It's been a few months, friends, since I've written. After the April election, I have continued to receive incredibly kind thoughts from community members about my write-in campaign. I've been asked to consider putting my name on the ballot in April 2017. This is something I'm very seriously considering and will be prayerful over in the coming months.
On Thursday, the Board will approve a FY16-17 budget. I'm unable to attend due to a previous commitment. However, since our 2016 election discussion was around the 2016-2017 budget and beyond -- I wanted to take this opportunity to offer a few thoughts on how we have moved forward in my opinion. General Thoughts: We have 2 new board members who I have confidence in and believe will encourage open dialogue among community members and also stand up for the staff and administrators of the district. I haven't met anyone yet who believes that hiring Jason Hoffman was a bad idea. His guidance and expertise was and is needed. Budgetary cuts are being felt in areas from PRIDE, athletics, extra-curricular activities. It looks like the administration is holding to their goal of trying to not allow the majority of students to 'feel' the cuts. Budget Thoughts (2016-beyond): The presented budget outlines and brings light to a few things that we knew or SHOULD have been more aware of as to our financial situation as a district. 1) We have been deficit spending for years. 2) Our tax levy ranks very low compared to our peers. 3) Our reserves of 15% after FY16 are below recommended amounts of approximately 20%. 4) Health insurance continues to be difficult for school districts to manage. 5) It's projected that at the end of 2017, reserves would be back up to 17.99% (from 15.67% on June 30, 2016) My Opinion: It's good to see a slight pay increase built in for non-scheduled staff. However, this is offset somewhat by the reduction in health insurance paid by the district. What's Next: The budget document touches on this, but we must talk about our school levy in a substantive way. My recommendation/thoughts would be that the district needs to open a dialogue now with citizens about what this could look like. I'm very fiscally conservative, for small government. However, if we are to meet our own expectations for: our students to have the quality teachers they deserve, technology resources to be successful in tomorrow's economy, and safe, maintained buildings -- then we must look at these needs and address them. For this to be successful, we must have leadership from our current Board. Other Board Items: The Board is beginning to think proactively and it's a good idea to put policies in place such as an advertising policy. We have been the recipient of support from outside organizations, and I hope that our Board is helpful in identifying and applying for opportunities for local and non-local business/philanthropic engagement. Closing Comments/Recommendations to Board Moving Forward: I'm definitely an outsider, still. Not living in the city limits and having a child regularly in the school activities makes observations more difficult. However, I do have a few thoughts on how the Board can continue to move in the direction that I feel will lead to success. 1) Stick with the monthly meeting schedule. While June 30 marks the end of the fiscal year, making very large decisions like the next year's budget should be when people expect the meetings to be. Making it seem "last minute" and on the last day of the fiscal year creates uncertainty and feeds into distrust, whether it's there or not. Some months, the board may need to meet in executive session outside of regular meetings. However, moving this meeting to the last possible day is a little frustrating and doesn't appear well to the outsiders. 2) Voice how you are listening to the people. Many people voiced opposition to PRIDE moving (including me, for full disclosure) but nobody from the Board reached out and has publicly addressed (other than savings) why this is necessary. Other concerns mentioned at during the comment period include spring break. That was proactively addressed. (Thank you). It was proposed originally that salaries would be frozen. Talk about how you are approving a budget that helps and provides small increases for staff to keep our quality staff -- that we care about retaining our faculty/staff. Some of these conversations (PRIDE) are awkward. Believe me, I work with an African culture daily. One lesson I've learned is that we (as Americans) need to embrace awkwardness more. It's healthy and creates better communication techniques if we aren't scare of awkward or possible confrontation conversations. These situations better allow us to understand each other. Avoiding is about the worst thing we can do, and we (as a society) do it too often. 3) Begin talking and holding meetings about the budget situation and do not wait until December/January to begin talking about a levy increase. If people don't show up, then it's their fault. We must try and begin now to talk about it. We need to learn from our past. I wish I could be there on Thursday to hear the discussion. I hope that the Board will take the opportunity and perhaps write a letter to the community about the progress and thank them for their interest over the last few months. We (as a community) deserve it. And we deserve a Board that engages with us. Reassurance from our leaders goes a long way. Direct board member communication is always greater and more impactful in these cases than administration communication. Thank you for reading, your support, and encouragement. I'm proud to be a resident of our district and of our administrative leadership. I'm passionate about our success today and in the future. Best, Craig
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AuthorHallsville resident. Foster Parent. School board member. Politico. Jesus Follower. Cardinals Fan #MizzouMade Archives
June 2020
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