Doomsday forecasts are a thing of the past

On Tuesday, I posted this thread on Lebo Citizens. Oh Budget...Where arrrre youuuuu? On Wednesday, this appeared on Jospehine Posti's Center Court blog:

We've learned that what makes a good sound byte: "Let's go through the budget line item by line item!" doesn't make strategic, long-term changes or systematic improvements.  Promoting rhetoric about Doomsday forecasts doesn't paint an accurate picture and doesn't develop trust among Board members necessary for the hard work ahead. 
Because it's election season, I've heard some rhetoric during the past couple of weeks about how the District's spending is "out of control" and am here to tell you that it's very much in control, less than last year's spending and well-managed as we tackle future challenges such as PSERS and the renovation project.  We've also improved budget communication this year, sending information to homes and to employees and provided better information on the District website.  

Am I to understand that we will no longer see forecasts - Doomsday or otherwise?  Have they gone down the same path as the Audit and Finance Committee? Does improving budget communication this year translate into showing no budget at all? And how is this about developing trust among Board members?  Is this another case of the new and improved transparent Board??

Now, here's an idea

Keystone Oaks is considering going to a four-day school week, in order to save money.

Keystone Oaks officials are considering going to a four-day school week to help save money, according to Superintendent Bill Urbanek.

The district has already sent a letter ask Gov. Tom Corbett about the possibility of getting the 180-day policy waived.

“Since he announced his budget, the governor has been quoted several times that he’d pretty much waive anything,” Urbanek said.

Keystone Oaks considers four-day week

My taxes are paid.

How can a commissioner discuss the Budget when his own taxes are overdue?  A sitting commissioner receives $3500 annually from the Municipality. How can my commissioner answer the Commission President when asked what to do about the unbalanced budget - raises taxes or cut services, when he doesn't pay his own? 

5/10/11 Commission Discussion Session Part 2 Podcast

Still Comparing Apples to Oranges?

While Blogger tries to fix their problems, I found this article about Upper St. Clair's budget gap.  http://upperstclair.patch.com/articles/upper-st-clair-school-district-narrows-budget-gap Dale Ostergaard brought up these same issues at the April 25 meeting.  James Fraasch had warned us. In the article, Upper St. Clair said they don't have much latitude.  We do.  We have been given a second chance.  That is how many see it here in Mt. Lebanon.  If the School Board candidates are out campaigning, as they should be, they should know that already.

On Lebo Citizens The Facts, this entry is posted. 

On May 6, 2010, Mt. Lebanon School Board Director Elaine Cappucci and high school renovation architect, Thomas Celli, made a joint presentation on “21st Century School Design Promoting Entrepreneurial Education” at the Pennsylvania School Board Association School Design and Construction Conference in Lancaster, PA.

http://www.psba.org/workshops/school-construction-conference/learning-journal-online/21st-Century-School-Design-Entrepreneurial-Education.pdf

Note: “The presentation was not one that was approved or even reviewed by the Board.” 

                                                               -School Board Director James Fraasch, Blog Lebo

Unfortunately, the presentation has been removed from the PSBA website.  Mrs. Cappucci has been quoted as saying that she will not revisit Building C.  I hope that has changed. Maybe that could be "Plan B" as is written on her campaign website. http://voteccl.com/news If Plan B doesn't work, try Plan C[AC].

Update: A reader shared a copy of the presentation: 21st Century
Update 8:46 am Slide 2 shows the Taj Mahal.  How appropriate.  Slide 10 shows Blogger.  Interesting timing since Blogger went down yesterday and this morning.

She forgot to mention the $94.3 million borrowed for the high school.

Kaitlynn Riely had this article in this morning's PG.  She wrote about Bethel Park's budget woes, but forgot to mention that they are in the same pickle jar our District wants to jump in.

 

Bethel Park mulls teacher layoffs

Bethel Park School District is considering teacher furloughs and other cuts in the face of a tough budget situation this year, said Matthew Howard, assistant to the superintendent and head of the district's finance team

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11097/1137539-55.stm#ixzz1IqovrczT

Questions About the Reorganization

The latest post on Josephine Posti's Center Court blog attempts to answer questions about the reorganization that took place last Friday. In my mind, this has raised more questions.

Q. When will other positions impacted by the reorganization be announced? The Board hasn't approved this reorganization and won't do so until April 18, 2011.  According to the answer in this first question, doesn't it sound like the Board was taken by surprise?  Maybe it is the Board who is asking this question.

Q.Is this announcement a reaction to the District's current or future budget situation? I have a suggestion for significant savings.  Postpone the April 28 Groundbreaking Ceremony and regroup.  Shouldn't this plan be in place before that shovel goes in the ground?  Yes, we are getting a budget with no millage impact, but did they forget what they did to us last year?  Is it coincidental that this is an election year?  This is not the time to be starting a $113.3 million project. 

Q.Will there be staffing changes within the teaching staff? I was at a Audit and Finance Committee meeting when Jan Klein told us that we could save $115,000 for each teacher retirement with no replacement.  From the District website:

Budget Assumptions – The District will closely monitor staff retirements since salaries are the largest single factor in school costs.  Each teacher retirement will save the District about $50,000 if a replacement teacher is required.  If no replacement is required, savings could be an extra $65,000.  Early estimates are for ten teacher retirements.

I can't put my finger on it right now, but we were told that retiring teachers were not going to be replaced.

Q.Why now?
A.  These changes aren't changes that previous superintendents haven't considered. Huh?

From the District website:

And finally, the District is expecting no more revenues from Federal Stimulus Funds and no increase in funding from the State.  This, coupled with sluggish home sales and flat revenues from Earned Income taxes, all point to a challenging budget preparation process.

I applaud Dr. Steinhauer for taking these necessary and long overdue steps to reorganize.  Maybe it is also time to rethink the timing of the high school renovation too.  Please.

We're civilized here.

Police were called at a school board meeting in West Middlesex, PA when teachers were given a 2.6% increase starting the second year of a six year contract.  Yes, 2.6% increase.  http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11088/1135539-100.stm Our board passed a 4.15% increase in August.  On Josephine Posti's Center Court blog, she wrote:

 In order to control this expense, there may be a reduction of several positions created by retirements with no new staff reflected in this budget. The second way we addressed this issue was by negotiating a cost-efficient contract with our teaching staff. The Board approved this five-year contract in August; it provides reasonable salary increases to the teaching staff. http://jposti.blogspot.com/2011/03/2011-12-budget-information.html 

Now we are going to have larger class sizes, fewer teachers, and a nice, new sports facility.  Love it!

Now this is transparency

Dr. Steinhauer and President Posti should take note of what our former Superintendent is doing these days.  

Wichita is opening its checkbook to improve budget transparency "Allison told members of the delegation that the district is taking steps to be more transparent with its budget transactions.

'Wichita Public Schools long has been a leader in this state on sharing budget information,' Allison said in a news release."

That's not the case here, Mr. Allison.  Budget information is highly guarded information that is withheld from residents, even at Audit and Finance Committee meetings.

This is what we're talkin' about

As you all know by now, I still can't get over the discussion in at least two Master Design Team meeting minutes about an eight million dollar donation that never materialized.  At several school board meetings and on local blogs, residents - including yours truly, have brought up fund raising and donations for the high school renovation project. Instead, the School Board goes for the low hanging fruit and raises our taxes 10.5%, which includes the first bond for the high school renovation.  Instead of Christmas cards, our mortgage companies are sending us notices about shortages in our escrow accounts and what our new monthly payment will be next year to cover the first wave of tax increases by the School District.  James Fraasch posted an email on his blog that he had sent to his School Board colleagues before the December 13 School Board meeting.  Email to School Board

In addition, we ARE insulted by the way we are being treated.  I was at an Audit and Finance committee meeting where Jan Klein had only four copies (enough for the committee members attending) of the preliminary 5 year forecasted budget and none were shared with the three residents who tried to follow along in the discussion.  Compare this to the Municipality's approach to their proposed budget.  Public hearings were held.  These meetings were televised.  The proposed budget was on the Municipal website.  The amendment to the Manager's 2011 Recommended  Budget was posted on their website.  Why is this?