Blackwell vs. Strickland. Round One

Taxin’ Ted or Conservative Ken. Eenie, meenie, miney, moe. This year is gonna be toughie. I am basing the following opinions solely on educational issues that I listened to all the livelong day on Thursday. Just because I agree with certain issues does not necessarily mean I am voting one way or another. The comment that concerns me the most is one made by Strickland. When asked by reporters to elaborate on his plan to satisfy the DeRolph ruling Strickland’s response was "I will do that if I win this election." Hello- I don’t want to know after the election. What am I supposed to do? Cross my fingers and hope he actually has a plan? I mean there has only been about a thousand people with an actual plan that haven’t been able to solve this problem but he want’s us to vote for him with a plan only to be revealed if he wins this election. I’ll have to think about that one. But let’s move on to some of his other ideas. TURNAROUND OHIO. First it will create the Ohio Knowledge Bank. It will deposit money into every Ohio child’s college savings account (529 accounts). Establish tuition guarantees, Offer grants to teachers, rural areas, and lofty school programs. Revamp our testing and educational delivery system once again. What he couldn’t answer was where the money to pay for all this will come from. That’s because it’s a tough answer to give. Tax payers.
Plus Strickland read from cards and notes as opposed to Blackwell who spoke very well and was educated on the issues without notes. Don’t get me wrong, I live by my notes and charts, but I’m not running for Governor of Ohio.

The Beacon Journal kind of twisted something Blackwell said. You see the questions that were asked of the candidates we submitted from the audience on orange note cards to an official from the Ohio School boards Association or an official from the Business Association of School Administrators. Two very unbiased groups (she said snickering). The two women then selected which questions to ask of those submitted. The woman from the school board association asked Blackwell the same question 3 different ways and he answered it three times. But all the Beacon reported was his final comment after being asked to explain his way of funding once again his response was " I can’t tell you again."

I will tell you what he said he would do for education. First of all his wife is the superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools so it’s not as if he isn’t aware of the need for a funding fix. Or the impact of charter schools. Blackwell said he supports "educational choice", or what we commonly call charter schools. But he clarified it by saying he thought they should be held to the same standards as public schools. This same comment drew applause for Strickland but when I raised my hands to applaud Blackwell for it, I quickly put them back in my lap. It became apparent to me at that moment I was in a room full of Ken lovers. But back to property tax relief. The first major part that the media failed to report on was the blueprint for Medicaid reform. According to Blackwell, when he gets this out and ‘dusts it off" and implements it, it will free up 3 billion dollars through waivers from the federal government, that he will use for education. I know I heard him right. Whether he can actually do it is a question for another day. The other half of his plan to replace property tax money with money already in the till is the "65 Cent Solution" This is a plan used in districts across the country that forces schools to use 65 cents of every dollar directly in the classroom. This is an idea that has intrigued me for more than a year. The reason administrator’s hate it is because it effectively forces districts' to cut administrative positions and streamlines central office operations.

Blackwell laid out his plan. Strickland tap-danced around his. Blackwell had facts, Strickland had catch phrases. The following are comments I jotted down during the morning session with Blackwell (7 pages of notes) and Strickland in the afternoon (2 pages of notes). My opinions and observations are in parenthesis.

Blackwell says:
9% of public education monies are from lottery sales.
47% of public education monies are from the States general l revenue fund.
Ohio is losing 25-49 year olds faster than any other state
Declining student population is being funded more and more by older fixed income residents.
He feels that progress made in public schools is a result of competition from charter schools.
Ohio is 50th in new job start-ups.
Wants to change to flat income tax system of 3.5%.
Wants to reform collective bargaining. (Something school officials should have liked but no one blinked an eye. He might win my vote based on this argument alone.)
Said that TEL would have eliminated un-funded mandates. (Something school officials should have liked but no one blinked an eye.) He also said on this subject- Tel would have put more money in the classroom but too bad you people shut that down. (Didn’t like his ‘tude when he said it that way. "You people"? To whom is he referring? I was sitting there and I don’t consider myself one of those people.)
Said that state can fund up to 64 % more with out losing local control.

Strickland says:
Will create an administration that is inclusive.
Public dollars should not be used without public oversight.
Charters should be held to same standards as public schools. (Hearty round of applause. Hmmm.)
Invest in early childhood development.
Will bring many Ohio organizations together to come up with a law abiding system.
Our cost for public university’s and private universities are 45 and 52 percent higher respectively. We need to put more money into higher education and early preparation. Education is the only hope for Ohio.
He will not make false promises. (It doesn’t appear to me he’s made any promises except to spend money with no explanation of where the money will come from.)
Return Ohio to "The Heart of It All" (Puke)
Wants the Peace Corps mentality in his administration. He will ask them "What can you do today to make Ohio better?"
Ohio is facing a moral crisis. (He didn’t say what the moral crisis was though?)

When asked for his thoughts on the 65-cent solution, Strickland’s only reply was that it is a "goofy idea". Not one aspect of it deserved contemplation? Some of us who haven’t made up our minds yet might find some aspects of the 65-cent solution intriguing.

If you want a change in the way schools are funded without a tax increase, it looks like Blackwell has the lead on this one. Now like I said these are my opinions on each candidate’s educational platforms. There obviously are many different issues people base their votes on. I just hope people take the time to read what these people stand for and believe in and vote for what’s closest to your own convictions. I’ve never been able to pick a party because I’ve never been able to conform to the "our party knows best" mentality. Knowing that the best person for governor is probably a write in candidate that doesn’t have a chance, I toss my vote to the person I hope will make some decisions favorable to me.

Now to touch on an issue that recently came to light. I can’t really comment on the reasons because I was made aware the same way as the general public. I read it on the blog, then in the Falls News. I wish our CFO the best if she gets the job in Hudson.

Hi Ho - Hi Ho - Off to Columbus I Go.

I guess it’s time I got back to business. This weeks agenda is a lot of contracts for services and personnel. I see tons of special education services. Unfortunately the only gifted services we are approving are for a private school. But the one that disturbs me the most is the new position added last year. Parent Mentor is the position. My biggest problem with it is the fund used to pay for this position ran a deficit last year. My next problem with it is the fact that is described as a facilitator between parents of special education children and district personnel. This is one of the new positions I commented on last fiscal year that everyone denied being a new position. Why do we need to pay another body to help parents of special needs children fill out paperwork? We are supposed to be saving money not looking for new and improved ways of spending it. Special education eats up our budget while our gifted programs are the first ones threatened when cuts loom.

Also on the agenda is a field trip for Roberts’ 8th graders and board business that comprises appointing a delegate to the Ohio School Board Association annual business meeting with the power to vote and discussion of board expenses. It seems we had a budget of ten thousand dollars for the calendar year 2006 and have already spent it. It seems unbeknownst to the board many dues are paid from this account as well as the recorder used for the meetings. I’m shocked to see that I am in the lead for class attendance. I have attended five seminars and have two more scheduled. Everyone else has none, one or two. Our CEO assures me that he will do his best to find funds for the group to attend the Capital Conference in Columbus mid-November. I guess I should ask for a notation on the agenda when dues for particular organizations and equipment are coming out of the board fund. The latest dues paid out of the board fund was for an organization Taxpayer mentioned. The Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy in the amount of $2487.50. Our CEO was hot on this group and when I questioned him the reasoning seemed sound. But the board was not informed these "dues" were coming from board funds. Live and learn.

The most exciting part of Wednesdays’ meeting will be the board discussing our individual, long and short term goals. Starts at 6PM. This should be interesting with our group of people. Seems a little late but- whatever. At least we are finally doing it.

Lastly I want to mention that one of my above scheduled work shops is a meeting with the gubernatorial candidates Blackwell and Strickland. Any questions you’d like answered? Post them quick because I leave Thursday morning.

The Power of the People

This is gonna be short. The sound of my typing is hurting my head. Too much celebrating last night. I've been asked many times why I continue to beat my head against a brick wall. Why do I continue to torture myself at board meetings by asking questions, making points , just to be voted against by the board majority? Last night was why. Because I have faith that the people can make a difference.

Many people walked up and thanked me last night. Really I did not deserve this. Many people were responsible for the success last night. Molly Benedum and her relentless researching skills, mikeb with his ominous threats of ethics violations, Chip with his knowledge from working in the field, Mary Nicols-Rhodes who used her own time and money to distribute fliers and inform people, Lou Schott for constantly making us think about working together in an orderly fashion, but most importantly to all the regular citizens who showed up to voice their opposition to this endeavor. I also owe a thank you to my mom and dad for raising me to believe that the government belongs to us, the people. Oh and I almost forgot- a big thank you to our CEO for doing the right thing.

I owe all of you a thank you for doing what I knew you would all along. People here care about our city, our neighborhoods, our kids. Congratulations to the Newberry/Bolich neighborhood for a "well" deserved victory. Please pardon the pun.

How much to enjoy the view?

What is your price? Is it twenty grand? Is it two grand? What is the amount of money it would take for you to put a gas and oil well in your back yard? Now imagine you make forty-five million dollars per year. Is twenty grand still as enticing? Is two grand? The reality of the situation is this: 2 weeks of 24-hour-a-day drilling, twenty years of pumping, worries and property value depreciation for wells that if we are lucky will produce twenty-thousand dollars per year for the district. But if we are like typical wells in the area, they will generate about two thousand dollars per year. Two thousand dollars added to a forty-five million dollar budget. Is that worth the drawbacks?



I hear the supporters already. They are like drones in my head. "We promised we would look for alternative revenues" Let me put this in simple terms. This is the amount of money that one $100,000.00 house in CF generates with a years worth of property taxes. This is not a viable source of alternative revenue. When we were promised a looksy at alternative revenues, I expected something like the income tax on wage earners, or the shared county sales tax, or charging a real fee for pay-to-play (current pay-to-play collections amount to about half of the athletic directors salary). Someone referred to the board as a "bunch of lay people". Sometimes it takes someone looking in from the outside to notice the waste, mismanagement, and middleman overload. There is a larger administrator to teacher ratio and administrator to pupil ratio than there was 20 years ago with twice as many students. Why do we need more management for fewer students? There is a saying I keep hearing over and over. Bad teachers become administrators, and bad administrators become consultants. There, I said it. Of course I generalize. There are some good administrators out there. We even employ quite a few. But why do administration numbers go up and up with student population declining? Remember? Student population declined to the point that we had to close two schools. And guess what? Add one more new position to the "bring 'em back" from project recovery list. I see it this way, the positive balance we ended with this year before the last minute debt was paid, could have kept Newberry and Sill open this year. I know, I know, get over it Kellie. Ironic how last week I read an article from an education organization in my packet from the district. It dealt with problems children experience when changing schools.

What I'm trying to point out is this- Whether it's putting oil and gas wells on public property, closing schools, or putting towers up in somebody's skyline, our district is making decisions that affect some peoples personal lives. Sometimes money isn't the only thing at stake. Property values, emotional well being, and being able to enjoy your own neighborhood without looking at an eye sore and worry about a safety hazard for me is worth more than the little bit of money earned or saved. And I can't tell you how angry I was writing a check to the Summit County Fiscal Officer last week knowing we had enough money left over this year to have kept my sons' school open and saved us the emotional turmoil its closing caused. And bonus for all you Kellie haters- you wouldn't be hearing my contraire views all the time. I'd have sat down and shut up.But I have learned the hard way that if you support levies and always pay your taxes on time and believe the promises made to you, you can still get screwed. I feel robbed. People living on the edge of the proposed gas and oil wells have the gun to their head right now. You could be the next victim.







Click here for more photos of local wells and the locations where our school district would like to put them.

Pressing Issues

Ahh the press. Don't ya just love 'em? Let's start with the Beacon. First they print an inaccurate article regarding the proposed gas wells. Then they print an inaccurate retraction. I wont go into detail here. Check out Molly Benedum's blog for details. I am hoping the public forum August 9th will clear up the confusion. If confusion is what you want to call it.

Now to touch on the Falls News coverage. A quote from the board president stating "the board used the December 2005 evaluations" of the CEO and CFO is absolutely untrue. In executive session June 28th the board was handed a paper prepared by a fellow board member and told "this is what I think we should give them". She wasn't even using the proper base salary for our CEO until I pointed it out to our CFO Monday.

The board was working on our own evaluation format and preparing goals to use for an evaluation. If you listen to the tape of the July 19th meeting (public request) you will hear the explanation of how the board member responsible for the raises came to the amount proposed. You will hear a lot of I checked this and I compared that. You will not hear about anything the board checked into or compared. Since three people seemed prepared for these raises at Wednesdays' meeting but not Monday when I talked to them, I can only assume that some board members did discuss a raise. When and where I have no idea. I wasn't invited to that meeting. I also know that another board member was on vacation from our last meeting through this week, so I can safely assume she wasn't discussing previous evaluations with other board members. So the question is when did the "board" of three discuss these evaluations? Or did the Falls News make a mistake? Even the CEO and CFO both admitted to me that they were surprised to see this item on the agenda considering they had not asked for raises.I'm really tired of playing this game. Voters and tax payers should know that three board members are making all decisions and according to statements made to the press, having meetings and discussing matters unbeknownst to anyone except themselves. Is this the transparency you were promised?

Another subject I'd like to touch on is the assumption that once a decision is made by the board it should be supported by the entire board regardless of a personal vote. This is not in my nature. I cannot vote no on raises and then pretend I like the idea and be supportive of it. Who does this benefit? The only way for voters to make informed decisions is to be clear on whom supports what ideas. I refuse to confuse people by pretending I support a decision I voted against. I'll blog about gas wells later this week. I must prepare for the jolly agenda meeting. Ta ta.

If I Were A Rich Man, Deedle Deedle, Diedle Dum

This will be short and sweet. I am weary but I felt I should share the news ASAP. 3.3% raises for the CEO and CFO are in effect as of August 1, 2006. I swear I saw union members licking their chops. This totally negates the savings gained in Project Recovery. It's like this- the pay freeze voluntarily taken last year was just made up for.

Beam me up Scotty….

Below are Emails and scanned copies of the documents I received regarding the proposed wage increases for the CEO and CFO. Tell me if you can decipher the proposed increase from the information provided. I have been accused of spreading misinformation. I believe my previous blog stated “As of posting time, I have not received a return phone call from the board president to clarify this issue. It looks as if the raises will be 4.5%.” Before reading on, please scroll down and click on Agenda Attachment #12. Let me know what you would have assumed from reading the information provided. This is the only agenda I’ve been provided where the yearly amount was not provided.

First I asked a bookkeeper, an accountant, and a really smart dude that I know to take a look. They all assumed 4.5%. Next, I called our board president. He informed me he was surprised to see this item on the agenda upon returning from vacation. He said he looked over the enclosed attachment and could not figure out what the proposed raise was. I then called our veteran board member. He thought it looked like the raise was 4.2 or 4.5%. But no one was sure. I called our CFO. She told me that she was baffled by the chart as well. But then she highlighted Akron and it became clear to her it was 3.3%. Our board president then called me back and verified it was 3.3%. I then heard from the board member that proposed the raises and was given the figure 3.3% “In terms of CEO’s salary, that would be an increase of $3470. For CFO, it would be $2706.” Why the total yearly amounts I requested was omitted from the response is left to conjecture. I also asked why this information wasn’t included on the agenda. Response- “ The board item regarding…proposed raises is framed the same way the motion for other administrative raises was.”

Ummmm I don’t know when she was voting on raises tied to the consumer price index for wage earners and clerical workers (for urban districts, no less), but I never did. Every administrative raise I have voted on so far has had an attachment with the exact yearly amount or the exact yearly amount printed directly on the agenda. The language on all other raises is very clear. See below for the language of the proposed raises. But the most telling part of all this is the fact that 4 of 5 board members were surprised this is on the agenda. Why you ask? Because we have had almost no discussion on this issue. This was concocted and proposed by one member, knowing another would be absent for the upcoming meeting. It will be a travesty if this is approved on Wednesday.

As I said before and the board attorney clarified- We need to give our employees goals, evaluate their performance regarding those goals, and most importantly- allow union negotiations to take place before handing them a trump card. They’re already ticked off about the previous administrative increases. And then there was this letter from the CEO rebutting the union president's comments at a Board meeting that won't help matters any (see link below). Why add fuel to the fire? How can our CEO successfully attempt to negotiate with a 3.3% raise on his back going in? Not to mention how this amount totally negates any savings gained in project recovery concessions. We bypassed giving raises last year to make up for it this year? That’s some savvy thinking.

I must stop here before my head explodes. I’m sure this will prove to be a very interesting meeting.

Agenda Language for “Board Business” Item A:

Adjust the 2006-2007 school year salaries for the Superintendent and Treasurer according to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), effective August 1, 2006. Increases will be based on the most recent (May 2006) annual local area (Cleveland-Akron, OH) data. Details may be found in attachment #12.

Agenda Attachment #12

Email to board members and the response

Holland's letter to the CFEA

Let's Give Away the Farm

Wednesday’s agenda was delivered to me today. Pretty mundane stuff. Oh, except for the raises for the CEO and CFO. The strangest part is at least two board members were not a part of the process. On June 28th during executive session we were handed a pay scale that a fellow board member had made up. I was informed that it was based on the administrative salary schedule our CEO formulated two months ago. I questioned the timeliness of this move considering number one- we had not given our CEO and CFO goals, two- we have not come up with an evaluation form, let alone evaluated them, and three- we have negotiations with three unions coming up in March. How can our CEO manage successful negotiations that would be advantageous to the taxpayer, after handing out raises to the administrative staff and getting a raise himself.

I would love to be able to tell you what the proposed raises are, but this information was sent in the form of a consumer price index chart for wage earners. As of posting time, I have not received a return phone call from the board president to clarify this issue. It looks as if the raises will be 4.5%. I know that’s just like the raise you got this year right? You see the amount was veiled for a reason. Someone doesn’t want the average Joe to know how much they are getting. I mean, every other contract we approve has the yearly wage plainly visible.

But the real kicker comes earlier in the agenda. We are laying off two food service employees "due to a lack of funds and a projected deficit". So, as you can see, as I’ve stated many times in the past, it’s not the kids that are important. It’s how much money people can earn of our tax money. So next year, you will pay more for your kids breakfast, you’ll pay more for your kids milk, you’ll be short two employees, but our employees will be paid well.

Oh and the board will be back to the voters for more money next year too. See you at the polls.

Table 6. Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W): Selected areas, all items index Scroll down about 2/3 of the page to the line "Cleveland-Akron, OH." This line was highlighted in the information in our packet.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Truth

I am dedicating this blog to all who doubt my intentions, predict my agenda, or question my integrity. I am asked by many people why I want to close Silver Lake Elementary. I am also asked once in a while when I'm going to reopen Newberry. Neither is going to happen. I will however once and for all try to put this to rest.

But let's start at the beginning. I was just a normal old Mom, volunteering at my sons' school when one day a friend ran out of the school and said- "Did ya hear they're going to close Newberry?" Needless to say I knew nothing of the sort. I was shocked. I wanted to know why any school was being closed and more importantly to me, why Newberry? After all, the school originally designated for my address was already closed (Bode). So I decided some research needed to be done. I couldn't believe that yet again the same neighborhood had to be affected by school closings. I went into this thinking that if a school needs to be closed, I needed to be sure that Newberry was the right one. After much public request, report gathering from the ODE, and much help from a dear friend of mine and her skill at making the confusing understandable, it became apparent that cost savings was not the true reason Newberry was picked. Before I go on, I want you to realize that ALL CF City schools were researched, not just Newberry and SL. The same criteria were used for each and every building.

The links below will provide you the very same information I used to come to the following conclusions. Our district has consistently spent an average of $1500.00 per pupil more on SL than any other elementary school in our district. This is not due to salaries, wages, and benefits. Newberry was a newer, handicapped accessible, more cost efficient building. FallsMom put together reports that made much of this public information understandable. If there is an outcry for these dummy proof reports, I will resurrect them. They basically cut out the BS and all info can be verified.

What most people failed to see was that SL was the most inefficient school to run in utilities, bussing, per pupil expenditures, I could go on and on. I did the homework once. This is the last time I will "prove" myself to the set of people that think I have some sort of evil plans for the school district. My decision to run for the board of Education was based largely on the fact that I feel my kids are getting the short end of the stick and I want to see it stop. Not just in the per pupil spending area, but in the teacher to student ratio area, district services area, bussing area…

You see, for me it does all come down to the tax rate issue. We all pay the same millage rate to the schools. Why should more of my dollars year after year after year go to any particular area in our district? And while we're on the tax talk, I also want to point out that another reason I chose to run for this position is because I am painfully aware of the issues many CF residents and a few SL residents face when property taxes go up and incomes don't.

And yes I am a bit cynical when it comes to SL. You see I have lived the inequities. I went to school here. And while some may say I'm paranoid, the numbers in the links show that for the ten years reported our district has favored SL elementary over all others. So the recorded history and my own experiences tell me it probably always has. Would you have me pretend this doesn't exist? The piece I found most telling is this. When the numbers we reported to the state were made available last fall (well after Newberry closed) there was a glaring discrepancy between the enrollment numbers used in project recovery and the numbers reported to the state of Ohio. It seems Newberry and Sill were the only schools with underreported students. You may not find this odd but I do. You see enrollment was one of the issues affecting the closings. Newberry actually had more students than reported and all other elementary schools had less than reported. 'Scuse me for being cynical.

On the subject of mentioning other Board members by name, I have been told by those people that if I do, I risk getting slapped with a libel and/or slander suit. In fact, I shouldn’t have even alluded to any of them in my statements. I apologize for that.

As for the drilling issue, I pointed out and it was reprinted here by ratpick that I have a contact in SL that is already involved with surveying for drilling in SL. I don't understand how this makes it a CF vs. SL issue. I have a contact there that could offer insight as to the viability of gas and oil on a property we own near his current surveying. What a terrible idea that was. I also asked about Roberts, which is in the Falls and a school I attended. What is my ulterior motive there?

Lastly to clear up any hurt feelings I may have caused, I respond everyone in comments with one posting. They are assumed by most to be individual comments. I did not realize the need to clarify this for newbies. When a new name starts your response ends. Also generally you are referred to as your blogger name. Most people don't have a Who's Who of blogging. So if you picked ratpick, well, sorry.

Ohio Department of Education Reports

Enrollment by Building (95/96 - 04/05)
Expenditures per Pupil by Building (95/96 - 04/05) use the zoom tool for this one!
Teacher Counts by Building (00/01 - 04/05)
Average Teacher Salary by Building (00/01 - 04/05)
Enrollment by Building (2004/2005) to compare with the project recovery figures

Enrollment Figures from Project Recovery (2004/2005)
Complete Project Recovery Tour use this to remind yourself of all the cost savings that we're not taking advantage of anymore

The Wishing Well

Wow. We got more press this week than I know what to do with. Let's start with Saturday's Beacon. I guess the Canadians don't have a high standard of fact checking. First let's start with the well installation. The drilling goes on 24 hours a day for 5 to 10 days. It is a very noisy disruptive experience involving lots of dust and debris as well. Have you heard of an automatic jack pump? It's the thingy that goes up and down on a well. Some dude who really digs wells was telling me that he can't believe the wells he services has never had a child killed. Seems these pumps will be sitting there off and peaceful, and kick on with no warning. He also added that they are always fenced in but Newberry is a pretty kid friendly place. There are fumes and generally the landscaping can't survive the muck and fumes. Weeds seem to thrive at them though. Go figure. And just because you wont have to wake up and look at it… someone will.

I can't wait 'til Monday so I can find out where the $50K savings each month is happening. I checked Bolich's gas usage in FY 04. The entire year was $36K. Me thinks somebody misled the Beacon before he left for Alaska. Yes the truth will be hard to get to for a couple weeks. Maybe some sled dogs can race us a retraction. The board was told that the building on the site would receive free gas. Not both, but one or the other. Both sites marked are Newberry territory. Or are we going to run a pipe through Newberry hill and the track to Bolich? Free gas for Newberry is hardly beneficial to the taxpayer. We already give the Akron children attending Summit Christian school free water courtesy of the CF taxpayers. And reduced electric. And they have the nerve to brag that they "let" CF Park and Rec use "their" water! They let our city services use the free water our city gives them. How gracious of them. Rant over.

The board was also told that the wells could generate between $7K and $70K per year. Year. For anyone not listening I'll say it again. $7K to $70K per year. As it stands right now, even that piddly amount of money would go to the CF Foundation. Hardly beneficial to little old Fannie FixedIncome.As for the CF Foundation receiving the funds… I suspect this is an effort to keep something alive that is not self-supporting. Recent minutes from meeting's show problems with fundraisers and finances. Efforts are currently underway to bring the fund back into the fold of the District. I'm tired of wasting time on ventures like this that will do little to benefit the taxpayer and make an eyesore out of a wonderful piece of real estate. I can really save us $50K per month- by cutting about 7.5 administrators.

Who's on first?

I listened the official tape and made a transcript of a portion of last weeks board meeting. It makes for some pretty comical reading. I'm keeping this short because I want you to click on the link and tell me what you think. I tried to make it easy to follow by color coding and initialing. Keep in mind I did this transcript and it is to the best of my ability. I do not know how to type so it was challenging. Plus too many rock concerts have compromised my hearing. I especially want to hear from the people who seem to know it all. Mike, CFinformed, and firefighter- I am waiting with baited breath.Remember-this is a portion of the June 28th meeting. Now imagine an hour and a half of this.

Partial transcript of 6-28-06 BOE Meeting

I'm a loser babyeeee, so why don't ya kill me?

I need a line on cheap hair dye. This board is going to turn me gray prematurely. A simple request to add New/Old board business to our regular agenda turned into a power play by the triumvirate. It is the pettiest move yet. I’m still not sure how my original request will be worded as it had to be clarified 3 or 4 times because the motion to amend old/new board business was too confusing to follow. I’ve requested a tape of the meeting so I can clarify this issue. It’s something along the lines of "new/old board discussion only business." I don’t understand the fear of the board actually being able to action on board items, but the triumvirate has spoken.
The bus garage renovations have also been approved. Even though the bid is $33,000 over the promised price. And it seems as if our "new" bus garage needs completely refurbished. Apparently there is not even a doorknob that we can use. EVERYTHING in this "new" building needs replaced according to the specs I received. I don’t know about you but any contractor I have ever dealt with has never come in at or under estimated costs. It looks like our half million dollar building will need a quarter million dollars of renovations. The busses don’t fit in the building as it is, so we must add garage doors, lower floors, adjust ceilings, buy all new toilets, sinks, urinals (ew guys are these really necessary?), all the office doors need replaced (? I guess because of all the confidential information being conveyed?), we are even removing a ramp to add a ramp in the same place. Needless to say it was a 3-2 vote. Myself and Mrs. Gunter in the minority. Seems like we could have waited a year and built a brand new building. One that the busses could actually fit in. Man I wish somebody would have asked the board to hold off and look at other options.
The gas and oil wells were near the end. Just a little discussion I requested and to set a date for a public forum. It will be at Bolich Middle School August 9th at 7PM. Much to my surprise there was no opposition to this. I hope to see you there. Not just for your input on the wells being drilled, but also your feelings on the CF Foundation receiving the proceeds.
Lastly we once again went into executive session for the wrong reasons. I asked what it was for before hand and was told "I don’t know". I had to immediately call it to a halt when I was told it was to discuss board goals. Why would we discuss board goals in executive session? Are there goals that the public shouldn’t know? So the topic was then switched to contracts. A document was handed out during this discussion that a member of the public requested from me afterward. Actually the person requested all documents from the session that are public but there was only one. I will verify tomorrow that it is public record and I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about it if it is.

Well, What Have we Here?

Thank goodness I finally have official clarification. I had a feeling this issue wasn’t supposed to be a secret. When I questioned our CEO why this must remain a secret he told me it was because we are negotiating a lease agreement. My edition of Roberts Rules and Ohio Revised Code states that lease agreements should NOT be discussed in executive session. The discussion regarding oil/gas wells being installed on our public lands should be discussed in public. I mean after all it’s the public that will have to put up with the noise of drilling, the smell of construction, issues of safety, and property value depreciation. But because lease agreements have always been discussed in private in the past, everyone assumes it’s OK. It’s not. I don’t want this to come up for a vote without sufficient time for input from the public. As usual things are being set up behind closed doors to keep you from having time to react before decisions are set in stone.
I’ve been asking for weeks about this issue and waiting for it to appear on the agenda. The board was asked about letting the CEO know what our feelings were regarding letting the CF Foundation handle the well issue, including the profits. I did not respond to this request for good reason. I felt it was an illegal vote. But once our CEO heard back from some members he moved ahead with this plan. Now I am being accused of voicing concerns after the fact and when wheels are already in motion. This is moving forward without public notice, discussion or a formal board vote. After discussing this issue with the board attorney I decided it was time to blog about it. The board attorney could provide no reasoning that supported keeping this confidential. In fact he provided me with some past insight that I found useful. A former long time CF superintendent hatched this idea 20 years ago or more. It didn’t have any community support back then and I think the administration knows it still wont. Why else would you try to keep a hot potato like this in the back of the oven?
Safety- Who gets sued? Us that’s who. The taxpayer. Think about how many of our properties double as soccer fields, baseballs fields, and parks. What kind of temptation do oil/gas wells pose? I experienced first hand last week at a friends’ house. There is a well on the property they own. My boys’ hopped out of the car and went straight for it. What fun could be had on this mechanical contraption? My 7 year old saw an amusement park ride, my future mechanical engineer saw parts, and his 9 year old friend saw something that needed to be vandalized. He asked if there was spray paint left over from the derby car. 9 years old!
Another thing about this issue is generally when you sign these leases you are also giving up mineral rights. If coal is found…well let’s not even go there. Just make sure to contact you friendly local board member and voice your concerns or support. I sure want to know what you think about them, I’m sure the rest of the board does too.

Oops We Did it Again

I’ve contemplated and mulled, then I thought about it some more. It just didn’t feel right knowing this and keeping it all in. It gave me a bad feeling inside. And you know when I get a bad feeling I try to resolve it with Pepto Bismol or an attorney. Pepto’s cheaper but attorneys have all the answers. So I called a couple attorneys and asked them about an incident. Several people questioned me as to how our CEO could approach County Council with a tax proposal without me blogging about it. I was told in executive session by our CEO that he still needed to talk to the mayor about it and it was to be kept confidential until it was introduced to Council that following Monday. Once again I trusted our CEO. Only to find out that discussion of tax issues should be taking place in the public eye. Why you ask? Because it’s the only way your elected representatives can find out how their constituents fell about it. How do you propose something to County Council without first knowing if the board approves? The board was asked in executive session if we would support this issue. I said I would need to see the language and see if taxpayers would rather go this route than the typical property tax levy. Why am I one again asked to make up my mind on something I know nothing about? So for the benefit of the public I am going to list the reasons your board of education can go into executive session. I also want to touch on public record. It seems many of you think that questions you have are not deserving of an answer because the BOE is some powerful entity that thinks you’re not worthy. You have the right to request anything you want to know. But be specific. While I wish I could answer every question that everyone asks me, I can’t. You have just as much right to ask our employees for information as a board member does. Of course thanks to those wonderful attorneys there are a few exceptions like student info and employee SS#’s, but they are very limited. So if you want to know how much we pay for gas at the high school, make the request.
Here are your 7 topics for executive session:
ORC 121.22(G)

1. To consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of a public employee, official, licensed, or regulated individual unless the public employee, official, licensed, or regulated individual requests a public hearing.

2. To consider the purchase of property for public purposes or for the sale of property at competitive bidding, if premature disclosure of information would give an unfair competitive or bargaining advantage to a person whose personal, private interest is adverse to the general public interest.

3. Conferences with an attorney for the public body concerning disputes involving the public body that are the subject of pending or imminent court action

4. Preparing for, conducting, or reviewing negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees concerning their compensation or other terms and conditions of their employment.

5. Matters required to be kept confidential by federal law or regulation or state statute.

6. Details relative to the security arrangements and emergency response protocols for a public body or a public office, if disclosure of the matters discussed could reasonably be expected to jeopardize the security of the public body or public office.

7. To consider trade secrets. (Remember these do not only apply to school boards.)

There you have it. The seven magic reasons. I find number two interesting. I’ll let you know why once I get clarification on this issue. I am concerned about some of our "revenue generating resources" and can’t help but wonder if the residents of CF have a limit. Are we willing to sell ourselves to every private school, mega corp. (Sprint, Coke, ChannelOne), prospector, and entrepreneur that comes down the pike? I’m uneasy and taking some Pepto before bed. But I have a feeling I’ll be resorting to those blasted attorney’s in the morning.

Chocolate and vanilla are my double dips, how 'bout you?

I’ll try to bring everyone up to speed on what is going on. The board received a report on April 13th stating our CEO would be teaching at a semi-local university. He stated his current contract permits the teaching. As I understand it, fellow board member Barb Gunter recalled that the CEO’s contract required board approval for the teaching and asked several times to have this item added to the agenda. This item was requested as an addition to the agenda before the draft was even typed. But our fearless board president once again took a dictatorial attitude and ignored the request. I guess he is unaware that it was not actually a request by Mrs. Gunter, it was the polite way of having something added. Board members do not need permission from anyone to have an item added. Furthermore it is highly unusual for the CEO and CFO to be composing the agenda. In most the districts the boards sets the agenda with input from the two. But in our district we are handed the agenda and expected to approve what’s on it. Any place for board business on the agenda? No. Any place to bring back tabled items? No. Well that’s because it never happens.
But my real concern with this issue is the time spent away from the district by our CEO. We have granted permission for our CEO to attend superintendents’ consortium three days per month with the taxpayer footing the gas bill. Now, the board approved another four days per week, four and a half hrs per day of Cuyahoga Falls School district time teaching at Ashland University. As a taxpayer representing taxpayers, I am not crazy about paying someone 105K per year to work for someone else. Especially with the problems we are facing here. Like the bus garage issues, bussing issues, class size inequities, and the closing of the fiscal year.
Another thing happened that I’d like to touch on. We pay a secretary to our CEO a good bit of money to do her job. So why is a fellow board member proofreading and correcting the CEO’s LEADERS handbook? This isn’t the first "work" done for our employees. Is this proper? I think it would be hard to be unbiased in making decisions on items you have worked on. Should our administration use board members for this type of work? It makes me uncomfortable.
Now let’s talk about the LEADERS handbook. Everything involving the school district is an acronym so get used to it. Basically the LEADERS handbook is the administrative and supervisory employee benefits and compensation plan. For starters free insurance. I think the last people in the United States that still get free insurance. Added bonus- if a spouse works for the district we pay them back up to $1000.00 if they opt for the family plan. They can accumulate up to 325 days of sick time. Only three personal days. There are also many monetary retirement incentives. While a majority of companies have moved to the use it or lose it attitude regarding sick leave accumulation, our district will buy back what is not used. We also give a bonus for not using it. We give a bonus to do what we hired them to do- come to work. Last but not least, the professional improvement leave. This is a provision that allows an administrator to take up to two years leave, get paid the difference in his or her salary from the person hired to replace them, and retain full fringe benefits minus sick leave accumulation. Raise your hand if your benefit package is comparable. City, county, state, and federal government agency workers put your hands down. I bet that leaves no one with their hands up.
See, most of us live pay check to pay check, we pay through the nose for insurance if we have insurance, we hope we get a raise this year but most of us wont. Our employers won’t pay us to work somewhere else, we pay for our continuing education out of our own pockets as well as the gas to get there and back.

Please help me I'm falling in debt with you

Well just when you think everything is running smoothly something always has to come along and muck it all up. I have reviewed my board report and I am distressed. I don’t even know where to begin. Slowly but surely, as Madam Kellie predicted positions are creeping back into our district. Our bottom line for the end of the fiscal year is 1.5 million less than forecasted. And even though our bottom line is in the red in two short years, additional sports programs are apparently needed.
Let’s start with the additional positions. First back in the game are 3 special ed teachers and a home-ec teacher for Bolich. Next up are 2 tutors. Silver Lake (rated excellent) and Richardson do not qualify for Title I tutors but you know, they need them anyway. Add two more elementary teachers (we have some elementary schools with class sizes of 17 or less.) to lower class sizes of 30+ somewhere un-named. And let’s not forget those administrative positions. Two Technology Specialists are needed but our CEO says they can scrape by with one more. Add to all this the coaches that we will have to pay for the additional basketball teams at the middle schools (an additional $4000 or so) and I would say we are on our way back to January 2005.
Shouldn’t we be doing some reconfiguring and sticking to project recovery and doing something with the Plan for Excellence? Or was all that a waste of everyone’s time? I mean I don’t know about you but I thought the committees were going to give us plans and cost benefit analysis’ and rearrange buildings and utilize our teachers and make things run efficiently with the tax payer in mind. Here it is, one and a half years after the crisis and nothing has changed except that taxpayers who supported our districts levy’s are screwed out of two neighborhood schools and must pay to play on top of your taxes. I hope all you levy supporters are geared up to start campaigning again. After all, our forecast shows us in the hole again in 2008. Tax and spend is the order of the day.
Was project recovery just fluff for the Statey’s? Keeping us out of "fiscal watch" long enough to buy new shovels and dig ourselves back in? Was the Plan for Excellence a bunch of hooey? It all sounds nice and happy but nothing was actually done. But most importantly, none of the above "plans" involves citizen input or attempts to look at savings. Sorry guys, a committee of administrators, teachers, and PTA parents are NOT a cross section of our community. Somebody please wake me up from this nightmare.

Pomp and Circumstance

Oh what a night. Picture a balmy evening at Blossom Music Center. The birds were chirping, the smell of teenager in the air. Ahhhh. Congratulations to the class of ’06. Graduation came off without a hitch. Thank you to all the people who put so much time and effort into making it a night to remember for the graduates and their families. I never realized the little things that go on behind the scenes that make it so nice. I am so proud of our kids. Not one misbehaver among them! I can’t tell you how thrilling it was to give a diploma to the few kids I personally know. One mom even called to thank me. (Wiping a tear now).
Several people have questioned why I was the only person on stage not wearing a hood with my gown. No, it was not the administrations way of punishing me. It’s because I am way to cool to wear one. Seriously though, it’s because I am not a college graduate. I know it’s shocking but true. I am a mere vocational school graduate. BUT- I proudly wore my naked gown. My gowns bareness is a testament to the 70% of our kids that will not graduate from college. You can succeed in life and accomplish what some will tell you is impossible. For those who know that college is not an option for whatever reason, please know this- Your life is what you make it. Learn a skill or practice a trade that you enjoy. Make a hobby or interest your job. Don’t think you cannot be successful at something.
I also attended Schnee Learning Center’s graduation. I was brought to tears several times. Eric Mansfield from the Time Warner Akron News was the guest speaker. He said the same thing I said above only he said it better and more. Find a mentor. If you want to be a teacher, talk to a teacher, if you want to grow flowers, start hanging out at a nursery. This is a time in your life when the world is at your fingertips. Develop a strong work ethic and accept the fact that life isn’t easy or fair. You are the person responsible for your circumstances now. You make your life what it will be.
So, I guess to sum this up I will say that while I was a little nervous having to walk out on stage being the only "naked " official, I realized that my lack of college colors spoke to the large percentage of students that needed to see it. I hope they noticed I was proud of the fact that I was standing where I was without a degree hood thingy on and not ashamed of it. Actually I felt sorry for everyone that had to wear one. It was wayyyyyy to hot and the colors seemed to attract the birds.

Let's have a fireside chat

Sorry for the hiatus. It’s been a busy week and I have bloggers block. A mini vacation has cleared my mind and opened my eyes to what it is like to truly run a district on a shoestring budget. I visited a district in WV with over 150 busses. I’m still processing everything I learned to blog about later. So today I’m going to throw out a potpourri of items just to hear your thoughts on them.
First, someone commented on the new wellness policy and asked if I have any knowledge of our lunch program. I have been asked to challenge all principals to eat the children’s lunch menu for an entire year. Would they do it? I doubt it. Are parents satisfied with the selections? I suppose our lunch menu meets some sort of nutritional requirements. Although I have to question French toast sticks for lunch next week.
Here’s one for teachers. What are your thoughts on controlling classroom dollars? Next year our teachers become more accountable in the classroom. I’m not sure how this will work with tenure. As it stands now, once a teacher attains tenure, it’s a guarantee lifetime job, with the cushiest benefits and extra perks anyone could hope for. So I am curious. Would teachers give up tenure and accept accountability in return for more control in the classroom? A direct budget and the freedom to teach your own style, materials, books, etc… The classroom is truly yours. Do as you wish. As long as your students flourish the way you do it, nobody interferes. But your continued employment in the district would be dependent on your students success. As well as evaluations from students, parents, peers, and superiors. So let’s hear it teachers. Is this appealing or not? If anyone is curious and would like more information on running a school district using unconventional methods that are taxpayer and community friendly, I recommend Making Schools Work by William G Ouchi. In my humble opinion, Ouchi is the band-aid for public school systems.
One last item I’d like to hear thoughts on is the death of the TEL. For those unfamiliar, the Tax Expenditure Limitations amendment would have devastated school systems the most. Although I am in favor of spending caps and limits for governmental entities, but this would have forced our district each year to spend nothing on our children. ALL monies would have went to salary, insurance, and utility increases because that is the only way we could have stayed under the spending cap. Everything you know and love would take a hit. And not just schools. City services would come to a screeching halt as well. Once again paying salary and benefits would come before park upkeep, road plowing, leaf pick up, etc. Although it looks as if TEL will appear on the November ballot, measures are already being put in place to negate TELs’ ill effects. Thank goodness.

Dinner $20, New suit- $300, Car scratches- Priceless

It started out to be a lovely evening. The sun came out (I actually got to wear my sunglasses!), I attended a lovely teacher recognition banquet at the beautiful River Front Pavilion, stuffed myself on steak and cookies, and had a marvelous time handing out 20 year pins, and employee awards. The evening came to an end and we left for our cars. As I approached mine, I noticed a crowd had gathered. Were they making fun of my dirty car? I swear it was my 7 year old that wrote butthead in the grime. But their grim faces told another story. Our cars had been keyed they informed me. Now on my crappy car you can hardly tell. I guess that’s one advantage to having a car that substitutes as a driveway jungle gym. But oh those fancy teacher cars got it bad. To make matters worse, I believe I had a conversation with the perpetrators when I was out taking a powder. I don’t really know what that means but my grandma always said it.
I can’t wait to hand these little lovely’s their diplomas. It’s kind of funny that they probably didn’t realize they were outside talking to a board member. They probably also didn’t realize that their teacher was inside and commented on them being outside. To the entire room. I’m not saying they did it, because as far as I know, there are no witnesses. But I know my heathen radar was perked. But I’m sure the police will rule my internal motherly instinct irrelevant. But I really hope I get to attend the disciplinary hearing. I’ll have to ask the CEO if it would be possible. Oh what fun I’ll have. I will sentence them to picking cigarette butts out of the cracks of the brick pavement at the River Front Mall after every event this summer.
But seriously, there was probably a combined damage total of five to ten thousand. That’s not including the pain and suffering. Yes the pain and suffering of listening to the other half bark about parking decks and teenagers, insurance companies, insurance adjusters, insurance bills, and car repair people. Everyone please take a minute today and thank a teacher. Not just for the things they do everyday in the classroom, but for going to those classrooms knowing each child is potluck and it’s not all good. But they go anyway. And somehow manage not to smack some of them.
We have a teacher that I think deserves some special recognition. Mrs. Burris, a kindergarten teacher at Dewitt Elementary reached her 45 year mark with our district. All I can say to that is WOW!

Bus-ness as usual

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

We aint in Kansas anymore Toto

Well I tried to be the voice of reason. I tried to get everyone to take a step back and slow down. I said we haven't had time to think things through. But the new bus barn was railroaded through anyway. Now here we are, one month later and already there are signs that something's amiss. Was this decision made to hastily before all the facts were in? The board has already had to pass a resolution to correct clerical errors. This move really scared me. Clerical errors? I am trusting that a name change is all that will be fixed. That's what our CEO said. But in reality the board gave permission to allow a contract to be changed with no formal board approval. Kinda scary when you think about it. I contend that this wouldn't be a problem if people had used cool heads and taken their time. Rushing major purchases through without thinking things through tends to lead to problems.
But here's the part where I get to say I told you so. I am also going to play Madam Kellie and pull out my crystal ball and make a prediction for the future. Madam Kellie has been told the bids on the bus garage renovations are in. Our districts CEO first predicted renovations would be around $140,000, then revised it to $190,000. Low bid was $315,000 and high bid was $450,000. The latter is what the building cost us! Oooh. Not good. Wait wait… my crystal ball is clearing up…. I see separate bids being offered on various projects… I see bids coming in at various times… I see murky combo bids being made on "concrete work" and "carpeting work" for the bus barn and various buildings… wait- what's this? It looks like a question mark. Question marks represent all the problems we don't know about yet. Madam Kellie calls this the "stuff that didn't happen until you moved in" syndrome. Oh no! Now I'm getting a red tint to everything. My ball is showing me that we are quickly going to be in the red regarding renovations on the new bus barn. Now it's green question marks bouncing around. They represent the confusion involved in trying to keep track of money spent on renovations when bids will come in at different times, on different projects, and I predict this is all going to turn into a convoluted mess. I predict that before all is said and done this bus barn project will be a million-dollar project. Your session with Madam Kellie is over. I must rest the crystal ball after putting it through stress like that.
First of all I do not want to hear the mantra "you can vote how you want but support the decision of the board after the vote" I did not support this purchase because I knew we were jumping in with our eyes closed and noses plugged. Now we are stuck with a building and spending a lot more on it than originally stated for our huge fleet of 19 busses! I think it's prudent to add that our audit recommends we reduce our fleet by two busses. Frankly it's not going to matter how you re-bid the projects. A duck is a duck and obviously this building needs a lot of work. Oh well- maybe next time we have an extra $800,000.00 someone will actually look at our capitol improvement plan and consider implementing it. Or at least hanging on to the money for a while and looking at options. I didn't spend our tax return as fast as our district spent almost half a million dollars.
Please be sure to thank the people that made this all possible.

I can see clearly now the rain is gone

I’m tired of hearing the argument that certain people and/or areas of our district pay more to our schools than others. First renters do pay property taxes through their rent. I do not know of one landlord that is willing to eat the cost of a tax increase. Second, we all pay the same millage to the district. The City of CF and the Village people pay equal millage. The value of a home does not increase the millage you pay. And lastly, the Village people do not disproportionately fund our schools. In February of ’06 our school district collected $11.6 million from the property owners of Cuyahoga Falls and almost $1.3 million from Silver Lake Village. Looks like CF pays their fair share to me. So please stop telling me the Village people deserve more because they pay more. They don’t and they don’t.
I have been asked to explain why I voted for the resolution to release our district from fiscal watch. I’ll do my best to explain. I cannot argue with the fact that our CFO stated that the state auditors asked her when we would be asking for a release. Do you really think people will want to move their families to a city whose school district is in fiscal watch? My number one priority has always been to do what is best for my family and my community. I don’t think using my other tax money (state auditors) is best for us when they want us to ask for release. Although I would like a watchdog, I’m not sure state auditors should be it. I’d rather see something along the lines of the KIDS committee formed- An independent group of people not beholden to, nor appointed by the school administration. A group on the outside looking in. My goal is to keep us in the black through union negotiations and serious, real cuts. The PFE I’m sure has some good solid academic ideas. But most of it is a spending spree that we cannot afford. There are two ways to meet rising fuel, heating, insurance, and aging building maintenance costs. Levy or cuts. You pick which one is best for you.
Lastly I would like to comment on the OURSS group and the debate that is taking place on a previous blog. For those of you unfamiliar, OURSS- outreach understanding respecting student sexuality-
is a student led support group with a male school psychologist as well as a female teacher volunteering as teacher advisors. It is my understanding that this group is for any student dealing with sexual identity issues. Straight or gay. I would like to see respect and understanding from both sides. The bottom line is this- regardless of your personal views, the law is the law. Ask any attorney and he’ll be glad to bill you- I mean tell you that there are about 55,000 laws protecting the rights of ANY group to meet in a public building, discuss any issue they want, promote any cause. Hence the expression "It’s a free country". I am not willing, and I feel safe in saying our district is not willing to put up taxpayer money and without a doubt fight the ACLU in a lawsuit that would surely ensue should someone actually decide to "ban" this group. I will not defend nor promote this group in any way. I think both sides need to show a little respect to the other.
The comments made here should be on blog topics. Hijacking will be deleted from here forward. There is a forum at FallsWatch.org for ongoing debate and discussion on various issues not currently being discussed on this blog. The man who started this ingenious web site would be tickled if you make it worth his time and money I’m sure. I will not tolerate hateful diatribes, profane language, or inappropriate slurs in the comments section.

Gimme a P! Gimme a F! Gimme an E!

Make a note to attend the next board meeting. The Plan for Excellence committee chairs will be making a presentation. . Of course I don’t know what else is on the agenda. I’ll try to fill you in as soon as I know. The PFE will be filling us in on what they have been up to. I can’t wait to see what cost savings are involved. Our district has managed to pass a new levy , go from a projected deficit in 2008, to requesting a release from fiscal watch. The preliminary draft didn’t have much cost cutting. I am curious how buildings and bussing reorganization went.
Let’s talk about those two things today. Buildings and bussing. Our bussing program really needs revamped. We have exceptions and exceptions to the exceptions, busses picking up one and two kids. Busses picking up open enrolled kids but denying our own kids a ride. I have had parents ask me why their child must walk on Graham Rd. while children a little further up Graham Rd. get a ride on a bus. I’ve also had parents ask me if Broad Blvd, State Road, Portage Trail, Tallmadge Road, Bailey, etc… are any less dangerous than the current exceptions of Kent Road and Graham Road east of Route 8.
I’ve heard so many building scenarios it’s mind boggling. I’ll put my two cents in and I’m sure everyone else will offer rebuttals here as well. While neighborhood schools have support in our community, it seems that grade level tracking has benefits that outweigh many other options. For those unfamiliar with this concept here is an example- one building houses K-2, another house 3&4, another 5&6, another 7&8, and then the HS. For one they out perform other school configurations academically. Teachers have an obvious advantage being "on the same page". You don’t have kids entering middle school from different elementary schools having learned different concepts. This configuration also seems to utilize building capacity most efficiently.
I’m sure the PFE has covered these concerns and more. I believe they have been working since last October. I will admit I am not as in the know about the PFE as some would like. Many of us were excluded from the steering committee based on the fact we were running for the board?! I was assigned to a sub committee called "Facilities and Resources" I attended the first of three meetings and discovered facilities had nothing to do with it. Unfortunately family business prevented me from attending the second and third meetings. But I am confident that the sub committees have found new and ingenious ways to save us bunches of money. I bet the building reorganization alone saves oodles. I doubt there is much that can be done to save money in the bussing department. Even if we bus in a more efficient manner we will still bus the same kids the same distances. And what efficiency saves, higher overhead at the new garage will eat up any meager savings we could have accomplished. I think building reorganization is where we will see the money savings.
Let’s get talking about the results you expect from the PFE. There has been a lot of time and money put into this. The board will be expected to approve some sort of resolution or recommendations from the PFE and I would like to know what Joe Taxpayer has to say about this.
I still think a survey of the entire community is the only way our district will truly know what is expected of us. The city of Orrville did one with surprising results. Yes the grape jelly capitol of the world. They learned things about their community that they’d never considered. They were able to rebuild their district around survey results and do it with the support and backing of the community. I know this city is capable of doing the same. But only if we include the stake holders.

I fought the law and the law won

Alrighty, let's have a little legal 101. First, you cannot declare something to be confidential that is not by law confidential. You see if that were possible, governmental entities would declare everything confidential and the public would never be informed. Second, if you are going to cite bylaws and Ohio Revised Code to someone, make sure that you are not violating any yourself first. The Scolding of Kellie document signers have violated Sunshine Laws as well as ORC. ORC states that there are specific reasons to go into executive session and the consideration of the discipline of a Board member for conduct related to the performance of his/her duties or his/her removal from office shall not be held in executive session. You also cannot have three people (AKA: Quorum) taking action without the knowledge of the public and the full board. My feelings are this. A majority vote is running our district. The following letter I find petty, misleading and some statements are false. I fail to see why this blog is so upsetting to them. If you don't like my opinions there is a simple solution. Don't read this. Spend your time doing what I do. Try to follow the money and look for ways to save (sending tapes to my house isn't one of them) , places to make cuts, program consolidation, freedom for classroom teachers to teach their style not what their told to teach, there are so many better ways to spend time serving the public, than looking for ways to make me miserable. I would also like to drop a line and thank Barb Gunter for not signing the Scolding of Kellie. From what I was told she was left out of the loop until 6:45 PM and held up in a meeting with the Pres until 7:05. Now you know why they rushed in and we started late. Nothing like springing something like this on someone and expecting them to sign it. She stated that she did not agree with the letter, but to hand it to her at the last minute was incomprehensible.

The Letter from the Triumvirate

Put up yer dukes!

I'm going to do something I don't normally do. I'm going to comment on some comments made on other message boards, community forums, newsletters, grapevine, and such. So much is being said that I am being accused of ignoring that I feel I must respond to some of the things I see and hear. Also to set some facts straight. Such as, the busses will still be parked outside and there are additional costs that need to be considered when making a purchase of this magnitude. I take offense to anyone on the board being called a liar or a puppet. Unless you are willing to back up accusations like this they should be reserved for the gossip that goes on at the beauty shop under the hair dryer. It's hard to know the truth about someone when you've never taken the time to talk with them.
I want what is best for taxpayers and kids. Those are the two things that affect our lives. The spend it because you have it attitude has to change unless you want a levy on the ballot every 2 years. I am not a negative person but I will continue to be contrary and ask questions until I see change taking place. The constant threats to parents, grandparents and children need to stop. I want to see the cuts before coming to the property owner for more money. Cuts that have little to no effect on kids. Like less administrators. Like larger class sizes for gym and music. Like using way less paper and way more technology. Like teaching through computers at home rather than shipping kids all over hells half acre. There are kids we spend over $50,000.00 per year on!! Two years of that would buy a house in the Falls. There are many ways to save money if you try. Just like most of us have to constantly look for ways to save money to get by, our governmental agencies should too. By the way, am I the only one that noticed mental is in the word governmental?
From what I am hearing we are sending kids to college behind their peers. They are not taught how to study, how to manage time, what colleges expect, or told what scholarships and early courses are available. Customer service does not seem to be a priority at our schools. Just who got what and who didn't yet. Meanwhile the teachers are stuck in the middle, forced to follow a curriculum that doesn't always mesh with the students readiness, and don't speak up because the politics of it all will make their life miserable. Whew I'm out of breath after that one.
I have Roberts Rules. Purchased it last November. My son Robert freaked out when he saw it! I assured him his rule book is much thinner, but I didn't deny that it existed. The thing is Roberts Rules are only useful if people want to abide by them. And our system works in such a way that it is almost impossible to garner citizen input on issues because there is no first and second reading on most issues. And anything of importance is handled in executive session until the witching hour. You cannot effectively represent the people that voted for you under the current system unless you are a clairvoyant. But, on the other hand, an administration can do virtually anything they want with your money as long as it has a willing board.

Why’s everybody always pickin’ on me?

Wow, wait until you hear this monumental waste of your money. I was lounging around yesterday eating bon bons and giving myself a pedicure when the doorbell rang. Out front was a moving truck and a friendly gentleman stood at my door with some official looking documents in hand. He had a package that I was required to sign for, stating that I had been hand delivered a tape of the March 15th board meeting. I asked whom it was from and he just shrugged and said "I don’t know, they just sent me". Considering my increased paranoia of late this was very disconcerting. I was hoping he was heading back to the truck to bring in a new couch, but he just drove away. I was nervous. Was this really a tape? Why would I need a tape of an event I was a part of? I listened to the entire tape. I suppose the part I was intended to hear was at the very end of side B. I guess it was the part where our CEO mentions that our district can renovate and acquire the new bus garage for under $700,000.00. I must say I hope none of you are ever subjected to having to listen to a tape of a board meeting. Unless you are an insomniac, in which case I highly recommend it.
So I have a tape courtesy of the tax payers I assume. I will use it in the future as punishment for my children. And thanks for having it delivered to me because with the price of gas these days…Oh yeah and I understand why it couldn’t have waited until today when our board reports are hand delivered. OK that was a lie. I don’t understand that one. Anyway, for anyone paying attention, my toenails turned out fine.
I keep hearing about what is ethical and what is not. Is it ethical to spend $1500 per pupil more in one area of our district? Is it ethical to work toward separating certain schools from our district and then running for school board when you realize it can’t happen? Is it ethical to vote on contracts for people your family benefits monetarily from? Is it ethical to close two schools based partially on enrollment figures only to report 6 months later the only numbers under reported were on the two closed schools?
My ethics are right where they should be. I want to see equitable spending throughout our district, I want to see tax payer money spent wisely, not looking for ways to spend all we have. I want to see our buildings used by our students. I do not believe that leasing our buildings community schools and private schools is any way to increase our declining enrollment. Our bussing policies are grossly unfair to our very own students. My ethics lie with the people who pay the bills here and the children that deserve to see our money used on them in the classroom not on administrative costs that continue to rise as enrollment decreases.

Note on email: Due to concerns with Email linking to my Board of Education address, I have changed the Email link to my home Email account.

Who are you? WhoWho.. WhoWho?

I finally feel I can let you in on what your board has been up to. I wanted to give my fellow board members a heads up first. While you thought the board was spending spring break looking for ways to save you money and better educate our children, some were actually preparing a document of which I'm still unsure what to call. Let's call it the Scolding of Kellie. This is a CONFIDENTIAL document according to some of my fellow board members. So to show my fellow board members the respect they deserve, I will only post my reply to them here for now. I have given the board president 1 weeks time to provide clarification as to why his letter to me is to be kept confidential. The way I read the law, considering the Scolding of Kellie document concerns moi, it is only confidential if I deem it to be so. But after reading my reply I think you will have a pretty clear understanding of the intentions of some of my fellow board members. I say some because not everyone signed the Scolding of Kellie. I was not the only person ambushed with this. I will say this once again. This blog serves a purpose whether my detractors see it or not. So much misinformation is spread around it's no wonder people throw their hands in the air and turn their backs. This blog will stay up until someone figures out a way to UN-elect me. Why are so many people afraid of my views and opinions of the school district happenings?

My Attorney's Response

My Personal Response

EDIT: The links are getting a lot of downloads right now. Yahoo has an hourly transfer limit so please try back at the top of the hour. I will work on finding a better place to upload these documents so they can be seen without limits.

EDIT: Links should be working now. Let me know if you have more problems.

Oooops

What a curious thing the Falls News did. The Legislative Lowdown doesn’t mention the most significant purchase our district has made in 40 years. I’m so in shock I don’t know what to say about it. How do you not report this?! Hmm maybe it’s because we didn’t actually buy it! We approved version 18 of 22 contracts it appears. Don’t worry, the board will have a chance to rectify the mistake at this Wednesdays meeting. Now I really understand the need for the vote to be posted here. The blame game has already started. What I want to know is why it took 22 contract rewrites to get it right. I guess that’s what happens when you try to hurry a purchase. I have been told I am politically naïve for thinking Woodridge really wanted to look into a joint venture with us. Silly me believing something our CEO told me.
Also on Wednesdays’ agenda- Contract renewals and some non-renewals, a multitude of policy revisions as well as presentations by our curriculum director on textbooks and our CEO and CFO with a financial update. Oh and a resolution to request the Auditor of the State of Ohio to release our district from fiscal "watch". My feelings on it are we should save everyone the paperwork troubles. I know, I know. How dang negative of me. But without a levy (or some serious cuts) we will be revisiting a deficit situation in 2008. A Falls News letter to the editor suggests we follow the cuts in the recovery plan. I agree. One of the problems is the cuts were cut. People need to understand that some of the money savings promised are not happening. While the recovery plan looks good on paper it has to be completely implemented to make an impact. I saw some familiar names on the last delinquent tax list. I have had many senior citizens in the community tell me they will have to sell their homes if property taxes go up any more. Social Security does not give a $40.00 per month cost of living increase. That is the average amount I’m told most home owners taxes went up. Can you say house for rent? Because that is the trend in the Falls when seniors move out. Some rental company buys it or the sheriff takes it and sells it to HUD. This isn’t your fathers CF.
And one more issue I’d like to touch on. The administrative salary increases. First of all the board approved a new salary schedule which did two things. It gave some raises and it didn’t give some raises. The "responsibility factor" can be adjusted. But more importantly it has generated talk in the community about where our priorities seem to lie. Are some of these people deserving of what they got? Sure. Could we have done better? Yes. But either way contracts with a salary schedule were in place. Our CEO presented the board with a new salary schedule that he said was superior to what was in place and would save our district money. If there is something amiss I am not aware of it.
Our administrators need to focus on being accountable to the stake holders of this district and educating children. The politics involved do nothing to benefit the education of children. The same issues that have devastated major corporations are devastating school districts across the nation. I will admit that I am too new on the board to truly know who is an effective administrator and who is not. I am not in the position to see these people working on a daily basis. I must take recommendations from the districts CEO whom I had no part in hiring and keep my fingers crossed he is doing a good job. Information is provided in a less than timely manner. Yet my last minute questions seem to irritate some. I will continue to be contrary and ask questions until I feel I am getting information in a timely manner. If I am to approve and take responsibility for these decisions, I need to be kept informed.

Isn't recovery for addicts?

Is "Project Recovery" working? Let’s review. A plan - "Project Recovery" - was originally submitted to the community with cuts in programs, staff, and school closings. "Deep cuts" they were called. This original plan also required a new levy as well as a renewal levy. As the levy-begging progressed, concessions by the administration were made to Project Recovery. A new set of promises was made to the community, but never updated to Project Recovery. Now it’s time to pay the piper for forgetting this important part of the equation. Project Recovery can not work if it is not being implemented as originally planned. The community passed both levy’s believing two different sets of rules. Some voted yes because they thought the cuts promised would be made, others voted yes because the cuts were cut. Sorry if that’s confusing but I’m just reporting the facts.
Keep in mind folks, the recovery plan was submitted to the State of Ohio as a stipulation of being in "fiscal watch". I assume the state assumes we are actually following it. But we’re not. Oh sure, we closed a couple schools and laid off some teachers, froze wages for a year and didn’t buy text books. But our sports program and bussing are intact.
Speaking of bussing, several of you have expressed me your frustration with our bussing policies. I’m going to fill you in with some facts. Do with them what you will. First, we must by law bus private school children in our district and charter school children in a 30 minute/30 mile zone. Or buy the parents out. Secondly, open enrolled children must be bussed to our public schools provided they get themselves to a current route stop on time. Yet children enrolled in their own school are not permitted to do this. Even though some busses run half-empty. Lastly, yes we do provide transportation for some children that fall inside our bussing limitations. I was told it is our policy, although I have been unable to find it. I will ask for clarification on this.
And to once again clarify some of the new bus garage issues. The busses will still be parked outside. They can be washed and repaired inside after the $200,000.00 renovations. Several of you have questioned me about the increased costs. We are still waiting to hear what utilities and extras, such as shaving off the corner of Second St. and Vincent will cost. As is concerns me as there appear to be several cracks in the structure. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this is where the new garage doors will go.
I understand our plan for excellence committee is getting ready to discuss our school reorganization. I wonder if equity in per pupil spending will be discussed? One of the reasons I ran for this school board position was because research into building expenditures disturbed me. I hope this is considered when making recommendations affecting our kids. Although I am comforted knowing our districts curriculum director is chairing this committee. I’m banking on his leadership and keeping my fingers crossed. What else can I do?

Whoa Black Betty Wham-O-Lam

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

Thank you sir, may I have another?

Please excuse me for not posting earlier but I was in an executive session until 10:50 PM. I am weary and sad. Not from being out so late but from the intentions of people who think this blog has no purpose. People are more informed now than ever before.
It appears this blog has served it’s purpose. We have more attendance at board meetings than ever before. Several comments were made regarding web activities. Before starting this blog I gave it much thought. I came to the conclusion that it is the only way I can garner input from my constituents in a manner that is fair and timely. People with serious concerns and suggestions E-mail me. People who want to insult me post. Getting people involved and talking is what this was all about. A teacher said "if the public can’t drag their butt in here (the board room) to have their say, too bad" Funny I didn’t hear that attitude when the district was asking for a levy last November. I was also invited to tour Schnee. What the lady didn’t realize is that a tour of the buildings was requested in January. Still waiting. A teacher also said that if board members had questions for staff we should come to the buildings and talk to them. The board was instructed by the CEO that any and all correspondence was to go through the CEO or CFO. We were also informed that our CEO is too busy to report to us every little issue in the district. Yet I am expected to approve most little issues. I can vote how I feel about it or I can try to represent the people. Which would you prefer?
I have had several people thank me for trying to postpone the bus garage purchase. Contrary to a statement made at the board meeting, the city is not interested in buying the districts current warehouse/bus building or land. I was told their money is tied up for quite a while in other projects. And our audit recommends the reduction of two busses and assumes we have 18 active.
Stay tuned for more......

Woke up this morning.....

This weeks board meeting is a DO NOT MISS!! It seems we have made the fastest real estate purchase known to man. Someone asked me just last week whenI thought the bus garage purchase would be on the agenda. I confidently said it would probably be at least a month since EPA inspections as well as your regular inspections were still needed. I should have seen this coming. I guess someone wanted this deal taken care of before our performance audit was made public. Seems the timing of our public forum and the announcement of the bus garage deal has ruffled a few feathers as well. Does anyone happen to know how much money is in our capital improvement fund? Two weeks ago we received $802,000.00. We're spending it faster than a red neck at a swap meet.
I've been out of town and do not have time at the moment to respond to comments posted on the previous blog. But rest assured I will. I'm a little surprised and disappointed. Disappointed at the personal insults. Surprised at the accusations. If you haven't figured out by now that I am about the only person willing to use my name on this, and anyone else's blog, you haven't been paying attention. And if I were writing in the style suggested it would be more like the Sopranos. So fagettaboudit.

Buildings, and Raises, and Books? Oh No!

I took a tour of the new bus garage. A lot of rust on the beams but hey- I’m no structural engineer. I imagine rusty beams are common place in big old stinky buildings. I am disappointed that other options are not being considered. The last time I spent half a million dollars on property without looking around, I really regretted it. I liked the idea of going halfsies with Woodridge for a building on Marc Drive. It most likely would have saved both districts’ some money. Bulk purchasing and staff reconfiguration for starters. But I would have settled for looking at other property for just ourselves. But unfortunately the wheels were in motion for the current site well before the board even knew the idea existed. The board was asked for permission to enter negotiations for the amounts 350-500K, with renovations at an additional 150K. Appraisal at that time was stated at 424K. Imagine my surprise when I was informed that our offer of 455K was accepted! ACCEPTED. Of course it’s contingent on inspections (that we are paying for!) and board approval but I would say board approval is a given. It only takes 3 votes. And the renovations estimate has climbed to 190K. I should probably at this point reiterate that I am not opposed to a new warehouse/bus facility. I know it is needed. But so is a capital improvement fund. Would looking around for a couple months and earning a little interest on our money be a bad idea? And what about the textbooks we have put off purchasing for years? Oh- and did I mention the problems with the buildings our kids are in?
I thought the bus garage business would bring the most feedback. Man was I wrong! It seems that administrative pay raises and the new pay scale has raised the ire of the citizenry. So let me ask you this- how many years would you be willing to work for an entity without a raise? Many in Cuyahoga Falls tell me they have went years without a raise and some have even suffered pay cuts. But our CEO insisted that a new pay scale was needed and this new pay scale allowed for the raises, or in some cases freezes, in pay. Is the new pay scale fair and balanced? You tell me. The responsibility factor makes me a little uneasy but it encourages continuing education and professional development. After looking at a local salary study regarding school administrators, Cuyahoga Falls is in line with surrounding districts in almost every position. Strangely enough our most out of line position salary is athletic director. The only position that was in the table of contents in my salary study, but the data page was not in my copy. Oh and the data for this position is curiously missing from the new administrative pay scale as well. Turns out the average salary in this position is about $53,000. We hired in at $63,000. Hmmmmmm.
When is the last time you got a $22,000 raise? Seems that we had 17 applicants for the athletic director position. Out of those 17 we hired one who has no prior experience as AD, has never been a head coach, but like my 7 year-old, has experience playing on a team. I requested to see the resumes of the applicants so I could gain some insight into our CEO’s decision making process. I have not received my public request yet (12 days and counting) but I did get a reply stating it is his decision and it’s a shame I don’t trust him. I asked but was not told until after the fact that the person we hired for the AD position currently makes 41K per year and we hired him at 63K. I can’t help but wonder if we could have hired him or someone else a little cheaper. Why am I expected to approve contracts and the hiring of people I know nothing about? Most boards have a member or two sit in on the interviewing process. BTW this addendum to our agenda came in my Email Monday evening for a Wednesday meeting. I was also told that I should consider it irrelevant that the board presidents’ wife provides childcare for the new hire 5 minutes before I was expected to vote.
If the board must accept the responsibility of these decisions, the board should be a part of them. I would hardly call this a savvy business decision. I was given a day and a half to decide if a man I didn’t know was the best choice for this position. I questioned the thinking behind it and was told that I need to trust the CEO that we pay 105K per year to make these decisions.
So I did. Do I feel betrayed? You bet.
Oh yeah. One last thing to ponder. A fellow board member the other day suggested to me that the board really needs to look into giving our CEO and CFO their due. Just wondering what your feelings are on this.

Ride on the Magic School Bus

So much is happening at once that I’m not sure where to begin. A check for the Bode building and a contract for a new bus garage all in the same breath. Whew! 800K in, 655K out. And that's just to start. All signed, sealed, delivered and awaiting board approval. Yes, I’m sure it will have board approval. Does anyone question that? Now you should understand, something must be done for the warehouse/bus garage in the near future. It is old and I am impressed there are not more parking accidents. But in light of our current financial condition, and issues with our school buildings, I’m not sure this is the best solution. And I do not agree with the comment "best of all this will cost the taxpayer nothing." Taxpayer money built Bode and it was our money that came in from the sale. So tell me taxpayers, is this a wise move or are there other options? I realize our current building is old but I’m not so sure our fire department would "let it burn" if it caught fire. Please pretend this statement was not actually made at our board meeting. There is a home about 15 feet away. Not to mention the fuel storage tanks! I hope the CFFD would at least attempt to squirt some water that way.
It seems we have hired our athletic director for next year.The Director of Schnee Learning Center has snagged the job. I do not know him or our job description for AD so I should say I’m sure he’ll do a fine job. That would be the politically correct thing to say. But since I don’t know him I can only truthfully say that I hope he does a fine job. A moving statement was read at Wednesdays board meeting expressing disappointment in the bypassing of a long time employee, with much experience in the athletic department for this position. To see this same person resign his position as head football coach on the boards’ agenda minutes later was disheartening. I can only say that the Board of Education has no employment powers except the positions of superintendent and treasurer. The superintendent is responsible for the employment of personnel.
Speaking of Schnee, I have been asked by several people to point something out. We continue to hear how successful Schnee Learning Center is. Well Duh. You are letting high school kids go to school for 3 hours a day. Let’s be honest. Is Schnee successful because kids are learning or because a lot of kids with little to no motivation can go to school for only three hours per day? I’m sure that there is a percentage of students at Schnee that are truly benefiting from the services provided. But I know students are clamoring to get into Schnee and I know why. 3 – Hours- Per- Day!! Why? I have been told that this is because some of these children must help support their families. HAH! Puh-lease. Of course children are flocking to Schnee. But is this the clientele we want to attract? Read your Falls News police blotter or Sunday Beacon crime section and let me know.
I’m not so sure that putting low cost parochial schools in our district buildings is such a wise idea either. Do they draw children from our own neighborhoods? I think so. But more importantly, what do you think?
Keep your feedback coming.

Feelin' alright...

It’s been a busy week and a half. I want to apologize to you for taking so long to post. Our last board meeting was fairly uneventful. I was pleased to see CFHS student Holly Shaw was recognized for her outstanding performance in the DECA program. She won herself a $100,000 scholarship. AWESOME!!
I want to congratulate our CEO for taking the initiative to develop a comprehensible administrative pay schedule. It has been long overdue. I think the only changes I would make would be to find some way of recognizing performance. (or the lack there of.) Maybe we can now look at making insurance contributions reasonable and equal across the board. The gravy train is at depot 2006 and it’s time to get off. I hear that most of our property owners make significant contributions to insurance. Why should their tax dollars fund government employees insurance at percentages most of us only dream of?
We have had our audit meetings. It’s CONFIDENTIAL for now, but I promise that as soon as allowable by law I will let you know what they say. I don’t know why the word is always in capitol letters but somehow it seems appropriate, so I will carry on the tradition.
Please continue to Email me with your feedback on these issues. Or leave your comments here on the blog. Either way I want to know what YOU think.