I wasn't off by much

My Predictions for 2018 post wasn't off by much.

Jan Klein retired. Craig Grella's next door neighbor came to the rescue.

Timmy is finally working for a change, without a bonus this year.

The School District has become more transparent which translates to less Right To Knows filed. The municipality? Well, they are less transparent than ever. No contract/proposal was ever posted for Tony DeNicola's "sharpshooting."

Ethics complaint finalized - guilty but not enough to issue fines.

Capital Campaign was shut down.

News that Susan Morgans is retiring in three months.

I'm not making any more predictions, because Mt. Lebanon is cleaning house. Here is to a transparent and accountable Mt. Lebanon in 2019.

Happy New Year.

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!!!

For the record, it WAS $923,530.02. UPDATED 10/20/17

The treasurer's report showing the transfer of $923,530.02 from the General Fund has been obtained through a Right To Know. The May 31, 2013 Treasurer's Report is available here.

Larry Lebowitz made no mention of any funds being transferred in his May 20, 2013 Revenue Generation report.

Revenue Generation – Mr. Lebowitz reported that candidates for the campaign manager position will be interviewed this week. A candidate will be presented to the Board for final approval in June.

Larry Lebowitz made no mention of any funds transferred on May 31, 2013 in his June 17, 2013 Revenue Generation report.

Revenue Generation – Mr. Lebowitz reported that the search for a capital campaign manager continues.

At that same June 17, 2013 meeting,

It was moved by Lebowitz and seconded by Birks that the Board approves, ratifies and accepts the following financial reports: (Copies of official minutes.)
a. Treasurer’s Report dated May 31, 2013,

Approved by Birks, Cappucci, Cooper, Goldman, Kubit, Lebowitz, Ostergaard, Posti, and Remely.

Vote at the 26:25 time stamp here.  Or on my Lebo Citizens website June 17, 2013 School Board Business Meeting

During comments from residents,

Commented that there is lack of trust of the Board from the community; Board is out of touch with the community

Questioned what happened to the budget report

At the June 10, 2013 Discussion Meeting, Jan Klein explains the transfer of funds to be paid back in full to the General Fund here. Or on my Lebo Citizens website June 10, 2013 School Board Discussion Meeting No dollar amount was ever mentioned.

Update October 20, 2017 10:48 PM Mt. Lebanon schools fund to pay for mural, maker spaces, student group

Since Mary Birks refused to answer Nick Meduho's questions, he wrote to the school board's Capital Campaign liaison, Dr. Stephen Strotmeyer, looking to get some answers about the Capital Campaign.

From: Stephen Strotmeyer [mailto:sstrotmeyer@mtlsd.net]

Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2017 8:50 AM 

To: Nicholas Meduho

Subject: Re: cc questions 

Mr. Meduho, 

My sincere apologies that the information you (and I) have requested is not being updated to the Century of Excellence reports online. My best estimates from the limited information we have been provided from the Campaign would be that after the disbursements the past 2 months was that the General Fund account balance was $418,000 minus $26,750 disbursed in Sept and another $98,800 disbursed this past Monday. So ballpark is $292,000. In this quarter, revenue was $33,320 and fundraising expenditures $27,352, plus the $35,000 disbursed. So that's a loss of $30,000. I hope this helps answer some of your questions. Thank you for your questions and concerns.

Cordially, 

Stephen 

*******

In an email to me, Nick makes some excellent points. 

So what happens when the $292,000 runs out…then what?
Who pays the bills/administrative fees then?

*******

My guess is that the school board will just take from the General Fund again.

                                                                                                      - Elaine

Are Timmy and Jan using laptops from IKEA?

When my son was very young, he had some unique revenue generating ideas and career goals. His first career choice was to be the voice for the countdown of NASA rocket launches. Later, I heard about plans to have shrimp cocktail stands or hot chocolate stands. He progressed to lugging cases of canned sodas that were on sale, in his backpack and selling those cans to teachers for a dollar each. But what I think was his most creative dream job, was to be hired to "live" in IKEA, moving from vignette to vignette. A typical day would include cooking in the fake kitchens, sleeping in the bedrooms, and pretending to use the fake computers. I'm beginning to think that Timmy and Jan are sitting in front of those fake IKEA laptops at school board meetings.

Will someone please tell me why Timmy and Jan have laptops in front of them? What are they doing? Playing games? Retweeting Dr. Davis' tweets or tweeting more covers of concert programs? Ordering take out for those breakfasts and lunches with gr8 student leaders? Coming up with new spreadsheets changing FY Ending August 2017 bottom lines?

Why do we have to hear, "We'll get back to you" at school board meetings? Or "We'll find out" when the answers can easily be pulled up on their laptops? Within seconds, answers can be retrieved from those laptops. The school board has approved thousands of dollars worth of fundraising software. The Director of Finance can find money that nobody else can, but is never asked for financial accountings at school board meetings. Why is she there? Is she just a cardboard cut out that may someday be used as a prop in one of the office displays at IKEA? Or is she just vying for my son's dream job of being an actor at the Pittsburgh IKEA? She would have a shorter commute to work.

How about utilizing those taxpayer funded laptops at school board meetings, Mary? It would cut down on Right To Knows, freeing up more of Jeanine's schedule to make Timmy look intelligent, and would create the illusion of transparency during your last two school board meetings of your presidency. It will appear like you are being respectful during comments and questions from residents. Who knows? We might even get some answers for a change.

Vote for Riemer, Strotmeyer, and Diamond!

Kordistos v MTLSD Settlement Agreement

There is a new item on the agenda for Monday, October 16, 2017.

Settlement Agreement: RESOLVED, That the Board approves the Settlement Agreement with Cleon Kordistos in the form presented.

It appears that Private Citizen Jan Klein is keeping the attorneys busy. Here is the background on the case. Kordistos v. Mt. Lebanon School District 

When I went to pay my printing bill of $1.25 the other day, I noticed that it was very tense in the Business Office. Gee, am I allowed to say that? Or do I have to take this down too?

More reasons not to vote for Cappucci

There is that little thing about her son being hired as a social studies teacher at Jefferson Middle School and no trace of why the job posting was altered nine months after Elaine Cappucci's son was hired. Keep in mind that Elaine had to resign from the school board because of the nepotism policy and is now running to replace herself, as well as seeking another four year term.

Please listen to Paula's comments on nepotism, as well as Elaine's "rebuttal" from Monday's school board meeting. The school board meeting video is available here. Paula begins at 1:30:57. Elaine begins at 1:38:33. The clip can be viewed here.

Besides her belligerent demeanor during Comments or Questions from Residents or Taxpayers at the October 9, 2017 school board meeting, I wanted to share a little more background on Elaine Cappucci's bio from the CCRB campaign website.

I was part of the team that negotiated the current Act 93 agreement for our District administrators.

That is not something I would be proud of, especially with what has been revealed with Jan Klein's creative accounting in recent days. The Act 93 Agreement can be found here. You can read about Jan Klein's salary adjustment here. Twenty MTLSD administrators received salary increases Please take the time to read the comments in that 2012 post. We were complaining about Jan's sloppy bookkeeping five years ago!

Elaine Cappucci is part of the Million Dollar Heist also known as the Century of Excellence Campaign Committee. Mary Birks likes to refer to it as a 100 year plan. Since Timmy doesn't have an original thought, Elaine has a major role as Timmy's key Key Communicator.

You vote for Elaine Cappucci, it is job security for Janice Klein and Timothy Steinhauer!

Jan Klein Rewrites History UPDATED 10/11/17

The Capital Campaign Financials for 09/30/17 have been posted on the Capital Campaign website. (Saved in Google Docs) Want the second page? File a Right To Know.

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,  

Nicholas Meduho 

Let's compare how Jan Klein rewrote history over the course of the last thirty days.

From Financials ending 09/30/17 

From Financials ending 08/31/17 

From Financials ending 07/31/17 (updated 10/11/17)

Keeping it Simple* (updated 10/11/17)

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.

We don't need an outside audit, why Mary? UPDATED 100117

Pursuant Ketchum Consulting Services Agreement 

Pursuant Ketchum invoices from a RTK 

Retained Counsel Fees Schedule according to PK Consulting Services Agreement totaling $184,000. (Travel and Strategic Creative Services not included.)

Missing receipts totaling $54,931. Were they paid from other funds? Was the contract terminated? Is this another example of award winning Jan Klein's creative financing?

I am not an accountant. In fact, I am terrible at numbers. So how was this approved by Maher Duessel, the outside auditing firm that MTLSD has employed for over twenty five years?

Lebo Citizens Readers, I still have time for a Flashback Friday. Please read Dear Mt. Lebanon Neighbor:

Update October 1, 2017 6:30 PM Unless there are missing receipts, the invoices for travel total $17,560.05. The cap was $21,000.

Also, unanswered emails to the school board.

From: egillen476@aol.com [mailto:egillen476@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 30, 2017 7:20 PM
To: schoolboard@mtlsd.net
Subject: Second Request

Dr. Strotmeyer,

OK, I lied. This is my first request. I was just saving myself the time to send the usual second request email.

I want to thank you, Dr. Strotmeyer, for being so prompt with your last response. Since you seem to be the only responsive school board director, i am addressing this to you.

From my blog:

Pursuant Ketchum Consulting Services Agreement 
Pursuant Ketchum invoices from a RTK 
Retained Counsel Fees Schedule according to PK Consulting Services Agreement totaling $184,000. (Travel and Strategic Creative Services not included.)

Missing receipts totaling $54,931. Were they paid from other funds? Was the contract terminated? Is this another example of award winning Jan Klein's creative financing? Would you be able to answer my questions?

Thanks in advance. 

Elaine Gillen

www.lebocitizens.blogspot.com

***************

From: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
To: TSteinhauer <TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net>; egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc: schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>
Sent: Sun, Oct 1, 2017 3:39 pm
Subject: Re: CC web page update or lack of

Tim,

The link to the exercise in futility is now working again. I watched it again. Not only were you "happy to put it on the internet," but Mary Birks told Mrs. Bongiorno that "We will put it on the Capital Campaign Website."

When?

Elaine Gillen

www.lebocitizens.blogspot.com

-----Original Message-----
From: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
To: TSteinhauer <TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net>
Cc: schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>
Sent: Sun, Oct 1, 2017 12:39 pm
Subject: CC web page update or lack of

Where is the 2 page report that I have requested? Capital Campaign Financial Report through August 31, 2017 (2 pages) It is not on the Capital Campaign web page.

Where is the list that you offered to post FOUR TIMES to Paula Bongiorno? Watch this exercise in futility. Unfortunately, the clip has been removed. Did you have something to do with that?

Elaine Gillen

www.lebocitizens.blogspot.com

Did Jan Klein "invest" illegally?

Brief rest over.

Authorized Types of Investments for Pennsylvania School Districts:

Section 440.1(c) of the School Code authorizes the types of investments school districts may have:

• United States Treasury bills.
• Short-term obligations of the United States Government or its agencies or instrumentalities.
  Short-term obligations usually refer to investments of less than 13 months.
• Deposits in savings accounts or time deposits or share accounts of institutions insured by The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), or The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, or The National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund to the extent that such accounts are so insured, and for any amounts above maximum, provided that approved collateral as provided by law therefore shall be pledged by the depository.
• Obligations of the United States of America or any of its agencies or instrumentalities backed by the full faith and credit of the United States of America, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any of its agencies or instrumentalities. Full faith and credit means the obligation is backed by the government’s ability to levy taxes to repay debt. These investments include any bonds issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any municipality or school district carrying the backing of the taxation powers of the governmental unit issuing the debt. Some investments of the federal government do not have full faith and credit backing. Fannie-Mae (FNMA) and Freddy-Mach (FNMC) bonds do not. Ginnie-Mae (GNMA) bonds do have full faith and credit backing.
   • Shares of an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 whose shares are registered under the Securities Act of 1933 provided that the following are met:
  o Only investments of that company are in the authorized investments for school district funds listed in the categories above, and repurchase agreements fully collateralized by such investments.

  o The investment company is managed so as to maintain its shares as a constant net asset value in accordance with 17 CFR 270 2a-7 (relating to money market funds).

  o The investment company is rated in the highest category by a nationally recognized rating agency.

  This classification includes pooled investments such as the Pennsylvania School District Liquid Asset Fund, Pennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust and the Pennsylvania State Treasurer’s Invest Program.

  Any purchase or sale of investments shall be made by the treasurer of the school district on a resolution adopted by the board of school directors.

  
  

  
  http://www.education.pa.gov/Documents/Teachers-Administrators/School%20Finances/Comptrollers%20Office/Manual%20of%20Accounting.pdf

Mt. Lebanon capital campaign fundraising program questioned

Mt. Lebanon capital campaign fundraising program questioned

But the campaign has fallen far short of its original goal to raise $6 million and instead has been operating in the red in the past several years, board members learned during a heated meeting Monday.

 Mt. Lebanon residents have been questioning Jan Klein's creative financing for years. Nick Meduho has been following up by questioning:

Please explain the following…

Item below is from the website that was posted on Wednesday:

Item below is from a right to know that I received on Tuesday:

Fiscal year ending 6/30/2015 disbursements went from ZERO on Tuesday to $3790.00 on Wednesday.

Fiscal year ending 6/30/2017 disbursements went from $112,081.42 on Tuesday to $132,331.42 on Wednesday.

How can you go from one set of numbers to another in less than 1 day and why is wrong information being given to the taxpayers who are funding this thing?

Is it ok to change these numbers years after an audit?

So what are the correct numbers?

“Oh what a tangled web we weave”

Item below is from the website that was posted on Wednesday:

Item below is from a right to know that I received on Tuesday:

Fiscal year ending 6/30/2014 fundraising expenditures went from $234,969.57 on Tuesday to $233,569.57 on Wednesday.

Fiscal year ending 6/30/2015 fundraising expenditures went from $159,552.14 on Tuesday to $155,202.14 on Wednesday.

Fiscal year ending 6/30/2016 fundraising expenditures went from $131,241.32 on Tuesday to $130,121.32 on Wednesday.

Fiscal year ending 6/30/2017 fundraising expenditures went from $181,032.97 on Tuesday to $159,102.97 on Wednesday.

How can this be????? How can numbers change so much in 1 day? Again, what are the true numbers?

Are you folks teaching creative financing at the high school?

Thank you,

Nicholas Meduho

Mt. Lebanon, PA

Scoop on Sloane

Sloane Astorino, the Director of Advancement for the "Century of Excellence Capital Campaign," is pulling in $85,305 in salary and $51,279.21 in benefits,  according to the Capital Campaign Financial Records. Fear not. Jan Klein, Director of Finance, said those numbers include Sloane's salary for her Executive Director's position with the Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education.

According to the MLFE website, Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. It is an "independent, nonprofit organization(s) dedicated to supporting educational opportunities for children in their communities."

On to Guidestar for MLFE's 990s.

2011 990
2012 990
2013 990

That's it. So where are the most current ones? According to the IRS, they haven’t filed the 990-N postcard either.

Also, Jan Klein says that the loan to the Century of Excellence Capital Campaign isn't a "loan," but an "investment." I see it as a scam with the executive director being the sole benefactor.

Presenting the 2017-2018 Fake Budget

At one time, Janice Klein referred to the preliminary budget as "the fake budget." Jan Klein, whose title changed from Finance Director to Director of Business explained that the purpose of the preliminary budget is to be able to apply for exceptions to the Index limitation on real estate tax rates. I would like to present Jan Klein's 2017-2018 Fake Budget.

The Post-Gazette reports that according to the "preliminary" budget, our taxes should increase by 0.83 mills to 24.76 mills. Mt. Lebanon begins work on school budget

Lebo Citizen readers might want to do a search for "fake budget" on this blog. Read about how Mt. Lebanon resident Bill Matthews demonstrates to the Department of Education how the District annually submits a fake preliminary budget. Bill and I have attended District budget meetings, where we were both treated rudely. The audios of those meetings are still available on lebocitizens.com. For obvious reasons, those meetings have been discontinued.

For those of you who are new to this process, this is usually when the school board directors like to speak in terms of lattes or pizzas. Just cut back on buying lattes, we were instructed. From 2012, we were told about a $30 million fundraising campaign. Spin Class 101 We are still in the quiet phase of the now $6 million Century of Excellence Campaign. I would love to know how much is in that account. Maybe it will show up in the fake Final Budget.

How did Jan Klein pull this off?

http://www.mtlsd.org/district/hr/stuff/agreement_mlsd%20and%20jan%20klein.pdf

Here's a first!

There are no change orders on the August School Board Agenda! The August 19, 2015 Discussion Meeting Agenda has been posted for Monday's school board meeting. There's always the possibility  that some change orders may be slipped in for the August 17, 2015 meeting, but as of now, no change orders for August.

Other items on the agenda include a mystery agreement with Janice Klein, the finance director for the school district. Jan Klein should have retired years ago, but has been able to hang on by being a master at playing the shell game with stakeholders.

The school board is going to get wild and crazy and spring for the $10 per month plus 2.89% plus $.20 per credit card transaction so that people can charge donations to the school district capital campaign. This item was tabled at last month's meeting.

From a Title 1 Federal grant for $335,896, the school district will use $100 of the $335,896 grant for supplies for the homeless. Their generosity just warms the heart, doesn't it? The bulk of the grant will be spent on two full-time reading specialists at Lincoln and Washington Elementary; and two .5 reading specialists at Lincoln and Washington (Salaries totaling $240,000). Two more grants totaling approximately $129,000 will also be approved this month.

Naming of High School Library - Approval is requested to name the Library located in the High School in honor of Richard J. Madden for his contribution to the education of our students through The Richard J. Madden Foundation. His Foundation has been providing post-secondary scholarship assistance to students graduating from Mt. Lebanon High School since 2003.

And finally, an assessment of the capital campaign is going to be a topic for discussion. Have we reached the end of the quiet phase?

"...this is my community, this is my school district and this is where I belong,”

Memorial award nominee sees Mt. Lebanon school district as the place she belongs

Collier Township resident, Jan Klein, has received the Gary E. Reeser Memorial Award from the PA Association of School Business Officials. 

In honor of her recognition, a Mt. Lebanon student will receive a Gary E. Reeser Memorial scholarship for $2,500. 

“Ms. Klein’s recognition is indicative of the depth of business competence she brings to her work every day,” superintendent Timothy Steinhauser said. “She has successfully integrated proven best practices into the district’s core operations and this award recognizes that achievement.”

Are we talking about the same person, Timothy Steinhauser [sic]? Here are just a few Lebo Citizens posts which see things differently.

How the School District CHEATS Mt. Lebanon taxpayers

No way! UPDATED 2x

6-1 in favor of .54 mill increase UPDATED

$36 million in double counting UPDATED 3X

Far From Frugal

The Annual Budget Ritual

Are you frickin' kidding me? UPDATED 2X

Lebo needs to demonstrate fiscal responsibility

Once, twice, three times a lady...

As promised, more on the budget forum

Rover ate my homework.

A dollar not borrowed is not a dollar and 77 cents saved.

Dear Mt. Lebanon Neighbor:

Another Budget "Fast One"

ANOTHER consultant for the capital campaign? UPDATED

School board meeting agenda for Monday, January 12, 2015

John, is it in poor taste to complain about ANOTHER consultant for the capital campaign?

Independent Contractor Agreement – This is an agreement with Margaret M. Schmidt to provide consulting services for the capital campaign at a rate of $62.50 per hour, not to exceed $2,000 per month, up to a maximum of 32 hours per month. The Superintendent recommends approval of this agreement. Of course.

What is the number of people working on the capital campaign now, not including Pursuant Ketchum? Are we ever going to get an accounting of the funds?

Also on the agenda is the approval of Jan Klein's fake budget. It's a peach this year.

Preliminary Budget - Act 1 of 2006 requires the Board approve a Preliminary Budget on the State form before February 18, 2015. Since the Board’s February meeting is after that date, we are presenting the budget for approval in January. In order to preserve the Board’s right to apply for exceptions to the Index under Act 1, this budget necessarily exceeds the Index. In April, a Proposed Budget will be presented to the Board for consideration which will not have to have the same millage rate as the one presented for Board consideration this month. By that time, we will know our proposed State funding, preliminary staffing numbers, retirement projections, student 2 course selections and heath care rates. The Preliminary Budget totals $91,880,396 utilizing $750,000 of the fund balance with a millage rate of 23.81 mills, a .66 mill increase. Only a .44 mill increase is allowable under the Act 1 Index. The Superintendent recommends approval of this budget. Of course.

Finally, the January change orders are listed for approval.

Change Orders for High School Renovation Project – The change orders for the high school project total $68,519 this month with another $50,800 for insurance claims. The change orders are as follows: 

a. GC-109-262 to Nello for $60,909 for door, partition, wall, concrete and masonry work,
b. EL-74-263 to Farfield for $7,610 for piping, lights and safety revisions,
c. IN-09-11 to Farfield for $37,728 for cable repairs, and
d. IN-10-12 to McKamish for $13,072 for HVAC repairs. 

The Superintendent recommends approval of these change orders. Of course. 

Update January 13, 2015 5:38 PM Higher school taxes likely coming to Mt. Lebanon

A Community With Character[s] Part 1

People generally reflect, while preparing for the new year. At least I do. 2014 was a record year for this blog. Thanks to Mt. Lebanon's own Genius Bar, the School District and Municipality,  Lebo Citizens readership is at an all-time high. New readers often tell me that they need a lesson in Who's Who so that they can follow along. While the Municipal website calls Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania "A Community With Character," I thought that I would provide a quick tutorial of Mt. Lebanon, A Community With Characters.

Starting with the Mt. Lebanon School District, here is a brief synopsis of each character, starting at the top.

Dr. Timothy Steinhauer a.k.a. Timmy, Super Tim, or super Super, is Mt. Lebanon's superintendent. He is fixated on construction, pizza lunches, tweeting photos of covers of concert and play programs, bathrooms, and shiny water fountains.

Janice Klein is the financial director for Mt. Lebanon School District. Jan Klein is famous for her fake budgets, double counting, manipulation of change order amounts, an advocate for keeping the same outside auditing firm for over twenty five years and winner of the prestigious Association of School Business Officials International's Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting Award for the thirtieth year. This award costs taxpayers around $900. We pay for this award. As long as all the parts of the report are submitted, you win the award. Table of contents? Check. Meet the criteria and you win! So double counting and fake budgets are permitted.

Tom Peterson, an attorney with Tucker Arensberg, is our school district solicitor.  Enough said.

Jeanine Szalinski is Timmy's administrative assistant and the Open Records Officer who handles Right To Know Requests. Jeanine works hard at making Timmy look good. The school board directors would make her job so much easier if they were more transparent with the community. I feel sorry for Jeanine.

Our school board consists of nine school board directors. Each one brings a uniqueness to the board.

Larry Lebowitz is our new school board president. Larry is our in-house cheerleader. He is always excited about something. Whether it is about our fundraising efforts, excited about Tom Celli being excited during a Construction Update, Pay for Participation fees online, or excited to be the new president, we can count on Larry being excited. Larry's expertise is in outsourcing and how to skirt the law. He was a youtube phenomenon. Almost 500,000 hits on YouTube! Larry's term ends in 2015, but will most likely seek re-election.

Mary Birks is our newly elected school board vice-president. Mary has been known to roll her eyes at residents and make snarky remarks during public comment. It will be interesting to see if Mary continues to blame Harrisburg for everything, now that Tom Wolf is our newly elected governor. Mary, our resident Harrisburg aficionado blamed Corbett for everything. Mary's term ends in 2017.

Elaine Cappucci just completed her second term as school board president. As co-chair of the high school renovation project, Elaine would answer any questions about the renovation by snarling at residents.  An excellent time keeper, Elaine would watch the clock instead of listening to constituents speak. Elaine's term ends in 2015, and will probably run again.

Ed Kubit was president of the school board during the high school turf project. (See John Ewing.) Ed had a nervous habit of looking at his watch during school board meetings when his critics spoke during residents' comments. He also gave me the gavel when private citizen Kristen Linfante was heckling me during the residents' comments portion of the April 2010 school board meeting. It was fun to agitate Ed and watch him ramble. Ed's term ends in 2015, and it is doubtful that he will run again.

Dan Remely's campaign promise was to bring in the high school project under $95 million. As co-chair of the high school renovation project, Dan did vote against the $74,000 trophy case, which was moved to Capital Projects. Dan also ran against Dan Miller in the State Representative race. Dan's term ends in 2017.

Bill Cooper made his mark on the school board when he advocated for the full proposed .54 mill increase, comparing it to “two large pizzas” on a $100,000 house. Bill's term is up in 2015 and it is doubtful that he will run again. Bill was one of Timmy's initial Key Communicators:

Al Frioni
Andy Rhodes
Betsy Dillon
Bill Cooper
Blaise Larotonda
Corey Polena
Dan Goff
Dave Reese
Deb Smit
Diane Wainwright
Elaine LaBalme
Elizabeth Glantz
Frank Baker
Frank Hines
Gail Sieg
Hugh Beal
Joe Polk
John Schrott
Kim Ressler
Kristen Linfante
Larry Lebowitz
Mary Ellen Schmidt
Rob Gardner
Rob Papke
Ruth Foltz
Sheldon Campbell
Sue Fretterd
Sue Simmons
Tom Moertel

Scott Goldman, last of the good guys, always voted with a conscience. Not a popular guy on the board, I believe he was set up one summer evening, but that's not a tale for discussion. Scott's term ends in 2015. I hope he considers running again, but it is doubtful.

I have never met Bill Moorhead. I stopped going to school board meetings before he took office. Bill doesn't appear be a yes man by voting for everything that comes along. Bill's term ends in 2017.

I remember Mike Riemer as "Officer Riemer" who would visit the kids at school. I'm not a fan of Mike's since he claims that my blog is trash. Everyone is entitled to his opinion, but he allegedly has never read Lebo Citizens. Mike's term ends in 2017.

There are others in the School District's cast of characters.

Cissy Bowman is the District's Public Information Officer, Director of Communication. Cissy has a cake job. Timmy is her photographer and the Mt. Lebanon Public Information Office writes all her stuff for mtl Magazine. 

Tom Celli, architect from Celli-Flynn Brennan, and Tom Berkabile, construction manager from P.J. Dick, are usually seen at the high school construction updates. I'm too tired to write about these guys. Do a search here and you will learn more about these cast members.

David Huston brought transparency to the school district with his trusty recorder. David has been recording all the school board meetings for five years now. He taught me everything I know about Right To Knows. Thanks, David for your dedication.

John Ewing's claim to fame is his classic line about artificial turf to Ed Kubit, "You didn't look at it, Ed." John also coined the phrase "Deadbeat Athletic Supporter." Don't dare criticize Timmy or say anything negative about fundraising. It will set him off. If you want to get on John's good side, start bad mouthing the teachers' union. They're to blame for everything.

A blast from the past includes:

Josephine Posti, former school board president, was the plagiarism expert and authority on bending school board policies. Jo was a carrier of School Board Disease. Symptoms of School Board Disease include, but not limited to:

• Disrespect of public thought
• Listening only to those who agree with you
• Illegal executive sessions protected by lawsuits against moms
• Rejection of other board members’ viewpoints
• Groupthink
• Unity Voting – the most deadly symptom

James Fraasch was definitely last of the good guys. He was head of the Audit and Finance Committee and was the most level headed school board directors that I knew. James was always a threat to the other school board directors. They circled their wagons and attacked James at every opportunity. James ended up resigning and was replaced by Larry "I'm excited" Lebowitz.

John Allison was superintendent prior to Timmy's arrival. I didn't know Mr. Allison, even though I have a photo of him handing a diploma to my son. Mr. Allison's parting gift to the school board was a stern warning about going overboard with the high school renovation. Needless to say, we would have been better off had the school board listened. Mr. Allison went on to bigger and better things in Wichita, Kansas. 

I hope Part 1 of the Mt. Lebanon School District's Who's Who guide is helpful. Part 2 includes the characters from the Municipality.

6-1 in favor of .54 mill increase UPDATED

I didn't go to the meeting, but I did hear the news that Scott Goldman was the only school board director to vote against the budget. Ed Kubit and Bill Cooper were absent. (Note: Ed Kubit missed the 10.5% increase in 2010.)

School Board Approves Final Budget for 2014-15 School Year May 19, 2014  At the May 19, 2014 School Board meeting the Board approved a Final Budget for the 2014-2015 School Year in the amount of $87,924,509 setting the millage rate at 23.15 mills, a .54 mill increase over the 2013-2014 millage rate with the use of $750,000 of the Fund Balance to balance revenues with expenditures.

Bill Matthews was chewed out again. Larry Lebowitz questioned Bill's numbers. After all, Jan Klein won that damn award.

The Mt. Lebanon School District received the Association of School Business Officials International’s Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting award for having met or exceeded the program’s high standards for financial reporting and accountability for the 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. This is the 29th year the District has been honored with this prestigious award.

A little background on this. We pay for this award. As long as all the parts of the report are submitted, you win the award. Table of contents? Check. Meet the criteria and you win! So double counting is permitted.

Of course, Elaine Cappucci said that they were so fiscally responsible that they eliminated the Assistant Superintendent for the Primary Schools. Then it was announced that Dr. Marybeth Irvin, the new principal at Lincoln who had coffee with Dr. Steinhauer according to Timmy's Traveling Twitter Tweets on the first day of school, was appointed as the new Assistant Superintendent for the Primary Schools.

Oh, big news! "The Grievance" was settled. It only cost the District $60,000! They have agreed to hire permanent subs at the appropriate step.

The podcast to tonight's meeting is available here.

Update May 20, 2014 9:07 AM From Bill Matthews:

Last night I provided the Board with the above chart, demonstrating that in eight of the last nine years the budget has been under budget on the expenditure side by almost $1,000,000 per year, on average. And once again, the Board “baked in” these surpluses from days of yore, raising taxes to cover these ghost expenses, ultimately resulting in an unnecessary and unwarranted tax increase.

Three things (at least) are at play that makes it difficult to work with the Board on budget issues:


1) Their obsequiousness to the Administration’s financial information.
2) Their obsequiousness to the Administration’s financial information.
3) Their obsequiousness to the Administration’s financial information.


While the budget information available to the public is quite limited, albeit often “award” winning, it is far from error free. Please see these pages from the recent annual budget books, where over three years the revenue and expenditure information is repeated, repeated and repeated, as if to make a point.

Dear Mt. Lebanon Neighbor:

Dear Mt. Lebanon Neighbor:

Attached is a letter I sent to our School Board expressing my concern with the 0.54 mill tax increase recommended by Dr. Steinhauer.

Mt. Lebanon School District has historically prepared budgets that produce significant (and at times substantial) surpluses, and yet continues to raise our taxes.

Enough is enough.

In addition to my letter, I have attached a file, which includes several years of budget summaries with actual, audited results back to the 2002-2003 school year. These historical records support my observation of year-over-year budget surpluses.

It is my belief, next year’s increase could easily be limited to 0.30 mills, if not lower; and most importantly, without impacting a single educational program.

It appears next Monday, May 19, our Board intends to approve yet another unnecessary tax increase. If, after reviewing this information, you believe this unwarranted tax increase deserves further review, please contact our School Board.

Our School Board may be contacted by e-mail using this address: schoolboard@mtlsd.net

Please feel free to forward this e-mail and attachments to friends and neighbors who may be concerned, as I am, with our ever growing and unsustainable tax burden.

Regards,

Bill Matthews