Tax Sheltered Annuities (TSA's) have worked their way into the ECASD Administrative compensation system over the last several years. TSA's are completely legal and offer employers a method to compensate certain employees that result in cost savings (lower employment taxes) for both the employer and the employee. It is a compensation method that is used widely in other private companies to both attract and retain employees that are highly sought after in the recruiting process. For example, a TSA for $10,000 per year saves the employer their portion of FICA and it saves the employee their portion of FICA, state income tax, and federal income tax. For many highly compensated individuals in the higher tax brackets, this makes a $10,000 TSA worth nearly $15,000 in regular taxable compensation.
(This discussion of TSA's refers only to those annuity contracts that are paid by the employer rather than other TSA's that are offered to virtually all employees as a way to defer current income.)
The ECASD as an employer must be competitive to attract and retain the best employees. This includes teachers as well as Administrators. I am not an expert in compensation analysis and I do not have the data to say that any of our employee groups are over or underpaid in comparison to their counterparts in other parts of Wisconsin or other states. That is a separate discussion and I invite others with more knowledge to inform the rest of us.
However, I think that the use of TSA's and their cost to taxpayers should be disclosed and understood by our community. In my experience, TSA's are negotiated at the time an employment contract is being made. They should be specific to an individual, the requirements of the position and the experience and value to the organization of the future employee. The ECASD has a few of these types of TSA's in use currently:
Former Supt. Klaus negotiated one for $10,926 for the 2006-07 school year
Dan Van de Water negotiated a TSA for $11,453 for 06-07 to be in lieu of a payment to the state retirement system
Jim Kling negotiated a $21,437 TSA for 06-07 to be in lieu of both a retirement contribution and to cover dental and health insurance costs that are not being paid by the ECASD
My comments are extremely blunt about this:
If former superintendent Klaus was threatening to leave the ECASD unless this compensation "bonus" was paid, the BOE should have handed him his hat and wished him well. I don't know how long this TSA has been in his contract but the BOE should have saved it and either negotiated for a top notch leader with energy and ideas or hired a good reading specialist for a classroom.
My experience with Mr. Van de Water is a perfect illustration of how a TSA should ideally be used to hire a well qualified and experienced person who, without the TSA in his contract, would have sought and found other work opportunities in another district. He is worth every penny for the contributions he has made to the district in terms of putting together a budget and financial projections in a way that has not been done in the past.
I have not worked directly with Mr. Kling but have heard other comments that lead me to believe that his experience and contribution to the district merit a negotiated TSA since the ECASD is saving dollars that would otherwise be paid for retirement and health care costs.
However, there is another aspect of the use of TSA's in the ECASD Administrative compensation that I find to be questionable. That is the automatic inclusion of a district paid TSA in the compensation for certain POSITIONS, not individual employees. Currently, there are 8 such TSA's in the following amounts that are included in the following positions NO MATTER WHO IS IN THE POSITION AND NO MATTER WHAT THEIR PERFORMANCE IS.
$3,500 for the Deputy Superintendent
$2,700 for the Exec. Director of Information Technology
$2,700 for the Exec. Director of Student Services
$2,700 for the Exec. Director of Personnel
$2,700 for the Exec. Director of Business Services
$2,700 for the Principal of North High School
$2,700 for the Principal of Memorial High School
$3,000 for the Assistant/Secretary to the Superintendent
Again, I do not know if this is standard and comparable to other Administrative compensation packages but it is troubling to me to see TSA's used in a way that is not for attracting, retaining or rewarding individuals based on performance evaluations.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Follow Up Comments to letter sent to Luther/Midelfort physicians
The comments below were written by other people in response to Dr. Onuijbo's letter sent to Luther/Midelfort physicians which is included on this blog in an earlier Post in the Miscellaneous category. The responses from different people are separated by asterisks. I am not including the names of the responders in this blog because I have not obtained their permission to do so. Maria
I totally agree.
Another unique point affecting those of us who do not belong to a majority religion is that our choice for private schools is pretty much non existent. We rely even more on public schools. This will likely impact ability to recruit even further. If, when first recruited, I did not believe the school system here was good I would likely have gravitated towards a different town or a bigger city with more private school options. Thanks for raising the issue, I am still struggling with what to do.
**********************************************************
I could not have been more eloquent regarding this cankerworm which appears to be eating deep into the fabric of our public school system here in Eau Claire. I hope your passionate expression will be taken seriously.
******************************************************
I have only been here two months. The main reason I moved to Eau Claire was to escape the rapid decline of schools in Texas. Unfortunately, it looks as if more than the hot weather followed me up here. Without more public awareness, most people without school age children won't fully understand the impact the schools have on everyone's lives. Thank you for voicing what many of us have been complaining about but not acting upon.
**************************************************
Thank you for bringing up such an important issue. There were 2 reasons for me to move to Eau Claire, and good schools was one of the two.
***************************************************
My husband and I also agree 100%. We have been saying this for quite some time, and I am thrilled that you have spoken up publicly, at least to us so far.
We also came here partially because the schools had a good reputation. We will not be for long, however, if this keeps up.
When will this town ever figure that out?
I totally agree.
Another unique point affecting those of us who do not belong to a majority religion is that our choice for private schools is pretty much non existent. We rely even more on public schools. This will likely impact ability to recruit even further. If, when first recruited, I did not believe the school system here was good I would likely have gravitated towards a different town or a bigger city with more private school options. Thanks for raising the issue, I am still struggling with what to do.
**********************************************************
I could not have been more eloquent regarding this cankerworm which appears to be eating deep into the fabric of our public school system here in Eau Claire. I hope your passionate expression will be taken seriously.
******************************************************
I have only been here two months. The main reason I moved to Eau Claire was to escape the rapid decline of schools in Texas. Unfortunately, it looks as if more than the hot weather followed me up here. Without more public awareness, most people without school age children won't fully understand the impact the schools have on everyone's lives. Thank you for voicing what many of us have been complaining about but not acting upon.
**************************************************
Thank you for bringing up such an important issue. There were 2 reasons for me to move to Eau Claire, and good schools was one of the two.
***************************************************
My husband and I also agree 100%. We have been saying this for quite some time, and I am thrilled that you have spoken up publicly, at least to us so far.
We also came here partially because the schools had a good reputation. We will not be for long, however, if this keeps up.
When will this town ever figure that out?
Community Concerns about the ECASD
This letter was written by a Luther/Midelfort physician to his colleagues about concerns about the ECASD and the implications for future recruiting of physicians to work at L/M when the quality of local public education is in question.
I have permission from the author to share it on the blog. Maria
MY OPEN LETTER TO MIDELFORT CLINIC/LUTHER HOSPITAL PHYSICIANS AND SENIOR ADMINISTRATORS
Recent happenings and changes in the Eau Claire School District - My Concerns
A call for Action – Luther Midelfort Corporate Existence May Be At Stake
I humbly seek your full attention as you go through this memo.
We moved to Eau Claire, from Lutherville, MD, in September 2002, for me to take up appointment with Luther Midelfort as a Physician. At the time we (my wife and I) made the choice to transition to Eau Claire, WI, one thought that was clear in our minds was that Eau Claire Area School District (ECASD) Public Schools in general were very good and could offer, at about the highest level, nationally speaking, the necessary range of educational and extracurricular activities including accelerated programs (Gifted and Talented courses), music and band, school sports, special education, and so on, that our children needed.
As our recruiting Staff can attest, since joining Luther Midelfort, I have at various interviews for potential Physician recruits, looked candidates in the eyes and honestly and strongly admonished them that Eau Claire public schools were great and that they should have no concerns about their children’s education if the Physician chose to accept the position.
All that has changed and is changing even as you read this note.
Please read on.
About 2 years ago, there was a District-wide debate about the need for a different grading system for Gifted and Talented programs to streamline ECASD with similar changes taking place in other districts in the country. My wife and I attended the public meetings and made our contributions. My wife actually made a written submission of her research findings on the matter to the ECASD. Suffice it to say that the move was not approved by the EC ASD/School Board.
More recently, about two months ago, a referendum sponsored by the ECASD and the School Board to approve more local funding for the ECASD schools failed. As a result, there have been and will continue to be, at a slow but hemorrhaging pace, ongoing cuts in virtually all the programs and courses offered by ECASD schools. There is a plan to close down an entire school in the ECASD. Teachers will be cut at different levels in all the schools. Janitorial staff will be cut. Courses have been scrapped in all the schools. At Memorial High School, Eau Claire, music, band, accelerated physics, etc have been cut. Classes are now oversized and some courses including core accounting courses have had their credit hours reduced. At a point, the School Board was to cut all Middle School Sports! The current plan is to reduce Teacher Staffing of Sports programs in Middle Schools such that you may end up with one Teacher “coaching” up to 50-100 students, or more. How useful is it for a Teacher-coach in Middle School to teach 50 new 6th graders how to learn to play lawn tennis – some joke!
I can go on and on. If the current slide in ECASD schools is not halted and subsequently reversed, it is my humble submission that very soon, corporate entities in the area including Luther Midelfort can no longer recruit and retain needed trained professionals including physicians, nurses, administrators, etc. The guy who fixes your lawn mower who has lived in Eau Claire for 55 years, all his life, with children and/or grand-children, until recently, could boast of a good education for his kids and grandchildren. That is no more. I can no longer look a Physician interviewee in the eyes and say to him or her, “Come to Eau Claire because the schools are good”!
Is this personal? Yes, if you mean whether we are not very worried about the decline of the schools our children attend. Not personal, if you mean attacking any person or persons either in the ECASD or ECASD School Board. That is not the intent of this memo. We need a concerted community-wide effort to begin to reverse these changes and make ECASD schools great, again. It is my humble submission that Luther Midelfort should play a leading role, here.
Luther Midelfort must be involved in reversing these changes to salvage its corporate future. It is my suggestion that the Practice Committee and/or the Clinic/Hospital Board set up a Committee to look into these issues dispassionately purely from a Corporate perspective without being overtly political in any way. The Committee would develop strategies that the Clinic/Hospital could assist the Eau Claire area Community, in general, and the ECASD, in particular, to retain and eve enhance all the programs that had made ECASD schools stand out here in the Midwest.
Or else, in the not too distant future, it is my prediction that Luther Midelfort will begin to lose already employed Staff at every level, and at the same time, will be unable to attract new ones.
Macaulay A. C. Onuigbo MD FASN
Nephrologist/Transplant Physician
I have permission from the author to share it on the blog. Maria
MY OPEN LETTER TO MIDELFORT CLINIC/LUTHER HOSPITAL PHYSICIANS AND SENIOR ADMINISTRATORS
Recent happenings and changes in the Eau Claire School District - My Concerns
A call for Action – Luther Midelfort Corporate Existence May Be At Stake
I humbly seek your full attention as you go through this memo.
We moved to Eau Claire, from Lutherville, MD, in September 2002, for me to take up appointment with Luther Midelfort as a Physician. At the time we (my wife and I) made the choice to transition to Eau Claire, WI, one thought that was clear in our minds was that Eau Claire Area School District (ECASD) Public Schools in general were very good and could offer, at about the highest level, nationally speaking, the necessary range of educational and extracurricular activities including accelerated programs (Gifted and Talented courses), music and band, school sports, special education, and so on, that our children needed.
As our recruiting Staff can attest, since joining Luther Midelfort, I have at various interviews for potential Physician recruits, looked candidates in the eyes and honestly and strongly admonished them that Eau Claire public schools were great and that they should have no concerns about their children’s education if the Physician chose to accept the position.
All that has changed and is changing even as you read this note.
Please read on.
About 2 years ago, there was a District-wide debate about the need for a different grading system for Gifted and Talented programs to streamline ECASD with similar changes taking place in other districts in the country. My wife and I attended the public meetings and made our contributions. My wife actually made a written submission of her research findings on the matter to the ECASD. Suffice it to say that the move was not approved by the EC ASD/School Board.
More recently, about two months ago, a referendum sponsored by the ECASD and the School Board to approve more local funding for the ECASD schools failed. As a result, there have been and will continue to be, at a slow but hemorrhaging pace, ongoing cuts in virtually all the programs and courses offered by ECASD schools. There is a plan to close down an entire school in the ECASD. Teachers will be cut at different levels in all the schools. Janitorial staff will be cut. Courses have been scrapped in all the schools. At Memorial High School, Eau Claire, music, band, accelerated physics, etc have been cut. Classes are now oversized and some courses including core accounting courses have had their credit hours reduced. At a point, the School Board was to cut all Middle School Sports! The current plan is to reduce Teacher Staffing of Sports programs in Middle Schools such that you may end up with one Teacher “coaching” up to 50-100 students, or more. How useful is it for a Teacher-coach in Middle School to teach 50 new 6th graders how to learn to play lawn tennis – some joke!
I can go on and on. If the current slide in ECASD schools is not halted and subsequently reversed, it is my humble submission that very soon, corporate entities in the area including Luther Midelfort can no longer recruit and retain needed trained professionals including physicians, nurses, administrators, etc. The guy who fixes your lawn mower who has lived in Eau Claire for 55 years, all his life, with children and/or grand-children, until recently, could boast of a good education for his kids and grandchildren. That is no more. I can no longer look a Physician interviewee in the eyes and say to him or her, “Come to Eau Claire because the schools are good”!
Is this personal? Yes, if you mean whether we are not very worried about the decline of the schools our children attend. Not personal, if you mean attacking any person or persons either in the ECASD or ECASD School Board. That is not the intent of this memo. We need a concerted community-wide effort to begin to reverse these changes and make ECASD schools great, again. It is my humble submission that Luther Midelfort should play a leading role, here.
Luther Midelfort must be involved in reversing these changes to salvage its corporate future. It is my suggestion that the Practice Committee and/or the Clinic/Hospital Board set up a Committee to look into these issues dispassionately purely from a Corporate perspective without being overtly political in any way. The Committee would develop strategies that the Clinic/Hospital could assist the Eau Claire area Community, in general, and the ECASD, in particular, to retain and eve enhance all the programs that had made ECASD schools stand out here in the Midwest.
Or else, in the not too distant future, it is my prediction that Luther Midelfort will begin to lose already employed Staff at every level, and at the same time, will be unable to attract new ones.
Macaulay A. C. Onuigbo MD FASN
Nephrologist/Transplant Physician
Needs Assessment Survey
This is a list of all the possible things the ECASD BOE could choose to prioritize for the next 1 to 3 years. This document was handed out to BOE members at the July 23rd meeting. BOE members are to identify which items they feels are most needed for our district. Dr. Leary, the Interim Superintendent will tabulate results and come up with a shorter list that will be reviewed and adopted by the BOE with timelines.
ENJOY!
1 Study the feasibility of a coordinated K-12 intramural program.
2 Seek ways to build a stronger bond between the school and community.
3 Address the need for leadership development utilizing internal and external planning strategies.
4 Update the Board Policy Manual.
5 Improve the quality of custodial maintenance service.
6 Explore ways to reduce employee absenteeism.
7 Design and implement cost effective energy conservation plans.
8 Improve contract negotiations procedures for all employee groups.
9 Maintain district facilities.
10 Generate K-12 mini-grants through the Eau Claire Educational Foundation.
11 Seek ways to improve parent involvement in the learning process.
12 Expand district technology services to include the community.
13 Design a district administrative reorganization plan.
14 Conduct a comprehensive review of the extra-curricular program.
15 Expand program services and activities for senior citizens.
16 Seek increased federal funds for programs and staff development.
17 Explore ways to better utilize CESA services.
18 Explore cost savings in transportation.
19 Identify district security system needs and solutions.
20 Pass a facility improvement/maintenance referendum bond issue.
21 Improve Board effectiveness through governance changes.
22 Implement a district capital outlay replacement plan.
23 Implement a 2-5 year school improvement plan.
24 Explore ways to improve Special Education Services.
25 Increase community-wide involvement to engage more citizens in strategic planning process.
26 Establish a combined school/city community education program.
27 Identify ways to include gifted education in all program areas.
28 Strengthen relationships, communications, and partnerships in the community.
29 Establish a district-wide public relations program.
30 Ensure that all students have equal access to all regular & enrichment programs.
31 Establish in-service training for non-instructional employees.
32 Improve K-12 standardized test scores.
33 Implement a virtual education program for dropouts and home school students.
34 Revise textbook adoption procedures.
35 Enhance the professional image of each school.
36 Review the K-12 student assessment system.
37 Identify ways to improve K-12 student guidance services.
38 Extend current after-school program offerings.
39 Seek ways to use schools and businesses for student displays.
40 Implement a high school diploma program for any citizen.
41 Identify ways to enhance teacher/administrator image.
42 Seek ways to improve relationships between all employee groups.
43 Develop a plan for enhancing cafeteria service.
44 Develop an administrative internship program.
45 Provide a monthly district newsletter.
46 Develop an equipment replacement schedule.
47 Implement a student-business outreach partnership program.
48 Develop a relationship with the ministerial association.
49 Implement a recycling plan in the school district.
50 Expand the district's relationship with civic clubs.
51 Implement an employee recognition program.
52 Establish a district grant writer position.
53 Implement a district landscape improvement plan.
54 Implement an ECASD Alumni Association.
55 Assist the city with a comprehensive community plan.
56 Implement annual Board of Education workshops.
57 Expand district administrative credibility and accountability.
58 Explore ways to improve the substitute calling system.
59 Implement a uniform hiring system for each employee group.
60 Conduct a study for potential savings of telephone services.
61 Solicit public support for ECASD employees.
62 Conduct comprehensive & integrated long-range strategic planning with emphasis on sustainability.
63 Explore the need for an updated district security system.
64 Seek local, state, and federal assistance for increasing revenue.
65 Conduct a study for improving graduation requirements.
66 Improve coordinated services with local colleges.
67 Design a program for increasing the number of school volunteers.
68 Explore ways to get more realistic contributions towards benefits during negotiations and better evaluate the total package impact on future budgets.
69 Improve district-wide data processing services.
70 Develop a multi-year plan for K-12 instructional development.
71 Establish combined in-service program for teachers.
72 Develop a day care center program.
73 Improve the K-12 Curriculum Council structure.
74 Improve student achievement.
75 Conduct a follow-up study on dropouts.
76 Seek ways to improve use of hallways for student displays.
77 Provide alternative daytime programs for high school students.
78 Identify ways to improve teacher/administrator image.
79 Examine funding for athletics by considering business partnerships.
80 Identify specific cost savings/improved services procedures.
81 Identify specific ways for improving the total classroom environment.
82 Look at new ways to generate income from new and existing services and programs.
83 Expand the use of cable and satellite television.
84 Develop a K-12 career exploration program.
85 Increase high tech. for instruction.
86 Develop mutually agreeable solutions to rising health care costs with union groups.
87 Recycle materials used in the school district.
88 Establish an educational foundation.
89 Improve employee attendance.
90 Modify school day/year.
91 Implement district grounds improvement plan.
92 Implement employee suggestion program.
93 Develop a student outreach community partnership program.
94 Improve student self-esteem.
95 Develop student ownership of schools.
96 Prepare students to excel in the 21st century.
97 Improve student attendance.
98 Work with business to identify student educational needs.
99 Develop & increase community awareness & involvement in recognizing, maintaining and improving the value of education.
100 Develop a process for community input.
101 Increase business involvement in education by developing a plan for corporate sponsorship.
102 Expand brain-based and critical thinking.
103 District-wide analysis of No Child Left Behind & comparable federal or state mandates.
104 Prepare students to think critically and creatively in order to function in our complex and changing world.
105 Secure revenue to fully fund district budget.
106 Develop plan that addresses technology needs and continued updating of those needs.
107 Develop strong staff development program.
108 Develop community-wide advisory group.
109 Develop five year projection of budget limitations based on current QEO/revenue cap stipulations.
110 Develop five year plan to accommodate projected budget shortfalls.
111 Disseminate projected five year budget & corresponding programmatic changes to the public for consideration/other options.
112 Hold a referendum for technology.
ENJOY!
1 Study the feasibility of a coordinated K-12 intramural program.
2 Seek ways to build a stronger bond between the school and community.
3 Address the need for leadership development utilizing internal and external planning strategies.
4 Update the Board Policy Manual.
5 Improve the quality of custodial maintenance service.
6 Explore ways to reduce employee absenteeism.
7 Design and implement cost effective energy conservation plans.
8 Improve contract negotiations procedures for all employee groups.
9 Maintain district facilities.
10 Generate K-12 mini-grants through the Eau Claire Educational Foundation.
11 Seek ways to improve parent involvement in the learning process.
12 Expand district technology services to include the community.
13 Design a district administrative reorganization plan.
14 Conduct a comprehensive review of the extra-curricular program.
15 Expand program services and activities for senior citizens.
16 Seek increased federal funds for programs and staff development.
17 Explore ways to better utilize CESA services.
18 Explore cost savings in transportation.
19 Identify district security system needs and solutions.
20 Pass a facility improvement/maintenance referendum bond issue.
21 Improve Board effectiveness through governance changes.
22 Implement a district capital outlay replacement plan.
23 Implement a 2-5 year school improvement plan.
24 Explore ways to improve Special Education Services.
25 Increase community-wide involvement to engage more citizens in strategic planning process.
26 Establish a combined school/city community education program.
27 Identify ways to include gifted education in all program areas.
28 Strengthen relationships, communications, and partnerships in the community.
29 Establish a district-wide public relations program.
30 Ensure that all students have equal access to all regular & enrichment programs.
31 Establish in-service training for non-instructional employees.
32 Improve K-12 standardized test scores.
33 Implement a virtual education program for dropouts and home school students.
34 Revise textbook adoption procedures.
35 Enhance the professional image of each school.
36 Review the K-12 student assessment system.
37 Identify ways to improve K-12 student guidance services.
38 Extend current after-school program offerings.
39 Seek ways to use schools and businesses for student displays.
40 Implement a high school diploma program for any citizen.
41 Identify ways to enhance teacher/administrator image.
42 Seek ways to improve relationships between all employee groups.
43 Develop a plan for enhancing cafeteria service.
44 Develop an administrative internship program.
45 Provide a monthly district newsletter.
46 Develop an equipment replacement schedule.
47 Implement a student-business outreach partnership program.
48 Develop a relationship with the ministerial association.
49 Implement a recycling plan in the school district.
50 Expand the district's relationship with civic clubs.
51 Implement an employee recognition program.
52 Establish a district grant writer position.
53 Implement a district landscape improvement plan.
54 Implement an ECASD Alumni Association.
55 Assist the city with a comprehensive community plan.
56 Implement annual Board of Education workshops.
57 Expand district administrative credibility and accountability.
58 Explore ways to improve the substitute calling system.
59 Implement a uniform hiring system for each employee group.
60 Conduct a study for potential savings of telephone services.
61 Solicit public support for ECASD employees.
62 Conduct comprehensive & integrated long-range strategic planning with emphasis on sustainability.
63 Explore the need for an updated district security system.
64 Seek local, state, and federal assistance for increasing revenue.
65 Conduct a study for improving graduation requirements.
66 Improve coordinated services with local colleges.
67 Design a program for increasing the number of school volunteers.
68 Explore ways to get more realistic contributions towards benefits during negotiations and better evaluate the total package impact on future budgets.
69 Improve district-wide data processing services.
70 Develop a multi-year plan for K-12 instructional development.
71 Establish combined in-service program for teachers.
72 Develop a day care center program.
73 Improve the K-12 Curriculum Council structure.
74 Improve student achievement.
75 Conduct a follow-up study on dropouts.
76 Seek ways to improve use of hallways for student displays.
77 Provide alternative daytime programs for high school students.
78 Identify ways to improve teacher/administrator image.
79 Examine funding for athletics by considering business partnerships.
80 Identify specific cost savings/improved services procedures.
81 Identify specific ways for improving the total classroom environment.
82 Look at new ways to generate income from new and existing services and programs.
83 Expand the use of cable and satellite television.
84 Develop a K-12 career exploration program.
85 Increase high tech. for instruction.
86 Develop mutually agreeable solutions to rising health care costs with union groups.
87 Recycle materials used in the school district.
88 Establish an educational foundation.
89 Improve employee attendance.
90 Modify school day/year.
91 Implement district grounds improvement plan.
92 Implement employee suggestion program.
93 Develop a student outreach community partnership program.
94 Improve student self-esteem.
95 Develop student ownership of schools.
96 Prepare students to excel in the 21st century.
97 Improve student attendance.
98 Work with business to identify student educational needs.
99 Develop & increase community awareness & involvement in recognizing, maintaining and improving the value of education.
100 Develop a process for community input.
101 Increase business involvement in education by developing a plan for corporate sponsorship.
102 Expand brain-based and critical thinking.
103 District-wide analysis of No Child Left Behind & comparable federal or state mandates.
104 Prepare students to think critically and creatively in order to function in our complex and changing world.
105 Secure revenue to fully fund district budget.
106 Develop plan that addresses technology needs and continued updating of those needs.
107 Develop strong staff development program.
108 Develop community-wide advisory group.
109 Develop five year projection of budget limitations based on current QEO/revenue cap stipulations.
110 Develop five year plan to accommodate projected budget shortfalls.
111 Disseminate projected five year budget & corresponding programmatic changes to the public for consideration/other options.
112 Hold a referendum for technology.
School Improvement Plan: 1st Draft
This is the first draft of what will become the ECASD School Improvement Plan that eventually will be adopted by the BOE and serve as the document that guides decision-making, identifies priorities and evaluates progress for the ECASD.
School Improvement Plan
A school improvement plan recognizes that Board of Education policies serve as standards and guidelines for changes which occur in the district’s programs and services. This policy establishes a formal process for implementing an annual district-wide school success plan. The Eau Claire Board of Education holds its superintendent responsible for carrying out the following rules and regulations and procedures:
The Board of Education will have adopted a School District Philosophy.
The Board of Education will have adopted a set of School District Goals.
The Administration will conduct an internal needs assessment during the 2007-08
school year and every five years thereafter.
The Administration will annually prepare a set of District Administrative Objectives to be reviewed by the Board of Education.
The District Administrative Objectives shall be divided into the areas of General Administration, Instruction, Personnel, Technology, and Business/Auxiliary Services.
An annual written report on the status of the previous year’s objectives will be made to the Board of Education on or before the first Board meeting in September.
Each Administrator shall prepare a set of annual personal objectives as approved by their supervisor.
The Board of Education recognizes the value of building and department level school improvement plans which are developed in accordance with district policy and annual objectives. By April 15, 2009, each school and the departments of Athletics, Buildings and Grounds, Food Service, Special Education, State/Federal Programs, Community Education, Transportation, and any other unit directed by the Superintendent, shall have on file a five year improvement plan outline for their respective area.
School Improvement Plan
A school improvement plan recognizes that Board of Education policies serve as standards and guidelines for changes which occur in the district’s programs and services. This policy establishes a formal process for implementing an annual district-wide school success plan. The Eau Claire Board of Education holds its superintendent responsible for carrying out the following rules and regulations and procedures:
The Board of Education will have adopted a School District Philosophy.
The Board of Education will have adopted a set of School District Goals.
The Administration will conduct an internal needs assessment during the 2007-08
school year and every five years thereafter.
The Administration will annually prepare a set of District Administrative Objectives to be reviewed by the Board of Education.
The District Administrative Objectives shall be divided into the areas of General Administration, Instruction, Personnel, Technology, and Business/Auxiliary Services.
An annual written report on the status of the previous year’s objectives will be made to the Board of Education on or before the first Board meeting in September.
Each Administrator shall prepare a set of annual personal objectives as approved by their supervisor.
The Board of Education recognizes the value of building and department level school improvement plans which are developed in accordance with district policy and annual objectives. By April 15, 2009, each school and the departments of Athletics, Buildings and Grounds, Food Service, Special Education, State/Federal Programs, Community Education, Transportation, and any other unit directed by the Superintendent, shall have on file a five year improvement plan outline for their respective area.
The Earth Moved
The July 23rd BOE meeting marks the beginning of what I hope will be a new era of change and progress for the ECASD with Dr. James Leary in the position of Interim Superintendent. He was animated, gracious, optimistic, energetic and a huge change for the leadership of the ECASD. His opening remarks included that "it is a pleasure to be here" and that he is "looking forward to a good year, a fun year and a productive year." A real breath of fresh air. He said that he is very busy identifying issues to work on as ell as being out in the community meeting with as many people as he can.
We are still operating under the trial period of having all Public Input at the beginning of the session which continues to be an exercise in futility and lack of meaningful community participation but that clearly seems to be the intention when Pres. O'Brien proposed the change. Bev Christianson who is with the clerical union commented that in the presentation last week by Mr. Kling there was part of the cuts that had already been made by the GSA Committee that were missed in the totals presented.
I reprised my role as St. John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness the same message over and over again: "Why is there never any information made available to the community prior to the BOE meetings about agenda items so our comments to the board can be intelligent and based on the data that the board is being given?" Again, as has been the case for every single BOE meeting for months, there was not even a single copy available so that the public could huddle around or pass it up and down rows so attendees could follow the discussion or take any notes.
Why is this acceptable??? Yes, I understand that we all are sentimental and value tradition. But the tradition in the ECASD has been that only a few people in Administration or on the BOE have any information and they make all of the decisions. So I think maybe, collectively, we can ask to change the tradition and hope that with the presence of Dr. Leary we can create a new paradigm of transparency. I will post e-mails that were sent by myself and Laura Jensen to the BOE following the 7-23-07 board meeting asking for something different. Maybe a few of you out there could also e-mail the BOE and Dr. Leary with similar messages and it might actually happen.
Comm. Craig asked how the BOE members should respond to the public comments. Comm. Kneer felt that this was not a debate time and the Board could respond at future Board Meetings. Comm. Cummins reiterated that the Board Docs technology (http://www.boarddocs.com/) would be an excellent way to share information with the public. Pres. O'Brien seemed genuinely surprised and said he was unfamiliar with it even though this is the fourth time Comm. Cummins has proposed this solution. Cummins indicated that she would like it to be a future BOE Agenda item.
Dr. Leary then presented his proposal to implement a School Improvement Plan that would serve as a model to set objectives and activities to achieve those objectives for making progress and evaluating and reporting progress in the ECASD. Please see the separate posting labelled School Improvement Plan for the details. My only comments are that it was an amazing ray of hope for the future of our district to be able to see that the ECASD might actually become an organization that is run professionally, strategically, with a philosophy and goals to support the plan. Dr. Leary indicated that the Facilites plan from Charlie Kramer was exemplary. I have seen the Facilities Plan and I completely agree that it is comprehensive and forward thinking. My only 2 thoughts about it are these:
1. It is a stand alone document and does not support any broader strategic goals for our district than to basically maintain the current configuration of buildings that exist now. It is not a response to the overriding strategic question: "What should K-12 public education be in Eau Claire? What are our programming priorities for the ECASD? How and where should educational services be delivered to students?"
2. Where was the public input to the plan? Who participated in deciding what buildings should be improved or torn down and why? It does not answer the question how many elementary or middle schools does EC want or need or can afford to staff? It is not a response to a dialog that the district and community has had about what Charter Schools do we want and where should they be located? etc, etc, ...
Comm. Cummins asked Dr. Leary what should the BOE be doing in the School Improvement process. He said that after thorough discussion and revisions he would hope that the BOE would UNANIMOUSLY adopt such a process for the ECASD. Again, I would hope the community would be part of this discussion and process. Please go to the separate post on this blog to see the details!! It is the future for our district.
As if that were not enough energy and innovation for audience members who were clearly amazed by some true leadership and new ideas, Dr. Leary then shared another document called the Needs Assessment Survey that he is asking BOE members to review and indicate their top priorities for focus for the next 1 to 3 years. Ladies and gentleman, this was, I am not kidding, a list of 112 possibilities of things that our district could actually decide to accomplish! It was groundbreaking. It was broad and far reaching. It was ambitious. It was a list of so many opportunities that have been missed for so many years that you could cry but instead it made you want to jump up and down with happiness that the ECASD is moving in the right direction. Again, please go to the separate post labeled Needs Assessment for all the wonderful details.
Dr. Leary indicated that BOE members should circle the ones they believe are priorities and make additional comments, answers will be kept anonymous, and he will use that input to make a list of priorities. Comm. Faanes asked about adding new ones and Dr. Leary said that is welcome as well.
The final major Agenda item for the evening concerned the precarious state that the ECASD Student Information System (SIS) and Storage Area Network (SAN) are in and the process to replace those systems. IT employees indicated that there have been "significant" issues recently and that, basically, these systems are so outdated and overwhelmed that they are running on a hope and a prayer. I quote: "It is beyond acceptable to run the district on luck" which apparently has been the case with some serious system crashes that did not occur in the middle of a school day. The SIS is farther along with replacement in that an RFP has gone out and come back and they are down to 2 finalists they will bring back for a lab situation before the final decision is made. The RFP for the SAN will go out still in July. The SAN must be in place before the SIS implementation. Staff development for the new SIS would be next summer.
This discussion spawned a lengthy tangent about where these systems are located (in the lower level of the Main Office building) and Comm. Craig indicated that it is the oldest building in the district and maybe a facilities study about relocating the NOC (Network Operating Center) should also be evaluated. The IT personnel indicated that moving the NOC would be a significant expense. Comm. Wogahn, clearly peeved, said that he has heard so many community comments about this building and the perception that it is too big and that it is filled with "administrators hanging out the windows". He indicated that the board should obtain estimates for relocating the NOC and costs to set up a new facility and demolish the old one because nobody wants to buy it. He threw in the comment that the community thinks the solution is just to move a few desks and fire all the administrators "when we already have done that."
Wow! So who got fired? Holly Hart? Don Johnson? Gregg Butler? Other BOE members just sat very still and allowed that comment to stop ringing in everybody's ears.
Comm. Cummins indicated that faulty community perceptions are due to a "failure of leadership" to communicate with the public and be proactive. She also said that in the year and a half that she has been on the board that the BOE has not had this "crucial conversation" while other conversations have occurred that clearly do not have the priority that the dire state of district computing and network systems are in. All BOE members and Dr. Leary were very complimentary about the presentation and Comm. Kneer suggested that taking a tour of the NOC would be enlightening.
Legislative update from Pres. O'Brien was basically that the budget battle is raging in Madison with no end in sight.
Then there was an update about the City/County Community Visioning process that is being guided by the Civic League. Apparently, Patti Iverson, the Superintendent's secretary (?!?!), is the ECASD representative in this process. What the _____??
I am hoping/assuming that this is not the case for the entire process and maybe the BOE member or Administrator who are the real ECASD representatives were on vacation last week and Patti filled in. Pretty wierd that there was no other person available other than the secretary?
That's it for another exciting episode in "As the ECASD Turns".
We are still operating under the trial period of having all Public Input at the beginning of the session which continues to be an exercise in futility and lack of meaningful community participation but that clearly seems to be the intention when Pres. O'Brien proposed the change. Bev Christianson who is with the clerical union commented that in the presentation last week by Mr. Kling there was part of the cuts that had already been made by the GSA Committee that were missed in the totals presented.
I reprised my role as St. John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness the same message over and over again: "Why is there never any information made available to the community prior to the BOE meetings about agenda items so our comments to the board can be intelligent and based on the data that the board is being given?" Again, as has been the case for every single BOE meeting for months, there was not even a single copy available so that the public could huddle around or pass it up and down rows so attendees could follow the discussion or take any notes.
Why is this acceptable??? Yes, I understand that we all are sentimental and value tradition. But the tradition in the ECASD has been that only a few people in Administration or on the BOE have any information and they make all of the decisions. So I think maybe, collectively, we can ask to change the tradition and hope that with the presence of Dr. Leary we can create a new paradigm of transparency. I will post e-mails that were sent by myself and Laura Jensen to the BOE following the 7-23-07 board meeting asking for something different. Maybe a few of you out there could also e-mail the BOE and Dr. Leary with similar messages and it might actually happen.
Comm. Craig asked how the BOE members should respond to the public comments. Comm. Kneer felt that this was not a debate time and the Board could respond at future Board Meetings. Comm. Cummins reiterated that the Board Docs technology (http://www.boarddocs.com/) would be an excellent way to share information with the public. Pres. O'Brien seemed genuinely surprised and said he was unfamiliar with it even though this is the fourth time Comm. Cummins has proposed this solution. Cummins indicated that she would like it to be a future BOE Agenda item.
Dr. Leary then presented his proposal to implement a School Improvement Plan that would serve as a model to set objectives and activities to achieve those objectives for making progress and evaluating and reporting progress in the ECASD. Please see the separate posting labelled School Improvement Plan for the details. My only comments are that it was an amazing ray of hope for the future of our district to be able to see that the ECASD might actually become an organization that is run professionally, strategically, with a philosophy and goals to support the plan. Dr. Leary indicated that the Facilites plan from Charlie Kramer was exemplary. I have seen the Facilities Plan and I completely agree that it is comprehensive and forward thinking. My only 2 thoughts about it are these:
1. It is a stand alone document and does not support any broader strategic goals for our district than to basically maintain the current configuration of buildings that exist now. It is not a response to the overriding strategic question: "What should K-12 public education be in Eau Claire? What are our programming priorities for the ECASD? How and where should educational services be delivered to students?"
2. Where was the public input to the plan? Who participated in deciding what buildings should be improved or torn down and why? It does not answer the question how many elementary or middle schools does EC want or need or can afford to staff? It is not a response to a dialog that the district and community has had about what Charter Schools do we want and where should they be located? etc, etc, ...
Comm. Cummins asked Dr. Leary what should the BOE be doing in the School Improvement process. He said that after thorough discussion and revisions he would hope that the BOE would UNANIMOUSLY adopt such a process for the ECASD. Again, I would hope the community would be part of this discussion and process. Please go to the separate post on this blog to see the details!! It is the future for our district.
As if that were not enough energy and innovation for audience members who were clearly amazed by some true leadership and new ideas, Dr. Leary then shared another document called the Needs Assessment Survey that he is asking BOE members to review and indicate their top priorities for focus for the next 1 to 3 years. Ladies and gentleman, this was, I am not kidding, a list of 112 possibilities of things that our district could actually decide to accomplish! It was groundbreaking. It was broad and far reaching. It was ambitious. It was a list of so many opportunities that have been missed for so many years that you could cry but instead it made you want to jump up and down with happiness that the ECASD is moving in the right direction. Again, please go to the separate post labeled Needs Assessment for all the wonderful details.
Dr. Leary indicated that BOE members should circle the ones they believe are priorities and make additional comments, answers will be kept anonymous, and he will use that input to make a list of priorities. Comm. Faanes asked about adding new ones and Dr. Leary said that is welcome as well.
The final major Agenda item for the evening concerned the precarious state that the ECASD Student Information System (SIS) and Storage Area Network (SAN) are in and the process to replace those systems. IT employees indicated that there have been "significant" issues recently and that, basically, these systems are so outdated and overwhelmed that they are running on a hope and a prayer. I quote: "It is beyond acceptable to run the district on luck" which apparently has been the case with some serious system crashes that did not occur in the middle of a school day. The SIS is farther along with replacement in that an RFP has gone out and come back and they are down to 2 finalists they will bring back for a lab situation before the final decision is made. The RFP for the SAN will go out still in July. The SAN must be in place before the SIS implementation. Staff development for the new SIS would be next summer.
This discussion spawned a lengthy tangent about where these systems are located (in the lower level of the Main Office building) and Comm. Craig indicated that it is the oldest building in the district and maybe a facilities study about relocating the NOC (Network Operating Center) should also be evaluated. The IT personnel indicated that moving the NOC would be a significant expense. Comm. Wogahn, clearly peeved, said that he has heard so many community comments about this building and the perception that it is too big and that it is filled with "administrators hanging out the windows". He indicated that the board should obtain estimates for relocating the NOC and costs to set up a new facility and demolish the old one because nobody wants to buy it. He threw in the comment that the community thinks the solution is just to move a few desks and fire all the administrators "when we already have done that."
Wow! So who got fired? Holly Hart? Don Johnson? Gregg Butler? Other BOE members just sat very still and allowed that comment to stop ringing in everybody's ears.
Comm. Cummins indicated that faulty community perceptions are due to a "failure of leadership" to communicate with the public and be proactive. She also said that in the year and a half that she has been on the board that the BOE has not had this "crucial conversation" while other conversations have occurred that clearly do not have the priority that the dire state of district computing and network systems are in. All BOE members and Dr. Leary were very complimentary about the presentation and Comm. Kneer suggested that taking a tour of the NOC would be enlightening.
Legislative update from Pres. O'Brien was basically that the budget battle is raging in Madison with no end in sight.
Then there was an update about the City/County Community Visioning process that is being guided by the Civic League. Apparently, Patti Iverson, the Superintendent's secretary (?!?!), is the ECASD representative in this process. What the _____??
I am hoping/assuming that this is not the case for the entire process and maybe the BOE member or Administrator who are the real ECASD representatives were on vacation last week and Patti filled in. Pretty wierd that there was no other person available other than the secretary?
That's it for another exciting episode in "As the ECASD Turns".
Monday, July 16, 2007
July 9, 2007
The regular Board Meeting began with introductions of Dr. Jim Leary, the new Interim Superintendent and the 2 new student representatives. I missed the names of the student reps and, of course, they were not listed on the agenda so I will try to get that information at a later date. Also introduced in the audience was Bob Haley, the new principal at Lakeshore School. Pres. O'Brien also took a few minutes to thank Bill Klaus for his years of service as the Superintendent and wish him luck in his service as the new principal of Northstar.
DIGRESSION: Mr. O'Brien also noted that they forgot to recognize Dr. Gregg Butler's retirement and giving him a plaque at GB's last meeting. Maybe they didn't bother to say "good-bye" and "thank you" since they didn't think he was really leaving (?!?!) A community member reported to me that she heard from an administrator's wife that GB never even cleaned out his office after he retired! Word on the street is that he basically continued business as usual at work waiting for the official "annointing" when he would just move his office next door when Klaus left. Then when he did not get the Interim Sup. job, he cleaned out his office and left in the middle of the night! My husband's comment: "Just like the Baltimore Colts!"
Comm. Cummins noted that a local healthcare provider had done a community survey about issues that are of most concern and coming in 2nd place, just behind the local economy, was concern about public education. So, we are most definitely not out of the woods with the community.
Int. Sup Leary offered to conduct a session for BOE members about board functioning. Date is set for Aug. 6th at 4:30 p.m.
The Public Comment session was led off by Dr. Maureen Mack (sp?) who was commenting on the upcoming search process for a new superintendent. She encouraged the BOE to look to the future and to cast a very wide net for candidates. She also indicated that the search committee should include all of the school district partners from the community and internally (teachers and other staff.) The candidate pool should be sufficiently large and diverse and if we do not have the candidates who meet our requirements to seek help and restart the search if necessary.
I used my few minutes of comments to AGAIN seek to build ways to allow for MEANINGFUL COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION relying on the examples presented by the ECCF. When starting up the ECCF they sought to gain participation by 24 families and got 62! With the Women's Circle their goal was 50 women and they got 162. "If you build it they will come." Pretty simple but it doesn't seem to be catching on with BOE members. I also encouraged the BOE to involve community members in the Superintendent search from the beginning of the process. Thirdly, I commented that Pres. O'Brien's comments about a Conflict of Interest Policy having a "chilling effect" was not reasonable because if there are more ways to get involved there can be more participation for many people. I also indicated that many community members who would not publicly state their concerns about Board conflicts have done so to me and will simply vote their opposition at referendum time. Finally, I commented that the discussion about Little Red seems to have not gone anywhere in 3 months and that this discussion cannot take place in isolation without the entire planning process or the result would be just one more short term, incremental decision that leaves the public distrustful.
JJ Henricks commented that it is a big loss to the students of the district that many AP classes were cut, especially the loss of AP History. This is the kind of thing that she and her husband and many others investigate before deciding about a community.
A staff member from WASB gave a presentation and suggested timeline for the search for the new superintendent and WASB's availability of resources to help in that search. The fee would be under $10,000. She said that posting the job on the internet gets it broadcast very widely but that current board members and community members are key resources to identify potential candidates as well.
Mr. Jim Kling gave a sobering presentation on the extensive staff cuts at each school and grade level. Unfortunately, there were not adequate copies of his material for the audience nor were they put out ahead of time to be included in the Public Comment portion of the Agenda. Hey, folks, come on back on July 23rd and comment at that point!!
Board members discussed the seriousness of the cuts and resulting increases in class sizes. It was noted that due to the extremely short time frame between the failure of the referendum and the teacher contract deadlines, there was little time to plan or even discuss how cuts would be made based on programming priorities. Sad, sad, sad. More than a year ago the BOE faced a budget deficit of $7 million and just decided to take the whole thing out of the fund balance. Even that alarming move did not motivate the leadership to plan at all. So the next year they have 3 weeks to solve a $9 million problem.
Under "Other Business" Pres. O'Brien attempted to clarify some legal details about the Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruling against the Tomah School District to have more informative agendas to communicate to the community. He spent several minutes shuffling papers and mumbling incomprehensible fragments of sentences that were unintelligible to all present. At the end, no one knew what the point he was trying to make was, other than "don't hire this guy as your attorney" when you are relying on clarity in front of a judge.
There was also a comment about the state budget from the Assembly being $85 less than Doyle's. Brent Wogahn repeated several times that "equalization aid" just means "property tax relief" and doesn't give any more $'s to education. Again, not very informative to us average bears in the audience.
DIGRESSION: Mr. O'Brien also noted that they forgot to recognize Dr. Gregg Butler's retirement and giving him a plaque at GB's last meeting. Maybe they didn't bother to say "good-bye" and "thank you" since they didn't think he was really leaving (?!?!) A community member reported to me that she heard from an administrator's wife that GB never even cleaned out his office after he retired! Word on the street is that he basically continued business as usual at work waiting for the official "annointing" when he would just move his office next door when Klaus left. Then when he did not get the Interim Sup. job, he cleaned out his office and left in the middle of the night! My husband's comment: "Just like the Baltimore Colts!"
Comm. Cummins noted that a local healthcare provider had done a community survey about issues that are of most concern and coming in 2nd place, just behind the local economy, was concern about public education. So, we are most definitely not out of the woods with the community.
Int. Sup Leary offered to conduct a session for BOE members about board functioning. Date is set for Aug. 6th at 4:30 p.m.
The Public Comment session was led off by Dr. Maureen Mack (sp?) who was commenting on the upcoming search process for a new superintendent. She encouraged the BOE to look to the future and to cast a very wide net for candidates. She also indicated that the search committee should include all of the school district partners from the community and internally (teachers and other staff.) The candidate pool should be sufficiently large and diverse and if we do not have the candidates who meet our requirements to seek help and restart the search if necessary.
I used my few minutes of comments to AGAIN seek to build ways to allow for MEANINGFUL COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION relying on the examples presented by the ECCF. When starting up the ECCF they sought to gain participation by 24 families and got 62! With the Women's Circle their goal was 50 women and they got 162. "If you build it they will come." Pretty simple but it doesn't seem to be catching on with BOE members. I also encouraged the BOE to involve community members in the Superintendent search from the beginning of the process. Thirdly, I commented that Pres. O'Brien's comments about a Conflict of Interest Policy having a "chilling effect" was not reasonable because if there are more ways to get involved there can be more participation for many people. I also indicated that many community members who would not publicly state their concerns about Board conflicts have done so to me and will simply vote their opposition at referendum time. Finally, I commented that the discussion about Little Red seems to have not gone anywhere in 3 months and that this discussion cannot take place in isolation without the entire planning process or the result would be just one more short term, incremental decision that leaves the public distrustful.
JJ Henricks commented that it is a big loss to the students of the district that many AP classes were cut, especially the loss of AP History. This is the kind of thing that she and her husband and many others investigate before deciding about a community.
A staff member from WASB gave a presentation and suggested timeline for the search for the new superintendent and WASB's availability of resources to help in that search. The fee would be under $10,000. She said that posting the job on the internet gets it broadcast very widely but that current board members and community members are key resources to identify potential candidates as well.
Mr. Jim Kling gave a sobering presentation on the extensive staff cuts at each school and grade level. Unfortunately, there were not adequate copies of his material for the audience nor were they put out ahead of time to be included in the Public Comment portion of the Agenda. Hey, folks, come on back on July 23rd and comment at that point!!
Board members discussed the seriousness of the cuts and resulting increases in class sizes. It was noted that due to the extremely short time frame between the failure of the referendum and the teacher contract deadlines, there was little time to plan or even discuss how cuts would be made based on programming priorities. Sad, sad, sad. More than a year ago the BOE faced a budget deficit of $7 million and just decided to take the whole thing out of the fund balance. Even that alarming move did not motivate the leadership to plan at all. So the next year they have 3 weeks to solve a $9 million problem.
Under "Other Business" Pres. O'Brien attempted to clarify some legal details about the Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruling against the Tomah School District to have more informative agendas to communicate to the community. He spent several minutes shuffling papers and mumbling incomprehensible fragments of sentences that were unintelligible to all present. At the end, no one knew what the point he was trying to make was, other than "don't hire this guy as your attorney" when you are relying on clarity in front of a judge.
There was also a comment about the state budget from the Assembly being $85 less than Doyle's. Brent Wogahn repeated several times that "equalization aid" just means "property tax relief" and doesn't give any more $'s to education. Again, not very informative to us average bears in the audience.
Discomfort Continues with Conflict of Interest
At the July 9th Work Session the BOE members discussed establishing a specific Conflict of Interest Policy for the ECASD. Dr. Klaus had put together a 2 page draft of a policy but, of course, nobody in the audience was allowed to view even a draft of it of they would have to kill us. Klaus stated that it was taken from the statutes. The new Interim Superintendent, Jim Leary, innocently queried why the ECASD isn't simply using the state statutes rather than writing a new policy. Comm. Cummins, as the BOE member who asked for this item to be addressed by the board, indicated that having a specific policy was recommended by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) as the statutes left much to interpretation. For example, the Madison policy prohibits employees and spouses of employees to serve on the School Board as well as prohibits campaigning for candidates by seated board members in school district elections. Dr. Leary said that he is extremely careful of any perception of nepotism and would avoid a situation involving a "relative of any sort." He cited a problematic example of a Pres. of a School Board who was also the Pres. of the bank where school board funds were deposited.
Several Board members were clearly uncomfortable and silent . Lots of tiptoeing around the edges of the topic.
There was a digression of whether this policy would include other employees but Mr. Kling pointed out that current ECASD employment policies adequately cover problem areas. At this point Comm. Kneer launched into an emotional commentary that she felt this was a personal campaign against her and Mr. O'Brien. She insisted that she did not benefit financially from her work on the playground which was confusing until it was clarified that she indeed is a paid employee and not a volunteer for the district. Ms. Kneer insisted that a policy was not needed and that "we will know" if there is a Conflict of Interest problem. (How will you know? When community members start complaining? OK. You have a problem now.) Comm. Cummins assured her that current BOE members would be "grandfathered in."
Klaus finally did put up something on the overhead for the audience to see but the draft was so broad that Comm. Craig indicated that it needed more specificity. Comm. Wogahn shared another completely irrelevant anecdote from his medical training when a resident was dating a junior resident and he told the guy to just wait until she rotated off the service for that kind of thing. Does this guy even know what Conflict of Interest is? His lack of knowledge or lack of judgment or both is of real concern here!
Dr. Leary offered to put together another draft of a policy that would include examples from other districts and it would be ready for the August board meeting. Mike O'Brien chose the final minutes of the meeting to indicate that he felt such a policy would be a "slippery slope" and have a "chilling effect" on community members willing to serve on the BOE. He felt that spouses of teachers have a legitimate role in serving the district.
My opinion: Of course they do! But not in the leadership role as Board members which creates a conflict of interest financially for them. Of course in this district there is no other role for an interested community member to perform on behalf of the district. You are either on the School Board or the other way you can be an engaged community member is selling hot dogs at the concession stand at football games. Take your pick.
Several Board members were clearly uncomfortable and silent . Lots of tiptoeing around the edges of the topic.
There was a digression of whether this policy would include other employees but Mr. Kling pointed out that current ECASD employment policies adequately cover problem areas. At this point Comm. Kneer launched into an emotional commentary that she felt this was a personal campaign against her and Mr. O'Brien. She insisted that she did not benefit financially from her work on the playground which was confusing until it was clarified that she indeed is a paid employee and not a volunteer for the district. Ms. Kneer insisted that a policy was not needed and that "we will know" if there is a Conflict of Interest problem. (How will you know? When community members start complaining? OK. You have a problem now.) Comm. Cummins assured her that current BOE members would be "grandfathered in."
Klaus finally did put up something on the overhead for the audience to see but the draft was so broad that Comm. Craig indicated that it needed more specificity. Comm. Wogahn shared another completely irrelevant anecdote from his medical training when a resident was dating a junior resident and he told the guy to just wait until she rotated off the service for that kind of thing. Does this guy even know what Conflict of Interest is? His lack of knowledge or lack of judgment or both is of real concern here!
Dr. Leary offered to put together another draft of a policy that would include examples from other districts and it would be ready for the August board meeting. Mike O'Brien chose the final minutes of the meeting to indicate that he felt such a policy would be a "slippery slope" and have a "chilling effect" on community members willing to serve on the BOE. He felt that spouses of teachers have a legitimate role in serving the district.
My opinion: Of course they do! But not in the leadership role as Board members which creates a conflict of interest financially for them. Of course in this district there is no other role for an interested community member to perform on behalf of the district. You are either on the School Board or the other way you can be an engaged community member is selling hot dogs at the concession stand at football games. Take your pick.
Community Foundation possibilities
On July 9, 2007 the ECASD held a Work Session to discuss the possibility of developing a Community Foundation that would benefit the ECASD. Invited guests were Laura Hookom of the ECCF (Eau Claire Community Foundation) and Paul Wanke who is on the ECCF Board of Trustees. Laura gave an introductory presentation about the history of the ECCF and the success they have had in tapping the community's generosity and interest in philanthropy. She reminded BOE members that an endowment would not replace the efforts of school booster clubs but would serve as a longer term endowment building vehicle that could give annual funding to school district activities from the earnings.She noted that approx. $1,000,000 would have to be raised to provide $50,000 in annual gifts back.
There were many questions during the presentation such as who would decide how the payout $'s would be used (a "perpetual" panel, possibly BOE members) or whether or not individual funds for each school would be considered (Comm. Cummins pointed out the difficulty with equity issues among schools might preclude such a thing.) Ms. Hookom pointed out that the new "Collaborative Philanthropy" idea has many possibilities for, say the alumni, of the ECASD to have a common goal such as the new Women's Circle Endowment at the ECCF.
At this point Commissioner Wogahn lapsed into one of his lengthy anecdotal tangents about his wife and her alma mater that is so successful in tracking down alumni through many geographic moves to ask for money to support the school. He, of course, managed to include his own high school experience and pals and teachers who he thinks about and "chuckles". Audience members noted that at least one other board member and an administrator were struggling to control their laughter and shaking shoulders during this sentimental trip back in time for Commissioner Wogahn.
Back to business ... Ms. Hookom indicated that any solicitation of funds should be sufficiently generic to not create future problems in using the funds according to donor' wishes that might be extremely restrictive. Also, the ECCF does a very limited amount of being a "conduit" for funds raised and paid out within the same year. This kind of activity would probably be more appropriate for booster clubs rather than a foundation.
There were many questions during the presentation such as who would decide how the payout $'s would be used (a "perpetual" panel, possibly BOE members) or whether or not individual funds for each school would be considered (Comm. Cummins pointed out the difficulty with equity issues among schools might preclude such a thing.) Ms. Hookom pointed out that the new "Collaborative Philanthropy" idea has many possibilities for, say the alumni, of the ECASD to have a common goal such as the new Women's Circle Endowment at the ECCF.
At this point Commissioner Wogahn lapsed into one of his lengthy anecdotal tangents about his wife and her alma mater that is so successful in tracking down alumni through many geographic moves to ask for money to support the school. He, of course, managed to include his own high school experience and pals and teachers who he thinks about and "chuckles". Audience members noted that at least one other board member and an administrator were struggling to control their laughter and shaking shoulders during this sentimental trip back in time for Commissioner Wogahn.
Back to business ... Ms. Hookom indicated that any solicitation of funds should be sufficiently generic to not create future problems in using the funds according to donor' wishes that might be extremely restrictive. Also, the ECCF does a very limited amount of being a "conduit" for funds raised and paid out within the same year. This kind of activity would probably be more appropriate for booster clubs rather than a foundation.
Low Levels of Transparency Detected!
On June 26, 2007 a Work Session was held with 3 firms who had expressed interest in participating in the Comprehensive Community Planning Process (CCPP) with the ECASD. This meeting had been classified as a CLOSED session with the totally lame-o reason given that they were "negotiations". I challenged this decision of Pres. O'Brien's based on the reasoning that the ECASD could not possibly be anywhere near "negotiating" with consultants since absolutely no work at all had been done by the ECASD to define the project, the scope, the participants, the goals, the deliverables, nor the timeframe. Also, I am sure that pointing out that the Open Meeting Laws require government meetings to err on the side of being open when there is a question. The 3 firms presented very different approaches to the project, as would be expected when they were not given any sort of guidelines from the client.
Carol Craig shared a one page draft summary of what the ECASD wants to accomplish and what outcomes are expected with predictable categories like Facilities; Elementary, Middle and High School Delivery Systems; Administrative Services; Local and State Taxation issues; and Technology. Again, greater work must be done to develop the framework for the scope of this project.
Here is my take on the CCPP consultants:
Springsted, Inc., Public Sector Advisors was represented by Don Lifto a Senior VP and Director of their Public Education Sector. Their approach was 4 steps: RPCE for Research, Planning, Communication and Evaluation. Mr. Lifto concentrated primarily on the first step of Research with the 2nd step of Planning to be done by another group (Kaufman). This approach was very oriented to referendum passage. It focussed on developing a questionnaire for phone surveys of registered voters to determine what was the political climate and how to frame the referendum to voters. In my opinion, it was an approach that was not usable at this time for our district. It did, however, point out how rinky-dink and pathetic the Spring referendum was in terms of being not much more than a hope and a prayer on the pat of the ECASD BOE and Administration. Mr. Lifto did go into the 2nd step of Planning a bit and that begins to approach what I think our district and community needs now.
School Perceptions was represented by, former Middleton superintendent, Mr. Bill Reis and Mr. Tom Joynt, a Senior Consultant. Their focus took the research stage a little farther with their Survey Methodology Software. This survey technique involves many, many more people responding to questions and the data can be sliced and diced easily to get segment responses (students, teachers, parents, community members, etc...) to understand concerns. The 3 Phase approach would be as follows:
Phase 1: Summer Planning to define and develop the Project Strategy and priorities. Some concern was expressed by Cummins and Craig about the current Administrative "transition". Response was that the BOE and Administrative team must establish the Strategic Priorities. Based on this there could be value to waiting until a permanent Superintendent and Deputy are on board.
Phase 2: Fall Community Engagement to design and conduct the survey and analyze results. This would also help to identify for the district the "expectation gap" (which clearly exists here in Eau Claire) which is the difference between what people want and are willing to pay for and what the ECASD is providing.
Phase 3: Winter Planning for the Future Direction to develop a transition plan that would be evaluated quarterly. This would identify the top 3 to 5 priorities and a continuous process to sustain accomplishing them.
I guess that my thoughts on this presentation are that it goes farther than mere referendum passage but does not fully engage all of the " stakeholders" as active participants in the visioning and identification of priorities and strategic objectives that I have seen in other planning processes. They did identify the following keys to successful Community Engagement as being:
1. Build Ownership in the Process, 2. Educate citizens, 3. Inclusivity, 4. Identify and Mobilize Citizen Leaders and, 5. Use Good Data to develop planning and communication with the community. It just seemed like it was not as fully paticipatory and that it would not create shared responsibility for results in ways I have seen in the past.
The final presenter was Anne Sturdivant from the Latitudes Group. This presentation seemed to me to be the most comprehensive process to get the Planning process jump started and moving forward with everybody on board. From their literature: "The basic characteristic is a session with 50-70 or more people in the room representing multiple stakeholder groups. This group includes all types of community members and all types of school district employees, who come to a common vision of the district's future, strategic priorities and draft action plans for getting there. The advantage is broad-based buy in and ownership of strategic direction and the resultant ability for a school system to respond quickly to changes in public demands, student needs, availability of resources and shifting priorities." Using a very structured format in this large group and mixing up the stakeholders within smaller groups in a day and a half session she has seen great results in diverse community groups coming together. Pres. O'Brien questioned whether individuals would be willing to give up a day and a half for such an event and her response was that she has never heard of anyone objecting to that kind of time for such a valuable and comprehensive effort.
Well, that is my 2 cents on the topic. Clearly, the BOE and Administration have got to get their acts together to move forward and define more specifically their goals to get the best process for our district. Without a permanent Superintendent or Deputy in place, this will likely get put on hold for another year plus. Sadly, so many years were lost while previous BOE and Administrative leaders twiddled their thumbs as the district tanked financially and now we are so far behind on this crucial effort.
Carol Craig shared a one page draft summary of what the ECASD wants to accomplish and what outcomes are expected with predictable categories like Facilities; Elementary, Middle and High School Delivery Systems; Administrative Services; Local and State Taxation issues; and Technology. Again, greater work must be done to develop the framework for the scope of this project.
Here is my take on the CCPP consultants:
Springsted, Inc., Public Sector Advisors was represented by Don Lifto a Senior VP and Director of their Public Education Sector. Their approach was 4 steps: RPCE for Research, Planning, Communication and Evaluation. Mr. Lifto concentrated primarily on the first step of Research with the 2nd step of Planning to be done by another group (Kaufman). This approach was very oriented to referendum passage. It focussed on developing a questionnaire for phone surveys of registered voters to determine what was the political climate and how to frame the referendum to voters. In my opinion, it was an approach that was not usable at this time for our district. It did, however, point out how rinky-dink and pathetic the Spring referendum was in terms of being not much more than a hope and a prayer on the pat of the ECASD BOE and Administration. Mr. Lifto did go into the 2nd step of Planning a bit and that begins to approach what I think our district and community needs now.
School Perceptions was represented by, former Middleton superintendent, Mr. Bill Reis and Mr. Tom Joynt, a Senior Consultant. Their focus took the research stage a little farther with their Survey Methodology Software. This survey technique involves many, many more people responding to questions and the data can be sliced and diced easily to get segment responses (students, teachers, parents, community members, etc...) to understand concerns. The 3 Phase approach would be as follows:
Phase 1: Summer Planning to define and develop the Project Strategy and priorities. Some concern was expressed by Cummins and Craig about the current Administrative "transition". Response was that the BOE and Administrative team must establish the Strategic Priorities. Based on this there could be value to waiting until a permanent Superintendent and Deputy are on board.
Phase 2: Fall Community Engagement to design and conduct the survey and analyze results. This would also help to identify for the district the "expectation gap" (which clearly exists here in Eau Claire) which is the difference between what people want and are willing to pay for and what the ECASD is providing.
Phase 3: Winter Planning for the Future Direction to develop a transition plan that would be evaluated quarterly. This would identify the top 3 to 5 priorities and a continuous process to sustain accomplishing them.
I guess that my thoughts on this presentation are that it goes farther than mere referendum passage but does not fully engage all of the " stakeholders" as active participants in the visioning and identification of priorities and strategic objectives that I have seen in other planning processes. They did identify the following keys to successful Community Engagement as being:
1. Build Ownership in the Process, 2. Educate citizens, 3. Inclusivity, 4. Identify and Mobilize Citizen Leaders and, 5. Use Good Data to develop planning and communication with the community. It just seemed like it was not as fully paticipatory and that it would not create shared responsibility for results in ways I have seen in the past.
The final presenter was Anne Sturdivant from the Latitudes Group. This presentation seemed to me to be the most comprehensive process to get the Planning process jump started and moving forward with everybody on board. From their literature: "The basic characteristic is a session with 50-70 or more people in the room representing multiple stakeholder groups. This group includes all types of community members and all types of school district employees, who come to a common vision of the district's future, strategic priorities and draft action plans for getting there. The advantage is broad-based buy in and ownership of strategic direction and the resultant ability for a school system to respond quickly to changes in public demands, student needs, availability of resources and shifting priorities." Using a very structured format in this large group and mixing up the stakeholders within smaller groups in a day and a half session she has seen great results in diverse community groups coming together. Pres. O'Brien questioned whether individuals would be willing to give up a day and a half for such an event and her response was that she has never heard of anyone objecting to that kind of time for such a valuable and comprehensive effort.
Well, that is my 2 cents on the topic. Clearly, the BOE and Administration have got to get their acts together to move forward and define more specifically their goals to get the best process for our district. Without a permanent Superintendent or Deputy in place, this will likely get put on hold for another year plus. Sadly, so many years were lost while previous BOE and Administrative leaders twiddled their thumbs as the district tanked financially and now we are so far behind on this crucial effort.
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