How do #33 and #10 sound?

Top-ranked middle schools in western Pennsylvania

It's the first time in two years the Pennsylvania Department of Education has calculated scores for each of the school districts in the state. Here's how local eighth grades did.

Andrew W. Mellon Middle School ranked #33 in the state.

Thomas Jefferson Middle School ranked #10 in the state.

Timmy earns more than the super at the #1 school district in the state

It's the first time in two years the Pennsylvania Department of Education has calculated scores for each of the school districts in the state. Good news for the Upper St. Clair Superintendent. Bad news for Super Tim.

Mt. Lebanon came in at #10 in the state.

Upper St. Clair came in at #1 in the state.

Thumbnails of the top fifteen (two districts are tied for #15) are here - ranked 15 to 1.

See the top 15 listed separately by clicking on the link above.

Go to Timmy's getting what? to find out how much our superintendent makes in a year.

How the School District CHEATS Mt. Lebanon taxpayers

While the focus here has been primarily directed toward the municipality's deer, our school district has been up to their old tricks preparing the legally required Preliminary Budget, a.k.a. "fake budget."

Mt. Lebanon resident and Lebo Citizens reader, William Matthews demonstrates to the Department of Education how the District annually submits a fake preliminary budget when the “PDE will only approve referendum exceptions if the school district demonstrates a need for exceptions by adopting a balanced preliminary budget that contains a tax rate increase in excess of the school district’s index.” In his letters, Bill asks the PDE to perform a detailed review of our preliminary budget and reject the Mt. Lebanon School District 2015-2016 Preliminary Budget.

Yesterday, I received the following email from Bill:

Dear friends and neighbors. 

The School District's approach in preparing its Preliminary Budget, continues to disappoint. 

The attached letters have been sent to our Superintendent and School Board, and I am sharing with you this afternoon. 

Feel free to share with other friends and neighbors. 

Best regards, 

Bill

From: Bill Matthews
To: tsteinhauer <tsteinhauer@mtlsd.net>
Cc: schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>; jklein <jklein@mtlsd.net>; tpeterson <tpeterson@tuckerlaw.com>
Sent: Wed, Feb 11, 2015 6:11 pm

Subject: Preliminary Budget - Mt. Lebanon School District.
Dr. Steinhauer:

I submitted the attached letters to PDE this week, outlining some of my thoughts on our Preliminary Budgets.

Take care,

Bill


Mt. Lebanon School District/Pennsylvania Department of Education Preliminary Budget 02.08.15  letter
[Editor's note: Normally, the school board should have been meeting tonight, but the January 12, 2015 agenda shows: 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.
The School Board also met on February 9, 2015.]


Mt. Lebanon School District/Pennsylvania Department of Education Preliminary Budget 02.09.15 letter

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

Frustrated with the School District? You're not alone. It seems that the PA Department of Education has no control over elected officials. HOWEVER, they do have control over any educator with Pennsylvania Certification. This includes superintendents, vocational directors, principals, teachers, and educational specialists such as school counselors and school nurses.

If parents are not getting satisfaction by going to the school board or to the administration and feel that the PA Department of Education should get involved, here is the process. To file an Educator Misconduct Complaint, visit Educator Misconduct Complaint Procedures and Complaint Form

To read about Professional Standards and Practices, visit Professional Standards and Practices Commission Home Page

Upset about unfair recess practices and can't get the situation resolved by the School District? File a complaint.

Do you feel that the principal and/or superintendent did not conduct an impartial review concerning the Devil's Advocate article? File a complaint.

Tired of the superintendent's aggressive communication style and disrespect toward parents? File a complaint.

The Educator Misconduct Complaint Form (PDE-348) requires Microsoft Word. If a complaint form is filed, it must be notarized and sent along with any documentation (such as the Devil's Advocate article, emails, etc.) to the PDE. If you have a complaint against two people, for example, two separate forms must be submitted.

At the bottom of the Educator Misconduct Complaint Form, please note the Confidentiality Notice. The educator misconduct complaint process is confidential and any unauthorized release of confidential information is a misdemeanor of the third degree. In other words, DON'T TELL ME YOU FILED A COMPLAINT. Don't write in anonymously that you filed a complaint. I don't want to know!!! Everything is strictly confidential!

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire UPDATED 2X

Ohhhh boy, this is a goodie! Remember how we have a sound bite of President Cappucci giving a resident a hard time over the budget?  How she and the resident disagree on how transparent the Board has been? The lack of documents shared with the public? Well guess what I just got back from the PA Department of Education? Right To Know Response from the PDE.

Not only are Elaine Cappucci and the rest of the school board members keeping the budget from us, they are also keeping the budget away from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

From the PA School Code of 1949, Section 687(2)(b):
Within fifteen (15) days after the adoption of the budget, the board of school directors shall file a copy of the same in the office of the Department of Public Instruction.
A follow up email to the PDE has been sent:

To:	bhanft <bhanft@pa.gov>
Cc:	ra-educationsecretary <ra-educationsecretary@pa.gov>
Subject:	Mt. Lebanon School District final budget 2013
Date:	Wed, Jun 19, 2013 2:48 pm
Attachments:	PDE_RTK0001.pdf (72K), may%2020,%202013%20board%20meeting%20summary.pdf (52K)

---

Mr. Hanft,

  The Mt. Lebanon School District voted on the final budget 20-MAY-2013.

http://www.mtlsd.org/District/Budget/default.asp

See page five (5) of attached business meeting summary.

From the Pa School Code of 1949, Section 687(2)(b):

Within fifteen (15) days after the adoption of the budget, the board of school directors shall file a copy of the same in the office of the Department of Public Instruction.

Fifteen (15) calendar days from 20-MAY-2013 was 04-JUN-2013.

Today is 19-JUN-2013, an additional fifteen (15) days, making it now thirty (30) calendar days.

My RTK request response, attached, demonstrates the PDE does not have the final budget.

This is a clear violation of the Pa School Code of 1949.

What is the penalty to the Mt. Lebanon School District for this violation of law?

Update 4:15 PM Mr. Hanft responded with:

At the time PDE received your RTKL request, due to a clerical error, it was not apparent that the budget had been received.  However, Mt. Lebanon SD had timely filed its budget.  I have attached a copy and apologize for the oversight. Thank you.

 Benjamin T. Hanft | Division Chief
Division of Subsidy Data and Administration
Department of Education | Bureau of Budget and Fiscal Management
333 Market Street | Hbg PA 17126
Phone: 717.787.5423 | Fax: 717.772.4106
www.education.state.pa.usDivision of Subsidy Data and AdministrationDepartment of Education | Bureau of Budget and Fiscal Management333 Market Street | Hbg PA 17126Phone: 717.787.5423 | Fax: 717.772.4106www.education.state.pa.us
PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONThis message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is confidential.  If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited.  If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender and then delete the communication from your electronic mail system.

Now we are waiting for a time stamped copy of the budget they received, not the one with today's date on it. I guess when confronted with irrefutable facts, government has to fess up lest you take the next steps and go public to expose the deceptions. Yeah, blame it on a clerical error when you're caught.

Update June 19, 2013 4:31 PM Here is the latest email from the PDE with a nine page budget sent to them.

From: bhanft@pa.gov
CC: ra-educationsecretary@pa.gov
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:17:05 -0400
Subject: RE: Mt. Lebanon School District final budget 2013-14

 Attached is the original paper copy received by the Department of Education. 

Benjamin T. Hanft, Chief
Division of Subsidy Data and AdministrationBureau of Budget and Fiscal Management

Increase State Funding for Our Taj Mahal!

No budget posted as of 3:00 PM today on the District website, but the Board still has approximately nine hours until 30 days before the vote for the Final Budget for the 2013-2014 school year in the amount of $83,249,503 at a millage rate of 27.67 (unadjusted for any change in assessed value) an increase of .54 mill(unadjusted for any change in assessed value) over the 2012-2013 school year on May 20, 2013.

What has been posted on the District website is:

RESOLUTION URGING INCREASED STATE FUNDING

WHEREAS, a significant delay in receiving the state reimbursement at Part H of the PlanCon process has already cost $1.4 million in delayed funding and will force the Mt. Lebanon School District to make, a significant delay in receiving the state reimbursement at Part H of the PlanCon process has already cost $1.4 million in delayed funding and will force the Mt. Lebanon School District to makes already cost $1.4 million in delayed funding and will force the Mt. Lebanon School District to make costly financial choices which may involve an increase in taxes, borrowing additional money or financial choices which may involve an increase in taxes, borrowing additional money or reduction of programs or services totaling over $11 million; of programs or services totaling over $11 million;

It won't be the School Board's fault when the taxes increase.
It won't be Tim Frenz from Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's fault when the taxes increase.
It won't be Jan Klein's fault when the taxes increase.
It won't be the Administrators' fault when the taxes increase.
It won't be the Master Design Team's fault when the taxes increase.
It won't be the unions' fault when the taxes increase.

It will be the PA Department of Education's fault, the agency that received our fake budget.

PA Department of Education's rebuttal

Since I posted Kathy Newman's letter to the editor, Why I won't let my son take the PSSA, I thought I would pass on the PED's rebuttal. Needless to say, Tim Eller is taking a beating from the PG online comments.  

After the indictment of the Atlanta Superintendent for racketeering in a huge cheating scandal, PSSA or high stakes testing has been a hot topic.

PSSAs are valid

April 2, 2013 12:10 am

Before addressing the flaws of Kathy M. Newman's thinking ("Why I Won't Let My Son Take the PSSA," Forum, March 31), a correction is necessary: Gov. Tom Corbett didn't cut $1 billion from education. Since taking office, the governor has increased state support of public schools by $1.25 billion.

The writer's critique of the PSSAs is quite disturbing. Expecting educators to be held accountable for student performance is unacceptable? Expecting students to graduate with the skills and knowledge to be successful in life is unheard of?

I think Ms. Newman is a bit off the mark. The PSSAs have been in place for more than a decade and now that they will be used, in part, to evaluate educators, now is the time to opt students out?

As a taxpayer with two children in public schools, I want to know if my taxes are being used to educate not only my kids but all students since one day they will take the reins of this country and it's imperative to ensure their success.

My kids complain about taking the PSSAs, but they also complain about quizzes, unit tests and projects. Should we abolish all forms of assessment?

The writer forgot to mention that the Department of Education applied for a waiver to provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind law. Once approved, adequate yearly progress will no longer be measured. In fact, under the waiver application, it would not be used for this year's assessments.

Public schools must be held accountable to students, parents and taxpayers. If not the PSSAs or some other assessment, how else would Ms. Newman suggest we ensure that the $27 billion -- local, state and federal taxes -- Pennsylvania taxpayers put into K-12 public education is being used to educate our kids?

TIM ELLER
Press Secretary
Pa. Department of Education
Harrisburg


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/letters/pssas-are-valid-681759/#ixzz2PLFsa8iG

Some Children Left Behind

According to Dr. Davis' report last night, MTLSD has been given a warning. Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which is bipartisan, students with special needs are not meeting their targets. Josephine Posti, Ron Davis, and Tim Steinhauer feel that this legislation is ridiculous. We must have 100% success and that sounds difficult to achieve, they say. Here is part of the presentation made last night. AYP Presentation AYP stands for Adequate Yearly Progress. It turns out that there is an appeal process available, with the deadline being August 7, 2012. 2012 Appeals Process Looks like they missed that. For more information on the AYP, check out the PA Department of Education website.