Friday, January 15, 2010
Transparency Takes A Beating
The Oley Valley School Board was asked questions about a court ruling the district owes $2,200,000 to a steel contractor.
For those who do not attend board meetings, the video clip shows how a school board can stonewall the public. They do not say a word and let a solicitor run interference.
Transparency does not appear to have any more currency in the Valley than it does in Washington.
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15 comments:
Thank you for posting this video. The whole issue is a disgrace and a total waste of taxpayer money. How many programs, textbooks and equipment have been sacrificed by this board to pay for appeal after appeal?
The solicitor should be fired & the board president should resign. Instead, they circle the wagons and arrogantly look down their nose at whoever dares ask them questions or demands accountability.
In a few months we will listen to them complain that they have to raise taxes because the state doesn't contribute enough money to the districts. Never mind that they have totally mismanaged the money we taxpayers have given them over these many years.
To all:
There was a general membership meeting held by the Berks County Patriots this past Saturday up at the Leesport Auction meeting hall. There were approximately 900 in attendance and because there was standing room only, they tally that about 200 didn't make it into the meeting.
Various subjects were covered including taking our government back and what needs to be done LOCALLY AS WELL AS NATIONALLY.
The time has come for all our fellow patriots in our local area to speak up and make your concerns heard. The first place we can start locally is with the Oley Valley School Board and the collective decisions that have been made by the board that are potentially costing the Oley taxpayers MILLIONS OF DOLLARS!
As has been stated before in this blog, our school board hashes out details to death on the spending of a few hundred dollars, but when it comes to the big ticket items, there is hardly any discussion and all jump on the bandwagon and vote YES.
We all need to heed the call of the Berks County Patriots and make a bandwagon of our own to tell the spenders that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! They've picked our wallets dry, people are without jobs, some without food and medication, and NOW is the time.
Please check out the website of The Berks County Patriots and join in on RECLAIMING OUR GOVERNMENT, and let those who are there know that this is the end of spending and the time has come to clean up government, stomp out the system feeders, and have those we elect accountable to the taxpayers of our nation.
YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOUR HELP - please join forces with whatever local Tea Party, 9/12 or grassroots political action committee you can and TAKE YOUR COUNTRY BACK!
WOW - Is this an attempt to be the next big 'Michael Moore'. The transparency and integrity of the line of questioning seems to indicate it.
Only a school board with something to hide would not answer questions.
These last three posts are rediculous. Create your own blog and quit filling this one with your nonsense. It's obvious you have a mental problem. Seek help.
I doubt people actually made those post they are probably spiders or bots.
How much money is the Oley district owed from BCTC?
If it is what Dr. Zackon stated, there possibly could have been another year without a tax increase?
The question everyone should be asking is how does this stuff happen.
Oley finds huge amounts of money after the budget is determined and voted on, for the last three years. BCTC misbills school districts. It's time for the taxpayers of all school districts to demand a forensic audit of every school district in this county. All the school districts hide money, and it's high time they were looked into. I challenge the Auditor General of Pennsylvania to fullY investigate each and every school district in this state, and I'm sure they will find tons of hidden money.
This is why the districts don't want Sam Rohrer elected. He knows what is going on and is going to remedy these situations. When the Republican party doesn't want to put their endorsement behind Rohrer, that should tell people something. Sam Rohrer is going to CLEAN HOUSE IN HIS OWN PARTY, AND IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see the more things change, the more they stay the same.
This issue of the Board not wanting to pay a legitimate expense does not surprise me one bit. They would have everyone believe that they are not responsible for this bill from the steel company. However, several years ago, when the amended invoice from the steel contractor was received by the board for approval, I researched the issue at that time.
The fact is, the building committee for the new middle school was in such a hurry to meet some artificial deadline (created to make them feel good about themselves and getting the kids into the new school at the beginning of the school year --instead of mid-term), they allowed a substitution of steel product, knowing at that time it was not in compliance with original specifications.
Now, all of this time after the steel company rightfully billed them for the change-order charges per the original contract they agreed to -- they have the audacity to deny payment.
The unethical practices of this board puts a black mark on the reputation of the community at large and each and every taxpayer -- whose money is consistently mismanaged by this board. Shame on you Oley Valley school board, especially the president who has been in that position and personally directing this unethical bunch for more years than anyone of his calibre should.
The only law that the Oley School District respects is the "law of it's OK until you get caught" variety put forth to them by their solicitor.
I just wanted to point out that they actually started to use the middle school at the mid term -- not the beginning of a school year.
Berks County Patriots Meeting, January 2010
Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uqoBV8jXQg&feature=player_embedded
The next Budget and Finance Committee meeting of the Oley Valley School Board will be held on Tuesday, February 9th @ 7:00 PM
The next Combined Committee meeting will be held on
Wed. Feb 10 @ 7:00 pm
As to who will pay should the board finally give up--
The money originally was part of the bond issue and was supposed to be set aside to pay for the item. We have already been taxed for this.
The monies in the capital reserve are as a result of taxation through the years and are not the specific amount set aside from the original bond issue for the middle school.
Where did the money go?
Why should we as taxpayers have to pay twice for this?
Because Oley School Board says so.
School Reserve Funds Total Over $2 Billion
MAY 7, 2010 | by DARWYYN DEYO
Despite a potential shortfall from the state government, Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts are sitting on a financial gold mine of about $1.6 billion in undesignated reserve funds.
According to the state Senate Appropriations Committee, these reserve funds are “just contingency funds that aren't allocated to an area within their budget. There's a manual of accounting with the Department of Education (DoE) and school districts are supposed to report based on the manual of accounting.”
While some school districts actually owe money to their undesignated reserve funds, the school districts with the ten largest funds range from nearly $13 million to over $38 million. The undesignated funds are not committed to any planned project whereas the designated funds and any other funds, such as capital reserves, are already allocated to a specific project. The school districts have about $872 million, combined, in the designated reserve funds.
All told, the school districts have more than $2.5 billion in reserve funding.
Given the school district superintendents recently received a letter from the state General Assembly on April 27 warning there is no guarantee of school funding from the state, the reserve funds would be an alternative to cost cutting or tax increases, already limited by Act 1 passed in 2006.
The letter from the state legislature was sent by state Sens. Joseph Scarnati (R – Cameron), Dominic Pileggi (R – Chester), Jake Corman (R – Centre), and Jeffrey Piccola (R – Dauphin. The senators are, respectively, Senate President Pro Tempore, Senator Majority Leader, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman, and Senate Education Committee Chairman.
“For the most part they’re funds that can be used for any purpose. For the most part that money comes without strings,” said Tim Allwein , deputy executive director for Pennsylvania School Board Association (PSBA). “The only thing they can do if they don’t use their reserve fund is start cutting programs and we’re seeing a lot of school districts do that. Districts aren’t filling positions when people leave, letting the staff be reduced through attrition. If you’re not going to spend, you have to cut.”
But while the school districts received a similar letter last year, the Senate Appropriations Committee indicated they received “significant increases” through supplemental money for special education, stimulus money, and $350 million in basic education subsidies. In Gov. Ed Rendell’s current proposed budget, already passed by the House, there is a proposed $354 million increase in funding for state schools.
“It’s been two tight years in a row and this is the kind of economic situation that reserve funds are created to help weather,” said Erik Arneson, spokesperson for the state Senate Republicans. “Last year there were some districts that had zero balance and some that had millions and millions of dollars in reserve funds. There is no so-called typical school district in that case.”
The potential shortage of funding from the state to school districts also comes at a time when government schools are calling for decreased funding to cyber and cyber charter schools, and the PSBA has specifically called for action on the spending and oversight of charter schools.
According to the most recent information available from the Department of Education on school districts’ reserve funds (for the 2008-2009 fiscal year), the lowest reserve fund with a balance totaled about $16 thousand.
The DoE was unable to provide comment on this issue.
This article was sent to me from one of our blog readers.
OVSD has approximately $4,000,000 in Capital Reserves at this time.
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