11/23/2011 3:33 AM
McMURRAY - The response to a Peters Township School District survey asking residents if they would support an expansion and renovation to the high school was a resounding no.
And the negative response was even more overwhelming, at almost 73 percent, to the question of whether residents would approve a 9-mill tax increase to fund the project.
As a result, Superintendent Nina Zetty announced at Monday's school board meeting that after reviewing the survey results and examining the 2012-13 preliminary budget, the board decided to place high school expansion plans on hold. That decision put an end to architect's fees, thus canceling the design process.
The district currently is facing a nearly $1.7 million deficit in the 2012-13 budget and most likely will ask the state to permit a nearly 3-mill tax increase.
The district has attempted to reduce costs and, for the first time this school year, enacted a pay-to-play policy that also included band participants.
Funding to school associations also was reduced, a fact that was evident when the board was asked Monday to approve 26 separate requests for fundraising activities. Requests were made, in part, by the band boosters, cheerleaders, baseball boosters, high school literary magazine, various individual elementary schools, the high school student council, McMurray Relay for Life and various classes.
Activities range from selling candy bars to a winter carnival, a shoebox collection and sales of pizzas and cookie dough.
"Times are tough," board member Sue Smith said. She reiterated how last year the board asked the groups to scale back and now the organizations are needing to reach out to the community to raise money.
Zetty said she has not received any negative feedback about increased solicitations.
While the district is scaling back on expansion plans and funding for various organizations and activities, the board is in the midst of a $2.5 million upgrade and improvement project to athletic fields above Pleasant Valley Elementary School. Improvements include installing artificial turf, new lights and sound system and a concession and restroom buildingl.
The project is being financed through a $5 million bond issue approved by the board in late June. The money may only be used for capital improvement projects. Copyright Observer Publishing Co.
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35 comments:
I have seen no documentation as to how much the field above Pleasant Valley is actually going to cost, nor I have I seen any updates on the District's web page as to how far behind schedule this field is. Does anyone have "real" information on this project?
I know, let the superintendent's Foundation she started fund it. Oh, you say that the only money they have is the $ 5.00 they bullied the teachers into giving? Oh, you say that there isn't one business who has even given $100.00 for the foundation? Are you positive? Oh, you say that when the superintendent said in a public meeting that the foundation would pay $10,000 for math books needed that this never happened and not only weren't they paid for by the foundation, the foundation hardly has any money? Oh, they have the teacher's money. I see. Oh, this was another great idea (foundation) by the superintendent, but she will of course probably blame other people on why it didn't work. Does everyone on the foundation have a 3.7? Hey teachers, next time, take your $ 5.00 and use it to fund a turkey dinner for those less fortunate. Oh, you say ask school board members about the foundation? Oh, you say there aren't even any board members who consistently attend? Here in Peters, you can fool some of the people some of the time and then you can fool more people the rest of the time. Our district is a laughing stock.
Zetty said she has not received any negative feedback about increased solicitations.
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Maybe that is because she has not attended any of the athletic booster club meetings, maybe that is because she does not attend any of the educational club meetings, maybe it is becuase she does not return phone calls or emails, maybe it is because she thinks we are all stupid and believe she is dumb enough to make a comment like she did. ( Another one ) Everytime something comes out of her mouth, she shoots herself in the foot. What is your GPA Nina? Please just go back to Brownsville and stay there. You have not idea what is going on in this community or how the parents feel. It is obvious you do not care either.
Things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving:
That I was around when Kirk was the superintendent and of the folks that worked with her
That I was around when O'Kelly was school board President and the school boards were excellent
That I am not around when Zetty is here as superintendent
That I was around when PTSD was mentioned in the same breath as Mt. Lebanon, Hampton, Upper St. Clair
That I am not around as PTSD is mentioned in the same breath as, um, well, actually nobody even talks about them unless they ask questions as to why it has gone so far down hill!
"Zetty said she has not received any negative feedback about increased solicitations."
Why complain? I talked to the coach/sponsor and expressed my displeasure assuming that there is some form of communication that 'higher ups' get the information we are communicating to employees. Is that not the case?
The coach said 'pay up or your child can not play. It it district policy and I can not change that'. End of story. Pay or do not play.
"...assuming that there is some form of communication that 'higher ups' get the information we are communicating to employees."
hahaha...I suppose you assume that the higher ups then speak openly with school board members about school district issues too?! Watch a board or committee meeting. You will frequently witness the phrase 'I am sorry, I did not hear about that issue' or you can tell by the questions they ask, that they have no clue; unless they really are catching employees in lies--which they are not because everyone keeps getting raises and bonuses. Serious issues stay at the employee level, which never does give answers. It never makes it to the school board and they are never in the schools or out talking to parents, unless it is in their own little circle of friends. They just do not care.
From the Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11321/1190404-58.stm
That is all this entire township is about. Sports. Yes, my children play, but it is way out of hand. Watch the council meeting, these are grown adults talking about the disparity of canceled youth games because of weather. The one man on the township council with glasses is obnoxious and rude when he talks about sports. Then we have teachers at school board meetings promoting elementary sports hoping the school school board will back their 4-6 grade sports programs when the money gets better. Where are the teachers speaking in support of the 4-6 academic competitions that were cut? I am really in shock at the behaviors and priorities of these adults. This is not the PT or PTSD we saw when we moved here.
Here is a good article about the last school board meeting:
http://peters.patch.com/articles/high-school-renovations-postponed-new-blood-on-the-board-and-more
I continue to read the dissenting opinion on the township and school district spending money to improve the facilities for both academic and athletic purposes. In both cases Peters Twp. is/has become woefully behind the times for a community with the growth we have incurred.
I think we can agree that we all want what is best for our children from both an academic and quality of life perspective. Unfortunately that will mean spending money to bring our high school and other facilities up to date to meet the growing needs of our community. Our high school by all accounts is at capacity and lacks many of the modern amenities of other district classrooms both in our state and surrounding states. Our elementary schools are lucky to have 1 working computer in each classroom - just as an example.
What I am not seeing from the school district or from PT Council is the strategic long range planning to address these concerns. There seems to be no plan in place for either group. With that plan should be the hard facts to back up planned improvements and why those are necessary. The information that came our in the survey from the school district on the HS expansion was a JOKE - where was in shown that we need additional classrooms and how the plans were laid out - where where the other options to address the issues and their related costs? As for the pay to play - get over it - its a common practice in many districts across the country - Bethel Park has had it for years.
As for the township - we have a gem of a resource in Peterswood Park. But again no plan for managing it for the growth in the township. I agree there needs to be a balance between youth athletic needs and general community use but we need to see the facts about how the sports programs have grown in recent years both in the number of sports offered and the kids participating - frankly we are way behind in the quality of facilities we provide compared to other communities of similar size - both in number and in their condition. Much of the improvements come from the budgets of the youth sports programs - here is a thought for the council - ask soccer to hold tournaments for fundraising to help offset the cost of the new fields.
For to many years PT has had a narrow focus on the way things were done before - it is time we look at better communication and long range planning to see our great community through the next 50 years. But we as citizens can't sit on the side and bitch and moan - you need to get involved - this is our community - you need to have a voice other that what is on the internet.
http://peters.patch.com/articles/high-school-renovations-postponed-new-blood-on-the-board-and-more
well now....
"...The total net change order is an additional cost of $27,320.95."
we have to talk about cutting teachers, student programs and pay to play; so lets make sure to get those extra parking spaces, sound system and turf! my children were told that school equipment is not working because the district can not afford to get it fixed, yet they can do this? do these people have any clue what students and teachers are going without on a daily basis in the name of 'no money'; yet they do this? what the hell is going on here?
can we get any people in a leadership position, anywhere in peters township, that cares about anything besides youth organized sports? these people are total jerks.
Did the school ever plan on letting parents know that they now provide scholarship and other college information on the website? Since when did this appear? I have always looked at USC and other local school districts to get post-secondary information online.
"But we as citizens can't sit on the side and bitch and moan - you need to get involved - this is our community - you need to have a voice other that what is on the internet."
been there. done that. they are all arrogant and do not care to listen or discuss issues. it is their way, or the highway. sounds like you are interested in keeping up with the jones's as well. take a look at canonsburg, they are larger than us and their facilities are not as good as ours. usc has much better educational facilities and curriculum, but they also have an outrageous tax rate.
could you please name a local school district that has an academic (key word 'academic') pay to play with no upper limit on an amount that families pay? i have been unable to find one in western pennsylvania that has followed through with academic pay to play without an upper limit.
you are correct, pa is falling behind in education. the 'stem' education is a joke in this district because kids that pursue science, engineering and math are academically held back at the high school with the scheduling limitations they place upon the kids.
all pa school districts are operating at a deficits and even ptsd is going to have to furlough. yes, we need the facilities and it saddens me that our school board saw fit to make playing fields a priority over daily school facilities.
I saw this in the local paper:
"A resident.....reported several incidents of fraud at 6:39 p.m. Monday, township police said. The resident received a credit card from Toys R Us for which she did not apply....."
This happened to me after leaving my license at the main office at one of PTSD schools. I do not like leaving my license in the possession of people I do not know. Nobody charged money, but they could have easily done so. I am stupid for not contacting the police. I told the school district and they said it would never happen again. I am just saying, if it happens to you, reflect if you have been in any of the schools recently!
"Then we have teachers at school board meetings promoting elementary sports hoping the school school board will back their 4-6 grade sports programs when the money gets better. Where are the teachers speaking in support of the 4-6 academic competitions that were cut?'
yep..apparently when their kids are involved in the sport, who cares about academics.
Just received this:
"Upcoming Meeting for the PTSD Board of School Directors On Monday, December 5, at 6:30 p.m. the Peters Township Board of School Directors will hold its annual reorganization meeting, followed by the regular meeting at 7:00 p.m. The agenda will be available online on Monday afternoon for public viewing."
I wonder if any teachers and/or administrators are willing to give up their yearly raises or take a minimal pay cut to save other school district employees from being furloughed? Yes I said furloughed. It was stated by district administration at a recent meeting that furloughs are a consideration as well as cutting high school electives.
I wonder if the district will keep all the electives that they had to create this year to facilitate online classes? I am guessing they will cut the electives the kids actually want to take and keep the 'required electives' (what a joke and oxymoron.) Dictatorship at its best..."But look, the kids want to take that online graduation project class because enrollment is so high." Grrrr.
I went to a school board meeting over a year ago where the school board and the district administration talked about the financial difficulty to come. Now they all pretend that suddenly, by surprise, all these cuts need made. Were they not paying attention a year or so ago or did they just not care? They talked about this prior to building a $2.5 million dollar ball field. It appears, to me, that they just did not care.
I keep hearing a lot of things the district has done in the past couple of years is because of state requirements. I never have found the state requirements they are talking about in Title 22.
Then I went here:
http://www.ptsd.k12.pa.us/StrategicPlan.aspx
and found out where some of this nonsense originated from. It is not the state. Our very own school district wrote this stuff!
Why does this district not publish the teachers contract, the complete budget and the complete audit like other school districts do? Something fishy is going on here.
I just found the new teachers contract online:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=%22peters%20township%20school%20district%22&source=web&cd=28&ved=0CF0QFjAHOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.publicschoolspending.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F04%2FPETERS-TOWNSHIP-SD-2010-15.pdf&ctbs=qdr%3Ay&ei=3-zaTrPCGOPb0QHH8J3XDQ&
usg=AFQjCNGkHI_b_a-SyztLPXhmglurliXXEQ
This contract started in Sept 2010. Read page 46. The entire page is about online courses which are not required until Sept 2013!!!!:
"Teachers will be expected to phase in the percentage of a course taught online as follows: Year 1—25%, Year 2—50%, Year 3—90%."
It is no wonder the teachers are having a fit. They were told they have three years to work on these courses and it is being shoved down their throat too!!! UMMMM....doesn't the school board write this policy and agree to this contract? What the hell is wrong with these people?
Wow that is a heck of a link.
To heck with the online classes; although you are right; it seems the school board put the cart before the horse here.
For goodness sake read the rest of the contract! Does a Physician's union exist that I can join? It is no wonder people in unions love them. I would too. While the rest of us our losing pay and benefits, as well as working more hours; they can not lose pay, benefits or work more hours; else we will get sued. Am I jealous? Darn right I am.
This section of the school district website, regarding 'Board Goals',speaks volumes about school board priorities:
"Board Goals: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Goal 1: Design an effective and efficient 21st Century teaching and learning environment at PTHS and a facility to achieve that goal
Goal 2: Develop, communicate, and implement a K-12 school counseling program that exceeds the expectations of the community.
Goal 3: Commit funds to artificial turf for at least one district field."
You know, you people sure do talk the talk but do not walk the walk. None of you speak at board or committee meetings. Perhaps one or two of you do. Obviously your concerns, whether they be in writing or verbally to the appropriate people, are known only to you and the people you communicate with.
I challenge every single one of you, if you ever tried to communicate to a district employee or the school board and did not receive an answer, to speak publicly at a school board meeting. No matter how small your unresolved issue, make them public. It is obvious others have the same concern and have been told they were the only one with such a concern. I would dare any district personnel to say, 'oh, we never heard of such an issue' to your face. Are you really that intimidated by speaking in front of a group of buffoons that will just set there and stare at you? Grow up and be adults. Stick up for your children. We are personally taking our hard earned money to pay these administrators. Do something.
Hahaha....Wow. A turf field aiding in student achievment. That takes the cake. Tonight is the school board reorganization. Wouldn't it be nice if people just showed up at the meetings and paid attention to what is going on?
December 5,2011-11:54
"Please seek Therapy"
I sense self destruction in your words!!
School board meeting:
http://peters.patch.com/articles/school-board-appoints-president-vp
December 5, 2011 9:40 PM
???? do you mean you would discourage people from speaking up at school board meetings or do you think the poster is a disgruntled district employee and the words are 'self distruction'????
i happen to believe it is extremely important that people voice their concerns publicly too (but they never do), otherwise it all gets shoved under the rug. sorry, i guess i need therapy too! i do not believe a turf field fits under the title 'student achievement'. sign me up for the therapy session too!
I am surprised that Mr. McMurray and the 3 new board members let the superintendent waste money. We thought these 4 would take a closer stance over the budget. But with this Zetty trip thing and all, I guess I was wrong. So it looks like Mrs. Smith is one of the lone few that tries to do what is right educationally and with the budget. Wouldn't it be nice if the other 4 stepped up to the plate.
I am surprised that Mr. McMurray and the 3 new board members let the superintendent waste money. We thought these 4 would take a closer stance over the budget. But with this Zetty trip thing and all, I guess I was wrong. So it looks like Mrs. Smith is one of the lone few that tries to do what is right educationally and with the budget. Wouldn't it be nice if the other 4 stepped up to the plate.
December 14, 2011 5:01 PM
They just got on the board a couple of weeks ago if you do not know what you are talking about please don't comment
If everyone calls every board member about the Philadelphia trip and how she shouldn't have gone and spent the money and not done things the right way and not have it on the agenda, and call every board member, not just the ones who are still there that voted for her: Dave, Cindy, Lynn, Lori, - Yes, call those four who voted for her also. Maybe then they will UNDERSTAND how we feel betrayed and that we don't like our district and board being thought of as the worst and how it hurts our kids.
December 15, 2011 9:47 AM
Now why would call board members based upon a rumor that is on a blog? Seriously? Where are the facts that we can provide saying 'look at this. this is so very wrong'? Believe me, when I see those figures they will be hearing from me!
This isn't a rumor.
Go talk to anyone at the high school. Heck, go talk to any administrator K-12. Go talk to the middle school principal who was directed to supervise the high school the day she made them fly to Philadelphia. This is not a rumor at all. It is true. Please call the board.
hahaha....
dear school board,
i read on an anonymous blog that the superintendent went to look at a school in philly. that better not have happened because it is wrong and bad because the kids are paying the price for the cuts. if it did happened what are you going to do? oh thats right, nothing. you will all give her a raise and make sure all the new ball fields are done. i am sure this note will go unread and unnoticed like all the other comments from stakeholders in this community.
it is a wasted effort and breath to even say anything. they do not listen or care.
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