Two comments are elevated to the marquee. Apologies for taking the "open thread" route, but I'll be out of Internet earshot until around 1:00 p.m., although iPhone monitoring isn't out of the question.
The topic: The school board's vote tomorrow night, coming exactly one week after the school closing plan was announced, and procedural ramifications therein.
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Nccondra has left a new comment on your post "Why us? Because Pogo was right, that's why.":
School board president Roger Whaley told Fox 41 News before the public hearing that it was possible at least one fellow board member would ask to vote separately on parts of the plan, particularly the closing of Galena Elementary School.
Has a decision already been made? “Particularly the closing of Galena Elementary School”? After the hearing was adjourned, board member Rebecca Gardenour asked if the board would vote for the entire recommendation or if items could be voted on separately, and Whaley responded that the board would have to have at least 4 members vote to separately vote on items.
Staged much? I shouldn't be surprised, because this is Floyd County, after all. The meeting hadn't even occurred, yet one board member was already planning to make a motion to vote separately on the closing of Galena. What voting separately on sending 5th graders to middle school? All of us completely understand the pain Galena parents are experiencing, and the frustration that it came so unexpectedly, with a very short time frame to respond.
However, it is downright vile that after over one year of gathering hundreds of signatures on petitions, attendance at three public hearings, a multitude of yard signs, and letters and calls of protest by citizens of New Albany to keep Silver Street open, Silver Street will probably not be afforded this consideration.
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The Bookseller has left a new comment on your post "Why us? Because Pogo was right, that's why.":
Nccondra, your points are germane, and I'll vouch for your NAC bona fides (NAC?). You've provided information I did not know previously.
But, just as with the current sewer imbroglio, it's all of a set, and each separate vote has a corresponding consequence. I can't imagine that pandering to a particular school zone would be considered viable or honest.
I'm hard to convince, and no one has yet convinced me that Silver Street's sitch is anything other than a manufactured plan to intentionally gut a neighborhood and county treasure.
"I won't maintain this school. I won't fund this school. I must close this school because correcting my neglect would cost too much."
Even the pretended "reason" is specious. "Too much?" Even with the intentional neglect, the cost is not too much under any analysis.
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19 comments:
I am disgusted that any of the school board members would want to vote on separate issues rather than the whole deal. Is it to save votes, position in the community? Is it something as nefarious as the divide between the "hill" and "valley" people. After all, if Galena is voted to stay open, then it's only the poor Title I's that get the shaft. It's my son that will have to pay the cost of these "savings."
As I had said in the meeting. There is way too much money mismanagement. We have schools that rival college campuses. No HS should have a planetarium when the Univ of Louisville's is less than 30 minutes away. The New Albany HS tennis courts are illuminated late into the evening, which, I am sure that is an expense incurred by the school corporation. No school should have to have multiple acres surrounding it with it's attendant maintenance (fuel for mowing, seeding, grading, etc). Fallow land still needs regular care to keep it from returning to a wild state.
Another point I brought up was the school corp's insatiable property purchases in the Uptown Neighborhood. They paid $125,000 for a home on Shelby St and tore it down for... steps into a field. Wow! I have no idea what the cost of demo was, but it sure is nice to see an empty lot where someone lived, paid taxes and property taxes. The same thing is happening on Myrtle, for a parking lot expansion. Again, they are paying $75,000 +/- for these homes only to spend more money tearing them down.
The school that my son is slated to go to will not have any children living in the boundaries at the rate of purchase and demo of properties. According to the redistrciting map, most of the area is industrial, the HS, Hazelwood and two cemeteries and various vacant lots to create "acreage."
Unfortunately, I am unsure of what the future holds, but letting the board members vote on each part is unfair to the whole. If they have hesitation about one part of the vote then they should table it for further discussion and not make the city's children pay the price alone.
I didn't see or hear the comments made by Whaley before the public meeting.
I did hear Rebecca Gardenour make her comments after the public forum. She said that she wanted the public to hear that the vote could be different.
If she was saying those things to assure the Galena parents that their school will be spared and if this actually does occure. I would not be able to leagally say what I would want to, here on this blog or in public without going to jail.
What is a community to do?
B. General Election (November 2, 2010)
July 21, 2010 First day for filing Petition of Nomination with Clerk of Circuit Court. (IC 20-23-4-29)
12:00 Noon Last day and hour for filing Petition of Nomination with Clerk of Circuit Court.
August 20, 2010 (IC 20-23-4-29)
This is off of the ISBA website.
It is not too late for Independent candidates to run.
A team of two city candidates and two county candidates could make a difference or even a threat of difference.
This could be preceded by Thursday's vote with a public announcement on the news or at the school board meeting.
A. Petitions of Nomination
Petitions of nomination are available from and must be filed with the clerk of the circuit court of each county. (Some counties have established county voter registration offices. School board candidates residing in these counties must obtain and file any petitions of nomination with the county voter registration office as opposed to the circuit court clerk’s office.) Candidates seeking election in a school corporation that is located more than one county must file their petitions with the clerk of the circuit court of the county that contains the greatest percentage of population of the school corporation.
The petitions are self-explanatory but basically require the candidate's signature and the signature of at least ten registered voters residing within the boundaries of the school corporation. (In some counties, more signatures are required. Candidates should check with the circuit court clerk to determine the number of signatures required.) Where the governing body selection plan requires residence in a specific district or voting in a specified district for any board member office, the petition must clearly state the residence or electoral district from or for which the individual is a candidate. (IC 20-23-4-29)
School board election is in May.
I do not believe this has anything to do with the School board election. It is my opinion that two of the members are trying to look good for the State Senate race.
Yes, your right.
Wishful thinking
Dose anybody know anything about current candidates.
I see that there are some from New Albany.
I know Tony R lives in downtown.
Who is K Cotner at Eastridge Drive NA,
James Dailey of Cherry Street NA,
or David Hines Lobo Ridge NA second disrict
Are these individuls worth supporting?
I know Tony has ran in the past for city council.
Admittedly, I do not closely follow educational issues. In the last few days I’ve been hearing stories about management missteps and waste at Floyd Co. schools. I have no idea whether these stories are true.
When property taxes were cut, the state told the municipalities that the municipalities will have to raise taxes. Depending on your point of view, the reason/excuse/justification for this was that more local control will help limit local waste.
Again, I do not know to what extent, if any, Floyd Co. schools is a wasteful spender. But if we assume that there always has been an element of poor financial management, why is it only now that people like me are hearing multiple examples of it?
Let’s assume that the only way to maintain the current level of government services is to raise taxes at the local level. Also, let’s assume that such a local tax increase, when combined with the property tax cuts, is more-or-less revenue neutral. Admittedly, there’s a lot of assumptions there, but if they’re all true, and if the end result is more local accountability because taxpayers more closely see the correlation between efficiency and their tax bills, then is this all a bad thing?
Dan, I don't think it's true that this situation leads to more local control and oversight.
Prior to the caps, we had much more localized funding than we do now. Even after an additional levy, the state will still be responsible for more funding than they were before.
The so called flexibility that's being offered as a make up call now just replaces some state stipulations with other state stipulations.
There's no reason state officials don't give us more actual flexibility and local control other than their unwillingness to do so. We have been losing that local control consistently, often under the guise of smaller government, for years.
Voters in Floyd Co. can choose to fund government as well as they think it needs to be funded.
If voters wanted it, we could implement a county wide (or city wide, or whatever) Economic Development Area and raise property taxes by what ever amount voters wanted them raised by. A local board would have 100% control over those funds. I can guaranty you there would be more local scrutiny of spending those funds than if the funds were pooled with remittances from other counties and sent back from Indianapolis.
Do I think that's a slam dunk to pass? No, because many voters are short sighted and don't give a damn about public education. Still, the option's out there, for what it's worth.
Dan~
I have TONS of documents showing where at least some of the money goes. I've dug as deep as I know how since May, 2008. Anything I have posted, I have documents to back-up.
"Voters in Floyd Co. can choose to fund government as well as they think it needs to be funded."
That's fundamentally not true. The state determines our property tax rates and local budgets, whether or not we have caps on them, what other funding streams we're allowed, what tax incentives we can offer, what qualifies for those incentives, and often determines how any money generated must be used.
We can complain about local fiscal management but the reality is we have no idea how municipal and school organizations would function if allowed more flexibility. The state very often handcuffs local decision makers and then blames them for results just the same.
Open it up and then we'll know. If Dan's theory of one particular revenue stream is true, it would play out even more so if most revenue streams were locally decided and implemented.
Is there are resource anywhere that shows what taxes are collected, and then how they are doled out? You know - something "transparent?"
BTW you're right
Suggestions
Both Pine View and CANA test in the lowest percentiles in the state why not combine these two schools closing one or the other.
If it were Pine View CANA would then need to be used to its full capacity, which it should anyway.
Implement all budgetary reduction other than the two remaining closings.
Administration pay reduction.
Extend Ed's amendment for five years instead of one. Or make it permanent.
Create a teacher retirement package for those teachers at retirement eligibility; replace with knew hires at half the pay.
The retirement package will be 1/2 the savings of the new teacher. The other half will go to operational cost.
A referendum to raise a tax to cover difference.
And possibly followed by a 1% pay reduction for teachers.
To make 6.5 million in permanent cuts will be difficult. It would be hard even if it was a one time issue. The state has said they may cut another 1.5% before this school year is over and pefrhaps another 500 million next year.
Danials, Bennett are no friends of public education. They are trying to kill it and are winning. Ed Clere is just as involved. He suggested turning silver street into a charter school. Remember they are funded at the expense of public schools and tony bennett's wife is the coordinator of charter school implementation. Also, until last week ed did not know what AYP stands for and he had never seen an ISTEP test even though he is on the education committee. He also sends his kids to private schools and his wife teaches at one.
Of the eight at large candidates, one is dave matthews wife, enough said. Another is too close to mrs wiseheart for me to trust, another sends his kids to private schools. Mtrs Anerson and mr. Boone look to be the best candidates. In the second district DJ Hines is unopposed but i think he will be a good member. Sakel chose to switch and run against whaley in the first district.I can see a political advantage for four people to tear this proposal apart and consider each item, Badger Byrd(assessor), Wiseheart(state senator) and Sakel(school board) because they have elections to win and gardenhour because she and wiseheart are joined at the hip. This would really tear the community apart by pitting school against school and parent against parent. We do not need this.
I do not think a referendum would have a chance. Only 20% of the homes in floyd county have children in school. Also I doubt that anyone with a child in private school is going to vote for a tax increase for public schools and there are a lot of these parents--holy family--perpetual help--st. marys--the other christian schools plus home schools. Add to that the economic climate and I do not think it would get done under any circumstances.There is blame here. The past school boards and superintendent did not trim enough fat---especially in the administrative end---BUT it would still not offset what is being done by people like daniels--bennett and clere.Those are the people responsible for this situation.
I'll preface this with disclosure: My wife is on the board of a local charter school.
Charter schools are hit and miss. I don't have a problem with them as long they are publicly funded and publicly accessible. I think some experimentation is good and can lead to methodologies that could and sometimes should be adopted in other public schools. They're actually scrutinized by both state government and Ball State regulators. When student and parent demand outstrips available seats, a blind lottery is held to determine who gets in so it's fair.
That's a whole different ballgame than private schools, though, who don't have the same level of scrutiny, get to pick and choose students, and don't carry the same level of responsibility to the public. Comparisons of public and private schools are routinely unfair.
Removing money from the public school pot and giving it over to private schools, as Clere supports, is wrong in my view, although as of January 1 of this year, he and others have been successful at making it active law.
If people want to cover their public responsibility and then pay extra for private education, that's fine with me but they shouldn't expect tax breaks in return.
Just for the record, Dan is right about the creation of an economic development zone, though they are usually much smaller in scope. They are enabled by statute, are formed by a majority in a specific geographic area, and spend their money as they see fit. Elected board members determine the uses. The only action taken by elected officials is ministerial - the auditor verifies the collected voluntary tax and the treasurer deposits it in the group account.
bluegill, what Dan is speaking of is something very specific and not what you were thinking he was saying.
I'm aware of what Dan is talking about. It's something that can occur on top of or in addition to everything else the state puts on us.
Again, I ask: Why doesn't local government work that way in general rather than requiring an additional levy and administrative body?
It's another layer rather than a reduction of layers.
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