Letter To The Editor: ECASD School Board

Dear EC Tax Payers,

After 12 years on the Ellwood City Area School District Board, I am stepping down to pursue other endeavors.  I do so with a great deal of pride and satisfaction of our accomplishments. From major renovations to safety improvements; from our commitment to technology in the classroom to our STEAM initiative … the list goes on.

As with any elected position, not all board decisions are popular.  Take our decision several years ago to move to grade-level schools and closing Walnut Ridge. The change was met with much opposition, but, being on the School Board is not a popularity contest.  It was a tough decision, however, in the end, the decision was correct – both educationally and financially.

Like it or not, the financial well-being of our District has to be considered in board decisions. The Ellwood City Area School District is not unique in this regard. With an aging community, population decline and shrinking tax base, our District has to do more with less.  I believe our Superintendent, Mr. Joe Mancini, and his administrative team has done an excellent job in this new reality.  Through cost saving initiatives and securing grants, our administration has saved the District millions of dollars and I applaud them for their efforts.

With approximately 90 percent of our budget being committed to fixed costs – we have very little flexibility on spending.  Of course, the vast majority of those expenses are for the salaries, benefits, and pensions of our teachers and support staff.  Negotiating fair and fiscally responsible contracts with our support staff (cafeteria, maintenance, custodial, aides and secretaries) and teachers is imperative for the financial future of the District.

Negotiations with our support staff have been taking place for almost three years.  As chair of the Board’s negotiating committee, I worked with our team to create a plan to save the District $2 million.  The plan included sub-contracting our cafeteria operations — like many other districts. Again, these are NOT easy decisions but are necessary to maintain the long term viability of the District. This plan was rejected by the union.

More recently, the District introduced an alternative plan that could save over $1 million and keep all cafeteria jobs.  This plan was also rejected by the union.

It is obvious to anyone familiar with our situation, the union representing our support staff is stalling until after the upcoming election.  With me “retiring” from the Board, there is at least one seat open.  The union is continuing what it started in the last election — funding campaigns of certain candidates to control a majority of the Board. It seems like a conflict of interest to me.

Back during the spring primaries, and again in October, I received a very nice, professionally designed and printed, full color, glossy, direct mail piece.  It was supporting two local candidates for School Board – Gary Rozanski and Jean Biehls.  It certainly caught my attention. The piece sure was a lot nicer than my old campaign signs I got at Lark Enterprises or Leroy Cortez’s homemade plywood signs!

Our signs, however, stated one important fact  – “Paid for by Candidate.”  This slick direct mail piece said something quite different — “Paid for by Local 32BJ PA American Dream Fund.”  The SEIU 32BJ is the very union we are trying to negotiate a new contract with.  Again, seems like a conflict of interest to me.

How can school board members make sound, unbiased, often difficult, decisions in the best interest of the Ellwood City School District when political favors are owed?  They can’t.   No wonder Ms. Biehls spoke out against a proposed Conflict of Interest Policy for the District at the last school board meeting.

The Ellwood City Area School District, like most districts, is facing major economic challenges.  With a budget deficit of over a million dollars, it is imperative for the District to negotiate fair, responsible, and sustainable contracts with both our teacher’s union and our support staff union.  We can’t continue to spend more than what we have coming in.  Again, tough decisions have to be made!!  If the District can’t get a fair contract that it can afford to pay for into the future – the other options will be to cut programs for our kids and raise taxes.

Please keep this in mind when you head to polls in November.

Sincerely,

Mike Neupauer
519 Line Ave.
Ellwood City, PA 16117
724.758.9742