Steel+Valley+Superintendent+Criticizes+Corbett's+Proposed+Budget

=By Staci Lee= =//Published in the McKeesport Daily News//= =//4/20/11//= = = = = =Steel Valley School District superintendent Dr. William Kinavey said he believes Gov. Tom Corbett`s proposed education cuts are part of the new governor`s future plan to force school districts to merge.= ="We have 500 school districts in this state alone," he said Tuesday night. "His idea is to merge us into districts of 250. He cuts our budget by $2.4 million. If we don`t merge this year, Year 2, 3 and 4 are probably going to be worse. How are we going to survive unless we take drastic steps? He wants that number cut down and he`s going to target lower economic areas that have difficulty. You have school districts in this county alone that have 600 kids in their whole school district. He`s going to force mergers."= =Kinavey urged residents to start calling lawmakers about the possible education cuts.= ="If you don`t, I don`t see them making a change," he said.= =Kinavey sent a letter home to parents with the legislators` names, and it is available on the district`s website.= =Kinavey said having to give 153 teachers possible furlough notices on April 8 was one of the worst days of his career.= =He said he received 12 layoff letters himself when he was a teacher at Steel Valley years ago.= ="I know what it`s like," Kinavey said. "It`s heart-wrenching. It`s stressful."= =Kinavey said Diana L. Borges, district director of pupil personnel and special services/elementary education, and Ed Colebank, district director of academics, information and technology, addressed the elementary and secondary teachers while he addressed the Franklin Primary Center teachers on the possible furloughs.= ="They were all brought into the office and hand delivered a letter stating that there`s a possibility," Kinavey said. "They signed for it. At the bottom of the letter, it said if you have any questions concerning this you can contact the superintendent`s office."= =He said only one teacher contacted his office.= ="We have in our union contract checkerboard realignment, which is a huge nightmare," Kinavey said. "I had until April 30 to distribute these letters. I chose to be proactive and get them out as soon as possible."= =He said if the district does have to furlough teachers, it will be based on seniority and certification.= =Kinavey said he was advised to send all the teachers a furlough letter because of the number of cuts the district must consider.= ="I have known a lot of these teachers for 13 years," resident Jan Blazevich said. "I have a lot of respect for them. I think they deserved a little more respect as well, to not be (deserving of) mass hysteria with 153 notices all at one time. I don`t know if that was out of your control or not."= ="I`m protecting the district because I don`t want to miss someone and then the taxpayers of this town are paying a teacher $90,000 to come back and there`s nothing for him or her to do," Kinavey said.= ="In that scenario, the bigger sin would have been the person who might have ended up getting bumped and might not have been notified properly," school Director Michael Terrick said.= =School board president Beth Cannon said the district already has had to cut six custodians and six paraprofessional jobs.= ="It`s heartbreaking," she said.= =Resident Judy Delu asked whether any Steel Valley administrators received layoff notices.= =Kinavey said all nine administrators are under an Act 93 plan. He said if their positions were eliminated, it would be done at a school board meeting.= ="However, they also have bumping rights," Kinavey said. "A principal could just bump right back into the classroom."= =Kinavey said the current district fund balance is negative $621,000.= =In addition, the district recently got word that the Allegheny County Board of Property Assessments Appeals and Review reassessed a U.S. Steel property at 800 E. Waterfront Drive at $14 million, down from $19 million. The district now owes the company $535,000.= =Solicitor Donald Fetzko said he attended a hearing on to argue that the property assessment board shouldn`t hear it, but neither he nor the school district received notification of the decision.= ="They shouldn`t have heard it at all for those years," Fetzko said. "That property was appealed and there was an appeal pending in the Court of Common Pleas on the same lot by the previous owners."= =District business manager Mark Cherpak said he received notice earlier this month from a U.S. Steel representative.= =School directors will discuss the possibility of an appeal.= =Fetzko said the school district has a total of $98 million of property tax assessment appeals in county courts. He said a large section of the Waterfront is under appeal.= = = = Read more: [|Steel Valley superintendent criticizes Corbett’s proposed budget - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] [] =

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