There is that old chestnut, "When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging". It seems the MSD Decatur Township School Board and Superintendent hold to a different adage - "You can't dig a hole deep enough".
Last week the annual financial report of the school district was published in the Mooresville-Decatur Times. These reports are required to contain specific information so that the public has an opportunity to follow the broad financial health and expenditures of their local district. For some information, this report covers the last calendar year of 2009, and other information is reported for the last school year, ended June 30, 2010.
From that report we can see that the district took in $95 million dollars in revenue during 2009, but spent "only" $83 million. This left a net cash flow of nearly $12 million. If you recall from a post the other day (see "Decatur Superintendent and School Board Abuse the Public Trust" and "More on Decatur's Loan") the District had an outstanding $23 million tax anticipation warrant at the end of 2009. They had been taking out tax anticipation warrants since 2007, but paying only the interest on these loans, according to the Department of Local Government Finance. Each year or thereabouts, they received property tax dollars that should have gone to pay off that year's loan. Instead they spent the money and floated a new loan.
During 2009 they received at least $18 million in property tax proceeds. They should have paid off the lion's share of that outstanding tax anticipation warrant. Instead they spent $6 million on other things - and extended the loan into mid-2010. Even at the end of 2009, they had $12 million that could have made a big dent in the tax anticipation warrant. They chose not to pay even half of that loan, when they clearly had the money.
They have been consistently spending millions of dollars of money they knew should be used to pay off the outstanding short term loans. What have they been spending all these millions of dollars on?
Now we are saddled with a $19 million four-year loan that they "hope to pay off as soon as possible". According to the DLGF, the loan can only be repaid from operating funds now. This means roughly $5 million less each year for teachers and class size will grow once again to satisfy their inability to pay off a loan when it was due.
Meanwhile, they gave 5 retiring administrators nearly a million dollars in parting gifts that were not contractual obligations and clearly violated board policy (see "Decatur School Board Pulls Superintendent's Arse Out of the Fire" and "Decatur Administrator Severance Packages in Contradiction of Board Policy"). That's some of the money that should have been used to pay down or off the tax anticipation warrant.
Take a look at the supposed administrative cuts. All have been replaced or will soon be. Jeff Baer had his replacement on board in January. Janet Larch has been replaced. Dave Rather, Pat Jones, Gary Pellico, and Candace Baer will all be back under contract after sitting out a month so they don't violate the pension abuse laws. The two assistant principal positions at the High School that were supposedly cut, have been filled by, I am told, two folks without administrative licenses. Maybe Superintendent Stinson doesn't hold that license in as much esteem as the Department of Education. Lisa Cook is back at her old desk in the Central Office.
While pretending to cut all of these administrative positions, Stinson is slowly ballooning the numbers back to where they were. These are ongoing expenses that we simply cannot afford. Remember how we needed to cut $9 million from this year's budget? $3 million in a one time move, and $6 million permanent cuts? It would seem that the only significant monetary cuts we have are the 23 teachers who retired. Assuming top of the scale salaries for those teachers, we are looking at roughly $2.5 million savings - nowhere near where we were told we needed to be.
Years of spending money that should have paid off debt, pretending to cut administrator positions, lavishing more money on supposedly retiring administrators, filling all of those positions yet again and ballooning our budget once again - dig that hole, dig that hole, dig that hole. The folks running MSD Decatur Township are more than reckless. And, we are left holding the bag.
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Resistance And The Environment
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57 comments:
Pat you are only looking at it from one perspective. They cut roughly 2.5 million from the retiring teachers for the one time cut. The teachers also cut a 1% match from the VEBA accounts, the COLA in their salary was cut by a few percentage points, the charter school is gone, a new lease for a Charter School (Indiana Aviation Academy) in the old DDA building. Progress is being made. The retirement packages were absurd, you should get a reward for leaving with an all time low graduation we are not getting what we are paying for.
While your points are helpful they are lopsided. Hopefully people will educate themselves and make thier own opinion
Actually, the $2.5 million goes on year after year, as the retired teachers are not being replaced. The % cuts in the various teacher retirement funds are only for two years and amount to 1.5% of salary, which won't get you to half a million a year. There was no cut in the step increase, if that is what you mean by 'COLA'. That will actually cost the district more each year due to the increasing years of experience of the faculty. So, the step increases in the contract pull back other cost savings.
Still, none of this adds to the $6 million or the $9 million. The funds coming to the school are going down by those amounts. At some point, the Piper will be paid and it will be coming out of the operating budget. That's not lopsided - just fact.
But, of course, everyone is free to hold your own opinions.
Pat sorry for the bad grammer on the last post, I was typing from a phone and its hard to proof read. Look at the new contract the step increases are smaller except for the 20+ experience they stayed the same, with the reason being they don't get any raises. The teachers union did save 3.3 million, 300,000 more than asked to do. Programs were cut, license agreements for school corporations are high, that could save hundreds of thousands of dollars. Transportation made a lot of cuts by streamlining the operation and cutting salary and redundancy, I do not believe they cut all 9 million for this year but made a big dent. I think we both can agree that more needs to be done and a lot of confusion can be cleared up with a little bit of transparency. I hope with the Obama bucks we pay down debt instead of adding infrastructure, assuming Mitch allocates the money to public schools and not pull a stunt he did with the last stimulus money. I think I came across wrong in my last post. I think you need to be applauded for your time and concern for the school district we need more local "Watchdogs", look at California, I am just saying you provide a prospective, it is our duty as citizens to educate ourselves with more than one side of the argument and make educated statements for one common goal.
Thanks for your kind words. They must be shared with the great contributors that this blog has. They are on top of a lot of information and breaking news that is invaluable. I can't agree more that everyone needs to draw their own conclusions. The aim here is to be sure they have some pertinent facts to deal with.
I think I have to challenge two points, still. The step increases are identical in this new contract to that for the 2008-2009 school year. And, using the teacher union language, there is no ‘raise’ for 4 years (as you said) -- meaning if you hit 20 years of experience, your salary stays the same. To be sure I hadn’t misread the contracts earlier, I just did a side by side comparison of the charts again a second ago.
The $3.3 million is a number I haven't seen broken down, and it is a fine contribution to fixing the whole problem. But, it seems that the administrative cuts are an illusion. In transportation, the jury is still out. Your comment about transparancy is apropo here as well. They cut the veteran driver hours, but hired more drivers and bought more buses. I've not seen where they actually saved the roughly $2 million that they said they were targeting there. Since the agenda is so weak in information and since our board doesn't vote on contracts and the like (regardless of their legal obligation to do so), one cannot tell if any savings are being made on that front. The DDA move and subleting the space is good, no doubt. But the Challenger Center and the Ivy Tech space still comes out of our pockets.
As for making progress - that means we are guaranteed to spend more than we take in next year. How many years after that, as well? The longer it goes on, the deeper the hole. Add to that the re-swelling payroll at the administrator level and add the $19 million loan that must be paid from operating expense -- and we sit on the edge of a humongous hole.
Debt must be paid first - payment on our debt is larger than the revenue from property taxes. So, money has to come from the operating budget - that leads to personnel cuts. Then, we have the re-bloating of administrative ranks being paid from the operating budget -- fewer non-administrator positions. Then we have the $5 million a year to repay that loan - an amount equivalent to 100 young teachers. The entire certified payroll runs about $28 million a year. $5 million less a year is a huge hit.
I cannot conclude anything else. Our school district fiscal mess grows worse with each piece of news. And the school board and superintendent are doing all the wrong things to fix this mess.
Slow and steady may win some races, but not this type. You cannot wipe out debt by accumulating more of it.
Thanks for this conversation.
Pat, the school district uses credit cards to make purchases with them. Would this fall under Freedom of Information Act since they are used to pay back with tax dollars? One of the former Board member back when they were on, used these cards illegally go to Walt Disney World with their family members. But the board quietly payed them back without reporting this matter to the district attorney's office.
anon 10:35 - yes, credit card receipts and any request for reimbursement for travel are public documents. You would simply ask for the receipts and proof of payment by the Board member (specify the name in the open records request). You might help locate the records if you could also supply a year or time frame you thought was relevant.
All credit card receipts for any and all board members and administrators between the years 2000 and 2010 should be interesting. All claims by these people during that time will be interesting in terms of whether or not receipts are attached????
What did Mr. Huber and Mrs. McWilliams report to the Board last night???
anon 12:03 - you might want to cut that request into shorter time frames and ask for one set after another. The way these guys spend money, even one year could be quite a stack of documents. And the way they drag their feet giving out documents they don't want out, it could take some time.
HEI:
Did they ever give you the new contracts for administrators? Did they give Jane Jack and Eduardo Torres' contracts? TJ Whitfield's contract? Etc. The consultants' contracts?
May I ask something? Perhaps I could do this but.....
Someone needs to make a chart; some type of diagram...of the BEFORE and AFTER Administration shuffle.
In all honesty, I don't think they "cut" anything at the Administrative level. If anything they've added.....
anon 12:48 -- I haven't gotten around to requesting administrator contracts. My other requests are backlogged. I'm waiting on a half dozen or so.
As I recall from the old days, Jane Jack was a department head. That comes under the teachers contract. They supposedly got rid of those positions with the belt-tightening, but I have no idea if those positions were brought back.
I don't know Mr. Torres - what position does or did he hold?
Mr. Whitfield, if I recall correctly, is to take over Rosie's old spot, but I don't know if it will be once she retires or sooner. Any info that anyone has on that is welcome.
Consultant contracts are another kettle of fish. Because the Board shirks their obligations and does not vote on contracts and personal services agreements, its hard to know when a contract exists. Therefore it is difficult to ask for the correct document. These guys are so poor at delivering documents, I hesitate to ask for a field of them when I don't know how many documents I should be getting. Then I can't know one is missing.
anon 12:53 - from where I sit, it looks like ALL of the administrator positions remain intact. Some, presumably, at a lower salary. But, back nonetheless.
Contrast that with the loss of an entire elementary school's worth of teachers.
http://decatur.schoolfusion.us/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/138407/File/DEA%20Files/7%2015%20DEA%20Teacher%20Contract.pdf?sessionid=c25a019101df554162d3cc7bdf8f4256
If you look at the 2009-2010 to the 2010-2011 teacher salary schedule you will see what I am talking about. They signed the contract with a retro year. Last year was the same this year is different. Again kicking a dead horse
anon 3:46 -- I was wrong. Thanks for your persistance. I didn't look at every year. The first and last were the same, and I jumped to the conclusion the middle two were identical.
But, on further study -- the document now online is different than the one I downloaded when it was first posted.
This will take a while to figure out the differences.
Give me a few minutes.
But, really, thanks for your persistance.
A review of the high school on the website shows:
Choice Small Learning Community director as Jane Jack (this was previously Sharon Downing who was supposedly an administrator reduction. Aimee Schludecker is listed as Science Department Chair and Dan Clark is listed as Department Chair (math).
Edge Small Learning Community is listed as Eduardo Torres (this was previously Kelly McWilliams who is now the AD).
Jack and Torres do not have administrator licenses.
Does Decatur have administrator contracts with non-licensed administrators.
Could not find Meerman and Open who were also riffed but are said to be teachers???
It will be like looking for a needle in a haystack but are they paying for Jack and Torres' insurance like they are Tooley, Wachnicki, Duzenberry,, Pietrzak, and the DDA guy? Whitfield is at transportation even though Rosie does not leave until January??? Rather runs athletics and they hired people to supervise home events????
They have money for everything but teachers at the elementary level to keep class size down.
There is a lot of crying from the administrators about how hard they are working. Looks like there are plenty of administrators and consultants.
Using the teachers contract posted online, the link to which anon 3:46 provided...
The step increases for teachers with less than 20 years of experience drop for two years, when compared with the schedule of step increases from 2009-2010. By 2012-2013 school year, they are back to the 2009-2010 levels or higher by a couple hundred dollars.
As an example, if the 2009-2010 schedule was in force for all four years, a teacher hired in 2009 would see their salary go from $37,343 to $39,023, to $40,704, and finally to $42,384 in the last year of this contract. Instead their salary will go from $37,343 to $38,277, to $39,957, and finally to the same $42,384.
Under this contract a 20 year teacher with a masters degree would go from $73,939 in 2009-2010, to $73,939, to $74,032, and then to $74,126 the last year of the contract.
This schedule would save money from the step increases for 2 years only.
anon 4:39 -- Thanks for digging all that out. You are absolutely right - this superintendent and this school board are not allocating resources in a way that provides the best educational opportunity for Decatur's children.
It has always been, and continues to be, all about administrators. Remember, it was this district that spent more than twice, in some cases 10 times, more on central office denizens than any other Marion County district on a per pupil basis.
Indeed, just as you say, it would be very good to get these contracts and to see just what agreement the district has for health insurance and other benefits for these folks.
Let me know if you are volunteering ;o)
Anyone know whats going on with the DCHS Athletic Dept?
Kelly McWilliams is the AD. Former admin Dave Rather is a "consultant", who seems to be working events. I've seen Oberly around, and rumor he is working for the department as well.
So what gives? We let our AD and asst AD last year go only to replace them with at least 3 individuals?
It is my understanding that Oberle is an events supervisor for fall sports and Dixon will be the supervisor for winter.
The latest post mentioning coach Dixson possibly being the winter events supervisor brings me back to an earlier post where it was suggested that Decatur Township residents boycott the home football games. I remember how the football coach replacement was handled placing Don Huffman's grandson, Justin Dixon as head football coach. If residents would boycott the games, perhaps the football staff could eat their free Brickhouse Burger Company meals in solitude.
My question is: Are Oberle & Dixson getting paid for their positions as events supervisors???
I'm sure they're getting paid. The only people NOT making money in the school system is the teachers, bus drivers, maintenance and custodians. The new athletic dept leaders and (of course) the legion of administrators in central office and in all the others buildings are pocketing the cash. I've already implemented my own boycott of the MSD Decatur athletic program. They're not getting my money for another admission ticket. Red-faced Huffman can sit in there in the stands with our red-nosed fire chief, and our money-bags superintendent, and enjoy the million dollar astro-turf they put down for Huffman's grandson's fantasy island.
Not only were new administraters hired at the high school, but 10 NEW teachers were also hired at the high school.
This, of course, helps class sizes somewhat. However, it does seem that the money "saved" by retiring teachers and administrators is an illusion.
You dont think that the new athletic event supervisors would do this voluntarily do you? Sure they are being compensated? Is it out of the athletic fund, general fund, or a reduction in McWilliams $109K salary??
Any news on the big fight and arrest at last night's football game? Pepper spray was used and arrests were made and the ruckus was DC students.
Can DCHS hire 10 new teachers? I was under the impression that those who were cut would be on a recall list. Is this incorrect?
I've seen Kelly at the games. She is clueless. I've spoken to others who interact with her and they agree. I think she relies pretty heavy on Dave Rather.
There is a good ol boys mentality in the athletic dept. We all know how Dixon got the football coach position. And then Kelly hires Dixon to make some extra money. I suspect Huffman had something to do with getting her this sweet job. It obviously wasn't her experience.
The central office gravy train continues to choo-choo its way down the track loaded with smiling high-roller administrators and their $90,000 a year secretaries. The cake being served in the dining car is made from Mother Stinson's famous recipe. Coach Webster is still trying to get aboard, but the excursion is by invitation only. It's a sweet life. Well, except for the students, teachers and the taxpayers. Then it sux. DCHS would be a nice place to start a school.
McWilliams was given the job to get here out of Preda's hair as an SLC director. This is a person who worked an entire year in an empty, unfinished DILC...and after a year or two there she was moved to the HS? Go figure...maybe good old boy Rather will save the day if she vant handle it!?
Pat-
You were correct about the over crowding that would occur in the elementary buildings after they closed Lynwood. Gold and Blue are loaded down with about 30 students in each class- even the lower grades. There is no excuse in this because there are empty classrooms on both sides. My daughter's class has over 30 ! Her teacher said there are no plans to add another teacher. How can these administrator's sleep ? Can someone report on the class sizes at the other schools ?
Sixth grade classes are all at 28-30, no plans for adding teachers. Redistricting did not work....all kids seem to comtinue to attend their same school. School choice continues for SD students and 140 left SD. It would be really different if this district really meant it when they say "kids first" NOT, ADMIN first.
Anon 5:56 Wrote:
"How can these administrator's sleep?"
______
I'd say they'd sleep a whole lot better if a house would drop out of the sky and land on Pat.
"McWilliams was given the job to get here out of Preda's hair as an SLC director. This is a person who worked an entire year in an empty, unfinished DILC...and after a year or two there she was moved to the HS?"
You know, I recall that. I remember CO making her "employee of the month" along with that box-of-rocks Preda, and wondering what the heck they were smoking. I knew then she was SOME body's Fair Haired Girl. Must have something in common with Susan Adams.
Anonymous 1:23 wrote:
"Is it out of the athletic fund, general fund, or a reduction in McWilliams $109K salary??"
Did her new job involve a pay cut? I can't imagine that happening.
You've seen McWilliams at games? As in plural? Interesting you can label her as clueless when there has only been one "game" so far. Perhaps you are the one who is clueless.
In case you didn't notice, Justin Dixon did, in fact, WIN his first game....there is a lot of complaining about an athletic director and football coach that have had success the short weeks they have been up and running this year.
Justin Dixon did not win this game. The team of students whom he coaches the game of football outscored their opponent in a game. Let us hope that the elementary students in classrooms with 30 or more students out score the state average for their peers statewide. Football is a game played one night a week. Classroom learning is Monday - Friday (unless there is vacation or a holiday).
Anon 10:06 you NAILED it...!!! Stinson and the school board think the purpose of our school is the athletic dept. I guess they think that we're like the ancient Romans, if they give us spectacles and keep us stuffed with bread, we'll be quiet while they line their pockets. Well, there's no bread, only cake for Stinson and the school board, and the spectacle of our MSD's poor showing academically outweighs a winning football season. Few, if any of our youngsters will ever play in the NFL, but ALL of them will be challenged to live a life and raise their own families in an ever more complex and competetive world. I personally saw with my own eyes the number of children that McWilliams, Preda and other Stinson administrative appointees have left by the wayside. I'm done with going to Decatur athletic events too. The idea is to prepare the kids for their future, not justify a job for Huffman's snuff dipping grandson.
Just as IMPD needs to do some housecleaning so does Decatur township. Of course the tragic deaths of innocent victims is not the same but the children in the school system are also innocent victims. There are several administrators who have helped cover up the evidence and sadly many see no wrong in all of the misspending. At least the mayor and IMPD Chief have admitted that mistakes were made. The Decatur board and Superintendent have never said they made mistakes. Maybe character and ethics are important in the reinvented educational program????
Last time I checked, there were more athletics at DC than just football? Volleyball, cross country, tennis, soccer, golf and cheerleading to mention a few of the fall sports. Certainly there are many other student programs in all of our schools. All of these programs are important toward the developement of well rounded students...and they all deserve our suppport and that of the school. Don't knock the board for backing our programs...but they need to make sure they consider helping all the programs...not just the ones "their" relatives are in!
anon 7:44:
There has been more than 1 DCHS athletic game played so far. You just think of football. In fact, there were a few athletic events last week at the high school.
All eyes are on Kelly. I think she'll flop.
I agree Dixson did not win the game, the students did!!And it is true we do have other sports - not just football...Why isn't anything published about the other sports??Maybe because no other relatives of the school board members are coaches...Can't wait to get the current school board and Diamond Don replaced...Enough is Enough!!
Board member Huffman attended football games when his grandson played while in high school. He attend the Warren games when his grandson coached there rather than going to Decatur games as a board member. Board member Collins regularly attends home events in both girls and boys sports. Henson and Greenwald show up at some events. Wiseman is almost always absent. Board members are not required to attend events. Look at the administrators - rarely see any of the superintendent's office people there other than Dave Rather. If they come they leave long before the game is over. Again, they evidently don't think this is a requirement for a $100,000 plus salary. They are tired and busy.
Anon 7:05 wrote:
"Board member Huffman attended football games when his grandson played while in high school. He attend the Warren games when his grandson coached there rather than going to Decatur games as a board member."
That's very touching. I don't think any of us have a problem with Huffman doting on his grandson. It's blowing a bit over a million taxpayer dollars on astro-turf for a football field, that gets used about 4 times a year, just so Grandpa Don has fond memories of hid grandson to look back on that pisses me off.
Three thoughts about the new SLC directors at DCHS.
First, Is there a reason the person needs an admin. license? The idea of an "SLC Director" (as opposed to the traditional vice principal)is pretty new in educational circles, and I'll bet there are not specific regulations related to these positions. For better or worse, I'll bet a license is not required by the State.
Secondly, I know that Mr. Torres has a master's degree in secondary administration, which is the prerequisite for an admin. license. So perhaps he does have that license...anyone know for sure?
Finally, follow the money. I have heard that Ms. Jack is being paid by a grant this year. If that is true, then the real question is will that position be filled next year at the end of the grant? I hate to propagate rumors, so can anyone verify?
The Board needs to decide and publicly state whether a person needs an administrator license and then the Board needs to publicly provide the details of any and all administrator contracts. It is the secrecy that is the question when there is little trust and public right to information. The numbers just don't add up for the reduction in administrator positions that were placed on the website several months ago.
Anon 7:36 a.m.: The Board needs to actually admit publicly what they REALLY did in regards to Administrative positions. Weren't they supposed to CUT BACK these positions? Didn't Stinson and the Board do the boo-hoo-hoo thing at a public meeting saying how they were cutting back? I still say someone needs to put a chart together of BEFORE and AFTER positions! It's one thing to talk about it but if it were in chart format it would be better.
Armed with this proof, taxpayers could confront the Board at one of their meetings and ask "what the heck!".
Bloggers might be interested in looking at the minutes of the July board meeting posted on the website. The minutes provide a "general" summary rather than any specifics.
"Mr. Henson thanked everyone for their commendations for his service as Board President.
He said the administrative team has made sacrifices and the number of school district administrators
has been adjusted as the community desired."
Come on - they did not make hardly any administrator reductions. Mr. Henson does not seem to understand that the community wants open, honest, transparent communication. The sacrifices have been made by parents and students who now have huge class sizes.
The Board and Superintendent whine, whine, whine while they spend, spend, spend.
There absolutely no details revealed about ISTEP scores. The Indiana Department of Education will soon be reporting that data.
There is no improvement in the communication of information. Either they don't know how to give detailed minutes or they purposely want things under the covers??????
looks like wisemans house is up for TAX SALE check out todays paper
tax sale? What does that mean?
It means that they are behind on paying property taxes to the tune of over $3000.00 pay up or the sheriff will take and sell your house.
pat, can you confirm this?
anon 10:45 -- The district directory lists Cathy Wiseman's address as 4006 Viewside Drive. This address is indeed listed in the public notice insert in today's Indianapolis Star for "Notice of Real Property Tax Sale". The public notice shows the owner as "Wiseman, Thomas &" and the minimum bid as "$3,427.24".
According to the notice, a minimum bid would include any past due taxes, any taxes due this year, any penalties, at least $180 to cover actual costs for postage and publication of the notice, as well as $220 for title search costs.
The old 2001 Lion's Club phone book, which I keep because it was published prior to the no-call list, shows a "Wiseman, Tom" for that address, and the same phone number as in last year's school district directory for Cathy Wiseman.
For what it is worth, Wiseman currently serves as President of the MSD Decatur Township School Board. She has voted in favor of every property tax increase put before her during her terms in office.
If you go to the DOE website, you can access the ISTEP scores. You can see that Decatur Schools ISTEP scores did indeed go up significantly compared to the other schools in Indiana. With all of the misinformation out there, this seems to be a very positive point for our schools.
Where is the 2010 ISTEp data on the IDOE website?
anon 8:23 - here's the link:
http://www.doe.in.gov/data/
put '5300' in the text box for school district and you'll get to a page with links to the performance report for all the schools we have, individually, as well as the district as a whole.
Thus far, the latest ISTEP scores are not part of the data online.
I think the fact that Cathy Wiseman is not paying her taxes deserves a separate post of its own. Shocking. Absolutely shocking.
I hope the media will share this with the public.
Pat, if Cathy Wiseman truly was not paying her taxes, then can this somehow void her public position on the school board?
anon 10:58 -- I know of no reason that would cause the unwilling removal of a sitting School Board member from their office in the State of Indiana. I suppose, if one could not attend board meetings due to something like incarceration -- but even then, I don't know that stepping down is required.
The answer always seems to come back - vote them out at the polls.
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