Thursday, March 31, 2016

W/c for teacher/ staff injuries

Anonymous wrote:

"New post. A teacher is working with hand braces and denied comp. A security guard has a concussion and was denied workers comp. Both were injured in the school riots. When will employees be supported and assaults hidden? "

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Continued problems with accounting and budgeting; new consultant

Kermit Weiss wrote:

"NEW POST: Whoops, we missed again (part 1)

It seems like just yesterday that we read the Auditor General’s report on the Pittsburgh Public Schools that found consistent inaccuracies in financial modeling since 2011. A careful read of the internal December 31st financial statements of the district vs. the internal November 30th financial statements of the district suggests a renewed effort by management to hide – during the middle of negotiations – a whopping 2015 surplus.

First, let’s look at the November statements, which were presented to the school board on December`16, 2015:

http://www.boarddocs.com/pa/pghboe/Board.nsf/files/A55E5E76FDB6/$file/Financial%20Report%20-11-30-2015.pdf 

Page 4 of the PDF projects near breakeven results, a slight surplus of nearly $900,000. But careful inspection cannot stop there. Turn to page 11 of the PDF. After 11 months in the fiscal year, the budget for transfers to other funds was $433,160. There was no budget transfer included in the December 16th meeting. In other words, as of December, there were no plans for large transfers to other funds.

So now we turn to look at the special meeting on January 5, 2016. No budget transfer. But that is not where the meeting gets fun. The Board approves:

RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors of the School District of Pittsburgh authorize its proper officers to enter into a contract with CQI Consulting to support ongoing strategic budget and financial sustainability efforts as well as to support facilitation of Academic Return on Investment efforts to allocate resources to best align with the District’s top priorities. The operating period is from February 1, 2016 through June 30, 2016. The total contract amount shall not exceed $48,400 from account line 1611-16N-2832-3300.

A quick search on the PA Department of State’s website reveals that CQI did not file articles of incorporation with the state until January 8, 2016. The amount of experience this corporation amassed in less than a month must have been impressive, because this item was not included in the Board’s January 20, 2016 posted agenda review materials.

TO BE CONTINUED "