Caledonia Argus

Mandates will exist despite budget cuts

Posted: 5/7/02

By Shannon McKinney
Argus News Reporter

Brian Doty, secondary principal of Caledonia High School gave school board members a grim forecast Monday night, April 29, for how cuts will impact the running of the new middle school/ high school next year.

ìWeíre understaffed,î he said. ìIt is not going to be better next year,î he said responding to a board membersí comments that once the new school is built, there wonít be as many issues to deal with.

Doty predicted that problems wouldnít begin to surface until after the novelty of the new school wore off. And then, by mid-November the erosion would begin. ìWeíll have unbelievable difficulty. It will start itís melting,î he said.

The board originally planned to discuss long and short term goals during the board retreat, but discussion veered in the direction of finance. Board member Dave Klinski noted that many long term goals couldnít be accomplished unless there was money available for them. He said, ìIt boils down to getting a referendum and long term planning to get out of SOD. It all circles around where the dollars are. Itís pretty simple.î

Doty argued that it is not that simple, because there are things the district is required to pay for or spend time doing because they are mandated to do so.

ìThatís a board level image of the situation. Weíre under mandates. I have to deliver this(mandates) or be under violation of our agreement with the state. I hope funding can backfill, but I have to do this irrespective of this (SOD situation). They (the state) didnít change the rules just because we donít have any money.î

Superintendent Percy Lingen recalled what one teacher asked her after they were given a notice of termination, ëwho will do this job after I am gone?í

She questioned what would happened when there wasnít enough time to get things done or for administrators to talk to parents.

Board member Suzanne Roesler said, ìWeíll have to support it (that fact that administrators may be too busy to talk to parents).î

Board member Barb Hurley said it was up to Doty and Elementary Principal Connie Hesse to figure out how things need to be done.

Doty countered, ìThese things exceed the time available to do the job.î He added, ìThe majority of staff are already doing extra assignments.î

Board Chair Cheryl Whitesitt said, ìWhen they (the public) call us, we shouldnít say, ëIíll talk to them (administration) about ití. No, it should be ëtheyíre doing the best they caní.î

Speaking on the issue of delegating some of the workload, Hesse said, ìThere is nothing in their contract that says they have to do it.î

She said itís becoming harder to find teachers to volunteer on committees. Also, some teachers are opting to work elsewhere. ìI am writing more letters of recommendation than I can keep up with. People are seeing their shoulders getting bigger and bigger,î she said.

Board member Chuck Schulte said that he believes people do not volunteer on committees because they donít feel listened to and that if they do go with their own opinion they will be retaliated against. He explained, ìëThere will be subtle consequences,í is what a guy told me.î

Board member Bruce Bulman responded that he is aware of that perception from staff. He said, ìHow do you get that out of their heads?î

It was noted that many may not volunteer simply because they are already too busy with other things.

Schulte added that the public needs to be informed of what services they will no longer receive because of the budget cuts. He also stated that nobody really knows how much more it will cost to maintain the school next year. He said, ìWe need to figure out a budget. It will not be the same snow removal bill. Itís going to be higher not lower.î

The district will have an additional 53,000 square feet to maintain. Outdoor maintenance will increase by 65 acres.

Lingen later told The Argus that a plan has been drafted for maintenance of the facilities. It is in the process of being reviewed. She said they wonít know what the additional costs to the district will be until after the plan is finalized and the plan is implemented.

Class size vs. study halls

Doty asked board members how they would like him to handle a situation of not having enough teachers for a large class.

Currently, the district needs an industrial arts teacher to replace the vacancy left by Joe Nicklayís resignation. That position in the past has typically been hard to fill.

He said they are currently short the equivalent of one full time teacher.

Doty suggested either putting students in study halls or increasing the class size.

Board member Charlie Wray said it would seem better to put students in a larger class. He explained, ìThey have a chance to learn something instead of staring at the wall.î

Doty said he will run into teacher morale problems by having larger class sizes. Granted, he said, the new school would have a larger physical space and air conditioning, but bigger class sizes for some classes (like writing classes) would be too much for a teacher to handle.

It was suggested that retired English teachers in the community could be asked to help correct papers.

Total staff has been reduced in the past few years. In the 2000-2001 year there were 46.83 teaching positions in grades 7-12. In the current 2001-2002 year there are 41.05 positions. There are projected to be 40 positions or less in the next school year.

This is in spite of the fact that the number of students will increase next year.

Board discusses referendum

Superintendent Lingen informed board members that districts that are in SOD will be allowed to hold a referendum on primary day, September 10, 2002.

A referendum question could be placed on the primary ballot.

Lingen said that historically, referendums have been more successful if they are held on a day other than the general election day.

Whitesitt emphasized the need to begin planning a referendum campaign soon.

Roesler commented that she thought the date was fine as long as they are prepared for it.

Whitesitt said, ìThe only way you get out the yes voters is if you have an effective campaign.î

She questioned whether it was wise to do a large part of the campaign during the summer when many people were on summer vacation.

Schulte noted that the new school wonít have been opened for very long when the referendum date occurs.

He explained that the key component to having a successful referendum is explaining to the public how much money the district needs and what it plans to do with the money.

Roesler said, ìWe need to know what we want, then, start the campaign.î

Board member Barb Hurley agreed, ìI donít think we as a board know what to ask for. We need to develop steps before we can ask for money.î

Whitesitt said the board needs to have a vision for how the campaign should proceed before enlisting the assistance of community members. ìWe do need the community, but we do need to be the ones to set some parameters,î she said.

It was noted that there are currently 70 Minnesota districts in SOD and that number may double in the next year.

Long & short term administrative goals discussed

A list of short term and long term goals were handed to board members by Lingen.

Lingen described short term to mean planning within a two year period. Schulte said he thought short term should mean 12 months.

The issue was not resolved.

Short term administrative goals are as follows:

1. Professional growth in the area of leadership and management.

Lingen said management had discussion that leadership and management should be separated.

Schulte asked what was the percentage of time spent on both tasks.

Doty said he did not have an exact percentage available.

The consensus from administration was that more time was spent on managerial type of duties versus leadership. Doty explained, ìThe visionary stuff that would affect us over time sits in the back burner.î

2.) Follow administrative code of ethics.

3.) Support the administrative team as a whole (Support does not mean agreement)

4.)Survive

5.)Have a set of commonly held goals, beliefs, values, philosophies and use them to plan congruently.

6.)Meet weekly to deal with management issues.

7.) Prioritize tasks and realize that some duties need to wait.

8.) Have consistent staff and student interactions.

9.)Articulate expectations for staff that are student-focused.

Long term goals included the following:

1.) Follow administrative code of ethics as a fundamental core value.

2.)Keep a consistent team mentality

3.) Set aside leadership time.

4.) Build an appropriate and positive student, staff, board and community relationships.

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