Policy meeting agenda with no mention of Posti

On Tuesday, the Policy Committee will be meeting at the usual time, 4:30 pm. The agenda has been posted on the District website, and reprinted here:

Agenda 
  (Subject to Change)

September 6, 20111.  Policies - Sixth Review
      a.  GBEE, Social Networking

2.  Policies - First Review
      a.  Revisions to ECF, Energy Management Conservation
      b.  Revisions to JKF, Non-School Related Drug and Alcohol Violations

3.  Questions and Comments from Residents

They did promise to record the meeting and post it on the District website. No mention of plagiarism or bullying policies on the agenda. I guess that is where Item 3 comes in, but if no one can attend, that sure makes it difficult.  Too bad there is no teleconferencing for residents. "Operators are standing by.  Call now."

Update September 5, 2011 10:11 PM According to page 13 of the 2011-2012 Student & Parent Handbook,

Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition, defines plagiarize as “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own: use (another's production) without crediting the source.” Examples of plagiarism include copying passages or visual downloads from the Internet or other texts; not documenting written or oral sources such as teachers, other students, critics; fabricating or manipulating a quotation or source and using free or purchased papers from the Internet or other sources. Students receive instruction about plagiarism in English and other classes and are responsible to discuss their questions and uncertainties with their teachers.

If anyone is going to the Policy meeting tomorrow, you might want to mention this.

Progress with the bid review process

The Mt. Lebanon School District's home page reports that there "will be an Architect Update on Monday, June 13, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. in the High School Library prior to the School Board meeting. The architects from Celli-Flynn Brennan and the construction managers from P.J. Dick Corp. will report to the School Board on their progress with the bid review process."   Again, I am asking for a volunteer to record the meeting. Presently, 37 countries have visited Lebo Citizens. There is definitely a need for these meetings to be available online, instead of just the cable channels. I have reached out to School Board candidates with no luck, and now I am asking the Key Communicators for help.  Unfortunately, my list of Key Communicators is over a year old (not well communicated), so maybe one of these people would volunteer.

Al Frioni

Andy Rhodes

Betsy Dillon

Bill Cooper

Blaise Larotonda

Corey Polena

Dan Goff

Dave Reese

Deb Smit

Diane Wainwright

Elaine LaBalme

Elizabeth Glantz

Frank Baker

Frank Hines

Gail Sieg

Hugh Beal

Joe Polk

John Schrott

Kim Ressler

Kristen Linfante

Larry Lebowitz

Mary Ellen Schmidt

Rob Gardner

Rob Papke

Ruth Foltz

Sheldon Campbell

Sue Fretterd

Sue Simmons

Tom Moertel

If you are willing to help, please contact me at EGillen476@aol.com, and I will make arrangements to get a recorder to and from you.  Thanks in advance!

Update 9:54 am It occurred to me that there may be some readers who are not aware of the Key Communicator group.  Through a Google search, I found this explanation on the Plano Independent School District website. http://www.pisd.edu/about.us/key.communicators/index.shtml I also found references to Dr. Steinhauer's group at a local level. http://voteccl.com/about_bill , http://jposti.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-board-member-appointed.html and http://votelinfante.com/content/candidate-profile-kristen-linfante.

Last call

The School Board Policy Committee Meeting is still scheduled for 4:30 p.m on Tuesday, June 7 in Conference Room B.  I was hoping for School Board candidates to volunteer and help record meetings.  Nobody has stepped forward to help.  Considering I was the only resident at the last Policy Committee meeting, this 4:30 time slot is not working. It is disappointing that the School Board will continue to meet in Conference Room B while there is the opportunity to broadcast it, just upstairs. It looks like the Policy Committee Meeting will not be recorded.  Chalk one up for the School Board.

Attention Candidates

A few of us have been recording meetings for lebocitizens.com, but have not always been able to attend every meeting.  Since this is an Election year and we have new School Board and Commission candidates, who aren't incumbents, how about volunteering to record some meetings?  Hopefully, you have been coming to meetings already, but if you haven't, this is a great way to learn more about what is going on.  It isn't hard to do.  Email me at egillen476@aol.com, and I can make arrangements to get a recorder to you. 

These recordings have been listened to in 35 countries across the world.  Having them on lebocitizens.com have given residents, who don't have cable or access to the broadcasts, a chance to listen to the meetings.

Any volunteers?

Another 4:30 p.m. Policy Committee Meeting has been scheduled for May 3, 2011.  Are there any volunteers who would be willing to record the meeting?  I can provide the recorder.  The last 4:30 meeting meant someone had to leave work early to record it.  Why does the School District schedule meetings at this time?

We will not have such blasphemy in Mt. Lebanon!

I happened to stumble upon this website in my travels, Northwestern C.A.R.E.S.  (Community Advocates for Reforming Excellence in our Schools.)  This Northwestern Lehigh School District in PA actually permits residents to video tape their meetings and publishes a balanced preliminary budget.  How refreshing!  Here are the community advocates' goals and purpose:

Northwestern C.A.R.E.S.

Community Advocates for Reforming Excellence in our Schools

Our Purpose and Goals

• The people that live in the Northwestern Lehigh School District want to be informed and know what’s going on with decisions that effect academics, students, teachers, extra-curricular activities, etc. We will distribute this information.
• To have an organization where people can get together to share ideas and thoughts about the school district’s issues that need to be corrected. Then, through an organized effort, take action to correct them.
• The people that are paying the school district’s bills want to be informed about what exactly it is they are paying for. The way the system works everywhere else is when someone pays a bill, they get a copy of the receipt. It’s reasonable for the people that live in this community to get a copy of the receipt of the bills they are paying. We will distribute these receipts.
• To assist individuals or groups that would like to voice their opinion or correct, change, or accomplish something within the school district. We will assist them on how to navigate the politics of the school board and the administration.
• To attend school board and committee meetings to see and hear first hand what is going on. We will video tape meetings and webcast them to benefit the people who are unable to attend, yet have an interest in knowing what’s going on.
• Collect information by asking for it, or by right to know, then distributing it by email or handouts.

Northwestern C.A.R.E.S., you would have a difficult time if you tried this here in Lebo!