C. Dean Galitsis – 11/20/06

This page was last updated on November 20, 2006.

Rochester grant merited; Dr. C. Dean Galitsis, Superintendent - Rochester Area School District; Beaver County Times; November 20, 2006.

I assume the “Dr.” title means Mr. Galitsis has a Ph.D. in something, not an M.D.

Though I didn’t critique it, Mr. Galitsis wrote a letter (“Big ideas must come first,” March 15^th) earlier this year defending Messrs. LaValle & Veon and BIG. It appears the letter is no longer on the Times website.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“A recent editorial stated that the $1.2 million in grants for the Rochester Area football stadium was based on the ‘whim’ of state legislators.

“First, approximately half of the grant is for the turf, and the remainder is for the other improvements to the overall recreational facility, such as the tennis courts, basketball courts, etc.

“Next, the editorial indicated that grants should be based on need. The Rochester Area School District is third from the bottom in the county in terms of budget. One mill brings in a whopping $70,000, fourth from the bottom in the county.

“Football stadiums are the same size, but available funds are completely different from district to district. Some districts raise $2.8 million per mill; ours raises $70,000.

“Which school district could more easily raise $600,000 for turf?”

[RWC] Everything Mr. Galitsis wrote so far is irrelevant to the issue of state taxpayers footing the bill for local responsibilities.

“Should the legislators of our district have helped those districts instead of Rochester?”

[RWC] Nope. No one should get state taxpayer dollars for local responsibilities.

“What is your definition of ‘need’?”

[RWC] Though he has a Ph.D., Mr. Galitsis chooses not to distinguish between “need” and “want.” We don’t “need” high school football fields; we “want” them.

“Could we have raised funds from our own budget? Possibly, but charter school spending will have cost Rochester nearly $800,000 by the end of the 2006-2007 school year, and that’s only for these last three school years.”

[RWC] You have to love this, from an education official no less. Mr. Galitsis complains that $800,000 has to go to educating kids instead of being available to spend on artificial turf and other “recreational facility” improvements.

So far, I haven’t heard about any attempts to share football fields with a neighboring school district. Both Freedom and New Brighton football fields are within “a stone’s throw” of Rochester’s field, and Monaca is right across the river. I could be mistaken, but I believe Monaca shared its field briefly with Center in the mid-1960s.

I also didn’t hear anything about raising funds from private sources.

Finally, I didn’t hear anything about merging with another district. After all, it sounds like Rochester is too small to function independently.

“The legislators from the Rochester Area - state Rep. Mike Veon and state Sen. Gerald LaValle - tried to help one of the poorest districts in the county apply for grants to fix a 50-year-old facility.

“I fail to see a whim there. By the way, our football team plays rather well, despite coming from a poor district.”

[RWC] Another good sign for an education official. Mr. Galitsis tells us the Rochester “football team plays rather well, despite coming from a poor district,” but never mentions his district’s academic performance.

Using Mr. Galitsis’ logic, if someone wants to replace a gravel driveway with concrete but can’t afford it, he should be able to pick the pockets of his neighbors.