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EducateWorthington.org

The 912 Project - Glenn Beck

912 Group of Central Ohio

Please let me know if you'd like your link added

Westerville warns of new cuts
If May ballot issue fails, school board says it will slice $2.3 million from budget
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Mary C . Bridgman
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

If voters don’t approve a 10.3-mill permanent levy for Westerville schools in May, the district says, it will shave $2.3 million more from its budget.

Officials also say that they would cut all extracurricular activities in August and close all schools for the day as students are dismissed.

Other cuts would include:

• Increasing the walking distance to bus stops from onequarter mile to one-half mile.

• Discontinuing transportation to magnet schools, among high schools and for students who attend private schools.

• No longer paying school board members. They are currently paid $125 per meeting.

"This is the most serious situation we’ve been in," school board President Cindy Crowe said.

No suburban district in Franklin County has made deeper cuts or asked students to pay more for athletics than Westerville.

Cuts total $15 million so far, and students paid $425 per sport last year. This year it cost students $275 per sport.

If voters approve the 10.3-mill permanent levy on the May ballot, the district would see financial stability for three or four years, Crowe said.

Already, real-estate agents are telling school officials that clients are avoiding Westerville because of the district’s financial problems, Superintendent George Tombaugh said.

The levy is "more than about schools," he said. "It is a community issue and has everything to do with the strength of the community."

If the levy fails, the school board could request a special ballot in August.

Without more money in the next year, the district will face a $20 million deficit next school year and have to borrow from future state allocations.

"We would no longer have control of our destiny," Tombaugh said.

Some district residents don’t realize the toll that cuts already have had on students, he said. Many middle-school and highschool students can’t get into classes they need.

"We’re trying to offer what’s left of our academics so students get some of the basics they need," Crowe said.

The 10.3-mill levy would bring in about $25 million a year, 82 percent of which would maintain current programs and cover inflation and the costs of the 600 students expected to move into the district in the next four years.

The remaining 18 percent would pay for intervention, smaller classes, more class choices and lower extra-curricular fees.

The levy would cost owners of a $100,000 home $315 a year, $184 of which would be new. The 10.3 mills includes a 5-mill replacement levy that expires this year.

Board member Mike Collins, father of a kindergartner, said he isn’t sure how long he’ll stay in the district if the levy fails.

"If we pass it now, the district and the community don’t miss too many beats," he said.

"If not, it not only sets the district back, it becomes an arithmetic progression."

mbridgman@dispatch.com  

It would be nice if someone from Westerville that has really been paying attention to what has been going on there could tell us what is really going on there.  

It would be nice if someone from Westerville that has really been paying attention to what has been going on there could tell us what is really going on there.

 Mike Collins is the former board president.  Last year the school board election was a 4 man race.  Voters were so fed up with Collins that he took 3rd in the 4 man race, his margin of victory was 126 votes (ea winner got @12000 votes) - was so close that state mandates brought in an automatic recount.  

If you want the history lesson click here for an old thread.

I live in Westerville and the thing I don't understand is this.  

If the May levy fails, everything gets cut and it is nothing short of Armaggedon- according to the school board.  

If the May levy passes, they have publicly announced intentions to hire 150 FTE's :blink:

 

Is there a general concensus amongest those voting "no" to what the problem is?

Is it possible the no votes are about the individuals involved in the process??

Is there a general concensus amongest those voting "no" to what the problem is?

Is it possible the no votes are about the individuals involved in the process??

I think that the failure of the November levy was clearly a referundum on the leadership.  The president almost lost his job to someone who had never been on the ballot before.  

People are voting no because they are saying property taxes are too high.   These voters are the seniors.  Seniors vote.  Demographics show that 70 percent of the households in the district do not have children attending school.  That hurts any chance for a ballot issue to pass.  

The other big factor is that school levies have been on the ballot 36 times in the last 40 years.  Voters perceive this as the school board always wanting more...and a lot of people think they are right.  

So this is the old perception/reality issue. It's the obvious reality that property taxes are out of control and there isn't any real leadership on the school board to speak of. Sounds like it's taken many different school boards to paint the current one into the corner it has found it's self in.

"Voters perceive this as the school board always wanting more...and a lot of people think they are right."  

First step is for people to recognize that the levies are almost entirely for support of the UNION, and the SCHOOL BOARD is simply failing in its long-term responsibility to represent the residents at the bargaining table!    

The UNION is ALWAYS wanting more, and is absolutley fine with demanding pay and benefits that continually exceed the pay and benefit increases of the resident population.  This cannot go on forever, and they may be nearing the end of the line in some districts! :unsure:  

Example:  In Worthington, average teacher pay over each of the last 5 years has increased at almost twice the rate of pay increases for the general population.  Again, do the math.  How long could the public possibly sustain this?

Better question, how long can the school board and leadership of the district possibly ask the residents to sustain this for the largest and most costly business in the community!!!

Another question, how long before the public comes to realize exactly what our public servants are willing to pay their UNION to do to the individuals and communities.  

Public Servant UNIONS out of control, and failure of leadership, if you ask me! <_<

Question:  On the May ballot, Worthington voters will be asked if 70% in pay increases over 7 years is evidence of sound fiscal management?  Thankfully, this only applies to the vast majority of younger educators, so it's really no big deal!!!! :blink:

Taavi:  Thanks for posting this article.  Any personal thoughts on it?

F II

Good to see you stopped by.  I saw the list of uncertified issues on the ballot and the Worthington levy is bigger than the Westerville one.  

I understand the Worthington school district has a shrinking population

Less students, more money :unsure:  

Atreides/FII:

The question of union contracts and union negotiations has come up in this forum and in the Worthington forum (and the SWCS forum last year) a number of times. Below is a link to the Ohio School Boards Association. Scroll down to "Online Training". The first module is called "Collective Bargaining Outlook for 2006". Clicking on this will take you to the actual presentation that OSBA gave school board members regarding what they could expect at the bargaining table. Get a cup of coffee before you start, the presentation is around an hour long, but it will give you a perspective that few people take the time to get. Unfortunately, you do not get the full flavor of the presentation from reading the slides, so settle in and have fun.

www.osba-ohio.org



 

Marc:  Boy, do you know how to have a good time, or what???   :lol:  

No, really, it sounds like fun(?), but I think maybe I'll do a root canal on myself tonight instead!! :huh:

On second thought, I'll try to take a look..........while I'm doing the root canal!!

Atreides:  Glad you're paying attention.  You might check out the Wothington Levy forum, as I'm curious if you have any thoughts on all the mindless blather I posted today.

Mindless blather is usually what happens when I go off of my meds!

Marc:  Boy, do you know how to have a good time, or what???   :lol: 

No, really, it sounds like fun(?), but I think maybe I'll do a root canal on myself tonight instead!! :huh:

On second thought, I'll try to take a look..........while I'm doing the root canal!!

Comments like these are what make you look foolish, FII.  You are given an opportunity to "educate" yourself on a topic you choose to debate, yet you make dumb comments like this before even reading the material.  

I have no idea what the presentation was, but if I were you I certainly wouldn't turn down an opportunity to possibly gather more input for my argument or to clarify something I originally had questions about.

Stop being so emotional and close-minded.   <_<  

[As school district finances continue to reach a critical level]

PI:  Hello.  

As "acquaintances", I accept your comments as a little "constructive criticism", and a little "simple misunderstanding".    Thanks, again, for sharing your perspective.  I have learned a bit about how words alone don't always convey the intended message, and that is very useful to remember!

As to the information Marc referenced, I have not viewed the presentation yet, but I have read the Executive Briefing on this seminar topic.  It was very interesting.

A few comments from the statewide Collective Bargaining Outlook for 2006, Board Brief:

"As school district finances continue to reach a critical level, negotiations are expected to become even more difficult."

"Employees, especially (teachers) are not retiring when they are initially eligible.  Instead, they are remaining in the district and in charge of the local unions.  They are looking to keep their insurance benefits unchanged until they do decide to retire and are looking for ways to boost their final average salary.  Incentives to retire are also of interest..."

"In summary, the climate for negotiations in 2006 is expected to be adversarial and narrowly focused on inidivdual districts' (and employee's) long-term financial health."

Thoughts, anyone?

[BIG]

FII

Health care is a BIG issue.  Older teachers are staying in and not retiring also because STRS has reduced its support of health care.  This has created a very large problem for more recent retirees (those without Medicare).  Retirement COLAS are not  and have never compounded while inflation does.  The laying off of teachers and the retirement of the higher paid teachers under retirement incentives has compounded the problem for STRS.  The entire system (education fiscal status) is out of balance.   The scene is not pretty.

The Shadow Knows :ph34r: