Friday, September 29, 2006

ABC- Easy as 123

I had a chance to attend the districts’ presentation of our new math program this evening. Everyday Math is the name and having fun is the game. I’ve always believed that children learn the same concepts in different ways. This math program promotes these different ways of learning for each child. They will naturally start using the concepts he or she is most comfortable with. It uses games and a lot of interactive materials. The most important part of this program is it makes math fun. I know the old school thinking is "school shouldn’t have to be fun" but I think everyone can agree that if it’s fun, kids are eager. I wanted to plat with some of the stuff I saw on the demonstration tables. I didn’t get to play with dominoes and cards and fancy rulers when I was in school. It looked as if all of our teachers were there to help explain what our kids are doing. A big thanks to all of our elementary teachers that helped out at the events held throughout the district.

I’d like to hear some feedback from parents who attended any of the Everyday Math events. I found it very engaging. I hope to see more of our curriculum move to programs like this. This is what I think our tax dollars were intended for. Books and materials. Let the academic conversations begin!

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Gray Hair Meter Currently 35%

I am not in the best spirits. I want to explain how things work in the world of school boards. You do what you can with what you’ve got. We have a divided board attempting to run a school district. But in reality the CEO runs the district and tells the board what to do. All over Ohio I see good people run for and win school board seats only to resign months later because they soon realize they cannot make a difference. They realize nothing changes. The people running our schools only want board members that are yes men.

I am going to attempt to explain what has happened in chronological order. Maybe you can understand why things happened the way they did. I read in the paper thatour CFO had applied for the job in Hudson. The board president asked the CFO what it would take to keep her. Contract negotiations begin. I tried to convince the board from the get go that if we allow one employee to hold the board hostage in this manner, others will follow. I then realized that as usual, what I think really doesn’t matter. But the one thing that was important to all was a mutual agreement was desired. A five O vote would make everyone a happy bunch. I decided that I would use this aspect to negotiate out of the wish lists all I could. Let the games begin.

We also began building tours. It was an eye opening experience. We started with elementary buildings in the Falls and went to Silver Lake last. Somewhere in the middle of tours CEO approaches the board with ultimatum. Here’s my wish list, let’s talk or I’ll walk. It was like I was dealt two nines on the black jack table and now had to split them, but the dealer has a ten and play both hands at once. But let’sget back to the buildings. Like I blogged earlier, the differences were striking. Crowded buildings and class rooms in the Falls buildings, while SL enjoys average class sizes of 19. Don’t even get me started on the cost of rewiring the building and providing the additional costs of electricity for the current and future window air conditioners. Then it is mentioned in the hallway that we bus students from SL less than a half mile away to a daycare. I can’t think of any other building in CFCSD that we do this for. But the real pisser is this. One third of SL enrollment is open enrollment. Here’s the kicker. We bring in a lesser amount of money for these kids from the state than it costs to educate them at SL elementary. Our tax money is paying to educate "outside" children when we push them to our most expensive per pupil school. I mentioned it before, but I’ll mention it again, our district would have had to shut down the SL kindergarten program had we not pushed open enrollers there. People requested buildings in the Falls but were pushed to SL. I didn’t notice any special ed programs either. Hmmm. Our largest elementary school (Lincoln) in the district has one book scanner in the library, our smallest school (SL) has three.

The board was able to meet several times on the CFO’s contract, work out an agreement that was agreeable to all and vote on it Wednesday night 5-0. I like our CFO and I believe she does a good job and works well with our CEO. I think she truly tries to work with all board members and wants us to understand what she does and how she does it. Much was negotiated out and in return I voted yes. I did what I felt was the best I could do for tax payers under the majority circumstances. As we saw with the raises handed over, the majority will do what they want regardless of how tax payers or fellow board members feel about it.

Unfortunately the CEO’s wasn’t quite so smooth. It was no fault of any one person. The board was given a deadline that was short to begin with and unforseen circumstances made proper negotiations difficult. A majority of the board was willing to give CEO more than I was comfortable with. I was told by one member on Monday that it was going to be on the agenda Wednesday whether I liked it or not. We entered executive session Wednesday and I was handed a revised copy of the contract and informed the board I was not voting on a contract I was just handed and had not reviewed and have not had a conversation with the CEO since negotiations started. I was then informed that the board would make hand written changes and strikes and vote on it this way! I couldn’t believe my ears. Some seriously wanted to vote on a scribbled on, language altered by a bic pen document. Can you say "yeah right"? I asked our CEO to withdraw his name from consideration at Copley and give us a few days to hammer out the fine points. A concern among some board members and the CEO was that if his name became public applying for this job, it would undermine employee morale. I said I would not vote no if we were granted extra time to come to an agreement that was acceptable to all as we did with the CFO’s contract. I emailed our CEO with the changes I wanted but I guess he was so busy talking to the Beacon Journal on Thursday that he couldn’t be bothered to reply to my Email. I knew then that things will remain the same. I had already given my word that I wouldn’t vote no, but I could not in good conscience vote yes.

The changes I asked for were simple. That our district stop favoring certain buildings, that unethical behaviors not be tolerated, and equal treatment and rules for board members. Not getting a reply coupled with the Beacon Journal article only reaffirmed for me what I had been trying to convince the board of all along- The board was held hostage. It worked because several board members were terrified of losing our CEO and he was well aware of this. Get it while you can, but wouldn’t a five 0 be dandy? I feel like nobody quite kept their promises and I’m tired of being one of the few people that actually tries to work with others open and honestly. Emails exchanged encouraging the hiring of friends (that end up with the job), board members hanging out in administrators offices having giggle fests, performing office duties, and forming friendships shouldn’t be tolerated. We were told in January it wouldn’t be.
I abstained so I could be true to myself and true to my word. The CEO gets a 4-0 vote for the record and all is well.

The CFO’s contract is not a renewal, just changes to the current allowing insurance to be accessed, board paid medicare (currently 1.45%) and a 2.5% annuity. The CEO’s changes from the current to the 4-year renewal are: a 3.5% annuity, board paid medicare, clarification of the duties of the CEO, an agreement that unused vacation days will not be bought out if the CEO engages in teaching during that contract year, and an agreement for the board to pay all professional and civic membership dues.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

The Magical Mystery Tour

The board has started touring the buildings. It’s interesting to me to see the differences to me just in the four we have toured so far. Nearly all of the kids I saw were engaged and well behaved. Our schools are clean and well maintained. The teachers were teaching and the kids were paying attention. I have to give the kids credit, it had to be hard to pay attention and give answers to the teachers questions with all the "suits" in the room. One child was extremely impressed that we had a doctor (Ph.D.) with us. Only two things disturbed me. One was the fact that one of our elementary schools is so crowded that a child was getting physical therapy in a closet. The other was a conversation I overheard. It seems that enrollment is so low at Silver Lake elementary that if our district hadn’t pushed most of the kindergarten open enrollment there, we would have had to shut down the Silver Lake kindergarten program. The pledge to the community says that a district wide reorganization is to be completed by the 07/08 school year. I’d say it’s time we got started. Most of the buildings in Cuyahoga Falls are busting at the seams. Our bussing system has too many exceptions and too little riders. I see huge busses with 10 –12 kids on them. I have had parents complain to me that mostly empty busses go past their house to schools their own children attend but can’t pick up their children. We have kids walking over or on mounds of ice on Graham Rd. to get to Lincoln Elementary and Bolich Middle School.

And finally I can tell you what all the executive sessions were about. The board has been negotiating renewing our CFO’s contract. It’s on this Wednesday’s agenda. Strangely enough no attachment was with the agenda. I’m sure the media will appreciate that. I find it curious that I am expected to vote on a resolution Wednesday without having seen it. What I was sent last week through my Email and what’s handed to me Wednesday in the board room could be two totally different documents. I think an attachment would have been prudent, if not necessary in this case.

The changes are as follows: (edited to remove contract details) The attorney has suggested that it might not be a good idea for me to post the contract details until after we have voted on it so I've taken them down.

Anyway, in case you’re wondering, I’m OK with this. We have a really smart CFO that has a way with charts and spreadsheets. I appreciate her enthusiasm and zest. And I want stability and understanding of where we are financially when entering union negotiations in a few short months. Our CFO wanted to feel secure in her employment and I can’t fault her for that. Hopefully we all got what we wanted.

There is a special board meeting executive session only on Monday evening, as well as one at the end of Wednesdays board meeting. If we have many more special meetings I’m going to ask for a raise. Better yet, maybe some one will just throw one on the agenda for me.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Whose Money Is It?

Tsk, tsk. I thought I could leave you to talk amongst yourselves but I guess I was wrong. First let me explain what auditors do. They come in and look at a particular moment in time. They do not look back at our finances, and they do not look forward. They look at the information provided and tell us where we stand at that moment in time. Think about how your finances may look at any one moment in time. Sometimes we look like we we’re rolling in dough, other times it looks like we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul. Right now the auditors could probably certify me a deficit. But next week is payday.

I will preface this by saying that school finances are a monster of it’s own kind and both our CFO and my consultant make very compelling cases. Let’s first talk about what set asides are. Set asides are monies that are "reserved" for particular purposes. According to the rules of school financing we must spend at least 800K on textbooks and instructional materials and 800K on capital improvements. There are lines on our five-year forecast to account for this money. Above that we have "expenditures". This is where it gets tricky. Much of the set aside money is already accounted for in the expenditure lines in our five-year forecast. Mainly in supplies and equipment. Our CFO contends that she was conservative in these areas and would rather have leftover money, than not enough money. My trusted consultant says it’s money spent twice. Thing is, as a friend pointed out to me, leftover money is never used to the benefit of taxpayers. To some this leftover money was the difference between lowering the heat, cutting off cable and other budget cuts to cover a tax increase. The medium income in CF is $30K and some odd change. This is not an amount that can support another tax increase. Did I say levy? If "leftover" money is there, the taxpayers of this district have a right, and dare I say a need to know. For many elderly people I talk to, another tax increase could put them out of their homes. Homes they have owned 40 years or more. Social Security cost of living increases are lucky to go up $40 per year. Not nearly enough to cover the $40 per month increase the last new levy taxed them.

I was told the forecast will be updated in October. The auditors are here now. I checked my notes and know what I was told during my meeting with our CFO. Our bottom line should show a drastically better outlook in the next few years. While I respect the work of the districts Financial Forecasting Advisory Committee, I also am aware that they are not familiar with the ins and outs of school financing. A school treasurer offered to help me. A school treasurer who also happens to be a stakeholder in our district. Since I keep having policy and bylaws sent to me, I figure I should return the favor and cite bylaw 1320 part 2 letter I: In addition the treasurer shall help interpret the budget and district affairs under his/her supervision to interested members of the community.

I promised I would do what ever it took to see fiscal transparency and accuracy. I never claimed I could solve all our problems myself. I do not regret accepting help from someone who is an expert in the field of school financing. I am grateful the assistance was offered. I also think we have a wonderful CFO. I was told at our meeting that she was told to put the set aside money in the forecast and leave expenditures where they are at. I believe she was told to do this. I’m sure October will show an agreeable picture of where we stand financially.

Lastly, some quick notes. Another special board meeting, executive session only was held Sunday. No action taken. At least it was a quickie. In at 2PM out at 2:30PM. As I understand it, action will be taken at next Wednesday’s board meeting. And I didn’t want to have to do this but….If the name calling and personal attacks, assumptions about who’s who, and mud slinging doesn’t stop, I will have to start censoring posts. I goes against my grain to do this but you guys are worse than my children. Since I cannot put you in the corner or ban you from the playstation 2, I will start removing posts that are attacking people. Discuss and offer ideas and insight. Views on issues and debate. But please stop the pettiness. It serves no useful purpose.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Busy weeks ahead....

Several people have asked me about the special board meeting that was held Tuesday August 29th. What happened? What was the meeting about? Was any action taken? The answers are CONFIDENTIAL, CONFIDENTIAL (I am allowed to say personnel), and no. We have another special board meeting, executive session only scheduled for this coming Tuesday. Yes you read right. Tuesday. Yes there is still a regular board meeting this Wednesday. But the time has changed. It is now at 6 PM. You are welcome to come to both, but you will be asked to leave Tuesday shortly after you arrive. With the price of gas these days, I’d hate to see you show up Tuesday for nothing. I felt bad for the two ladies that showed up this past Tuesday and had to wait outside until we adjourned at 10:30ish. Didn’t anyone tell them it was only an executive session? Anyway, I can’t promise no action will be taken Tuesday. You never know with us!

The next question I am being asked the most is why did our CFO apply for the job at Hudson? Only she can answer that. I suggest you call or E-mail her and ask if you’re wondering. A few people have asked me if it is something I have done. If you mean finding utilizing outside help that found over 1.6 million dollars extra for our district for each of the next four years, then yes. It seems the same money was expended on two separate lines in our five-year forecast. I made a promise to the voters of this city that I would be a responsible steward of your money. I will use whatever means available to me to do that. One of the Roosevelt’s once said, "I am not a very smart man. But I surround myself with very smart people." Our five-year forecast needs adjusted and maybe we can put off asking for new money a little longer. We’ll see if that ever happens!

The stakeholders in our city expect and deserve to have a critical eye in their money. I think the vote turn out said this loud and clear. I ran on a platform of fiscal accountability and less levy begging. I can’t convince most of my fellow board members to look for savings, cut waste and streamline our central office, but I can continue to try. I am of the mind set that it is my money we are spending. It’s your money we are spending. I am aware of the rising costs of heating, gas, and "supplies" in my own household. I can’t get as many cappuccinos, pedicures, and visits to the chiropractor like I used to. The kids don’t get as many Poke-Mon cards, Water Works passes, or trips to Chuck E. Strep throat. I had to make cuts to adjust my budget. We have to keep the heat on. I want our school district to run the same way. Before we paid a lot of last minute debt this year, which is a commendable thing, our bottom line was 2.1 million. We actually ended with a balance of 726,526.

Don’t get me wrong. I am glad we were able to retire the musical instrument, athletic equipment and the boiler for Sill debt. It seems we have accomplished a miracle turn around in one year unlike any other. Our leaders should be proud. I just hope they remember whose backs it was on. Teachers, support staff, kids, parents, and property owners.

I have faith in our curriculum and pupil services departments that test scores, AYP, and enrollment will continue to rise. In my experiences with teachers and other staff I have noticed much enthusiasm and passion for seeing our kids succeed. We are getting the kids the extra help they need even at buildings that do not qualify for funding. You don’t hear me talk about academics much because I am comfortable with the direction we are going.
Bussing is another story…