The end of the Capital Campaign and the end of an era

Go to the 01:30:00 time stamp of the March 12 School Board meeting to hear the announcement of the new non-profit fundraising headed by volunteers Noelle Conover and Bill Moorhead. There is no more Century of Excellence Capital Campaign, but a reset of a new fundraising initiative with a presentation by Noelle and Bill next month.  Elaine Cappucci was really angry.

This discussion had followed the decision to have bids and permits filed for artificially turfing the Rock Pile with the board agreeing that artificial turf is the best course of action. Of course, Larry was very excited by this opportunity. Larry, can you change it up a bit? Do you ever say anything else?

I am still watching the meeting. They are going to talk about the budget next. WHAT???????????? I just heard that this will be Jan's last budget that she is preparing for the Mt. Lebanon School District!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Am I dreaming? Getting new auditors. New business director. End of the Century of Excellence Capital Campaign. Timmy actually being involved in the meeting, instead of sitting there with his arms folded watching everyone else do his job.

HUGE CHANGES! I am loving it!!!

End of an era

Monday, November 20, 2017 will be Mary Birks' final school board meeting. It is also Bill Moorhead's and Dan Remely's last meeting. Traditionally, Mary takes a swipe in her Board President's Report. She has gone after resident after resident in her reports. Will she go out in a blaze of glory or will she go out with dignity? We will soon find out.

 I wish them well.

School Board is pulling a whopper!

On tonight's agenda are the following discussions:

Acceptance of 2017 Single Audit Report – The annual audit of the District’s finances has been completed by Maher Duessel CPAs and the results of the audit will be reported by Amy Lewis, CPA at the meeting. There are no findings or issues to report. The Superintendent recommends acceptance of the audit report.

Jo Posti is making her reset presentation tonight for the Century of Excellence Million Dollar Heist. This is what the late Nick Meduho had asked about at the last meeting, when Mary Birks said, "Nope." It is after the election and before the new board takes over.

Athletic Field Discussion - we already know that Bill Moorhead, Dan Remely, and the soccer ref's wife, Mary Birks will be going off the board and they are in favor of turfing everything in sight.

And then there is the Teachers Contract.

Letter of Engagement for Chief Negotiator – The Board is asked to consider the appointment Ira Weiss, Esq. as special counsel for teacher contract negotiations at a cost of $125 per hour plus training services of $1,500. The Superintendent recommends this appointment.

If these items are up for discussion, the board will be voting next week. It will be Birks, Remely, and Moorhead's last meeting. Ever. All of these items should be tabled for the new board! It looks like Mary is not going out quietly.

Lies in 2015

By 2015, they only took in about $300,000.

"So far, Mt. Lebanon’s capital campaign has raised about $1.1 million in pledges, gifts, goods and services, according to Maggie Schmidt, the district’s campaign counsel and veteran of dozens of such efforts on behalf of nonprofit organizations."

Carol Walton and Jo Posti, Co-Chairs

http://www.thealmanac.net/article/20150821/NEWS/150829990

No need for a new photo

Meet the new president and vice president of the Mt. Lebanon School Board. No need for a new photograph.

Elaine Cappucci is president again with Larry Lebowitz serving again as vice-president. Dan Remely, Mary Birks, Mike Riemer, and Bill Moorhead were sworn in tonight. Dan never raised his right hand. Mike Riemer was the only one who used a Bible. Just some fun things to watch out for when watching the Reorganization meeting on TV.

Vote against bullying UPDATED

Election Day is November 5, 2013. There are four seats and four candidates running for School Board. Search for these names on Lebo Citizens and see if you agree with their philosophies.

Mary Birks (incumbent)
Dan Remely (incumbent)
Mike Riemer
Bill Moorhead

The incumbents raised student parking fees, charged activity fees, promised a renovation under $95 million, cut the budget to the bone, and then turned around and gave sizable increases to our superintendent, who presently makes more than the PA Superintendent of the Year, in addition to having zero experience as a superintendent prior to his contract with Mt. Lebanon.

The incumbents have voted yes on every issue, including change orders. The incumbents have taken it upon themselves to try and ratchet up sundry "zero tolerance" policies, with great fanfare to the public. Whether these policies (hazing, bullying, plagiarism, alcohol, drugs, etc.) were well-intentioned is of little concern; the fact is they sent strong signals to parents that the District wasn't going to allow certain behaviors.

Now along comes Mrs. Harouse who reads an article in "The Devil's Advocate" and takes umbridge at it. Whether the article is satire or not is a side-issue. She goes to the Board and lets 'em have it. The Board, in class Lebo fashion, circles the wagons and excuses the article on First Amendment grounds. Again, that's not the point. I think we all get it.

The point is that over the years, District officials have crowed about how they want to protect the children from harm - harm in all of its various forms - and now they have to deal with a parent that takes them seriously. However, given that various policies at the high school are routinely ignored or flouted, I am surprised that anyone takes the District seriously.

I had a record breaking week and want to thank all those who read, commented, and sent personal emails to me. Obviously, the Devil's Advocate article struck a chord. One of the over two hundred comments contained a list of bullying characteristics.

These are some overt and covert bullying behaviors that parents may experience when dealing with the administration. Each behavior may vary in its intensity, severity, duration, etc. Parents should not experience any of these behaviors when dealing the school district.  

Hostility
Dirty looks/gestures
Invasion of personal space
Curt tones of voice
Social exclusion/isolation
“Silent treatment”
Making light of bullying
Calling the parent “crazy”
Referring the parent to counselors
Harassment
Excessively critical
Repeated reminders of errors and mistakes
Intolerance
Impatience
Intimidation
False/exaggerated reports against the parent
Shouting/yelling/ swearing at the parent
Throwing objects
Failure to maintain hostile-free communication
Insulting or threatening phone messages/emails
Theft
Attempting to turn others against the parent
Unfair treatment
Gossip/rumor-mongering
Threats
Humiliation
Condescending
Deception/lying
Vindictive
Punishing
Hinting that the parent should move
Verbally attacking the parent in public/private
Excluding the parent/family from important meetings or activities
Withholding pertinent information from the parent
Blocking opportunities for engagement with the school
Unjust use of authority
Excessive monitoring
Unreasonable demands
Ignoring/undervaluing belittling the parent’s concerns
Defamation: false attacks against the parent’s reputation
Excessive teasing or cruelty
Questioning the parent’s competence
Excessive sarcasm
Destruction of property

Sounds like a typical school board meeting, doesn't it? I guess eye rolling would fall under "dirty looks/gestures." One person wrote, "Residents may want to carry a "Bully" sign to raise each time they observe one of these behaviors in the Commission or School Board meetings." Ask and you shall receive, my friend.

Stop the bullying sign
Stop the bullying bumper sticker

Unfortunately, the four candidates will still win. We know it. They know it. Have you seen any yard signs? No. Perhaps it is because three of them lost the best candidate on their slate. The fourth candidate only had State Rep signs.

I am still voting for Moe Howard, Curly Howard, Larry Fine, and Shemp Howard*, the Four Stooges. Don't sit home on Election Day. Get out and vote. Let the school board members know that you are saying, "No to bullying."

*Last names added for voting purposes. ;)

Update October 27, 2013 7:45 PM Mt. Lebanon boy gets suspended for class assignment.

"Thank you for your interest in our community schools."

Even though these comments were submitted under another post, I believe they deserve their own space on this blog. The following comments were submitted by Richard Gideon under Primary and Special Election News UPDATED:

Blog Readers:
In regards to the question of whether I asked the other candidates the same 14 questions I posed to Mr. Hill, the answer is that I sent the questions to Mr. Riemer recently and received the following reply:

"Council PTA has compiled a list of questions for the school board candidates. Please visit the website and review the responses.

Thank you for your interest in our community schools."

Replies from Mr. Moorehead are still pending. I did not ask these questions of Ms. Birks or Mr. Remely, as their positions are well known.

Although Mr. Hill answered only four of my 14 questions for reasons that he has delineated in an earlier post in this thread, I give him high marks for being willing to address the remaining questions in a face-to-face meeting (I forgot to ask him if he has Skype! - that would solve the face-to-face issue).

Addendum:
The list of PTA questions and candidates' responses referenced by Mr. Riemer may be found here: http://www.mtlsd.org/district/districtpta/schoolboardcandidatesqanda.asp

How disappointing.  Mike Riemer will be a perfect fit on the school board. Don't answer our questions. Instead, give the Cappucci response.  "Check the district website for answers." Nice.

OK, so I read the responses to the PTA's questions in the link provided by Richard Gideon. What a joke. Mary Birks forgot to include how she rolls her eyes at Scott Goldman whenever he expresses his opinion.  Riemer thinks we have a very lean budget already. It is not clear to me what he means by reviewing the drug and alcohol policy. Does he want to change that? The PTA question was, "Do you have any specific changes you want to make to school district policies..."

So who are the officers on PTA Council?   


2012-2013 Officers

President
Sheryl Cohen
skccreations@aol.com

1st Vice President
Julie Maselko
themaselkos@gmail.com

2nd Vice President
Sara Dougherty
tjdsjd@verizon.net

3rd Vice President/Superintendent
Dr. Timothy Steinhauer
tsteinhauer@mtlsd.net

Treasurer
Jennie Bhojwani
jenniebhoj@hotmail.com

Recording Secretary
Teresa Saxton
4saxtons@comcast.net

Corresponding Secretary
Julie Daubner
geo.mom@verizon.net

Historian
Hannah Vaughn
hvaughan@mac.com


2013-2014 Elected Officers

President
Julie Daubner
geo.mom@verizon.net

1st Vice President
Sara Dougherty
tjdsjd@verizon.net

2nd Vice President
Julie Maselko
themaselkos@gmail.com

3rd Vice President/Superintendent
Dr. Timothy Steinhauer
tsteinhauer@mtlsd.net

Treasurer
Jennie Bhojwani
jenniebhoj@hotmail.com

Recording Secretary
Teresa Saxton
4saxtons@comcast.net

Corresponding Secretary
Julie Smith
juliejsmith23@hotmail.com

Historian
Hannah Vaughn
hvaughan@mac.com


Just an FYI, President Sheryl Cohen was Josephine Posti's campaign treasurer when Jo ran with Rob Gardner. President Elect Julie Daubner is Elaine Cappucci's sister. Ms. Daubner went from 2012-13 Corresponding Secretary to 2013-14 President.  Interesting.