Mt. Lebanon in the PSBA news

Mt. Lebanon School District: ... The district is delaying borrowing the final $34 million necessary to complete the project with the expectation that state funding will be on-going at that time. However, with Act 1 limitations, the district has serious concerns about the ability to provide funding for the bonds if it does not receive the $450,000 missing in state subsidy on the first bond issue as well as the subsidy on the second bond issue once it is issued.

Read more: http://www.psba.org/issues-advocacy/issues-research/state-budget/budget_series-plancon-04152013.asp

A case of deflected argumentation?

Please listen to the following audio clip from Monday's school board meeting. A reader sent me the 54 seconds clip along with this commentary.  Very interesting!

    Attached is an edited clip from last night's SB meeting, which is classic Jan Klein, answering a question that wasn't asked.  David Huston asked about the auditor contracts, and mentions that, while they don't have to comply with it,  Sarbanes–Oxley and the PSBA recommend changing auditors every five years.  Later, during the vote on the contract, Mr. Goldman asks if there is a "requirement or recommendation" to change auditors and how long have we had our current auditors.  Mrs. Klein answers and says there is no legal requirement for the District to change independent auditors, and does not answer the second part of his question.  But Mr. Goldman didn't ask if there was a legal requirement only; he asked if there was a "requirement or recommendation" to change auditors.  The rational answer would have been, "There is no requirement to change auditors every five years, but Sarbanes-Oxley and the PSBA do in fact recommend it."  Then Mrs. Posti, noticing that Mrs. Klein didn't answer the second part of Mr. Goldman's question, asks how long the District has contracted with the current auditors and Mrs. Klein replies "at least 10 years."  Jo may not have realized it but she played right into Mr. Huston's hands by asking Mrs. Klein how long the District has used the same auditors, and made his point for him - very well, I might add.
     Again, this is an edited clip.  Mr. Goldman's question comes some time after Mr. Huston brings up the auditor subject; I just cut out the dross in between.

Don't let this get out

On Tuesday, September 6, 2011, the PSBA (Pennsylvania School Boards Association) published a list of school districts known to have adopted a wage freeze for administrators, teachers, and/or staff. http://www.psba.org/news-publications/headlines/details.asp?id=1767 Here in Mt. Lebanon, the school board (I stopped capitalizing those words) just approved a nice increase for our superintendent which included a salary increase and added vacation benefits. As of 10:00 this morning, last year's goals are still online. http://www.mtlsd.org/superintendent/goals.asp The 2010/2011 goals were not published until November 2010. Dr. Steinhauer's contract runs from July 1 to June 30. When his raise was approved, the school board indicated that they were still working on his goals.  Wasn't that a month ago?
While some school boards are adopting wage freezes, our directors are quick to hand out increases faster than establishing goals. Gee, this isn't a violation of Policy BDD, is it? 
Here is proof that we make up our own rules here in Mt. Lebanon. School entities statewide adopting PSBA Standards for Effective School Governance

Another little tidbit on the PSBA website is this New bills address superintendent contracts. Remember the Sable buyout?