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.