Dear Sir,
After witnessing the production of “Sherwood,” at the Tyrone Area High School last Saturday, I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised.
The casting, scenery, accompaniment, stage hands, wardrobe, electricians and above all the direction was exceptional. I am very sure that Will Jones should feel very proud that his work was put to good use.
Working with such a large cast was a real challenge.
Keep up your good work TCP.
Sincerely,
Morris Levine
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I have always felt we should never stop learning. There is always so much to absorb and dissect —to change or accept, and often, to question. At last Tuesday’s Tyrone School Board meeting, we, The Snyder Township and Vicinity Citizens learned so much. We learned our school superintendent who is usually a jolly good fellow with smiles and handshakes all around, can be very snappy and snarly when confronted with controversial issue he does not choose to discuss nor permit the Tyrone School Board to discuss. At this September’s board meeting, the superintendent (a school district employee) told us Snyder Township tax payers that we could not ask questions of any school board member (our governing body)! He later amended his order to permit the board to answer written and signed questions. We complied with that directive. We then learned even more. The school board secretary, sent us a letter a week after she gave the letter to The Daily Herald which did not answer most of our questions. Why will they not answer? What is there to hide?
At the next board meeting, we again handed in our questions to the governing body. Again we received our answers, or lack of answers from the superintendent (a school employee). Why? The questions we asked were not so hard to answer. We wanted facts, not the stonewalling we got. “Why can’t the board speak for itself and answer? The school board is held accountable for any decisions they make, whether they’re made to please the superintendent or for the good of the community.
Tuesday’s meeting was “putting the cart before the horse”. The public meeting with Pyramid representatives should have been held seven months before the contract with the school district was surreptitiously signed in August. There was plenty of time to do this. We are denied information about how much involvement the school board had in this matter before they yessed it. Two members of our concerned citizens group searched the boards own minutes for the previous year and found no mention of Pyramid at all. If there was discussion with board members, shouldn’t something that would have such a tremendous impact on the surrounding community be recorded? Before approving this agreement, board members should have checked on Pyramid’s financial records, existing schools and their success rate, the sire being used and the impact on this quiet residential village of elderly taxpayers. Also they should have checked complaints from residents near the homes Pyramid now operates. How many times have police been called to those homes?
Pyramid admits it is a for profit business, but deals mostly with alcohol and drug dependency. They are now expanding to the lucrative business of adolescent group homes. Right now, the few students at Greentree from Tyrone return to their homes at night. What happens when 30-50 boys 12 to 18 years old, with big problems live there permanently? Pyramid admits, the boys will come from anywhere they can get them. When asked who is responsible for these boys if they walk away from the home both Pyramid and our superintendent say they can’t be responsible if the boys leave. Who is responsible? In a recent article in The Altoona Mirror, the state department which oversees these homes, said they have difficulty keeping track of physical and sexual abuse by staff and residents in group homes. They rely on home operators to report such incidents. Can you imagine a “for profit” business reporting anything detrimental? Most complaints and information about such places come from parents or the residents. One mother reported she placed her daughter in a “safe group home” hoping it would help the girl. She was horrified to find out her daughter was raped at that supposedly safe home. Did our superintendent and board members read this report? Ask them.
Pyramid gives a glowing account of the success rate they have in building the self esteem of these students from Tyrone. Now we ask you, if you were pot out of your own school because you were considered a problem, how much self esteem would you have? We asked the board why, since Pyramid claims they are teaching these students so well, those teachers can’t teach them here in their own schools.
We have so many truly dedicated, hard working teachers here who deserve consideration also. At September’s board meeting, we suggested to the school board that with the declining enrollment, they could eliminate one-third of their administrative staff and use the money to hire more teachers and avoid pupil overload so teachers could give more time to each student. No need to say, this suggestion was also firmly ignored. The large crowd attending Tuesday’s meeting was disturbed that Pyramid’s slides and presentation (which should have been presented before August) took up most of the hour allotted to the taxpayers. We have heard their PR a number of times already.
Then we were told the subject of Pyramid is closed — period.
It may be to Dr. Miller and the board, but not to the community who will hold this administration and board to accountability. The Concerned Citizens of Snyder Township and Vicinity will continue to attend all board meetings and keep our own minutes of the proceedings for the record.
So many questions, so few answers! But life goes on and we are still learning. We learned about our superintendent and school board have not learned what democracy is about! We learned we could sue the board if we didn’t like what we did. An interesting proposal, but how sad, unneighborly, and unchristian.
Helen Mengel
Snyder Township
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Editor’s Note: This letter was written to Tyrone School Board President Lee Stover and a copy was provided to The Daily Herald by the writer.
Dear Mr. Stover,
Thank you for responding to my inquiries concerning the contract with Pyramid. However, some of my original questions were not answered and I now have some additional ones as follows:
Contract compliance
Your response to my contract compliance issue that the district solicitor reviewed and approved the contract on August 12, 2002 does not address contract compliance but rather that the contract includes appropriate language supporting both parties objectives and it can be legally enforced. As we all know, Pyramid was in violation of the current contract on August 26, 2002 per paragraph number 3- “assurance of conformance with educational standards”. Eleven violations were identified by the Department of Labor and Industry inspection which was done based on the concern of our local citizens.
What is the position of the school district or plan to assure that all aspects of the contract is in compliance? Who is responsible for contract compliance? Has the school district notified Pyramid of the contract violation? Have you requested a corrective action plan with a specific timetable for compliance? I know that Labor and Industry has given them until January 6, 2003 to comply with the 11 violations but what has the school administration taken? Are there other contract issues?
The time to assure compliance in a contract is at the beginning. Both parties are interested in establishing a positive, trusting, results oriented relationship. I believe this interest exists but I see no action by either party to assure compliance. Anything left unattended naturally deteriorates. It is management’s challenge to stop this natural process. In my opinion, if we can’t start in compliance, it will only deteriorate over time with inattention.
It raises the compliance question of all contracts signed by the Tyrone School District. This is a critical issue and I would appreciate your action and response. Does the school district have a code or procedure covering contract administration.
In your response to me you wonder my concern for the elderly that resided there if the buildings were not in compliance. My position is the same, the facility should meet all codes or standards in both cases. I believe strongly that how the owners/managers address these type issues is one indication of their real intentions. Secondly, this just serves as an example of the natural deterioration that occurs over time. Obviously, we need more than state and local enforcement to assure compliance. Contract administration is a critical function of a contracting agent like the Tyrone School District.
Cost control
Your response to the cost/fees for Pyramid’s services question, indicate that it is addressed on page three of the contract. The copy of the contract that I received from Cathy peachy does not have the $24.90 for regular education and $76.00 for special education that you included in your letter to me dated September 27, 2002. Is there an addendum to the contract or a different page three than that which I received? What are the costs for the therapeutic and residential care which are also part of the contract? Are the per diem costs included as part of the contract? Under what circumstances can they raise these rates? Are they fixed for the life of the contract?
I appreciate your response to my request for quotation inquiry and the reference to Section 807.1 of the Pennsylvania School Code indicating the services are not required to be bid or quoted. However, I would hope that we as a school district would be striving for “Best Practices” versus meeting minimum code requirements. I can assure you that only public or government organizations have this type of language in their purchasing/contracting procedures. Single sourcing of cost plus contracts result in higher costs. I know there are other suppliers of the services requested and competitive bidding is a best practice.
The calculated cost savings provided for the six students of $60,074.59, I understand based on average cost of $50.45 per day. But, if you look at the total cost to the district now for 18 students at 50.45 per day for 180 days, it is $163,278 versus $113,560.59 for six students last year. We are already spending $50,000 more this year than last. Where is this extra money coming from? Should we not be asking ourselves how or why we have gone from six students in 2001 to 18 students in 2002? A 300 percent increase? What has happened? I can’t believe that the incoming class has changed that drastically. Have the criteria for identifying these students changed? I would appreciate your input.
Sunshine act
Based on your response in your October 8, 2002 letter to me, the board minutes that I received, particularly the August 13, 2002 session did not comply with your response: “(3.) a description of the substance of official actions taken and a record of how each school director voted; and (4.) the names of citizens who spoke ad the subject of their comments.” My copy of the minutes did not indicate how each school director voted nor mentioned any citizens that spoke. I have interpreted your response that you believe that they comply with this act. Am I missing something or did I not get a copy of the correct meeting minutes?
There is no intention to question Ms. Emenhiser’s credibility, we just wanted to see how each board member voted by getting a copy of the meeting minutes. This information was not in the minutes received and other than your letter response on how she voted, we still do not know how each member voted. However, I would question Ms. Emenhiser’s ability to participate objectively in any discussion or action involving Pyramid being a Pyramid employee.
Performance measurements/results
The staff to client ratio that Ms. Emenhiser mentioned of 14 staff to 15 clients sounds good and has been used quite often by Pyramid management as an indication of the quality of care provided. I prefer to look at quantitative data, results and trends. With 14 staff at Greentree for 15 clients, how can boys run away regularly without them knowing they are missing? The boys have run through our property several times, we call and inform Pyramid, they thank us, they tell us they will advise their counselor. With a one on one ratio as you and Pyramid describe, how can this happen? You see, results are the only thing that I am looking for. How do you think the elderly residents living nearby feel about their property and security? Do you think they are looking forward to up to 40 boys being residents with three counselors overnight with what is happening with only daytime students?
You indicated that the students are receiving competent services and are exhibiting significant progress. How do you measure progress? What are the performance measurements/goals established for students at Pyramid? What statistics do you have or does Pyramid have showing the results of their treatment/care? How many or what is the trend of students getting back on track? Able to function in a “normal environment”? I agree that these students need help, my question is “What are we getting or what do we expect from this investment?” There are reports due from Pyramid, I am requesting a copy of these reports to the school district.
I apologize for the length of this letter but I am very interested and concerned about the four areas identified: Competent compliance, cost control, availability of information, and performance measurements. I believe we have the same objectives of doing the best for the students of the Tyrone School District. I want to make sure that our actions support the objective. Thanks for reading and listening, I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Ed Schenck
