we have safety procedures in place for each building and that we review them regularly with our administrators, faculty and staff. In addition, we train within our buildings and with Mt. Lebanon Police, Fire and MRTSA for all types of emergencies.
As more details emerge about this incident, we will work with emergency management officials to make adjustments to our plans as necessary.
Communication is always key to helping prevent such terrible incidents. Parents should talk with their children, as well as with our faculty, staff, and administrators, if any concerns of this nature become evident.
Our students, parents, staff, and community members should know that we will continue to do everything possible to maintain safe, welcoming, and nurturing schools for all of our children. Their safety remains our highest priority.
This is just two weeks after this letter was sent to parents.
From: Dr. Timothy Steinhauer [mailto:noreply@mtlsd.net] Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 1:28 PM To:Mt. Lebanon School District Families Subject: Updated Deer Management Information
Dear Mt. Lebanon School District Families,
In our ongoing effort to keep you apprised of local issues, I am sending you information that I received from the Mt. Lebanon Municipality concerning the upcoming cull beginning on February 1 through March 31 of 2018. I have attached a letter from Assistant Municipal Manger Ian McMeans with details about the program and a link to more extensive information on the Municipal website at http://www.mtlebanon.org/2114/Deer-Management-Information. This same information is also being shared with all of our principals, teachers, and support staff. Please do not hesitate to contact the Mt. Lebanon Municipality or Mt. Lebanon Police Department should you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Timothy J. Steinhauer, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Municipal manager Keith McGill said he discussed the matter with school board member Al Frioni, the liaison to the municipality, and learned: “There appears to be general support for moving forward" with a financial commitment from the school district.
FAKE NEWS! I don't want to play the "Bash The Republican" card, but Al Frioni, a Republican, should never have made the statement that there is general support with a financial commitment from the school district. Update 8:33 AM From: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com> To: kmcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org> Cc: commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>; schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>; hfunk1213 <hfunk1213@yahoo.com>; TSteinhauer <TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net> Sent: Fri, Feb 16, 2018 8:17 am Subject: Fwd: This just makes me crazy
Keith,
I know you guys are all about firing lethal weapons in undisclosed areas in Mt. Lebanon thirty minutes after elementary school kids are dismissed from school, but your quote in The Almanac is just over the top. Nothing has been approved. If Al Frioni made this commitment with you, he was totally out of line.
Elaine Gillen
Update 9:17 AM
From: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
To: kmcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>
Cc: commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>; schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>; hfunk1213 <hfunk1213@yahoo.com>; TSteinhauer <TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net>
Sent: Fri, Feb 16, 2018 9:15 am
Subject: Re: This just makes me crazy
Thanks for your quick response, Keith. Please keep in mind that even though the municipality has been discussing the possibility of a shared facility with the school district since at least 2014, you can't assume that there is general support for moving forward.
Thank you for your opinion. You are correct that the school board has not taken an action or even offered any comments to the municipality on this issue. The statement was not made by Mr. Frioni, but is based on the fact that the facility would meet the needs of the High School rifle team. The municipality has been discussing the possibility of a shared facility with the school district since at least 2014. Hence the comment that there appears to be general support for moving forward.
Keith
Update 9:37 AM From: Keith Mcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org> To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com> Cc: Commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>; schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>; Harry Funk <hfunk1213@yahoo.com>; tsteinhauer <TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net> Sent: Fri, Feb 16, 2018 9:33 am Subject: Re: This just makes me crazy
Good morning Elaine,
You are correct, which is why the next paragraph in the article reads as follows:
“Had we stayed with the golf course site, this project was always
financially planned to be able to move forward without contribution from
the school district. So the capacity’s there from a budget standpoint,”
McGill said about municipal resources, “and we’re looking for the
school district to partner because we’ll create one facility that meets
the needs of both groups.”
