What we need is for our teacher to pay for their own retirement find. My employer quit putting money in our pensions 8 years ago and if I wanted to continue to watch mine grow, I had to start paying it on my own. Lot of companies do that now and Baldwin School District shouldn't be any different. Times have changed and if you want a pension, put your own money in it.

I am sickened to hear they want to eliminate school nurses. But have no problem spending 667,000 on a hillside reconstruction. As a parent who has a child with food allergies and asthma, I want a school nurse there if my child were to be in anaphalactic shock or having an asthma attack. An untrained secretary won't help and 911 might be to late. I thought the school board was supposed to be looking out for the best interest of the kids in the district. I understand that the state mandate is only one nurse per 1,500 kids. But that is just plan ridiculous. There has to be some thing else to cut not the jobs of the school nurses. Besides that when will the secretaries get their jobs done? Especially in the elementary levels? Do you know how busy those nurses are?

I work for one of the "big" medical insurance companies, and I also pay for my own pension AND medical insurance. Times definitely have changed, I agree that our teachers need to pay for their own pension and medical insurance, this is not a punishment, its a fact. A 43% jump in employer contributions... Come on, this has to stop. As was stated, we are falling in the state rankings, have we really attracted the best and brightest?

I think it is a bad decision for the school board to even consider cutting sports at all and if "pay to play" is in fact enacted, there should be scholarships available to low income students. I am a licensed counselor and live in the district and feel to cut availability to physical activity for low income kids would be detrimental as one school board member pointed out due to the possibility of scholarships for those children due to prolonged sports participation. Cutting Social workers and nurses is also a very bad idea as the schools will then increase their probability of law suits related to not providing the necessary supports to the students who need them as mandated in their IEP. The cost may seem frivolous now, but will save the district money in the long run!

First off being the only school who does not assist in retirement would make no sence... We would get bad teachers and your teachers that just want a job. 'pay to play' has worked in many districts out side of this area. Those were middle and upper class districts that were not financially responsible. We are a middle and lower class district with a few upper class areas that was not wise... I said the past years when the taxes were cut down (just to keep those on the board on the board... Thanks for screw$!@ us and the current board guys) this was gunna catch up to us. I believe we need to have a free pay to play for the kids who can't afford it. But most of the schools athletes fit into this category.. So what's this going to save in the long run. And to say that it's a small amount to pay for a scholarship. Baldwin athletics are not that great, they have lots of average coaches, which produce mostly average athletes so 98% of them will not get scholarship money.

If that's the case lets charge extra money for kids to take AP classes because they are more likley to end up with scholarships. And if your lumping all extra activities together for academic standards then everybody should pay... Band, musical, French club, newspaper... They have school sponsors who get paid. I think it's time for the board to take a serious look in the mirror and start talking with Brentwood about a merger!!

If you voted for Corbett, quit your bitching.

If BW merged with Brentwood, you would see many people moving out of the school district - including me! So sick of the low income people getting EVERYTHING for free.....school lunches, breakfast, and now sports fees paid. Let them get out there and do some fundraising to pay for their sports! Tired of giving them the free ride! Earn your keep!

I would really like to hear more about "expenses related to employee benefits, such as a 43-percent jump in employer contribution to the Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS)".
Like Kevin Fischer said "We've put if off—pay to play. It is something that needs to be looked at. It is a sign of the times.
"The free ride—for all intents and purposes—is coming to an end."

This is all the way around, our school district scores where low and that comes back to the staff. I love the teachers my kids have, but I can't support an increase for employer paid retirement when that is not what the tax payers get. We have to pay for our medical and retirement.

The hillside project at the high school should be stopped. Any talk of charging for bus transportation to/from school is a joke in my opinion. The same with the nurses and social worker.

These board members where just voted in, let's see if they are up to the challenge, but we tax payers must stay involved.

Cutting back on nurses is ridiculous! It's only gonna harm the students!

@CHM totally agree , I would never want to cut back on nurses or social workers. I like having one nurse at each school and feel we need the social workers.

Some interesting comments by everyone. I think that the school district needs to think outside the box a little bit and try and save money without cutting programs and people that support the students within the district. The 4 day work week during the summer is a great idea. Many buisness's do this as a way to cut costs and doing this during the summer is a way of looking outside of the box and saving the district money during a time when the expectations get bigger while the budget gets smaller.

I agree the four door work week, advertising on school buses is a good idea. School nurses should not be cut as the district is opening itself to liability concerns by allowing office staff to "give students bandaids." Programs and activities should not be cut. However, they should be put on pay as you go or pay as use basis. As far as eliminating hardships for low income students to participate, I don't agree with as it is used as a crutch or excuse. If a student wants to participate, their families can use some initiative to raise funds for it by selling candy bars, magazines, hoagies etc.. That way programs that are not used will weed or cut themselves out.

It is crazy to cut social workers and nurses! Especially social workers. Our students need some sort of safe haven and that is where social workers and guidance counselors are highly valuable!

At the school I work at with 450 kids, we have a nurse once a week. Our secretaries take over when she is not present. No issues at this year!

I agree with Cathy - merging with Brentwood School District and Borough would be catastrophic. Both the school district and borough are in financial ruins and would be another burden for us to carry. As for the free lunches, breakfasts, etc. my husband was laid off for nearly two years and we never applied for reduced or free meals for our three children, we paid our fair share for their lunches as everyone should. This program should not exist. Make do like we did, if you can't afford to buy lunch - then pack! If you live in a $350,000 home and lost your job, I am sure you are still surviving and your kids have I-phones that you are paying a monthly service fee for - so get rid of the I-phone and pay up for lunch. Stop taking advantage. If the program did not exist people would find a way to pay. As for Pay to Play - fundraise to pay the district back for equipment and bus rides. It should be mandatory!

There are other school districts around that do not bus kids to school, the kids either walk to school or parents drive them to and from school. Also we have buses going to and from the schools with only one child on it. Why can't the school district put more than one child on a bus instead of sending out 10 or more buses, vans, etc with only once child on there.

I know Mt Lebonon doesn't have buses. Could you imagine the chaos at or elementary schools if parents have to drive their children and there were no buses? It would be a nightmare. Especially with the parents that cant just give their child a kiss and let the child get out of the car. I always get stuck behind the parent that opens the door for the child, looks for their bookbag in the car, gives them a hug, then talks to them for awhile, then walks them to the curb, waves goodbye and finally gets back in their car. Now imagine that with over 700 kids! And the school only allows about 15 minutes that they will open the doors in the morning. As far as 1 child on a bus??? I've never seen that. The bus my child rides on is overcrowded and that is why I choose to drive my child both ways!

There are many buses and vans with few kids on them, It's mostly vans though. They are the kids that BW pays to send to private schools. I know Ryan Clark from the steelers kids get driven to a private school in Oakland. Let's say $10.00 an hour. 1.5 hours round trip, two times a day 180 times a year that would be $5,400. And they are not even attending a BW school. No the district pays for all the local catholic schools and plus many many more.
Now to my point of a merger. Brentwood is classed much like BW, working class and some 'under privileged'. Yes oh pick up some rif raf, but for every 'top person' you have in the two districts you are able to lose one, Head football coach. Lose one. Super attendant, lose one, head of building maintenance, theres is way two much duplication of services. Start combining the schools to a limited extent and you benefit from selling property. Put all of the Middle schoolers in Brentwood HS. You have a stadium, pool, larger library, ext. All sports teams improve from the improved talent pool. There is a larger compitention for jobs so teachers try harder.

It is wonderful to have a family like Ryan Clark's in the Baldwin District - I am sure what he is paying in taxes to the boro is enough to cover busing expenses for his children - if that is the case. As for the merger - again ,I say it would be disastrous! Our administrators have worked hard to get where they are - it would be foolish to merge with Brentwood and oust half the administration and take on their debt and "rif-raf", we would have to hire additional social workers and Deans of Students to handle the onslaught of incoming problems.

Mary, I bet Ryan Clark doesn't pay more than $5,400 a year in taxes to have his children bused to Oakland. What happens when the kids go to different schools because they are in different grade levels. They will be sending 2 buses out to his house every day. Baldwin on a downward spiral. Opps they did do one thing, made a video to try to get people with school age students to move in here. They need to quit wasting money and start putting the money back into our kids educations. That is why we need school vouchers, so that we as parents can decide where we want our children to go to school, and not have to sell our homes in order to put them in better schools.

Those who have all the answers do you go to the school board meetings? The budget meeting was an open to the public meeting.

The district figured out a way to have playgrounds built, I am sure they could if they really put their heads to it they could work with other businesses and there has to be money out there. Just need to look for it. The administrators are highly educated, let's hope they put their all into our district. Even the parents in our district are very intelligent and if asked might have some good answers to the problems. But that's a problem we have to overcome is to have all those involved work together, and help to make our children have a great few years of schooling. Not sit back and let's see how they can fail attitude has to change. I don't have the answers, I am not the one that is in the schools and sees if the secretaries are really loaded down and can't handle the office by one secretary. Maybe some of the things they are doing need to be given back to the appropriate persons and have only one secretary in the office. Do we pay to have student teachers in the district, I don't know, get rid of them if we do. The phone system for the schools is a sad investment. Trying call the school, do you like getting a machine instead of a person. The DVD wasted funds. The board needs to think, think and think again before voting yes on expensive items. Hold off on the 600, 000 plus hillside upgrade. Let's help the district and fill their "suggestion box" found on the main page of the district website with your ideas to help the district.

I did not know it was a state mandate, makes getting that cost cut ALOT harder.

It just gets more and more sad with each passing day...now we are actually entertaining the thought of eliminating nurses. I mean why not? We have eliminated teachers with more than 10+ years experience to cut costs. The schools don't even provide paper copies of interims or report cards anymore to save money. I got 3 automated phone calls last year reminding me Kennywood tickets would be on sale the following day, yet no phone calls as reminders to log on to the website to look up my child's report card. I've lived in the Baldwin-Whitehall area my entire life. I chose to raise my children in this area because I thought they would be getting a good education in a nice community. Everything just keeps being taken away...from school nurses to streetlights. The only thing we will gain are higher taxes.

But this school district buses to religious schools past the mandated state 10 mile limit. Ask your local school directors why that is.

CM I think that eliminating a school nurse is not a good idea you want a nurse at the school at all times. By the time 911 is called it may be to late. All it takes is one child to need that nurse right then and there.

I agree we need to keep a school nurse at each school. I'm not quite sure why so much fuss is being made about transportation. We are a big school district and our children need transportation. I'm not saying our district doesn't have some issues regarding transportation, but I do believe there is much more waste in administration jobs and renovations, upgrades etc. Again, we need to start at the top and work our way down on reviewing the wasted money! As far as advertising, why not use the big sign in front of the high school also for advertising. Let's not just go halfway on making our district look like mules

Maybe the question is how do we provide bus transportation? No sleight intended to the folks who run our transportation service, but most Districts in our area have switched to a 3rd Party company to provide services. The reason is likely cost savings with no service decline. Has it ever been considered or studied here? School districts should worry about educating the kids, not running a transportation company.

I still don't understand how the comments from this article have now all gone to blaming the district transportation department for the budget. Read back in the minutes from the last few years and see all the unnecessary spending that has gone on because administration has felt the need to have the newest, latest and greatest toys, ex: the telephone system they had was better than the one they are currently using.

We only need 3 schools in the Baldwin/Whitehall School District, one grade school, one middle school and one high school, yet Baldwin has 3 grade schools. If we would consolidate them all into one building we could save on taxes, utilities, paying for teachers, office staff, nurses, principals, janitors, busing. This district waste to much money and they need to cut spending.
I'm not sure why we need all the buses, growing up if we lived within a half mile of the school we had to walk to school and didn't get bused. What is wrong with having central locations to pick kids up and take them to school instead of picking students up in front of their homes and doing many bus stops on one street because the parents don't want the high school students walking to a central location to catch a bus.

To think your child wants to play football and represent baldwin whitehall school district and have to pay to play is nutz..these poor kids already pay for thier spikes and helmets.THAT"S sad in itself. Not to mention they to have provide insurance so if they get hurt the district is free of any respondibilty.BULLSh!&% They can hire outside people to teach the outside people who come from distant lands to read write and survive the great american dream,,,,,, my american born children should play for nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Janet our buses run red lights and stop signs in Baldwin Whitehall every day also. It isn't all drivers but when your driving behind a bus and watch them go straight though a stop sign without stopping and the bus garage does nothing when you call. Even sent them a tap of a bus doing it and the bus driver is still driving kids to school.

@jean. What school do you think is big enough to hold all elementary students? We either would need to build another school building or add on to one. How does that save money? Great idea

Did someone say B.W. suggestion box? I think the idea is good however not open with clarity... Does anyone know who exactly reads these suggestions from the residents in the suggestion box? Does anyone exchange and or water and weed the ideas that were left in the box? Would there be anyway to disclose the suggestions in the box to the public? Disclosure of public suggestions helps people learn from one another. If we can't use the technology of the Patch in good taste how are we as a district going to move forward and promote blended online learning for our children in Baldwin Whitehall? Can anyone say good example? I say you take the good with the bad because nothing is perfect. Besides the Patch tries its best to monitor the web site for proper use of terms. If our seeds of ideas can't be used and exchanged for growth from the district box for legal reasons I understand. In this case I would rather plant them in the Patch with my fellow B.W. community members than in the B.W. suggestion box. I will search for the facts only and look through the negative on the Patch to see the positive to make good at the end of our day. I tell our children this all the time and we have to remind ourselves of this as adults each and every time we walk out the door. Some days easier said than done.

Sometimes you have to build to save money. We need to get all the grade school kids into one building to save money, this was brought up way before they did the renovation on the high school, but our administrators and school board wanted to waste the money in fixing up the high school for a school that were not going to fill with students. Having 3 building to heat, electric, teachers, nurses, cafeteria staff, and all the other people that are needed to run all 3 buildings is a waste of money. To put all the money into just one school would save the district money. Other districts had to build to save money on staff and they are doing better when they cut wasted staff.

The kids that live in Baldwin Township spend at least 45 minutes to an hour on the bus. So what would be wrong with other students being on buses that long. Ask any parent that has kids over there and find out how long their kids are stuck on buses. It was horrible when they were doing construction on 88 and it is going to be worse for them when they start on 88 and 51 intersection.

Where do you suggest they build this building?

They could always add on to one of the 3 grade schools, add another floor, but back when it was suggested at board meeting about doing this, our school board was to worried about making a bigger high school and wasting money there. They should of gotten rid of the school board back then before they redid it.

The old high school was much to small. It's halls were dangerous at passing periods due to how cramped they were. It's walls, floors and ceilings were falling apart. It needed a major redo. Adding floors to building is not only finically impractable it's also from an engineering point impracticable. Plus you would not save on heating(bigger space) you would not have room for gym classes, art classes, music, ect. So you would have to add thoes individual spaces. You would not save on teachers( can't add more to already over crowded classroom) You would still have the same cost in electricity. Would need a bigger cafeteria and kitchen to handle the extra kids.... You would need a building as big as the H.S. or back to my point Brentwood H.S. The school does have a "suggestion box" it's called "coffee with K" or somthing dumb like that. With the superattendant. Dont know if he would ever pass along ideas or just kill them right then and there but it's with a shot. Also next years "senior project" pull weeds inthe property and work on the hillside. Seniors will save the school 675,000.

I'm all in favor in raising my taxes, if they stop spending my money on painting the stadium, cleaning a hill side, a new auditorium when the olds just need some very minor updates, 2 softball fields and a 'butt load of money' and videos. Better schools = better home value which = better neighbors. Raise mine 2mil but I want to see academic and athletic results! I want to see alumni make it big and give back!

In the 80's Baldwin's graduating classes were over 700 students in each class and there was enough room back then for all the students. In the 2000's we had to add on to the high school because it isn't big enough for less students.

Yes Jean, 10, 11, 12. No 9the grade. They went to the Jr. High. Times have changed... It's not the 80s any more. The high school was deplorable, now it's not, thank you school board.

I think redoing the hillside is unnecessary, but it is a great idea Michael Dobs for the senior project to pull weeds. I think we absolutely need a nurse at every school, at all times. Like someone mentioned, this is not in the secretarie's contracts. Can you imagine having to check for head lice one day? I don't think it's something they signed up for when they took their jobs. As far as the bus/transportation system. I heard that it costs somewhere in the neighborhood about $15,000 of Baldwin school district money per child to send them to an alternative school. How about those students that don't attend a Baldwin school, or the school itself contribute to those costs?

Or we can try to get Baldwin/Whitehall families to volunteer to clean up the hilside. We can work together as a community. Make a weekend of it.

Pennsylvania Cyber School just picked up another 100 Baldwin/Whitehall Students for the 2012/2013 school year.

In 2010 Whitehall, put a stop to Catholic Charities moving people into Whitehall Place. Catholic Charities is now placing people elsewhere outside of our school district, which is good but isn't going to fix what the administrators and school board is doing to our schools.

Instead of the school having that 3rd gym, they should put tables and chairs in there to make sure that they have enough places for the kids to sit at lunch.

And the parents of thoes 100 students will be very depressed when their kids grow up and live with them till they at 40, since they will have no social skills but the time they spend with their computer. And how in the Heack and you bad mouth catholic charities for trying to give people a better life. I'm glad my kids go to school with multiple races, religions, ect. I hope you teach your kids your same social skills while you home school them.

Jean Smith - Please indentify your source for the claim that, "In 2010 Whitehall, put a stop to Catholic Charities moving people into Whitehall Place." I do not remember reading that. I also assume the ACLU would have weighed in on that one. If Catholic Charities is no longer placing people into Whitehall Place, it is because it no longer fits their clients. Having no bus service or reduced bus service might have deterred them from placing people there. I cannot believe Whitehall council or the school board took any action for fear of legal problems. Source, please.

BL, go do a search on the internet for the article, I had no problem finding it last night on the net. BTW they do have bus service still up though Whitehall Place, you can look on Port Authority Bus Schedules to see that they do.

Maybe why they quit placing people up here as they did in Leland park is because they dropped on the number of people that they take Section 8 for. There is a way to get around everything and not get in trouble with the ACLU and NAACP, don't forget them because they stand up for the immigrants too now.

Wasn't it said prior also this was the only place that Catholic Charities puts immigrants and we have the highest amount of them in the state, which isn't true cause those articles were from years gone by.

Jean - On the contrary, I found articles from February and December of last year showing that Whitehall Place is a center for refugees and immigrants. Of the 1200 units, half of them are occupied by immigrants. South Hills Interfaith Ministries helps with counseling and receives a grant from Teresa Heinz to do so. It even mentions in this article that they have a special relationship with the borough manager of Whitehall. I did not find any article about Whitehall Place no longer open to subsidized housing. See,
http://baldwin-whitehall.patch.com/articles/baldwin-whitehall-a-refuge-for-many-nations

http://baldwin-whitehall.patch.com/articles/baldwin-whitehall-a-refuge-for-many-nations

http://www.mtlsd.org/district/budget/stuff/2012.13_proposed_budget_4.16.12.pdf

This is a copy of Mt Lebanon's Budget and the district in 2011-2012 spent Per Pupil Cost $             14,791 not the $11,520 that you stated before from education.com. That is more money per student then the 10,820 that you say Baldwin School spend on our students.

Jean - You wrote, "bd per a call to Whitehall Place, they don't accept Section 8 and
of the 1200 units, that is incorrect that half of them are occupied by immigrants." I refer you to an article on SHIM's website that states the occupancy figures. Here is the article you can read for yourself concerning 600 units occupied by immigrants or refugees, http://shim-center.org/programs/family-support/family-support-center/

Ask Whitehall Place if they accept subsidized housing. Section 8 is a specific type of subsidy. While they may not accept section 8, they may accept (and probably do) residents being helped with subsidies from groups like Catholic Charities. It is not Section 8 but it is subsidized housing.

Jean I'm sorry for your loss, but it sounds like it was an accident that could have happened to anyone who was driving behind her. You need to pray to God for strength to give you forgiveness for your bitterness toward the transportation department. NO ONE IS PERFECT, NOT EVEN YOU WHEN IT COMES TO DRIVING OR ANY ASPECT OF ONES LIFE. I'll pray for you too. Anyone who drives for a living will make mistakes, but they don't need someone stalking them waiting to report an error. May God bless you and bring peace within you.

First of all it isn't stalking buses when your driving on the road and they run stop signs and red lights. I usually end up following one bus or another on the way to and from the high school every day and you see them run lights and stop signs. That is dangerous when they are full of students. I don't use a cell phone nor text while driving either. I keep my eyes on the road, especially when buses pull right out in front of you because a bus didn't stop at a stop sign or red light. Yes I will report them to this district or any other district. Kids lives are important and a bus driver should not be careless while behind the wheels of a bus.

lol

If BW can't meet their budget, why did they create 2 new postions, Director of Programs, Darlene DeFilippo at a salary of $96,425 per year and Andrea Huffman to the position of director of curriculum for the entire district with an annual salary of $92,501? This is why we need to start with looking at administration first and working our way down on the cutting of spending.

Hopefully these to created positions will Director of Programs and Director of Curriculum will come up with a solution for giving our kids a better education and get back to teaching our students.

It was the people of Whitehall, Baldwin and Baldwin township that put them in office. To the ones that don't vote and complain, isn't it about time you do start to vote and make a difference for our kids to get a better education.

Janet I agree with you but since they already hired these people, i'm hoping that they can do the children justice and the teaching improves at the school.