Bus-ness as usual

First and foremost I want to extend kudos to our assistant superintendent and our talented teachers for once again guiding our district into the effective status. Also a big thank you to him and the committee of teachers that spent hours reviewing K through 6 mathematics and HS foreign language textbooks that are being presented to the board for approval this week. New textbooks were a long overdue promise to the taxpayer and I’m glad to finally see it come to fruition.
On to the board meeting. Presentations to the board this week look to be upbeat and positive. There’s a commendation, a congratulations, and the much awaited Plan for Excellence presentation.
Next up- Policy review. The health and wellness committee has been at work for weeks on the districts new health and wellness policy that we must by law have in place for the upcoming school year. Lucky I wasn’t on that committee. Our lunch program leaves something to be desired and phys ed. is not stressed enough in our district. The kids get tired going up the steps at Lincoln faster than a pack a day smoker. Ask yourself why many kids pants are 4 inches longer than their legs. I have heard the soda machines are getting the boot. Juice and water will be the order of the day. Throw in some milk and maybe yogurt smoothies and I believe Jenny Craig would enroll her kids here.
This week’s agenda was an eye opener for me. I did not realize the substantial number of "extra duty" contracts our district pays. These are monies paid to teachers for extra duties such as coaching, athletic trainers, department chairs, department advisors, committee chairs, audio video coordinators at each building, substance abuse coordinators at each building, club and extra curricular advisors, music directors, music coordinators and music activities coordinators. In this weeks agenda alone we are being asked to approve $161,619.00 in extra duty contracts. Raise your hand if that surprises you as much as it did me. I have asked our CEO to look into the actual necessity of each of these positions as some of them seem archaic to me. He indicated to me he would look into this matter.
In other business the board is asked to approve waiver days on Nov. 7, 2206 and Feb. 16, 2007. Math and language arts 8th grade intervention program, the esteemed 2006 June graduates diplomas’, personnel issues, bid on univent replacement at HS, athletic stipends, PBS contract, and membership to the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
The board is being asked to reject the bids as presented for the bus garage renovations/ Vincent Street property. Can someone call habitat for humanity? Looks like we need help. Some thought my last post was a little negative. Once again being a realist frightens some people. I only wanted to point out that if estimates came in this high (315K-450K), there seems to be more problems with the property than anyone was aware. I am doubtful that re-bidding the jobs separately will significantly lower the cost of this project. I grew up around bureaucrats; I know how they come up with new and improved ways to spend taxpayer money. I believe people voted for most of the board because we promised to save the taxpayer money not spend their money willy nilly.