School Board

Today's News-Gazette:

Urbana High School is facing restructuring after five years of groups within the school failing to meet testing benchmarks set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. As a result, the district needs to come up with a plan that is approved not only by the Urbana school board, but also by the Illinois State Board of Education.

Though the Urbana board approved a plan earlier in the spring, passing the state board is proving a hurdle. The Urbana-board-approved restructuring plan called for extra time for freshmen and sophomores to work one-on-one with teachers in subject areas in which the students need help, as well as more frequent classroom evaluations.

But the Urbana board did not approve a new $70,000 administrator position for evaluation and accountability, one recommendation from the original restructuring plan.

And on June 4, Carol Diedrichsen of the state board told the district that the restructuring plan "does not sufficiently describe a change of governance as required by law. ... The plan needs revision to include the structure for accountability, monitoring and support necessary to effect significant change in instruction."

Discuss.

Today's articles about the Jon White travesty are a follow-up to yesterday's "How Could This Happen" series.

First, Districts more careful about who comes in contact with children:

As for mandated reporting, Williams said, staff members "get information when they're hired, and then also at the beginning of the year."

Staff members must all sign a sheet stating that they understand they are mandated reporters. As well, he said, in the first in-service meeting of the school year, they get training on mandated reporting, another new element.

Training staff on mandated reporting is one way schools can make a difference in recognition and response to child sexual abuse, said Charol Shakeshaft, the author of a U.S. Department of Education-sponsored paper on educator sexual misconduct and an educational leadership professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.

"Training in this area needs to be done regularly," she said. "It needs to be done every year."

Second, Urbana getting bigger legal bills:

In invoices dated Feb. 15, 2007, and March 23, 2007 – just after White's charges were filed – the district received $24,928 in legal bills from Weedman's firm. In the previous two months, the district received $7,307 in legal bills from Weedman's firm.

The Urbana school board hired a separate firm, The Taylor Law Office in Effingham, specifically for the purpose of evaluating the district's response to concerns about White and to look at its policies.

Bills from the law firm – one from April 2007 and one from June 2007 – show the school district has already paid at least $42,804 for the external review.

Third, 2002 case strikingly similar to White case:

If the case of Jon White feels eerily familiar to some East Central Illinoisans, there's a good reason.

In 2002, Gerald Scott Huddleston, then a teacher at Chatsworth Elementary School in Livingston County, was charged with committing oral sex acts against young girls.

The circumstances of his acts read like a playbook that White – who attended nearby Illinois State University at the time – could have followed: bringing students to the classroom to help with cleaning, blindfolding students and having them perform a "tasting game."

Huddleston was convicted on three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault, and is now serving life in prison at Menard.

Discuss.

I've obtained this memo sent to Champaign County Board members outlining the announced plans of each of the County's school districts if the proposed one percent sales tax increase for education facilities passes in November.

There's no real new information in this, but it is a very useful summary of plans.  You can read the whole thing yourself, but you'll note that every district which has existing debt is currently promising to use sales tax revenue to abate or eliminate that debt (and reduce property taxes as a consequence), although the amounts vary.

Key information to remember (taken from the memo):

Each of the Boards of Education of the 14 school districts in Champaign County has passed a resolution requesting that the Champaign County Board put the question of imposing a 1% sales tax for school facility purposes for submission to the voters of Champaign County at the November 4, 2008, election. If this resolution passes and the County Board implements the full 1% sales tax, the revenue can be used for the following purposes:

• Pay for projects as you go
• Leverage revenue for current needs (use revenue to pay for bonds)
• Retire existing debt issued for capital purposes (abate taxes)
• Any combination of the above

Discuss.

long post with with hopefully some answers...

I have been reading with interest the continual comments about the County Wide Schools Facility Tax. It has now been approved by every school district in the county by, I believe, a unanimous vote by each individual board. I certainly see that there are myriad questions about the tax and just as many perceptions good and bad about the potential for the tax.

Though I cannot speak for any other school district besides Unit 4, I will try to answer some of the comments that have been asked on this blog...

1. Why go for the Max 1%? 
   Frankly, I don't think the ILGA intended for the TAX to be used as a mechanism for Property Tax relief. I think they intended to try and help school districts by providing another mechanism to fund capital projects. I may be wrong in that belief, but that is what I think. That being said, when the districts in Champaign County got together at the Regional Office of Education to discuss this tax, the key thing that we in Unit 4 talked about was that we would not support this new tax without some kind of relief for property owners. We feel that it is imperative that any reductions that can be made are made. IF we were to ask for 1/4%, we would be able to abate the same 9-10 cents /100 EAV that we are allowed to with this tax (AGAIN IT IS ONLY FOR CONSTRUCTION DEBT AND FACILITIES ISSUES, NOT SALARIES). That abatement in Unit 4 is approximately $15M. That is all the debt we have out and al we can abate with this potential revenue source. People can say all they want that it is not enough and I would totally agree. However, it is all we can do.

   If our only goal was to abate property taxes, then we would simply go for 1/4%. actually it begs the question if we are not going to do anything new other than pay off one type of debt with a different revenue stream, why would any district do that. In order to have construction bond debt, a district had to ask the voters for approval for property tax increases to begin with. Why would a district go back to the voters to ask for approval to do the same thing with a different source of income. Doesn't make sense to go back ask for something you already have

   This revenue source can be used for additional stuff, hence the 1% request. In Unit 4, we can dramatically increase the efficiency of our bldgs and put in A/C. Everyone of us works in an air conditioned environment and I often wonder why teachers and students should be asked to do something different than what we all do... We can also satisfy the consent decree requirements for the additional seats north of university ( yes I know that not everyone agrees with this, BUT it is a legal settlement that past boards agreed to and it is not open for contestation in court). We can update the infrastructure to support the computers needed for today's learning environment. We could build a school south of University if needed. More to come later on this subject. 
   If another district wants to post about their plans, that would be great.

2. Why are you doing to reduce the cost of doing business?
   Since I have been on the board, we have delayed a textbook adoption by one year, saving the interest on $700,000. We have refinanced debt at a much lower rate saving several hundred thousand dollars in interest payments. The night I was elected the previous board cut $2M in annual expenditures, We have bought lower priced energy through co-op arrangements, we have not filled at least 15 positions that I am aware of off the top of my head that have been vacated and we decided not to fill them to save money. Just a name a few of the items...

   Each year staff throughout the district ask the board for programs to increase this or that. The vast majority have been met with good idea, but we can't afford it right now. Even this week we were presented with middle school athletic program additions, last month it was additional foreign language offerings.

   All of these ideas are terrific and the vast majority need to be added as soon as possible. However, they can only be looked at as part of a total budget package. An individual request for $100K in expenditures seems insignificant in a $95M operation, but we get 10 such requests/ideas a month. Those add up to a major deficit.

   2 months ago the board was asked to give a list of programs we would like to add because they are things that community members have asked us to do. That "dream sheet" combined with staff requests added up to close to $28 Million dollars for year!!!! Obviously there is no way we can or will approve that kind of increase.

   On another note, Schools are highly regulated about how we spend and collect taxes. The hold the line/reduce costs items are typically found in the Education fund/Transportation areas. Taxes are levied into individual funds and increases are limited by PTELL. Those hold the line/reduce costs are not generally found in the O and M and Health Life Safety areas. These are generally low Levy's and are not near enough to pay for recurring costs as facilities get older and older. Look at some of the facilities in Unit 4 and the county and you can see just how much cost reduction there is when it comes to stretching the maintenance dollar. Those folks are masters of stretching a dollar for building issues.

3. This is simple a "Bait and Switch"For some this is a tax increase. (those who don't own property in Champaign County)

   For others this will be a tax decrease (those who own property in a district that plans to abate some portion of the property tax bill related to construction debt and who don't spend as much on the retail goods) I suspect a good portion of the 'middle" class will fall in this area at least in Unit 4)

   For others it will be a wash. It will reduce property taxes and you will spend enough on taxable items to negate the property tax savings.

   If anyone is saying that some will not pay additional money in their total tax package (property, income, sales, etc) they are wrong. Some will pay more and some will pay less, most will probably pay about the same... those are the facts.

   However, for the same amount for the property owner, the schools throughout the county could be greatly improved.

   If facilities don't matter, than why do so many people ask me why we can't have facilities like Normal Unit 5? I am asked that often.

I am sure that I will have more later. Especially a detailed plan about how we in Unit 4 will spend this revenue if approved. Including a mechanism for accountability.

If you have any questions, you can feel free to contact me at tomlindw@comcast.net or 217-202-6841

Dave Tomlinson, President
Champaign Unit 4 Schools Board of Education

Another school board goes on the record supporting a massive tax increase, hoping to distract voters by talking about miniscule property tax relief.

Board members voted 5-0 at a special Wednesday meeting to support the tax. Members Val Woodruff and Tom Harpst were absent.

The 1 percent tax has enough support for the Champaign County Board to put it on the November ballot.

Board member Max McComb wanted to know when the district would reveal a plan for what it would do with the tax money if it passes, especially related to property tax relief.

If this were really about property tax relief, then the districts should ask for a smaller sales tax increase which is more nearly the equivalent of the property tax reductions being promised.

But it's not about property tax relief.  It's about getting the maximum possible tax increase, much larger than necessary to provide the maximum allowable property tax relief.

Both Champaign Unit 4 and Rantoul Township High School boards have voted to support a November ballot question asking voters for a one percent sales tax increase to support education.  Both Districts are using a miniscule amount of property tax relief to mask their request for the largest-possible tax increase, as have most other area school districts, and most media reports are emphasizing the property tax relief as if it somehow offsets the sales tax revenue which will be generated.

It will be interesting to see if the County Board puts the full one-percent increase on the ballot, or if they settle for a smaller amount.

And it will be interesting to see how long the "this is about property tax relief" storyline is allowed to play out before people realize that the sales tax revenues of a one percent increase are several times larger than the maximum amount of property tax relief allowable.

Unsurprising:

The Urbana school board passed a resolution Tuesday night calling for a 1 percent countywide sales tax to be put on the November ballot.

With its vote, 11 school districts in the county have now passed such a resolution. Those districts represent almost half of the county's school enrollment, said Jane Quinlan, superintendent of the regional office of education. State law provides that districts representing at least 51 percent of the county's school enrollment can place a tax question on the ballot by approving a resolution such as Urbana did.

A county policy committee will discuss the proposed sales tax at a meeting tonight.

The Urbana school board also passed a resolution Tuesday pledging to use a portion of the money it would receive if such a tax passes to abate property taxes. The resolution states that the district would use $1 million annually to pay off building bonds.

"It's the first step in moving away from a total reliance on property taxes," said Urbana school board President Mark Netter.

From today's News-Gazette:

Board member Valerie Woodruff said she's been approached by individuals who don't know much about the tax but are automatically opposed to new taxes.

But when board members explain that it could provide some property tax relief, "they're good with it" said board member Max McComb.

But one of the forum's attendees, Lea Ehrhardt, said she's not so sure that property tax relief will happen.

"The lottery was supposed to help pay for education. It didn't work," she said. "It looks like a good deal but it doesn't seem to happen that way."

She and two other attendees, Eric Thorsland and Joe Tandy, all said they'd like to see some sort of clause in the legislation that provides for an end to the tax unless it's reapproved by voters.

People are right to be skeptical.  Even in the best-case scenarios, residents of two school districts in Chamapign County would get absolutely no property tax relief, and residents of other districts would get much less property tax relief than this new tax would generate.

The Unit 7 School Board has fallen in line behind a countywide sales tax for education capital projects.

Unit 7 school board President Fred Koss reported that he and Superintendent Michael Shonk had attended a meeting at the Regional Office of Education with representatives from districts throughout Champaign County.

"There was virtually unanimous support for the sales tax," Koss said.

Shonk said he has been asked what Unit 7 would do with the revenue.

"My intent would be to pay down our bonded indebtedness," Shonk said.

Shonk added that could be combined with a new construction project such as renovating, expanding or replacing the 50-year-old Unity High School.

"I thought we were 12 years down the road with this (high school project), but it could be as little as eight, depending on what happens with this," Shonk said.

Shonk plans to send information about the proposed sales tax to both county board members and members of the Champaign County Farm Bureau.

"The key to the whole thing is property tax relief," Shonk said.

Actually, the key is promising a tiny amount of tax relief in the hopes that voters will support a much larger increase in sales taxes.

There is another batch of Great Schools Together community forums:

The schedule for the upcoming forums is:

– 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Washington Elementary School, 606 E. Grove St., C. Topic: Excellence and Equity.

– 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 5, Garden Hills Elementary School, 2001 Garden Hills Drive, C. Topic: Programs.

– 2 to 4 p.m. May 18, Barkstall Elementary School, 2201 Hallbeck Drive, C. Topic: Buildings.

– 10 a.m. to noon, and 2 to 4 p.m. May 31, Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, 1310 N. Sixth St., C. Open topic forums, with a cook-out between forums.

This is really cool:

WILL AM-FM-TV is videotaping interviews at each forum and posting them on a Web site dedicated to the school planning process. It is http://will.atlas.uiuc.edu/greatschools.

Discuss.

Urbana's School Board has passed a restructuring plan for Urbana High School:

Several members of the board voiced approval with the bulk of the plan, including extra time in the school day to create a study session where freshmen and sophomores could meet with teachers in subject areas in which they wanted extra help.

"It's a scheduling nightmare, but we are going to do it," said UHS Principal Laura Taylor of the extra time. She said initiatives in the high school improvement plan included staff serving as personal academic supports for students, attendance initiatives, parent access to grades and the elimination of remedial classes.

The restructuring also included two full-time teachers to cover the extra instruction time of the daily study sessions.

The sticking point came when looking at creating an administrative position for evaluation and accountability – a person responsible for analyzing and reporting what programs are working within the district.

The position would cost $70,000 – a figure board members Cope Cumpston and Brenda Carter said they felt could be better used for direct work with students.

Cumpston also took issue with the time the board had to evaluate the plan, saying she wished there had been more collaboration in its creation. "The board is often consulted very late in this process," she said.

Discuss.

Another step forward.  At this point, the only question is how large of a sales tax increase will the County Board put on the ballot.

The Champaign school board will vote Monday on a resolution stating its commitment to lowering property taxes by way of the countywide sales tax. It meets at 7 p.m. at the Mellon Administrative Center, 703 S. New St., C.

The resolution does not ask for the sales tax question to be placed on the November ballot. That action will come in May, said school board President Dave Tomlinson.

"Our No. 1 priority is property tax relief," Tomlinson said.

If the tax is put on the November ballot and passes, the Champaign district would use some of the revenue to pay off the bonds used to finance building Barkstall and Stratton elementary schools, renovating the building that houses the Early Childhood Center, and making improvements at Central High School. The district owes about $15 million on the bonds, Tomlinson said.

A state law passed last fall allows school districts representing 51 percent of the school enrollment in a county to request a ballot question. If voters approve the sales tax, the revenue is divided among school districts according to enrollment. They can use the money to build new buildings, renovate existing ones, do safety or energy conservation work, or pay off building bond debt.

If a 1 percent sales tax were passed in Champaign County, and spending remained the same as in the last fiscal year, the tax would bring in about $17 million, of which $6.8 million would go to the Champaign district. That means it could issue about $70 million in bonds. The district might use the tax revenue to build new elementary schools, renovate buildings to add air-conditioning, add technology infrastructure and make them more energy-efficient, or do life-safety work, Tomlinson said.

At least they're talking about property tax relief, but the amount for Unit 4, for example, is miniscule compared to the amount that sales taxes will be increased.

The NG article is here http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2008/03/13/officials_disappointed_with_planning

The turnout was very low (under 100), but not surprising given the community mood. It brings to mind around a year ago when all eight BOE candidates were saying almost with one voice, "The community-school relationship is broken". It was often the first issue that came up in forums and discussions, it was likely the only issue that all of the candidates agreed about. Interestingly, there was some discussion about whether community forums are an effective way to reach 21st century Americans. It was suggested that perhaps we need blogs, chat rooms, and radio call-in-shows along with other non-electronic techniques for extracting community opinions about the school system.

One thing I know we cannot do was expressed privately by a senior administrator during the forum. That person said, "People complain all the time and then they don't come to talk, its apathy." I don't agree. The district cannot get resentful or defensive that people aren't coming to forums, they have to try something until it works. A "good faith effort" isn't good enough.

Maybe we need to come up with a controversial threat to get people riled up. (like We're going to bulldoze Barkstall and replace it with a dog park.)

Teachers like incentives and competition, perhaps we have each school host a forum and the school with the largest participation rate compared to its population gets a prize. (A cheap option would be for the winning principal to get to move five maintenance items to the top of district's 500 item todo list.)

WCIA's advertising their Home and Garden Show with raffles in place and they just want to sell you stuff. There is a $5000 prize and a $1000 prize to try and get people to come out. It couldn't hurt.

I'm really getting tired of so many people saying "we can't" rather than figuring out how to get it done. The official reason given at the forum for why we can't have an interactive blog is because there are no resources for an administrator and it takes so much time. WHAT?! It may not be trivial but isn't hearing from our community worth some resources? It doesn't feel like there is a lot of "want to" involved here.

Maybe it is as simple as simplifying the process.
Can we ask, "What are the top ten things we need to do to make Champaign Unit 4 the best K-12 education in the state?"

The first Champaign Unit 4 "Great Schools Together"community forum will be tonight at 6:30 PM at Centennial.

Please find attached pdf flyers for the first of the Unit 4 Community Forums to be held for the purpose of listening to the community about our schools. It will be held at Centennial High School March 12 at 6:30 pm.

(beware, personal opinion)
While I am not yet confident in this process, I hope everyone can take advantage of the opportunity to speak up regarding how our kids are "employed" each day. I believe that decisions are made by the people who show up. If we show up and the process fails us - we can move on from there. If we fail to show up then at least some of the failure of Unit 4 is directly on us.
(end of editorial)

There is poster and also 4 cards to a page to pass out to people. If you have facility to print these out on brightly colored paper and hand them to people you know, plaster them around town, e-mail them to your most distant acquaintance, please do. In the near future, Unit 4 will be providing a location where you can pick up the posters already printed. I will send that out when I have it.

The goal is to have everyone with something to say, including people without a connection to the schools, come to the forum. Many times, the discussion itself prompts your own opinion so you don't have to come with an axe to grind - just come and participate. The forum will be that everyone is divided into small groups of 15 or less so there is no public speaking involved. The plan is for there to be at least ten forums but this first one will help us run all the rest.

For more info go to www.greatschoolstogether.org

From yesterday's News-Gazette:

At its Tuesday business meeting – held at 7:30 p.m. at the Burkholder Administrative Service Center, 205 N. Race St., U – the board will hear from Mary Kane of Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. about the County School Facility Sales Tax law, which allows school districts in a county to collectively put a proposal before voters for a countywide sales tax to raise money for school facilities.

The county's public schools would share the tax money proportionally if the proposal passes.

"We are researching it, looking into it, but it's too early to talk about collaboration or cooperation between superintendents," Urbana Superintendent Preston Williams told The News-Gazette earlier this month. "In the future, it's something we'll be talking with each other about."

Discuss.

UPDATE:  A follow-up article from the NG:

The new tax would require the approval of school boards representing at least 51 percent of the enrollment in the county, or approval of the county board, to get on a ballot.

From there, taxpayers vote, and if it passes, the county board decides whether to approve the tax and for what percentage. Though an approval would mean a higher sales tax, it may mean districts would levy a lower property tax.

From an email:

We received a legal opinion from our attorney regarding the practice of daily prayer by Muslim students in our schools.  According to our attorney’s analysis of legal statutes and case law, the District’s past practice of allowing the students a designated time and place to practice their religion is appropriate.  The District does not encourage or participate in the practice of said religion, but, neither do we inhibit the student’s practice of his religion.  Staff has reported that providing a designated place for a Muslim student’s daily prayer is less disruptive than forcing the students to seek random accommodations for the practice of their religion.  
 
I understand your concerns, however, to change our current practice could violate the rights of students.  This practice applies to all students.  Thank you for communicating your concerns.  
 
Arthur Culver

Discuss.

There are some Champaign Unit 4 School Board members (Greg Novak, Kristine Chalifoux, others?) on WDWS' Penny for Your Thoughts right now, discussing the Vision Committee.

From Saturday's News-Gazette:

Next school year, Champaign students could take their semester exams and end their semester before winter break, and school could start three days earlier this August, under a proposed calendar for the 2008-09 school year.

The school board is scheduled to discuss the calendar at 7 p.m. Monday at the Mellon Administrative Center, 703 S. New St. It won't vote on the calendar until the February meeting.

It's a change many in the district would like to see. In December, teachers, support staff, parents, administrators and some students were asked about the proposed changes, and most were supportive.

"People recognize that having semester exams before winter break just makes more sense educationally," said George Stanhope, the district's director of elementary curriculum, gifted/talented classes and assessment. "But they also realize it's hot in August and there are some drawbacks to starting then, kids and teachers having to work in hot classrooms. You don't get your best learning then."

Discuss.

Given the discussion of an evening alternative school at last night's Chamapign Unit 4 School Board meeting, I thought this timely article by the News-Gazette would be of interest:

Planners who founded Champaign's READY school 10 years ago say performance at the alternative school has far exceeded their expectations.

"It's the one piece of legislation I'm most proud of," said former state Sen. Rick Winkel of the Regional Safe Schools Act that established READY and 103 other schools in the state.

Those schools give high school and middle school students who have been expelled or who are disruptive a new chance to earn diplomas.

Winkel said he worked with Judge Robert Steigmann, former Champaign school board member Nicole Storch and former Regional Superintendent Marty Barrett to put the bill together in the mid-1990s.

"We were looking at building up to two new prisons a year, and there's a significant link between kids not getting an education and ending up incarcerated," he said. "Reaching out and touching those kids is crucial to turning them around."

Discuss.

UPDATE and BUMPED:  Here is the NG story on the evening Academy discussion from last night's Board meeting:

The proposal would have created an academy operating from 4 to 9 p.m. at Central High School for students who were not doing well in high school or whose circumstances – such as being a parent – required more flexibility.

Board member Greg Novak objected to spending one-third of the annual budget on the director's salary – $76,000 plus benefits, for a total cost of $92,720. He and other board members said that was too high for supervising seven part-time employees and 50 students who would not have discipline problems. Novak said the district should be putting more money toward ensuring it got the best teachers for the academy. He also said there wasn't enough time in the schedule for teachers to build relationships with students.

Board members also noted that the evening hours would preclude students from participating in extracurricular activities, and they wouldn't be the most productive hours to be in school.

"Taking kids in trouble academically and telling them they have to come to school at 4 in the afternoon, when all their friends are going home, and they have to stay there until 9 at night," won't work, said board member Arlene Blank.