WHY Can't They Just Tell Us WHY?

WHY?

WHY do we have a Deputy Superintendent plus 4 Chairs when Onteora with as high a certified population as ours has one Director of Pupil Personnel and 3 chairs?

WHY do we have a Director of Technology when most other schools in our County do not? Who would do the job if this position was cut? Are these people doing this anyway?

WHY do we have 2 Assistant Principles in both Middle and High School when the other schools in our County have none or one per Middle or High School?

WHY doesn't the BOE tell the Administration that they need to do an audit of their positions?

WHY doesn't the BOE apply the same zero sum approach to the administration that they are doing for the rest of the jobs?

WHY are all these really high paying administrative jobs more important that the teachers and teaching assistants?

WHY wouldn't the administration want to show us on paper how necessary each of these high paying positions are and what would happen should any get cut?

I firmly believe if we are provided thorough, intelligent, and FACTUAL information answering all of these questions, we could move ahead. WHY can't we be provided with these answers?

I am not saying these positions all must go. I am just wondering why the administration is not cooperating in making it clear WHY these positions are completely necessary and could not possibly be cut or reduced or combined when so many people are walking around and asking WHY, WHY, WHY???

In Preparation of Wednesday's Meeting

This Wednesday will be an important, potentially defining meeting in regards to school consolidation. If you can come to only one, perhaps this one should be it. I encourage you to present to the board some qualitative data to go with their quantitative data. In other words, tell some good stories:

1. Did you or a child you know experience the elementary schools in the late 1990's early 2000's when enrollment was much higher? What problems existed that we might not be aware of now? How was it different? If you have a story, please tell it.

2. Do you have a child with special needs? How would a more crowded school and how would larger classrooms impact him or her. If you have a story please tell it.

If you prefer to not tell your story in public or can't come on Wednesday, e-mail you story to me and I will happily tell it for you (anonymously or not as you wish).

What Can I Do? You Ask....

Pick an issue or two or three or four from the post below and send a message to one or all of the links below. I provide some background on each issue. If you want more information you can look through the blog at other posts, post a comment or e-mail me and I will try to help or direct you to someone who can.

You can keep your messages succinct but we need the BOE and Rosario know how many people are concerned and the only way is to tell them. Please make your voice heard and ask all of your friends and family members (of all ages) to do the same.

IF YOU DON'T EXPRESS YOUR CONCERNS WITH THE BUDGET NOW, IT WILL SOON BE TOO LATE.

Post your message on the BOE comment page by clicking here
Gail Hutchins ghutchins@rondout.k12.ny.us
Rosario Agostaro ragostaro@rondout.k12.ny.us, 687-2400 x 4802/4803

Keeping Track of it All

For those who are just coming into this or who can't get to the meetings I will try to provide a simple synopsis of where we are so far. I am by no mean infallible so if you see an error please let me know. These are in no particular order.

Issue	Background	Why this is a concern
Closing of an Elementary School	Currently there has neither been a selected school for closing nor has there been a final decision that a school will close. However, this has not been taken off of the table either.	Besides the obvious emotional ties parents, children, teachers and staff have to their schools. This is problematic for other reasons. If there are only two elementary schools, the remaining schools will increase in capacity by over 60% resulting in likely overcrowding, potential problems with emergency evacuation, reduction in opportunities such as all school assemblies, lengthy bus rides for up to 200 kids, redistricting, to name a few concerns
Bringing 5th Grade Back	Again, this is neither agreed upon or off the table.	The only apparent question is how this can save the district money. If the 5th graders move back, the district could move into the 5th grade wing and the district office could be rented. This is revenue as opposed to savings but we do not know what the true potential revenue is in renting this building.
A High Tax Levy	We do not know what they final tax levy will be because no final budget has been determined. If you heard 17% these are just speculations.	There are still questions as to how much is in the reserve and how this can be used to lower the tax levy. Also, the tax levy option need to be converted into real dollar amounts so that people understand how much more they would need to pay given different scenarios.
Cutting of teachers and teaching assistants.	Based on enrollment projections, the district is already making decisions to make considerable reductions in teaching staff.	Enrollment projections are highly flawed and are even then using the lower end of possible enrollments. This reduction means larger class size which is empirically proven to worsen student’s outcomes both in test scores and in feelings toward their education
Cutting of special education, life skills, ESL	The district is already making decisions to make considerable reductions in these areas.	Our district has a high percent of children who are certified with special needs. Cutting these positions will mean the district cannot fulfill their obligations to serve these children in any reasonable manner.
Consolidation of administration	The currently proposed budget includes only two reductions in administration, the Nurse Practitioner and one Assistant Principle. Our district is particularly top heavy still but we were informed that they felt they could make no more reductions.	If we are to make concessions given the restricted budget, they need to be made everywhere, including administration whose salaries are quite inflated. Instead of bearing a reasonable burden, the administration is selecting instead to make the schools take on the burden almost solely.

Special Ed, Cost per Pupil, Tax Rates

I have heard many people complain that Rondout is near the top of the cost per pupil rankings. The reason this is true is because geographically we have the highest number of certified (special needs) children in our County with 21% of our student population needing some special services. These services cost money. That is the nature of being geographically and economically diverse. It is, what I think, part of what makes our district special.

In a perfect world, the County would regionalize services to children who needed them so that all tax payers in a County could share the added cost of helping those who need some extra help. But right now no system is in place.

That said, we have a low enough true tax rate to shoulder this burden. Our true tax rate (according to the Mid-Hudson School Council) for 2010 is 15.61% which is below the median in our County of 16.02%. In fact in Ulster we rank 6th of 9 districts (where #1 has the highest true tax rate).

For the fiscally concerned, it is worth adding that our budget not only needs to cover the cost for our high certified population in the form of special education teachers etc. but we need a buffer because if one new certified child moves in it could mean considerable added cost.

Why care? If helping all of our children succeed is not enough reason, consider this: every year, districts face law suits by parents who feel their special needs child is not being served. 

The cost of one law suit? Potentially as high as 200k (That's only for legal costs. If the parent wins it could mean millions of dollars).

Chew on that and tell the administration they need to consolidate in administration and bring the special education, life skill teachers and aids back.

The Untouchables versus the Disposables

At last nights BOE meeting Rosario made it clear that over the past few years he has made cuts in the district office and now he needs every last remaining person. I pointed out that our district has also lost teachers and teaching assistants over the past few years and I would bet a lot of people think that we need every single remaining one. But I guess those on top are more important.

I made a list of Untouchables and Disposables (according to Rosario). The disposable list is incomplete - I left off greeters, chaperones, and any reductions in time (but not FTE) just for this example - so the list is truly longer. The untouchable list does not have the Nurse Practitioner and Assistant Principals in the Middle School because based on the last budget they are not untouchable.

I am not making the point that everyone in the administration should go. Most of them are instrumental (but can't the same be said of those on the disposable list?). To argue that consolidation of administrative work is not possible when other districts function on a smaller administration is just wrong. Kingston, which is over 3 times larger and has plenty of at-risk kids has seven on their administrative team to our eleven (not including principles and assistant principles). To say we can't consolidate in the administration is just wrong.

PLEASE SEND THE BOE THIS MESSAGE: CONSOLIDATION IN THE ADMINISTRATION IS NOT ONLY POSSIBLE BUT NOT DOING IT IS JUST WRONG. Click this link to tell them. You can remain anonymous.

Disposables The Untouchables grade 5-8 co-taught Special Ed TA $27,871 Transportation $70,849 K-4 Special Ed Teaching assist $29,158 High School AP $71,061 Aide in library $32,296 Special Education Chair* $90,000 library aide $32,296 Special Education Chair $96,978 testing room teaching assistant $32,746 High School AP $100,438 grade 5-8 Special Ed teach asst $33,510 Standard Area Chair 5-12 $103,388 secretary in a/p office $33,820 Standard Area Chair Athletics, etc $105,542 grade 5-8 Special Ed TA $34,368 Assistant Superintendent Curriculum $118,164 K-4 Special Ed TA $35,082 Business Administrator $118,422 Aide in nurses office $36,034 Director of Technology $131,253 grade 9-12 life skills $37,076 Deputy Superintendent $135,191 grade 9-12 life skills $37,311 Superintendent $175,090 grade 7-8  Special Ed TA $38,561 grade 5&6 Special Ed TA $41,977 grade 5-8 Special Ed TA $42,144 K-4 Special Ed Teaching assist $43,170 K-4 Special Ed Teaching assist $43,514 Aide in guidance $44,565 K-4 Special Ed Teaching assist $44,612 K-4 Special Ed Teaching assist $44,631 Special Ed TA computer $44,899 grade 5&6 Special Ed teach asst $45,045 Kindergarten teaching assist $45,057 Kindergarten teaching assist $45,915 Teacher aide in nurses office $46,255 Kindergarten teaching assist $47,719 Kindergarten teaching assist $48,317 grade 9-12 behavior class $48,558 Kindergarten teaching assist $49,002 grade 9-12 behavior class $49,243 Attendance aide $50,924 secretary in guidance office $55,803 Excess-2nd grade $76,167 PE $77,115 Guidance Counselor $90,813 Special ed Teacher $94,133 1st grade $96,138 Special ed Teacher $96,138 Social Studies $96,139 5th grade-26 class size $97,893 6th grade-25 class size $97,893 Math AIS $101,230 Science $108,911 English $111,980 English $111,980 Science $124,024 Business $126,963
*Note: The salary of the 2nd Special Ed chair was not listed so I provided an estimate slightly lower than the listed salary of her counterpart.

Can We Enter the Race to the Top?

In his State of the State speech, Cuomo proposed creating two new competitive grant funds for state school districts, worth $250 million each. The first grant would reward districts that boost students’ academic performance. The second would go to districts that find ways to cut costs that don’t affect the classroom.

Cuomo says that the second competition is" [a] $250 million competition for districts that can find administrative savings through efficiencies, shared services, etc."

Perhaps this incentive can get our district's attention and encourage them to develop a team of people to design an administrative consolidation.

Important - 2/23 Advisory Meeting is Postponed

The 2/23 Advisory meeting is being postponed due to lack of data. No meeting this Wednesday. I assume they will post this on the website shortly.

I have a great idea. Why not postpone the entire consolidation conversation due to lack of data (and time)?

Side note - While this blog has 19 "followers" an average of 100 people view it daily. If you have a message to deliver you are welcome to include it here or email me.

Are They Listening or Must We Shout?

Will the BOE be united with the people who voted them in and insist on greater cuts in the district office and administration in the High School? E-mail them and ask or tell them:

Give us a 15% reduction in the administration to offset the loss of teachers and TAs!

Gail Hutchins ghutchins@rondout.k12.ny.us
Rosario Agostaro ragostaro@rondout.k12.ny.us, 687-2400 x 4802/4803

Tomorrow's BOE Meeting

Please come to tommorrow's BOE meeting if you can.

Please clarify that it is an insult to us all that they have not seriously worked on consolidating administrative positions. This is a hard time for everyone, but we are about teaching children. Why are the schools bearing close to 90% of the burden while the administration bear less than 4%?

Insist on seeing at least three more administrative jobs cut. Otherwise we will have to assume that the BOE is protecting the administration to the detriment of our children. And that, my friends, is bad....real bad.

Union with the Union?

What if the district promised:
1) They would cut 2-3 more administrative positions
AND
2) If the teachers took a raise freeze every penny saved would be used to restoring teacher and TA jobs. This does not mean no teachers/TA will be let go. Just a quid pro quo.

Would the Union agree?

Eve

The Latest Proposed Budget - Time to Take Action

Below is a summary of the cuts in the latest proposed budget (presented last Tuesday). For a reduction of  $5,273,198 here's how the burden lays:

Elementary Schools: 24.23% of the cuts

Middle School: 28.12% of the cuts

High School: 26.66% of the cuts.

If we add ESL, substitutes and athletics, teachers & programs appear to be bearing 83%  of the cuts.

The District Administrations portion? 3.49%

And yet Cuomo writes:

"In the debate over the state budget, it is important to focus on the facts instead of overheated rhetoric. While I have asked state agencies to cut their budgets by 10%, I have only sought an average 2.9% reduction in overall school spending. And I have suggested many ways in which school districts can absorb these reductions without laying off teachers, cutting programs or harming students. This includes:

• School districts have $1.5 billion in reserves and unspent federal funds that will allow many to absorb the proposed $1.5 billion cuts without service reduction.
• Cutting the salaries of the more than 2,000 high priced school administrators who receive more than $150,000 in salaries and benefits would result in substantial savings.  "

 Cuomo made his cuts not so that our schools bear the burden but to force the administration to be more efficient. WRITE THE BOE & ROSARIO and INSIST ON AT LEAST A 15% REDUCTION IN ADMINISTRATION. 

 15% translates to about $580,000 of reduction in adminstration that could be given back to the schools in the form of TAs, althletics, and special education. 

PLEASE DO NOT DELAY. TAKE ACTION BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!

Now for Something Completely Different

Just to take a quick pause from the budget crazyiness. I thought I might share with you all that in 2009 (the latest data available) the Lyme Disease count and rate in Ulster County has surpassed Dutchess. In 2009 we held the second highest in New York State. These are probable (2 or more symptoms plus treatment) or confirmed cases only.
Dutchess: 413 cases for a rate of 1.5 per 1,000 people
Ulster: 582 cases for a rate of 3.5 per 1,000 people.
We finally beat out Dutchess for something. Yeah?

Meeting 3 of 5

I must admit last night's meeting (finally) felt quite productive. It seemed like the advisory committee was really given the chance to be an advisory committee. It also felt like some of the issues we brought up to Rosario are being heard. Here is the play by play for the most part:

First we were reminded of the committee's purpose. Then Rosario provided an insufficient explanation for his enrollment projections. Then he gave an update on the BOE budget meeting. In short the BOE identified a 59 million dollar budget with no school consolidations. Does anyone know how to get a copy of this?

Next they presented 12 different consolidation models that included various configurations. However, they only presented the cost savings for three and this number they admitted is no accurate since it does not include mothball costs or transportation costs.

In response to Rochelle's request to Rosario they also presented two additional models. Model 13 is the current situation with no school closing - they likened this to the budget presented at the BOE budget meeting with staff cuts but no building closure. Then they presented Model 14 which brings the 5th grade back into the elementary schools. However, they only partially worked through the savings analysis for Model 13 and did not do this for Model 14 - this will be presented next week.

Because the advisory committee could not assess models based on financial savings since that data was incomplete, instead they focused on educational impact. The committee almost unanimously denounced putting 4th graders in the middle school and, though less unanimously, rejected a K1, 2-4 format stating that there were too many transitions, likely too complicated for busing and more disruptive for parents with kids at various ages.

Of these models, Model 8, closing one elementary school but keeping the K-4 format in each was the least disagreeable. The primary issue was the feel of an elementary school with 375 kids in it (compared with closer to 250 as we have now). Side note - the FACTS estimates and the past 3-5 year enrollments reveal that we could actually be seeing closer to 400-415 kids in each school - potentially 250 MORE than we have now. Hard to imagine.

The remaining models on the table at the close of the meeting were #8, #13 (our current model with fewer teachers) and #14 (bringing the 5th grade back). When asked if there could be a savings in bringing the 5th into the elementary school we were told no. But Tim Wade clarified that the district office could be moved and/or we rent the space (of the district office or the 5th grade wing) to universal pre-k and senior citizen groups (GO TIM!). Personally, I was very impressed with Tim. The District should have him be their spokes person. He seemed (to me) reasonable and smart.

At the close there were 13 questions and comments. I am sure I will not remember them all but here are highlights:
1. Where are the cuts to the district office? (thanks Stacy)
2. We should not be assuming the low ball estimate of 750 elementary kids but a safer estimate of 800-820 (me)
3. How many teachers jobs can be saved if we cut on administrative position (o.k. this was not asked out loud - just to my neighbor).
4. We should be cutting from the top down - the TA play an important role at a low cost (thanks MJ)
5. How much money do we really have in our reserves? (thanks Amy)
5. Why are there no talks of real cuts in the administration/district office?
6. If the district came to a 59 million dollar budget, why not leave it at that giving us a year or so to figure out if there needs to be a consolidation (thanks Mindy).
7. If a school closes this year, how do we know another won't be on the chopping block next year? (thanks Theresa).

Where do we go from here?
1. It seems that until the district commits to cutting in their office we can't really know how many programs, TA's and teacher can keep their jobs, meaning we can't really know about class sizes.
2. The three models are up. Personally I think an elementary school with 400 kids is too large.
3. Next week - transportation costs....


E-mail Gail today telling her that there needs to be consolidation in the district office. Again, one district position = 2 teachers.