posted by Mike Madison at 5:35 PM /
In this post the other day, I quoted a recent letter to the Mt. Lebanon School Board and Superintendent from structural engineer and Mt. Lebanon resident Dirk Taylor, criticizing the proposal to build a new high school in clear and blunt terms.
I have finally found time to post complete copies of Mr. Taylor's letter and the related materials that he prepared and delivered. Here they are:
Letter to Dr. Steinhauer
Detailed comments on the schematic drawing for the project
Foundation 11x17
Section 11x17
Like many Mt. Lebanon residents, I'm looking forward to the School Board's response to the letter and the related comments, and I'm expecting that the response will be as thorough, thoughtful, and public as this material is.
I have finally found time to post complete copies of Mr. Taylor's letter and the related materials that he prepared and delivered. Here they are:
Letter to Dr. Steinhauer
Detailed comments on the schematic drawing for the project
Foundation 11x17
Section 11x17
Like many Mt. Lebanon residents, I'm looking forward to the School Board's response to the letter and the related comments, and I'm expecting that the response will be as thorough, thoughtful, and public as this material is.
Labels: dirk taylor, high school renovation
9 Comments:
Well done Mr. Taylor!
The most eloquent, thoughtful and intelligent evaluation and presentation to date on the HS project.
Not being a structural engineer I won't evaluate your observations. But, if your numbers are indeed correct the $$$ we save will serve our students better in acquiring and retaining our district's greatest asset... teachers.
Might be we could afford smaller class sizes or stave off layoffs if the economy continues to be depressed.
Thank you!
D. Spahr
Mike, you are expecting that the School Board's response and related comments will be thorough, thoughtful and public? What have you been smoking? Apparently Mr. Taylor gave basically the same information sometime in the past and it was dismissed. Maybe since this time his information has circulated we will hear something, but don't put any money on it.
Joe Wertheim
Mt Lebanon has always had low class size even in the high school.In many other states teachers are renegotiating contracts in mid-term to avoid layoffs.
How can the board ignore Mr. Taylor's experienced insight?
Does anyone from the Build Our School Now group have anyone with Mr. Taylor's qualifications in their group?
The silence from the nine members of the school board is DEAFENING.
Hey men and women, the public nows about this thoughtful proposal. You cannot just ignore it. Where is the transparency you all trumpeted at the beginning of this project?
Joe Wertheim
John Ewing-
In board meetings I've watched there seems to be a lot of complaints about class size at some of the elementary schools.
Doesn't mean it has to happen or that by not building a new HS we'll avoid layoffs, but by not spending $115 million wastefully. the pain... if it comes will be more tolerable.
I remeber about two ago years at a budget meeting the HS art dept. head complained about the lack of funds for quality art supplies due to the regular annual cuts in her budget.
Wouldn't it be ironic to build a new spacious fine arts wing then have two or three students sharing one paint brush!
D. Spahr
How do we get Dirk Taylor's evaluation into more hands? I am sure this is not something that would be published in Mt. Lebanon Magazine. Are there any organizations that would be willing to handle a mass mailing? I would cheerfully make a donation to that organization to help defray costs. Dirk Taylor nailed it from an alumnus perspective, as a parent, a taxpayer, and most importantly, as an engineer. Who can argue with his logic? Why isn't anyone listening to this guy? I graduated two years before Dirk (760 students in my class)and remember everything he said. My daughter was part of the seventh grade going to the high school fiasco, while my son just graduated from the high school in June and is able to attend the college of his choice. He applied to six colleges and was accepted by all six. Not too shabby for going to a "nonfuntional school." And thank you, Mr.Taylor, for explaining how something could be LEED certified when it involves tearing down a building. Not too green in my book. Oh, but we do have a great recycling program, so I stopped driving my recyclables all over the South Hills area.
E. Gillen
PS I NEVER threw anything into Center Court, Dirk.
Sorry. That should have been a "nonfunctional school."
E. Gillen
D. Spar you are on point with the subject of cuts but art supplies and sheet music can only be cut so far before school managers realize staff consolidation is the only way to keep education affordable in Mt Lebanon.
I just completed a review of the assessed values of 61 contingent home sales in Mt. Lebanon and the average tax paid by those homeowners is $4265 each. Not one of them paid the full cost of educating one student (over $13,000).
Over 4,000 Mt Lebanon residences (apartments and condo’s included) have at least one person over 65 in the home unit. According to the Congressional Budget Office there will be no Social Security retirement increases for two years but there will be substantial percentage hikes in Medicare insurance premiums giving those over 65 a cut in retirement benefits on top of stock market losses. The timeless partnership between the older residents and the younger parents paying for our children’s education in Mt. Lebanon will be a more difficult compact for both groups.
If the school board decides to override Mr. Taylor’s cost-saving design changes I am fearful that more cuts will come faster and the younger teachers who no longer have jobs will be as unhappy as the parents who don’t like educational programming cuts.
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