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!

When is the focus going to be about education?

I started following the School District in late 2009, after my last child graduated from MTL. It seems as it has always been about construction. It was about turfing the high school stadium. "Staff spent almost two months establishing what our true school blue is," Jo Posti wrote in her Center Court post, "Go Blue!" In fact, read her post Board Approves Retaining Stadium Turf Consultant, and you will see names of folks who were brought back last night to speak about the new turf project.

After the color of the turf was carefully selected, then it was on to the high school renovation. Year after year, school board meetings were all about change orders, construction updates, pics of Timmy in his hard hat looking like Bob the Builder, shiny water fountains...

Here is a link to last night's school board meeting. Is it on TV yet? I can't seem to find it.



Last night's school board meeting was well attended by former school board presidents, band members and parents, sports parents and kids, all supporting the "Century of Excellence Capital Campaign." They heard that the turf at the stadium is at the end of its life and needs to be replaced. They heard about turfing the Rockpile. They heard about turfing Mellon and Jefferson fields. Four turf projects that need to be repeated every eight years or so.

We all heard about $70,000 trophy cases in the past. Currently, Timmy tweets about cool t-shirts.

Timmy's Tweets about focus are comical. What was he waiting to see on August 30th? His following Tweet was about focus. Hilarious and tragic at the same time.

What has happened to our school district? Smaller classes? Gifted program? Special needs program?

It is all about construction.  How about bringing school board meetings back to education?

You're busted, Timmy

Just when you think Timmy comes up with an original thought on his Twitter feed, it's not.

Timmy got it here. 

Timmy, did you forget about a former school board president plagiarizing? Where is President Posti's integrity? 

You just got a goddam increase tonight of 5.5%! You make a whopping $205,492 this year and will get a SIX PERCENT increase next year! Where is your integrity, Timmy?

Timmy, do you have an original thought?

Tomorrow, the Mt. Lebanon School Board will vote to approve Timmy's annual salary of $205,492, for doing a SATISFACTORY job. School Board Meeting Agenda for August 21, 2017. The agenda does not reflect the percentage increase for Timmy, as they do for the other approved salaries. The teachers are getting a 3.38% increase, while the food service employees will be getting a 2.89% increase. Timmy is getting a 5.5% increase.

Evaluation of Superintendent: RESOLVED, That the Board rates the performance of the Superintendent as satisfactory and approves the salary of $205,492 effective July 1, 2017.

For $205,492 this year, do you think we can get an original thought from you? Now that Mr. McFeeley has Twitter and we learned that from your Retweet from Dr. Davis, you are now retweeting his Tweets.

Your blog no longer exists, even though I do miss your captivating stories about shiny water fountains, pizza lunches, Post It notes, and bathroom construction updates. It would be refreshing to see an original thought about education in Mt. Lebanon.

What exactly do you do besides block taxpayers from your social media? Looking forward to less work from you next year when you get your 6% raise.

There is a lot at stake on Election Day. I hope Lebo Citizens vote wisely.

Should they?

Timmy's latest Tweet is directly from the Washington Post. The first thing teachers should do when school starts is talk about hatred in America. Here’s help. Another original thought coming from the man who takes in $205,492 this year. As a Lebo Citizens reader questioned, "Shouldn’t this be the parents' responsibility?

If 12:06 AM hadn't spewed out so much hate, this blog would still be open to comments. I believe Lebo Citizens readers would have strong opinions on this.

Tim Steinhauer @mtlsdsuper

The first thing teachers should do when school starts is talk about hatred in America. Here’s help. http://wapo.st/2w2WDjF?tid=ss_tw-amp …

Analysis | The first thing teachers should do when school starts is talk about hatred in America....

Lessons plans, resources, etc.

washingtonpost.com

Right on top of things UPDATED

I think Timmy had his evaluation by now. If not, here is something for the school board directors to think about. Why is Timmy's latest School Board Report dated April 18, 2017? Here is a list of his reports.

Will Timmy ever meet Governor Tom Wolf? Upper St. Clair's superintendent did.

Update August 10, 2017 11:10 AM I embedded Timmy's Twitter feed last night on Lebo Citizens. Notice how many of his Tweets were just retweets. Considering how behind he is on his School Board reports, I wonder what exactly he does with his time. From prior Lebo Citizens posts, he doesn't know names of special ed teachers (see Free at last), wasn't sure if we had five or seven elementary schools during the municipal hearing for the high school project, has no idea as to who changed the job posting nine months after Elaine Cappucci's son was hired, knew that Elaine Cappucci had to resign from the school board due to the conflict of interest with her son, had a complete understanding that the school board president is the executive director of Outreach and is quoted as saying, “The Mt. Lebanon School District has developed an extraordinary partnership with Outreach Teen & Family Services."

Voters will get more of the same if they vote for Elaine Cappucci, Mary Birks, Dan Remely, and Katie Caste.
 

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.

great...great...great

While Timmy Tweets:

A principal from an award-winning middle school in the area submitted this opinion piece to today's Post Gazette, Slaying the Testing Beast.  Greg Taranto, the principal of Canonsburg Middle School, was named 2012 Middle Level Principal of the Year by the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals.

Parents and educators must start speaking out and talking to our school districts, school boards and state and federal legislators. State and federal legislators are especially important, because they are the ones mandating tests such as the PSSA and the Keystones and thus tying the hands of district officials and school boards.

Instead of having breakfasts and pizza lunches with students (What's next? Nap time with preschoolers?), wouldn't it be "great" to have great parents and coffee - great combination - great way to start the day?

I am sure that parents would love to discuss how standardized tests are out of control with Timmy. Then there is the Keystone Report. Pennsylvania Teacher Union Lashes Out at Critics, Foes Timmy can perpetuate PSEA’s “Big Lie” that Corbett had cut $1 billion from state funding for K-12 education in Pennsylvania. 

Those are just two examples which should be on our super Super's radar, instead of pizza and breakfast.  A third topic over coffee might be our budget, but then we would have to call it Coffee and Kleenex. Wouldn't it be "great" if our superintendent would have more important matters on his mind besides food and talking magical frogs?