Oh, and the comments made on the news by the football booster pres. tell me that nobody's let him know of ANY school related bad behavior or ANY police involvment with any football players. That's wrong.

I was appalled at the comments of School Board President Magill saying he needed to "start" watching expenditures...where has he been for the last 6 years? Or is it more?

Yes, priorities are eschew at Gateway...too bad the school's ACADEMIC stardom has not risen along side the football star..why are the two mutually exclusive? Why do questions regarding duties of the asistant to the assistant coach threaten the entire football program...those assistants must do far more than we know. The upcoming board meeting should be a good one as the latest news is an obvious ploy to bring out the "rabid football " parents...onward and upward Gateway!

It is simply a stunt to get the real issues off the school board table. I am sure the football program will get what they want based on the make-up of the board. Seems like it is more of a stunt to drown out other more important issues concerning the lesser known programs such as the community outreach and computer aides, which probably get more students exposure to their ultimate careers. Hopefully we can find balance in a budget for a School district that has apparently given up on the "Blue Ribbon" aspirations. There is a lot of school pride tied up in the football program, but we also put a lot of dollars into the program. From a strictly budgetary approach, atheletic programs certainly get their share. I would certainly like to see the total cost by department of the athletics department compared to the business, sciences, music, human services, etc including the trainers, insurance costs, security, etc. If we are cutting personnel at the school, is the public really informed where the money goes? The budgets that I have seen seems to break things up to functional units that distrubute the costs in a manner that are not all that easy to assess. Good luck with that budget, I hope the results best prepare our children for their futures.

The point is that this is a public forum set up for such discussion (hence most of the other posts). I doubt if any elected official reads this discussion and if so would not pay attention to it. They make up their own minds with the hard information presented to them and the input from their constituency (or least I hope to think so). My posts are just opinion based on the point in time they were posted. If you do not like opinions to be posted on a message board, don't read them or perhaps you should ask the Times Express to eliminate such message boards from their web site. Post your thoughts, if you like. I doubt if one person's opinion on a message board is affecting anyone's life, but the school budget certainly has immediate impacts on real people and the future of the children of Monroeville. The decisions should be based on examination of all options. Perhaps we create a voluntary school funds earmarked for the special programs to support those programs which are meaningful to the children's education for all the non-acedemic activities. A little out of the box thinking may solve our problem. When the pie isn't big enough, we should be getting more pie - not fighting over a smaller than expected pie.

You mean cut athletics OUT of the budget all together! You aren't from Western PA are you? Are you even American?!! OMG! That'll be the day
(and what a glorious day it could be!)

Not what I had in mind, but seems like it might be for the greater good. Would make the budget a lot easier to balance and our libertarian friends would be quite happy (Let those that support it pay for it). But in the case of the major sports, you certainly could get a constituency to support them based on the parent and alumni support. But I certainly know enough people that feel the same about competitive sports programs being paid for by school taxes as the Quakers feel about paying taxes for military spending. Just the same, I feel they could probably finance the sports programs through other means, as they are highly popular (Just not profitable). You just may see the team running around with AIG or Eat at Joe's on their shirts instead of Gateway or a stadium the is named for Cochran instead of a past coach. I know the band sells a lot of things to finance their pursuits. It can be done and I am sure others have done it, it just can't be done on short notice or without someone with some swagger to drive it. (Sorry thought you'd like - I don't have the swagger or the political ambition)

I think Coach Smith expressed himself well last night. Probably had reason to feel a little paranoid. Time to move forward.

The meeting was not only interesting it was a joke. Publicity stirred up the football parents to attend the meeting to defend Coach Smith whose position was probably never really in jeopardy. The question remains as to why the Board delayed in confirming Smith until last night, and why did they eject their constituents from the meeting last PM? It was a travesty of the sunshine laws...if you attended the meeting you could not participate BECAUSE there were too many people and the Board refused to move the meeting to accomadate the crowd. Shame on You Gateway!

I have to agree with Jane Q above. The Board knew that this meeting was going to attract a lot of attention and people. When they started the meeting, they saw how many people were there (as well as the the media), but did not make a comment. When they came out of the executive session, they hid behind the Monroeville Police and forced most of the people out. Why were the police needed inside? Up until the time they threw everyone out it was very peaceful.
This whole thing could have been avoided if the current board would learn to communicate with the public and not act like they are part of a secret society. They could have communicated better to Terry Smith. They could have communicated better to the media, they could have communicated better to us, the people who elected them. To push the blame on Terry Smith is just a smokescreen. The fact is he or any of his coaches did not have a contract to coach and the board did not seem to be in a hurry to vote.
Finally, I think Paying Attention should get a new handle. Obviously they are not paying attention and do not speak the facts. The comments made about the Booster president were ignorant and misguided. I would like for one example in the past year of ANY football player be involved with a Police officer? As for Bad School behavoir, that is a district wide issue with all students not just football players. Learn the facts before you say something about a guy who volunteers his time all year round to support the team.

The comment is not about the guy who volunteers his time, the comment is about what truths are told to him about the team he supports.

Bad judgment and immoral behavior of 5 (some star) players together in May which I won't go into. Ask coach about that why dontcha, and see what reaction you get.

Criminal behavior of 3 people over last calendar year. So saying they are all free of trouble was simply wrong. Some are great kids, and some are not. Don't make them all hero saints.

And since we're on the subject of "wrong," saying he was going to be fired on news/tv was a set up. It was never on the agenda, it was never an issue, and Smith knew exactly why the assist to assistant coaches were tabled. There were no job descriptions. His fault. He agreed so himself last night.

It was discussed directly with him in a public board meeting during the past month. Recorded.

He stirred up his followers, misled them, and used them to make a show and speak their minds in support of "saving" him when there was no reason. All show. Unprofessional.

I would think that we need to put this in perspective. If you didn't like how your boss was acting and decided to contact the paper and did not discourage a mob from decending on your place of work, would you expect to keep your job?

I understand the motivation, but not the action. Next time the science department gets only a few dollars a student for lab supplies, do you think he or she should go to the media?

I am sure my children learned a valuble lesson in priorities of our education system and how to manipulate the system. This could be replayed as a case study for media relations topic at the high school. I bet it would lead to a very lively discussion.

You are exactly on point with your analysis of the Smith/School Board debacle. Smith is an employee, and while he has free speech rights, one exercises those rights at their peril. In this case, Smith seemed to call the Superintendent and Board members a bunch of liars and worse. If one of the employees who worked for me did what he did, they would be gone on the spot.

Shame on Smith for his behavior, but even worse is the failure of the Board to make him accountable for it. The Board is afraid of those gang tactics and all of the yelling and finger-pointing. It is too bad that a small group of people are giving our district such a bad name. Our school district should be about academics first. It used to be, and we still had a good football team. Smith is not the only person who can coach football.

I say get a new Board, fire Smith and expel the kids attending our schools while they live in Penn Hills, Wilkinsburg, Pittsburgh and various other locales.

Smith: yank any bonusses he's been given. Sanction him for being a malcontent and for stirring up trouble.

And certainly, if science teachers are not given enough money, they should organize protest and go to the media because this is a SCHOOL DISTRICT and if they cannot do their jobs well due to lack of funding THAT is a news story while this is not.

Smith needs a reality check. He is a supplemental. Period. An extra in an educational setting. But he acts like he's the whole deal and brainwashes those kids to think that without him, they have no future.

They could NEVER get to college on their own. They are that low.

They could NEVER get the grades, they could never get scholarships, and they could never get loans just like any other kid. He is the messiah.

Anyone following this load of crap should quit going to church right now because you've found a new savior and put him above all else. Above school, above reason, above thinking for yourselves.

For someone who says he is trying to advance kids, he needs to start over. Teach them humility and about where they fit into society (nowhere until they start helping OTHER people and quit being all about themselves.)

Lets be completely honest, Terry Smith's only concern is the football program and his own motives. He was hired as the AD but with what qualifications and what athletic administrative experience? And don't tell me that being an assistant college football coach at Duquesne quailifies you to be an AD. He does little to nothing for the other athletic programs and he relies on the "facilties manager" to do his job. The focus at Gateway, which was once academics, has turned to the Football Program and Terry Smith. I guarantee that if the right college opportunity comes along, Terry Smith will be gone. This is nothing more than a stepping stone for his own career.