Tuesday, March 23, 2010

MSD Decatur Township Administration Reaction to Fiscal Mess - Part 1

Its going to take a couple of blog entries to lay out the response of MSD Decatur Township Superintendent Don Stinson to the looming fiscal crisis over the past few years. The bottom line will be that Stinson saw the crisis approaching, but spent money irresponsibly anyway.

The following was posted as a comment to my blog entry "Let's Back Up and Move in a Different Direction" by anon 8:01 on March 10. Anon 8:01 posted a letter to the public from Don Stinson, followed by their own comment. I'd like to start this series with that March 10 comment.
April 8, 2008
Dear Parents, Guardians and Community Members,

I want to make you aware of a serious situation facing our school district. The Indiana Legislature has put a cap, or circuit breaker, on the Transportation, Capital Projects, and Debt Service Funds of school districts. This measure could mean a loss of more than $2,000,000 in the school years of 2008-09 and 2009-10 to the MSD of Decatur Township.

In addition, the tax reassessment in Marion County this past year has resulted in delayed payments to the schools from the state. This delay in payment made it necessary for public schools to borrow money to pay regular expenses. The interest alone on these short term loans for Decatur schools amounts to $900,000 for 2007 and $1,500,000 for 2008.

We need to reduce more than $2,000,000 out of the 2008-2009 budget now. In order to meet this goal we have to reduce expenditures in all areas of the school district’s budget.

Unfortunately, this necessary restructuring will include cutting both staff and programs. It will mean eliminating some things that will upset people and change some services that we have come to expect. I have been taking suggestions and listening to different groups to get ideas and suggestions on how to reduce our expenses. In our ongoing effort to decrease expenses and save classroom positions, we have reduced administrative positions from 38 in 2001 to 33 this past year.

I want you to be aware that these are not easy days or easy decisions. We recognize that we are a publicly funded institution and must operate within the parameters that we are given. We want to reassure you that none of these changes will have a negative impact on the education that your child receives from the MSD of Decatur Township. This is a challenge but we refuse to give up the Journey Toward Excellence for our young people.

Please feel free to call me at 856-5265 or email me at stinson@msddecatur.k12.in.us. You can also reach me through the district website: www.msddecatur.k12.in.us.

Sincerely,
Donald H. Stinson
Superintendent
Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township
5275 Kentucky Avenue Phone: (317) 856-5265
Indianapolis, Indiana 46221 Fax: (317) 856-2156

This letter was sent in April 2008 just two months before he and other administrators were given a 4.5% raise in salaries. This letter verifies that there were financial problems long before the economy went downhill. The fact that he and the board raised salaries knowing full well that they didn't have the $$$ is unreal. He and others continued to travel around the country and eat high on the hog.

Anon 8:01 is absolutely correct. On 6-10-08, the Decatur School Board approved an across the board 4.5% raise for all Administrators (click here to read the minutes for yourself). Here is the section related to the raises:
Mr. Stinson reviewed the fiscal restructuring efforts that have taken place which includes a reduction in force of six positions for teachers. Due to attrition it is not necessary to eliminate any support staff positions. He recommended to the Board a fiscal restructuring proposal for nonpersonnel items totaling $2,143,716. The proposal includes 4½ % increase for administrators and support staff equal to the 4½ % approved in the Master Contract with the Decatur Education Association.

So, after they RIF'd 6 teachers, allowed support staff numbers to drop through attrition, they had the unmitigated greed and financial irresponsiblity to gave the Administrators and remaining support staff a 4.5 % raise. The proposed 5% cut in Administrator salaries contained in Stinson's Fiscal Restructuring Plan, presented in January of this year, was estimated to save $191,215. Using the numbers presented in that Plan, I conservatively calculate the 4.5% raise has cost a minimum of $344,000 over the past two years.

Although they had RIF'd 6 teachers, somewhere around March or April of 2009, they hired School Board member, Don Huffman's, grandson Jason Dixson to become head football coach, which required also hiring him in as a teacher. Dixson's salary is $49,343, as disclosed in the 2010 form 100R filed by the District with the State Board of Accounts. The former coach, Tim Able lost $12,000 in salary. This would result in a net increase of $37,343.

Since this letter went out, they also hired Bob Harris to not just replace Jeff Baer as Assistant Superintendent for Business, but to overlap with Baer for 6 months at an annual salary of $128,927 plus whatever benefits. It is not usual to pay for an overlap in an Administrative position and it cost the District over $64,000 to do so.

Since this letter went out, they also created two 'Building Director' positions that are somewhere between teacher and administrator positions. This caused an increase in salary between the two of roughly $24,700. (from form 100R)

Since this letter went out, and after the 4.5% raise in 2008, they gave Debbie Sullivan a raise of $14,498, Jeff Baer a raise of $4442, Nan Wiseman a raise of $3390, and Robert Kehrein a raise of $2559, plus an overall raise in cash and/or benefits of $1450 per Administrator (see "Most Administrators Saw Increase In Salary and/or Benefits"). This information, too comes from the forms 100R submitted by the District to the SBOA. Just the 4 raises noted first, total $24,889.

This is just what I have been able to find by reading the minutes and obtaining public records from the SBOA. It totals over $150,000 in increased expenditures, NOT including the 4.5% raise Administrators got two years ago, NOR the overall increase in cash and/or benefits they received last year.

Bottom line : Stinson saw the fiscal storm coming and continued to pad Administrator positions and their salaries.

56 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're such a sleuth.



Excellent work! This is the kind of scrutiny needed to remedy the school systems problems, and to move it forward.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much, Pat, for spending the time and sorting this all out for us. We must continue to circulate your website address so EVERY township resident is aware of the thievery that got the township in this shape. It's time to stop Don Stinson and Jeff Baer from having their way with our kids money!

Anonymous said...

There has to be a town hall meeting before the Board meets on April 13th! ANSWERS MUST BE GIVEN face to face. No email; no blog; no rumours. TOWN HALL MEETING with Board and Super! Then, there needs to be 800 to a thousand people show up for the meeting!

Anonymous said...

Where's Webster been? Hey Phil, run out of Kook-Aid?

Anonymous said...

Someone said that the Administration told Webster to cool it with the blogging.....

Anonymous said...

Does it make any sense for Decatur taxpayers to be told: This is the amount of $$$ we have to provide teachers, support staff, and administrators for the education of students in the district. Given that many $$$: Teachers, administrators,support staff, and parents schedule next weekend and sit down, discuss, and "hammer out" a plan that will provide an excellent education for every student in the district. This will be hard work to accomplish but it would be worth it.

Too bad the administration does not like the blog. The blog has not "attacked" personally Stinson and his assistants. The blog has again and again requested information be put in writing including factual data. Don't know why the district website does not communicate any differences they have in the $$$ figures, number of positions, costs of benefits, etc. This lack of information substantiates the facts presented on the blog.

For years, the "tactic" has been "poor woe is me" rather than "we made a huge mistake and here are the details of how we are going to correct the error."

Anonymous said...

This should not be "committee" work. The administrators, teachers, support staff, and parents who desire to work on this should be told when and where the work will be done. Bring your own coffee, tea, soft drink, and other food. Don't hire a "facilitator." We have so many dollars, so many students, and agree on how we are going to allocate those dollars.

Anonymous said...

Any idea as to how the salaries of our administrators and teachers compare to those within the private school sector?

Anonymous said...

FYI - I wrote to Dale Henson and Don Stinson requesting a Town Hall meeting forum. Dale responded stating they have had a couple of community meetings referencing the finanacial situation of the school system. He said he would review this request with Don to see if another community meeting can be held sometime in the future.
He also encouraged me to contact Don directly to schedule a meeting to discuss my questions and concerns. Not sure how I feel about doing this. I haven't had any direct contact ever with this man to truly form a solid opinion but the statistics and facts posted here worry me that I am not going to get straight, honest answers directly.
Is there any way to "force" a community meeting?

Anonymous said...

What were the raises for teachers during this same time period?

Had Enough Indy? said...

anon 6:33 -- there would seem to be no way to 'force' a public meeting. But, if enough people made phone calls, perhaps they'd change their tune. Or the petition idea and send copies to both Stinson and Henson, as well as to the press/media, might work.

Had Enough Indy? said...

anon 6:43 -- it gets a bit complicated to give you a simple answer.

The contract signed in August of 2007, gave the teachers a 4.5% raise for the 2008-2009 school year. There was no 'raise' for 2009-2010 school year.

BUT - the contract also contains what the teachers call a 'step increase' and the rest of us call a raise. It is the amount of salary increase a teacher gets because they have another year of experience. There are also automatic increases if a teacher gets another advanced degree. The 'step increase' type of raise is given to all teachers with less than 20 years of experience.

The 'step increase' provision of the contract would have provided this type of raise in the 2009-2010 school year and every year thereafter, even without a new contract being agreed to.

Anonymous said...

Information on Open Door Law as it applies to school boards:

http://www.isba-ind.org/Legal/OpenDoor.htm

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, it's best to try asking before forcing.

Sign up to talk at the next board meeting. And let the media know you'll be demanding a town hall meeting to openly discuss the fiscal priorities of the school board.

Anonymous said...

I think Debbie Bartlett would be a great moderator for a town hall meeting. It's obvious that she wants the best for Decatur Township.

Anonymous said...

School Board Code of Ethics
from ISBA

A School Board member should honor the high responsibility which his membership demands:

BY thinking always in terms of "children first."

BY understanding that the basic function of the school board member is "policy-making" and not "administrative," and by accepting the responsibility of learning to discriminate intelligently between these two functions.

BY accepting the responsibility along with his fellow board members of seeing that the maximum of facilities and resources is provided for the proper functioning of schools.

BY refusing to "play politics" in either the traditional partisan, or in any petty sense.

BY representing at all times the entire school community.

BY accepting the responsibility of becoming well-informed concerning the duties of board members, and the proper function of public schools.

BY recognizing responsibility as a state official to seek the improvement of education throughout the state.

A School Board member should respect his relationships with other members of the Board:

BY recognizing that authority rests only with the board in official meetings, and that the individual member has no legal status to bind the board outside of such meetings.

BY recognizing the integrity of his predecessor and associates and the merit of their work.

BY refusing to make statements or promises as to how he will vote on any matter which should properly come before the board as a whole.

BY making decisions only after all facts bearing on a question have been presented and discussed.

BY respecting the opinion of others and by graciously conforming to the principle of "majority rule."

BY refusing to participate in irregular meetings such as "secret" or "star chamber" meetings, which are not official and which all members do not have the opportunity to attend.

BY attempting to appraise fairly both the present and future educational needs of the community.

A School Board member should maintain desirable relations with the superintendent
of schools and his staff:

BY striving to procure, when the vacancy exists, the best professional leader available for the head administrative post.

BY giving the superintendent full administrative authority for properly discharging his professional duties, and also by holding him responsible for acceptable results.

BY acting only upon the recommendation of the superintendent in matters of employment or dismissal of school personnel.

BY having the superintendent present at all meetings of the board except when his contract and salary are under consideration.

BY referring all complaints to the proper administrative office and by discussing them only at a regular meeting after failure of administrative solution.

BY striving to provide adequate safeguards around the superintendent and other staff members to the end that they can live happily and comfortably in the community and discharge their educational functions on a thoroughly professional basis.

BY presenting personal criticisms of any employee directly to the superintendent.

A School Board member should meet his responsibilities to his community:

BY regarding it as a major responsibility of the board to interpret the aims and the methods of the schools to the community.

BY insisting that all school business transactions be on an open, ethical and above-board basis.

BY vigorously seeking adequate financial support for the schools.

BY refusing to use his position on a school board in any way whatsoever for personal gain or personal prestige.

BY refusing to discuss personnel matters or any other confidential business of the board in his home, on the street or in his office.

BY winning the community's confidence that all is being done in the best interests of school children.

Anonymous said...

I think the 4.5% raise for teachers was that high to cover a 2 or 2.5% increase in health insurance costs. Not sure if the same health care increase applied to the plan administrators are on.

Anonymous said...

Teachers and administrators got a 3.5% raise in 2007-2008 plus the 4.5% raise in 2008-2009. 8% raise over those two years is fairly good?

According to the Indiana Department of Education: Decatur teachers are the 4th highest paid (Average is $57,428) in the state (Average is $49,569). Perry Township is the 38th highest paid. A review of the non-public schools would indicate that their average teacher salaries are below the state average.

Anonymous said...

The administrators got a 4.5% increase plus the increase in health insurance.

Anonymous said...

Re Anon 5:04-I disagree with your statement about the blog not "personally" attacking Stinson. I think there have been SEVERAL comments that personally attack him as well as other members of the Decatur Township school community. No, not everyone has resorted to name calling but it IS present on this blog. Asking for facts is one thing. Name calling is another. Another example of name calling could be applied to Phil Webster. Phil Webster supports Decatur Township unabashedly. He has served his entire career in this township. Regardless of what people think of his opinions and outspoken nature (anyone who knows him knows this is who he is), the man should be respected for his service to this township. Period.
So I agree and disagree. Some people do not intentionally or maliciously write comments directed toward specific people. But there are some that certainly do.
Additionally, in response to the comment about the average salary of Decatur Township teachers being the 4th highest paid in the state..that is correct. However, this township has very experienced teachers with many years of service in teaching. The average is high because there are so many teachers at the top of the pay scale.
Lastly, in response to the intial blog comments. Justin Dixson has been an excellent addition to Decatur Central High School. Anyone who thinks otherwise has not met or dealt with him in person. He is a Decatur grad and has done a lot for his athletes as well as the student body at the high school to increase school pride and spirit. I do not believe he should be shown any favoritism in this current teacher layoff situation. But he is still an excellent teacher and coach.

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:52

The beauty of this blog is the ability of people to say whatever is on their minds. To drink the Kool Aid or spit it in the server's face. And when someone says something totally slanderous, Pat deletes it.

It's sad that humans are so unable to control their emotions and we have to have things like seniority instead of just choosing the best person for the job.

Anon 8:07 I guess the ISBA doesn't know there are female school board members? LOL. The English language seriously needs a gender-neutral pronoun (aside from it).

Phil Webster said...

I am still here and I am still reading all of the comments of people who are concerned about their children’s education. I do not drink Kool Aid and I do not dispense it to other people. The Administration did not tell me to stop writing on this blog.
We are running out of time.
We can continue to work really hard on who to blame for this economic debt.
We can put pressure on people who we think are at fault and have them fired or resign.
We can replace them with new people and they can develop new strategies on how to run the schools.
While we are doing this many of teachers of our children will be laid off.
Class size will go up.
Classes will not be taught and programs that make our children more rounded citizens will be cut.
When we lay off teachers, increase class size , and cut programs it seems reasonable to me that test scores and graduation rates are not going to go up.
If we continue to apply our energy to blame people for the economic condition we are in the 800 pound gorilla is still in the room.
Even if we could agree on who is at fault the debt is still there.
How do we chase the gorilla away.
I think there are several things we can do. We can cut from the budget all expenses that will not effect class size and programs in our schools.
We can retire this debt without laying off teachers and eliminating programs.
We can pay of the debt with a small tax increase on property or hamburgers and cokes. ( remember how we paid for Conseco Field House and Lucas Oil Stadium )
I am not an expert on taxation and what hoops you have to jump through to get a referendum on the November ballot to approve some type of tax that will retire the debt.

If I were to acquire a meeting room would you attend a town hall meeting to find a way to make this debt go away.
If we have a meeting it can not turn into a blame session. You would have to come to the meeting to find away to keep our school system moving in the right direction.
The decision we make over the next several months will effect our schools for the next decade.
After the debt goes away and the school system is stabilized then we can look to see who or what is to blame and put into place policies that will ensure that this does not happen again.

It’s like the barn door has been left open and the horses are out of the barn and in danger. We need to get the horses back in the barn and then we can decide who left the barn door open

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:52

The average age (and therefore experience) of Decatur teachers (from Indiana Department of Education) ranks 241 in the state. Therefore, the average salary (rank 4) is quite high compared to the average experience. Teachers and administrators are very well paid. Both deserve to be well paid but the economic conditions of the community, the state, and the nation cause a need to carefully examine any and all expenditures. The horses must be put back in the barn.

Anonymous said...

Phil,

Thank you for writing. Another fact: You are participating/communicating with those who are blogging. This is appreciated.

People on the blog have stated their anger and dislike for several financial decisions. Another fact: Don Stinson has stated his anger and dislike for those communicating with one another on the blog AND for those unwilling to take a paycut.

Those communicating on the blog should not be blamed for the need to employ a new superintendent IF Stinson chooses to resign or retire. He has stated that he has many opportunities following his work at Decatur. Fact: There are many citizens who do not want to be held hostage for the sake of further overspending (some would prefer to call it selfish greed).

Yes, all horses (and roosters and chickens) need to be put in the barn.

Anonymous said...

We know who let the horses out of the barn. Let's put them out to pasture now. Then develop a plan to dig out.

Anonymous said...

While their out to pasture, be sure to clean up the barn.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, while they are (not their) out to pasture.

West Newton Mom said...

I agree with Phil. It's obvious that we are in a terrible financial situation with our school system.

The damage is done.

It's now time to stop blaming and move forward with finding solutions.

Anonymous said...

Agree - the damage is done. Put the horses out to pasture - no more food for the hogs. No more hiring of replacements for "retiring" administrators - have enough administrators. Live within the "new" budget - no excuses, no twists and turns. Tough times.

Anonymous said...

I would suggest for the town hall meeting set up that questions be submitted to an individual ahead of time and are organized. Then people would have the oppurtunity to listen to the questions and answers before they speak. Many people have the same questions and it would save a lot of time to ask them just once in an organized fashion.

Anonymous said...

Does all of this mean that the move of the superintendent's office to Concentra has been stopped so that no more money is spent on that idea??????

Anonymous said...

debbie bartlet is no more of a shill like phil webster is shes nothing more than a pushy parent she wouldnt make a good moderator any more than phill webster would. she has her own agenda and it aint the good of the township

Anonymous said...

I would attend the Town Hall Meeting. Phil, if you can make it work, I'm there. But, Stinson would need to be there. Board members would be nice too.

I agree with submitting questions beforehand to make it organized. And, it must not degrade into a blame-fest.

Anonymous said...

Submitting questions before hand in a town hall meeting defeats the purpose. It simply gives them time to make up an excuse. Town hall format is simple. Panel; moderator; people; microphone. 3 minute time limit; ask a question and GET AN ANSWER. Don't make it something politically correct.

Anonymous said...

Town Hall Meeting is a great idea. Maybe Dr. Bennett from the Indiana Department of Education would agree to be moderator - could be great press for both Decatur and the State since both seem to be victims.

Anonymous said...

Has Stinson agreed to answer questions at a town hall meeting????

Anonymous said...

Maybe someone from either the Moorsville Times or Indianapolis Star would be the moderator.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Bennett? He's an extension of Mitch. Not a neutral party.

What about a panel?

a parent
a business person
a Democrat
a Republican
a member of clergy
a teacher*
a coach*

* recently retired or retiring (not subject to revenge)

Obviously some of these attributes could be combined in one person.

Submit questions to MODERATOR ahead of time so they can get rid of duplicates and wacko emotional crap. Let the district bring computers or files that they can use to look up information. Since SOMEONE has been reading the blog (not Stinson), they'll know which general files to bring.

Anonymous said...

Stinson's contract available from the Indianapolis Star states: "The superintendent may receive compensation for presentations or consultation activities (related to reinvention) in addition to the compensation from MSD Decatur Township."

Does this mean he is supposed to be allowed to be paid when he is taking a vacation day or does he get paid by two or more employers on the same day??? Seems like "double dipping" could be a problem. Is the compensation reported to the Board???

Had Enough Indy? said...

anon 2:36 - Stinson is a salaried employee, so he gets his check cut every week regardless of the hours he actually worked, or how many were vacation hours, or hours over 8 per day, etc. So, that provision of his contract is just over and above everything else and it is irrelevant whether he is at a conference for the District and is paid to present at the conference, or if he gets paid airfare plus a stipend to speak at a school district in Iowa on what would be considered 'his own time'. As for reporting to the Board, he likely mentions things just as conversation with board members, but I'd be amazed if he is required to account for his whereabouts and when he takes advantage of that part of his contract.

Hope that is clear.

Anonymous said...

Understand. Thanks for explaining.

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:04- Having Bennett in would only lead to more Rep chaos. It's because of him and Daniels(yuk) that we are in the mess we are in.
Just the political ponies trying to privatize us again.

Hey Mitch the Ditch sell another road and we can save our schools!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

April 5 is voter registration deadline. You must be registered in order to vote.

Anonymous said...

is webster going to give up his teaching position? will he still be baseball coach if he doesn't teach?

Anonymous said...

It ain't all Daniels' fault, folks and it's getting wearisome to listen to people bringing his name up over and over. It sounds like Diamond Don or his cohort, Shake-em-down Jeff, when you try to ask them a question regarding their blatant mismanagement of school finances. All they do is start flapping their mouths about their favorite boogeyman, Mitch.

Also, enough already with Webster and his supporters crying that it's time to stop finding fault with Ali Baba Stinson and his 40 Administrators. You know, like...hey, we're here in this mess. Let's all stop worrying about how we got here and get behind our hero Diamond Don and let him lead us out of it. What we need is to give Donnie boy some more of our children's money. Yeah...that's the ticket! Get a grip!!! No one's trying to "assign" blame...we already KNOW who got us here and it wasn't the boogeyman hiding under our beds in the person of Mitch Daniels. Diamond Don KNEW we were gonna go off the edge of the cliff, but he didn't give a damn. All he saw was a chance to pad his already bloated retirement package and the retirements of his loser admin buddies who couldn't make the cut at other districts. You can gibber all you wish about coming together and getting a referendum through, but the rest of us have NO intention of sending another dime through the pilfering hands of Stinson, Baer and the rest of their baby-robber pals.

I find it interesting that Stinson compared us to Jerry Springer. That tells me a lot more about him than he realizes. To Diamond Don the taxpayers are all trailer-trash mongrels who enrage him by having the temerity to question any of his decisions. Yeah, right. Stinson's home girl, and fellow DCHS alumnae, Susan Adams has the same contempt for those "below" her (which translates to anyone who can't help her get promoted to superintendent). I heard that, as an incentive for the custodians to have perfect attendance, she offers them a $100 gift certificate to, of all places, Wal-Mart. Sure, what more meaningful gift could you offer as an incentive to your trailer trash flunkies than a gift certificate to Wal-Mart? Perhaps a gift certificate to White Castle? You know, take the whole family, and carry home a big sackful to heat up for breakfast the following morning while they watch Jerry Springer? How thoughtful.

You need only attend a board meeting to see the disdain in the faces of Diamond Don, Shake-em-down Jeff, and our scowling school board members as they choke back their contempt and impatiently wait for the "public" part of the meeting to get over with. Yet Stinson cries to the media that we should talk to him face to face instead of posting here? Another example of his contempt for everyone's intelligence here in our little cyber trailer-park. Gary Pellico is running himself to exhaustion trying to block repeated public attempts to get answers from Stinson and the school board. Stinson isn't going to talk to anyone unless it's on his terms where he talks and we listen respectfully with no questioning of him or his methods. To Diamond Don, Shake-em-down Jeff and "home girl" Susan Adams, we're just trailer trash children in their classroom where they're the sole authority. Unfortunately, more and more of us have learned the "lesson" they're teaching us. Not another dime of our kids' money through their greedy hands!

There's one nice thing about our little cyber trailer-park here getting Stinson so upset at the last school board meeting. At least it kept him from his usual prelude of the school board members patting him on the back for all his "hard work", then Stinson patting the board members on their back for all their "hard work", then Stinson patting himself on the back for all his accomplishments. Wow, that gets hard to listen to after a few meetings.

Anonymous said...

The Indianapolis Star has an article available today online titled "Decatur Offer May Save Jobs." For those who would like you can type in a comment at the end of the article - might be another way to tell everyone about the real facts in Decatur township. This article makes it sound like they can save teacher jobs if only the teachers would retire. The article does not give the fact that Baer retired and a new administrator was hired.

Anonymous said...

If you're going to have a town hall meeting,drop the idea of submitting the questions beforehand. Doing so would only allow those being questioned to develop a script and control the narrative. Which consequently,defeats the purpose of having the meeting.

I'm not sure a town hall meeting will be effective. The administration and school board seem to be aware of the discontent of the aggrieved. Thus far,to what extent has this discontent and concern been taken into consideration among the decisions the administration and school board continue to develop? Not much. They have their methods and they're sticking to them.


It's not the role of the residents and parents to come up with an effective solution to the financial problems in the township. That's why we elect school board members and pay extraordinary salaries to the superintendent and his cohorts.

Ostensibly,they're a day late and a dollar short.Extraordinary pay does not always equal extraordinary talent, as we have been shown. The township has learned an expensive--but valuable lesson.


Btw,I've come to the conclusion as to why the teacher salaries are high in the township. They facilitate the needlessly elevated level of salaries paid to administrators.

Tony Soprano would be proud. All that's missing is asking the residents and business'in the township to pay a tithe...Oh snap!

Had Enough Indy? said...

anon 11:24 - thanks for the heads up. Here's the link:

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20103250401

Had Enough Indy? said...

anon 11:35 - I can't disagree with you. I'd just add that the School Board President, Dale Henson, has the authority to call a School Board meeting and does not need to get Stinson's permission for it.

Anonymous said...

"To Diamond Don the taxpayers are all trailer-trash."


Your sentence is only partially true...
I take exception to one part of your sentence....It should read as;"To Diamond Don the folks within Decatur Township are all trailer-trash."



Indeed,that was an interesting and revealing choice of comparison for Stinson to use.

Anonymous said...

Yes, very revealing. Also reveals the FACT that he uses temper to get his way - very childish. It is very interesting how very critical he is of the opinions of others. Again, the board has voiced nothing but total support for his ideas and behaviors.

Anonymous said...

Interesting that Don Stinson watches Jerry Springer but doesn't read this blog. LOL

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:01 am

Wow.

Anonymous said...

Tony Soprano said: "Swimming against the tide is a hobby for idiots." Stinson and the board are trying to deny access to answers to very serious questions.

Anonymous said...

I went to the Indy star article and wanted to leave a comment....however one must "login". Since I am an employee I would not dare login, so I'll say it here. The $15,000. goes into a health account. It has a vesting schedule and to get the money a person has to turn in receipts. No problem the account will pay health insurance! BUT what happens to that money if the person dies before the $15,000. is paid out?

Anonymous said...

March 25, 2010 8:28 PM

Probably goes back to a special account and into CO pockets.