Indiana State Legislature To Study School Superintendents' Salaries

Good news for those who believe that public tax money has been used to bloat and overpay administrator salaries in our public school districts.  Kara Kenney, of WTHR, is reporting that Legislators will hold a summer study committee to look into the issue.  "This summer, a bipartisan legislative committee will study pay and benefit packages for the state's 291 school superintendents" Kenney reported.

Here is some more of her report:

State Sen. Jim Banks, R-Columbia City, requested the evaluation after 6News' coverage of former Wayne Township Superintendent Terry Thompson's $1 million retirement package.

"I'm alarmed to watch your stories about superintendents making a $1 million severance package when they leave a school system," Banks said. "It's startling as a taxpayer."

Banks said he believes administrator salaries have become bloated, all while teachers are being laid off and programs are cut.

"The superintendent receives a nice package in one district, and the district next door demands to be paid as well as the other superintendents," Banks said. "I think it's caused inflation of salaries around the state, and that's why I think we need to look into the issue."

and base salaries without perks and benefits of some superintendents:

Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Eugene White makes the most statewide, earning $272,940 for a district of more than 33,000 students.

The superintendent of Greater Clark County Schools ranks second, making $225,500 in a district with just over 10,000 students.

Donald Stinson of Decatur Township Schools ranked eighth, with a base salary of $189,287 for a district with about 6,400 students.

The WRTV website provides a link to a list of superintendent salaries across the state.

Council to Meet Tonight

Tonight's meeting of the City-County Council will take up one piece of the North of South deal and referenda for Franklin Township and Perry Township Schools will be introduced. A new proposal regarding library funding, will also be introduced and voted on tonight. The agenda is posted here.

Prop 247, 2010, would refinance the existing Harding Street TIF bonds, increasing their principle in order to repay an old loan from Eli Lilly that now amounts to about $15 million. This money has been part of the larger North of South deal. If that deal goes forward, Lilly would give the $15 million to the developer.

To be introduced tonight are Prop 14, 2011, and Prop 15, 2011, which are the public questions to be included on the May ballot in Franklin and Perry Townships, respectively. Both public questions would raise taxes for extra operating funds for the school districts. Franklin Township's taxes would rise by $0.75 for each $100 of assessed value. Perry Township's taxes would rise by $0.3078 for each $100 of assessed value. Both would have to be approved by the respective electorate in May, and both would last for the next 7 years.

Perry Township school district was also talking about a referendum on new building projects. I do not know if that has been dropped, delayed, or will be introduced at the next Council meeting.

To be both introduced and voted on tonight, is Prop 18, 2011. This proposal is a Council resolution, that "urges the General Assembly to permit the City-County Council to use County Option Income Tax revenues to fund the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library".

Monkey Business With Stinson's Contracts - Why?

There were two contracts for Decatur Schools Superintendent Don Stinson for last school year. One was provided to the Indianapolis Star and published by them as part of their Superintendent compensation database. I downloaded that file and I have reposted it here. The Star database continues to contain their summary of each of the contracts, but the links to the actual contracts no longer work. The summary page for Stinson's contract, shows a base salary of $189,287.41, and scrolling down, it shows an annuity of $40,000. This is also what is contained in the contract I downloaded from IndyStar.com a year ago.

The school district, however, is now supplying reporters with a different contract from last year. WRTV posts the first page here. It shows a base salary of $302,433.41 and an annuity (VALIC) of $55,500. The contract also states that he will be paid in 24 pays of $12,601.39, which adds up to $302,433.36 -- within pennies of the stated base pay, not that amount minus the cost of the annuity.

The district now claims that the number listed as Stinson's base pay, is in fact more than just the base pay. They are claiming the following items go into that figure.

base pay -- $189,287.41
health insurance -- $19,812.00
disability insurance -- $834.00
vehicle allowance -- $12,000.00
bonus -- $20,000.00
incentive pay -- $5,000.00
annuity -- $55,500.00

Several questions arise. Why were there two contracts for last year? Why is the annuity different in them? Why would you report, on one version of the contract, a base pay that is inflated? Which figure was supplied to the Teacher Retirement Fund? (salary is the dominant component for calculating retirement benefits from the Fund) How much did the district pay into the Teacher Retirement Fund to purchase the two years of service also required by his contract? (this is about 15% of salary, so it is a significant amount of money) How much did Stinson take home every payday? Was he being paid monthly for a bonus he had not yet earned? Was he receiving money in his paycheck that duplicated the amount the district was paying into an annuity for him, as the figures on the newly release contract imply?

Now, on to the new contract, which you can view here. The District is claiming that new contract is patterned after the newly release version of the old contract. Thus, they say, while the contract states that his base pay is $275,539.41, it is really not his base pay. His base pay, they claim, is $189,287.41, unchanged from last year. They claim that $275,539.41 is composed of these items:

base pay -- $189,287.41
health insurance -- $19,812.00
disability insurance -- $834.00
vehicle allowance -- $12,000.00
bonus -- $20,000.00
incentive pay -- $6,500.00
annuity -- $27,106.00

More questions arise. Why put in a contract, an inflated number for base pay? Is the contract legally binding as written, or is it legally binding as claimed? The 2nd and 3rd page of this contract shows all of these items except base pay, plus other items like the purchase of additional years of service for Stinson from the Teacher Retirement Fund. These pages are the addendum to the contract. This addendum begins:

The Board of Education of the MSD of Decatur Township and Donald H. Stinson has entered into a Regular Teacher's Contract for the employment of Donald H.
Stinson as the Superintendent of Schools for the MSD of Decatur Township.

The Board and Superintendent now desire to supplement the provisions contained in the contract and agree to the addendum as follows:

The items listed in the addendum SUPPLEMENT the contract. If the District's claims are true, then they have a contract that first inflates the base pay, and then adds all of those extra items in yet again. What would a court enforce as payment to Stinson? What are the taxpayers on the hook for? What is the real size of Stinson's paychecks?

Of all of these questions - the most important are:

Why were there two very different contracts for last school year?
If their claims are true, why are they inflating the value of the base pay on the contract?
What are the taxpayers on the hook for - what the contract says, or what the district claims the contract really says?

Another Lie From Decatur School District - This Time its a Whopper !

Faithful readers of this blog will remember the ''fiscal restructuring" that MSD Decatur Township went through this past spring. Teachers laid off, one elementary school closed entirely, other employees let go, hours cut back, and health insurance benefits cut. You will remember the back and forth between Superintendent Don Stinson and his ever faithful rubber stamping Board of Education. Stinson said, 'please cut my salary by 20% as a sign of solidarity with our new fiscal reality'. The ever faithful Board replied, 'but, Don, its just too much of a reduction. Can you live with a 15% cut?' And Stinson thought about it for a second and said, 'why, yes. Yes, I think I can.'

Now if you'd like to guess what Stinson's salary reduction was and what his new base salary weighs in on, don't scroll down yet. His base for the last school year was $189,287. So, a 15% cut would amount to $28,393 for a final base salary of $160,894. When you are ready with your guess at his new base salary, scroll down.







Superintendent Don Stinson's new base salary for the 2010-2011 school year is (drum roll, please), $275,539. He didn't get any 15% pay cut. He enjoyed a whopping $86,252 INCREASE. That amounts to a 45.6% RAISE.

I have posted his old contract and new contract on GoogleDocs. If you can't access them and would like me to email you copies, please contact me at hadenoughindy@gmail.com

You can fool all of the people some of the time - some of the people all of the time - but, you can't fool all of the people all of the time.

[edited to add: For those of you who are interested, Stinson's base salary alone translates into $1331 per day actually worked. That is a 260 day contract minus the holidays, personal days, vacation, etc. Its far more money in pocket when you add in the rest of the perks, like $19,812 cash instead of health insurance, a $27,106 contributed to an annuity, $12,000 vehicle allowance, $6500 incentives, and $20,000 bonus. These items alone add another $85,418 a year or $412 a day.]

Public Notices Galore - Lawrence, Franklin Community, Speedway Schools & Williams Creek

Public notices posted in today's Indy Star include three local school districts' and the Town of Williams Creek's 2011 budget.

Lawrence Township school district estimates a total budget of $146,080,357, they note the maximum property tax levy would be $54,516,526, up from $42,914,503 this year. The Board will hold a public hearing on August 23 at 6:30 pm at 7601 E. 56th Street. They expect to vote on the budget on September 13.

Franklin Township Community school district is estimating its budget will total $94,181,021, with a maximum property tax levy of $46,916,102, up from $33,246,782 this year. Their Board will hold a public hearing also on August 23 at 7:00 pm at 6141 S. Franklin Road. They expect to vote on the budget on September 20.

The School Town of Speedway notice shows an estimated budget of $16,023,361, with a maximum property tax levy of $4,526,881, up from $2,202,088 this year. The Board will hold a public hearing on August 24 at 7:30 pm at the district central office. They expect to vote on the budget on September 14.

All three school districts' notice includes a 3 year capital project plan and a bus replacement plan that will also be subject of the public hearing.

The Town of Williams Creek has posted an estimated total budget for 2011 of $162,550 with a maximum property tax levy of $139,050, up from $73,190 this year. Their Town Council will hold a public hearing on September 2 at 7:30 pm at 8210 N College Avenue. They expect to vote on the budget on October 11. Like all Township government budgets, this one will be reviewed by the Indianapolis Marion County City-County Council and voted on in a non-binding capacity. The Council's Municipal Corporations Committee will hold its public hearing on September 28 at 5:30 pm, in room 260 of the City-County Building.

Big Day for Public Notices - IPS, Lawrence, Beech Grove, Pike & Utility Sale

Today's Indianapolis Star has lots of public notices for local school districts as well as a notice related to the sale of the Indianapolis water and sewer utilities.

The annual financial reports for IPS, Lawrence, and Beech Grove school districts are up. I cannot overstate the amount of useful information included in these reports. They include information on the number and salary range of administrators, non-certified staff salary ranges, teacher salaries plus extra-curricular compensation, a comparison of the budgeted expenses and how much was actually spent, tax rates for 2009 and 2010, a list of all vendors who were paid over $2500, a list of debt, budgeted vs. actual revenues, and school enrollment by grade level.

MSD Pike Township has its notice of tax levies for the upcoming budget process. With an estimated 2011 budget of $132,450,982, they expect a maximum property tax levy of $40,049,800, little changed from $40,050,402 this year. Also noticed are the 3-year capital projects fund plan and bus replacement plan. A public hearing on all will be held August 26, 2010 at 7:00 pm in the Board Room, ASC - no street address given. The Board is expected to vote on the budget at its September 16 meeting.

Lastly, there is also a public notice saying that the utility deal has been sent to the IURC for review. This is available on the IndyStar website here. It is noted that it is cause number 43936. No hearing date is disclosed. This notice is pasted below:

BEFORE THE INDIANA UTILITY REGULATORY COMMISSION CAUSE NO. 43936 JOINT PETITION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR UTILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES OF THE CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS, D/B/A CITIZENS ENERGY GROUP, CWA AUTHORITY, INC., THE CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND ITS DEPARTMENT OF WATERWORKS AND ITS SANITARY DISTRICT FOR APPROVALS IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROPOSED TRANSFER OF CERTAIN WATER UTILITY ASSETS TO THE BOARD AND THE PROPOSED TRANSFER OF CERTAIN WASTEWATER UTILITY ASSETS TO THE AUTHORITY, INCLUDING: (A) APPROVAL OF INITIAL RATES AND RULES FOR WATER AND WASTEWATER SERVICE , AS WELL AS THE TERMS OF CERTAIN AGREEMENTS FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL SERVICE; (B) APPROVAL OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE PLAN UNDER IND. CODE 8-1-28 AND AN ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM FOR WASTEWATER RATES TO PROVIDE TIMELY RECOVERY OF COSTS NECESSARY TO COMPLY IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITH THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT AND/OR CLEAN WATER ACT; (C) APPROVAL OF PROPOSED ALLOCATIONS OF CORPORATE SUPPORT SERVICES COSTS AMONG AFFECTED UTILITIES; (D) APPROVAL OF AN OPERATING AGREEMENT BETWEEN CITIZENS ENERGY GROUP AND CWA AUTHORITY, INC.;(E) APPROVAL OF DEPRECIATION RATES AND OTHER ACCOUNTING MATTERS RELATED TO THE WATER AND WASTEWATER ASSETS; AND (F) ANY OTHER APPROVALS NEEDED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH
______________
LEGAL NOTICE
______________
PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that on August 11, 2010, the Board of Directors for Utilities (“Board”) of the Department of Public Utilities of the City of Indianapolis, along with CWA Authority, Inc. (the “Authority”), the City of Indianapolis, Indiana (the “City”), the Department of Waterworks (the “DOW”) of the City, acting by and through its Board of Waterworks and the Sanitary District of the City (the “Sanitary District”), acting by and through its Board of Public Works, (collectively the “Petitioners”) filed with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (“Commission”) a verified petition requesting approvals relating to the proposed acquisition of certain water utility assets by the Board from the City and DOW and the proposed acquisition of certain wastewater utility assets by the Authority from the City and Sanitary District. Among other relief, the Board is seeking authority to adopt the schedules of rates and charges applicable to the provision of water utility service by the DOW in effect on the closing date. The Authority is seeking Commission approval of its use of the schedule of rates and charges applicable to the provision of wastewater utility service by the Sanitary District, as set forth in the City’s rate Ordinance. The Authority also is seeking Commission approval of an environmental compliance plan under Ind. Code 8-1-28 and authority to implement an adjustment mechanism for wastewater rates and charges to provide timely recovery of future environmental compliance plan expenditures necessary for the Authority to comply in whole or in part with the Safe Drinking Water Act and/or Clean Water Act, as well as other requisite relief. A copy of the Petitioners’ verified petition is on file with the Commission in Cause No. 43936 and details supporting the relief requested therein will be provided in the Petitioners’ testimony and exhibits to be filed with the Commission in Cause No. 43936. Board of Directors for Utilities of the Department of Public Utilities of the City of Indianapolis, d/b/a Citizens Energy Group and CWA Authority, Inc. By: Carey B. Lykins, President and Chief Executive Officer (S - 8/14/10 - 5694640) - 08/14

Public Notice - Washington Township Schools Budget

The MSD Washington Township public notice regarding its upcoming budget hearing is in today's Indy Star. With an estimated total budget of $120,967,939, they expect a maximum property tax levy of $61,019,760, up from $28,439,655 this year.

They will hold a public hearing on the budget at 7:00 pm, August 25, at the H. Dean Evans Comm. Center, 8550 Woodfield Crossing Blvd. They expect the school board to vote on the budget on September 7.

The notice also includes a capital projects plan and a bus replacement plan.

Annual Financial Report for Decatur & Mooresville Schools

Today's Mooresville-Decatur Times has the annual financial report for both the Decatur and Mooresville school districts. You might want to pick one up as these reports have a lot of information about the finances for the past school year. They include information on the number and salary range of administrators, non-certified staff salary ranges, teacher salaries plus extra-curricular compensation, a comparison of the budgeted expenses and how much was actually spent, tax rates for 2009 and 2010, a list of all vendors who were paid over $2500, a list of debt, budgeted vs. actual revenues, and school enrollment by grade level.

More on this later.

Public Notices in Today's Star -- Perry & Pike & Lawrence & Speedway Schools

Today's Indianapolis Star has public notices regarding 4 area school districts.

The annual financial report for Perry and Pike are up. These reports are a treasure trove of information. They include information for 2009-2010; the number and salary range of administrators, non-certified staff salary ranges, teacher salaries plus extra-curricular compensation, a comparison of the budgeted expenses and how much was actually spent, tax rates for 2009 and 2010, a list of all vendors who were paid over $2500, a list of debt, budgeted vs. actual revenues, and school enrollment by grade level.

There are also public notices of expected budgets and tax levies for Lawrence and Speedway school districts. Both also have their three year capital projects plan and their bus replacement plans.

The notice for MSD Lawrence Township, unfortunately, omitted the totals for expected budget. I added them up for myself, therefore. With an expected budget of $146,080,357, they note the maximum property tax levy would be $54,516,526, up from $42,914,503 this year.

The School Town of Speedway notice shows an estimated budget of $16,023,361, with a maximum property tax levy of $4,526,881, up from $2,202,088 this year.

Decatur Superintendent and School Board Abuse the Public Trust

Last week I posted "Decatur School Board Pulls Superintendent's Arse Out of Fire", where I spoke specifically about the school board recklessly approving the sumptuous parting gifts that Superintendent Don Stinson handed out to retiring Administrators. Those golden parachutes were granted without prior board approval, against standing board policy, not required by any contractual obligations, and totaled over $800,000 plus an ongoing $100,000 in annual health insurance payments. The board recklessly supported Stinson's spending spree nearly one month after 3 of the 5 had already taken the cash and gone.

In that entry, I mentioned that this was the second time in July that the Board had approved action taken by Stinson without prior board approval - which is required as Stinson does not have the authority to approve finances, that lies with the Board as granted by state law.

The first time in July was even more egregious than the $800,000 in parting gifts divvied up between 5 people.

The short story is that on July 13, 2010, the Board approved Stinson's unilateral action to flop a tax anticipation warrant (often called a 'temporary loan' in Decatur's school district) into a four year loan. But, there is so much more to it than first appears.

A little background. Let's take a couple of minutes to talk about property taxes and the route that the money takes from your pocket to the school district and other governmental units in Marion County. Every year during budget season, each taxing unit sets their budget and figures out how much property tax revenue they need to fund that budget. The tax rate is calculated from the total amount of property tax revenue required, divided by the total value of all property in the school district (called the 'assessed value'). The County Treasurer sends out a bill twice a year to collect these property taxes. Once the money is collected, the County Auditor mails a check to the school district for their portion. The school district then can spend that money.

The last few years have been unusual in that Governor Daniels ordered Marion County, among other counties, to do its determination of the 'assessed values' all over again. This took time. The delay in determining the assessed value caused a delay in determining the tax rate which caused a delay in sending out the property tax bills, which caused a delay in paying the property tax bills, which caused a delay in sending the property tax revenues to the school district. But the school districts, and other taxing units, still had to pay for their operations during the delay. So, they got short term loans called 'tax anticipation warrants', which this district often calls 'temporary loans'. The school district would eventually receive the property tax money; they would just receive it about one year late. The TAW would be repaid once the County Auditor sent the property tax check to the district. It is kind of like a payday loan. As soon as you get your paycheck, you are supposed to go in and pay off your loan.

The public has a right to assume that a 'tax anticipation warrant' will be paid off as soon as the tax money has been received.

Well, Don Stinson got Board approval on October 14, 2008, to arrange a TAW for the upcoming calendar year, 2009. The Board minutes state:

"Dr. Baer asked permission to begin the process for pursuing temporary loans in the amount of $23,000,000 for 2009. He explained that because of the status of the state budget and the fact there has been no collection of property taxes it has become necessary to borrow against local tax monies. At present, the school corporation is not scheduled to receive any property tax money until June of 2009. Mr. Huffman moved that the Board approve begin the process of pursuing temporary loans for 2009. Mrs. Wiseman seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously."

It is questionable whether the district should ever have taken such a large loan or TAW, since the State Department of Local Government Finance only authorized them raise $18 million from property taxes in 2009. There is still an outstanding issue here on the $23 million, but it is not the main point of this blog entry. On January 13, 2009, the TAW was finalized and the $23 million was received by the District.

In June, half of the $18 million authorized for property taxes would have been sent to the school district by the County Auditor, and the rest sent in December. So, by the end of 2009, the district had $18 million in order to pay back the TAW. They should have paid it back then.

But, they did not.

The public has a right to assume that a 'tax anticipation warrant' will be paid off as soon as the tax money has been received.

On December 8, 2009, the Board approved a 6 month extension of the TAW, pushing the due date to June 30, 2010. The minutes of that meeting state:

"Dr. Baer presented a Resolution for a Tax Anticipation Warrant Rollover to 2010. He explained this was the same process used in 2008 and this would allow repayment of debt to be carried over to the end of June 2010. Mrs. Wiseman made a motion to approve the Resolution. Mrs. Collins seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously."

The money to pay back the 2009 TAW had been received by the school district during 2009, but it was not used to pay off the loan. Instead, on July 13, 2010, the Board approved turning $19 million of this $23 million TAW, or "temporary" loan, into a 4 year loan. Please note the date -- July 13, 2010. The 2009 TAW was due on June 30, 2010. The resolution passed by the Board on July 13 states that:

"...on June 30,2010, the School Corporation executed and delivered to Regions Bank, ...documents evidencing the extension of the final maturity of the Obligations to February 15, 2014..., and [Regions] has accepted the Extension."

The School Corporation did not have the authority to give such "documents evidencing the extension" because there had not been any Board action to create such documents. Again, Don Stinson acted unilaterally, usurping the authority of the Board... and the Board again pulled his arse out of the fire.

What does all this mean to the taxpayers? This means that the school district should have paid off the 2009 TAW with the property taxes paid by residents in 2009. Instead, Stinson and the Board will make you pay even more taxes to pay off the new 4-year loan. YOU ALREADY PAID THE TAXES, but you will have to pay them a second time.

The public has a right to assume that a 'tax anticipation warrant' will be paid off as soon as the tax money has been received. The public trust should not be abused by keeping the money and floating another loan to pay off the first one and then foisting the tab for the new loan onto the backs of the taxpaying public. Its called "robbing Peter to pay Paul".

Where has the money gone? $18-23 million is very serious money. Where has it all gone?

In the end, it is also a devious and underhanded way to get the Decatur Taxpayer to pay more money to the district without ever having had a say. There was never a public hearing, the public notice was uninformative, and there has not been a referendum to increase our property taxes over the next 4 years. Roughly $5 million more money will have to be raised EACH YEAR, which will cause a roughly 25% increase in school taxes.

No vote. No hearing. No say.

The school board, Dale Henson, Don Huffman, Doug Greenwald, Judy Collins and Cathy Wiseman, have allowed our school finances to go from really bad to unsustainable. They are allowing Don Stinson to raise cash by not paying off our loans, when the money was available to pay off those loans. We are now in hock twice for the same money. This is reckless. And to approve this fiscal disaster two weeks after Stinson usurped their authority, is to have totally abandoned all responsibilities that they have as elected officials to serve the public interest.

Stinson and the Board were reckless in getting a $23 million TAW, when $18 million was all the State of Indiana authorized them to raise in property taxes for that year. Stinson and the Board were reckless in not paying off that TAW in June of 2009 or January of 2010, when they had the money from the taxpayers to do so. Stinson and the Board were reckless to turn that 2009 TAW into a four year loan, making the taxpayers pay yet again for loan. This last point is where they have totally abandoned the voting public; they made a grab for more money and hoped the public would not notice that they never had a say on whether or not they wanted to give the district more money.

Stinson and the Board have acted without honor. They have abused the public trust.

Public Notice -- MSD Decatur Township

The required public notice for the MSD Decatur Township estimated budget and property tax levy has been published in the Mooresville-Decatur Times. Those of you who are interested in looking at the details will need to get out to the convenience or grocery stores to buy a copy today, as the Times comes out with a new edition tomorrow.

With an estimated budget for 2011 of $67,753,265, they list a maximum property tax levy of $26,786,842, up from $19,475,910 for this year.

The Board will hold a public hearing at 7:00 pm, August 17, 2010, at the Central Office, 5275 Kentucky Avenue. They expect the Board to adopt the budget on September 14.

Also listed are the actual tax collections for 2007 through this year, the proposed three year plan for the Capital Projects Fund, and the bus replacement plan through 2022. They note that they will be leasing 3 additional buses for 2011.

[edited to add: I uploaded a scan of this notice -- click here]

Public Notice Correction -- MSD Wayne Township

Today's Indy Star has a correction to the MSD Wayne Township Annual Financial Report previously published. Corrected are data listed in the comparison of approved vs. actual expenditures for 2009.

Also posted in the public notice section is the Annual Financial Report for Carmel Clay Schools.

Decatur School Board Pulls Superintendent's Arse Out of the Fire

Nearly one month after 3 Administrators retired from the MSD Decatur Township school district with wads of cash, extra years of service purchased from the State Teacher Retirement Fund, and a promise of paid health insurance until Medicare picks them up - all clearly prohibited by School Board policy and not a part of any contract - the School Board ratified the unilateral action by Superintendent, Don Stinson.

Remember these names -- Dale Henson, Don Huffman, Doug Greenwald, Judy Collins, and Cathy Wiseman.

I have called them a rubber stamping school board numerous times. But, to continue to do so is to do a disservice to rubber stamping school boards everywhere. They are eyeball deep in fiscal recklessness that makes their past behavior pale in comparison and should make every taxpayer in Decatur Township extremely nervous.

Dale Henson, Don Huffman, Doug Greenwald, Judy Collins, and Cathy Wiseman are now equal players with Don Stinson in running our school district into the ground. For the second time this month, the school board has unanimously approved unilateral action taken by the Superintendent without prior board approval. For the second time this month, the school board has unanimously thrown fiscal responsibility out the window, making the fiscal morass we are in far far worse than even I imagined it could or would be.

For this post I will discuss the action taken last Thursday, July 29, 2010, at a special meeting of the Board. Just as I speculated (see "Suddenly - Decatur School Board Calls Special Session"), the purpose of that meeting was to legalize the retirement packages given by Don Stinson to retiring Administrators Jeff Baer, Dave Rather, Pat Jones, Gary Pellico, and Janet Larch.

I have already shared with you the retirement package information (see "Decatur Administrator Severance Packages Really Sweet") that amounted to over $800,000 this year and, additionally, up to $100,000 in coming years for ongoing health insurance costs. I also shared with you the 2004 Board policy that specifically banned this type of retirement package (see "Decatur Administrator Severance Packages in Contradiction of School Board Policy"). This was part of a statewide effort to become more fiscally responsible and buy out the retirement promises made in contracts, but for which no money had been set aside. It cost Decatur taxpayers at least $8 million to buy out these unfunded liabilities.


But, Don Stinson gave his retiring pals some great parting gifts anyway. And the school board unanimously pulled his arse out of the fire, tossed the taxpayers arses into the fire, and approved these retirement packages - EVEN THOUGH 3 of the 5 LEFT THE DISTRICT nearly a MONTH before.


The agenda for Thursday's meeting simply said "Staff Report". Surprise Decatur. Not only did they approve Stinson's unilateral action, they increased the severance package for Jeff Baer by $1000, and for Gary Pellico by a whopping $22,030.66. Nice job Dale Henson, Don Huffman, Doug Greenwald, Judy Collins, and Cathy Wiseman.

We can't afford to keep Lynwood open as an elementary school, thereby increasing class sizes, but we can give these 5 people over $800,000 as a parting gift -- on top of the contract buyouts we paid for in 2004-2005 -- on top of the money we have been putting into the Indiana State Teacher Retirement Fund for them every year since -- on top of the money we have put into three other retirement funds for each of them every year since -- and which was rightly banned by School Board policy and which was not a contractual obligation.

Remember this Decatur taxpayers. Remember this Decatur parents.

Remember these names: Dale Henson, Don Huffman, Doug Greenwald, Judy Collins, Cathy Wiseman, and Don Stinson.

Below are the retirement packages awarded, as reported in the Resolution adopted Thursday:

	Added ISTRF Contribution	Health Insurance	Life Insurance
Baer	$149,966.50	$19,284 / yr	$365.00 / yr
Rather	167,733.55	16,428 / yr	365.00 / yr
Jones	160,727.87	16,428 / yr	365.00 / yr
Pellico	170,472.14	16,428 / yr	365.00 / yr
Larch	100,895.36	19,284 / yr	n/a

School Town of Speedway - Annual Financial Report Hits the Paper

The public notices in today's Indy Star include the Annual Financial Report for the Speedway school district.

This notice includes tons of information - covering 2009, the number and salary range of administrators, non-certified staff salary ranges, teacher salaries plus extra-curricular compensation, a comparison of the budgeted expenses and how much was actually spent, tax rates for 2009 and 2010, a list of all vendors who were paid over $2500, a list of debt, budgeted vs. actual revenues, and school enrollment by grade level.

Property Tax Cap Credits - 2010 Impact on School Districts

This is the last in the series looking at the tax cap impact on taxing units in Marion County. Thanks again to Marion County Treasurer, Mike Rodman, and Deputy Administrator, Cindy Land, for their help in obtaining the data.

The table below lists the property tax levy (the amount of revenue from property taxes that the Department of Local Government Finance certified for 2010) for each District, the circuit breaker credit (also called the tax cap credit) data from the Marion County Treasurer's office, and finally the % column, which I calculated by dividing the circuit breaker credit by the property tax levy.

	LEVY	Circuit Breaker Credits	%
IPS	$120,232,632	$13,128,883	10.9%
Decatur	19,475,910	2,387,662	12.3%
Franklin	33,246,782	8,146,195	24.5%
Lawrence	42,914,503	2,312,898	5.4%
Perry	29,831,413	647,927	2.2%
Pike	40,050,402	802,420	2.0%
Warren	28,128,063	783,150	2.8%
Washington	28,439,655	34,526	0.1%
Wayne	40,230,876	5,373,183	13.4%
Beech Grove	9,271,971	2,645,875	28.5%
Speedway	2,202,088	22,708	1.0%

The Beech Grove school district leads the way with 28.5% of the property tax levy awarded as tax credits, followed closely by the Franklin Township district at 24.5%.

According to the DLGF, any school district that sees its tax cap credits amount to more than 2%, is eligible to apply for a Levy Replacement Grant, which is administered by the Department of Education. The Grant pool appropriated by the General Assembly for this year is $35 million.

Budget Notices Hitting the Press - H&H, Wayne, Washington and Perry School Districts

The budget season is descending upon us. Governmental units are beginning to advertise their budgets and property tax rates in the paper, a legally required step in the public process. I missed it in the paper the other day, but Health & Hospitals has posted a notice that currently appears in the online IndyStar.com public notice section. One aside about the online version of these notices - they aren't worth the electrons they are printed on. The online version abstains from the use of any traditional formatting, like paragraphs, tables, and sometimes even spaces - allowing numbers to run into one another in an indecipherable gibberish. So, you might want to pick up a paper version if you want to view a particular notice.

Back to the H&H notice - it was published on 7/30 and it appears it will be published yet again on 8/6.

I just pulled my old Friday paper and found the notice. H&H will hold a public hearing at 1:30 pm, August 10, "at Wishard Hospital, 1001 W. 10th Street" - that sure narrowed it down as to location, eh? Curiously, the notice mentions a 2011 budget estimate of $392,920,679, an estimate of the maximum levy (maximum property tax revenue needed) of $102,130,737 -- but fails to mention the estimated property tax rate. I don't know if that is sufficient for these notices that are entitled "Notice to Taxpayers of Budget Estimates, Tax Levies and Tax Rates". Hmm.

In today's paper are very interesting and informative public notices for three local school districts - Wayne, Washington, and Perry. There are notices of past expenses for Wayne and Washington, and notices of 2011 budgets for Wayne and Perry.

MSD Wayne Township and MSD Washington Township posted their "Annual Financial Report", covering 2009, which lists the number and salary range of administrators ("Certified Administrative Staff"), non-certified staff salary ranges, teacher salaries plus extra-curricular compensation, a comparison of the budgeted expenses and how much was actually spent, tax rates for 2009 and 2010, a list of all vendors who were paid over $2500, a list of debt, budgeted vs. actual revenues, and school enrollment by grade level. These financial reports are in today's (Monday, August 2, 2010) paper for both Wayne and Washington school districts. They are not in the public notice section of the electronic IndyStar.com. It appears that today is the only date these will be published.

The MSD Wayne Township's "Notice To Taxpayers of Tax Levies" is in both paper and electronic versions of the Star. From an estimated total budget of $153,194,394, they will seek $47,178,171 from property taxes, up from $40,23,876 they asked for 2010. Now, you should be aware that taxing units often inflate the amount of money they seek, as the notice will provide a maximum level. It is difficult to know how inflated the number really is - so you should ask questions if it strikes you as awfully high. They are yet to actually finalize these numbers through their internal budget process, and want to protect themselves from posting a number that is too small. The Wayne school district also posted a three year Capital Projects Fund Plan that covers the next 3 years, and which will require $13 - $14 million per year. Both the budget and the CPF plan will be discussed at 7:30 pm, August 16, at 1220 S. High School Road and the public has a right to be heard on both matters. Taxpayers have the right to file an objection. The school board is expected to vote on the final budget at its September 13 meeting. This notice indicates that it will be published again on August 9.

The MSD Perry Township "Notice to Taxpayers of Tax Levies" also appears in both versions of the Star. They estimate a total 2011 budget of $132,996,281 and will seek $46,843,282 from property taxes, compared with $29,831,413 for 2010. They show the collected tax revenues for 2007, 2008, 2009, and to be collect in 2010, for comparison. Like Wayne school district, they posted a three year CPF plan - they call fore spending $12 - $14 million per year. They will hold a public hearing and consider this budget and CPF plan at 6:00 pm, August 23, at 6548 Orinoco Avenue. The School Board is expected to approve the final budget on September 13.

Decatur Administrator Severance Packages In Contradiction of School Board Policy

A document entitled "Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township Administrators' Employee and Retirement Benefits (July 1, 2004)", is a very interesting read - in light of the sweet retirement packages being collected by 5 Administrators which I posted earlier today, and especially in light of a WTHR report by Rich Van Wyk on July 6.

The WTHR report says in part:

The administrators' severance policy, in place for more than a decade, includes free health insurance and roughly a year's pay in addition to their pensions.

For many administrators it wasn't a tough choice. Retire now with full benefits or retire later and receive less generous benefits similar to what teachers receive now.

Stinson expects board members to discontinue the special retirement benefits and he intends to replace only two of the retiring administrators, saving roughly $750,000 a year, about equal to their one-time retirement costs.

The 'Stinson' referenced is, of course, Don Stinson, Superintendent of MSD Decatur Township.

But, surprise, surprise - the retirement benefits policy signed by then School Board President, Larry Taylor, and Secretary, Judy Collins, on May 11, 2004, emphatically contradicts Don Stinson, and clearly eliminated nearly ALL of the items in the retirement packages Stinson supplied to Jeff Baer, Gary Pellico, Dave Rather, Pat Jones, and Janet Larch.

Totaling well over $800,000 for the first year, and including paid health insurance for an unnamed number of years going forward (which can easily total $100,000 per year), these retirement packages are just one more extravagance Stinson is bestowing upon Administrators. This level of expense could have covered all other RIFs forced upon other employees in the District. RIFs continue, as well, in case you hadn't heard. For perspective, $800,000 could fully fund 15 young teachers for a year.

A little background - back in the early 2000's, the State Legislature finally acted to get ahead of the unfunded retirement benefits looming to become budget busters in Indiana schools. These unfunded mandates were obligations set up by employment contracts for certain items to be included in retirement packages, but for which no money was being set aside by the Districts. The State enacted a window of time during which school districts could float bonds to pay for unfunded pension obligations from the past. MSD Decatur School Board approved this type of bond issue in the amount of $8 million at its September and October, 2003 Board meetings. The September, 2003, minutes state:

Dr. Baer, Assistant Superintendent of Business, explained that the purpose of requesting the additional appropriation was to purchase bonds to cover the School Corporation’s unfunded retirement or severance liability.

All School Board members voted in favor: Larry Taylor, Don Huffman, Judy Collins, Cathy Wiseman, and Herb Bazemore. Huffman, Collins, and Wiseman continue on the Board to this day and should certainly remember the changes in retirement benefits.

The retirement benefits policy, ""Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township Administrators' Employee and Retirement Benefits (July 1, 2004)", sets in motion the change from unfunded retirement benefits for Administrators to fully funded benefits. The fiscal impact would be to put money away each year, according to the commitments in the Teachers Contract and the Administrator's addendum to that contract, instead of trying to come up with money from operating funds in future years after these administrators retired. To achieve the change, the previously contractual obligations had to be appraised for their monetary value, that money invested in appropriate retirement accounts set up for each individual administrator, and future contracts written in keeping with these changes. The 2003 bond was to be used to pay for these buyouts.

The administrator addenda for the 2009-2010 school year for Jeff Baer, Gary Pellico, Dave Rather, Pat Jones, and Candace Milhon-Baer, are all consistent with the new retirement benefits laid out in this 2004 Board policy. I do not have a copy of Janet Larch's latest contract. Don Stinson's contract, however, has several additional retirement benefits, including:

10. A retiring Superintendent shall have the option of remaining in his/her selected corporation health insurance program until qualifying for Medicare, if the minimum requirements of the insurance plan are met. The Corporation shall pay an annual amount equal to the full employee/spouse premium.

11. There will be no limit on the number of accumulated personal illness leave day. [sic]

and a rather long item 18 that invests part of Stinson's 2004-2005 benefits buyout into a series of $15,500 annuities in each of 5 years. The total value of this item is $77,464 - part of the value of Stinson's retirement benefits buyout that resulted from this 2004 Board policy. Other Administrators may very well have recieved as large a buyout as Stinson.

According to the July 1, 2004 Board policy on Administrator retirement benefits, a company named Educational Services Company, was to determine the value of each Administrator's unfunded retirement benefits, and how much money should be deposited into each of the new retirement accounts set up for each individual Administrator. You can read all of these details at your leisure and according to your interest in such things.

The policy states (page 1; emphasis is mine):

Any rights to retirement and severance pay, including, but not limited to, amounts payable following termination of employment for years of service, accumulated sick leave or health insurance from any policy, contract, or addendum to a regular teacher's contract... currently held by an Administrator are terminated and shall not apply to any Administrator retiring or severing employment with the School Corporation on or after the Effective Date. In replacement, the Retirement Benefits of the Administrators employed by the School Corporation as of June 30, 2004 shall be bought out and contributed to the 401(a) Plan and VEBA, as described below.

The policy describes the annual contributions that the District will make to a 401(a), 403(b) and a VEBA retirement accounts (begins page 6). The last is an account designed to purchase health insurance and pay for health related costs after retirement.

The policy requires Administrators to pay for their own health insurance after retiring (page7):

Following retirement, an eligible Administrator and spouse shall be allowed to remain on the group health, dental and vision plans then maintained by the School Corporation, if any, at their own expense until the first day of the month following their eligibility for Medicare.

An Administrator may carry forward a maximum of 30 vacation days each year (page 7) and any in excess of 30 are turned into personal illness days. They may carry forward no more than 5 personal business days each year (page 8) and can cash in the extra for $100 a day, or they will turn into medical illness days.

The policy states (page 8):

Upon retirement, an Administrator's unused and accumulated person illness (sick leave) and personal business leave days shall be forfeited and not otherwise purchased by the School Corporation.

According to this policy and the lack of anything to the contrary in the contracts for Baer, Pellico, Rather, or Jones, they are not entitled to severance payments for service years, leave days, 30% of base salary, compensation for any more than perhaps 30 days of vacation accumulated, and no buyouts for additional years toward the Indiana State Teacher Retirement Fund. Most of the $800,000 in these severance packages are not in accord with Board policy nor are they contractual obligations. Any future payment by the School District for health insurance through the District's health plan, are also strictly forbidden by this policy and is not in their contracts.

Let me go back to Rich Van Wyk's report:

The administrators' severance policy, in place for more than a decade, includes free health insurance and roughly a year's pay in addition to their pensions.

For many administrators it wasn't a tough choice. Retire now with full benefits or retire later and receive less generous benefits similar to what teachers receive now.

Stinson expects board members to discontinue the special retirement benefits and he intends to replace only two of the retiring administrators, saving roughly $750,000 a year, about equal to their one-time retirement costs.

The Board policy does not include free health insurance nor roughly a year's pay upon retirement. The Board already discontinued the old, unfunded, retirement benefits 6 years ago. When you figure in the buyout of their retirement benefits in 2004-2005, some of whom could easily have seen as much as the $77,000 + obtained by Stinson, AND the fact that taxpayers have been contributing to several retirement plans for these Administrators since 2004, it becomes double or triple dipping. This is entirely a give away, far better than a gold watch, using taxpayer money that could have been used to save jobs in the District instead of further feathering nests that did not need to be further feathered.

Are You Kidding Me ?

The front page of the Metro section of this morning's Indianapolis Star has an article by Andy Gammill "Board OKs 3% raise for IPS Chief" :

The Indianapolis Public School Board on Tuesday unanimously approved what amounts to a roughly 3 percent raise for Superintendent Eugene White.

Are you kidding me? Have they not heard about the recession? Or the 3.5% budget cutbacks for all K-12 education?

If we truly want to improve education in this state, we MUST look at the outrageous salaries of Administrators, class size, and rubber stamping school boards.

How to Minimize the Impact of Decatur School District Cuts

I previously suggested that the Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township sell off its excess property portfolio and make a variety of Administrative cuts in order to dig itself out of the disastrous financial hole dug by Superintendent Don Stinson and Assistant Superintendent for Business Jeff Baer, abetted by a rubber-stamping School Board.

I guess my brain could not process how truly deep a disastrous financial hole had been dug. So, with this entry I amend my suggestion for cuts to begin what will be a long, painful, process of making ends meet in the School District.


HOW DEEP IS THE HOLE AND HOW DID WE GET IN SO DEEP?


The total amount of cuts necessary totals $9.8 million.


The cuts required of all school districts by Governor Mitch Daniels, to the tune of 3.5%, amounts to $1.4 million for our District, according to Stinson's Fiscal Restructuring Plan. This cut is necessary because of the recession. I'm not a fan of the Governor, but I must give him credit that he did make cuts in all other spending before dipping into K-12 education revenues.


Cuts of $5.4 million are needed because of the mind boggling amount of debt Stinson, Baer, and the School Board have put on us. As part of the tax cap legislation, the State took over all funding for operations and transportation costs in all Indiana School Districts. That funding shifted last year and is the biggest reason many tax bills went down. As far as Schools are concerned, property taxes pretty much only go to cover payments on debt any more. But, because of the spending and buying sprees the Decatur officials went on over the last 8 years, the amount of property taxes they will get in 2010 will not be enough to cover the debt payments. So, Decatur Schools will have to add some of the operating and transportation money to the property tax revenues, so that they do not go into default on the bonds they have floated over the years. It is up to the District how much of the extra funds come from the Transportation Fund and how much from the General Fund. But, because the debt is so huge, a total of $5.4 million has to come from these two Funds in some combination.

Stinson and Baer claim they also must make cuts of $3 million to repay temporary loans. Because of Governor Daniels order for a new 2006 reassessment in Marion, and the resulting delay in collecting property taxes, all of the governmental units in our County have had to take out temporary, low interest, tax anticipation loans. Before each calendar year started, the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) would tell each governmental unit how much money they could expect down the road, 6 months to a year later, from taxes that eventually would be collected, just delayed. Then each unit would get a tax anticipation loan. Once the property taxes were collected, the units would use the money to pay off the loans. Interest rates were below 3%, throughout this period, at least for the tax anticipation loans the City of Indianapolis obtained. Well, we are almost back on track and the pay-2010 property taxes will go back to the May/November due dates. So, the last of the tax anticipation loans will get paid off shortly after the pay-2009 tax bills are collected in February. The question here is - how could the Decatur School District manage to owe $3 million for interest on a low interest, tax anticipation loan for all of 8 months? Even if the loan was for a year and the interest rate was 3%, you would have had to borrow $100 million to owe $3 million in interest. That is far more that the District's total budget for a year, much less only the property tax revenue for which they would have taken a tax anticipation loan. Through 2008, the latest year for which data are available on the State Department of Education website, the Decatur School District paid only $367,033 for interest on short term loans. Now they claim over $3 million is due? That doesn't pass the smell test.


HOW DO WE DIG OUT ?


The hole Stinson, Baer and the Decatur School Board dug is $9.8 million. On the just slightly good side, $3 million should be a one-time shortfall and we can look for one time savings and not on-going cuts for that amount. The 3.5% cut ordered of all Districts by Mitch Daniels, and amounting to $1.4 million for Decatur Schools, will likely be somewhat longer and dependant upon the State's recovery from the recession. So, for that we should look to on-going cuts that could be restored in a few years. But, for the $5.4 million in cuts to cover debt payments, the cuts will essentially have to be considered permanent as the debt will still hang over our heads for decades to come.

Previously I listed where $5.7 million in cuts could be obtained. Here I will amend that list by adding to it and covering the additional $4.1 million - thereby getting us to $9.8 million in cuts. I have chosen specific items from Don Stinson's Fiscal Restructuring Plan to supplement my original suggestions.


SELL LAND PORTFOLIO


The District should sell its land holdings and its equity in the lease to buy agreement for the Southwest Office Pavilion (the old Concentra Building). This could generate $4.9 million. This could cover the one-time expense of $3 million plus the $1.4 million cut ordered by Daniels, with $0.5 million left over.


ADMINISTRATION CUTS

Cut Don Stinson's salary plus benefits package by 20% - save $67,000 every year.


Cut Candice Baer's job along with one other Central Office Administrator - save $330,000 every year.

Replace Susan Adams' administrator position with a custodian - save $100,000 every year.


Replace Gary Pellico's administrator position with a public relations person - save $100,000 every year.


Cut 4 building level Administrator positions - save $540,000 every year.


Cut all Administrator salaries plus benefits by 15%. This is larger than I originally proposed but they all got healthy raises when times were good, now they have to carry some burden while times are bad. You figure the average administrator is making $150,000 between salary and benefits - so a 15% cut would still leave them with $127,500 per year. Save about $575,000 every year.


These Administrator cuts would save the District $1.71 million per year.



TEACHER CUTS


Cut Teacher salaries plus benefits by 5% - save $1.3 million every year.


Encourage and expect at least 5 Teacher retirements - save at least $500,000 every year


These Teacher cuts would save the District $1.8 million every year.



OTHER SUPPORT STAFF


Eliminate all department heads at the High School and Middle School - save $76,421


Eliminate one special education consultant position due to retirement - save $100,000


These cuts in support staff would save the District about 176,000 every year.



BUILDINGS


Eliminate paying for Ivy Tech use of Mitchell Building - save $164,000 every year


Vacate Early Childhood Building - save $624,690 every year


Eliminate old operations building - save $40,000 every year


These changes in building use would save the District about $829,000 every year.


OTHER CUTS

Eliminate national conference attendance unless paid with grant - unknown savings

Develop rigid guidelines for travel/conference and credit card reimbursement - unknown savings

More emphasis on energy conservation - unknown savings

Eliminate all catering out of general fund - save $20,000 every year

Reduce extended contracts where feasible - unknown savings

Drop Plan 1 health insurance plan - unknown savings

Cap cafeteria plan at current level - save $63,000 every year

Cut technology department budget - save $292,894 every year

These cuts would save the District about $376,000 every year.


All totaled, these cuts add up to $9.79 million.

Other questionable expenses exist in the long term lease of the Mitchell Building. Unless some other entity agrees to take over that lease, the School District is on the hook for years to come. But it should be questioned why the Challenger Center is not self-sufficient. The taxpayers appear to be paying out over $380,000 every year for the Center. Other Centers around the Country make money, not run deficits. Also to be questioned is the expenditure of $265,501 per year for the Decatur Discovery Academy. This is a Charter School and should be able to survive using Charter School funds. If the School District can correct these issues, it could save another $645,000 every year.

These suggested cuts meet the goal, but preserve the Teaching Staff, Custodial Staff, Transportation Staff, Maintenance Staff, and the remaining security Staff. Any additional savings should first be applied to bringing back the trained security staff to man the High School and provide the first critical response in case of an emergency. The suggestion of closing Lynwood as an Elementary School is painful, but the failure to improve the education of the students enrolled there, combined with the overcrowding at Valley Mills and West Newton Elementary Schools, seems to leave no other alternative.

Cliff Notes for Decatur School District Plan

The draft of the MSD of Decatur Township Fiscal Restructuring Plan Recommendations, presented by Superintendent Don Stinson on Tuesday night, is available on the School District website.

As promised I will attempt to summarize it here. This plan is clear in places, providing the number of positions to be cut and the anticipated savings. The plan is vague in places which suggests that this plan has not been fully vetted for its ability to be implemented. And, it is vague in places where it becomes impossible to determine either job cuts or savings.

FUNDS

The total amount of cuts that need to be made in all funds amounts to $9.8 million.

I added up all of the savings noted in the plan and the total anticipated savings comes to $8,764,032 -- roughly one million short of the goal.

ACCORDING TO THE PLAN:

PAY CUTS

The Superintendent, who is the 2nd highest paid in Central Indiana and likely the entire State, will take an unspecific cut in salary.

All Administrators will take a 5% cut in salary.

The Teachers, who in 2008-2009 were the 4th highest paid in the entire State and the highest paid in Central Indiana, are being asked to agree to a 5% cut in both salary and benefits.

JOB CUTS

6 Administrator positions will be eliminated.

All security positions will be eliminated "except for full time at special events".

2 maintenance positions will be eliminated.

1 special education consultant position will be eliminated.

2 social worker positions will be eliminated.

All custodial subs positions will be eliminated.

4 office personal positions will be eliminated.

Bus driver positions are not addressed - only cuts in transportation, as will be noted below - but presumably these changes will lead to cuts at these positions.

Teacher position cuts get hard to follow. In one section it claims that if the Teachers decline the 5% salary and benefits cut, then 60 positions will be cut. If they take the pay cut, only 34 positions would be cut. And if 17 teachers retire, no cuts would be necessary. But, further on it lists specified cuts of 17-20 teacher positions plus an unspecified series of job cuts to the applied tech program at the Intermediate School and the fast forward program at the High School.

RECONFIGURATION OF SCHOOLS

The Early Childhood Center (ECC) would move to Lynwood Elementary School. The old ECC would remain vacant.

All Elementary students at Lynwood would move to other schools.

The Intermediate schools would convert to grades 1-6.

Stephen Decatur, West Newton, and Valley Mills Elementary Schools would all convert to grades 1-6.

They 'hope' to vacate the Mitchell Building, which houses Ivy Tech, the Challenger Center, and the Decatur Discovery Academy. For some reason, all three are costing money from District funds. The problem here is that the District has a long term lease and unless it can find somebody to take that lease over, the projected savings would not happen. This section of the proposed plan is awash in 'investigate', 'hopefully' and other indications that they have not fully vetted this part of the plan for feasibility.

The plan calls for closing the old operations building.

The plan calls for eliminating the community use of the Armstrong Pavilion and switching it to school use only. They might move the functions from the old operations building to the Pavilion. How this saves any money is beyond me, but they claim it would.

OTHER CUTS

The plan calls for the elimination of field trips, transportation of sports teams, and all after school bus activity.

The plan calls for "consideration" of new fees for transportation, technology, athletics, etc.

The plan calls for all groups using school facilities to pay a fee - including youth athletic programs, guest bands, and presumably church services and civic group use.

Last but not least, the plan states "consider referendum for MSD of Decatur Township".



That's my review of the proposed plan. I do have to say it is not as firm a proposal as I was expecting with many loose ends and ill-defined steps and savings. And again, the cost savings listing come up one million dollars short of the goal of saving $9.8 million.