South Fayette still ranked #1

The Pittsburgh Business Times' annual Honor Roll ranking is here, with data based on three years of performance on state standardized test scores.

For $205,492 + 3.5% of base salary tax deferred supplement, you'd think...

Mt. Lebanon would be on the cover of Pittsburgh Business Times.

Nope. South Fayette Elementary School is considered a model for its STEM education. Want this to be status quo? Vote the Timmy Ticket in November 'cause that is what you are going to continue to see. Timmy is contracted to receive a 6% increase AND a 4% of base salary tax deferred supplement in 2018, ending 6/30/19. 

Tired of the same old - same old? Then vote for: 

Mike Riemer

Stephen Strotmeyer

Aviva Diamond

Tonight on WTAE-TV

At 5:30 tonight, WTAE is doing a story about school districts hoarding large amounts of cash - Four Billion Dollars, while still raising taxes.

Isn't that what Mt. Lebanon is doing with their fundraising campaign, which may or may not be still in the quiet phase?

I know that South Fayette residents have been questioning their school district about this very issue.

South Fayette residents question school board about skyrocketing taxes

Coincidently, the South Fayette superintendent announced her retirement at the end of June. Her retirement will go into effect in December.

Commonwealth Foundation - News Release: Is Your School District Hoarding Cash?

"The Rest of the Story" rest of the story

Over on Josephine Posti's Center Court blog, Josephine writes The Rest of the Story - Superintendent Buy-outs. Curious that it was posted about an hour ago. Gee, would she be one of those people being forced to read my blog? I wrote about that this morning.

Please take a couple of minutes to read her blog. In it, Posti talks about what keeps school boards up at night.  There was no mention of railroading an over-the-top high school renovation without a referendum, ignoring stakeholders, giving raises to administrators left and right, bullying commissioners to do their dirty work or controlling communication. It is odd how she couldn't control communication with Essential Public Radio.

Another concern Posti has is limiting local control over how many police officers to employ, wording of local zoning ordinances, as well as how we hire superintendents. She writes, "What works for Mt. Lebanon may be completely different from what works in South Fayette..." Funny thing about what works in South Fayette. Today's Trib has this article by Matt Santoni. With rapid growth, South Fayette schools running out of room 

Jennifer Iriti, 38, sought a place where she could settle down with her husband and their 4-year-old daughter. They narrowed their choices to Mt. Lebanon or South Fayette. As a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh's Learning Resource and Development Center, she wanted a good school district.
"In particular, we were looking for places that had really high-quality teachers, teachers who are happy, who are excited about their work," said Iriti, who chose a house in the growing Berkshires subdivision near the school district's campus on Old Oakdale Road. "I actually called some teachers up on the phone, and I was impressed by how much they liked their jobs and the (South Fayette) leadership."
Iriti weighed Mt. Lebanon's more urban, walkable feel against South Fayette's newer homes. She found three- and four-bedroom houses with yards to be less expensive in South Fayette, and still close enough to Pittsburgh via Interstate 79.
With others choosing to live in South Fayette for similar reasons, its schools are running out of room.

Maybe Josephine can donate the rest of her T-shirts and mugs to the Mt. Lebanon Historical Society.  Or try selling them on eBay and add it to the fee for the feasibility study that they will be approving tonight.