This is just hard to believe - or not, if you know the history of our Quite Commonly Secret District. At their February 28 meeting, QCSD directors actually voted to disregard one of the most important sections of the PA Public School Code - the requirement that votes on spending be public.
Section 5-508 states: "The affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the board of school directors, duly recorded, showing how each member voted, shall be required in order to take action on the following subjects: Entering into contracts of any kind where the amount involved exceeds one hundred dollars ($100)...Failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall render such acts of the board void and unenforceable". The law is clear - there must be a public vote to "enter into a contract".
But Superintendent Dr. Lisa Andrejko, and some directors, want her to personally make all contracts up to $25,000, which, according to Business Manager Sylvia Lenz, covers most QCSD dealings. In private. No public vote. No public notice. No public disclosure. And no way to hold individual board members accountable, in a district where spending is totally out of hand. How convenient for them!
This was in response to this column's disclosure that Andrejko had already made an improper contract with attorney Michael I. Levin to perform still-undisclosed legal work, with an undisclosed cost. My email reply to her: "They (QCSD board) can tell you anything they choose, but that doesn't change the Public School Act. The board - ANY school board - can not change the requirements of the Act. Only the state legislature can do that. And, of course, even if the limit was raised, it is almost a certainty that contracts for legal services will exceed the new limit. The problem will come when the contract is signed, but for an indefinite amount (like with Levin). How will you know ahead of time if it exceeds the new limit? At least with the low $100 figure there is certainty."
Following years of ignoring another state law, the Sunshine Act, not all directors agreed with Andrejko's scheme. Paul Stepanoff and Manuel Alfonso asked the board for a legal review. Stepanoff explained "I did not want to be part of a decision that knowingly violates the PA statutes. How can you simply decide that this law I will follow, and that one I won't? The risk is that none of our vendors will want to do business with us, knowing that their contracts may not be worth the paper they are written on. If we could change PA statutes, why not vote to abolish all state income taxes for QCSD residents?"
In response, Linda Martin (who is already under fire for circumventing district policy regarding campaigning on school property), and others on the board's secretive majority, criticized Stepanoff and Alfonso for asking to "waste" money on lawyers (although Martin et al don't seem to have a problem hiring an attorney to help them avoid the Sunshine Act). They claimed that other school districts ignore the state spending limit. Stepanoff and Alfonso replied that just because others did something illegal, it is not OK for us to blindly follow. They wanted to make sure of the legality. The board rejected any legal review, and approved the $25,000 limit.
PA Newspaper Association attorney Melissa Melewsky researched the law, and concluded "There's nothing I can find that allows this kind of procedure by a school board." State Senator Rob Wonderling really got to the heart of the matter - the issue here isn't just the law: "The school district needs to make financial decisions with full transparency, and if your analysis is correct then it is cause for concern". State Rep Paul Clymer agrees, and promises an investigation.
Andrejko, and that majority, argue that the $100 figure, which was set in 1949, is unrealistically low now. Are they right? According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, $100 in 1949 was worth $871 in 2007, the latest year reported. Throw in five percent more, and we get $915 in buying power today. Not exactly $25,000.
Our secret spenders also try to justify their actions by arguing that they still must approve payment of the bills, and that Andrejko can only contract for items already in the budget. Nonsense. Contracts over $10,000 require that bids be opened in public. The Sunshine Act requires public comment on any vote - but the vote will now come only after the contract is completed! And, bills are almost never discussed individually in public meetings. Contracts, by law, must be. As for expenditures being "in the budget", QCSD makes hundreds of budget transfers every year. There is a catch-all Fund Balance. Virtually anything could be "in the budget". Like that unexplained contract with Levin.
But even that doesn't tell the real story. The $100 limit, which didn't buy all that much for an entire school district even in 1949, was intentionally set low to prevent, by law, exactly what our directors are now trying to do - avoiding public votes on spending your money.
After learning that this column was investigating their actions, the board then decided that the legal review they had previously pooh-poohed would be a good idea after all. They have now asked their solicitor, and the PA Department of Education, for help. But the PDE, as part of the executive branch, has no authority to interpret laws. They acknowledged to TFP last year that they "would not offer a binding legal opinion". The School Code can only be changed, or interpreted, by the legislature that passed it, or the courts. And the board's solicitor is hardly unbiased. He is paid to find a way for them to do what they want.
Andrejko can certainly negotiate contract terms. But the board should then follow the law, with open discussion, public comment, and a vote that taxpayers can refer to - especially at election time. It is our only protection against Kathy Mosley, Linda Martin, Kelly Van Valkenburg, Nancy Tirjan, and Zane Stauffer, who give lip-service to openness, but, little by little, are shutting the community out of the decision-making process.