Watch out ... It's Pie in the Sky !!

There must be something in the water around here (besides what has already traced back to the MMR !).

Years ago, somebody recognized that the Police and Fire headquarters were under-sized, slowly sliding into the marsh, and susceptible to being washed out to sea if The Big One ever comes.  A study was done, land was earmarked and then ... somebody got distracted.

We've built school buildings -- an unavoidable and necessary task.  (This is where many people will grumble and chant "We wouldn't have this problem if we didn't have to build those Goddamn schools for kids that moved here from Over The Bridge!")  BUT -- we got distracted when it came time to provide the money  to properly maintain them.  Which is why we're chatting about a $15-30 million repair bill for the Wing --  (See the BOS presentation slides here)

We spent over $3 million to renovate a Town Hall that now holds less employees than the pre-renovation building.  The renovated building does have a second floor auditorium.  BUT, so don't the 4 large school buildings we already own, and already pay to heat, and light, and (sort of) maintain.  AND, the schools all have sufficient parking and decent septic systems -- something Town Hall does not have.  We continue to maintain several satellite town office buildings to handle the departmental overflow.  We even recently increased the number of town office buildings by moving the Rec Dept into a lovely lodge facility overlooking the water (a building originally bought to provide recreational opportunities and potential revenue.)

Many hours have been spent Studying and discussing a $14 million library in South Sandwich.  Many fewer hours have been spent discussing the fact that the Library can't afford the building it already has and have had to reduce operating hours this year to save money.  The Library is a huge asset to the Town and I LIKE the library -- but I'm not sure how we would pay to operate another library -- even if we could figure out a way to pay to build it!  (Somebody suggested the new Library was a actually a great idea -- that way when historians wrote the story about how the Police and Fire Departments fell into the marsh, we'd have someplace to put the book!)

The Capital Planning Committee came up with a list of some $26 million in assorted repairs and upgrades to buildings that have not been maintained for decades.  That list is on a shelf somewhere.

Now, folks are captivated by talk of a new Boardwalk that will start in the Village (behind the Town Hall Annex that we can't afford to bring into current building code compliance) run across the Marsh towards the Police and Fire Headquarters (same compliance problem!) through Town Neck and over to the Marina -- to gaze upon the probably-soon-to-be-closed power plant.  $50,000 of Community Preservation Funds may soon be "invested" in planning this adventure and only an additional $3 -5 million are estimated to be needed to finish it.  I can't imagine how this project could generate "real" economic development -- unless you owned the lumberyard!  ("Hey, Ethel!, Pack-up the kids -- we're drivin' down to Sandwich to walk on their wooden sidewalk!  I'll even buy you a large coffee at Mary Lou's !!").  Actually, maybe another Boardwalk is a good idea -- since the one we already have has been condemned as unsafe.

I'm sensing a theme.  Somebody needs to be willing to stick their neck out and start kicking some ass!  No more gathering consensus and community input.  No more sacred cows -- like Nike says -- "Just Do it!".

Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire?

More P.T. Barnum than Pat Paulson, Dr. Mike is back!

Michele "Mike" Merolla has once again pulled papers for School Committee. So much for calming the waters and bringing Peace and Harmony to the World.

Merolla, who served a 3 year term on the Fairhaven School Committee member, seems to pride himself on being a "Lightning Rod of Controversy". He has been more recently known as an unsuccessful candidate for the offices of State Rep, Selectmen, and School Committee (twice) in the Town of Fairhaven before dropping in to Sandwich Town Hall to register to vote and take out papers for School Committee in 2007. Since that time, he's gone on to lose elections for School Committee, Selectmen (twice), and Historical Commission.

A quick trip to the online archives at SouthCoastToday.com contains a wealth of Merolla memorabilia. 

Two excerpts from this 2001 letter to the Editor about the Fairhaven School Committee, which appeared in the New Bedford Standard Times, sound eerily familiar.

Town needs to be rid of dysfunctional committee

December 04, 2001 12:00 AM

"The School Committee has become a joke, and watching the meetings on our local cable access channel only shows how childish and ineffective our elected officials have become.Oh, how wonderful it is to be a Fairhaven resident. Once again, we aren't acknowledging the marvelous academic and athletic successes of our students. Instead, we are hearing and reading about the utterly ridiculous exploits of our elected School Committee members. How pathetic.

How can they do what's best for the children if each meeting is filled with so much venom, hatred, and contempt for other members? Paula Gardner won't agree with anything Michele Merolla, Tom Perry, and Mike Gagne suggest, and they won't agree with her, leaving Chairman Mark Sylvia and Mike Souza to cast the only reliable votes..."

"...How can the School Committee do what is best for the children if the meetings are filled with venom, hatred, and contempt that now will be worse than ever? The answer It can't. The solution? It's time to relieve Dr. Merolla, Mrs. Gardner, Mr. Perry, and Mr. Gagne of their duties. Their continued lack of professionalism and lack of compromise makes a mockery of their posts, the town, the school system, and the children they are elected to serve.

It seems they have forgotten, or really never cared, that their responsibility is to the students, not to the promotion of their own agendas."

Back to the Future?

At the current time, only Sherry Marshall and Michele Merolla have taken out papers for the two School Committee seats.

A Modest Proposal

It's always amusing to see people who have never paid attention to a process suddenly jump up with some little factoid nugget they think will make a difference in The Big Picture.

There was some recent discussion about the fact that the cost of school employee benefits shows up on the Town Budget -- not the School Budget.  Presumably, that is because the Town Manager negotiates the health insurance contracts for ALL town employees.  This is a well-known and long-standing practice in many Towns -- although somebody does seem to think they "discover" this great charade every year!

The inference is that the Schools are "getting away with something".  The reality is that those costs are included in both  "per Pupil Spending" and in "Net School Spending".  They aren't included on the School Budget because the School Committee has no control over them (other than to hire or not hire people).  This "discovery" is not going to resolve the deficit.

In the interest of eliminating the distraction, I would certainly support the idea of splitting the cost (and related funding) of benefits for each employee onto the appropriate budgets.  This would also ensure that any cost of adding an employees, or any savings by eliminating them, is always considered when making financial decisions (I'm not saying that it isn't -- it would just ensure that it would be.).  This would also eliminate any internal hissing matches about a $300,000 savings on the School budget causing a $13,000 increase in Town Benefits costs, or laid off school employees causing an increase in Town unemployment costs. 

It might even help that "Big Picture - One Town" concept that  seems to so frequently elude us.

Charlie Sheen is NOT running for School Committee

 

Charlie Sheen is NOT running for the Sandwich School Committee, and neither is Bill Gates

 

That pretty much leaves the field wide open for two people with some sort of managerial/financial background who want to ensure our kids have at least the same opportunities that kids from other Districts have -- without forcing the Town into bankruptcy.

 

Just so everyone is clear on the actual job description of School Committee members -- something you would not glean by watching recent meetings! -- here's the actual law (Chapter 71: Section 37).

"The school committee in each city and town and each regional school district shall have the power to select and to terminate the superintendent, shall review and approve budgets for public education in the district, and shall establish educational goals and policies for the schools in the district consistent with the requirements of law and statewide goals and standards established by the board of education."

I count 3 duties:

• Hire/fire the Supt (they got that one down!)
• Review/approve budget (made some noises but approved the budget the Supt gave them!)
• Establish educational goals and policies (not so much!)

The Committee muddled through the first phases of the $30 million budget process by chasing crumbs but they seemed to ignore the biggest swords hanging over their heads:

 

What about the unsettled SEA contract? This may include not only an increase for FY '12 -- but likely also require a retroactive payment for the current fiscal year.

  

What if the Town cuts the local contribution to the schools even further for FY '12? This is a definite possibility since the Town still had not closed its projected deficit AND also just saw a $480,000 reduction in state aid to cover the cost of Sandwich kids who choose to attend other public school systems.

 

What about the Community School? Can the Committee confirm that all District costs related to Community School operations are being properly reimbursed? Does the Committee intend to respond to the Community School audit? Will it engage the auditors to review the next year -- to show that the appropriate policies and procedures have been put in place?

  

What about legal fees? Linnehan seemed pretty excited about asking for copies of SPED-related legal bills (which she should have been signing each week as an SC member). I would like to see a break-out of legal costs incurred for contract negotiations, grievance negotiations, as well as the specific amounts incured on both the Minkoff and Johnson lawsuits. I would also like to see what fees Town Counsel may have incurred looking over the School Counsel's shoulder.

 

What about legal contingencies? Assume for the sake of discussion, the Superintendent wins her lawsuit. How does the Committee plan to fund the settlement? I don't think you need to consult Punxatawney Phil, the prognosticating Groundhog, to see we may be facing a very large unfunded liability. Has there been any contingency planning (with the WHOLE committee?).

 

What about the increase in out of District Charter/Choice tuitions? It seems many people are voting with their feet and sending their kids to other public school systems. I don't recall the topic being discussed at a School Committee meeting -- although I have heard the Selectmen discussing it.

 

What about the School roofs? Assuming that there will be another attempt at a Debt Exclusion this Spring, is the Committee prepared to publically campaign for it? The Superintendent has been negotiating with the state to allow these proposals into the project pipeline and put them in line for state funding, will the Committee do anything to help? Will the Committee attempt any sort of Capital Equipment planning that would examine the condition of its building and equipment and determine projected maintenance and/or replacement needs?

What about that "Policy & Procedures" duty?  Three years ago, a previous Committee voted to engage the Mass. Assoc. of School Committees and began the process of reviewing the existing District policies and procedures (that would be the Big Blue Books that certain member claimed they never had and never read!) and re-writing them to current legal standards and practices.  What's going on with that?  The hell wityh copy machines !  Why aren't we hearing ANY discussion about policies?

Here's another qualification for the next two school committee members: You need to see the forest --- not just the trees!

Enough!

The Governor's budget proposal (House 1) is certainly not the final word on State funding --- but it's a good indication of trends --- and two interesting ones jumped off the page at me.  (Actually one sort of "hopped", the other "vaulted" off the page!)

Tuition RECEIVED by Sandwich for incoming School Choice Students increased from $85,000 to $115,000.  This means the number of incoming students from other towns increased by 35% this year.  Since these are  empty seats that we essentially sold to other Towns' students there are very minimal costs associated with these openings.  This is revenue that we just started capturing last year.  That's a good thing.

But  then ...

Tuition PAID by Sandwich for Choice and Charter Schools increased by $480,000 to almost $1.3 million -- an increase of almost 60%!!  This is money paid by the Town of Sandwich to other Towns and Charter Schools for kids whose families would prefer to send them elsewhere.  The financial impact of this is reduced somewhat by a $287,000 increase in State Charter reimbursements -- but the fact that the cost for Sandwich students fleeing to other public schools grew by 60% this year should be a definite attention-getter!

You would think that the School Committee would have been waiting for these numbers so they could begin discussing WHY students are leaving the District for other public schools.

Nope.

These numbers were discussed with the Superintendent at last week's Board of Selectmen's meeting.  Dr. Johnson was very circumspect in her explanation.  She probably didn't want to antagonize her own Committee by saying that people are fed up watching the mud wrestling contests that pass for School Committee meetings or, reading about union leaders who behave like spoiled 9 year-olds.  She was far more polite and said something to the effect that people don't like uncertainty and there was much uncertainty in the District last Spring and Summer.

People are also fed up with watching a group of professional educators with advanced degrees be batted around by a group of folks (many with no educational experience or credentials) whose only qualification is that they were willing to support the special interest that elected them -- whether its the Community School, or the Teachers Union.

People want stability for their kids' education.  They don't want to be reading a constant stream of anti-school propaganda being fed to an over-eager local "media" by people protecting their own self-interests.  They are even (I shudder to say) sick of reading, or hearing about blogs that try to provide more coverage of local events.

People want to feel good about their choice of school systems.  If you talk to school administrators from Brookline or Plymouth who have spent time touring the District and studying the literacy program, there is much here to be pleased about.  If you look at the most recent budget, the fact that the District was able to sustain cuts in both State and Local aid, yet managed to maintain most programs by making "surgical" budget cuts and bringing certain costly services in-house, is a credit to the Superintendent and her Administration.

Nomination papers are now available at the Town Clerk's office for two seats on the School Committee.  I hope the only special interest groups represented by this year's elected members are the kids and the taxpayers.  The only way this will happen is if some people with professional management experience decide that they are "mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore!"

More Information on School Choice Program

More Information on Charter School Program

A Fairy Tale

I just watched a partial replay of this week's School Committee meeting -- with my hand clamped firmly on the Fast-Forward button until I got to the SEA guest appearance at the final Public Forum!!  

I'm not sure where to start.

Karen Stapleton, the union spokesperson that night is actually one of the District's great teachers.  I've had three kids in her classroom and all have benefited from her hard work, preparation, life experiences, and patient teaching style.  She is the kind of teacher who does a great job and in the Private Sector should be well-compensated based on her performance --- not on a fixed union scale.  This is definitely a case of  "Like the Messenger -- Hate the Message".  (I am also one of many folks who hopes she will soon become President of the SEA and bring some sanity back to the process!)

The mechanics of the negotiation process have been that the School Committee discusses goals and objectives and appoints a negotiating team to meet with the Union's team to hammer out a preliminary agreement based on those objectives.  In the past, there have been three SC  members on the negotiating team.  This year, due to various conflicts, there are only two.  The SC team then returns to discuss the preliminary proposal with the full Committee, as well as a member of the Board of Selectmen, who is required by Mass. Law to have a vote on any collective bargaining agreement.  The full Committee then accepts it, rejects it, or issues counter proposals which their negotiating Team takes back to the Union.

That being said ....

It was interesting that the Union President mentioned that Kangas was present for a "handshake" agreement on a proposed contract.  Based on recent on-camera comments from Andrea Killion, the second member of the negotiating team, it is obvious that she never agreed to any union proposal.  Could Carlyle's "handshake agreement" have been made solely with Kangas (Who, when asked about her financial experience last year, proudly proclaimed "I got nuthin'".)?

Since when can one School Committee member authorize a union contract?

Growing up, my mother has another phrase for this sort of situation -- she would have called it  "A Big Fat Lie" !!

Speaking of Big Fat Lies, it was also stated that the Union offered to take 0% in December of 2009.  What wasn't said was for how many months they actually offered to take that 0% OR what "other considerations" they demanded in exchange for that freeze period!  Suffice it to say, the School Committee was never presented any realistic wage freeze proposal in December of 2009.

I have my own phrase for that comment -- a Giant Load of Crap!!

One of the Ground Rules of the negotiating process has been that all negotiations are done in Executive Session -- not in the press.  After 20+ years on the School Committee, I would have expected that the current Chairperson would be familiar with this rule.  Particularly since she sat with the past two Chairmen of the School Committee as they raised this issue and ruled the union president out of order when she has attempted to stage "union performances" during School Committee meetings.  (I'm starting to think all negotiations should be televised -- but that's another story!)

Finally, the premise that the union performance was triggered by the Committee approving next year's budget with no budgeted COLA wage increases (although it does contain budgeted step, lane and longevity pay increases) is bogus.  This year's budget was also approved with no COLA increases -- the union must have forgotten to complain about that!  The Bigger Picture on this issue, is that the Superintendent built, and the Committee passed, a budget based on a bottom line value designated by the Board of Selectmen.  The Committee is still very able to negotiate wage increases --- it just has to decide how many teachers will be terminated in order to fund them. 

At the risk of being cynical, you don't suppose the latest performance was just an ill-fated attempt to give an appearance of separation between the Union and the Committee members they helped elect?

Nah !!

Looking for a Few Good Men (err, "People" !)

Word is that so far John Kennan, Frank Pannorfi, and Glenn Pare have all taken out papers to run for the Board of Selectmen.

Nobody has pulled papers for School Committee -- the Board most in need of some Adult Supervision!

Details to follow ...

Food Fight !!

Thursday's CCT had some interesting background on the latest chapter in "Johnson v. Sandwich School Committee, Marshall, Linnehan, Kangas and Crossman" which will be appearing in Barnstable Court later this month.

According to the Times:  In her affidavit, Johnson levels new allegations, saying her appointment in 2008 to the permanent superintendent's job was made by a school committee seeking to reform the district.  "I  was also able to deny patronage appointments to uncertified and unqualified individuals who have historically used the Sandwich Public Schools as an employment agency," her affidavit alleges.

The CCT doesn't go into the gory details, but as many people will recognize, here's a recap of some past history:

During her first week as Interim Superintendent, Dr. Johnson made it clear that all staff must be properly certified and licensed for the classes they were assigned to teach.  This led to some retraining, some reassignments, and some going away parties.  And more than some hard feelings!

Later, she supported efforts by members of the School Committee to pursue what appeared to be long-standing irregularities in Community School financial practices.  For years the Community School had been profiting by renting out facilities that the School District paid to maintain.  While there was usually some sort of  "in kind donation" back to the District --- State law is very clear that District K-12 funds can not be diverted for Community School operations.  More hard feelings!

Then, she worked to reduce the exorbitant prices that Cape Cod Collaborative was charging for transporting SPED students.  Even after BUYING vans, she saved the District and the Town a substantial amount of money.  (Yes,  even considering insurance, and the cost of writing our name on the vans!) More hard feelings!

Then, she worked to reduce the cost of some SPED services by bringing more service providers in-house -- rather than utilizing higher priced outside contractors -- including the Cape Cod Collaborative. More hard feelings!

Still wondering why so many people seem to have an axe to grind?

Yeah, But She Doesn't Have Funny Pictures !!

Sandwich Superintendent Mary Ellen Johnson has joined the blogging world with her new blog which can be reached through the School District's website, or directly at sandwichsupt.blogspot.com.

We all wish Dr. Johnson well on this new adventure!

Budget What If's (By Bob Guerin)

For many of us private sector types, creating a budget is an important planning, prioritization and financial reporting exercise.   For anyone who manages their own family finances, budgeting also means thinking about today and planning for tomorrow.   Usually its up to the managers, leaders or adults to drive the planning process and to think about tomorrow.

In the world of school governance, I’d suggest that it’s the School Committees job (as overseers) to drive the planning process and to ask and answer the question: “and what about tomorrow?”

The school budget the Administration presented last night is decent.  It's balanced (for now) and it appears to prioritize and deliver student services in a manner that is sensible, easily understood and in keeping with current academic priorities and areas of focus.   The budget is a solid “B” maybe “B+” effort from the Superintendent, Business Manager and school administrators.

What was missing from the discussion last night and what’s been missing from every budget discussion of the School Committee is a discussion of the future; or, asking and answering the question: “and what about tomorrow?”

Examples of this failure to plan include the following:

The current proposed budget does not contain any money for teacher pay increases.  At current contractual rates the budget is at least $500,000 short maybe more.

The current proposed budget does not contain any money for legal settlements.  Today, the schools owe the former Assistant Superintendent $80,000 (not budgeted).  Perhaps next year’s budget should set aside at least $150,000 for legal settlements.

The current proposed budget contains at least $750,000 of grant moneys that expire next year.  When that money is gone then what?

The current proposed budget cut the fuel and utilities line items by at least $250,000.  When old man winter and Middle East unrest drives up the cost of oil then what?

The above list (and it’s a short one) totals more than $1.5 million in what if’s.    

Planning and discussing the "what if’s" is suppose to be the job of your School Committee.  They’re supposed to be thinking about the future and asking and answering the question: “and what about tomorrow?”

This Committee's failure to plan and envision the future should be alarming to parents, teachers and taxpayers.  The costs of this Committee's unwillingness and inability to discuss and plan for what’s next will be paid by many future generations of Sandwich students and the costs will be staggering.