Excellence

"High Achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation." - Charles Kettering



Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Any Suggestions?

I'm asking my readers to submit ideas for questions which they would like posed to the school board candidates. I'm planning a "Meet the Candidates" article the month prior to the April election. I know the kinds of questions I'd like to see the answers to, the questions I've answered for past articles and candidate forums, etc. But I'm curious as to whether the questions I'd like to ask coincide with the ones you, the community members, want to see asked as well. So here's your chance. Submit one question each by February 1. Please keep it serious. I really am curious about this and would like to make sure the article meets the needs of the public.

Thanks!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Qs. on their views on 4k

Mike said...

I would like to know their stance on spending within the district, and if they plan on cutting or adding programs.

Cathy Smith said...

Science and technology is undergoing rapid discovery. Yet, most students only come into contact with this level of advanced understanding when they switch on their iPod. What are the major shortfalls of our local science curriculum and how do you plan to change them?

Anonymous said...

Please clarify this comment left on the gazette. I was under the impression we had been paying all along and it would be paid for by 2016

Katy said...

There are so many misconceptions regarding school funding and finance that sometimes they seem to be urban legend with a life of their own. Since I served on the ECSD finance committee for three years as a board member, I am probably more qualified than most to discuss the details of the district debt service. When the school took out the $20 million loan for building the HS and various improvements across the district, they financed it in a "backloaded" fashion. You can look at the Evansville Observer blog
http://evansvilleobserver.blogspot.com/

to see a post of the debt structure for the district to better follow this explanation. A backloaded debt repayment schedule means that the payment schedule has ever increasing amounts due each year instead of equally distributed amounts each year. The district was poised on the cusp of a growth bubble when the loan was written. It was logical to the finacial people at that time (not me, I didn't serve until 2007) to structure the payments this way because our district enrollment grew every year. More students meant more state funding to apply to the loan each year.

Unfortunately, a perfect storm of events has transpired since 2001 to bollux up the works. The growth bubble of 2003-2006 has flattend or turned into a slight loss in enrollment. Property values have decreased. The economy has gone into the sewer. The state aid has flattened and may even decrease in the near future. Payments on the loan have increased from about $1 million a year in the first years up to about $2.7 million this year. The final payment on the loan (due in 2020) will be over $4 million dollars. Since the other parts of the school budget don't typically decrease over time, the only way to keep the tax bill down is to pray for an increase in enrollment. Despite what you've heard about separation of church and state, a lot of praying goes on in a school board budget session. Increased enrollment, however, is a two edged sword, because at some point, the district will outgrow the current facilities. All in all, the back-loaded repayment schedule that seemed like such a fine idea in 2000 has come home to bite the district in the ass. The Observer predicted it way back in 2006. I was worried more each year I served on the board as I saw the enrollment flatten, then decrease. This could really hurt ECSD in the very near future. Let's hope cool heads prevail come budget time.

So whoever posted on the Gazette was misinformed. The district has paid on their loan since 2001, but the amount owed has increased every year. The final payment of over $4 million is due in 2020.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for clarifying the post that was left on the Gazette. I was hoping they were wrong. Regardless it is not a pretty picture.

Mike said...

Thank you for that explanation, very informative. What is ECSD? I would also like to know how we plan on funding building more new homes through our construction class? What are the future plans on how we are going to approach the projects the course will work on? On that same note, how much has the building of new homes have we sold/ still owe money on? and lastly, if we are losing/ spending large amounts of money on these projects what is the future plans? Meaning will they be reduced or will they be continued to be funded?

Katy said...

ECSD is Evansville Community School District.

I apologize for using unexplained acronyms. When I first was elected to the board in 2007, I felt barraged by an alphabet soup of educator-ese. I gradually acclimated over the years and now find myself guilty of the same annoying tendancies I found so frustrating in 2007.

When the building trades class was reimplemented at the High School three years ago after a 25-30 year hiatus, the board wisely placed a limit on the program. The district may not start a new home if two homes are on the books. The house built in 09-10 has not yet sold. They are currently building another house. The board was torn about continuing the project in full for the 10-11 school year, but two factors played into going forward with a full home build this year. The first is that the decision point needed to purchase land for the house has to be made by July or early August at the latest in order to have the site ready for building in September. This really doesn't allow much time for a house to be on the market in this horrendous realty environment. Secondly, the students enrolled in the 10-11 course expected to have a home building experience. It was presented as such and would have been a real disappointment to the students if a lesser project was provided at such a late date. This year they are prepared to inform the students at registration that the class may have a different goal next year. If neither of these homes sell by Spring, or the latest time needed to buy property on which to build the next home, another project must be planned in order to offer the class. One idea that was floated at the school board meeting on January 24th was to finish the basements in the two houses on our books. They would probably consult with Lori Allen, the realtor, as to how much value added could be expected on these houses by these upgrades and compare that to how much it would cost to complete the work. The Board is taking a conservative approach while trying to maintain this excellent program. It is one of Evansville's shining stars. It may be a big disappointment to students who wished to have a full home building experience. It is better to continue the program with a less encompassing curriculum than to lose it entirely because all of the Fund 10 Balance Assets have been gobbled up in real estate.

Mike said...

Here’s a thought, the Menomonie high school has a trades class as well, they advertise to the surrounding communities to build sheds/ small projects for cost of materials. I do not know the numbers on the course, but it may be worth looking into if we find ourselves short on the budget for the course.

Katy said...

Mike: You have a lot of very good ideas. I hope you consider running for school board sometime soon. My suggestion to the board a few years ago when a house wasn't selling was to look at habitat for humanity and team with local builders to do a project with that charity. Win win win, as far as I could see. Then the house sold and the immediacy for an alternative went away. With your idea, kids could also get a sense for the business end of the building trades as well. It would be a great experience and very encompassing in nature.

Mike said...

Actually I have thought about running; however I want to become more informed before I do. I believe we are doing some very good thing here in Evansville, and our kids are growing into some very healthy and productive/ successful adults. I do feel strongly we need to continue/ improve on protecting our tax payer’s investments (money towards our children’s future). A very good friend of mine said that it is good to learn from our mistakes, but it’s even better to learn from someone else’s mistake. I believe the same could be said with successes. We need to always be looking for ways to improve how we spend our money by always looking to get the most out of our dollars.
One last thought for you, the online high school subject could be the answer we are all looking for both ends of this discussion. We should start looking at the options for our students to do both online and attend. Most (if not all) colleges are doing this and finding a way for it to make fiscal sense. I think we should be looking at this very closely. I do not know the implications this means for state and federal aid, but it SHOULD be embraced by the district and used to our advantage.