Response continues to swastika incident
Consulting clergy among steps taken
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
In the nearly three months since a student scrawled a swastika into the mulch on a school playground, the Mt. Lebanon School District has taken steps to educate students and reinforce its policies of non-discrimination, superintendent Timothy Steinhauer said Monday.
“We have redoubled our efforts with students,” Mr. Steinhauer told school board members during their meeting Monday night.
Those efforts have included age-appropriate programs aimed at ensuring that all schools provide a safe and welcoming environment for all students, Mr. Steinhauer said.
“We’vehadalotofmeetings withourlocalclergy,including our rabbis” since Nov. 23, when the district discovered that a sixth-grader from Mellon Middle School was responsible for drawing a swastika in the mulch at the Washington Elementary School playground on Oct. 12, Mr. Steinhauer said.
The district learned of the incident after a photo was circulated on social media weeks afterward. Mr. Steinhauer said the district sought guidance from the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, which provided educational resources for each grade level.
“We continue to look for opportunities to be more effective,” including hosting a regional leadership training program for schools in the South Hills this summer through the Anti-Defamation League, he said.
Also Monday, the board unanimously approved a $98.9 million “preliminary, preliminary” budget that would increase school property taxes next year by 0.83 mills, bringing the current rate to 24.76 mills.
About 0.30 mills, or $15 million, of the increase is earmarked for higher costs in state pension funding. Those costs are expected to spike next year by 8.5 percent.
The state’s Act 1 index limits the district to a tax increase of no more than 2.5 percent, or a new tax rate of 24.5282 mills.
Because the proposed budget is 0.2318 mills over that cap, the district will seek exemptions from the state Department of Education for pension and special education costs.
BoardpresidentMaryBirks reminded taxpayers that the final budget, to be passed in June, may not necessarily include a tax increase of that size.
“This is a preliminary, preliminary budget,” she said.
If approved, the 0.83-mill hike would result in a tax bill next year of $4,786 for the owner of a $200,000 home, about $76 more than the homeowner paid this year.
The board also approved a school calendar for next year that delays the start of school until after Labor Day to ensure that air-conditioning installation is completed in each of the district’s seven elementary and two middle schools.
The first day of school for students is scheduled for Sept. 5,withclassesconcludingJune 14, unless snow makeup days are required.
Students will have a half day on Nov. 22, the day before Thanksgiving, with days off Nov. 23 and 24. Winter recess is set for Dec. 23-Jan. 1, and spring break will be March 28-April 2.