School Superintendent John Heim
March 4, 2008
Emporia School Superintendent John Heim will answer your questions on the goals, plans and projects for the Emporia school district.
Moderator: Today's guest is John Heim, Emporia's school superintendent. We have a lot of questions already submitted, so if you have a question, please, submit it as soon as possible. To keep up with the chat, don't forget to click on the refresh button on your browser frequently. The chat is now open.
Absolute: Parent participation is very low, especially in the middle school and high school. But even at the elementary level, very few parents are actively involved. How is the school district encouraging parent involvement in schools? What does the school district need to be doing better to encourage parent involvement?
John Heim: Parent involvement is one of the most important factors in a child’s success at school. I think the majority of parents want to be involved but it is very difficult for them to come to school for meetings or other events. Parents are very busy. I think we need to look at parent involvement in a new way and find ways to keep parents engaged in the educational process without expecting them to attend meetings around our schedule. PowerSchool has been a good tool for keeping parents actively involved in their children’s education, especially at the intermediate, middle and high school. Parents can stay informed about their children’s grades, attendance and status of assignments. They have handy email access to all teachers, who all have laptop computers to manage their electronic grade books and email communication. My son is not a big fan of PowerSchool because I can check his grades every day. Our elementary schools have nearly 100 percent attendance at parent-teacher conferences in the fall and winter. One reason for this is that the elementary schools are flexible in their scheduling to accommodate parents. If parents can’t come to them, some teachers will go to the child’s home to meet with the parents. Attendance at the middle and high school conferences is lower, perhaps because of the information parents have available through PowerSchool. Finally, at the middle and high school level, parents become involved through booster clubs and other groups that specially support individual activities, such as band, drama, debate and athletics.
activecitizen: You have been very candid in stating that staffing needs for the upcoming year will be met through "attrition, transfers and normal staffing procedures." However, what does this mean for first year teachers who are not guaranteed anything, and could be let go without any explanation (keeping in mind that laws prevent employers from giving reason to first year teachers)? If you have to cut jobs, they will be the first on the cutting block, will the district at least state that it is because of recent events in the community, or leave it to the imagination of everyone? It's one thing to say we have to, another to say nothing; saying nothing could hamper the process of a perfectly good teacher obtaining a job in another district.
John Heim: I know that the level of anxiety is high right now, especially with our non-tenured teachers. I believe the district can handle staffing changes thru attrition, transfers and normal staffing procedures. Transfers of certified and classified staff are becoming more likely because enrollment balances may be changed by changes in community demographics. Transfers for staff and students will be considered at the district level to help manage necessary changes on the whole. Hopefully, we will not have to reduce staff significantly this year.
activecitizen: How can the district consider plans to relocate the central office because of expansion when there is a distinct possibility that the district will suffer substantial losses in size?
Moderator: Here's a related question
cloud: If the Administration moves from the Merchant Street location to Mary Herbert, where will Flint Hills Special Ed Co-Op be housed?
John Heim: I’d like to address both of these questions at the same time. First, we have no plans to expand the central office or increase central office staff. If we relocate to Mary Herbert, it would consolidate our operations with the Flint Hills Special Education Cooperative. The FHSEC staff would stay at Mary Herbert. We would have to relocate the Toy Shoppe and Emporians for Drug Awareness. There are many benefits to having the district offices and FHSEC at the same location. It would eliminate some duplication in operations and it would allow our entire Teaching and Learning Department to be in one location with special education staff. We have been talking about the need to do this for more than year. The two offers we’ve received for the building at 501 Merchant Street were unexpected. In light of recent events, the idea of selling a building does have some appeal as it would allow us to downsize in the number of buildings we own and maintain. We would save money in utilities as well and as maintenance and insurance costs.
Moderator: Here are three more related questions
rcakmon: Please explain your evaluation procedure for administrators that are new to the district. Do you ask for feedback from the teachers and staff in that building?
lurker75: Dr. Heim, Are parents and/or building staff included in the evaluation process of first year administrators?
amy: Do teachers and staff have any input on the evaluation process of new administrators?
John Heim: In our district, I evaluate all administrators and the schedule is spelled out in board policy. It states, “The superintendent or designee shall conduct administrative evaluations. In the evaluation, information and opinions may be obtained and/or accepted from teachers, students, parents and community members. Administrators will be formally evaluated according to the same time schedule for certified staff; twice per year for the first two years, once per year for years three and four, and every three years thereafter. The superintendent may evaluate more often than the required schedule.” There is not a formal mechanism for parent, staff or student input but I do hear from parents and staff informally and I often include that in principals’ evaluations.
mythoughts: What can be done to reduce upper administration costs and boost teacher salaries, besides raising our taxes?
John Heim: Administrators perform an important function in the district and strong administrative leadership does make a difference in student achievement. The cost of district administration is 3% of our budget, the same as the state average. Every year during budget development and negotiations, improving teacher salaries and maintaining appropriate class sizes are our top priorities. During the past six years, teacher base pay has increased from $27,300 to $33,438. We have done this without raising the mill levy. In fact the levy for schools has declined every year for the past six years. Our board works hard to keep our teacher salaries competitive with similar sized districts and districts in the area.
poacher: Do you think teachers are overpaid especially since they only work 9 months a year? Can teacher salaries be reduced to help lower our taxes. Who sets them?
John Heim: I recall a Sports Illustrated article that listed Shaquille O’Neal’s salary and endorsements. With what he earned in 2007, he would have more than enough to pay all our teachers with money left over. Teachers are not overpaid, but Shaq might be. Teachers are not overpaid and I would not recommend they be reduced. Kansas teacher pay is lower than 40 other states and I would argue that teachers are under paid. The current Kansas teacher shortage provides more evidence that teachers are underpaid. With literally hundreds of teaching jobs going unfilled in Kansas, Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand” seems to tell us that teachers are underpaid. Teachers have students nearly 10 months of the year but their work does not end when the students leave. They plan their instruction, take additional classes, and attend training or other professional development activities to improve their skills and maintain their teaching certificate. Salaries are set through the negotiation process between the Board of Education and the Emporia National Education Association. The terms of the master contract must be ratified by both sides for new salaries to be implemented.
bjohn: If the district loses enough students would it be possible that one of the elementary schools might be closed down? Do you think that any of the elementary schools would make for a suitable location to move the board offices to should the board decide to sell its current building?
John Heim: It would take about a year to plan for the closing of a school and we have no plans to close any schools next year. It is impossible to know what enrollment changes we will experience over the next few years as a result of the Tyson job cuts. I think all options for building use will have to be considered in the years ahead.
Moderator: That's our chat for today. Thanks to John Heim for participating and to all of the people who submitted questions. There was not time to answer them all, but Heim has been given a copy of all questions submitted. Next week, a chat with Jeanine KcKenna of the Emporia Area CHamber of Commerce. A transcript of today's chat will be published in Wednesday's Gazette.