Whoa Black Betty Wham-O-Lam

I guess I once again need to clarify a few points. This blog is mine and mine alone. No other board members have any say so in what I post. I do not censor or block people from posting. If you write it, it’s posted. Period. Any posts that have been removed, have been removed by the author not me. I appreciate the support I have received in regards to this blog. I appreciate the criticisms as well. As long as people are involved and talking I’m happy. It has become apparent to me that keeping the public informed bothers some people. I have been asked by some to stop blogging. I cannot do that. My neighbor caring for her ailing husband can’t "drag her butt" to the board meetings. Neither can my friend across town with four kids, homework, dinner, baths, oh yeah, and her job. I will, as requested, start posting the vote taken at board meetings. The tally is printed in the paper but the way people voted is not. How are you supposed to know who is doing what?
Now let’s talk some more about the audit. I hope we get our moneys worth from Betty Montgomery's office. We paid for this audit, so I'm hoping we implement some recommendations. The first key recommendation is to update the recovery plan. You see, "Project Recovery" as originally presented is not being implemented. In fact I’m sure the administrative positions added last year and this year were not a part of project recovery. But we’ll cover the project recoveries’ and the impact in a later blog.
The statements I made about Schnee have been criticized. A recommendation in the audit states "Cuyahoga Falls CSD should closely monitor the number of students leaving the District to attend other schools and continue to take action to stabilize potential increases". Teachers have told me that students regularly ask them what they can do to go to Schnee. We are losing money and students to Schnee as well as the private schools we lease our buildings to.
The audit says we could reduce 18 and up to 42 regular education teachers and keep a student to teacher ratio of 22:1. Of course this would affect Advanced Placement and electives first. Something I’d rather not see happen. I’d like to see the administrative positions added in the last two years cut first and consolidate some duties. The public has been screaming for years about have four principals at the high school. It’s time we take a look at this. Our teacher to administrator ratio is 11:1. The audit also recommends reducing 8 full time education service personnel, 4 full time clerical positions, at least 1 vacant cleaner position, and 2 bus drivers. Eliminating language in contracts that forces the district to increase tutor staffing when exceeding class limits is also recommended.
But our real finance buster is the insurance program. It really doesn’t matter who the provider is. We are the only school district in the audit comparisons that has $0 full time employee share for family coverage. It has been pointed out to me that the audit shows our employees benefit package may be a contributor to what appears to be lower wages.
Lastly I’d like to say that almost everyone agrees a bus garage is needed. But many people, myself included, would have liked to take a month or two to explore other options. And just to let you know, while many people have seen and pointed out the treacherous steps outside at the garage, (which by the way, I myself refused to use) there is a set of steps inside the building. I recommend using them instead of the scary stairs. I personally felt much safer.