The Emporia board of education whittled its way through about 30 cost-reduction recommendations Wednesday evening, and managed to cut $1,461,433 from its budget.
The Kansas Legislature may make further cuts necessary as senators and representatives haggle over ways to balance the state’s budget. Local school board members passed some reductions unanimously, approved some on split votes and failed to pass others on 3-3 ties. The seventh board member, Angie Schreiber, was unable to attend the meeting.
Reductions voted on, the estimated or actual savings, and the vote tallies, were:
- Implement energy management guidelines, $75,000, 6-0
- Reduce a minimum of six positions at Emporia High School, $327,860, 6-0
- Reduce Emporia Middle School staff by five full-time equivalency positions, $252,667, 6-0
- Increase admission to Seasonal Celebration from $2 to $3 per person, $3,000, 6-0
- Reduce up to two FTE at Lowther intermediate schools, $135,628, 6-0
- Reduce costs for competitive activities at EHS and EMS, total $10,000, 4-2, with Glen Strickland and Mike Crouch opposed
- Begin pay-to-play at EMS and improve pay-to-play collection at EHS, $2,000, 6-0
- Reduce administrative staff, $382,000, 6-0
- Reduce total of two positions and increase average class size from 19 students to 20 students in K-4, $137,412, 5-1, Mike Helbert opposed
- Reduce one music teacher through more efficient scheduling, K through Grade 12, $69,366, 5-1, Strickland opposed
- Reduce professional development budget, $37,500, 5-1, Crouch opposed
- Do not fill vacant bus mechanic position in transportation; instead, budget half that cost for outside contract work that may need to be done, $19,000, 6-0
- Renegotiate ESSDACK contract, already completed by Superintendent John Heim before board meeting, $10,000, 6-0
All of the staff reductions can be handled through attrition — the resignations or retirements submitted before March 1 by certified and classified staff members.
The board considered, but deferred voting on, a proposal to save $106,863 by cutting six teacher aide positions at Emporia High School and a proposed $214,093 savings from combining library and building technology support positions.
Tie vote of 3-3 resulted in the board not approving reduction of building budgets by 2.5 percent for a $45,000 savings.
The board also asked for detailed information about the value of space, utilities, Internet accessibility and other amenities furnished at no cost to Emporians for Drug Awareness.
“Are there other community groups that are granted free rent?” Helbert asked.
Heim said that any organization that serves only Emporia students, such as basketball camp, is allowed to use district facilities at no charge.
“But this doesn’t just serve all of our students,” Helbert said, explaining his point was that the district is not in a position to offer anything for free.
Helbert said that the school district had been forced to make significant cuts during the meeting that affected staff and students, while no change had been made on the arrangement with a non-district agency that is provided services by the district.
“These are valuable things, folks,” Helbert said. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. … Somebody who’s got alternative sources of income ought to be paying their own way.”
Board member Amy Scheller asked what would be an appropriate rent for the space and amenities and whether EDA operates on a budget or a calendar year.
“And also, there may be some other community entities that would either help out for that or would provide resources or that type of thing,” Scheller said.
Crouch asked the administration to take into account everything, including computers, that the district provides to EDA.
He noted that EDA does a number of valuable programs for the community as well as the school district, but that Safe and Drug-Free Schools serves only the Emporia district’s students.
“We made a number of cuts that are directly affecting our schools, our staff and our students,” he said. “To really be prudent, we need to look at these other entities.”
Building study
The board also agreed on a process that will be used by a committee for a configuration study of the district’s Kindergarten through Grade 8 buildings. Members of the committee are expected to be appointed at the next school board meeting at 7 p.m., April 14 in the Mary Herbert Education Center.
The committee will be made up of one staff member from each K-8 school, nominated by the building principal; one parent from each school’s PTO or site council; and seven at-large members who are not connected in any way to the schools.
Scheller assured the large audience that no decision has been made about closing a school.
“No school is on the chopping block tonight,” she said.
She also thanked the teachers, staff and parents for their sense of community and cooperation.
“… Over and over, we hear, ‘Do what’s best for the kids,’”, she said. “It’s a very simple six-word request. There is no simple six-word answer.”
bball71 (anonymous) says...
When my son used to play basketball in the camps and leagues there were teams and individuals from all the surrounding towns. Unless things have changed I don't think the statement of only Emporia kids is accurate.
March 25, 2010 at 9:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
I have a six word solution.
"DON'T RENEW DR. HEIMS EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT!
Try a private business model instead.
Hire a young business major graduate at 50K per year. Stipulate a 5% pay increase each year they can cut the budget without effecting student performance.
I don't know of very many companies that would keep paying the wages
Dr. Heim recieves every year while insisting on more money to do his job.
And I am sure there is some rich district out there somewhere that would enjoy Dr. Heims experience. If not he could get a job in the private sector.
March 26, 2010 at 7:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
And it is WAY past time to rethink the use of school district facilities and services for EDA. With the retirement of Ms. Grimwood, it would be a good time to perhaps do away with all in kind services provided the EDA.
Maybe they could get a grant from the Robert Woods Foundation for their operating budget?
March 26, 2010 at 8 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
We're definitely not a rich district. Here are some figures of interest for our zip code. Be sure to scroll down to the schools and look at the free/reduced lunches. It is overwhelming at all the schools.
http://www.zipskinny.com/index.php?zi...
March 26, 2010 at 8:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
starfire (anonymous) says...
The following statement is false:
"All of the staff reductions can be handled through attrition — the resignations or retirements submitted before March 1 by certified and classified staff members."
4 first year teachers at the middle school were "non-renewed." Meaning, they did not resign, they were fired.
March 26, 2010 at 9:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
But people, are you not forgetting who heads up the EDA ! The Queen Bee .
March 26, 2010 at 12:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nks (anonymous) says...
I despise how they hide these layoffs/firings or whatever you want to call it by not renewing their contracts. Then some are told to be good little soldiers and put on a show to make the BOE look a little better. Some resignations were actually non-renewals.
March 26, 2010 at 1:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
HenryVIII (anonymous) says...
Why can't I post comments on this other article?
http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/20...
They take down my forum on religion and now they don't allow comments on religious articles. Hmmm... I wonder if they'd allow comments on a piece about Muslims or atheists... The Gazette is a fan of free speech unless you are speaking about their favorite religion.
I know, I know. Their site, their rules. Whatever. Guess I'm not welcome here. :`(
'enry
March 26, 2010 at 1:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
HenryVIII (anonymous) says...
Yikes! Wrong link above. This is the one we can't comment on.
http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/20...
'enry
March 26, 2010 at 1:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
henry,
“Sunday Sermon” is a forum for Emporia area ministers to share their sermons, thoughts and observations. This week’s sermon is from the Rev. James T. Akers, state chaplain, Kansas American Legion.
I guess if you don't believe, why did you read the sermon? Maybe you could comment directly to Rev. Akers over coffee somewhere? Or if you want just hijack this thread, it's happened before.
March 26, 2010 at 2:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
kciddor (anonymous) says...
I ask anybody who is reading these comments and are now or have been in business if you could operate this way. Again we have given this operation a blank check for years and haven't held the school board accountable. This board is not a position most people would care to have or be a part of, but they alone chose it and they haven't taken a stand and said no. The teachers union and ACLU both suck and the board needs to stand up them. To give a teacher or anybody working for a company tenure also suck. A change is on the way and the school system and administration needs to take heed.
March 26, 2010 at 3:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporia (anonymous) says...
How about retirements given the $20,000 buy out and then the same person is contracted back next year? How is that a savings?
March 27, 2010 at 8:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporian66801 (anonymous) says...
In line with an earlier post. The notion that all of the staff cuts will be handled via attrition (retirement/resignation), I think the we should remember something. When a teacher receives a "pink-slip" (as several within the district have received them in the past few weeks) they are given the option to resign. This allows the teacher to "save face" when it comes to pursuing future employment with another district. It is simple enough to say that the old job wasn't a good fit, so they decided to leave.
Professionally, we (yep, I teach in the district and received a pink-slip) are told that prospective employers frown upon non-renewals as it reflects poorly on us. Some actually filter applications based on whether there's a non-renewal indicated. So, we're highly encouraged to resign.
I'm currently debating whether to resign or take the coming non-renewal. Central to that debate is the status of my unemployment benefits. Given the current job market for teachers...and, in fact, the job market for just about anything else, it's quite possible that I won't be gainfully employed come September. If I resign, I've effectively quit my job...negating my eligibility for unemployment.
So, I can resign and put my family at financial risk. Or...I can take the non-renewal and jeopardize my future in teaching.
It's a wonderful setup for the school districts. They can create an environment where a non-renewal is so detrimental to a career that all of the employees will willfully resign...exempting the district from having to pay a portion of the unemployment.
There will be many teachers leaving their current positions this year. Very few are doing it because they want to. When you see the resignations (not the retirements) ask yourself this question. What kind of an idiot would willfully become unemployed given the current job market...particularly the teaching job market? Last I checked, and I do so daily, kansasteachingjobs.com listed 400 positions and 25,000 applicants. Rest assured, few if any of the resignations can be chalked up to "attrition."
March 27, 2010 at 3:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporia (anonymous) says...
All I want to say to all of this is that it is WRONG and my heart is VERY sad for the teachers being ENCOURAGED to retire and the ones that are pink-slipped. It is all WRONG.
March 27, 2010 at 4:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
booker5m (anonymous) says...
Easy choice make them fire you. Is the school district like other employers where they have to pay extra for the more they let go.
I still fail to see why the Supt. has to have so much help and the high school so many ast. principles?
March 27, 2010 at 5 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nks (anonymous) says...
And then the school board talks how "attrition" is making things work.
Boy, they sound like the good guys dont they?
March 27, 2010 at 5:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ksnewsie (anonymous) says...
Booker: You are missing the point. It is not an easy choice. To get fired means the end of a teaching career. To resign means no unemployment. Looking in the longterm, resign. At least you have the opportunity to continue in your profession.
I for one am sick of seeing non-educators bashing the district without having a clue what they are talking about. Unless you have been in the classroom RECENTLY, you have no idea what it is like to try to educate students in the present day environment.
March 27, 2010 at 5:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
booker5m (anonymous) says...
Then you need to get out and see what its like to have work 2 or 3 jobs to pay for this education
March 27, 2010 at 6:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
booker5m (anonymous) says...
lol Killing Akamai
March 27, 2010 at 7:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
booker5m (anonymous) says...
oops left out me
March 27, 2010 at 7:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ksnewsie (anonymous) says...
Booker, I work two jobs.
March 27, 2010 at 8:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ksnewsie (anonymous) says...
Look around, Booker. The evidence of inadequate education is all around us. I'm not saying there isn't the need for scrutiny regarding the way education is funding, but cuts need to be made with the precision of a scalpel, not that of an axe.
March 27, 2010 at 8:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
reddong (anonymous) says...
Hard to say that a non renewal would mean the end of a career at all. Typically in the past if a teacher was non renewed they could resign and find a job elsewhere. With the unprecedented cuts coupled with little job opportunity I would say there are going to be a great many teachers out there that take a pink slip in order to make ends meet. Shame on the district for holding onto tenured teachers that are worthless, and shame on them more putting the younger new hires in such a difficult position, they give them little time to make a huge decision.
March 27, 2010 at 11:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
Wow, well said dong. I feel very bad about any teacher losing his or her job, from what I understand it means total relocation to another state in order to find a job, that is not an option for some people.
I find this to be a complete flat out lie by the board:
"All of the staff reductions can be handled through attrition — the resignations or retirements submitted before March 1 by certified and classified staff members."
I know of more than 6 teachers that were asked to resign well after that March 1 date. The lying that goes on in this district is enough to get me motivated to start attending a few board meetings and making my voice heard( I'll be the guy with a talking points sheet and buddy with a camcorder) I am all for education, and my tax dollars going for it. What I am not for is the half truths and deceptive practices that are occurring in this district.
See you soon Heim=)
March 28, 2010 at 12:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ksnewsie (anonymous) says...
And you wonder why they feel the need for a union...
March 28, 2010 at 12:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
Except the union only protects the tenured folk, there is almost 0 recourse to dislodge a crappy tenured teacher, and we have an abundance, everywhere does. I can see why they screw people out of tenure given what they have to endure( and by default so do we as taxpayers) I don't advocate either, but it all freaking stinks to hell.
March 28, 2010 at 12:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
I will say this though, giving teachers the option to resign and slit their own throat, or be fired and have it adversely effect their career in this economic environment is about the most callous and crappy thing I have heard of. I don't know of any other professions that operate this way off hand. From what I understand they are not getting near enough notice to make and plan for a decision that will alter their lifestyle in such a way.
March 28, 2010 at 1:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nks (anonymous) says...
"I will say this though, giving teachers the option to resign and slit their own throat, or be fired and have it adversely effect their career in this economic environment is about the most callous and crappy thing I have heard of."
So where is this big, bad union when they need it?
Makes me think that all of their union dues are doing no good. They are pretty much getting sh&t on and the union allows it to happen?
Then again, maybe the desicion makers of the union are "tenured" and they cant get them out either.
March 28, 2010 at 8:02 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
ksnewsie,
A question please?
If a person resigns, (quits), their job are they not still covered by unemployment insurance, as long as they are actively searching for a new job? It used to be that way, the only difference was the start date for unemployement insurance payments. Or is it different for teachers?
March 28, 2010 at 8:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
ksnewsie, never mind. I went to the ks. unemployment site and found these reasons for disqualification of benefits.
◦Employees of educational institutions if they:
■had a contract for work in a recently completed academic year or term
■have a contract or reasonable assurance of employment with an educational institution in the same or similar position for the next academic year or term.
It does seem like Kansas law left out the teachers in your case.
March 28, 2010 at 8:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
Another thought for ksnewsie
An earlier post you stated
:
"I for one am sick of seeing non-educators bashing the district without having a clue what they are talking about. Unless you have been in the classroom RECENTLY, you have no idea what it is like to try to educate students in the present day environment. "
Who else but the taxpayer should question or "bash" the district? Anyone working for the government is being paid for by the taxpayer, so shouldn't the taxpayer have a say in how they do their job?
You said, "present day environment" Todays environment is economically depressed and it looks like even more cuts from the state for next year. Thus it falls on our school board and superintendent to fund schools in the best manner they can while affecting the students as little as possible
If you are tired of anything it should be of the way the "SUPER" and his board of minions cut the budget on the backs of students and teachers while keeping their little club CUT-FREE.
IT SUCKS to be unemployed, just ask the other 7.9 % of Lyon county residents who are in that boat, (it's probably closer to 10 or 12% if real numbers were used).
The situation our school district is in is NOT the fault of the non-educator taxpayer. It is the result of un-restrained taxing and spending by government employees and elected officials,
It is time the school board to step up and make the hard choices. They ran for the office, if they can't do it they should resign.
March 28, 2010 at 9:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ksnewsie (anonymous) says...
Steve: I have no problem with the taxpayer or district patrons questioning the school district. I do have a problem with folks who say, "This is how it should be," without having some inkling of what is really happening in schools today. The present day environment is not the fiscal environment we are all suffering. It is the educational environment where teachers are required to do more assessments, be more inclusive of students who have learning disabilities or just bad attitudes, administrators who are so closely watching the line that the are blind to what is actually happening in the classrooms. And that is just the tip of the problem.
I agree that the school board needs to step up. They can begin by taking a hard look at the administration. I don't know if Heim needs all the help he has, but it would be nice of the board would take a look.
One last thought....the educators are also taxpayers, too. That should count for something.
March 28, 2010 at 9:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
booker5m (anonymous) says...
In my post I questioned the Adminstration and need for so many Ast at the high school and not the teachers. But do not believe in the tenture that in place. In most work places if you dont do the job you are out.I have been to the high school and there is way too much I dont have to worry or work because I am tenture.
In the case of being fired or its better to resign to keep your career? With all the cuts you dont think other schools dont have an idea of why a teacher was fired or quit? Besides if you are union why doesnt the union step up for you and demand the school district tell the real reason the teacher was let go?
March 28, 2010 at 10:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dalelinn (Dale Linn) says...
All this opine is good. It's a shame, but there will probably be cause for more of it. The time to have done something is long past. We will all have to endure now because of the three things we citizens have allowed to take place, out of control government spending, moving our manufacturing out of the country (with government assistance), allowing massive illegal immigration. These three things could not have happened without citizen apathy. We are all to blame. Do let's try to remain a community.
March 28, 2010 at 11:33 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
Fair Enough, Educators are taxpayers too.
Their voices should be heard!
In life you cannot disconnect the economic environment from the educational one. It would be nice if we were all guarenteed a lifetime of all goodtimes, and a unlimited school budget. It would be nice if we were all guarenteed a job for life at a wage where we could provide for lifes necessities and retire early enough to enjoy the fruits of our labor.
It would be nice if we could be guarenteed a worry free life.
But that is not the case is it?
I don't know how many times in the last two years I heard elected officials and people who were looking out for everyone elses well being , state that "Those in local businesses who adapted to a change in law would be those who survived." What about those who couldn't or wouldn't adapt?
Any consideration for them? Nope, that's life in the private sector. How many of those young people who serve you food or drinks in a club, or work on an assembly line, have a college degree in teaching or business or whatever?
Why are they still working where they are?
Because the jobs are not there.
They have changed or adapted their lifestyles and goals to survive. Shouldn't educators also adapt and change to the times?
Take a suggestion from a famous blue-eyed sage who stated" Your riding high in April, shot down in May-------- but I'll be back on top in June."
Sorry, "That's Life"
March 28, 2010 at 11:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )