CG School Board meets, listens, acts

Ken, that’s why the referendum failed. The voters of WRT did not trust the CG school board to be good stewards of taxpayer money, nor did they trust what they said.

As far as the school board not following through on all of their plans, I will side with Jody right now – they got the message, and hopefully will come up with better plans for cuts.

Thyra:

There’s one plan I’ve seen that would have no impact on students in the classroom (though it admittedly would on teachers).

http://www.centergroveinc.org/2010/11/08/resident-presents-plan-to-balance-budget-keep-teachers/

If the Center Grove Educational Foundation wants to raise money, have them raise it to offset the proposed 4% salary cut – or the one-time transfer of funds between cuts could help offset it.

Does anyone other then me have a deep mistrust of the school corporations financial officer. Who is watching what this guy does…ENRON comes to mind
Who has over site for this guy?

He works in committee and the Finance Committee has several members all appointed by the School Board. The Board is the oversight and the one that should be mistrusted. The Finance Committee recommended over 3.4 mil in cuts and not one classroom teacher or assistant was slated to be cut. The School Board did not accept the Finance Committees recommendation and what we ended up with was a lot of cuts targeting education.

Randy,
Please check your facts before throwing out accusations about administrators and comparing them to a crook. Dr. Gabriel is an honest hardworking individual who does the best he can with the resources he has. He works countless hours on the weekdays, evenings and weekends preparing the budget and working with the superintendant and board members. He is not by any means the person who spends the money he just communicates to the board and administration what money is where. He is under the superintendant, has Asst Superintendants, finance committees, and the board all reviewing his reports and actions. Not to mention the state auditors who review all our financial records every two years.

.

Joe,
Yes, I saw the plan proposed by Mr. Mikel but I do not believe it is fair to ask the teachers to take a 4% pay reduction. The community did not want to pay more in property taxes but yet it is fair for the teachers to take a pay reduction – something does not add up. Things need to change in education – we need to look at what is not working in the curriculum – what is no longer needed – education in America has not really changed – we are still on the agrarian calendar – year around school should be an option, etc.

oh , i will add one more thing Thyra. We in the public already pay their wages so it is time for them to put some money in the pot.

OK Thyra, so if you don’t want teachers to take a paycut, how about letting the Center Grove Educational Foundation raise the money so they don’t have a paycut?

Heck, if they raise more, let the teachers have raises.

David,
1) STEP are still pay increases no matter how you slice it.
2) It is more like the teachers union which by the way only represents 45% of the teachers by membership. They did the work slow down, which was idiotic. They also seem to have an air of entitlement. Yes it is about the teachers union versus the public/students. You are being selfish in not wanting to take a temporary small pay decrease to enable fellow teachers to keep their jobs.
3) Actually teachers represent a fractional percentage of people in our community so their contributions to our property tax base is insignificant. So lets not push how much they pay towards their own salary.
4) I am about cutting waste but their are no more cuts that can make up the difference. The fact is who ever said that teachers cannot take temporary pay cuts? Why do you think you are better than any other person who has in the real world?
Would you not agree the temporary wage cut is better than having fellow teachers and aides laid off? I have an idea for teachers who cannot listen to some sense of reason, go and teach in another district. We will have 50 applicants for your position to chose from. I would of hoped the teachers and union (they are not the same) would do whats right, however it seems that may not be the case.

Why is it that now that the reality of cutting has to take place, we don’t see more unity in making sure everyone who is considered a valued member of the school system is saved from a job cut? The teacher’s union should step up the plate and take charge before they are asked to do something. The administration should look at ways they are making a cut. Which group took the largest cut last year since the corporation stated they had already cut 2.5 or so million? The same group shouldn’t be the only one taking cuts as everyone should be sharing the impact equally and fairly.

Try driving past local food pantries at distribution time. You might gain a different perspective.

Thinking Out Loud,

You’re right – retail along 135 is relatively healthy, but the problem is taxes from those businesses are going to Greenwood, NOT Center Grove schools. The annexations of our community are driving strong divisions in what makes Center Grove special.

The school district is funded through assessed property values in White River Township, which we all know what the story is with that. We need to come together as a community, and last Monday’s school board meeting was an extremely encouraging sign of involvement. Our neighbors care about the direction of the community – but we MUST to stay active.

Brian,

You may be correct, but my comments had nothing to do with taxes, school districts, etc.

I was merely commenting on Rich’s statement that: “Everyone else in the community is having to make do with less in this poor economy.”

Personally, I just don’t see a poor economy or very many people in our area making do with less.

It seems we can for the most part agree the referendum didn’t pass because people did not trust our Board to spend the money wisely. On the referendum itself, we’ve all read in the Journal how the committee overspent money they didn’t even have. Not saying much for anyone from a financial perspective. There are too many ways to make smart cuts aside from head count reduction in the classroom and administration. Our kids are involved in sports and the arts, and they spend a lot more money to be in the arts than they do to play in sports. Pay for play is a fair way to have athletics step up to the plate some. Look at the football sidelines during a varsity game…doesn’t it take 11 offense plus 11 defense and some backups to play a game? Maybe fifty max? Why do we have 75 or maybe even more standing around on the sidelines, paying for transportation to and from games, etc.? The Board needs to engage the community and others for suggestions – there is plenty of low hanging fruit to take advantage of while we avoid increasing our class sizes.

>> Personally, I just don’t see a poor economy or very many people in our area making do with less. <<

Go hang out with the township trustee – he ran out of money this year to help people who were in need due to demand and had to get more from the township board.

And you neglected to mention Mount Pleasant's food pantry off Bluff between County Line and Fairview. You know, the one that had to drastically grow their parking lot to handle the crowds showing up in need of food.

Just a couple more data points to ponder while you count cars on SR135.

You are correct you & I live in an affluent area with lots of nice houses and businesses.

However, if the community (and state) were doing well, tax collections would not be down to such a level that we’re having this discussion.

If you think we’re doing so well, I suggest you call your local legislator and tell them to start the process of raising taxes. Surely such an area awash in cash could handle higher taxes.

And let me know how that phone call goes for you.

Somer
First
You are correct that the tax referendum failure was a message to the board that tax payers do not trust they have anything but their own selfish motives at heart. The board must build trust with the community and act responsibly by focusing on education. Start by implementing “pay to play” for all sports and people will take notice the board and administration got the message from the referendum defeat.
Second
The teachers need to lose the entitlement mentality and realize they are part of the problem. If they do not like it…leave, there are more talented teachers looking for jobs then we will have openings. Workers in every industry are going without raises and being asked to more with less, teachers are not special.

Somer when you say those in music programs spend more than those in sports – perhaps at the school, however, many of those playing varsity sports are spending 1000s of dollars to play club volleyball and soccer just to maintain their skills in order to play at the high school or to try and play in college. Plus the major difference between being in band and choir or playing a sport is that you are guaranteed to sing or play but making a sports team is no guarantee that you will play. I would imagine with going to pay to participate those extras you see on the sidelines will be gone because their parents will not pay, however on the other hand those young men standing on the side may like being a part of a team even if they are not playing – it gives them a connection to high school. One way to cut costs for band and choir is to do less contests and travel. When I was in my choir – we had one costume and did not travel to Florida for contests.

RE: WRT Poor Relief fund: The budgeted amount for 2010 has been used and the trustee had to transfer funds from other areas of the budget to cover the additional demand. For 2011 the poor relief area of the budget was increased to over $140,000 and the TAX RATE was reduced to zero since the township has $600,000+ in the bank. Find the details here: http://bit.ly/arWOlw that page also contains a link to the actual budget.

Ann
For the record I have had children in the CG school system for over 15 years. In that time I have been a parent volenteer in the class room many times. I have Also been in many conversations with teachers, coaches, principles and administraters during those years. It has always amazed me at the level of arrogance displayed by teachers. Not all teachers, there have been a few that truly care, but most are only interested in themselves. Finally, I point to tenure as the most glaring example of the entitlement mentality of educators. There is no other industry where an employee can reach a status where they can not be terminated for not doing their job….can you say entitlement?