Carefully read § 2-216 of the PA School Code. Gifts to districts; investment accounts. Specifically:
Who is on the cabinet? From the Capital Campaign website:
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(c) It shall be the duty of the board of school directors to keep an accurate account of all devises, bequests, grants, endowments, gifts, and donations accepted, the income arising therefrom, the proceeds thereof, and the expenses of administering the same; and at the end of each fiscal year to render a detailed statement of such devises, bequests, grants, endowments, gifts, and donations, held and possessed by such school district, the proceeds thereof, the investments which have been made therewith, the income arising therefrom, the expenses of administration, and the purposes to which the income arising therefrom have been applied. Such statement shall be audited as hereinafter provided for the auditing of school finances.School Board Director Hugh Beal tried to pinpoint the actual start of the Capital Campaign at the last school board meeting. The superintendent said that the actual start would probably have been August 12, 2013 when Alyssa DeLuca was hired. Have the school board directors kept an accurate account of this campaign since its inception? No. Mr. Beal had to abstain from a vote since he was not informed. Has there been a detailed statement at the end of each fiscal year? No. We were in the Quiet Phase for several years. In addition, the detailed statement at the end of fiscal year 2016 keeps changing from month to month.
Mr. Beal questioned the accuracy of the 8/31/17 campaign spreadsheet and if the Administration stood by its accuracy. They did. The table above proves otherwise.
In the video clip above, Mr. Beal continues by saying that the school board should take ownership of the capital campaign. Who is in charge of the Capital Campaign? The school board? It doesn't feel like it. The Century of Excellence Campaign is definitely an internal operation, namely the Campaign Cabinet. All donations received by the school district must be approved by the school board unless the Board has given the superintendent the authority to accept donations on its behalf. Most boards formally vote to accept all donations and gifts over a certain amount (i.e. $1000) and allow the superintendent to accept small gifts and report them as information items on a monthly basis. The acceptance and fiscal management of all donations should be being captured by the District's auditors.
Who is on the cabinet? From the Capital Campaign website:
And the District Representatives?
This is the only report that I am aware of, presented on November 21, 2016.
https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aq7yK_oWz4yC4nXTvWo7HI8LBF4p PowerPoint is available here. Had the timeline been placed on the school district website as promised by under PA Ethics Commission investigation School Board President Mary Birks, and Superintendent Steinhauer, with one of his goals - improve communication with community stakeholders, we would be able to see that the school board directors had not been informed for months at a time of the progress of the Capital Campaign. I am still waiting for the timeline to be released through a Right To Know.
School Board Directors Riemer, Strotmeyer, Olbrich, and Beal have been chastised by this group for asking too many questions.
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| Dan Remely, Mary Birks, Elaine Cappucci, Katie Caste |
Bottom line - the Century of Excellence Capital Campaign is in violation of § 2-216 of the PA School Code. Gifts to districts; investment accounts.