Bob Woodward should be so lucky.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Yesssss!": 

Since you don't approve my comments, I'll try again: do you really think that this is some massive conspiracy and that your actions will lead to jail time or people to resign? You're not Bob Woodward. You filed a request, they're taking a look at it, then they'll likely deny it and you'll likely post that the conspiracy lives on.  

Can't wait for your next story about how you had to get out of your salon appointment to put a quarter in a parking meter. 



Posted by Anonymous to  Lebo Citizens at June 27, 2017 at 4:25 PM

Round Three

Our brainless commissioners will be approving a third year of paying Tony DeNicola another $9,000 for doing nothing but watching The Deer Hunter from his recliner in Connecticut.

The program has included "volunteer" archers and a dozen private "donated" properties, as well as McNeilly Park located near Brookline, Twin Hills located in Scott Township, Robb Hollow and Public Works located located near Scott and Upper St. Clair, and the Golf Course located on the edge of Castle Shannon.

Mt. Lebanon commissioners will be voting on Monday to hire Tony DeNicola to oversee the archery program with his trail cameras that we bought him last year. The donors and volunteers will also benefit with the venison, also on our dime.

"An avalanche of applicants"

This is for the "avalanche of applicants" who did not get the job. Elaine Cappucci had to resign from the school board since her son was interviewing and ultimately got the job. I understand there are many teachers both within our district and outside of our district who were disappointed/pissed/surprised with the outcome. Now that her son is a Mt. Lebanon teacher and football coach, Elaine Cappucci is running for her old position on the board. Teachers, through a Right To Know, here are the documents pertaining to the hiring of Elaine Cappucci's son.

Response letter to my Right To Know

Documents pertaining to the Cappucci hiring

Please note that on page six of the documents, is the original job posting date of 7/13/2016. On page seven of the documents, Andrew Cappucci applied online on 7/6/2016, a week prior to the job posting. And now you know why there is no trace of Timmy changing the online job posting listed on page three of the documents almost a year later! 

Another school district sues FieldTurf

Neshannock School District sues FieldTurf over defective artificial turf fields
by Louie Torres | 

Jun. 19, 2017, 1:27pm

NESHANNOCK TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT

Proposed Class Action | Pending

SUMMARY: Accuses FieldTurf of failing to disclose problems with the turf even after customer complained of deterioration. Counts include breach of contract, breach of warranty, unfair trade practices and fraudulent concealment.

Class Action Complaint is here.
Add New Castle to the growing list of schools who sued FieldTurf.

I first wrote about this in my Lebo Citizens blog post, The 100-Yard Deception.

The website continues to update. FieldTurf: The 100-Yard Deception 

Will I hear again from my buddy, Darren Gill? 

Yesssss!

State Ethics Commission Complaint No. 168

Trouble at Outreach?

Director of Professional & Program Services

Director of Professional & Program Services
Outreach Teen & Family Services - Pittsburgh, PA 15228

The Director of Professional & Program Services reports directly to the Executive Director. This position provides clinical, programmatic and administrative support, supervises a counseling team of between 15-18 members, and is accountable for the development, implementation, and assessment of agency initiatives in order to maintain best practices for clinical standards and outstanding customer service. The position is also responsible for program research, development, implementation, and evaluation, and assists with the expansion of present programming. The position requires the skills to provide clinical/administrative support and supervision to professional counseling staff, program development and evaluation and assisting with the expansion of clinical and programmatic services. Position Qualifications: Belief and support of the Mission and Values of the agency; Ability to work a flexible schedule; Ability to work with individuals of diverse backgrounds and ages; Knowledge of clinical program development and implementation; Knowledge of community resources and community programs; Ability to market services in community environments; Good time management and organizational skills; Valid transportation and a current, valid driver’s license; Successfully pass the required background checks; Attend all applicable professional development trainings to maintain licensure and certification. Education: A Master’s Degree in Counseling, Social Work or related field Certification/Licensure: Must be licensed in the state of Pennsylvania for Clinical Practice Experience: Minimum of five years counseling experience, preferably in the area of adolescents and family; Minimum of five years supervisory or related experience managing and supervising professional staff. For a more complete description: http://www.outreachteen.org/contact-us/jobs/ Email submissions only. Please send cover letter, resume, salary requirements and two references to contact info. Please do not include information in email text, but include important information for consideration in cover letter. Outreach Teen & Family Services is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer providing equal employment opportunities without regard to regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability or genetic information. Outreach Teen & Family Services utilizes only job-related criteria in making decisions concerning applicants and employees. Job Type: Full-time 3 days ago ************

In the same boat with Penn Hills, Shaler, and McKeesport

"Penn Hills, Mt. Lebanon, Shaler and McKeesport each lost more than 150 residents since 2015, and more than 450 since 2010, according to Census data."

Scroll down the chart to see our data. Pittsburgh region's population decline continues, Census shows | TribLIVE 

Mount Lebanon Township

33,137

32,741

32,475

-0.82%

-2.00%

I wonder if the PIO will be calling the Trib like she did when the PG put us in the same section of Pittsburgh South as McKeesport.

Castlegate Development Project Update

From their Facebook page:

I know some of you have been wondering what is happening at the site. Not a lot. Debris continues to sit waiting for whatever toxic removal or grinding up that is coming. Meeting has yet to be scheduled with neighbors and developers, mt leb commission, and other interested parties as far as I know. Hard rains continue to carry mud saturated with 100 year old building crap into public sewage system, yards, and homes. Today's photos. Same old, same old.

There is no storm water management in place on the demo site. The mud from the demo site (carrying whatever it is carrying from the demo-- lead? Mercury? Other heavy metals? Asbestos? Who knows?) comes out of the demo site and pours down the hill and into nearby properties, homes, yards, and public sewage systems/ maybe public waterways? This did not happen pre-demo. Not at all. They took out half a hillside, a giant tree, a drainage ditch, and pipe. Then this started. Neighbors have been putting up with this in homes and yards since January.

Foolish and stupid

That's what one resident called the commissioners on Tuesday (yesterday) since they are considering hiring Tony DeNicola for another $9000 to oversee the archery program and "sharpshooting." They have to continue paying Tony thousands of dollars to protect the identities of the archers and twelve private property owners even though there is a decline in deer/vehicle collisions and dead deer pickups.

None of this adds up. Well, actually, it never did. We were told last spring when Mt. Lebanon paid $815.78/deer for "sharpshooting," that the warm weather was to blame for the low body count. Oh wait, also, they couldn't get to where the deer were hiding. Now, there is a decline in deer/vehicle collisions. We were counting incidents, now we are counting collisions. That is what they should have been doing the entire time. Of course, the manager's numbers are out of whack anyway, so who's counting?

“They have a safety protocol that has so far been impeccable,” said Commissioner John Bendel.

Of course, they refused to follow up with Castle Shannon over the two incidents that were reported to Castle Shannon Police.

The commissioners are going to discuss the deer killing at their June 26 meeting. In the meantime, watch out, Pedestrians! Look up, Lebo!

Curbside Greek Food!

Curbside Greek Food!

We kicked off the Holy Cross Food Festival with a great first day yesterday. Come out and see us or check out this year's new addition to the festival - online ordering with curbside pickup!

Simply visit our online ordering site http://holycrossfoodfest.smartonlineorder.com/store/ to choose from our limited menu, select a pick-up day & time, and pay securely online. Then just pull into the Online Ordering Drive-Thru at the community center circle and we'll deliver it to your car. You don't need to find parking or even get out of your car! Let us help you with dinner tonight or share this message with your friends, coworkers and family!

Lamb Shanks are on the Drive-Thru Menu! Come early because they go quickly!

Another inappropriate behavior cover up UPDATED

Remember this? Grogan case filed 022717 

And this? Begor 030717
             Begor 031317

How about this?  Rodella was fired.

Which brings us up to June 11, 2017:

Mt. Lebanon Girls Volleyball coaches Joe Rodella is Elaine Cappucci's friend and is still employed by Mt. Lebanon School District.

And what about the case against John Grogan and Mt. Lebanon School District?

Resolved. We will never know how it was resolved.

By the way, Timmy, before you start changing the online job posting again, this is what is on the District website as of June 11, 2017:

Job posting for Girls Volleyball Coach
Mt. Lebanon Girls Volleyball Coaches

Update June 21, 7:17 AM Case is closed.

The tastes and sounds of Greece, right here in Mt. Lebanon

This 102 yr. old gives it 2 thumbs up!

Free at last

What I forwarded you has my permission to be forwarded, shouted, FB, whatever! Our life sentence with this school district has been pardoned!
Sadie

Good Morning School Board Members,

"I'm worried, my daughter is in life skills and will soon be entering the High school."  "This is my biggest fear."  - This is a quote from a mom referring to my posting of a letter received by the Stang family July 1, 2010 from Brian McFeeley, at that time Principal of Mellon Middle School.

Please find attached, excerpted paragraphs from the July 1, 2010 letter written and signed by Brian McFeeley.  I've only included portions of the letter regarding the sexual assault incident of November 2009 because I want to make sure this garners your undivided attention on the issue at hand.  I have also attached the section including his signature, because I am hoping that you will be as shocked as I was 7 years ago to the fact that a "professional educator" would sign his name to what he had shamefully written.

If so important, you may ask why did I wait 7 years before bringing this forward?  Well, technically, I didn't.  Niko received from his family the resources to understand appropriate touching versus inappropriate touching.  The only reason I waited for was graduation, when we would be free from the school district and no longer need to work with MTLSD for Niko's education.

When this incident occurred, we did meet with the police.  Anyone that knows us, would know our compassion for any special needs individual.  We did not want to pursue charges against this child but was concerned for his own well being.  My first thought was "oh no, where did this little boy learn this behavior?"  After discussing my concern with the Mt Lebanon police detective, that the little boy who inappropriately touched Niko may be dealing with this as a "learned behavior" because someone was touching him, the kind officer suggested that would be something the school should look into.  He further suggested I ask them to bring in an expert that explains part of a Sex Education program to students in Life Skills/Autistic Support Classes.  Sounded so simple......  And so our rocky road began.....

While I will never get the answer I was looking for, my goal now is to make sure no other student, no other mother, needs to receive treatment for PTSD because of what MTLSD will put them through.

Bottom Line:

1.  Are students in Life Skill/Autistic Support classes apparently still left unsupervised for ANY amount of time?
2.  Brian stated in the 2010 letter that he was the Trained District Personnel designated to investigate any alleged cases of sexual harassment.  I would like to know the course used for this training so that I may go to our local State Representative to create "NIko's Law" so the training materials can be revised to reflect that how long a person touches you is relevant.  (Because Brian indicated since it was less then a minute, the point was moot.)
3. Has the school district really been looking since November 12, 2009 for a specialist in Sex Education that would come into Life Skills/Autistic Support Classes to teach them what their typical peers learn in the district?  I believe by law they should be afforded that.  

Now that Mr. McFeeley is a Principal at the High School, I feel the mother whose quote is included above should be worried.  With the rise of autism, you will continue to need to support these individuals.  I would certainly hope that going forward not only do you have the correct staff in place, they are properly trained, and after training they undergo assessment tests to verify the training worked.

Perhaps the most concerning is that an assault under a minute does not count.  (I assured my now 28 year-old son, who is a teacher in another school district and who this could affect, in our house and by state law, this is not the case.)

To put it in perspective, we should ask ourselves these contextual questions to see the relevance:

Is it ok to drive intoxicated as long as it is less than a minute?

Is it ok to beat a child as long as it is less than a minute?

Would it be ok, if someone touched your child, your grandchild, your elderly parents as long as it was less than a minute?

Or in our case, WAS IT OK that is was less than a minute just because our son is autistic and McFeeley thought he wouldn't know any better?

I do have to say that on June 6, 2017, I got one thing I asked for from the school district, with no fight, no meeting, and no research on my end.  When the Superintendent showed up at Pathfinder, and actually had plans on handing Niko his diploma, I told him kindly, he was not needed .  He did not do anything when he was really needed, he was not entitled to bask in our glory, that was for Michael Houck, the one person we always felt had Niko's best interests and needs in mind.  Mike was the one who actually listened to us, took our Niko stories to heart, (and when he mentioned he saw the only flavor of Doritos that Niko could have, Old School Taco, on a store shelf because they have no red dye!) tears swelled up in my eyes.  Finally, they found someone who doesn't fluff off these special individuals who will never win a football game for the school district, who will never bring them notoriety as an alumni, but who just might bring a smile to anyone they meet.  Sadly, my husband DID notice that Tim Steinhauer didn't even know Mr. Houck's name.  He had to look at his name tag written on the floor under his designated seat at the commencement ceremony, my poor husband was surprised.  Now, that's funny!  Remember, the Special Education offices are not even in the District Building.....still not sure if they forgot they had that department or if they just want to hide it or make it go away.  

We commend Mike Houck on an outstanding job representing Niko. 

I leave you with this, I do pray and I pray a lot, my prayer is that you will never have to hear the words, "it was less than a minute" in the context we did.  My other prayer is anytime you hear the phrase, "less than a minute", you think of Niko.

Sincerely,

Sadie A. Stang

Steinhauer's Affidavit | Job Posting Modification

On May 24, 2017, I filed an appeal with the PA Office of Open Records concerning a Right To Know that I submitted to the School District. Mt. Lebanon submitted a position statement, which included a request to deny my appeal, as well as affidavits from Dr. Timothy Steinhauer and the administrative assistant from the department of Human Resources.

Notice who notarized the affidavits. Jeanine Szalinski is the school district's Open Records Officer (ORO) as well as the superintendent's administrative assistant.

The OOR has until July 24, 2017 to make its Final Determination.

If it is less than one minute, then it isn't sexual harassment.

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and wants to share her story with everyone, now that her child has officially graduated. 

Niko has officially graduated from Pathfinder! I will never be able to thank them enough for all they have done to help recover him from what "a nations top school district did TO HIM!
Tim Steinhauer showed up and actually thought I would let him get near my Niko! HA! This fine Superintendent of MTLSD, didn't even know the name of the only educational specialist MTLSD HAS HAD worthy of the title. Guess why? Well yes, he doesn't care and also because they are in 2 different buildings, yep, all you Lebo fans, the district FORGOT to add the special education offices in their new quadrillion dollar building. or maybe they just hid them.....mmmmm.

One highlight of my morning

Telling Tim, he will not get near, touch or stand up with my son while Mr. Houck hands him his diploma. Wonder what the other 5 Superintendents there thought as they each had a moment with "their graduating student"
More to come.

I will now post a letter written in 2010 that was signed by Brian McFeely, a now Principal at Mt. Lebanon High School.

This principal claims to be trained to investigate any sexual harassment. And his professional findings were that it was less then a minute.

Because it was another special needs students we only asked for a specialist to speak with the class about appropriate touching. Read on as it get more interesting.

All I asked for was a sexual education consultant for special needs adolescents, the state had none....can you believe

Note: Read Tom Moertel's 2010 interview with Sadie on Blog Lebo here. Mt. Lebanon Mom Holds School District Accountable By Blogging