posted by Tom Moertel at 9:53 AM /
Update: The performance audit can be found on the Auditor General's site: Mt. Lebanon School District Performance Audit Report.
The local news media are reporting on the Pennsylvania Auditor General's recent audit of the Mt. Lebanon School District. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
The local news media are reporting on the Pennsylvania Auditor General's recent audit of the Mt. Lebanon School District. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
[Jack] Wagner, [Pennsylvania Auditor General], found the district failed to have an adequate policy to address board members who do not file financial disclosure forms from approximately August 2004 to June 2006; failed to update its agreement with Mt. Lebanon Police Department dating to 1996; and failed to implement a policy or procedure to quickly identify contracted bus drivers who are either charged with or convicted of criminal offenses.A Post-Gazette article focuses on a single issue from the audit report:
Former Mt. Lebanon school director Mark Hart failed to file a statement of financial interests for the 2005 and 2006 calendar years, constituting a violation of the Ethics Act, according to a June 2010 performance audit report of the school district released by the auditor general's office.Read more:
- Report: Mt. Lebanon School District falls short in policy, procedure (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
- Former Mt. Lebanon school director cited in audit (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Labels: audit, auditor general, mark hart, mt lebanon school district
10 Comments:
I emailed the board right away as this is the second time an audit has indicated a problem with our background checks on bus drivers.
Besides various school activities that transport our students on MTL buses, MTL students that have disabilities are regularly on our buses. Our district only requires that a newly hired bus driver get a background/fbi clearance. What if a bus driver has a serious violation after she/he is hired? Do we as a community find this acceptable for the protection of our students? What about the kids that have communication disabilities? This district transports a couple kids at a time to approved private school up to an hour away. We should require bus drivers to have a background check every two years to maintain employment. If our district can't contract with companies that require a min. of a regular background check, then something is very wrong. As a parent within this community, I find this unacceptable.
Kelly Fraasch
This newspaper story is old news that was published long ago and is nothing more than the school board trying to use a local newspaper to divert attention from their own shortcomings, wasting of funds and their inability to design a high school to meet the Mt. Lebanon Zoning Code.
There is a resignation of the Washington School Principal that was handled at a special board meeting Thursday July 22, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. why didn't the school board process this resignation at their regular meeting?
We all knew the Washington School Principal was leaving and the real reason she is becoming a reading specialist is circulating on the grapevine in the district now.
Not only can’t Mt. Lebanon keep superintendents it also can’t keep principals. The principals of Howe, Markham and Washington Schools have all left in one year and the school board is adjourning their regular meeting to 8 a. m. to handle the resignation of the third principal. WOW! Three principals of seven elementary schools have left in one year!
Also, the principal at Lincoln is gone and the PSSA scores dropped sharply. Didn’t we also lose an assistant principal in another school too?
You can listen to a recording of the 8:00 a.m. meeting on the podcast section of www.lebocitizens.com Click on PODCAST at the top of the page and a picture of Mellon School comes up with the heading, “Reconvened School Board Business Meeting “ appearing below the picture. Click on the picture and a second picture of Mellon comes up and at the bottom of the second picture is a sound track of the reconvened meeting.
Congratulations to Mr. Huston for exposing the misinformation the Superintendent and Mr. Remely are spreading through the District.
The P-G article is a hatchet job on a former Board member, and is vicious in nature. There is far more to the content of the Audit. The Trib article, by contrast, is a good example of fair & balanced reporting.
What neither reports, however, because it occurs currently and may not have been the case in 2005 & 2006 (now subject to further investigation), is that the forms submitted for 2009 are seemingly incomplete; and, at least one (1) is deemed "Deficient" under Ethics Commission regulations ! And Superintendent Steinhauer has stated publicly that he has sent copies of the Forms to the Ethics Commission...which he has not according to the results of RTK requests and a policy document from the Ethics Commission stating that such Forms from SB members are NOT to be sent to them.
The "Deficient" 2009 Form omitted entire completion of two (2) questions, referred to as "Blocks" on the Form :...#11 Gifts, and #13 Office, Directorship or Employment In Any Business. This particular infraction is subject to a fine; and, I believe it may be questionable that the person may be entitled to vote or sit as a Board member from May 1, 2010 until the 2009 Form is corrected, completed and resubmitted. The SB member unfortunately is Elaine Cappucci.
A number of other SB members have possibly failed to include in Blocks now checked as "None" or containing only partial information:(a)#13 - their Officer and/or Board positions on non-profits (membership in which might under some circumstances represent a potential conflict of interest)because non-profits are a legal entity and registered as a business, and (b)#14-income exceeding $1,300/year from non-retirement investment accounts in their name and/or jointly with a spouse or 3rd. parties.
Moving on to the issue of background checks on bus drivers: The PA School Code of 1949, 2008 Amended version, Article I, Peliminary Provisions, Section 111. Background Checks of Prospective Employees; Conviction of Employes (sic)of Certain Offenses says it all...shame on the District. Parents should demand a full accounting.
I encourage everyone to access the full Audit report available on the Auditor Generals website and note particularly one extremely important section having to do with Financial Disclosure Form submissions....I won't quote exactly, but the District has responded to the Auditor that they have instituted procedures to insure full compliance with requirements....and they have now once again failed to do so !
Another example of their continuing practice of *just check the boxes (or not) and move forward*. There seems to be a lack of due diligence and necessary oversight in the Administration Department.
And while you're reviewing the Auditor General's website and school Audit reports, be sure to take a look at the one for North Allegheny School District...where our Super. was employed just prior to coming here last summer.
Like many, I'm getting sick and tired of reading the weekly "read meat" headline about our School District. It has always been the case that even the slightest hiccup has been cause for some reporter to challenge life here in the Bubble. For a long time, I used to write them off as people taking pot shots at Mt. Lebanon because we had long been viewed (for whatever reason) as being beyond criticism. Any bad news in Lebo quickly became fodder for our neighbors and our critics.
Unfortunately, the number of legitimate mistakes, shortcomings and outright failings in our district in the last several years has become too significant to ignore. No longer are the local new reports focusing on small problems and trying to make them larger than life. Sadly, we're doing a good enough job on our own of messing things up - big time.
I try and teach my kids that details matter. I stress to them that if they take care of the little things, the big things usually take care of themselves. I also preach to them that every decision they make has a consequence - some are good, some are bad, but make no mistake about it, every decision has a consequence.
So with that said -- Dear School Board Members, please start taking care of the little things. Dot your "i's" and cross your "t's". Recognize that you lose credibility (very quickly) when you give the appearance of not having your house in order. It's hard for us to trust the decisions that you are making about complex bonding, construction and tax issues when you can't seem to take care of the routine and seemingly no-brainer tasks of completing State-mandated forms or conducting thorough background checks for bus drivers. People are watching - both your current constituents and your future constituents. Sooner or later, the banging of annoying gongs in our community will become too deafening to bear. Current residents will tune out and disengage. Folks choosing where to live will simply go elsewhere. Who can blame either group? Please, get your act together.
I went to the meeting this morning. I was home by 8:18. The meeting was only 11 minutes long. Listen to the meeting. It is a good one. It should have been televised. I think Ms. Posti is still stunned that she wasn't elected president. I am referring to the PG article,
http://www.pittsburgh-pa.net/pg/07340/839487-55.stm
Elaine Gillen
Let’s see, the board publically lambastes a previous board member who is not even present to defend himself and their own house is not in order? Truly shameful. This nightmare continues while the Post-Gazette trumpets the misguided tune. It’s telling when you read both articles. Thank goodness for Bob Williams at the Tribune Review who obviously works hard to perform research and present information in a professional manner.
-Charlotte Stephenson
Regarding the bus driver portion of the audit, according to the Trib article the district claims is has no legal mechanism to get up to date information on whether a contracted employee has been charged or convicted of a crime? Really?
1) Put specific hardline requirements into to the contract that the supplied employees must have regular checks and are required to immediately report such events;
2) engage in random checks of arrest/conviction records of drivers to ensure the contract requirements are being complied with because afterall the info is publicly available on the web where anyone can search via an individual's name as to arrests and criminal case history at least in all 67 Pennsylvania counties;
3) if they are so stumped as to how to engage in due diligence in the least look to other school districts and see what they are doing
On another note, Posti's comment about the form being just a technicality rubs the wrong way because it demonstrates a lack of appreciation for the substance behind the information sought.
Just my thoughts....
Marjie Crist
Note: I have updated the main text of this article with a link to the Auditor General's report: Mt. Lebanon School District Performance Audit Report.
Since so many elementary principals have left maybe we should think about consolidating the elementary schools, increasing class sizes, eliminating programs, and reducing the size of the teaching staff?
OMG John Kendrick....you will be hung in effigy, cursed in PTA Council meetings, declared an education heretic by the anointed ones. The Washington School PTA Past President will demand that you sell your house and move out of Lebo. And, the MLEA will condemn you to speak in edu-babble tongue the rest of your life.
Bill Lewis
The board majority may very well rush through yet another Policy...this one preventing you and other like-thinking realists from attending SB meetings or being privy to public documents. They have seemingly determined that they are sovereign and do not have to conform to or obey any laws that do not suit them.
Post a Comment
<< Home