School Board Packet

Well, I was gone this weekend and biffed on posting the link to the packet. It's always late anyway, and this month was no different, not getting packets before the weekend to review has been a bit hectic. I linked to the whole packet so you can see all the data that is being reviewed tonight. They throw all the achievement data at the board at once: MAP, WKCE, AP, ACT, PLAN, EXPLORE and if that doesn't make your eyes glaze over in sheer data blitz-krieg fashion, they're throwing in a few ways to look at the budget that is entirely foreign to everyone involved. If that doesn't get them, then the "analysis" by the superintendent regarding enrollment, funding and equalized property values compared to like-sized districts, conference mates and other local districts will be the kill shot. I call this the annual data-blitz meeting. Usually, it's only achievement data. This year, to add a bit of spice to life, they've included budget and enrollment "trends" to the mix. Last year, the board asked them not to do all the data at once again, as it is overwhelming to look at all the data at one time. "Could we get this in smaller chunks next time?" Apparently not.

It will be interesting to me what topics come up for discussion and which ones will become a "back burner" item due to sheer volume of data being sifted through? Based on what I choose to cover in the paper, I'll address the other items here. There's more than enough to go around!
M

Ohio Voters Speak Loudly

Good grief, it's snowing like crazy outside (I just noticed). I shouldn't complain because I managed to make it all the way through fall soccer season without enduring one flake of the stuff, but I hate winter. I guess I better secure boots for my various kids!

Back to Ohio. Their Governor tried the same thing ours did with public sector unions, but put it to a vote of the people. They also included all public sector employees, not singling out those who belonged to a subgroup that just happened to help elect him. Ohio citizens spoke loudly and in record numbers for an "off year" election. 63% of them sided with labor on this issue.

This issue isn't as clear cut as the unions will have you believe. For one thing, they poured some 30 million dollars into fighting the law severely limiting collective bargaining. That's a lot of scratch. I presume the opposite side spent similar amounts. Imagine what Ohio schools might do with that money?

Unions would have you believe that demonizing the union is simply class warfare. Untrue. There are many union rules which enable boat anchors to keep their jobs at the expense of fabulous employees. This was pointedly illustrated in the last year in Wisconsin when a newer award-winning teacher got laid off while undoubtedly some place-holder who's been marking time for the last 5 years of so kept his or her job. Exhibit A: Years on the job does not equate to competence.

How about that benefits part of collective bargaining? In 2006, the ECSD found a health care package that cost 2-3 thousand dollars less PER EMPLOYEE to purchase. Did the district reap any benefit from their due diligence with taxpayer funds for this miracle they wrought? No, because the contract was written as total compensation package. The savings went into the teacher's pockets. So, if the staff members want to know how they are supposed to pay for their 5% contribution to the health care benefit package, I recommend they stretch their memories back to that (effective raise). While they're at it, they can thank the district for effectively saving them money on their expected contribution to their health care package. 5% of 15K is a lot better than 5% of 18 or 19K.

The new contract that administration rushed into before everybody knew exactly how big the cuts were going to be also benefit staff. Governor Walker asked for a full 12% contribution to Health Care. Reasoning that they had already realized such a huge savings in 2006, administration did not ask for the full contribution, arriving at 5% based on how much savings had already been realized in 2006. That was irrelevant to the legislature. Revenue caps were not altered because you were a good steward with taxpayer funds 5 years ago. Every district saw the same cuts. The magnitude of the "tool" remaining to offset the full amount of the cut was insufficient because the balance is in the teachers' pockets. Exhibit B: Nearly $700K deficit budget.

There was an amusing letter to the editor last week (in the Gazette) listing all the money taxpayers saved in local districts, including Evansville's "savings" of about 650K dollars. Number one, the writer didn't bother to discover the exact value of the deficit, which was 672K and some change. Number 2, apparently they are unfamiliar with how fund balances work. Target values for fund balances ("savings accounts") in Wisconsin are recommended to be at or near 15% of the fund 10 budget. Five long years of conservative fiscal practices in the district took that balance from about 6-7% up to 12% on June 30 of this year. With the stroke of a pen on October 24, it was reduced back to 8.6%.

The amount of fund balance a district carries effects their bond rating, just like the amount of savings a person has determines their "reliability index" for repaying a loan. Also, just like on the personal level, this affects the resultant interest rate charged for loans. The district's bond rating was upgraded a few years ago during a re-fi of one of the loans because the financial institution saw good progress toward the target of a 15% fund balance. If folks think this is insignificant, a review of the debt repayment schedule is available on the Observer blog or even the school district website by clicking on the annual meeting packet under "board meetings." This year the district will contribute about 2.7 Million dollars toward retiring the debt on the outstanding referenda. That figure will increase every year until 2020, ending at well over 4 Million dollars to pay off the debt. Anybody with a mortgage knows how much of this has been interest up til now and how much has been principle. Interest is paid through taxes too! If you suffer delusions that that "savings" of 650K are not offset by potential losses when bond ratings for districts fall in the next few years, you do math differently than I do.

What happens next year is anybody's guess.The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that the financial outlook for public / government employers will be as bleak as or worse than this year. A similar hit on the fund balance next year will decimate it by 46%. What happens if a boiler blows up? Which 10 teachers (or 6 administrators) will you lay off to realize such savings? Which programs will suffer?

The overall point here is that there is plenty of blame to go around for the budget mess in which ECSD finds itself. Writing deficit budgets for each of the last 3 years is a good place to start. This year's was the absolute worst, and to be fair, the first two years ended up being either much less a deficit or a surplus. I don't think they're going to find a spare $672K laying around somewhere in the budget, so we can stop hitching our horse to that wagon. How about a good old-fashioned idea like living within your means? I have heard at least 3 different board members express this desire. I realize many individuals suffer from the inability to live within the confines of their income. The last year I sat on the board was the first year the administration brought forward a deficit budget. I voted against it because it irritated me that anybody would plan to spend more than they anticipated they would make. If it turned out that they saved that amount, you get it the next year. But by God, don't start out planning to spend in excess of your income. Maybe next year, this old-school idea can come to fruition.

This and That

I'm taking an informal poll regarding the Evansville school district's strategic planning process. How many of you took part in the process? If you DID take part in the process, what were your impressions?

If you did NOT take part, why didn't you? What could the district have done to make the process more accessible to you?

I hope to include results in a post at a later date. Stay tuned!

Thanks for your help!
M

Despite Flat Edgerton Enrollment after 4K Program, Milton Forges Ahead

Click on the post to see the article in the Gazette a few weeks ago covering Milton's entry into the 4K arena to boost their dwindling enrollment. Oddly enough, they used the Edgerton 4K enrollment data as an argument FOR going forward. Edgerton numbers uniquely match Evansville in enrollment, so this seemed like a perfect place to begin to investigate recent remarks by board member Eric Busse that 4K enrollment always increases from the initial enrollment value. Because, yes. you guessed it, it was on the agenda to address at the September Board meeting as a follow up to the Spring meetings addressing it. Nobody in their right mind expected anything to actually result from this, except a perfunctory, "No, we are currently about 700 thousand dollars in the red and cannot afford to introduce 4K at this time." But dutiful board members noted that they want a full analysis for 4K, including start-up costs and expected time to recoup the investment. That's when Mr. Busse chimed in about enrollment due to 4K.

Well, apparently he didn't have access to the Edgerton data. If you look at the charts and correct for early childhood enrollment figures, Edgerton enrollment due to 4K was 101, 106, 65, 98, 96 and 115 from 2006 to 2011. The AVERAGE value (96.5) does not exceed the initial value. More importantly, the rate of enrollment loss has remained relatively consistent comparing 01-05 (-96) with 06-11 (-87). They're still bleeding enrollment, just started at a higher value. This still translates to loss in funding. Until the reasons for the enrollment loss are fully explored, and remedied where possible, all the 4K, 3K and every other scheme to increase enrollment will never, ever solve the problem. This is the message to take from Edgerton, not implementing some hairbrained scheme that doesn't do what it is touted to do.

Solving the problem using superficial means is simply easier. They don't have to mix with the great masses and admit that maybe, just maybe, we need to do a better job of attracting and keeping students in our district. No more excuses for not knowing the reason why EVERY SINGLE KID left the district. It shouldn't be acceptable to simply gather anecdotal evidence. The school board just financed the district's inability to live within their means to the tune of nearly 700K out of the fund balance. At the very least, they deserve to know why 24 more kids enrolled out than in. Then they can formulate a plan to minimize this number. That's my rant for the day.

Budget discussions are in my Review articles. I was the only journalist present at the annual meeting and the meetings leading up to the annual meeting. If you read conflicting data from other sources regarding the budget, call me or drop me a line. I will try to help you understand. I am pretty conversant with the district budget.

M

School Board Meets August 30 at 7:40 AM for Contract Approvals

Click on the post to view the agenda for a meeting scheduled at 7:40 AM on Tuesday morning August 30. They will be approving a 50% parental leave contract for Marissa Hansen (high school guidance counselor) and a football coaching stipend at the middle school. The meeting is scheduled at this ungodly hour because the staff breakfast will be that morning and apparently a quorum of the school board plans to be present as well.

School Board Meets August 22nd to review progress on budget process

Well for heaven's sake, I forgot to type anything about the title. Summer brain, I guess. Anyway, click on the post to view the agenda for Monday night's meeting. They will summarize the progress made thus far on the business manager transition and budget preparations as well as the audit results, I suspect. Some board members will be exhausted from attending a CESA 3 presentation on how to deal with budgets from 1-4 pm the same day, so I should cut them some slack if they have the glazed look from staring at school budgets for too long, which I know so well.

Join us for a rollicking good time. Superintendent Carvin said if the preliminary budget isn't available by then, then there will be another meeting August 29 (freshman orientation day) to present it. Great. Wonderful. The main reason I have attended all of these summer cluster f@#$s is because I was looking for a budget. Now I may not be able to attend because of family commitments. Probably a bit unreasonable of me to expect a resolved budget for 10-11 and a projected budget for 11-12 under the sad circumstances, but I have this view of the world that conflicts with the Peter Principle which contends that everybody is promoted to his or her level of incompetence. In my philosophy, I have faith that co-workers can take over for somebody in their absence and nobody is indispensable. They did allow at the last meeting that they seemed to be holding their own so far in the process, which is good, I think. Won't know until I see the numbers. Looking forward to that day when they are available for public perusal.

Board Meeting August 15 at 6:30pm

Click on the post for the agenda and packet for tomorrow's board meeting. Sorry for the late notice. I've been communing with the loons in Northern Minnesota for the last 10 days and didn't have any wifi available. There's a lot of interesting things on the agenda, including the summary of WKCE data at JCMC Middle School. That should be interesting.

They are pushing along with the senior project proposal with another pilot project with tweaks from last year. No news on the grading committee front.

I have a lot of irons in the fire now, but my memory of the loons will buoy me up to stay focused on the tasks at hand!