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?

Timmy's 2009 Drug and Alcohol Task Force

Earlier this week, I filed a Right To Know for the "recommendations made by Dr. Steinhauer’s task force created November 2009 regarding student drug and alcohol use as reported by Peter Berg at the December 21, 2009 Regular Board Meeting." * Fortunately, the District chose to grant my request in a timely manner. Below is the two page report.

2009 Drug and Alcohol Task Force Report

Back in February, I penned the following post. Our kids are dying As a result of that post, Kelly Fraasch took on this serious issue and together with Josephine Posti, formed a drug task force.

Recently, I sent an email to the school board with the tragic news of another young person's death, this time too close to home. The only school board member to respond was Scott Goldman. Scott, I want to publicly thank you.  You are a class act.

Timmy, keep up with the bathroom photos and renovation tours.  Daniel Pink must be so proud.



*Meeting minutes have not been posted since February 2013. Here is another example of incompetence within the District. The staff must be swamped by the stack of pizza receipts.

It is all about pizza these days UPDATED

Still listening to the podcast from Monday night's school board meeting, but I see that a couple of documents have been added to the District website.

Proposed Budget Reduction Concepts for 2013-14 shows that the board will gain $5000 by increasing the student parking fee from $50 to $75 per year. Still yet to be determined is the student activities fee structure, but the cost of that line item is $50,000.  Still no mention of administration concessions.

The Proposed Final Budget of April 5, 2013 shows a proposed budget increase of .54 mills.

In The Almanac article, Mt. Lebanon Schools announce savings, look for more cuts, Bill Cooper wants the full .54 mill increase.

Board member William Cooper, on the other hand, advocated for the full proposed .54 mill increase, comparing it to “two large pizzas” on a $100,000 house. He laid the blame for the pension crunch on the state and individual school districts, which held back pension contributions in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

If that is the case, may I collect Little Caesars Pizza coupons and pay the increase with those? They could be used for Timmy's monthly pizza lunches with the kids. Speaking of Tim, The Almanac reports:

If the board would like to further reduce millage, and the superintendent is unable to make headway with the union on pay concessions, the best option would be to use leftover fund balance to rein in taxes.

How are those union concessions working for you, Tim? Have you offered to personally make concessions, along with the rest of the administrators? I am betting as I do every year, that you will be getting that tidy increase, instead of a freeze or concession.

Update April12, 2013 9:30 AM Mt. Lebanon school board still working to cut tax hike