The LuLac Edition #2520, September 18th, 2013

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WRITE ON WEDNESDAY

WVW's MOVE FROM CAREER CENTER COSTLY

The Auditor General gave a report recently on the financial impact of the move by the Wyoming Valley West School Board that cost the district a lot of taxpayer money. This district through the years has been petty, political and totally unresponsive to just plain common sense. With taxpayers stretched to the max with property taxes, a district can’t just make arbitrary decisions that will adversely impact its citizens. Whenever I see a story like this and know this could have gone a different way if there were reasonable people in charge, I just shrug my shoulders and say, this is life here in LuLac land. With all of the nepotism, indictments and shenanigans like this, I’m all for a state takeover of every school district. Fire the school directors and hire one outside administrator to handle the business. They couldn’t do any worse than the clowns (and I beg forgiveness from all clowns everywhere) in control now. Here’s that story from last week’s Citizen’s Voice.
Michael J. Mullen / Times-Shamrock
Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said that while he believed the Wyoming Valley West School District's intentions were pure, the school board must 'be sound stewards of tax dollars.'
The decision in 2009 to end its member agreement with the West Side Area Career and Technology Center resulted in the Wyoming Valley West School District paying more than $1.1 million in nonresident tuition, according to an audit from state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.
"While I am pleased to note that Wyoming Valley West School District is once again a member of the career center and is no longer paying the higher nonresident tuition, it is distressing that taxpayers are out more than $1 million that could have been better used in the district's classrooms," DePasquale said Thursday in a news release.
View the Wyoming Valley West School District audit
In April 2009, the district rejected a joint-operating agreement with the area vocational-technical school and began paying nonmember tuition for more than 300 district students, the audit said. The Dallas, Lake-Lehman, Northwest Area and Wyoming Area school districts are the other member districts of the West Side Area Career and Technology Center.
Each district has three representatives on a joint operating committee, and Wyoming Valley West sought more representatives to reflect the higher percentage of students it sent to the center.
In June 2010, the Wyoming Valley West School Board voted unanimously voted to rejoin the tech center, on a limited basis for one year, contingent on "progress toward equal representation on the Joint Operating Committee, a financing plan that encourages student participation from all districts, and long-range plan to upgrade and improve the school."
The center rejected the request, and the Wyoming Valley West School Board in August 2010 again voted against rejoining. In January 2011, the school board voted to rejoin the center, retroactive to July 2010, under the original joint operating agreement.
"While the intentions of the district may have been based upon solid concerns, it is incumbent upon the board and the management of the district to be sound stewards of tax dollars," DePasquale added. "In this case, they were not good stewards - essentially wasting more than $1 million over a dispute."
Wyoming Valley West Superintendent Charles Suppon and School Board President Gordon Dussinger did not reply to messages seeking comment Thursday.
According to the audit, management from the Wyoming Area School District "waived the opportunity to reply" to observations and recommendations in the audit.
To resolve the issues identified in the audit, DePasquale recommended that Wyoming Valley West School District:
Ensure that decisions to increase expenditures are only made after a thorough examination of potential consequences and an exploration of all possible options.
Document in board meeting minutes discussions on why increases in expenditures were approved.
Consider the taxpayers' expectation that their money will be used wisely for education when approving or rejecting agreements.
The department's Bureau of School Audits examines the records of school districts, charter schools, intermediate units and area vocational-technical schools. The audits assess whether or not school entities correctly received state subsidies and reimbursements, accurately managed taxpayer funds and complied with ethics codes. The audits also determine whether or not teachers and administrators were properly certified for the positions they held during the audit period.