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?