BUDGET REFORM for STUDENT LEARNING at lmsd.info - the lower merion school district alternative information source

Did LMSD Violate 22 Pa. Code §349 Concerning Special Education Classrooms? – You Decide.

The Issue:  For months, members of the community questioned the LMSD Board and Superintendent about why the Educational Specifications prepared by Dancu Associates called for fifteen (later revised to thirteen) Special Ed Rooms, even though the report assigned no enrollment to these rooms.  When Board President Rosenwald and Superintendent Savedoff arrogantly refused to answer these questions, a group of citizens filed a formal written appeal to the PA Department of Education (“PDE”).  The November 1, 2007 issue of "Support or Schools" created by the group "New Schools Now" states:  these people "made serious allegations to the PA Department of ED with the Harriton Act 34 documents.  PDE had no choice but to investigate.  The allegations proved unfounded and the Act 34 application for Harriton was ultimately approved, but after months rather than weeks.” (Note that, originally, we incorrectly attributed this quote to the website of the Democratic candidates for Lower Merion School Board. While the Democrat's website does routinely post the writings of Greg Nowell, one of the authors of the "New Schools Now" statement, this particular quote does not appear on that website.)

Read on to see what the PDE really found!

School Board Turns Away From State Construction Funding

As you should know by now, the Lower Merion School District is moving ahead with the construction of a New Harriton High School despite the fact that the bids came in higher than their own not-to-exceed budget.  You should also know that the District has overtaxed the citizens by $20.1 Million over the last three years so that it won't have to borrow an amount that would require voter approval.  But now we learn another new twist that has resulted in our taxes being higher than necessary.

The Real Cost of Delays

On Monday, May 21, 2007, the Lower Merion School Board intends to vote to exceed its own not-to-exceed budget for the New Harriton High School project.  Can they really be so desperate that they will risk so much?  They have received only one bid for the major portion of the work.  And the project is only $1.9M away from requiring a referendum.  What does all this mean?  If, during construction, the project experiences extra costs in excess of $1.9M, the project will stop and the District will have to go to the voters for approval to complete.  Of course they are banking on the voters being unwilling to stop a half built project.  But, imagine the delay costs associated with suspending the project. And yet, the cost of delay is the very argument they use for moving forward.  They say that if they delay construction any longer, the project will cost millions more.

But will it?  Click here to understand the true cost of delays, and here for Appendix 2. 

Please take a close look at what the School Board is doing to the future wellbeing of our schools and of our community.  Write to capitalcomments@lmsd.org and tell them what you think; tell everyone you know what is happening; and join us for this important meeting on Monday, May 21 at 8PM in the LMHS library.

LMSD School Board Ignores The Wishes Of The Majority

To The Editor:

If you were one of the over 450 citizens who took the time to write commentary in opposition to the New Harriton High School and submit it to the school district last fall, Jamie Savedoff says that you are hardly representative of the desires of the school district.  To quote his words as closely as I can from tonight’s (2/26/07) board meeting, “With 40,000 voters in Lower Merion, 450 to 460 people opposing the new schools is hardly representative of the desires of the majority of the school district.” 

Taxation to Eliminate Representation

I would like to share with you the comments I made to the Lower Merion School Board at the February 12, 2007, board meeting, as my questions and their inability to provide answers should concern us all:

"I have carefully listened to Mr. Shafer’s explanation of the new financing plan, and I have carefully read the Superintendent’s “Win-Win” letter.  While the Superintendent’s characterization that the new financing plan is the result of patience and careful planning may be correct, I believe it is the result of lies that have been patiently proffered and deception that was, in fact, carefully planned.

School Board Admits to Over-Taxing – They Justify Collecting Excess Funds as “USE IT OR LOSE IT!”

This is a video of Lower Merion School District Business Manager Scott Shafer on January 22, 2007 explaining how he backed into the latest budget “projection” in order to maximize the tax increase without triggering a public budget vote per the new Act 1.  Hear him explain how he worked backwards to maximize this year’s tax increase by inflating the projected expenditures to maximize a surplus that will allow the district to beat the Act 1 limits in the future.  And while this is the first year that the District has admitted to inflating its budget to create a surplus to spend on two oversized schools, here are the facts:

• The District has just announced a 6.5M surplus from the 2005-2006 budget. 
• The District has just announced another $8.5M surplus in the 2006-2007 budget.
• The District intends to raise taxes for the 2007-2008 budget as high as it can without triggering an Act 1 vote, in order to collect $5.1M in excess of the funds that the district will need to cover 2007-2008 expenses. 

This additional overtax will put the District’s grand total of excess revenues collected from the public at about $20.1M.  Mr. Shafer tells us that his advice to this Board is “use it, or loose it,” (his words) an attitude that should scare every taxpayer in Lower Merion. Please click the play arrow to start the video.  For more instructions, please click the "continue reading" link below the video screen.

Update On The Superintendents Comparison to Upper Dublin - Board Asks Citizens To Vote on New School Proposal

You may recall that, in November 2006, I took issue with the Superintendent's reference to Upper Dublin as an example of a District that is building a high school that is as big and as expensive as the new Harriton High School.  If the facts he left out of that comparison weren't enough, the Upper Dublin School Board has just demonstrated how a school board with integrity and the public trust can truly lead a community.

Is The School Board Getting Technology Right? (or, What Are We Really Getting For Our Six Million Bucks?)

If you have been following the District's so-called "budget presentations," you may have caught the technology budget presentation.  But is the District really following the advice of the consultant that it so proudly displayed at that presentation.  If you listen to the students, you may wonder if your $6,000,000.00 per year investment is really preparing them for the global economy, or is it simply impressing those who will simply never get it.  In the words of one student, "the results of its implementation suggest this [latter] conclusion."

School District "Spins" the Facts

The following was emailed by the Lower Merion School District to all public school parents in mid-December.  Because of the nature of the content, Budget Reform for Student Learning believed it was necessary to prepare the commentary that follows.  The original words are in black and our commentary is in blue (italics).  While you read this, please keep in mind our overriding concern is the distorted priorities that guide the Board's spending. 

Is Our School Board Ignoring The Law? Come To The December 18th Board Meeting To Hear Their Answer!

Do you believe that the Lower Merion School Board is breaking the law?  That is precisely the concern that 68 residents expressed in their November 9, 2006 letter to the board.  So what action has the board taken to respond to these citizens?  So far, the board has simply ignored them.  But, while ignoring certain members of the public has been routine for some members of this board, ignoring the law is another matter!