Who is spineless?

I am sure it is too late to make a difference, just a few hours before the School Board passes another raise for our superintendent. I thought it would be interesting for the community to see an article that was in the Sept. 28, 2012 High School newspaper. In summary, the Devil's Advocate editorial talks about consequences and how school policies are not enforced.

As high school students, we understand that consequences are sometimes deserved and a natural part of growing up. But we also know the difference between a strict policy and an empty threat.

The night before graduation last June, a number of high school seniors were cited for drinking or drugs when the police broke up a party. Almost every student was able to walk at graduation.

Why do we have a Policy Committee? Why do we have policies which aren't enforced? There aren't consequences. I pointed that out at a policy committee meeting on more than one occasion. We have a District website that is not updated, complete with spelling errors. We have a school board president who doesn't cite her sources [plagiarism for anyone else.]

The School Board is a disgrace. Giving out salary increases while charging students to park, cutting staff, not meeting AYP, while their "What did you do today to improve the life of a child?" mantra is a joke.  Who is really spineless in Mt. Lebanon? Sorry, School Board Directors, but the kids are on to you.

An open letter to our leaders

This was sent to the Commission and school board directors.

Dear Commissioners and School Board Directors,

I have emailed you at various times about situations that were embarrassing moments for the community.  We have a commissioner who lied about paying his taxes and yet voted on issues that affected all of us. We have a school board president who apologized for not citing all of her sources and the school board does nothing about it, yet all vote on policies that affect our students.  We have a candidate for Ward 1 who thinks nothing of running for commissioner and has a criminal record.  And now we have a swimming coach who is charged with leaving his five and seven year old children alone in a car.  Yet, when I bring up these situations, I become the issue.  Why is that? 

Must you create new policies or update our comprehensive plan Home Rule Charter for our leaders, or at some point, should our leaders take responsibility for their actions?

Elaine Gillen

Update September 13, 2011 4:20 p.m. Mt. Lebanon suspends coach accused of leaving kids in car

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?