Capital Campaign YTD ending April 30, 2018

Capital Campaign YTD ending April 30. 2018
(saved in Google Docs)

For comparison:

Capital Campaign YTD ending March 31, 2018


Summary:

Total donations YTD ending April 30, 2018     $154,770.77
Total donations YTD ending March 30, 2018   $154,322.77

Total donations for the month of April $448.00

Total fundraising expenditures YTD ending April 30, 2018      $57,724.81
Total fundraising expenditures YTD ending March 30, 2018    $57,208.19

Total fundraising expenditures for the month of April  $516.62

Net loss of $68.62. 

Mt. Lebanon Catch 22 UPDATED 02/07/18 @ 2:35 PM

Remember this post? Another step in the right direction. Well forget it. I think it may be easier to share the emails.

First email
From: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
To: schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>

Sent: Thu, Jan 25, 2018 7:56 pm
Subject: Capital Campaign spreadsheet

School board directors,

Every month, my friend Nick Meduho would file a Right To Know for the two page Century of Excellence Capital Campaign spreadsheet. I would like to request the two pages for YTD 12/31/17 by emailing the Board, and moving forward, I am requesting that both pages are put on the Capital Campaign website instead of just the one page every month.

Thanks.

Elaine Gillen

Second request

From: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
To: schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>
Sent: Thu, Feb 1, 2018 12:25 pm
Subject: two page report

Dear School Board Directors,

I had sent an email requesting the two page Capital Campaign report for YTD 12/31/17, as well as the complete report be posted on the capital campaign website moving forward. Mike Riemer was kind enough to let me know that moving forward, the entire Capital Campaign reports will be published.

I would still like to receive the two page Capital Campaign report for YTD 12/31/17. Is Mike the only one who is permitted to share this report with me, or since it has been approved, can any of you email me that?

Thanks.

Elaine Gillen

Third request

From: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
To: schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>
Sent: Mon, Feb 5, 2018 5:31 pm
Subject: Page 2

School Board Directors,

This is what is on the Century of Excellence website. https://www.mtlsd.org/uploaded/District/Century_of_Excllence/Capital_Campaign_Summary_YTD_ending_12.31.2017.pdf This report has been available monthly as is.

One. Page.
In order to receive page 2, a Right To Know had to be filed.

I am asking, once again, for page 2. I understand that moving forward, the Capital Campaign Summary YTD ending 01.31.18 will include both pages, but I would like page 2 of what is presently on the website. I would have had this by now, had I filed a Right To Know. Once again, I have to wait a week or so until I hear from the school board president, because the policy mandates that only the president can answer me. This is ridiculous.

Elaine Gillen

Then from the board president

From: Michael Riemer <mriemer@mtlsd.net>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>; schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>
Sent: Mon, Feb 5, 2018 5:40 pm
Subject: Re: Page 2

Ms. Gillen,

I am in receipt of your previous email and have been addressing this to get the full information before I respond to your request. Also I have been under the weather the last two weeks. We will be addressing your email in due time.

Mike Riemer
For the Board

My response

From: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
To: mriemer <mriemer@mtlsd.net>; schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>
Sent: Mon, Feb 5, 2018 6:21 pm
Subject: Re: Page 2

Mike,

I am sorry to hear that you have been under the weather the last two weeks. I know that you were unable to attend the last school board meeting. A lot of nasty stuff has been going around. Couldn't Sarah have supplied the information that I have been requesting? On my blog, I have been criticized for wasting tax dollars by filing RTKs, but it does take the pressure off of the president. Perhaps that is why past presidents have told us to file RTKs. By filing a RTK, I would usually get an answer in five days or less. I'm not sure what "in due time" means. I am only asking for one page that shouldn't require any redactions. Wasn't the second page populated a month ago?

Elaine Gillen

Response from the board president

From: Michael Riemer <mriemer@mtlsd.net>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>; schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>
Sent: Mon, Feb 5, 2018 8:21 pm
Subject: Re: Page 2

Ms. Gillen,

As per Mt. Lebanon School District Board Policy KDB, which is in alignment with Pennsylvanian right to know law we are required to log all public records requests. Please feel free to file a right to know on the subject matter at hand.

Thank you.

Mike Riemer
For the Board

SO I DID.

Update February 6, 2018 9:00 AM Mt. Lebanon School District Board Policy KDB is available for viewing here.
https://www.mtlsd.org/uploaded/District/School_Board/Policies/K-SchoolCommunityHomeRelations/KDB_Public_Records.pdf

Update February 6, 2018 10:30 I heard back from Jeanine, the Open Records Officer. Notice how the attorneys had to be cc'ed. Billable hours, my friends. Ridiculous. This was for the second page of a published document.

From: Jeanine Szalinski <jszalinski@mtlsd.net>
To: E.T. Gillen <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc: Thomas Peterson <TPeterson@tuckerlaw.com>; Voltz, Chris <cvoltz@tuckerlaw.com>; Dr. Timothy Steinhauer <TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net>; Michael Riemer <mriemer@mtlsd.net>
Sent: Tue, Feb 6, 2018 10:08 am
Subject: Right to Know Request

Dear Mrs. Gillen,

Thank you for writing to Mt. Lebanon School District with your request for information pursuant to the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law.

On February 6, 2018, we received your request seeking: Page 2 of The Capital Campaign Summary YTD 12/31/17 in pdf format.

Please find attached a response to your request and any responsive document.

Sincerely,

Jeanine Szalinski

Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent

Asst. Board Secretary/Open Records Officer

Mt. Lebanon School District

7 Horsman Drive

Pittsburgh PA  15228

412-344-2077

www.mtlsd.org 

I had to jump through hoops for PAGE 2:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17s_cNCEUdm-u19aIPBEl6IAX21SVqcfG/view?usp=sharing

Update February 7, 2018 2:35 PM For future reference, since the monthly reports disappear from viewing when the latest report is posted, here is the link to Page 1 for YTD 12.31.17. https://drive.google.com/file/d/114Hi9y_-d1fiYkTPr5WSDv1cW2iUXgO9/view?usp=sharing

Another step in the right direction.

From: Michael Riemer <mriemer@mtlsd.net>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc: schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>
Sent: Mon, Jan 29, 2018 5:02 pm
Subject: Re: Capital Campaign spreadsheet

Ms. Gillen,

I have spoken with Dr. Steinhauer concerning this matter and moving forward all pieces of the Capital Campaign financial documents will be posted to the website. 

Thank you, 

Mike Riemer 

For the Board 

On Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 7:56 PM, 'egillen476@aol.com' via SchoolBoard <schoolboardemaillist@mtlsd.net> wrote:

School board directors,

Every month, my friend Nick Meduho would file a Right To Know for the two page Century of Excellence Capital Campaign spreadsheet. I would like to request the two pages for YTD 12/31/17 by emailing the Board, and moving forward, I am requesting that both pages are put on the Capital Campaign website instead of just the one page every month.

Thanks.

Elaine Gillen

A well thought out comment

This comment says it all. I wanted to cross post it.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker":

9:07, hopefully you are on the verge of an ‘ah ha’ moment. At least I hope so, if you’ll stop for a moment and think about what people are upset about instead of looking at them as obstructionists.

I don’t believe, at lest I hope, that people aren’t upset if someone wants to donate ‘their’ money to some initiative— be it a weight room, library room, computers, showcases, murals or whatever. God bless them for doing so.
There’s nothing wrong with the fundraiser if that is how it works.

Trouble is though that it hasn’t. The district put $923,520.02 of cash IT ALREADY HAD from its General Funds into the campaign and now because of the overhead and expenses they have less than that left. If you read the financial statements, which seem to change monthly, expenses outpace revenue from donations! Plus you can’t spend pledges since there is no guarantee those pledges will ever come in.

So, to be clear, I don’t believe anyone is opposed to people donating. Had the board put in just $50,000 seed money as originally intended and said if they burn through the $50,000 the campaign shuts down and we rethink. No they pumped almost $1 million into it and while the revenue was mere fractions of their goal kept lying to taxpayers that everything was going as planned.

As for the Foundation, why would one charity that was doing good deeds close to teachers and their classrooms and is always looking for donations itself pledge money to another that has a different set of goals like the renovations, athletics and fine arts.

Some districts from my research actually set up their “Foundations” originally to do what we have two - the foundation and the campaign - to do.
From my little bit of reading it seems that those districts put out a disclaimer that while they’ll gladly accept donations specifying a specific initiative in the end it would be up to the board/administration if it fit into the district’s prime objective of educating students.

I don’t know if other people concur with my opinion. That’s what makes this blog so great, people can or should be able to exchange thoughts, ideas and hopefully arrive at some good ideas.

Hello? Anyone home? UPDATED

No answer from the school board or Timmy.

Can someone please explain the following:

In the treasurer’s report for September 2017 the “receipts” total for the capital campaign show a total of $15,492.81.

Doing a little calculation using the financial spreadsheets from 8/31 and 9/30, I come up with a total of $10,727.81.

That’s $32,504.81 - $21,777.00 = $10,727.81.

Where is the other $4765.00? Shouldn’t they match?

Looking at “disbursements,” total shown is $37,554.09 which really threw up a red flag just by looking at that number.

Again, doing a little calculation just as above I come up with $18,492.24.

That’s $62,404.84 - $43,912.60 = $18,492.24.

Where is the other $19,061.85? Shouldn’t that match as well?

Using the same calculations the interest is correct at $261.03.

That’s $816.02 - $554.99 = $261.03

Can someone please shed some light on this? Could my math be that wrong?

Thank you,

Nicholas Meduho

Mt. Lebanon, PA

*********

How's this for a Nightmare on Horsman? Policy DIF/GBEBD Staff Responsibility for Safeguarding District Assets 

The definition of fraud and dishonesty includes but is not limited to the following: 

• theft or other misappropriation of assets, including assets of the District, our students, suppliers or others with whom we have a business relationship;
• misstatements and other irregularities in school records;
• forgery or other alteration of documents;
• bribery and other deceptive unlawful acts; and/or
• any similar acts. 

If there is any suspicion of altered documents, or misappropriations of assets, they are to be reported to Timmy or Jan Klein. OMG

All relevant matters, including suspected but unproved matters, should be referred to the building principal, the Superintendent, or the Director of Business.

The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker

One of the questions that was never answered at the latest school board meeting, included the "specific" names of all individuals who make up the Philanthropic Advisory Panel for the capital campaign. Timmy listed the positions like a PTA parent, a student, a principal, a teacher, a butcher, a baker, and a candlestick maker. They were to get back to the resident, but never did. So yet another Right To Know.

The Philanthropic Advisory Panel for 2017-2018 are:

PTA Council President   Moira Aulbach

Building Principal   Chris Wolfson, Mellon

Teacher appointed by MLEA   Sarah Davis, Lincoln

Senior Class Co-Presidents (redacted)

Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education Board President   Natalie Wagner

Alumni Representative of the Great Alumni Nominating Committee   MA Jackson

Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education   Marybeth Irvin

Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education   Ronald Davis

*Positions stay the same, name of individual assigned may change annually

Some of the earlier propaganda for the Century of Excellence Campaign incorporated The Case for Philanthropic Support "Endowed funds will protect and enhance the academic, fine arts, and student life programs that define a Mt. Lebanon education." Mary Birks told us that the endowment goal of $3 million is not attainable, so I'm guessing the "reset" boils down to sports murals, weight rooms, wrestling rooms, and artificial turf. Screw academics. 

But here is the biggest tragedy. The Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education, which was founded in 1999, embraces the same mission. 

"The mission of the Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education (MLFE) is to directly enhance student experiences in the Mt. Lebanon School District. Since 1999, MLFE, a not-for-profit, 501 (c) (3) organizations, has funded more than 130 innovative projects spanning the entire curriculum at all 10 Mt. Lebanon Schools."

Many of the Board Members of MLFE are also on the Philanthropic Advisory Panel.

President

Natalie Wagner, parent

Treasurer

Julie Smith, alumna and parent

Board Members

Melissa Bailey, parent

Lynda Battista, Spanish teacher, Mellon Middle School

Josh Bilak, Physics teacher, Mt. Lebanon High School

Dr. Ron Davis, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education and parent.

Doug Deniziuk, Special Education, Mellon Middle School

Mike Hathy, Biology teacher, Mt. Lebanon High School, alumnus, parent

Dr. Marybeth Irvin, Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education

Jennifer McMullen, 2nd grade teacher, Hoover Elementary School and parent

Kim Robbins, 4th grade teacher, Washington Elementary School

We didn't need the Century of Excellence for the Waltons, the Conovers, Mr. McMurray, or the others who were so generous, to donate. We didn't need to waste almost a million dollars from the General Fund for start up. Everything has been set up since 1999!

We have two fundraising groups housed in the same building and neither are paying rent for the space at 7 Horsman Drive. Not only do they share the same operating expenses, the director of both happen to be the same person, Sloane Astorino.

Shut down the Capital Campaign. It is an illegal operation, as defined by the PA School Code. Nobody knows how much has been raised, or how much has been spent. Katie Caste, the campaign treasurer has made statements in which donations vary from almost two million dollars to almost a million dollars. Jan Klein keeps rewriting the books. Timmy and the board keep promising to share information with residents, but never seem to get back to them. School board members have limited information, when they should be the ones in charge. We left the Quiet Phase only to return to the Quiet Phase. Videos are being removed from the District website. Documents are being reworked.

Stop wasting money. SHUT IT DOWN!

Ta Da! Timmy's timeline is here!

Remember this? What a fire drill!

What taxpayers go through to request information. Watch this exercise in futility. Timmy and Mary Birks would be happy to put the taxpayer's requeston the school district Capital Campaign website. I don't see it. Do you?

I had to file the Right To Know for the timeline. 

I am requesting the timeline that Dr. Steinhauer and Mary Birks promised to post on the Capital Campaign website as promised on the video clip from my Sept. 24, 2017 blog posting, "What a Fire Drill!"
Please email pdf to EGillen476@aol.com

Here it is, Timmy's Capital Campaign Timeline, granted on October 11, 2017.

Look at the gaps on Timmy's timeline. Months and months go by without any reports to or from the school board. 

Who is in charge of the Capital Campaign? Not the school board*

* § 2-216 of the PA School Code. Gifts to districts; investment accounts.

Bad News/Good News UPDATED 10/11/17

The PA Department of Education released the Keystone Exams scores. The bad news is that Mt. Lebanon High School can't compete with Upper St. Clair High School.

How local high schools fared on this year's Keystone Exams

By Ethan Lott / The Business Times ranked schools based on scores just released by the state Department of Education. 

Top 5 High Schools

The good new is that Mt. Lebanon School District is considering a $1,347,000 investment for a competitive size artificial turf field on the Rock Pile. Always being fiscally responsible, by throwing in the replacement of the high school stadium artificial turf, the school district can save 10% for a total of $1.7 million. Where will the money come from? Well, Jan Klein claims this month, that there is about $5 million available in the capital projects funds. Next month may be a different story.

At last night's school board meeting, the Draft Rock Pile Presentation was made with all the different options explained. Miraculously, the presentation was posted on the school district website last night. Of course, we're still waiting for Mary and Timmy to release the timeline promised last month. But when it comes to sports in this town, people move in warp speed. A suggestion was made for money to come from THE CAPITAL CAMPAIGN, since it could benefit the community. People would WANT to give, for sure. Cheerleader Larry Lebowitz said that this is a "golden opportunity" and he is excited! By adding lights, we could certainly get even more use.

Still waiting for the day when education is discussed at a school board meeting, instead of construction. Tonight, the municipality held a public hearing on the CIP which includes $5.5 million for Muni Field Improvements in 2022.

So even though we can't compete scholastically with Upper St. Clair, we can have some awesome fields! The band is excited. The soccer coaches are excited. The track coaches are excited. Larry is excited. Several 2016-2017 Key Communicators are excited. Go Lebo!

Update October 11, 2017 7:39 AM Here is how Mt. Lebanon Magazine spins it.

What a fire drill!

What taxpayers go through to request information. Watch this exercise in futility. Timmy and Mary Birks would be happy to put the taxpayer's request on the school district Capital Campaign website. I don't see it. Do you?

At the 8:13 time stamp, Mary admits that it was an inner fund transfer.

I never heard back from the school district. It is just another exercise in futility.

School board directors,
Thank you for additional information that has been posted on the District website concerning the Century of Excellence Capital Campaign.
I would like some consistency in your reporting, however. Please include the second page in the monthly reports as was shown in a recent RTK document.
Capital Campaign Financial Report for 7-17 Capital Campaign Financial Report for 8-17 
Elaine Gillen
www.lebocitizens.blogspot.com

I doubt that Paula will hear anything either.

Thank you, Nick M., for providing this clip. It had been requested by a commenter in the previous post, without filing a Right To Know, Timmy!

I know. We hate kids. UPDATED

I'm sure that will be brought up. Whenever a resident challenges the school board, that person is chastised for hating kids. Well, think about this tonight, School Board Members, when you bring up toxic turf. The following photos were taken this summer on a hot day using a Fluke Thermal Imager – TiR32.  Self-explanatory.

So the turf is "for the kids." Same with the "Century* of Excellence Capital Campaign." Tonight's school board meeting should be interesting, or at least contentious.

*Is that how long it will take to raise $6 million?

Update September 11, 2017 8:54 PM Bits and pieces of the meeting.

• $910,000 is what is in the account now...big loss.
• Steinhauer is trying to put a positive spin on this.
• Timmy admits that $6 million was a stretch.
• Now there is infighting. Riemer and Remely are fighting. Remely making personal attacks toward Riemer.
• Regulation size football field for Rockpile...113.3 yards! Five options available.
• Riemer is being excluded from emails. (He replaced Cappucci on the Building Committee!)
• Jo Posti is back! She is selling the campaign. She wants to stop using the term, "Loan." She wants a reset. She is also over her five minutes.
• Lisa Dorn is begging for turf. She represented Kristen Linfante when I challenged her nomination petition.
• Elaine Cappucci is now selling the campaign. She is scolding the board members who voted no for the disbursements, while looking at Riemer. I'm guessing it didn't pass since the vote was 4-3. The solicitor said that there had to be five votes, but was going to look into it.
• Of course Dave Franklin had to say something. He supports the capital campaign. Did someone say turf? By the way, he wants turf on the Rockpile.
• Apparently, the contractor does not have to restore the Rockpile to its original condition. The contract had been amended.
• Even though the Capital Campaign financial records show a loan from the General Fund for $923,530.02, Jan Klein insists that it isn't a loan. Capital Campaign Financial Records

More non-education money to be spent

The School Board meeting agenda for Monday, September 11, 2017 has been posted. Ironically, two agenda items that eat up our tax dollars with zero dollars going to education will be discussed.

3. Capital Campaign Disbursement - As part of our Capital Campaign, we evaluated the needs of the District and considered the wishes of our donors to identify a number of uses for campaign funds. The equipment list to be funded has been reviewed and approved by the committee overseeing Campaign allocations. The Board is being asked to approve the Capital Campaign disbursement of $25,000 for Middle School Auditorium and Music Classrooms Sound Equipment. Once the budget is approved, we will proceed with purchasing the equipment in accordance with any applicable bidding requirements, State Law and Board Policy. 

4. Options for High School Practice Field Playing Surface – The Board will review options for the playing field surface at the high school practice field. (And there it is. Turf for the practice field.)

Dan Remely and Elaine Cappucci, both running for re-election were co-chairs of the high school
renovation project and successfully kept the practice field option (as well as other amenities) out of the renovation to trick the taxpayers.

And then there is the Capital Campaign. Nick Meduho wrote to the school board with the following questions:


Can someone please explain the following:

From http://www.mtlsd.org/uploaded/District/MLFE/Images/CURRENT_one-pager_0217.pdf, it states:

As of July 31, 2017 a grand total of $621,473 was raised as shown here:

If $6 million is the goal and 25% has been raised, like it states, where’s the rest of the money?

25% of 6 million is 1.5 million but only $621, 473 has been raised. I’d like to add too, the document was last modified in February 2017 so the $621,473 is high, around $21,000 higher.

Thank you,

Nicholas Meduho
Mt. Lebanon, PA


Here is the response by President Mary Birks, under investigation by the PA Ethics Commission, and also running for re-election.

From: Mary Birks <mbirks@mtlsd.net>
Date: Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 4:05 PM
Subject: Re: capital campaign
To: Bill Cooper <wcooper@mtlsd.net>, Bill Moorhead <wmoorhead@mtlsd.net>, Dan Remely <dremely@mtlsd.net>, Hugh Beal <hbeal@mtlsd.net>, Larry Lebowitz <llebowitz@mtlsd.net>, Mike Riemer <mriemer@mtlsd.net>, Nicholas Meduho Jr, Sarah Olbrich <solbrich@mtlsd.net>, Stephen Strotmeyer <sstrotmeyer@mtlsd.net>
Cc: Tim Steinhauer <tsteinhauer@mtlsd.net>

Dear Mr. Meduho, 

The Capital Campaign will be discussed at length at our next board discussion meeting, September 11th. 

For the Board, 

Mary D. Birks

Katie Caste, candidate running on the Timmy Ticket, claims that $1.2 million dollars has been raised. Wow! She hasn't been elected yet and she is giving us false numbers. Double wow!

Bottom line is that Monday's meeting at 7:30 PM should be attended by every member of the media. It will be interesting how these candidates spin this $6 million capital campaign where zero dollars have been spent on education.

No wonder it's been in the Quiet Phase all these years! Holy Shit!

Through a Right To Know, the following financial records for the School District Capital Campaign have been obtained.

Capital Campaign Financial Records

Campaign Cabinet 

Josephine Posti
Campaign Co-Chair

Dale Cable
Dione Cahillane
Elaine Cappucci*
Katie Caste*
Beth Evans
Larry Lebowitz
Robert Mallery
Preston McMurry, Jr.
Lisa Sullivan

District Representatives

Timothy Steinhauer Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Sloane Astorino
Director of Advancement

Cissy Bowman
Director of Communications

*Running for school board under the Timmy Ticket.

Controversial vote at school board meeting UPDATED

From the School Board Meeting Agenda for August 21, 2017:

Capital Campaign Disbursement: RESOLVED, That the Board approves a Budget for Capital Campaign initiatives in the amount of $26,750, and the reimbursement of operating costs of $12,600.

Hugh Beal abstained from voting until he could get more information about the Capital Campaign. Larry Lebowitz abstained because he donated to the campaign. I thought I had to adjust my TV because Mary Birks turned bright red when Sarah Olbrich, Mike Riemer, and Stephen Strotmeyer voted no. The vote was four in favor (Birks, Cooper, Moorhead, Remely),  three against (Olbrich, Riemer, Strotmeyer) and two abstaining (Beal, Lebowitz). Since it was a sizable dollar amount, Solicitor Tom Peterson will be giving his opinion in next week's school board packets. He said that it had to be a five vote majority, but with two abstaining, he believed that it would still pass, but he wasn't sure since this never came up before.

I had not watched a school board meeting for quite a long time, so I wasn't sure who Mary Birks was glaring at, but it appeared that she was glaring at Mike Riemer.

I really don't understand what this disbursement is all about. From the Discussion Agenda pertaining to this action item is:

Capital Campaign Disbursement –As part of our Capital Campaign, we, once, again, evaluated the needs of the District and considered the wishes of our donors to identify a number of uses for campaign funds. The equipment list to be funded has been reviewed and approved by the committee overseeing Campaign allocations for this purpose. The Board is being asked to approve the Capital Campaign disbursements identified. Once the budget is approved, we will proceed with purchasing the equipment in accordance with any applicable bidding requirements, State Law and Board Policy. The Superintendent recommends approval of this disbursement. The items include: 

a. Middle School Auditorium and Music Classrooms Sound Equipment - $25,000 

b. Transfer of Capital Campaign Funds to General Fund for reimbursement of operating costs - $12,600 

c. Donor Designated Gift for Anti-Defamation League Program - $1,750

I hesitate in doing this, but I will accept anonymous comments for this post only which explain what this disbursement is all about. Based on MLPD's recommendations, I will not publish any other comments or opinions. Based on MLPD's recommendations, I am not accepting any comments.

Update August 23, 2017 8:29 AM So many questions were submitted! Here are a few.
Is this another example of the Timmy Ticket rubber stamping budget items without the facts?
Why doesn't Hugh Beal have enough info to cast his vote?
What were the reasons for the no votes?
Is there more to this than the public is aware of?
Where can I find a copy of the Feasibility Study?
Who is "We" in "As part of our Capital Campaign, we, once, again, evaluated the needs of the District and considered the wishes of our donors to identify a number of uses for campaign funds."?
What are the uses for campaign funds?
What was the original purpose of the campaign?

Anonymous letter from the inside

This is post #2,200!

I got an anonymous letter sent in a MTLSD envelope. Why do I get a sick feeling when I receive a thick envelope from them? It usually meant trouble- either for my kids or taxes (never got letters about either), but it still makes me nervous. Today's letter was about the Timmy Ticket.

Here is a copy of today's letter. 

A few things off the top of my head...

I see that I was not the only one who thought the 2015 Great Alumni Awards were shameful with Lebowitz and Posti being recipients. Shaking my head I was so happy to see that my former priest was recognized, but Lebo Larry and JoPo? OMG. And then Mary Birks was honored last year? Come on!

Also, why would these jerks expect a guy who had a kidney transplant to donate to the fund? Weren't there fundraisers held for him? Why would Timmy only donate $5,000 when he earns thousands, thanks to the Timmy Ticket? That was also mentioned in my link Shaking my head. 

Yeah, why weren't Riemer and Strotmeyer asked to be on their slate? The Timmy Ticket is not endorsed by either party and all have been shunned by their respective parties.

I have a feeling much more will be exposed before the May Primary. Why don't they just back out now and save themselves a lot of embarrassment?

Mt. Lebanon School District to ramp up fundraising campaign

Mt. Lebanon School District to ramp up fundraising campaign

Mt. Lebanon School District's fundraising campaign has received $1.1 million in pledges and has about $300,000 in hand, but organizers should do more to spread awareness of the effort and court big donors, a consultant said.

Consultant Margaret “Maggie” Schmidt said the campaign had strong and active volunteer leadership, yet was having trouble instilling a sense of urgency in potential donors with the $109.65 million high school renovation nearly complete.

“The high school renovation project is nearly completed, and there's been no real incident, no critical thing out there making people say, ‘Yes, there's a danger here or a challenge here and we need to make this happen,' ” Schmidt told the school board Monday.

The $6 million fundraising campaign originally was planned in 2012 to offset the second round of bonds issued for the project.

However, it couldn't have been started in time or raised enough to avoid borrowing money.

With bonds funding the renovation, proceeds from the campaign will be split between other capital projects and an endowment fund that will award grants for classes and programs at the schools.

So far, the campaign has secured a total of about $1.1 million in donations and pledges, with most coming from two “pacesetter” donors, Schmidt said.

In fundraising parlance, pacesetters are the early, big-money donors who help a campaign reach as much as half or two-thirds of its goal while fundraisers still are making private, individual appeals to potential donors.

Schmidt's comment was the first time anyone disclosed in a public meeting how much had been pledged and raised since the fundraising effort began in 2013.

Almost half of what's been raised so far will reimburse the cost of starting and running the campaign, though most of those expenses were one-time fees for things like purchasing software, said school board president Lawrence Lebowitz.

“The equipment, if you will, to run the campaign has been purchased and now we're just talking about personnel costs going forward,” he said.

The district will need to hire a new director for the capital campaign because Alyssa Jackson DeLuca resigned this year.

Schmidt has been filling DeLuca's role on an interim basis but said she has other commitments.

DeLuca's salary was about $82,500 a year, and Schmidt is being paid up to $2,000 a month for part-time work.

Schmidt recommended forming a panel to take requests and award grants to district projects and programs using some of the $300,000 the campaign has in cash, and using a planned grand opening ceremony for the high school renovation in the fall to draw parent and alumni attention to the fundraising efforts.

The campaign will broaden its search for additional “pacesetter” donors to bring in more large gifts, will look for donations from foundations or corporations and will do more to spread the word about the district's needs and reasons for the fundraising, Schmidt said.

“One recommendation is to make the campaign more public, which would mean that more people would know about it, more people would know the rationale and why it's important,” she said.

“It's different than going out and starting to mass-mail information to people.”

She also recommended evaluating the campaign in six months to assess whether the $6 million goal is still realistic.

The board will vote Monday on a contract that would allow the campaign to accept donations online or via credit card, using an add-on to the DonorPro software the district already bought.

The district will pay DonorPro a flat fee of $10 per month, plus 20 cents per transaction and 2.89 percent of each donation made via credit card, which Superintendent Timothy Steinhauer said was pretty typical of such contracts with payment processors.

Matthew Santoni is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-380-5625 or msantoni@tribweb.com.