At least 60 people are expected to speak at tomorrow's public hearing at 6:00 tomorrow, Monday, 341 Bellefied.
Topics to be addressed include:
- The proposed merger of Perry and Oliver
- The name to be selected for Westinghouse High School
- The proposed sale of district property including Schenley and Reizenstein
To sign up to speak, call PPS at 412 622-3600 BEFORE 12:00 NOON ON MONDAY.
If all of those who have signed up attend the hearing may last several hours, but those with later numbers just need to arrive by the time their number is called (so if you are number 60, you do not need to be on the premises at 6:00). Also, if a speaker is not present when his/her number is called, it is the usually practice for those people to be called again at the end of the list.
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31 comments:
If anyone has a digital copy of one's statements, perhaps they could be made into a google document with a posted URL here.
If that is too hard to do yourself, send me an email with the text and I'll make it public.
60 people so far. Another 15 or so may call on Monday to speak.
I'm #85.
My topic: "Swimming into the future."
Should be an interesting night for the community.
Because not everyone will be able to make it to the meeting, or stay the entire time, and because the district does not post copies of testimony, speakers should send Mark copies of their testimony. Thank you Mark!
88 were signed up.
Second hand knowledge; They tune you out.
No discussion allowed. Is this Totaliaran or Aurocratic? Bottom line, they don't listen or hear what is said, the grit their teeth and want to go ome.
the public comment process doesn't have t be so one-sided does it? it isn't in other cities, in baltimore for instance, they have a chance to ask followup questions of the speaker or have a boardmember or district staffer clarify or comment. who sets the rules? is this a PA thng or a pgh thing? people need to be considerate and brief but it is more useful to have an exchange at the moment and way more efficient.
It is not one sided, even in other PA school districts where Ira Weiss is Solicitor.
There is no opportunity for real discussion. The heavily managed A Plus forums don't count.
Arita Gilliam Rue to PPS Board in October 2011 in Google Document
Statement from Mark Rauterkus to PPS Board on Oct 24, 2011
I heard Randall Taylor spoke last night. What did he say??
We need a "Take back PPS" demonstration.
Read Mark Rauterkus' blog for a letter Mr. Taylor wrote and which may have been the basis for his testimomy.
I had a brief conversation w RT at last night's meeting in the hallway. I do not think he spoke. He seemed to be very upset at the board and did not want to give them his 3 minutes.
RT did end up speaking, largely to the audience. He objected to the spectacle that had been set up w/ the Perry and Oliver communities being pitted against eachother. He also spoke out against the proposed sale of the Reizenstein property for $5M+when it is listed with the county at a much higher value, and after many millions of dollars had been invested in the building over just the past 3 years. To prevent further damage he recommended a moratorium on sales and closings until 2013 (these issues could then be part of a discussion in elections, and there will have been time to sort things out).
I read in Mark R.'s statement to the BOE, that he is the new boys' swim coach at Obama. U.Prep's/Obama's/Sci. Tech.'s football team has a former Steeler as an asst. coach. Obama's girls' soccer coach is a minister. I am not questioning the hiring of the most qualified coaches. My question is if the Athletic Reform Committee got the BOE to agree to hire the most qualified coaches whether Board employees or not. If so, this is great news. Has the PFT concurred with this if this is the case? Maybe these 3 schools within a school athletic programs have come out of the dark ages?
Link to my remarks to the Board on Monday re: proposed sale of the Schenley building and sales in general:
http://rauterkus.blogspot.com/2011/10/statement-to-pps-school-board-from-aw.html
Minister hired as a girls soccer coach does not equal qualified, does it?
Time will tell.
Well presumably he had qualifications in addition to being a minister!
The minister had coached elite soccer teams. (not school teams, but area teams.)
Lisa Jones #67 spoke at the hearing. As noted in the following Oct 26 Tribune Review article, Mrs. Jones submitted documentation revealing that Board President Sherry Hazuda habitually does not pay her school taxes and before there is realignment of school populations there should be a realignment of board leadership:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_763820.html
Below is a link to one of many court documents related to Pgh. School Board President Sherry Hazuda's evasion of paying her tax share to the school district. The following is the lawsuit that forced Hazuda to pay her 1997 school taxes finally in 2005:
https://dcr.alleghenycounty.us/DisplayImage.asp?gPDFOH=vol233++++++++++++++000009AE&CaseID=GD-05-008907&DocketType=PETOR&SeqNumber=4
So dozens of people spoke on the Perry/Oliver school closing issue, and the only testimony the Tribune wrote about was a comment on a Board member's financial issues. From the PG, nothing about the Perry and Oliver testimony at all. Has losing another high school or two become too routine to cover?
Thirty-four people signed up to speak out on behalf of Perry or Oliver and it was not reported. However, many said that they will take their kids out of PPS as it is a serious issue, in many respects, for them.
As we know, the press is controlled by PPS Chief of Staff, who, by the way, said at the Legislative Meeting that Monday night was the only night that those who testify did not get a response. She forgot to hand out post cards.
The post cards are supposed to be a response to testimony. Just know that they are identical, pre-printed, thank you cards that all say the same thing and never address an issue.
It was said that Theresa Kail Smith got a letter; but then she is a Council woman with political clout. Many, many very serious issues have never received a response of any kind from the Board.
Ira Weiss pushed for the property tax assessments in Pgh.to be done on time so the district doesn't have to borrow money. Yet we have Sherry Hazuda, Mark Brentley, and Rosemary Moriarty paying taxes late. This costs the city and district money too. This is inexcusable for our so-called "leaders."
Montour district is borrowing about $18M for renovations to its athletic facility:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11300/1185409-100.stm
PPS is proposing to give away similar (much needed) facilities in Oakland for $2M.
Watching the lengthy discussion of the process for repsonses to public comment will require some verification from those who have spoken at public hearings recently. What really happens? The process, if a formal one exists, needs serious modification. For verbal response to comment to be provided by staff on hand after the PUBLIC portion of the night is over does no good. If those who heard the original testimony do not get the benefit of hearing the response from PPS what prevents the audience/public from assuming no response at all was given? How much more ineffective can we make the whole process?
"what prevents the audience/public from assuming no response at all was given?"
They should assume that. At the best, the only response I've ever heard of is the pre-printed generic thank yous.
There is NO mechanism for responding to issues raised.
That is exactly right. A pre-printed, generic 'thank you' is NOT a response at all!
And, there is rarely (and that means almost never) a response directed toward a solution for the issue(s) presented.
The Public Hearing is truly an exercise in futility. Most people do not venture forth a second time; unless, there agenda is get attention in a public venue by repetition of the problem.
This allows the Board to label them in a negative way, and that happens all of the time.
Theresa Kail Smith may get a response but it is doubtful that Darlene Harris who also testified will get a response.
Like so much at Central Office, the PPS PR armor is seldom pierced and/or a payoff is made to a Community group project or organizational goal that keeps them quiet at future Public Hearings.
There is a definitive pattern to the PPS mode of operation and it is certainly not open or straightforward.
What a shame!
Regarding the Obama coach hirings, while I am sure that the people you mentioned are qualified, let's not get carried away. There were no other candidates for at least two of the jobs you write of.
I'm a little tired of the dog and pony show some people wish to put forward here. I'm all for the idea of "the most qualified individual" being hired, and would say that 99% of the time that person is a teacher.
I'm also a bit tired of the club here at Pure Reform that tends to squelch these kinds of comments.
It's becoming common knowledge among many teachers that PURE Reform has elements that are not what anyone should consider to be "friends of teachers." I'd like to think the moderator would publish all comments, even those who tend to go against the old Schenley parents club.
All comments about coaching that were received have been published unless they included name calling directed toward individual coaches.
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