The Board has tabled the vote for the Construction Manager until a later date. Final negotiations are still ongoing and the expectation is that final competitive contracts will be in front of the Board in a matter of days, not weeks.
I know it is frustrating for people. It's frustrating for the Board as well but it is in the best interest of everyone that the right decision be made here. It can only be made when all the information is on the table.
Thanks for reading.
James
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Audit/Finance Committee Update
Last Thursday the Audit Finance Committee covered a few topics. There were as follows:
1) Funding of the Retiree Health Care Trust- The District needs to fund a Retiree Health Care account. With over $2 million in surplus funds from the past fiscal years, it makes sense to use some of those funds to fund this new account. After our discussion, it sounds like the Committee will recommend that the Board fund the new account with two-thirds of the total surplus. The rest of the surplus would be directed to the high school construction project.
2) Non-electoral debt- I had asked the Administration to prepare an estimate of the District's borrowing ability over the next few years. Our non-electoral debt limit is 2.25 times our three year average annual revenues. As we pay down our existing debt and increase revenue, this limit changes. For discussion purposes, I feel it safe to say that any project over $110 million would require voter approval via a referendum. That number is not exact because it will be calculated again once we are ready to move forward on the project and will undoubtedly change a number of times before all is said and done. The point that I tried to express to the Committee was that I wanted to make sure we did the bond float in ONE float, not in multiple floats. Otherwise, I fear that we might approve a project only later to have a referendum not pass after we have started down a certain path on the project. Let's get it out there, see if the voters approve it and move on. Along those same lines, I asked the Committee to consider NOT approving the exception to Act 1 next January unless we are certain to float the bonds for the high school project by that time. Mt Lebanon was part of a minority number of schools that decided to get the Act 1 exemption last year.
3) District Budget Priorities- The Committee discussed the need to start the budget process earlier this year than in years past. This will give us a head start in letting the Administration know where the Board as a whole stands on certain budgetary issues. With recent class size discussions in the District, I would expect that to be a major part of any type of early budget meetings
There was an additional meeting on Thursday night that I attended which dealt with class size issues at Washington Elementary. Four Board members, Superintendent Allison, and the Principal at Washington met with approximately 30 parents that were concerned about the District's priorities regarding class sizes. In particular, they were parents of students in classrooms that had 26 and 27 students respectively. The forum was set up like a Q&A and I think I learned quite a bit along with the parents in attendance. I am not certain if there is any short-term solution here but I do look forward to hearing about and reviewing any recommendations that come from the administration.
I'd also like to remind everyone that the Board will be holding a meeting tomorrow night at 7pm in the library to finalize the selection of the construction manager for the High School Project. This is a continuation of our last meeting that was recessed in order to get the final details of each proposal. I expect the meeting will be quite short.
Thanks for reading.
James
1) Funding of the Retiree Health Care Trust- The District needs to fund a Retiree Health Care account. With over $2 million in surplus funds from the past fiscal years, it makes sense to use some of those funds to fund this new account. After our discussion, it sounds like the Committee will recommend that the Board fund the new account with two-thirds of the total surplus. The rest of the surplus would be directed to the high school construction project.
2) Non-electoral debt- I had asked the Administration to prepare an estimate of the District's borrowing ability over the next few years. Our non-electoral debt limit is 2.25 times our three year average annual revenues. As we pay down our existing debt and increase revenue, this limit changes. For discussion purposes, I feel it safe to say that any project over $110 million would require voter approval via a referendum. That number is not exact because it will be calculated again once we are ready to move forward on the project and will undoubtedly change a number of times before all is said and done. The point that I tried to express to the Committee was that I wanted to make sure we did the bond float in ONE float, not in multiple floats. Otherwise, I fear that we might approve a project only later to have a referendum not pass after we have started down a certain path on the project. Let's get it out there, see if the voters approve it and move on. Along those same lines, I asked the Committee to consider NOT approving the exception to Act 1 next January unless we are certain to float the bonds for the high school project by that time. Mt Lebanon was part of a minority number of schools that decided to get the Act 1 exemption last year.
3) District Budget Priorities- The Committee discussed the need to start the budget process earlier this year than in years past. This will give us a head start in letting the Administration know where the Board as a whole stands on certain budgetary issues. With recent class size discussions in the District, I would expect that to be a major part of any type of early budget meetings
There was an additional meeting on Thursday night that I attended which dealt with class size issues at Washington Elementary. Four Board members, Superintendent Allison, and the Principal at Washington met with approximately 30 parents that were concerned about the District's priorities regarding class sizes. In particular, they were parents of students in classrooms that had 26 and 27 students respectively. The forum was set up like a Q&A and I think I learned quite a bit along with the parents in attendance. I am not certain if there is any short-term solution here but I do look forward to hearing about and reviewing any recommendations that come from the administration.
I'd also like to remind everyone that the Board will be holding a meeting tomorrow night at 7pm in the library to finalize the selection of the construction manager for the High School Project. This is a continuation of our last meeting that was recessed in order to get the final details of each proposal. I expect the meeting will be quite short.
Thanks for reading.
James
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
September 15th Meeting Update
We had our regular voting meeting last night. Here is a summary of what happened:
1) The vote on the Construction Manager for the High School Project was delayed to next Tuesday at 7pm. We are in negotiation with the final two candidates and expect to have those negotiations wrapped up late this week. After negotiations with each CM are complete, the Board will evaluate the two proposals and vote on awarding the contract on Tuesday. In fact, the meeting from last night was not adjourned, it was simply put into recess until Tuesday in anticipation of this decision.
2) A number of policy changes were adopted including one that will allow the Board to direct surplus budget funds into a special retired teachers healthcare fund. This fund had typically been part of the District's general budget but because of a change in law, we now have to carry this fund outside of our general fund budget. I posted earlier about the benefits of this decision here.
3) Class size at Washington again was talked about. There is a fourth grade class that has 27 students in a single classroom. This is the largest class size in the District this school year. There is a meeting currently set up for this Thursday to talk about ways to address the issue. After the meeting last night I told Mr. Allison to not be afraid to bring to the Board any proposal he thinks is necessary to help our students in that class. In this case, this particular group of kids have been in classrooms with an above average number of students in every grade so far.
That's all for now. I will post again once we hire the construction manager.
James
1) The vote on the Construction Manager for the High School Project was delayed to next Tuesday at 7pm. We are in negotiation with the final two candidates and expect to have those negotiations wrapped up late this week. After negotiations with each CM are complete, the Board will evaluate the two proposals and vote on awarding the contract on Tuesday. In fact, the meeting from last night was not adjourned, it was simply put into recess until Tuesday in anticipation of this decision.
2) A number of policy changes were adopted including one that will allow the Board to direct surplus budget funds into a special retired teachers healthcare fund. This fund had typically been part of the District's general budget but because of a change in law, we now have to carry this fund outside of our general fund budget. I posted earlier about the benefits of this decision here.
3) Class size at Washington again was talked about. There is a fourth grade class that has 27 students in a single classroom. This is the largest class size in the District this school year. There is a meeting currently set up for this Thursday to talk about ways to address the issue. After the meeting last night I told Mr. Allison to not be afraid to bring to the Board any proposal he thinks is necessary to help our students in that class. In this case, this particular group of kids have been in classrooms with an above average number of students in every grade so far.
That's all for now. I will post again once we hire the construction manager.
James
Sunday, September 14, 2008
State Supreme Court weighing Wettick Decision
Last September, Judge Wettick ruled that the County Base Year assessment system was unconstitutional. You can see the PG article on that here.
The State Supreme Court took up the case last week. This decision has wide ranging implications for every school district in the State. If the Court decides to uphold the Wettick decision then it would likely force a reassessment in most, if not all, counties across the State. That forced reassessmet would have implications on the real estate taxes paid to each and every school district since we all rely heavily on local real estate taxes.
The PG article with the update can be found here.
I'll be keeping an eye on this case as it.
James
The State Supreme Court took up the case last week. This decision has wide ranging implications for every school district in the State. If the Court decides to uphold the Wettick decision then it would likely force a reassessment in most, if not all, counties across the State. That forced reassessmet would have implications on the real estate taxes paid to each and every school district since we all rely heavily on local real estate taxes.
The PG article with the update can be found here.
I'll be keeping an eye on this case as it.
James
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Area School District Construction Plans
There was a good article in the Almanac a few weeks back that summarized some of the construction projects that will going on in the Districts around Mt Lebanon. You can find the article here. The article also gives a curriculum highlight or two from each of the Districts.
Here is a summary:
Bethel Park- New high school in the works. Bethel Park is a little farther ahead in the process than Mt Lebanon.
Canon-McMillan- Currently doing construction for an elementary school
Mt. Lebanon- I hear we have something going on with the high school
South Fayette- Pushed back construction plans for a new school pending further information. The article on this decision can be found here.
Upper St Clair- Plans to renovate both middle schools as well as the high school stadium and bus garage are being vetted.
James
Here is a summary:
Bethel Park- New high school in the works. Bethel Park is a little farther ahead in the process than Mt Lebanon.
Canon-McMillan- Currently doing construction for an elementary school
Mt. Lebanon- I hear we have something going on with the high school
South Fayette- Pushed back construction plans for a new school pending further information. The article on this decision can be found here.
Upper St Clair- Plans to renovate both middle schools as well as the high school stadium and bus garage are being vetted.
James
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