Good Reading

I'm just going to post some good reading between now and the new year.
Let's start with this:

Cleveland Plain Dealer article, December 27, 2008.

Hmmmmm....

Want to see a sample of what the Beacon Journal is talking about? Click on the link to my proposal in the right hand column and page down to the per pupil spending charts. Not only are the inequities among elementary schools, you see there are many years the Cuyahoga Falls City School District spends less on our high school students than we do on particular affluent elementary schools.

Here is a link to the actual report: The Education Trust

I’d say more but you know my opinions on this subject. Until we have equity, we will not reach excellence as a district. Guess what school district configuration doesn’t have uneven distribution within them? Thank you Beacon Journal for highlighting the problem that has plagued this district for 40 years or more.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Wishes for a Happy New Year!!

Call Off the Witch Hunt

Wednesday night was something else. About 15 parents showed up to have their say about my presentation. The strange part is I don’t remember them being at my presentation. If they had been, or bothered to Email or call, the first thing they would have learned is this was my idea for what we could do. I’m flattered that they hold me in such high regard to actually think I myself have the power to make all that is in my proposal happen. In fact it pained me to have to tell them that I don’t. So to everyone that told me their kid was lying in bed crying in fear of their school closing, tell them to sleep well tonight. The wicked witch of Cuyahoga Falls holds no magical powers.

Needless to say, a majority of the speaking crowd Wednesday night were from Silver Lake. They mainly wanted to tell me that they love their neighborhood school, their small class sizes and their highly qualified teachers. Was that supposed to surprise me? I’m sure the people of CF would be as thrilled if we had the same. One compared Silver Lake Elementary to Hudson schools. Well I hate to break it to him but Hudson uses a grade level configuration almost identical to what I proposed.

Another parent said she would rather see this money go to hiring teachers. Somebody forgot to tell her that my proposal adds ten teachers. She added that she couldn’t see 800 kids fitting into the Roberts building. Well another news flash, almost that many did in 2005 and that amount and more did in the 70’s and 80’s. My proposal would fit that many kids and cap the class size at 25. That’s a max, not a given. Our current CF enrollment would actually put that building at around 650. Another lady suggested I proposed this because I have a stake in Newberry. Unless God has a big surprise in store for me, I assure you no Kindergarteners from my loins will be attending. So she must have been misinformed as well. So to set the record straight- again- Newberry is bigger than 4 of the buildings we currently use. And we wouldn’t lose the revenue from the lessees. There would be four other CFCSD buildings to choose from as per the lease agreement.

Another parent was concerned with start up costs. What were the start-up costs to move our kids in 2005? Because that’s what were doing- moving kids and furniture. We’re not starting something new. In fact we are doing what we’ve done since the 1800’s. The last concern from a parent I’ll answer is this one: How will I participate in my children’s activities if they are in different buildings? The same way I do now. You do stuff at one building one day, and you do stuff at another building another day. Or you can do stuff at two buildings on the same day if you plan well.

Another astonishing moment was when the union president accused me of saying “things” that she felt were insulting and maligning to teachers. But she never actually said what I supposedly said. So I asked her afterward. I imagine she was quite surprised to learn that those “things” that she attributed to me, were not said by me, but by herself and other district staff. She is the person that told me that the reason per pupil spending is so high in Silver Lake is because they have the most experienced and highly qualified teachers of the district. It was also district administrators that created the “Road Blocks to Excellent” document, not me. So please don’t try to credit me with the bullets listed.

In fact although a lot of rumor and innuendo was thrown around, no one actually attempted to back up what they were saying. No one ever said schools were closing, yet apparently kids were at home crying. Class sizes would be smaller, teachers would be added, and money would be saved. But instead of researching any of the realities of this proposal, people preferred to gossip, lie and spread fear. They took the time to come to the meeting and admonish me but couldn’t find the time to look at the problems facing the district, the inequities we deliver to our Cuyahoga Falls students, or what this proposal actually offered.

At the end of the board meeting I made this statement. I was then admonished for “attacking” fellow board members. I was actually retaliating for the attacks on me. Two weeks ago I was attacked immediately following my presentation and Wednesday night I was attacked for the first 45 minutes of the board meeting, and at various intervals in between. I was also accused of interrupting. Which I did. I can’t allow people to make statements about me that are not true.

I’ll leave you with a few points the Summit County District configuration chart showed me. Most of the grade level configured schools were OK in the eyes of the State of Ohio. None of the neighborhood schools did. In fact the top 10 scorers on the performance index have a grade level configuration similar or identical to what I propose.

A Must See!

Academic Challenge

Saturday, December 13, 2008

7 PM

WEWS News Channel 5

Starring:

The Cuyahoga Falls Black Tigers!!

You Might Think I'm Crazy- Part Two

What's Stopping Us?

One definition of insanity is this: doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. Sound familiar?

Several people have asked me for a copy of my proposal to the district. For those less computer savvy, you can click on the above link and print it, save it, or just simply view it. You have mastered E-mail therefore I think you can master this task.

Let’s talk a little more about my proposal. I’ve decided it will be easier to explain many of the questions I’ve been asked here rather than to continue repeating the info over and over. I do plan to continue the push for grade level reconfiguration. Regardless of the naysayer’s that have not offered any ideas other than tax increases, I believe this is a viable option for this district.

Some questions have arisen regarding building closures. I left names out of the proposal for a reason. This proposal is about effective delivery of curriculum, and equitable allocation of tax dollars. The buildings utilized in this proposal were selected based on capacity and nothing else. We currently use 9 district buildings. Under my proposal we would use 7.


You will notice that one district building (E) is not used yet has more space than 2 other buildings used. This is for several reasons. Number 1 being that building E has already proven to be the 2nd most inefficient building to operate, (building J is number one in inefficiency), reason two- its condition, unless you don’t mind the tree growing through the foundation into the hallway, and the last reason is when I was preparing this proposal, there were interested buyers. I think the tree might have been a deal breaker.

A few more items need a quick explanation. The documents “Road Blocks to Excellent” and “Wish/Gift list” are not mine. These are documents created by district employees last year. These were items that they saw as either standing in our way (roadblocks) or items that would help (wish list) our district reach an “excellent” district wide. I have highlighted the items on each that Grade Level Reconfiguration would affect. Lastly, all per pupil spending, revenue, enrollment and performance numbers come straight from the Ohio Department of Education. Building statistics, bussing statistics and employee numbers were all provided to me courtesy of the Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education offices. I would like to take this opportunity to thank both governmental offices for making this invaluable information available to me, a mere member of the tax paying public.

Now let’s talk about some of the advantages of my proposal. Smaller class sizes district wide. Under this proposal K-2 class size max would be 20 students. Grades 3-8 max would be 25. It’s very simplistic how it works. The district divides CF students evenly into classrooms, and then fills in any open spots with open enrollment if necessary. This plan can do this by hiring 1 additional classroom teacher. The next benefit is extended day kindergarten with the ability to offer before and after school programming. The kindergarten day would be from 9:15 thru 2:15. But we would be employing full time teachers. I suggest that we utilize the extra time by offering some before school programs that start at 8AM and after school programs that end at 3PM. Resulting in a longer K day than we currently have, but not so long that we need nap mats. In addition the before and after school programs will benefit working parents as well as children that need an academic boost. Akron currently offers after school programs that are on the surface fun and games, but are actually core curriculum studies disguised as arts, games, and sports. This part of the proposal requires adding 9 classroom teachers. So how can saving money on top of adding teachers, smaller class sizes and an extended kindergarten day be a bad thing?

To listen to some you would think it is. I read that my proposal is "overly simplistic and unrealistic". I will admit the presentation is simplistic. That was on purpose. I do possess more complicated spread sheets and have the ability to throw in all kinds of educational acronyms if that would please anyone. But I wanted to keep it simple. I wanted it to be a work in progress, a foundation to build on. But most importantly, I wanted it to be understandable to everyone. Because I know it faces an uphill fight. But just as I have provided documentation backing up my assertions, I will expect the same from detractors.

Be wary of comments made with no basis. Such as “several inconsistent figures presented as savings” and “an increased expense to our budget by $2 million to 3 million” with no explanation as to why. Besides the fact I never claimed that there wasn’t cost involved. But the overall monetary savings on top of the academic benefits more than negate the costs involved.

It’s sad that everyone was prepared to tell me it wouldn’t work before it was presented. What’s worse is that no one can tell you why it wont work, just that it wont. People told Abraham Lincoln that giving slave’s freedom wouldn’t work. They told Christopher Columbus he was crazy to think the world wasn’t flat. They are telling me that I’m unrealistic, but at least I have a vision of what we could be if people would step outside the box they’ve lived in for 150 years.

You Might Think I'm Crazy, But Baby It's Untrue

My Proposal

Frustrated doesn’t even begin to describe how I’m feeling right now. I put a proposal on the table at tonight’s board meeting. A proposal, that with some input and adjustments, could have saved our district a considerable amount of money over the next two years in addition to putting dollars into a permanent improvement fund. I did not expect it to be met with open arms. In fact I knew it would be picked apart like the carcass at a pig roast. But I figured compared to the other proposals that were offered…

Wait- there are no other proposals at this time. There is a valiant effort to garner community input. In fact tonight (Thursday, 12-4) is the last one. It’s in the high school library if you’re interested. But as far as cost cutting ideas, it appears mine is the only input so far. And not to disparage the good will of the district by asking for input from you, the covert intent is clear. An explanation of how school funding works (I uses that term loosely) in Ohio, followed by and explanation of how we spend money, and then the taxing proposals. Because it never really is the question of question of “do we have to ask you for new money?” The question really is “in what form do you want us to ask you for new money?”

So back to my proposal. I did it Power Point and actually thought I had too much information included. You see, I actually started this with improving academics in mind. I hoped that at some point the board of education would be experienced enough to start taking a serious look at how our district is configured and how it affects our academic outcomes. Financial goals have always been a priority with me, but I could not get a majority of board members to add these goals to the BOE’s official list of board goals until…

The Five-year Forecast showed up on our doorsteps with red on it. Then someone said “we should probably add financial goals to our list”. That kind of thinking has been the problem with school boards everywhere. Spending and financial goals are not a priority until expenditures begin to exceed revenues. Then make cuts and spend light for six months so you can laud to the public how frugal you have been while the levy signs are printed.

So seeing that our finances were finally becoming a priority with this board, I went back to my reconfiguration proposal and saw the economic benefit my original academic improvement plan offered. So I tweaked it. And it was no easy task.

The district bussing department was hard at work for the board president and her bussing committee. A committee that took a lot of time and effort and did a ton of information gathering, printed a document as thick as any good romance novel but in the end, changed absolutely nothing and offered no economic impact. So I scraped up some maps and basic bussing population information and went to work. I soon realized that the best I could do on my own was come up with rough estimates. Estimates that turned out to be fairly accurate though. So I patiently waited for the bus committee that went nowhere to finish up and worked with my estimates. I eventually went back to the bus department employees and gave my assumptions and stipulations and asked for a simulation of bussing with a new grade level reconfiguration with two separate mileage requirements. The first was 1.25 walk limit and the second was a 2 mile. The document they produced for me was more than I could have hoped for. I can’t thank them enough for taking the time to put it together. And now I had exact numbers. I spent weeks on this aspect alone and I know I have produced a document that can back up the numbers I claim in this proposal.

I am focusing on bussing at this point because it was, much to my surprise, seemingly the biggest irritant to the board. I want to make a few more comments on the bussing part of this proposal and I will post the sequel to this saga tomorrow.

Bus drivers were a sticking point. Some were perplexed as to why I would add only two bus divers when four new busses are needed. When asked why, I explained that we currently have some part time drivers. We would make them full time drivers. They are 4 current part time employees that would cost us 50% of four new employees. The member raising the question then informed me that we do not have part time and full time drivers. He stated that what we do have are 3 hour and 6 hour drivers. I don’t know about you, but, even if a 3 hour driver actually makes for a four hour day, it’s still part time in my book. If the member would like, I can rewrite the presentation and call them 3 hr drivers rather than part time drivers.

And to leave you on a somewhat happy note before I go to bed, I want to clue you in on a little more of what my proposal offers before you start hearing how utterly preposterous it is. Smaller class sizes district wide. 10 additional classroom teachers. Extended day kindergarten with the ability to offer before school programming. The ability to sell excess properties gained through reconfiguration and gain significant revenue as an alternative to a levy. All that in addition to a $1, 797,856 savings over two years.

Check back soon for the rest of the story.

In the Spirit of Change

I know you've missed me. Wondering where I've been? I've been holed up at home, locked in my family room, doing some heavy duty research. Wednesday night I will give a presentation to the board regarding my findings. I have put together a proposal that will save our school district over 2.5 million dollars over the next two years.

Is it perfect? No. After all it was me, myself and I that put this together, and as much as I'd like to say I have all the answers, I don't. But it is definitely a good place to start. I know I haven’t given much notice, but to be honest I wasn’t sure I would have it together in time. But my offer is this:

I will post my Power Point presentation sometime Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Anyone that wants to get together a group of 6-10 people and have a chat about it should Email me at KPforCFSB@aol.com

I do my best work when coffee, cream, and sugar are provided. We can discuss my proposal and make your input a part of it. I am willing to discuss the methodology and madness behind it. This offer extends to everyone, regardless of motive. I know there are plenty of people out there that will want to string me up and flog me for some of the suggestions I am proposing. I am more than willing to sit down with those people and explain the reasons why we need to look at this proposal not only for the financial impact, but the academic benefits. In fact, I feel safe in saying that the academic impact far outweighs the two year monetary savings.
Once again, I apologize for the late notice of the board meeting presentation. Check back soon for the Power Point.

A quick Congratulations! to Mr. Hofer. He is what is known to us old school peeps as the shop teacher. You know, woods, metal..I’m sure it has a much more technical name now. He has been nominated for an award for the work he does with our kids. More on this after he wins it...;0)

And thank goodness it’s almost December 13th. That’s the magical day when the Academic Challenge airs the competition that our awesome Cuyahoga Falls High School students participated in.. I can’t tell you who won ‘til it airs. I think I can brag about how professional our students looked and acted. They and their instructor wore matching shirts, didn’t mumble or stutter, appeared confident and calm. I was so proud to be a Tiger!

Fixing Funding

Today I attended the Ohio School Boards Association Delegates Assembly. Governor Strickland made an appearance. I was curious what he would say regarding fixing school funding. Remember- he claimed that he would be a failure as Governor if he didn’t fix school funding. Unfortunately it will most likely cost us in one way or another. If we aint paying it in property taxes, we’ll be paying it in some other form. Unless we come up with a new thing to tax. (cough, cough, casino.) But done right. Anyway, back to the governor. He’s for and against all the right things when it comes to public education. Hold charter schools to the same standards, end unfunded mandates, and increasing the state share of district money. Everyone clapped at that one apparently unaware that the money still comes from the same pockets in the end. Yours, mine and theirs.

But I guess as a board member, it means a little more money for the district. Or does it? This amount will not even offset the amount lost as tangible personal property tax is phased out of district revenues. But I have to give the Governor credit. At least he realizes it is a serious problem. And more to his credit he is willing to give the people a voice in it. More forums from the Governors education series will be held in the next couple months. This time they are funding sessions.

Let’s hope that some Ohio’s best and brightest show up with solutions that will work. I think we have a Governor that is willing to listen to the people and a legislature that will back him up.

I didn’t support Governor Strickland but after having listened to several speeches and forums hosted by him, he seems like a man committed to funding schools fairly and adequately. His emphasis on the importance of public education in Ohio seems genuine. His desire to fix the funding problems in Ohio was reiterated today. He doesn’t have long to prove it. But after listening to him today, I think he just might be able to do it.

Would You Like That On Ice?

In regard to TR Harts letter (Falls News Press, Nov. 2, 2008) regarding my professionalism or lack thereof, I would like to ask him if he has attended any board meetings of late to witness the mentioned disruptive behavior? In fact I found Board President Barb Gunters quacking (CFBOE minutes Feb. 21, 2007) like a duck far more disruptive than anything I’ve seen so far. I question the letter writers motives being that he is the board presidents neighbor (two doors down I believe?) in Silver Lake. I ask Mr. Hart to list the criteria for constructive dissent. I assume this wont be a problem as he apparently reads my blog.

Constructive dissent has done nothing to prevent a levy from hitting the ballot next year. In fact let me tell you a funny story about constructive dissent Mr. Hart. Last year someone (me) mentioned that the GPA for participation in extra curricular activities seemed too low. Being lucky in the draw of the game of DNA, I was blessed with smart genes and have a hard time understanding why other people can’t “get it”. So the board decided that raising the required GPA should be considered. I did research and listened to what our staff had to say about it. It became apparent to me that raising the GPA helped no child. It only hurt those already having problems with school. I found no data that supported the notion that raising the GPA would bolster the overall education of the kids it affected.

Meanwhile, other board members were spending their time requesting data on who and what teams the higher GPA would affect and how to implement the plan that was concocted with no forward thinking and little to no research of the effects on kids or our budget. My (and the administrations) presenting data contrary to what this elite majority wanted was scoffed at and the new GPA was ram-rodded down our throats.

So here we are, almost 2009 and we can’t afford the intervention services that the higher GPA requires, in fact we can’t afford the contracted raises without passing a levy. Or making serious cuts. Again.

Constructive dissent got the people of this district nowhere. Keep drinking the Kool-Aid and remember that while you may be willing and able to vote yes on new and renewal levies, many of us over here on the other side of the lake cannot afford to.

The statement about attracting candidates intrigues me. I think you’ll be hard pressed to find someone more dedicated than me. You may not agree with my reasons for wanting this position, but apparently a lot of other people did. You see, I don’t just represent the “rah rah schools” crowd. I realized a long time ago that a representative was needed to protect our tax dollars. I have kids in our schools. I want the best for them. But just like at home, there is a limit. We can’t have the Cadillac on an Oldsmobile salary. And that, my friend is what the Cuyahoga Falls City School District is.

2-1 odds on Issue 6

This will be a touchy one. In my daily endeavors I have encountered more people wanting to talk about the GAMBLING ISSUE than even the presidential race. It’s an issue many are passionate about but few are willing to learn about the other side. So I’m going to attempt to negotiate both sides today. This is an issue that will directly impact school funding if passed and could adversely affect it in the future if passed as written. I am flexible enough to see the pros and cons of both sides, as a mom, taxpayer, and member of the school board.

Let’s start with the vote no side. This is where I am right now. Not because I see gambling as the end all evil, but because provisions in this particular issue have too many loopholes and guarantees nothing for education. Most no voters are concerned with morals and ethics. They fear that crime, prostitution and drug related activities will follow. Deterioration of families and surrounding communities is a given in their eyes. Mr. Smith will spend his entire paycheck at the casino and surrounding activities while Johnny goes hungry at home. The social ramifications outweigh the economic benefits.

Loophole 1: “The taxes are to be used first to pay expenses of regulating and collecting taxes from the casino, then for funding of gambling prevention and treatment programs”.
Translation- more bureaucrats and government run agencies sucking up your tax dollars.
Loophole 2: “Reduce the tax paid by the casino authorized by this amendment to the lesser of the rate taxed on another casino or 25%”.
Translation: There is an unlikely possibility that this casino could eventually pay nothing to counties. IF, and that’s a big unlikely if, but if a Native American Indian tribe would begin operations of a casino, the tax rate on the Clinton County casino would go to 0%. That’s right. Nothing. So money that counties had become dependent on would disappear. A little less devastating but still making an impact would be that if any other casino begins operations in Ohio, the Clinton County casino would drop to 25% or a rate lower than the tax rate of the new casino.
Loophole 3: “and that no fee shall be charged for applying for a casino license or for renewing a casino license.”
Translation: The only no cost license and renewal in the history of the state of Ohio. This state expects a welfare mom to pay for drivers and dog license renewals yet exempts a fee for a multi million dollar casino operator?
Loophole 4: “shall pre-empt any local zoning resolution, code, or ordinance that would otherwise preclude a casino from operating on the property described in the Schedule to this section or that would require any local hearing, vote, variance, license, or conditional use approval for the establishment of a casino on that site.”
Translation: The new casino will be above the law. And intends to stay that way with language that basically says, no local or state ordinance

Now this isn’t a loophole but…“The General Assembly shall provide by law for the establishment of a Gaming Regulatory Commission, whose members shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.”
See translation to Loophole 1. Substitute “crony” for bureaucrat.

The people in support of legalized gambling in Ohio make some strong points as well. I must separate pro casino from a yes on this particular issue because of the loopholes. There are many Ohioans that support legalizing casino gambling in our state, with protections and provisions in place that benefit the citizenry and consistently supplement local and state revenues. Many in Ohio still feel duped by the Ohio Lottery vote of 30 years ago. They do not want another program that replaces dollars rather than supplementing them. For those of you confused on how the lottery works, I’ll simplify it for you.

Note: NOT real numbers. The state tells our district that we will receive 10 million dollars this year. We do not receive lottery money on top of this. As the state collects lottery money, it uses it toward the10 million it promised the school district. So if the lottery has a good year, we get 10 million. If the lottery has a bad year, we get 10 million.

Benefit 1: 5000 or more jobs, in addition to the hundreds of construction jobs. Nuff said.
Benefit 2: Money currently leaving the state for West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Canada, Indiana, and riverboats will perhaps now stay in Ohio.
Benefit 3: Aside from the casino taxes, other money in the form of income taxes, property taxes, etc will flow to the state and local governments.

What does all this have to do with education? Nothing. Which is the whole point. This is why I’m voting no. This could have been a viable alternative source of income for our schools. People have been yelling for over a decade that the current system of school funding is illegal (it’s not), and they want (need) a reduction of their property taxes. It’s the “over reliance” of property taxes in schools budgets that the Ohio Supreme Court ruled must change. But until that money can be supplemented by another source, it doesn’t look promising. I’m the first one to say lets look for cuts. But you can only cut so much before there is nothing left to cut.

Am I against a casino? No. In fact I would like to write the next set of rules regarding casino gambling in Ohio. The money would go directly to school districts, in addition to the state money already promised, with no abatements or breaks. I don’t believe it is my or the states responsibility to regulate how you spend your money. People in Ohio love to gamble. Ten years ago I did a survey of my own. I asked the dealers in Las Vegas what state they perceived as being Vegas’ biggest customers. All but one said Ohio. The one that didn’t say Ohio said she didn’t know. I went on a bus trip to Windsor, Canada. Six busses from Stow with 60 or more people on each bus. Say each person took $200 (which is being conservative). That’s $72,000 the Canadians got from Ohio. In one trip.

I deal in reality and the reality is this. People want a break on property taxes. Casino gambling is a tangible way to do this. People in Ohio spend lots of money gambling in other states. Right or wrong, it’s money being spent and taxes being paid to other communities. I want that money spent here on my kids and my schools. Now back to that bus trip. The reality is the average person on that trip took $500. That’s $180,000 that went to Canada. I know of one guy that came back with $10,000. That’s a potential $51,000 in taxes Ohio could have collected. But Canada did instead.

Society Propriety

The new rules at the Natatorium have got me to thinking. Are our children so naughty that they need to be banned? I would say that the real story is probably the few ruined it for the masses. But the kids are not the only ones at fault in this situation, we all are. Most have all taken a back seat to behavior correction and discipline. Especially when it comes to other peoples children.

Hillary Clinton isn’t one of my role models but she did get one thing right years ago. It does take a village to raise a child. It used to be that any adult not only corrected ANY child that misbehaved in their presence, they felt it was their duty. In fact they would question your upbringing as they corrected you. “Were you born in a barn?” “Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?” Kids were afraid to misbehave in front of the neighbor, grocer, librarian, teacher, or just about any adult they had contact with, because they would tell your parents and your parents would, without a doubt side with them. You slowly learned societies rules this way. No matter what the rules were at home. And you didn’t question any of it. If you asked why, “Because I said so” was as good as it got.

For example, my dad frequently read at the kitchen table. Morning paper, newest Stephen King novel or JFK conspiracy book, whatever. So once while on an outing with a friends family, it got kind of boring at lunch so I whipped out my latest Little House on the Prairie paperback and went through a wicked 19th century blizzard with Laura Ingalls-Wilder. I was soon made to realize by my friend’s family that not only was this unacceptable, they also found it offensive. Not only that- when they dropped me off and “told” on me, my dad lectured me in front of them on my rude behavior at lunch. Of course I didn’t say a word about his table reading. I just accepted that these two adults obviously knew society rules and I didn’t. I was ashamed of myself.

I was paddled in second grade. My offense? Running in the hallway. To this day, I cannot run in a hallway. Anywhere. I’ll walk fast, and even take a couple bursts of a jog if no one is around. It obviously made an impact. I’m not (necessarily) advocating paddling, but discipline. It should be on the food pyramid with servings per day requirement. I’ve watched so many parents try to reason and compromise and bribe their children for compliance it makes me want to vomit. Fear of dire consequences builds character. You cannot reason with a 15 year old girl that thinks she’s in love or a 14 year old boy that found a Zippo. Reasoning is for adults that actually have brains that understand other points of view.

I don’t think any of us can deny that there has been a shift in society propriety. Many people see offensive behavior as a constitutional right. Kids today need to be made aware that acceptable behavior at home is not necessarily acceptable public behavior. But that’s where things have changed. We walk away, ignore or ban these kids, instead of being a village. There is no shame because no one is made to feel ashamed of themselves.

Kids don’t understand the business point of view on this Natatorium decision. But I would bet you a donut that if they start seeing other teens being escorted off the property for smoking, rowdiness, etc. you’d see a change in the element of teens attending. The Nat isn’t suffering because teens are there. It’s suffering because it allowed a few bad teens to stand out and be noticed instead of booting them off the property and telling them why. Maybe even they could have suggested that the bootees inform their friends of the acceptable behavior rules at the Nat.

Going to extremes is much easier than a few weeks of cracking down followed up with monitoring. There are not many places for teens to go these days on a Friday or Saturday night. “The Light”, a teen dance held at the Nat gets out of hand because they let it. And because they let it, decent people don’t want to go. Society rules are the same as parenting rules. You need to let kids know that there are behavior expectations and consequences. And in some cases we need to let their parents know too.

Take a Seat and a Nerve Pill

I have a sneaking suspicion our administrators were attempting to do me in last night. I’m not sure if they were trying to give me a stroke, heart attack, or just give me a mere nervous breakdown. Either way, they almost succeeded.

The first presentation of the evening was on RTI. That stands for Response To Intervention. Believe it or not, that is the politically correct term for saying, helping kids that need extra help. But for some reason, when we talk about the kids that bring our scores down or have behavior issues, we must use terms that are ambiguous or acronyms that you need a decoder for.

Anyway, it’s obvious we need to help kids that need help. But at what cost? Three years ago we “RIFed” 90 people. Translation- 90 people were let go. Lost their jobs. Canned.

But over the last three years, and in addition to the hiring’s proposed last night, about 1/3 of those job cuts will be negated. Between that and paying off the loan early, I’m really starting to question how dire the circumstances were back in ’05…Back to the presentation. This additional staff in total will be an additional $ 460,641 per year in salary and benefits. It will most likely be a little lower, as the analysis was done assuming everyone hired will take full family benefits.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the next presentation was the next phase of the bus garage/warehouse property. I don’t want to tell you the cost yet. First I want you to take a trip down memory lane with me. So hop in the Wayback Machine with me and the Professor and let’s go back to 2006. We have landed at FirstMerit bank and saw the District deposit over $800,000 into our bank account for the sale of the Bode building. Whatever will they do with all that money? Here were my thoughts.

But, it’s too late to for shoulda, coulda, woulda. Now that we own the new property, we might as well finish what we started. So we slowly acquire the neighboring properties for parking. Sorely needed parking. I will not deny that. But it’s never that simple. It also needs fenced in. And now a fancy schmancy awning. And electric gate. And salt barn. And of course landscaping that will get ruined by snowplows.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not necessarily against the above improvements. IF and that’s a big if, the administration can show significant savings. For instance, I was told that we now buy salt by the bag. Not very cost efficient for the amounts we use. Also not very convenient for the guys and gals using it. Truck hoppers must be loaded by hand. With a salt barn we could use our front loader and bada bing and awayyyy we go. But the problem is there was no data to back up the alleged savings. The same thing with the awning. Now this isn’t your typical awning. It would cover two rows of busses facing each other with a walk way and outlets to plug in the engine blocks in the winter time. Yes- plugging in the busses is a must for all of you that just questioned that one. It’s wonderful idea. The time saved not having to remove snow and ice from vehicles can’t be argued. In addition it would have lighting for added safety and security. But again I was told it would save us time and money but no data.

Show me how much we save on salary and benefits by not cleaning off snow and ice. Prove to me that the cost of the salt barn is worth it. Is the electric gate a need or a convenience? I have a strong suspicion that much of this could have been justified with a cost benefit analysis but none was provided. Another piece of data I’d like to see is insurance and accident costs. The current bus parking situation is atrocious. Our drivers currently must back into the parking lot and then to their spaces. That’s right they can’t even pull in and park. This happens 40 times a day. Imagine how lucky we’ve been that nothing catastrophic has happened.

Lastly, show me how long you anticipate this project serving the community. The last bus/warehouse is over 140 years old. So the savings in salaries and benefits and the operations efficiencies are only realized if this is a lasting investment. Does the administration expect this building and lot to sustain the public for 10 years or 50? Are the existing gas tanks on our property of that much importance in a day and age when alternative fuels are becoming more common? Forward thinking tells me that our dependence on gasoline for bussing will change in the next twenty years.

I guess you want to know the cost of all the above. Keep in mind, there is much more involved than what I have mentioned. And much of it has to be done whether we like it or not. And I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t see anything in the plans that was over the top. But I hope you are sitting down and have taken your blood pressure medication, prozac and have your nitroglycerin nearby. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly and then scroll down…
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Phase One: $ 420,000

Phase Two: $ 160,000. This involves tearing down the existing 140+ year old building L ,paving and landscaping. Apparently the city is insisting on landscaping so the salt trucks can kill it. There must be a salt truck driver-forsythia farm connection.

Total cost of Wednesday's proposals? One million forty thousand six hundred and forty one dollars. It doesn't look as bad when you write it like that.

Did I mention that there were whisperings along the lines of something about a new levy?

Is Virtual a Reality?

I will assume that if you are reading this, you are familiar with the internet and its many capabilities. We are a society that expects to Google a word and have 5 million resources at our fingertips in about 3 seconds flat. Notice how the word Google has replaced “search”. And notice how spell check likes Google, but not google. It will be in Merriam Webster before this decade is done. It used to be that people gathered in the town square and waited for the Pony Express to deliver weeks old, sometimes month’s old news. Now we can watch congress with a ten second delay.

Many cities and townships broadcast their council and school board meetings through the cable systems local access channels. But that leaves out satellite users. And the five people that still use antennas.

The internet solved these problem years ago, but government bureaucrats have been slow to embrace this “new” way of community outreach. It’s simple and cheap to broadcast meetings via the web. If you want it to be.

But what about the things that are behind the broadcast? The contracts, the resolutions, the financial transactions? There is more paperwork involved in school business than you can imagine. I’m sure an entire forest in southern Ohio has been cut down and turned into documents I have received over the last two years. On top of that, the tax payers never see 99% of these public documents. Oh, they could. They could go down to the board offices, request and pay for copies. Or they could set up an appointment and inspect records all day with a district employee.

Or we could start using BoardDocs.com. Please check out their web site. To attempt to sum it up, any and all information could be available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 day a year, plus leap day. Meetings are recorded electronically and vote counts can be posted instantaneously. Paperwork can be, but doesn’t have to be, non existent. But the best part I think is the public access. I have always been a proponent of open government and easy access.

We want involvement but at what price? People cannot structure their lives around government meetings. But they can and do look for info on the internet at their leisure. Does not going to meetings mean you do not care about the state of affairs? Or does it mean you have a busy life? I fully support implementing this program. It embraces everything I feel open government, transparency, public access, and open records should be. When you want it. At a cost of $10,000 a year. A drop in the bucket is a phrase I commonly hear about amounts such as this.

A powerful tool for the public, as well as the board and administrators. I’ll put it in levy terms. That’s 50 cents per household per year. Or about 20 cents per person. It’s an expenditure I fully support.

Big Brother Knows Best

I’ve received a lot of Email these past two weeks regarding the new vocal music teacher. Actually they were about the old vocal music teacher. He filled in this last year as a long term sub. According to my spies, he apparently built the vocal music program back to levels not seen in years. I heard comments like “the spring musical rocked!” and “a position he has already filled admirably”.

Before I go on I want to make it clear that I have no reason to doubt the new teacher’s credentials or abilities. In fact it is just the opposite. His resume looks impressive. And just to be clear, the board traditionally only hires two people- the superintendent and treasurer. The superintendent is responsible for the remaining employment issues. The board can make its own appointment to positions with a majority vote, but it is rare and in reality you should have faith that the administrative team is doing the right thing.

So why did I move to table the hire? First of all I knew it didn’t stand a chance, but I had to try. You see several things occurred before and during the meeting that made me take a step back and remind myself what this job is all about. I was warned several times that the meeting would most likely be attended by angry parents. While walking to the meeting I was warned by the board president to not ask questions of those that wish to speak. If that doesn’t raise a red flag I don’t know what would. Why shouldn’t I ask questions of those who support us not only financially but with their time and attendance in our programs? I know what our policy says regarding public participation, but it’s a bad policy that needs changed.

It was most embarrassing to watch the board president converse with the treasurer and roll her eyes during the public comments. This was my second red flag. Afterward, I received the following Email that was addressed to the board president:

“Barb
When you get a second and you are not being condescending and rude to citizens attending board meetings, please read the following letter addressed to the parents of the acapella and M&M's choirs. Please note that actions taken by the board of education and the Cuyahoga Falls City Schools DOES IMPACT OTHER PEOPLES LIVES.”

The vocal music teacher of yesteryear had something to say and in her three allotted minutes spoke volumes. It seems last years sub was a former student and CFHS alumni. Getting this position was his dream. (I read longevity into that comment) The sub recruited 30 new students to the program and gave new breath to a program that was by most accounts, struggling to stay alive.

The respect and gratitude shown for the sub resonated in the room. I then recalled a few years back when parents of a certain elementary school were involved in the hiring process of their new principal. That was red flag three. This district and board continue to call on the community for involvement, yet when involvement happens it’s met with this attitude? It’s at this point that I decided to move to table and attempt to have further discussion regarding the hiring. The motion died for lack of a second.

I thought elected representatives were supposed to represent the people. I regret that I had to be a part of an experience for many teens that will be everlasting. Last Wednesday was a perfect example of why people generally don’t get involved with their schools. It seems it’s a waste of time and energy. The Falls News reported the general sentiments of the meeting. But they left out one detail. The kids that hung the sign had a little more to say than was printed. The sign they hung also said “This board is a joke” I’m sorry they were left with that impression but I take heart in knowing that maybe the frustration they feel today will provide inspiration to do something about it.

When in Rome

I had an interesting conversation this week. It was regarding my language. Not English, but slang. Or how about street talk vs. office. We all do it. There are things we say at home with friends that we wouldn’t say to our boss. But…

What about profanity? If I use “bad” words, does that make me less of a board member? Have I somehow worked less or researched less or went to fewer meetings as a result of my bad words? I don’t think so. Personally, I find bad grammar and poor spelling much more offensive than profanity.

Anyone that knows me knows I have uttered a cuss word or two. But I have a general rule of thumb. I don’t do it ‘til you do. So if you use profanity in my company, I will most likely return the favor. I know when and where profanity is not acceptable.

Now back to who we should not cuss in front of. The number one people are your own parents and grandparents. Even if they themselves cuss like truckers, you never cuss in front of them. Number two on the list is your boss and/or clients. Number three would be clergy. Number four would be anyone in an official capacity- like law enforcement, the President, etc. Number five is small children. I’m sure you have a few of your own, but that is my list.

The rest is open game. To some I have vices, to others I am human. But despite what anyone thinks, I know what my standards are as a board member. And please don’t throw the ethics argument at me. Ethics are not something that is written in stone. Ethics are a personal set of morals and standards held by an individual. Ethics in the legal sense generally involve breaking the law, not profanity.

I want the best for all children. But just like in my own home, there are limited resources. When money is thin, you make do with what you have. I also know that there are equity problems that need addressed, but continue to be ignored. The academic issues will not go away until equity is addressed. And raising academics is what it’s all about isn’t it? I didn’t run for office and make the promise that I would clean up my language.

Safety Dance

What is your idea of security? When I think of security in the generic sense I think of things like safe, protected, unable to be harmed or removed from the premises. When I must define security in the school system I come up with the same answer.

So about a year ago I proposed that we lock all doors to the buildings and install intercoms and door buzzers for entry during school hours. It’s a cheap reliable solution. Akron has done it for years with success. But as with most of my ideas it was met with eye rolling and all the reasons it was an impossible, outrageous, expensive idea. As usual I left frustrated that yet another simple cheap idea of mine was shot down.

So imagine my shock when “security” cameras were proposed on last weeks agenda and my further dismay in knowing I would be on vacation and unable to voice my dissent.

You see cameras do not provide security. They provide surveillance and monitoring as well as a record of what happened. Prevention is not a part of their job. They cannot stop anything from happening. They may deter a problem in their viewing area but not to level that a locked door does.

I want to know that our kids are safe not monitored. And contrary to a fellow members thinking, safety is a priority for me. Obviously academics are a priority; we are a board of education. Safety was also a priority in the community survey.

I was floored to read in the Falls News that for once in my life I would have been in the majority on this vote. Dang! The one time in my life my opinion was the majority opinion and I was on vacation! Sometimes life is full of irony.

Another ironic vote happened while I was away. For once in my term I was willing to add a new position. A benefits coordinator was something the auditors have been recommending we add and it is the only new position proposed that I actually felt would have saved the tax payer money and paid for itself. In fact the CFO presented a cost-benefit analysis showing that the position would pay for itself and then some. Insurance and prescription costs are going to kill us if we don’t get it under control. It didn’t even get a motion so discussion could take place. So sad.

That's What I Want

Today I am doing a quick post on someone and something I should have done a long time ago. Our district treasurer, Kathryn Sines along with the help of Lou Schott have put up a web site that is dedicated to district finances. This is the kind of utilization of technology I’m talkin’ ‘bout! Everything you want to know is a click away either from her FAQ’s page, quick links, or if your question is so obscure it’s not already there she has provided her E-mail.

CFCS CFO Awesome Financial Site

I will be providing a permanent link on the right as soon as I learn HTML!

Thanks to Kathryn and Lou for providing a much needed and useful service.

Gotta get back to the sun and fun.

No Worries

Wow. Wednesday night was the worst board meeting yet. It started out great. I was asked by the board president to lead a discussion regarding the community survey conducted over a year ago. I prepared a power point with aspects that stood out as either “what we’re doing right” and “what we need to improve or implement”. It was met with the usual eye rolling, lackadaisical, I’ve got better things to do attitude. I suggested that some of these resident concerns be made a part of our newly minted goals. After all wasn’t this what the survey was for? Or did we do it so we could have a good read about resident concerns and then do nothing about it?

Then something interesting happened. I was surprised when at the beginning of the meeting an addendum to the agenda was presented that included a surprise executive session. It stated that it was for discussion of the Patterson litigation. I was shocked that they were willing to discuss it with me, but glad because I thought maybe we could finally work through the issues that I feel are Sunshine Law violations and putting our actions at risk. So after all regular business, it was moved and seconded that to enter executive session. A five minute recess was called rather than the customary 10. Upon my return in 4 minutes 56 seconds, I was physically blocked access to the executive session. I explained that I needed to hear it from the board president and attempted to enter the room. The door was then opened for me and the board president stepped outside with me. She agreed I should be denied access and returned to the room and the door was shut. I attempted to enter the room to request that the record reflect that I was being physically denied access but instead the door was opened and the treasurer was asked to step outside to hear my request. I waited outside 1 hour and 6 minutes, watched the stage crew remove all recording equipment, and adjourned with the board, once again asking that the record reflect that I was physically excluded from the meeting. We agreed on something for a change. The vote to adjourn was 5-0.

Then I read the Falls News today. I find the statement of “she can’t be a plaintiff and a defendant” was sort of ironic. Why not? I can be a board member and not a board member at the same time.

My biggest problem with the whole scenario is that no one even had the decency to ask me to excuse myself. Not that I would have. I see no reason members cannot meet in pairs with the board atty. Wrongful acts have already occurred in executive session yet I am supposed to trust that this time things will be different. And why do I have a problem with the defendant meeting in this manner to discuss the pending litigation? Because their collaboration is not my concern. Because they frequently do discuss items not allowed. And how about because they could have done this in a proper manner, on the record and given me a proper forum in front of the entire board to defend myself rather than clustering themselves in a room and barring my access.

And now a little blurb on last Mondays goals board meeting. The noob pointed out that finances didn’t make it into our goal session a few months back. That’s right- no financial goals. I pointed out that I had many financial goals on the board but they didn’t get a majority vote to move forward. He ignored me and went on to say that now that he’s seen the five year forecast he thinks we should add that one! Novel idea noob. But the best goal is this one- Having the district labeled “Excellent” by the end of next school year. Don’t get me wrong, I will be thrilled if we did, but I generally set attainable, realistic goals. Maybe by 2010 or’11. But ’09? Come on. I dare our staff to prove me wrong. But it’s not just them. It’s parents and the kids themselves too and I don’t we are quite there yet. Just like with raising the GPA to participate, it’s a lofty idea that hasn’t been thought through.

Luuuu seeee....

Guess I’ve got some ‘splaining to do. Today’s Beacon Journal was a surprise to most people I’m sure. Before you read the article and jump to conclusions, let me fill you in on what is going on and why.

First of all “suing” makes it sound like I’m out for money. The only money I asked for is my $225 filing fee. This is not about money. It’s about an injunction to compel the board to abide by the law. Don’t get me wrong, I could have asked for damages for each violation in the suit. But I didn’t. I asked for an order from the court to stop all wrongful acts committed by this board and a little something extra. I am also asking the court to order that an opinion from the Ohio Attorney Generals office be obtained before a member can be censured.

Let me explain how censure works. There is no book on the right and wrong reasons to censure. If I cross my eyes during a meeting and fellow members don’t like it, they can censure me if they have the votes. Just so everyone is clear on a few things, it is pronounced “sen-sure”. Not “sen-sore”. I point this out because previously this board censured me and referred to it as censoring me. I’m sure censoring me is what they had in mind, hence the Freudian slip. But fortunately for us they only have the power to censure me. I feel an opinion is needed because this board uses the threat of censure in an intimidating manner.

The Beacon Journal wanted to focus on the executive session voting. That is the least of our worries. The more important issues are the ones that involve the publics right to open government, clear and concise minutes, and the ability to trust that your board of education is conducting the business stated in the notice given and that the notice and/or agenda doesn’t leave you guessing. You can’t go into executive session for employment promotion, demotion, compensation, discipline, etc.. unless the board is actually performing each of those acts. The board can go into ES for promotion if they are promoting someone.

I assume the people of Cuyahoga Falls elected me to represent their stances on issues. How can I effectively do what I was elected to do when I cannot garner a majority vote to do the very least for the citizens and follow the law? Example- the law states you cannot amend the agenda for a "special" board meeting. Yet a member moves to amend it, it receives a second, I object and state the reason, I'm out voted and the board proceeds to conduct business outside the scope of the notice to the public. The citizens of Cuyahoga Falls, and the press for that matter, have a right to be an informed public. Would you like notice that we were going to discuss goals, you decide not to come because goals do not interest you, and then find out the board also voted to cut all extra curricular activities? No chance for input. No having your voice heard (not that there’s much of that now), no chance to respond. It’s just done. No that didn't happen, but it could with this board. This is one example of many violations. This is why we have laws protecting the publics right to open government.

I have attempted to resolve these issues and many others on numerous occasions. But it's a five member board and I am but one. I assure you this was a last resort. I am dismayed that an injunction is the ONLY remedy at hand to resolve these types of issues. There is no agency or official that can compel a board or council to adhere to the Sunshine Laws other than a court of law. I am confident that the courts will resolve these issues and the board can move forward with doing what we were elected to do- serve the people of Cuyahoga Falls.

The purpose and spirit of the Sunshine Laws are crystal clear. Open government. That's what the people expect and deserve.

Do Your Homework

I often take a lot of flak for my stances on public education. I guess I am not your typical school board member. I have often said that in my opinion teachers make above and beyond a fair wage for the degree earned. Especially when you factor in the benefits. It seems teachers and their supporters have a hard time seeing what I as a parent see. What many parents see.

Before I go on I want to say that Cuyahoga Falls is very lucky. We have many caring dedicated teachers. But we have lackluster teachers as well. And yes, as hard as it is for some to admit, we have some teachers biding their time ‘til retirement. Please don’t insult my intelligence by pretending these things don’t exist in Cuyahoga Falls.

The Plain Dealer did an interesting series last week on teacher training, post graduate training, and quickie degrees. It’s a very insightful series. I’m particularly interested in the field experience degrees. The way Ohio’s economy is at the moment, I bet you could find a few accountants willing to teach high school math for 40K, summers off, spring break, two weeks at Christmas, and the lucrative benefits. In fact, I know of a teacher in CF who quit a six figure salary job to teach in CF. Why? Less stress, better bennies. At least that’s the story this teacher gave me.

Research questions quality of teacher education
Posted by Scott Stephens and Edith Starzyk May

Post-grad education training includes strong CSU course -- and quickie degree mills
Posted by Edith Starzyk and Scott Stephens

But the most telling part of the article for me was this- “In a four-year study released 20 months ago, Arthur Levine, former dean of Teachers College at Columbia University, found that students who intend to major in education, as a whole, have lower scores on college entrance exams than other college-bound students.” Eeek!

Read the articles and let’s talk about what we can do to ensure that Cuyahoga Falls employs quality dedicated teachers without resorting to the “pay them more” mentality. But if “pay them more” is the only solution in your mind, then I ask you to tell me- what I as a tax payer can expect in return as far as accountability and a return on my investment?

Ideas Blossom

I’d like to tell you about Cuyahoga Falls High Schools new greenhouse. “Promise” is the name it has been given. It is an effort that involved too many people to mention but a few groups of people deserve some kudos.

Last fall the board took its annual tour of the buildings. While at the high school someone mentioned that they’d like to see if a greenhouse could be erected near the multiple disabilities area of the building to benefit these children academically as well as therapeutically. It was one of those comments that seemed more like wishful thinking than something that could happen.

Then three weeks ago DECA (the marketing class) scheduled a presentation for the board. They proudly unveiled their class project. Promise Greenhouse. They worked tirelessly and creatively all year long to market and raise funds to purchase a top notch greenhouse and have secured the labor and materials necessary to install it this summer. They have collaborated with the city to incorporate the Adopt-a-Spot program into the greenhouse by winter housing plants for sponsors.

Not only that, a 2001CF alumni Tim Madden of HydrOranics has donated a hydroponics system along with installation as a congratulations gift to the class and Promise Greenhouse. Not just any system either. An 8 section, solar powered system. He has also offered to come in and help with set up and training with the staff and students on optimum usage. I’m getting choked up writing this because this project will help people with special needs in more ways than most of you realize. Besides the obvious therapeutic and sensory experiences these kids will have, they will also gain life skills. A DECA student said it best when he said “they will leave with something on a resume”.

Promise will be wheelchair accessible. All students in the MD unit will be able to grow and learn, pardon the pun, and leave high school with a real world skill. Something usable and a local job source boon. Just leafing through my check book register I can tell you there is no shortage of greenhouse and nursery businesses around these parts! And my hope is that the district can forge partnerships with these businesses and learn what their needs are so that this special group of kids from Cuyahoga Falls can graduate and have a usable skill, rather than have to face long waits for social services and the few resources currently available once you age out of a protective and coddling public school system.

This is also an example of how to be selfless rather than selfish. DECA needed a project for a grade. They chose something that not only helped them reach their goal but something that gave to many layers of our community. From the kids in the MD unit, the sponsors of Adopt-a-Spot, the citizens of Cuyahoga Falls with beautification projects and even those grouchy tax payers. How Taxpayer may ask? By providing job training and skills before the “system” must get involved.

Thank you to everyone involved in this project but especially Ms. Kilgore, the DECA coordinator. The lessons taught this year reached far beyond your classroom.

Project Projections

Sorry, I’ve been a slogger. That’s my new word for a slacking blogger. First I’ll fill you in on the upcoming agenda. The new five year forecast is up for approval. The never ending review of policy. Personnel and stipends, and my favorite, approving the granting of diplomas. For your presentation entertainment we will be having Curriculum and Intervention Program items. Under board business we have summer meeting dates (ugh!), board goals, and a discussion on paperless board meetings. Should be a quick one. That is sarcasm for my fans with no sense of humor.

Now on to something that has been bothering me all weekend. I wont go into the whole mess but to sum things up I was accused of twisting my children to believe what I believe. Apparently this is a bad thing to do.

This all started with a city project. City infrastructure problems have caused property damage through out my neighborhood. Our environmentally friendly administration offered a solution that did nothing to alleviate the infrastructure problem, but it was a really cool idea that would put Cuyahoga Falls on the map if successful. Nobody had ever done it this big before. In fact it was so innovative that the City administration suggested they would do these projects all over the city.

Unbeknownst to me the City had a poster contest for my child’s class. I was not aware of the contest or that my son had entered a poster until the Grand Opening was over with and I picked him up from school later that day and after seeing a few of his friends receive awards, asked him about it. He described his poster as he saw the project with his own eyes; after all it happened directly across the street from us. For months he saw standing water, smelled the stink of the manure and mulch, and heard his parents concerns and questions. So yes I suppose his rendering was what he knew. The city saw it as mockery to them, and told me so. I suppose I should have taught my kids to blindly follow and never question.

Even though the project is a disaster and did nothing to solve the infrastructure problem, according to the letter I received, I should teach my children to place trust in the people spending your tax dollars but never question how they spend them, or what they spend them on. Heaven forbid you have a voice in where your money goes. Sound familiar?

I almost felt as if the letter writer felt she was somehow smarter than us peasants. What could I possibly know about the problem? I only live it. Three quarters of a million dollars spent on this project and none of it on the infrastructure problem. This project has turned into exactly what Madam Kellie predicted it would be two years ago. A stinky mosquito hatchery. But I somehow did my kids’ wrong by trying to convince the city that this project was not the solution to the neighborhood problem. Trying to convince them before they spent our tax money on a fashionable “green” solution.

I’m proud of my son for coloring his poster in the fashion he did. It wasn’t ugly or a mockery. It was a pond with frogs, bugs and sunshine. I’m glad he didn’t conform and color a picture of what he was told it should look like. I’m not raising a sheeple.

A Friendly Game of Dodge Board

Hmmmm…Wednesday held several surprises. The first was the intervention presentation. What started out two months ago as an additional position has now been word smithed into “additional staff”. I find that statement activating my spidey senses.

I again asked our board president if we taxpayers were spending money to send her to an educational workshop only to have her move from the district in a few months. I prefaced this by stating that I support continuing education for all.

Even Madam Kellie couldn’t have predicted what happened next. First the superintendent jumped in and gave a brief overview of the workshop pointing out that other district staff, including himself, were attending the workshop. I was assured that plenty of people would be in the know even if one was leaving. He also added that the board president initiated this endeavor so it was fitting that she attends.

I’d agree with all of this if she’s not moving. But if she is she should step aside and allow someone who will continue to have a stake in our community go. But, back to the meeting…

The next statements came from board members. Here’s a sampling:

“I heard a rumor that you were moving” directed to me. Sorry, you heard wrong. No one wants a house in my neighborhood because we don’t have a quaint neighborhood school. And I didn’t hear a rumor. I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth. As did many others.

“Let’s take a look at who has spent what on workshops. Dunphy $30, Rump $719, Grimes $30, Gunter $48, Patterson $1258.” The figure with my name drew gasps from the audience! Three corrections. Rump has actually spent $582, Gunter $30, and Patterson $249. What you say? Why the discrepancy? The balances are encumbrances. You see I have registered for future workshops. I have a busy schedule and many obligations so I try to schedule early. So gasp if you must but $1258 is for 6 months of work shops. And I refuse to be ashamed of it. I can’t control what OSBA charges for their sessions. The board sets aside $15,000 for training, publications, workshops, etc. We all came into this with no experience and it shows. So why should I feel guilty for educating myself in the ever changing world of education? Especially since that’s what the board service fund is for.

Another member said “It doesn’t matter if she’s moving. Right now she is a full member of this board and should be treated that way”. I agree. I didn’t suggest we put her in a separate room until she moves. I suggested that if she’s moving she step aside in attending the parent university and let a representative from the CF PTA council go in her stead. I know. Silly idea.

The board president then moved on to the next order of business. So I guess only time will tell if we’ve spent $1000 on information flying south this summer. It’s a question that is being avoided but can’t be denied. I’m not saying that her circumstances haven’t changed, but I know what I and a few respected people in the community were told 8 months ago. Come on Pres, do the right thing, if you’re leaving let a long term Tiger go.

oooh Bus, The Magic Bus

The gift that keeps on giving is giving us another expense tonight.

Just a quicknote to let you know that up on tonights agenda is the purchase of a few properties on 2nd St.

Seems our former business manager turned noob board member didn't plan well when he pushed for and got the new and improved bus garage. Apparently there isn't enough room for parking and turnng around. Mind you they do it now on a postage stamp lot.

Prepare to open your cheque books because we've only just begun. Seems our formr business manager forgot that it would also need fencing, an alarm system, and new windows too. It's like Whack-A-Mole. Every time you think you've killed an expense, a new one pops up.

Also on the agenda is a presentation for the NEW POSITION that is now being considered because my fellow board members passed a new GPA to participate in extra curricular activities. Against all administrative recommendations. Because they didn't think this through, they are now going to implement the CYA policy and hire someone to help these kids they blocked from participating. Wow! That sure is being fiscally responsible. Maybe next time they'll think to ask about the cost of one of their cockamamie ideas before they push it through.

Metamucil Anyone?

Regular meetings. Every January, the Board of Education at their required organizational meeting must- “Bylaw 0154 (C). designate a day, place, and time for regular meetings which shall be held at least once every two (2) months; R.C. 3313.15”. Another part of that bylaw says- “Bylaw 0154 (D). establish a reasonable method whereby any person may determine the time and place of all regularly scheduled meetings and the time, place, and purpose of all special meetings; (R.C. 121.22(F))”.

It was real simple. Back in January, the board approved a schedule that set meetings for 7 Pm on the first and third Wednesdays of each month except June and July. Seemed simple enough to follow. But our meetings of late have been anything but regular. In fact they change so much even I am having a hard time keeping track. Throw in all the special meetings, (half of which were wastes of time and money) and it’s amazing the entire board makes it on time each time. Of the last 7 “regularly scheduled” board meetings, 3 have been moved to an earlier time. With another scheduled to. in the future.

Which brings me to my complaint of the day. Plan A was to have the May 21st meeting start at 6 PM rather than the scheduled 7 PM and go over the community survey attempting to tie in community concerns with the “Plan for Excellence”. So I planned my schedule to accommodate. Now it seems another member decide to schedule an out of town trip that same day and can’t fly back in time. So the “board” rescheduled the May 21st meeting to 7 PM and moved the June 11th meeting to 6 PM. My question is this. Why do I constantly have to readjust my schedule to accommodate other peoples bad planning and over extending themselves? I plan around regularly scheduled meetings and make every effort to be present at the plethora of special meetings planned of late. In my opinion this member should have said “I’m sorry that date is bad for me because I have the business of the school district to. How about the following week?” It’s simple. I do it all the time so I don’t inconvenience 10 other people and their schedules.

This board has made it so the public must request an agenda to keep track of meetings. I know when City Council is going to meet. It’s regular. I even know when their committees will meet because they are regular. I don’t have to check the web site or pick up a paper to know when and where to show up. If there is extra business to attend to they do it during the “regularly scheduled meeting”. If it means staying late, it means staying late. Another thing City Council does is letting citizens have input during discussion time on individual issues. It’s hard for a citizen to make comments, have a complete understanding of issues, or have their statement have meaningful impact when it must be given before the actual meeting starts or at the end, after a vote is signed, sealed and delivered. This board could learn a lot about conducting meetings fro CF City Council.

Lastly I want to answer a few of you that have Emailed me regarding the question I asked of our board president at the meeting. I was informed by our board president almost a year ago that she would be moving out of state at the end of this school year. She told me her husbands company was sold and they were being transferred south. She had very valid fears that her opinions and decisions would not be taken seriously if employees knew this and asked me to keep quiet about.

I recently found out that we were sending several district personnel to a program in Kentucky that basically fosters parent and community involvement for the district. I am all for this program It is the Center for Parent Leadership. The part that concerned me was that I was informed that our board president would be attending the workshop. Which normally would be ideal, but if she is moving in a few months I had to question if this was a wise choice or if we should be sending someone who will be here to utilize the information. This will cost almost $1000 per person so I would like to ensure our tax money will be spent wisely. I didn’t think it was an unreasonable question to ask. But each time I asked the response was to just stare at me. ?

If you don’t answer a question does that mean it wasn’t asked. I will ask here because I know she reads my blog, and I will ask her again “at the proper place on the agenda” at the next meeting- “Are we investing our tax dollars in training and workshops on someone who will be in the district to utilize the information for the next school year”? I’m all for bettering ourselves and professional development as well as conferences and workshops that expand our horizons. For everyone. Teachers, administrators, board members, even support staff. It’s money well spent but not if the knowledge leaves the district.

Ho Hum

As usual, nothing to report regarding the wonderful things we are doing for the children and taxpayers. Of course the board president has decided to waste more tax payer money on the board attorney because regardless of how hard I try, they just can’t seem to understand open meetings, public records or why any of the sunshine laws exist.

I have spoken with Attorney General Marc Danns office regarding violations involving this board. When I relay the advice and guidance from Danns office to the board, and strangely enough, the board attorney, I am rebuffed. I again contacted Danns office and asked what remedy is there when the board attorney gives advice contrary to the attorney generals office? They suggested the attorney call them. I suggested this to the attorney. Apparently he hasn’t called them yet.

The Sunshine Laws, in my opinion are the most important laws enacted that touch each and every one of us. In fact let’s quote Dann- “Democracy flourishes when government operates in the sunshine, available to the citizens it serves and open to public scrutiny. To preserve and encourage openness, the Ohio General Assembly passed the Open Meetings and Public Records acts, collectively known as the "Sunshine Laws."
The highlighted parts are reminders to my fellow board members. They seem to not care when Joe Public is misinformed, not notified, and constantly changing meeting times so that “regular meetings” are no longer regular.

The point is clear in my previous blog. I see no need to rehash it. Our policy is in direct violation of the law and needs fixing. Paying the board attorney to come in and say he doesn’t agree with the interpretation from Danns office is pointless. There. Madam Kellie has predicted the outcome of that $250 an hour.

I can’t sign off without mentioning the bus committee. Two parents are on the committee. I couldn’t help but notice they live within 600 meters of each other. None of the administrators live here, and even though I’ve made bussing an issue for three years, and I’ve lived here my entire life, I wasn’t “allowed” on the committee. Was there a fear that I might actually save us some money? Only the shadow knows.

I'm Not Obeyin' Your Stinkin' Laws!

I’ve suspected it all along. Now it’s official. The board members I work with are insane. Saturday was one of the worst snow storms this area has seen in 20 years. All over Ohio snow bans were issued. Every city in North East Ohio called for snow emergencies. Road travel was restricted to essential personnel only. The Summit County Sheriff issued a snow ban which essentially made driving or parking on the street a misdemeanor.

For those who don’t know, essential personnel means snow removal people, nurses, doctors, police, tow tucks, etc…You know, important people. And they don’t issue these orders, which by the way are law in Ohio, because they are worried you can’t make it to your destination. They issue these orders so civilians aren’t clogging the roads while they are trying to clear them. To put it simply, they don’t want your dumb butt in their way.

Apparently our board president hasn’t brushed up on Ohio law recently. Apparently, she thinks the Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education is essential personnel. She didn’t have the common sense or decency to cancel Saturdays’ board meeting. Now it wasn’t bad for me, I live 4 blocks away. Our Superintendent lives in Stow, who incidentally ran out of salt last week, and had quite an ordeal making it in to CF. In fact as we were leaving the meeting your Silver Lake contingent could hardly get their vehicle off of Stow St. It was comical watching them fish tail a path for me.

Now let’s see, the Plan for Excellence people had enough sense to cancel their portion of the meting on Friday, the executive session was the only item on the agenda. And it was a monumental waste of time. The questions raised were answered to me in a five minute phone call 3 days prior to the meeting. It was all regarding a typo anyway. A typo that had absolutely no effect on the business of the district whatsoever.

Talk about micro managing. Did we really need to waste time and tax payer money for this? And as is becoming typical of this board, we have once again violated the law. The Ohio Sunshine clearly states the following:

PURPOSE STATEMENT: When holding a special meeting, including an emergency meeting (see discussion below), in addition to advising of the time and date of the meeting, the notice statement must also disclose the purpose(s) for which the special meeting is being conducted.
Where a special meeting is simply a “regular” meeting occurring at a time other than the regularly scheduled time, it is sufficient notice under the law for the stated purpose to be for “general purposes.” However, where the special meeting is being held to discuss particular issues, the purpose statement must specifically indicate those issues, and those specific issues are the only ones that can be discussed at that meeting. If, at the special meeting, the public body discusses matters not disclosed in the purpose statement, the meeting violates the Open Meetings Act.
Moreover, if a public body plans to adjourn into executive session during a special meeting, the topic of the executive session must relate directly to some matter included in the notice.
The rule for notification of special meetings must require at least 24 hours advance notification to all media outlets that have requested such notification, and to people who have specifically requested such notice.

I did attempt to prevent the agenda from being altered, as it clearly undermines the intent of the Sunshine Law- an informed public. But as usual with this board, they asked me for proof, I offered to get on line and show them, they then decided there wasn’t time for such trivial matters as the law, and refused to allow me the 2 minutes it would have taken to clear this matter up. They bulldozed into an illegal executive session (as usual) because they want an uninformed public. That’s why the true purpose is never stated and always altered.

Now let’s talk about the administrative pay scale for a second. It is a document that does not allow for favorites to be played. Our administrative positions are on a scale that has set responsibility factors and education factors. Years of service also play a part. So basically if you take this job with X responsibility, you will make 50K. Then you education comes into play. No degree gets you nothing extra. A bachelors gets you a little more, a masters gets you even more and so on.

I like it. No one can say it’s not fair. The only discrepancies are the people that were making wages above and beyond the scale when it was adopted. By law the district cannot reduce their wages, so they remain above the scale until the base wage finally catches up with them or they retire. So why are the same people that approved it now whining that some people now seem to be underpaid in their eyes? Aren’t these the people that promised fiscal responsibility? I find it odd that the person they think is underpaid lives down the street from them in Silver Lake. Apparently the wages aren’t that bad. I guess it was worth going out in a snowstorm. The board president suggested I should have stayed home if I was concerned about the weather. I guess it would have been easier for them to reward their cronies had I not attended. Sorry, but I just got new tires.

UPDATE: I received the notice below in my Email after posting the above. I find it extremely ironic.

After conferring with BOE president Barb Gunter and Superintendent Ed Holland, the meeting of the Steering Committee scheduled for tomorrow morning (Saturday, March 8) has been postponed due to the winter storm warnings.We will not reschedule our meeting until after the coming spring break. I will let everyone know of the new meeting date as soon as possible.

A Long Strange Trip is Beginning..

Wednesday’s meeting had some news. We reviewed the board goals and had a presentation. The goals session was fairly uneventful. But the presentation had a few surprises.

It was regarding the new grade point average to be implemented this coming school year and the steps our district is taking to ensure our athletes and extra curricular students that fall below the GPA requirement receive intervention. I’m OK with that. I had some concerns that we were focusing on “participators”. By participator I mean the kids that participate in something, anything, which requires a GPA standard. By focusing on these kids I felt we were ignoring a larger part of our student population that does not participate. I was assured that this is just one of 13 legs of what will be our new intervention program. I have two problems with it.

One is that it requires hiring a new employee. No salary was suggested and a cost benefit analysis was not provided. The presenters indicated that there was an analysis done, so I look forward to reviewing it when it is provided. The second problem I have with the approach is that invention will take place before school. Now I’m no teenager but I do know one thing about being one. Getting up early sucks.

The reason for before school intervention was this- These kids have practice and games, and other activities that start right after school. In order to participate they will have to come to before school intervention. OK. So you have a carrot for this small population of our schools. What about the rest of the kids, the non-participators- that need intervention? Yes a small percentage will come if threatened by parents and teachers. But a large portion will not because they lack the parenting and discipline that is required to better ourselves. In school intervention is the common sense approach. Require that an intervention class replace an elective if your GPA is below a certain standard.

I’ll be honest, I’m tired of tax money being spent on sports and extra curricular, while the gifted programs in our district and, more importantly the gifted and talented children, are offered very little in terms of their special needs. The current proposal for intervention smells like an Activities Office program to me. Oh yeah, the new Intervention Specialist will be under the command of our Athletic Director. This should be about raising grades and bettering yourself, not ensuring eligibility. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against the intervention, just the approach offered.

Final tidbit- we gave the superintendent his evaluation. If you want some funny reading, I suggest you request it. Here are some excerpts, as usual I have comments to the comments and they are in red:

“Does not seem to have a feel for the community in general, since he does not live here. Still has problems with relations with city officials”
Is this a performance evaluation or a residence evaluation? I understand the want for a super to live here but should he evaluated for it? Make it a goal and a policy change, then an issue on the evaluation.

“Move into community (CF school district) to show full belief in district”
What about his wife showing support for the district she works in? It doesn’t count?

“Don’t try to play god to the role of a supreme dictator”
Shame, shame, you can’t play God in a public school system. Do you want the ACLU to come knocking? And am I the only person that knows God should be capitalized?

“The superintendent should be aware of all deadlines”
OMG! I can’t even keep track of the deadlines at my kids’ school let alone every deadline set by the efficient government. Tasks with their deadlines are and should be delegated.

“Manages by fear, threat of the unknown, low staff moral”
Morale, moral what’s the difference? And how do manage by threat of the unknown if it’s unknown? I have to say, when I complained about our CEO two years ago, every staff member I talked to defended him, his character, his leadership skills, his decision making processes, in fact he was almost God-like. Hmmm…I’m starting to see a connection here. Anyway they convinced me that even though I didn't like some decisions he had made, his intentions were, and would always be what's best for CF school district.

“Show a more caring attitude”
I’m embarrassed to even have to comment on this. Our CEO is not a mother. I don’t want caring, loving, pushover CEO. I want no nonsense, tows the line, gets the job done CEO.

Just the Facts Ma'am

I’m floored that Phil Keren, editor of the Falls News Press would do the citizens of Cuyahoga Falls the favor of printing our board president admitting a vote took place in executive session. Although the article was wrong on one part. It was not a unanimous decision as I and one other member did not vote. I stared at them and was quickly ignored, and the other member (noob) stated that they had their three votes and didn’t need his either way. Remember- he just had those new board member sessions with the Ohio School Board Association.

Bad fact checking Falls News! I mean, with today’s technology it wouldn’t have taken much effort to call me. Especially before you print something that is clearly a violation of Ohio’s Sunshine Law.

You can check it out here, or you can continue reading and I’ll explain to you what it says and of course my opinion of why it says this.

You can enter executive session for very specific reasons. They are few because we are a public entity. One of the reasons is discipline. Not that our board has ever bothered to be as specific as they should despite my raising concerns several times over the last two years.

Anyway, once you have convened into executive session you may not vote. That means no voting, polling, hand raising, etc. No vote. Period. The reasons for this are very simple. The public has a right to know what their board of education is doing. They also have a right to know how a decision was reached.

In fact I left the executive session February 6th because of illegal voting. They were voting on whether to censure me for leaving the meeting with a board document. Yes you heard me right. I was threatened with censure if I left the board meeting with the superintendents evaluation. The board president stated at the onset of the meeting that she wanted the document returned. I made no comment. I wasn’t made privy as to why I couldn’t leave with it.

I think it has something to do with the fact that she stated she couldn’t find last years evaluation. Even stranger is that she actually thought this was confidential information! The document is there by the way, but if you really need a copy, just ask around. Many copies were made available courtesy of a concerned citizen at a board meeting. In fact some board members had copies in the executive session.

Then it got bizarre. Obviously my scores were shared with other members, even tough we turned them over to the board president anonymously. The minute we took a peek at the scores another member stated, “boy Kellie you sure had a change of heart from last year” What?! How in the hell would anyone know that? In fact, if information wasn’t shared and you compared from last year you’d think the scores were anyone’s but mine. I’ll admit my scores have gone up this year. But only because I have seen improvement. I was not going to base the entire evaluation on one incident involving the missed deadline.

One Half of One Percent

A few people have asked about the potential loss of $288,000 in “excess costs”. First let me give a quick brief of excess costs. Excess costs is the monies that the district receives from other school districts for money we spend on special education services for their kids. For instance if a special education student is in our schools but lives in Akron, Akron must reimburse us for the money we spend to educate this child, that is above and beyond what we already get from the state for a “typical” child. But of course the state being the state, it must gets its hands on this money first and cause red tape and bureaucracy. So to get our money from Akron we have to report to the state. They collect everyone’s “excess costs” and redistribute them. The above was made possible by your friendly local state representatives. Not only that, districts now had to keep track of each and every kind of student we have. Even though we are not supposed to label kids anymore, there a whole section of reporting that labels every possible handicap, race, creed, sex, one parent, two parent, income, a child could have or not have.

So most districts, typical of government offices had to hire someone to do this new job. The “EMIS” coordinator was born. Because you know job responsibilities can’t shift or become obsolete, they can only grow and refine with your tax money. Once this excess costs business took effect somebody had to it. So some districts had this person do it, some districts had that person do it. Our district had the EMIS coordinator do it.

Everything went smoothly for all districts the first few years. Then this year something changed. It seems a newly imposed deadline was put on this excess costs report. Apparently our EMIS coordinator was unaware of the deadline and we filed late. Of course your first reaction is “How could you not know”? Until you get some facts behind it.

There are 10 districts in Summit County eligible to file for excess costs. Five claim they did not know of the deadline and three of those five filed late, including us. One of the other unaware districts just lucked out and filed on time and the last one filed over the weekend at the witching hour, after hearing of the deadline two days before the deadline. Notification about this new deadline was sketchy at best.

But let’s go back in time a minute. On or about December 4th our Superintendent was notified that our district had missed the deadline. He took immediate action in attempting to recover district monies and disciplined those responsible for the deadline. He also informed the board president Curt Grimes and vice president Therese Dunphy. Apparently they felt no need to inform the rest of the board of the missed deadline or take any disciplinary action regarding the loss of funds. In fact I assumed the entire board found out about the missed deadline the same day I did. January 8th. Silly me. But I guess at the time they didn’t think it was a big deal. Funny how things change. Because now that everyone knows, it has become a big deal.

Except everyone keeps forgetting that an appeal was filed prudently by our superintendent and we may be reimbursed. Only time will tell. In the mean time, I think we should sit tight and hope the state does the right thing. If 50% of Summit County was unaware, I wonder what the state average is this year. If we don’t get reimbursed, it is not the end of the world. While I admit it is a significant amount, it’s not much more than the office renovations. I guess we’ll have to put that on hold. And to put it into perspective, it’s one half of one percent of our budget. It’s a hit but we’ll survive without asking for a levy! And lastly, if the state doesn’t reimburse, we can try to bill the individual school districts ourselves. It will take some time but I think it’s a very real possibility.