What's Your Budgeting Question?
I am going to attend the Seattle Council PTSA meeting tonight that features Dr. Enfield and our new CFO, Robert Boesche. They will be answering school budgeting questions. I want to say something to Mr. Boesche but I don't have a burning budgeting question.
Throw out some to me and I'll try to ask as many as I can tonight.
Throw out some to me and I'll try to ask as many as I can tonight.
Comments
Thanks!
VR parent
A mom
Can we share a counselor between a group of schools?
A mom
2. Just received word our school can no longer use a teaching position to provide us with a half time math specialist. Reasons stated are due to budget changes, teacher contract and budget changes. Please explain.
3. Why are we cutting essential services (I believe elementary school counselors to be essentail) while paying for district employees gas? Can we stop buying gas for district bureaucrats and keep dollars in our classrooms?
4. The district has shown an incredible disregard for tax payer dollars i.e. using Title 1 funds for bagels. What assurances do we have dollars will be used wisely? I"m not seeing it.
5. The district will publically reveal the budget. The NEXT day, the district will hear comments. How about giving the public more time to respond to the budget?
In the past 14 months, the district paid the Alliance for Education $210K in personal service contracts. Why?
Why are we paying Alliance for Ed. $210K while eliminating classroom services?
Do we have an ex-principal working in a clerical position at JSS, while collecting principal pay?
A parent
It would be interesting to see a list of all contracts in place for services with the District. I guess when they hired 360 degrees it seemed that, not only did the District rush into a new plan but then spent additional public money to spin it. Does 360 degrees still have a contract with the District? I respect that communications is important, but good solid information should be the focus rather than the spin. If they gave up some of the spin factor perhaps no so many communications personnel would be necessary.
I am just not sure that all are really looking at protecting the classroom from cuts.
Will we be moving forward with purchasing brand-new Dell laptop computers for every student at Cleveland while cutting essential services for students?
Can we see a budget for each and every project and initiative in the Strategic Plan?
Where can we see the savings from the capacity management project?
Where can we see the savings from the past three years of transportation changes?
could someone explain the private schools line item in the budget, do they receive funds for specific purposes, if so, what type of service do they receive or provide?
thanks much
jpr
Clearly, this will impact HQ staffing.
Again, I want to see HQ allocations and budget with ample time before public comment.
On 1/26/11 the district handed out a Strategic Plan Budget Planning Tool for Fiscal year 2012. I'd like to see that updated.
I'd also like to see an updated sheet with budgets for department budgets within JSS.
Under MGJ's reign, she increased Fred Stephens salary 50% ($100K- $150K).
Very generous. How many others got a hefty increase?
Maybe you could ask Mr.Boesche why he is so impressed with Mr.Duggan Harman? A few minutes with him and we understand he does not know what his peer districts are doing as far as a FAT Central Admin. and believes we are close to the 6%. He needs to show us without putting central admin. in other line items under different names. Boesche seems naive, at least at the last Board meeting.
Also you could ask Dr. Enfield how is it that she has been so diligent in cutting elementary counselors out this coming year for a savings of 2.6 million dollars and pretending that they are trying to keep cuts away from the classroom?
Especially with the massive weight of a do nothing for the student Central admin. Enfield seems to be part of the problem. She is protecting more of the same. Cutting counselors in this case could be considered abusive to children.
Which shows some real contracting genius on NWEA's part.
Concerned
Would it really be as easy as deleting, say, all the K-2 kids, and all kids who scored really high on last year's tests? Or, if we reduced the number to 0, we could get out of it? Or is there something in there that obligates the District to test most or all the kids in each grade, and the kid count is just for the purpose of making a minor "true up" adjustment to the total cost.
MW, my financial question is related to the organization chart that is supposedly in the works. Can we have on that org chart, right underneath each person's name, their salary and the breakdown of their salary by budget category/grant?
It seems like that information would help move our discussion forward by eliminating the obscurity about what positions are central admin versus hidden by a "teacher" classification as well as identifying critical functions that have been "outsourced" to grant-funded positions.
This shouldn't be that hard to do, and seems to be to be good management. If they can't disclose certain people's actual salaries, then they should at least put the percentage breakdown between funding sources.
It would be great to know each line item but Central admin. will lie about supposable cuts made to central and re-name positions and keep the same positions but hide them in other line ine items. They are Liars!!!! Mean while they cut direct services to Kids and keep their FAT cows. Cut Central!!!
The budget also projects 56 half-day K students next year and 23 full-day next year. First, this is far less than the number this year and only 1 full day class room is really not realistic. My neighbors aren't going to choose 1/2 day.
Maybe the FTEs aren't really actual teachers and it's simply a way of saying you get $x, allocate it how you want, but that seems like not taking into account a school's actual staffing needs is goofy math (oh, wait we're talking about the district that approved everyday math. maybe they used a number train to get there).
Can you be more specific? Otherwise, this sounds quite a bit like "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?" and will be ignored.
I worry about the changes in the system for children with disabilities, but I need more concrete questions to ask (and it's a subject I don't have personal knowledge of).
parent
There will still be a resource room teacher, staffed at 22:1, or 18:1 if the principal begs. They changed the name of the resource room to ICS. Resource rooms are for learning disabilities, not more severe disabilities. Resource room teachers are trained for high incidence disabilities, like reading disabilities, not low incidence or severe disabilitites like autism.
So ZB, students with disabilities are getting totally shafted with their teacher ratios increased by more than 2. And their adult to student ratio increased by almost 3. That is a change that will effect and is effecting every student in the school, and not positively.
No Thank You, ICS
School district admin should be halved. Teachers give and give and give time-wise. I think administrators should have more on their plates, should supervise more people and more categories and then they will have a better understanding how schools operate and the real needs of children. A more holistic picture. Departments have become isolated, self-interested, and administrators with a little too much time in their ivory towers. Without so many layers, the recent scandal could have been averted.
Decide what is needed for children and spend what's left on admin. It's been the other way around as far as I can see.
Websites and elementary computers are low priority. Professional development and waiver days are low priority. Give us some credit. On-line report cards, counselors, nurses, reasonable class sizes and proper curriculum.
Teachers need time to prepare and to teach.