Berlin-Milan Schools

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Wed, 02/03/2010 - 08:01

Megalomania

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Joined: 11/28/2009

Points: 9

Taken from the schools web site...

“The School Officials Are Listening To Us”

A Recent History of Levy Attempts

When the Board decided to put an earned income tax (EIT) on the November ballot for the third time a common statement heard in the school district is that “The school officials are not listening to us.” The reverse of that was true, but this perception of those opposed to the EIT was present nonetheless.

Actually, the Board of Education had made a habit of listening and interpreting data regarding the preference of the public on school taxes. In the lead-up to the first time that the EIT was tried the Board members looked at other nearby schools who already instituted regular income taxes (RIT’s). It seemed that these schools were the most financially solid in the area since they did not return to the ballot very often, if at all, for needed operational funds. This fact was significant to board members.

Though the first attempt at the EIT was unsuccessful, it was thought that if some voters would understand more about the tax they would see that it was in their best interest to vote yes on the EIT the second time around. But, it first needed to be determined what the preference of voters actually was. They were faced with three logical choices: 1) an emergency property tax, 2) a regular income tax or, 3) an earned income tax.

A poll was taken to gauge public support for any and all of the three choices. The evidence showed that the clear favorite for those choosing to participate in the poll was the EIT. It could be argued that the poll was not scientific, but the data was nevertheless helpful in gauging public sentiment, and it was not intentionally skewed one way or the other.

The Board decided to try a second time for the EIT. In preparing for the second chance on the ballot for the EIT much public speaking and flyers were supplied to inform the public as much as was possible. The vote was 53% against and 47% for the issue. It was felt that the EIT was actually gaining ground and might have a chance the next time.

The third time the EIT was placed on the ballot was November of 2009. Before the decision was made to place it on the ballot the Board asked if more public surveys could be digested to help them decide. Two different professional firms helped us to do just that, at no cost to the district, and the results were almost identical to the earlier “unscientific” survey. That is to say that the clear favorite was the EIT even though it could not be shown that a majority of the public preferred it. In other words, it garnered a plurality of those who answered the surveys. The Board was listening and deciphering hard data with open minds.

The result of the third time on the ballot for the EIT was that it actually lost ground and it became even more obvious that some other levy format needed to be tried. Many of our resident voters told us exactly that.

After this third defeat we undertook a series of small group meetings to find out what voters were thinking, what constructive criticisms they had of our school district, and what they could support on the next ballot. These meetings also were accompanied by numerous face-to-face meetings between residents and school officials, and emails as well as letters.

Even on the eve of making another decision on the amount to be put on the ballot for the emergency property tax the Board is soliciting all comments from residents who choose to communicate with them. One event at the Berlin complex that was a new event designed to get public comment was a “coffee” in which member of the community could come to converse individually with Board members. More of these will be planned in the next few months.

We plan to reorganize our school district website in the coming weeks, and make more use of the instantly convenient emails, especially with parents. All of these extra avenues to communicate with the Board are now available whereas a few years ago they were not.

The increased communication has born fruit as evidenced by our changes in busing. For example, when people publicly criticized our two-mile limit policy we switched to our former one-mile policy. When people told us that they thought we were playing games with them concerning high school busing and that it had caused much public antipathy, we returned the high school bus services. In other words, we have listened and tried to please the public even in the face of being called flip-floppers.

Actually, we have done what we thought was good for children and families regardless of criticism. We ask only that residents keep an open mind on issues for which other people hold views opposite of their own.

One thing that is clear, however---we are listening and we are communicating. The difficulty is in determining what pleases 51% of the voters enough to vote for educational needs of children in Berlin-Milan.

Wed, 02/03/2010 - 08:05

Megalomania

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Joined: 11/28/2009

Points: 9

Another

You Came, You Spoke, We Listened…..

In the wake of failed levies we have sought to determine what the common will of the voters of our district is on major issues pertinent to our schools. Below are general themes of the concerns that we heard with some statements and questions that were commonly voiced under each of those themes.

1. Type of Tax requested of the Voters

--The earned income tax has been defeated three times; try something else.

2. Duration of Tax Issue

--A tax for perpetuity (forever) or ten years in duration is too long a time.

3. Amount of Tax Request

--Ask for what you need.

--Ask for what you think you can pass.

4. Busing

--Were you playing games with the voters?

--Reinstate High School busing since its elimination may have cost more in public goodwill than it saved in dollars.

5. Financial Forecast Uncertainty

--How much do we need to remain solvent?

--Why was the forecast very bleak one month but in better shape six months later?

6. Budget Cuts & Employee Pay

--You should cut your payroll expense?

--The last tax request was for $1.6 million so why did you waste time trying to save only $120,000 from busing?

--Why don’t you give the teachers a pay cut since other residents have experienced this?

--Break the contract and pay them less the way General Motors did.

7. Marketing of the School and Communication with the Public

--Give us a reason to vote yes on a levy by showing us what you are doing that’s exciting.

--Better communication with the public is important.

8. Pay to Participate

--Apply this fee to a wider group of clubs and activities.

--Do away with these fees.

…And We Are Responding

1. Type of Tax

--The Board of Education, after three unsuccessful attempts at and earned income tax has decided to ask for an emergency property tax on the May ballot.

2. Duration of Tax Issue

--This property tax will be for a five year period instead of ten as requested on the last ballot.

3. Amount of Tax Request

--The amount will be for either 5.9 mills or for 6.9 mills on real property. The Board will decide at the next regular meeting on February 10^th at 7:00 p.m.

--The 5.9 mills would generate just over $1.3 million and the 6.9 mills would generate $1.6 million.

4. Busing

--High School busing returned on Monday, January 25, 2010.

--The Board made the cut to save money, but under much criticism has decided the extra expense is worth the goodwill that it brings upon its return.

--We still are reaping substantial savings from the single run format unlike last year’s double run expenses.

--Savings would total roughly the cost of two teachers annually.

5. Financial Forecast Uncertainty

--Though a 6.9 mill levy would come the closest to bringing us solvency over the next five years, even with that amount the forecast is $400,000 in the red at the five year mark.

--Fluctuations in the forecast are due to many factors beyond our control. However, the budget cuts made subsequent to unsuccessful levies have made the forecast look brighter after the cuts have been made, and this causes much confusion among voters who think we found some money, which we have not.

6. Budget Cuts

--In the last five years we have cut $2.5 million. Most of that amount has been in jobs in the school that have been eliminated since we are a service industry.

--We have already cut approximately twelve teachers, several administrators and some educational aides so that the aggregate payroll is much less than it would have been.

--Breaking any labor contract is not a lawful way to proceed. The only reason that General Motors was able to do so was they declared bankruptcy, and it took the power of the federal government to make it work. In the end the union ended up owning a large part of the company.

--Any change in unionized employee pay by law is required to be filtered through the collective bargaining process.

--Bargaining of employee contracts will begin in the next few weeks.

7. Marketing of the School & Communication

--An administrator has been assigned the pursuit of tech grants, business partnerships, and teacher training on the use of technology in the instructional process.

--A new contract with an agency specializing in tech instruction for teachers has been signed.

--We are currently renovating our school website for greater effectiveness with the public.

--Our plan includes an increased use of e-mailing, especially to parents.

--Board “coffees” have been organized where the public can speak with Board members directly.

--Information from the small group meetings in the fall and the large public forum has been helpful in Board decision-making.

8. Pay to Participate Fees

--Though no changes in the fees have been made, the solvency of the school district brought about by the passage of a levy will bring about reconsideration of our current system.

Wed, 02/03/2010 - 08:12

Megalomania

Offline

Joined: 11/28/2009

Points: 9

Trust?

From the content of the two letters above, it is obvious that the underlying issue is a huge lack of trust with the current administration.

School Board, fix the trust issue and the rest will take care of itself. The question is, how do you restore trust with the people who pay the bills?

To me, the fix is simple and obvious.

Mega

Sat, 02/13/2010 - 11:24

AngelaZ

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Joined: 02/13/2010

Points: 1

From EIT to Property Tax

I and most I know here will vote no. Why? Because it's still for the same thing. An increase in wages for teachers and staff, better benefits, and money into their pension funds. You'd have to be an idiot to believe they'd give up that easily. After failing to get their perks 3x, they're still trying to squeeze you with a different tax. It will be interesting to see what the school board does just before the election. Remember how they tried to extort us by making the kids walk to school last time? Let's see how creative they'll get this time around.

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