Steel Valley

By Mary Niederberger
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Move over Ty Pennington. You’re about to get some competition from students at Steel Valley High School who are planning their own Mon Valley version of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

About 100 students — members of The Future Is Mine and the Environmental Club and some of the high school’s vo-tech students — plan to spend May 1 and possibly May 2 making outside improvements to 15 homes within the school district’s boundaries.

The work will include such activities as cutting grass, planting flowers and grass, mulching, pulling weeds, painting and building ramps.

The event is part of Pittsburgh Cares Hands on Pittsburgh project, which will involve more than 2,000 youth and adult volunteers working throughout the region on volunteer projects.

But instead of being assigned to one of the more than 100 service projects sponsored by Pittsburgh Cares, the Steel Valley students decided to create their own project that benefits residents of the district, said Ryan Dunmire, a business education teacher at Steel Valley High School who is the sponsor of The Future is Mine.

[ Full story available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09057/951715-55.stm ]

By Mary Niederberger
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When it comes to revenues in the proposed 2009-2010 Steel Valley School District budget, there is good news and bad news.

During a meeting of the school board’s fiscal management committee Tuesday, the board heard that the district stands to get an additional $1.9 million in federal funding from President Barack Obama’s stimulus package if it is approved.

In addition, general state subsidies are currently set to increase by $247,261.

Those revenues will be a help in balancing the 2009-2010 preliminary budget that currently totals $28.4 million.

But special education funding from the state is projected to drop by $16,253 and mounting expenses created by the number of students attending the Propel schools in Homestead and Munhall are costing the district about $1.76 million a year.

That number causes concern to Director of Operational Services Mark Cherpak and Superintendent William Kinavey.

Dr. Kinavey said he expected the decrease in special education funding because the district has lowered its special education costs by reducing the number of special education students being educated outside of the district from more than 50 to 35.

[ Full story available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09043/948573-55.stm ]

By Mary Niederberger
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Steel Valley School District officials are hoping for some financial help from President Obama’s economic stimulus package to help them balance the 2009-2010 budget.

At a meeting of the school board’s fiscal management committee last night, Director of Operational Services Mark Cherpak told school directors that if approved, the president’s stimulus package would bring about $1.3 million in additional funding to the district for 2009 and about $583,600 for 2010.

The money would be in the form of additional funding for Title I services, construction and services provided to students via the Individuals With Disabilities Act. Mr. Cherpak said Steel Valley would benefit more from the stimulus package, if approved, than other districts in the county because the amount of funding given to districts is based on the number of students living in low-income homes.

He said the Pittsburgh Public Schools also stands to see a significant increase in funding if the stimulus package is approved.

[ Full story available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09042/948322-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml ]

By Mary Niederberger
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Steel Valley school board President Joseph Ducar said he believed the $10,300 fine imposed by the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission upon his fellow school director, Edward McCallister, should stand as a warning to school directors everywhere to be absolutely certain about the votes they cast.

The state Ethics Code prohibits public officials from using their position for private pecuniary gain for members of their immediate family. Those members are defined as a parent, spouse, child, brother or sister, said Sean Fields, associate counsel for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

Edward McCallister was found to have violated that code when he voted to award supplemental contracts to his brother, Shawn McCallister, on six occasions and to authorize payroll checks 29 times for those contracts from 2003 to 2007.

[ Full story available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09029/945256-55.stm ]

By Mary Niederberger
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Steel Valley School District board members appear to be committed to not raising taxes more than the 5.7 percent threshold permitted under state law this year. Districts can file for exemptions to the limits set by the state.

Seven school directors attended a Tuesday night session of the board’s financial management committee, at which they got their first glance at the preliminary 2009-2010 budget. At this point, that budget is expected to total about $28 million.

Director of Operational Services Mark Cherpak showed the board the outline for two spending plans — one held taxes at the current 21.21 mills, the other raised taxes the allowed 5.7 percent or 1.21 mills. Even with the tax hike, it appears the budget will be tight and school directors and administrators will have to find areas to make cuts based on the board discussion.

[ Full story available at: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09014/941584-100.stm ]