At the last school board meeting, there was an interesting item on the agenda, an entrance archway to be constructed on Gold Drive. Some members of the school board were surprised by this project. There seemed to be some confusion because the project appears to be already under way even though the board had not been informed of or asked to provide funds for it. North East resident Jen Kilgas asked if they had an engineers stamp since the arch would be going over a roadway and was told Gene Davis was drawing up plans. Board member Glenn Craig asked if the rumor was true that steel had already been purchased. There was no answer.
This is a very odd situation raising all kinds of questions and taxpayers deserve a full explanation for the actions of the administration. If this project is already under way, work needs to be halted until the administration explains what is going on and gets permission from the board to proceed.
As a reminder to North East residents, municipal elections will be held this year and four school board seats will be on the ballot.
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Chris says
Sounds like a failure of oath of office here. Fiduciary responsibility failure on this one by the sounds of it.
Eyes wide open says
Absolutely! But in my opinion the public has failed too. Myself included because we just voted and never put any thought for who we voted. Ah it’s just school board. The public participation in meetings is disappointing. There are a few who are trying but don’t get much support from the community
Jen says
This is an odd situation that requires transparency. We were told at the mtg they would likely look to the public to fund the project yet it sure appears the project is already underway if a local business is drawing up plans for its construction. Not too many folks work for free!
I am of the opinion an arch like this looks appropriate in a park setting or on a campus where you have foot traffic… I think of the West Erie plaza that has a beautiful structure, which I’m sure was costly, yet it looks lost in a parking lot. There’s zero landscaping around it to provide any balance… and that’s what this will look like driving onto our campus. My suggestion is to put a new automated sign on the northwest corner outside of the football field so messages can be displayed to the community. But this also will require public funds and board approval!
All this being said, if we have extra money to be spending on an arch why are we not paying our staff more, putting musical instruments in the hands of our youngest children and most of all, putting money into academics!! I can think of many great things to spend 20k on that would benefit our students now and into the future.
It’s time for accountability.
Lisa Bresney-Reynolds says
A decorative arch seems a frivolous waste of taxpayers’ money. This tax payer agrees with the above comment about putting our money into the actual education of our students.
I think permission/approval from the community should be required before something this expensive and unnecessary is erected.
Jeffery L Buchholz says
Permission from the community was required. Schoolboard members are elected to represent our community and vote to spend or not spend our monies. Apparently, they were not asked.
What I find stunning is that board member Craig asked if the steel had all-ready been purchased and his question was ignored by the superintendent. It was disappointing to me that the balance of the board did not object. The issue was then tabled giving the superintendent protection from publicly answering to the board and taxpayers.
The archway will not improve student test scores, and it will cost taxpayer dollars, not save tax-payer dollars. It will not bring in new families/students nor will it bring back students attending cyber, church related, charter or those being home schooled. (Thus, gaining additional state aid.) The campus is already quite attractive.
It appears to be on the superintendent’s “wish list” for reasons I can’t grasp. I would be happy to hear her reasons for what she did, but absent a compelling one, I say she pays for it herself or raises the money for it herself.
My final point. If our educational leader can spend our money without our board’s approval, can she spend money again without our board’s approval? If not, why not?
Regards to all,
Jeffery Buchholz
Richard Locke says
Take the 20K out of her salary. Was this her idea?
Also there should be a remark put in her HR file, so this is not forgotten.
Jeffery L Buchholz says
Good point, Mr. Locke.
Yes, if teachers get letters in their file for misdeeds, superintendents should also. The street needs to run both ways,
However, what remains to be seen, is just how the school board handles this. We have not heard her side of the story. I hope to hear it.
I suggest we all pause and see how our elected representatives handle this. The school board response may be the most revealing aspect of this story. Stay tuned!
Regards to all,
Jeffery Buchholz
Anonymous says
While revealing on this item, this shows how the administration functions.
If this arch is done correctly, it will cost far more than 20k. And it will look like Auschwit.
The exposure of this operation BEGS for a forensic audit.
One board member stated that it is private property and they don’t need approval or engineering. (Yes, that ignorant)
Jeff Fox said they will get to the “bottom of it”. I think they already are at the bottom.
Earlier this year, Jeff Fox & the auditor said there were checks and balances. Glen Graig asked about the checks and balances (no real reply).
The public never sees detailed expenditures. Do we ever see the list of bonuses ? There are rumors of such, but never a posting. There are many ways to hide what money is spent on. This arch is getting attention, I’m sure there are many other things that are done the same way.
I would like to see w-2s posted along with the salary of administrative employees.
The administration can squeeze the pay of aids and teachers to the point we lose them. Raise our taxes, then waste our money on a silly arch, a fancy football field. While student scores are falling. The student scores would be far more worse if the standards were higher and all classes graded.
I agree with an earlier post that an information sign should be considered.
The public can be made aware of school activities- such as board meetings.
One other item, the borough is involved in the arch, why? On the map it is clearly township!