McGuffey passes budget with tax increase

McGuffey School Board cut student field trips and student rewards and reduced its distribution of its district newsletter before adopting the 2010-11 operating budget with a tax increase Thursday night.
The $28,533,258 budget has a 1.5 mill tax increase, bringing the total millage rate to 114. That means a homeowner with property that has an assessed value of $25,000 will see a tax increase of roughly $38.
Business Manager Scott Burchill said the board made adjustments to reduce the budget before Thursday night’s meeting. He said the reductions made at the meeting will save the district an additional $67,000.

Intermediate Unit 1 creates cyber school

Schools within Intermediate Unit 1 are creating their own cyber school to stem of the flow of money sent to online schools outside the three-county area.
School districts must pay tuition for students who go to cyber schools, though some of the money is reimbursed by the state. IU1 executive director Charles Mahoney said in a three-year period schools within IU1 sent $10 million to cyber schools outside the area. IU1 includes Washington, Greene and Fayette counties.
As a result, IU1 began studying the possibility of creating its own cyber school, he said. Ringgold, Avella and Uniontown have signed on to be part of the consortium to create an online school. The project is open to all districts in the intermediate unit. Other districts are choosing to create their own cyber school.
Find out more in Sunday's Observer-Reporter.

Canon-Mac passes budget with tax increase

The Canon-McMillan School Board on Monday approved its 2010-11 operating budget with a 3.56 mill increase.
That brings the millage rate to 105.41 for the $61,685,839 budget.
The average cost of a home in Canonsburg is $149,000 and the average tax increase will be $50.49. In Cecil, it’s $185,000 and $88.99 respectively and in North Strabane, it is $214,800 and $107.89, respectively.
Director of Business and Finance Joni Mansmann said it is a 3 percent increase over this year’s budget. The 2009-10 budget was $59,780,084.
The primary increases are for salary, health care and retirement. The board is also trying to restore its fiscal health and establish a savings account- it has been tracked by the auditor general’s office for deficit spending.
Qualified homeowners will see a real estate reduction on their tax bills of $96.60 because of state gambling revenues.

Trinity outs Dalton as AD; transfers him to teaching position

Trinity Area School Board decided by an 8-1 vote Thursday night to transfer Ed Dalton to a teaching position and advertise for a new athletic director.
The decision came in front of a crowd of at least 200 people who applauded as speakers voiced their support for Dalton, baseball coach Levi Bristor and other coaches. Dalton will remain the varsity football coach.
Audience members booed as the roll call vote was taken to transfer Dalton to a teaching position.
Board member Jim Knapp was the only school board member to vote against the move.
“As a former union president, I think we’re going to have legal issues,” said Knapp, who is a Bethel Park guidance counselor. “I don’t think we should be doing this.”
Dalton’s contract as athletic director is up this month. He was hired as Trinity’s athletic director and football coach in 1999 and came to Trinity after successful coaching stints at Altoona, Mt. Pleasant and Purchase Line.
Superintendent Paul Kasunich said it was “not a matter of not wanting” Dalton to stay on as athletic director.
Kasunich and board President Tom Bodnovich said after the meeting that an offer was made for a new contract, but Dalton rejected it.
Bodnovich said Dalton was offered more money, but he turned it down because he didn’t like new language in the contract. Bodnovich said that legally he couldn’t describe the new language.
Dalton said the two sides were negotiating, but that he was not given an offer. He said he was not accusing the superintendent of lying, but that the board’s attorney has a different interpretation of the negotiations than his attorney.
Dalton’s contract states that the board has the prerogative to place him in the classroom or renew his contract, Kasunich said.
His contract requires that he be paid at the top of the teachers’ pay scale if he is transferred. That top teacher pay is $80,350 for the upcoming school year.
Dalton said he did not know that the board was going to take the action until just before the meeting.
He said he’s had 12 ratings as athletic director and all have been commendable, excellent or satisfactory. He said he was never given an improvement plan in writing.
With a 54-56 record and a string of five WPIAL playoff appearances, Dalton ranks second to Milton Decker on Trinity’s all-time wins list.
Dalton said he was told in February that this was going to happen, which negates any due process. He said he was asked to take a pay cut, which is discriminatory because he is over the age of 40. He said he plans to sue the district.
When asked if he would take the teaching position, Dalton said, “I’ll do what I’m told.”
However, he said, if that does happen, it has to be a created position; no one can be furloughed to make room for him.
Dalton said he will do a great job as a teacher.
“But I love being the athletic director,” he said.
He questioned where the dissenters are, those who oppose him as athletic director.
“Obviously, there are people in support,” he said after the meeting.
One former player spoke passionately during the meeting about the impact of Dalton on his life. Another described him as a father figure.
Parent Ed Brownlee told the board members that everyone in the audience was against them. He said board members were elected and thought they could change the world and do whatever they wanted.
“We don’t want that change,” he said.
Brownlee told them he was running for school board.
“It’s going to take us 31⁄2 years to get you out of here, but we will,” he said.
After the meeting, one parent yelled at the board members to make sure they looked at the kids they destroyed by making this decision.
Others in the audience yelled at board members and called them names.
It’s the second time Trinity has been through this in the past seven months.
When new board members were seated in December, they voted to open fall sports coaching positions and not to renew the athletic director and food services director contracts.
The board rescinded that decision in January because the way the decision was made was against school policy.
The board also accepted the retirement of food services director Thomas Sabol at Thursday’s meeting.
Board member Dennis McWreath asked that the board be given his retirement package at the next meeting. The board is considering whether to have a private company run the district cafeterias.

Ringgold puts off middle school site

Ringgold School Board did not pick a new middle school site during Wednesday night’s school board meeting.
The board had discussed four possibilities during a work session Monday and said a vote might occur Wednesday night.
School board President Denise Kuhn said the board instead directed the architect to pare down the building project to reduce costs.
Depending on the site, architects estimate building a new middle school to cost between $38.3 million and almost $46.3 million.
HHSDR architect Matthew P. Franz told the board during Monday’s work session that the way to reduce costs is to reduce the square footage of the building.
The square footage for the proposed buildings is 150,000, while the square footage of the existing middle school is 110,000.
Three of the sites are around the high school, and the fourth is building a new school at the existing middle school site by building onto the auditorium.

Trinity considers changing academic requirements for participation in sports and activities

The Trinity School Board is considering whether to change the academic requirements for participation in extra-curricular activities.
The proposed change came up during the board’s policy committee meeting Tuesday.
The change calls for a 2.0 Grade Point Average in core subject areas to participate in those activities. The existing policy states that any student who receives two or more Fs at the end of a marking period will be academically ineligible to participate in any extracurricular activity. Currently, the district follows PIAA rules, which states that athletes must be passing four classes with a D, said Athletic Director Ed Dalton.
Policy Committee Chairwoman Colleen Interval said if students know they need a 2.0 GPA, it may be the added pressure to help keep their grades up.
However, one mom told the committee that her son struggles to get Ds and that the only thing he loves about high school is playing football. She said she didn’t know if he would stay in school if he couldn’t play the sport.
Trinity graduate and self-described future teacher Katie Piatt said the district needs to make sure it has help available for those students.
“”Extracurricular activities may be the reason some who struggle stay in school,” she said.
Committee members agreed that struggling students would have assistance available, such as tutoring.
Dalton said one way to handle the matter may be allowing students to get help to see if they can bring their grades up before declaring them ineligible. He said that’s how colleges handle it.
He said teachers report to him weekly if students are not passing courses. If they are failing two classes, then he checks the Edline software that tracks their grades. He said it would be beneficial to have teachers report the grades of all participating students regardless of whether they are passing.
Dalton is responsible for all extracurricular activities, not just athletics, meaning he is responsible for determining if students are eligible to participate in all of them.
There was also a discussion about what entails extracurricular activities. All sports are included. There were questions about whether an orchestra concert, marching band and the French Club are extracurricular activities.
Superintendent Paul Kasunich said the board will clarify what is considered an extracurricular activity and what is considered the extension of a class.

McGuffey teachers approve contract

The McGuffey teachers union overwhelmingly voted in favor of a new contract Monday.
The union vote came less than a week after the union and school board reached a tentative agreement to avoid a strike for the second time this year. The tentative agreement addressed salary, health care, retirement incentive and length of contract.
Union spokesman Andrew MacBeth said McGuffey teachers are pleased that they can accept the agreement that both negotiating teams approved.
“We’re glad we voted to accept it, and we hope the board follows through and does the same,” he said.
Now, the union waits for a board decision.
The board is expected to vote on the contract Wednesday. MacBeth said specific details of the agreement won’t be released unless the school board ratifies it as well.
The two sides had been negotiating for 18 months before the tentative agreement was reached last week.
The union struck earlier this year and was prepared to strike again if an agreement couldn’t be reached.
As a part of the negotiating process, both sides agreed to bring in an independent fact-finder. The union voted for the fact-finder’s recommendations, while the board said those suggestions were unaffordable.
After the first strike, both sides began nonbinding arbitration. That arbitration panel again recommended the fact-finder’s report.
The union again supported it, saying it was fair. The board again rejected it, saying it was too costly.
That led to the late-night negotiating session that ran from Wednesday evening into Thursday morning, when the tentative agreement was reached.

Join the Observer-Reporter’s conversation about education at our blog at http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/behinddesk/.

Bachelor's degree doesn't equal job

A bachelor’s degree no longer guarantees a good-paying job.
Federal statistics show that almost 1.5 million people are graduated with bachelor’s degrees each year, while there are an estimated 750,000 jobs available each year that require those same degrees.
At the same time, there is at least a 1 to 1 ratio for jobs for students who go to trade schools or earn technical degrees, said James Knapp, a Bethel Park guidance counselor and Trinity School Board member. Teachers at Greene County Career and Technical Center say that’s because baby boomers are retiring from high-paying skilled trades and there aren’t enough trained workers to replace them.
Yet today, 70 percent of high school graduates attend college to earn a bachelor’s degree, with even more saying they want to, said Ken Gray, a Penn State professor emeritus of workforce development. Only about half of those who start college actually graduate, he said.
“Mostly they are saying what they think the community wants to hear,” said Gray, who is the co-author of “Other Ways to Win.”
Find out more at the Observer-Reporter website, where we take a look at why this is is true, talk to graduates who can't find work and talk to those who have found jobs in their fields.

Trainer: Teach middle class rules to get out of poverty

Schools and businesses use hidden middle class rules, and to pull people out of generational poverty, they must be taught those rules, a teacher trainer said Friday.
Barbara Miller, director of training and development for Community Action Southwest, spoke to Washington School District teachers about “Bridges out of Poverty.” She has spoken around the state and at conferences about the issue, but said this is the first school district in Washington County where she’s presented the information.
“We have to understand the hidden rules and then we have to teach them the (middle class) rules without telling them their rules are wrong,” she said. “You should expect nothing less from them than anyone else, but understand they have barriers.”
Middle class children grow up knowing those rules because they are taught them, she said. However, parents who are in generational poverty don’t know those rules to teach them to their children, she said.
For example, she said people in poverty use language more casually while the middle class uses correct grammar.
A 5-year-old in poverty is exposed to 10 million words, while a 5-year-old in a middle class home is exposed to 20 million words and a wealthy 5-year-old, 30 million, she said.
Education is abstract for those who live in poverty, while it is viewed as a necessity for the middle class. Those in poverty may not graduate from high school, much less consider additional training or education, she said.
The opposite is true for the middle class, who think, “Of course, my children are going to go to school,” Miller said.
She said people in poverty think of money to be spent; the middle class plans how to use their money, and the wealthy invest their money to make money, she said.
“I’m all about planning, but I learned that,” Miller said. “It’s hard to think that way when you are pouring coins into a Coinstar to buy bread. You’re not thinking about buying a home when you are homeless. You’re not thinking about how pretty the food is when you are starving. You’re not thinking about going to college when no one is helping you get through the third grade.”
When she was growing up in her upper middle class home, Miller said she had dinner after school, helped her mother clean the kitchen, did her homework and her parents checked it.
“Do you think that’s what kids in poverty go home to?” she questioned, saying that some don’t know if they will go home to dinner or have parents home when they get there.
If children are raised in a family that’s been in poverty for generations, that’s all they know, she said. There are hidden rules for poverty, just as there are for the middle class and wealthy, she said.
“They are born into it,” she said. “They love their parents just like your kids love you. They think what their parents are doing is right.”
It doesn’t happen because those parents are bad, Miller said.
“It’s because their parents are living the lives they were living when they were kids,” she said. “So we’re trying to teach them something new.”
Teachers and schools play a significant role in helping students learn ways to pull themselves out of poverty, she said.
It’s complicated because kids in poverty don’t have the same resources. They may not have a computer or transportation to the library to work on a report after school, she said.
Resources are not just financial, though that is part of the picture, she said. It’s also about having emotional support, mental resources, spiritual resources, physical resources, support systems, relationships and role models.
“We can’t blame kids for being born into poverty. It’s not their fault,” she said. “This ‘Bridges out of Poverty’ is to help get out of poverty. We need your help and encouragement.”

Trinity considers cutting some vocational programming, electives

Trinity School Board will consider whether to cut some vocational programming and electives as a way to save money.
Superintendent Paul Kasunich is meeting with Western Area Career and Technology Director Joseph Ianetti to determine whether vocational courses offered at the high school are the same as those offered at Western Area.
For example, Kasunich said, he wants to know the difference between drafting at Western Area and drafting at the high school, and between carpentry at Western Area and woodworking at the high school.
“I’ll lay it out for you and you decide,” he told board members at Trinity’s finance committee meeting Tuesday.
Kasunich said the board also needs to determine the minimum number of students it wants in each class, That could be 10 or 15 and could determine if certain elective classes are offered, he said.
“There are going to be hard choices,” he said.
The discussion came up after school board President Tom Bodnovich asked why the superintendent isn’t willing to cut more positions considering the expected rate spikes for pension costs.
Kasunich, who started in April, said he wants more time to assess the vocational programs and electives before making any recommendations.
During the budget discussions, Kasunich said two teaching positions are being eliminated. He said where they will be cut from hasn’t been determined yet.
He said he is considering the elimination of other positions that will be based on upcoming negotiations with the clerical staff.
If there are retirements, Kasunich said he will considering not filling those positions.
The proposed budget for the 2010-11 budget is $45.8 million and has a projected deficit of $250,000.
The budget does not have $600,000 in cuts to salary and benefits that would be set aside for retirement costs as board member Jack Keisling had requested.
That kind of cut would impact programming, Kasunich said.
He said there is a deficit with the idea that the budget will be cut as the year progresses.
“You don’t have to spend it all,” he said about the projected budget. “That’s not the way it needs to work.”
This year, Trinity projects a $300,000 surplus, said Business Manager James Shargots.

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Trinity approves nepotism policy

Relatives of Trinity School District employees and board members need not apply.
By a 5-2-2 vote, the school board approved an updated nepotism policy Thursday that prevents the hiring of relatives of employees and board members.
Board member Tamara Salvatori asked that the policy be sent back to the policy committee for review, but a majority of the board did not want that to happen.
She said she’s concerned the district may miss out on good teachers by drawing this line in the sand.
However, board member Colleen Interval said the opposite is true – Trinity has missed out on good teachers by hiring relatives instead of the best candidates.
Board member Henry Clemens said he would like to see a stronger hiring policy instead of the focus on nepotism. Then, he said, there wouldn’t be discussion of voting to suspend a policy to hire someone.
“If you have a policy, you should stand by the policy,” he said.
Interval and board members Sandra Clutter, Scott Day, Jack Keisling and Tom Bodnovich voted for the policy. Interval and board member Jim Knapp voted against it. Clemens and board member Dennis McWreath abstained.
The board also voted on the policy in May, but it was not passed because it was a 4-3 vote. Trinity needs a majority of the board, or five members, to approve policy changes.
The board also discussed the process of approving policies after community members again asked about those procedures.
Superintendent Paul Kasunich said a policy brought up for the first time Thursday would be up for a vote at the meeting later this month unless it was referred to the policy committee. Then it would come up again at the first meeting next month before final approval.
McWreath questioned if that’s how the district’s policy approval reads.
Solicitor Dennis Makel said the policy says nothing about first or second readings. However, that has been the practice of the board. Makel said the Trinity documents are “vaguely worded” and suggested the board come up with a more specific policy.
Kasunich said he would bring an updated policy to the board that includes information about first and second readings.
The questions came up from Trinity residents concerned about a new policy for hiring athletic coaches, directors and supervisors. The board decided to send that to the policy committee for review. The next policy committee will be 4 p.m. June 15 in the administrative offices.

McGuffey teachers OK strike if board doesn't approve panel recommendation

McGuffey teachers voted Tuesday night to strike if the school board doesn’t approve the contract recommendation of an arbitration panel.
Teachers struck for two days earlier this year, which led to the arbitration. The two sides have not reached agreement on salary, health care, retirement incentive and length of the contract.
As a part of the arbitration, the board and union each made a last best offer. The arbitration panel also considered a recommendation by an independent fact-finder, Matthew M. Franckiewicz.
The arbitration panel had to choose one of the three options and selected the fact-finder’s report, said Andrew MacBeth, a spokesman for the union.
Franckiewicz’s report calls for starting teachers to get a $1,075 increase this year to $34,096. It calls for the maximum salary to be $73,942 this year, an increase of $960. To receive the maximum salary, a teacher must have a doctorate. No McGuffey teachers have a doctorate.
It calls for the starting salary to be $41,789 in 2013-14, the last year of the contract. That year, it calls for the maximum salary to be $79,243.
The report calls for the monthly health insurance premiums to stay the same this year and next year at a cost of $15 per month for single coverage and $30 for any other coverage. It would jump to $20 and $40, respectively, for the next two years of the contract and to $25 and $50 for the last year of the contract.
Both sides voted on that fact-finder’s report earlier this school year – the union supported it and the board said it was unaffordable.
The union again voted in support of the fact-finder’s report Tuesday night, MacBeth said. Both sides have 10 calendar days from when the arbitration panel’s recommendation was issued to consider the report, he said. The report was issued Friday. If either side doesn’t vote on the panel recommendation, then it is considered rejected, he said.
MacBeth said that means the board has until Monday to take action on the report. Should the board not approve the recommendation, the teachers will strike again before the end of the school year, he said. The union must give a 48-hour strike notice before the strike can occur, he said.
He said the teachers are pleased with the arbitrators’ recommendation and teachers showed their commitment to ending the impasse by approving that recommendation.
“By choosing the fact-finder’s proposal, the neutral arbitrator once again has confirmed that this compromise works best for our students, our community and our members,” MacBeth said. “Now it is time for the school board to do the same.”
School board member Doug Teagarden, who is on the board’s negotiating team, could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

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W&J grad hopes telling her story will save others from domestic abuse

Nicole Rosellini wasn't sure if she wanted to talk publicly about her abuse.

Then she heard what happened to Yeardley Love. The University of Virginia lacrosse player was murdered earlier this month. Love's former boyfriend, George Huguely, 22, was arrested in the case after he confessed to police that he kicked in the door to her bedroom and shook her violently, repeatedly banging her head against a wall.

That, Rosellini says, could have been her.

Rosellini pressed charges in December after her former boyfriend, Nicholas Masters, 22, a Washington & Jefferson College student from Glen Rock, choked her until she passed out. He pleaded guilty in April to simple assault and was accepted into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program. He received one year of probation, had to follow the conditions of a protection-from-abuse order, perform 50 hours of community service and have a drug and alcohol evaluation, according to court documents.

Masters' attorney, Vern Parkinson, did not return calls for comment for this story.

Rosellini is unhappy with how W&J handled the situation. However, she said she felt safe at the school and is not trying to make W&J look bad.

W&J President Tori Haring-Smith said she could not comment on any issue involving a student and legal issues. However, she said the college does everything in its power to protect its students.

"Whenever something comes to our attention, we take every action to assure the safety of our students," she said in a statement. "We will take measures which may take the form of something as simple as forbidding contacts between individuals or we may take more aggressive action. But we always protect our students."

Rosellini said she is not trying to single out W&J, as abuse is an issue that all colleges and universities need to face. Dating violence occurs in 1 in 5 college relationships, according to the Red Flag Campaign, a program designed to address and prevent dating violence.

Girls are dying because of domestic violence, Rosellini said. That's why she was willing to tell her story.