An option for New Haven public schools

A few months ago I wrote about my defense as a school board member of East Allen County Schools. Much of this directly revolves around the economic forecasts of not only EACS, but public education throughout Indiana.

Now the debate has become focused on New Haven’s mayor advocating the possible secession of the city’s schools from EACS. I won’t discuss the educational reasons the mayor has listed for the proposal because I agree with many of them.

When I was a board member, General Fund revenues were generated by local property taxes. Now they come from the state based on student populations. The money now follows the student. This is a significant change because local school districts’ budgets are dependent on the state’s economy and financial status. Again, I am not going into the pros and cons of this change. The significant change is that student tuition follows the student throughout the state, not being generated from property taxes within the school district.

When I was in my last term on the board, the state authorized the limited existence of charter schools. I favored this because it created a competitive environment for public education. Charter student populations continue to increase in the Ft. Wayne area. This represents a significant budget loss for the local school districts. Yet, they continue to silently ignore this competition. They complain that budgets are in decline, yet fail to admit that charters are taking that money from them. There must be perceived reasons – real or not – why parents are using this option to educate their children.

I say all of this because a possible secession from the school district will hinge on the financing of the school district. As this issue is researched, would a new school district be able to afford a duplicative administrative structure? Doubtful. Would a new school district be immune from current capital debt obligations? Would they be trying to create new debt while paying for old at the same time? How does that protect local taxpayers? Starting a new school district means hiring an entirely new administrative structure, new classroom teaching structure, educational supplies, books, etc. A support staff would also be needed. Hire your own or contract for services? Perhaps contract with the old school district for support services. Can an entire K-12 program be created new for a community in a period of weeks? Doubtful.

The alternative which I suggested to the mayor a couple of months ago, but he dismissed at the time, was to pursue charter school management companies to implement a progressive program to meet the educational goals of the community. Companies could literally create competing programs designed to meet precisely the needs and desires a community would outline. Technically, the mayor has no authority to start charter schools, but if the area is fertile for a charter school, a management company could get authorization through Ball State University. Much – if not all – of the administrative work would be completed by the charter company. The state student tuition would follow the student. This option could be implemented much quicker than trying to establish an entirely new school district.

I agree with the mayor’s end goals – better educational opportunities for New Haven residents. Since my input was not sought, I offer it here to the public.

In defense of myself as a school board member

During the current debate over East Allen County Schools’ financial problems, there seems to be one recurring comment: many of these problems were caused by previous school board inaction.

Since I served on the board from 1992 – 2004, I feel many of the accusations are untrue. Since board decisions are obviously made by a majority of board members, whether I voted in the majority or not, the accusations still hit at me. There were also times and decisions that I participated in that in retrospect wish were made differently. Regardless, there were many issues that I supported that I felt – and still do – made the school district better.

When I joined the board, the district was in a financial mess. All employee groups were underpaid comparable to local competing school districts. Within four years that had been corrected. We were on par or ahead in a pay scale of neighboring districts.

When we hired a new superintendent in 1995, many transformational events took place. He was truly an “outside-the-box” thinker and recommended many new ideas that I supported. There were a few that I couldn’t support, many of them minor, but the most significant was the proposal to close New Haven Elementary. I vocally opposed that. And won. I would also point out that there were members of the New Haven community at that time that actually supported its closure.

During the 1990’s, student population growth was very slow. The plant closing of International Harvester a decade earlier had a significant impact on student population and the overall budget. There was stability. Although a local newspaper writer would always include a set of accusations against the district in virtually every one of her reports: the school district continued to suffer from declining enrollments and was guilty of racial isolation. Neither were true, but the public bought into them and still do somewhat.

While the board was accused of only being there to ensure the status quo of maintaining facilities, I pursued a goal of improving student academic achievement, recognition, expanded learning opportunities, parent input, and professional development.

I suggested that at the beginning of each school year classroom teachers provide a general syllabus – similar to one in college classes - for parents as a means to be more involved in what was happening in the classroom. Even though there was significant resistance from the teachers and administrators, we got it through. Beyond my expectations, the idea eventually expanded to include online access for parents to view weekly classroom assignments and eventually a reporting system for assignment grades of the students that parents could view. There was also a direct email access for parents to the teachers. Our school district was the leader in the county for this unique access between the parents and the classroom. I believe this was the greatest achievement as a member of the board.

When entering any of our high schools, each had a large display area dedicated to historical athletics, as do most high schools. While I had no problem with that, there was virtually no praise for academics. I proposed that there exist an area for recognition for current and past valedictorians and salutatorians. Only one school made an effort to equate the size of that with sports. Isn’t that what school is for? Academic achievement and recognition. The board also instituted a recognition reception for each year’s vals/sals and their families.

Some other items that I was responsible for: advanced communication between facilities that allowed for classes to interact between facilities. College classes were offered for students through this system. We expanded the college connection program for eligible students so they may gain both high school and college credits. Instituted a continuous improvement program for classroom teachers. Some thought it to be excessive evaluations, but rather an opportunity to offer critique to other methods of instruction. In the area of the budget, I notified the district that they could establish a rainy day fund that many other governmental agencies had. The business manager was not aware of the recent laws allowing for this budget line item. We improved the heating and air conditioning systems in every facility. Several had no air conditioning and we had that installed – New Haven Elementary being the most notable. I was the one that suggested and saw to the improvements in the needed lighting updates for the New Haven HS football field. During the late 1990’s, the local hazardous waste dump facility wanted to expand. The mayor of New Haven at the time was fighting in court to stop it (and won). The company apparently had made overtures to the district asking for our support of the facility – less than a couple of miles from some of our school facilities – in exchange for some financial donations. I was adamantly opposed to this.

There were some other issues that on reflection I wish had been done differently, but didn’t know how. I did stand to improve the school district. I defended it when it was justified and criticized it when needed. I also feel one aspect of my role as an elected official was to represent voters, listen to their concerns and solve issues effectively. I may not have always satisfied every individual, but I was pleased at the many issues that were resolved.

In all, I feel I performed more than adequately in my role as school board member and find it very disconcerting that I have been maligned or “thrown under the bus” to advance an agenda for today.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!