by Rhonda Thurman, County School Board Member
posted November 20, 2008
I will attempt to answer the question, “How did the school system get in this financial mess?”
Four years ago when I decided to run for District 1 school board representative, I met with Mr. Eldridge (former school board member), to discuss the responsibilities of a school board member. At that time Mr. Eldridge explained to me how in five years the school system would “run into a brick wall.” He was right on target. He also predicted that Jesse Register would exit the school system before the train wreck. Right again.
Mr. Eldridge showed me how Jesse Register and the PEF created many new administrative positions both with and without grant money. He went on to explain how the grant money would run out and the school system would be left to fund the positions out of the general fund. Guess what? Magnet school grants have run out and the NSF math grant as well as many other grants totaling millions expired leaving taxpayers holding the bag.
We also discussed the BEP formula used for calculating the number of school personnel alloted to each school system. The BEP provides HCDE 55% of 2,295 teacher's salaries. That is 55% of $38,000, the average Tennessee teacher salary. However, HCDE has 2,759 teachers - 463 more than the BEP formula provides for. The average teacher salary in Hamilton County is $44,000 which is $6,000 more than the Tennessee average.
The BEP also allots partial funding for 74 principals, HCDE has 76; BEP allots funding for 20 assistant principals HCDE has 83.5; BEP allots funding for 93.5 guidance counselors HCDE has 84; BEP provides partial funding for 16 psychologist HCDE has 28; BEP provides funding for 20 social workers HCDE has 15. Overall we have 525 more instructional staff then the BEP provides for. For each of these 525 employees, we pay 100% of their salary. Remember this does not include East Hamilton County High School that has not been staffed yet.
The only administrator the BEP provides any funding for is the superintendent. The BEP provides $88,000. All other administration is funded 100% by the HCDE general budget.
Another mistake made by the school board was building new schools instead of replacement schools. Brown and Battle Academies were built without an increase in student population (since the merger we have lost about 4,000 students), to promote downtown development. The school board jumped on the opportunity to build these schools because they were promised “free money” to help build them. This “free money” has cost the school system plenty. The cheapest part of any school is the building. (Do not forget that Hamilton County schools are built with bonds issued by the county - not with school funds.) The expensive part of a school is the recurring cost of teachers, administration, support staff, general maintenance, electricity, gas, water and transportation. All of these add up to millions every year out of the HCDE budget.
Ditto for the new Signal Mountain High School.
Insurance is another area of skyrocketing cost. In the last five years health insurance costs have increased an average of 10-12% a year. Last year health insurance cost increased 15% or about $4 million.
For years I have been vilified for being negative and always voting no. If at least four more board members had voted no to additional administrative positions, no to salary increases for administrators, no to unlimited accrual of vacation days (that is costing HCDE about $900,000 each year when administrators retire and cash in their days), no to busing students all over the county to magnet schools, no to a $150,000 golden parachute for an outgoing superintendent, no to a premature superintendent contract extension (before a performance evaluation had been done) that put taxpayers on the hook for $500,000, no to out of town bus services who are putting contract bus drivers who pay taxes locally out of business, no to paying an out of town consultant $100,000 and providing him an office, and no to former budgets that did not cut wasteful spending and administration cost, things would not be near as bad as they are now.
The board retreat in Nashville shows the arrogance of school administration and elected officials. For the last four years I have asked why we could not hold our board retreat in Chattanooga. After all, does the county not spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to lure retreats and conventions here? Do we not have 79 schools with cafeterias and auditoriums? It may be a blonde thing, but it does not make sense to me to make Gary Waters, Ray Swafford, Ava Warren, Kirk Kelly, Tommy Kranz, and only the Lord knows who else, drive two hours to Nashville, talk to the school board for 45 minutes and then have to drive back to Chattanooga. So, again this year, I asked about holding the retreat here. Imagine my shock when I was voted down.
In years past I have attended these retreats because this is usually where the overall agenda for the entire year would be discussed. And trust me with the dynamic duo of Chip and Joe, I wanted to be there to put in my two cents worth.
This year I did not attend the retreat due to a conflict at work and surgery on my leg preventing me from riding two hours in a car. However, with Kenny Smith as chairman, I did not worry about under the table deals. I also requested audio tapes of all discussions.
While it is true that the PEF paid for a large portion of this trip - it still cost the school system plenty. In exchange for out of town trips for school board members, administration and selected teachers, the school system gives the PEF complete control of staff development and principal training. The PEF also picked our curriculum and set our standards at the time of the merger. The PEF also has a seat at the table any time academic issues are discussed so they can implement their vision for education. The PEF is often quoted in the paper speaking for HCDE. Administrators in the PEF sit with HCDE employees and elected officials at graduations even though they are not elected, appointed or accountable.
The current school board is finally taking action on situations that have cost the system money for years and former school board members did not want to deal with. One is the Erlanger Clinic that occupies the former Franklin Middle School. For years not only have we allowed the clinic to operate there rent free, but HCDE maintained the building and until a couple of years ago HCDE paid the utilities.
Another situation the school board is finally dealing with is the former Piney Woods building that has had occupants off and on for years. Trouble is the school board did not know who the occupants were or who gave them permission to be there. Once again, the HCDE was providing them utilities and maintenance. Chester Bankston, chairman of the facilities committee, is in the process of compiling information on all surplus school properties so the board can sell them and free up the maintenance department to concentrate money and manpower on buildings that house students.
I have outlined just a few of the ways the school board has acted irresponsibly in the past. I know some of these things seem unimportant when you are talking about a $20 million shortfall. But, I believe the old saying, “If you watch your pennies your dollars will take care of themselves.”
This is going to be the toughest budget I have ever had to deal with. It is going to require all board members to have to sacrifice something. I hope new board members will put a stop to certain board members whining behind the scenes to administrators and getting their way.
I have tried to lay out how we got in this financial mess. It did not happen overnight - it took years. It will take years and responsible leadership to get us back on track.
Rhonda Thurman
rthrm@aol.com
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I read with interest Rhonda Thurman's explanation of how the school system got into the current budget mess. I will not profess to know what we do next, but I do agree with one thing Ms. Thurman stated: it took years to get where we are and it will take years to find solutions.
I have a child who attends Battle Academy and I thank God every day for her school, so any opinion I have toward magnet schools will most certainly be biased. I will say that, in my opinion only, "busing students all over the county to magnet schools," as Ms. Thurman put it, is in part a reflection of the fact so many parents want more where the education of their children is concerned instead of accepting the status quo. Building the two downtown schools in question may have come from the School Board's interest in getting "free money", but the underlying reason may have been because parents didn't like the idea of sending their children to under-performing schools in crumbling neighborhoods. I didn't. And not everyone can afford private schools or even want to send their children to one. The truth is some schools were left to fail and that is not acceptable. We gave up on them and started over elsewhere.
Since it will take years to dig out of this mess, we need to get started and I have heard some ideas that sound viable. Maybe we could start with what has been suggested to Wall Street and the auto industry: cut those big-budget salaries, unnecessary trips and expensive perks. I urge the School Board to start with their own little group, and that includes Dr. Scales. Do you care enough about the students and educators to do that?
There are a few things we can do as parents to get the ball rolling: walk in your child's school, look around and get to know the faculty and staff. Act interested when you are at your child's school. And hold accountable the School Board and Dr. Scales if you think something can be done better. Vote these people out if you aren't happy. If you or someone you know would want to serve on the Board and would really be interested in giving our kids the schools they deserve, then learn all you can and run for a seat. You can't convince me that this handful of people is the only ones in the county capable of being on the Board.
Stop accepting the status quo and you'll stop getting it.
Dana Lingerfelt
Chattanooga
* * *
Well spoken Rhonda, I have listened to you over the past eight plus years tell me and anyone else that would listen to you, how this disaster with the school budget was going to happen. Now it has happened and the only ones to blame are the voters of this county that keep on year after year keeping the wrong board members in office. Maybe now the voters that want a change for the good of the kids as well as the good for our wallets, will vote out these yes men and yes women from the board and get rid of the PEF for good.
Keep up the outstanding work you have dedicated to do.
Mark Brandt
mkbtnvols@aol.com
* * *
Apparently Rhonda Thurman and Kenny Smith may be the only ones on the board with any sense whatsoever. My comment on this is simple. Why is the PEF choosing what is right for our kids and our schools? Why are the teachers, principals and parents not making these choices together?
To most people, the PEF appears to be nothing more than another group wanting to get in on the money grab and using the education of children as an excuse. They have money, since they took the money of the donors below and helped fund a trip by our school board to Nashville when they could have met here.
I guess the real question is why don't these same groups bypass the PEF and give directly to the Hamilton County School System? That would cut out any "administrative costs" the PEF is pocketing.
Angie Volner
Avondale
* * *
It seems that everyone is looking back on the last school board elections as a missed opportunity to correct the problems in our school system. An opportunity was missed.
Has Rhonda or anyone stopped to ask the obvious question of why the "Back on Track" team didn't get the votes they needed last election? How much did the "Back on Track" team suffer because of their association with the always contentious Tim Price?
I know a number of people that believe that this is precisely where the "Back on Track" gang got off track. How much did Price attacking Dzick hurt the cause? How much did his Saturday morning ravings on WGOW hurt the cause? Tim Price has alienated so many people in this town there is no doubt that he hurt the chances of Joe Dumas and Gregg Juster.
I hope the "Back on Track" team will get back on track and not derail themselves by associating with individuals that are going to hurt the cause instead of helping it.
Paul Rivers
Chattanooga
eachtheothersworldentire@hotmail.com
* * *
That Kookie, Kookie Thurman. Here she goes walking her talk again. How long is it going to take before people get whizzed enough at the same stuff different day (SSDD) before they stand up and begin to demand better than what we have in government?
Also interesting is how some will attack those who have consistently wrung the bell warning of impending financial distress, attacks on our collective wallets, and individual rights.
Now, do these detractors address the facts? No. Do they address the issues? No. Do they even attempt to poke holes in the presentations? No.
No, these detractors don't even attempt to address the issues and the facts. What they do is attempt to hook the rest of us on an emotional, rather than an intellectual, level. President Clinton was quite adept at this. "I feel your pain" ... as he was sending his used bloomers to Goodwill, and taking a tax write-off for doing so.
Attempting to show someone to be wrong or mistaken, and doing so without presenting bona fide facts, only presenting some ethereal and empty accusation of past activity, destroys one's credibility. And so far as Mr. Dzik and his involvement with Kookie's "Back on Track" initiative ... this Internet hinkie is a terrible thing. Those of us who were directly involved with Mr. Dzik's attempts to garner our support know the facts of that situation and, to a person, will be more than happy to share.
I'm not one to be playing the stock market. On both occasions I did, I lost my cash ... and my tush. There's an old adage to the effect that we should never invest in old technology when it's rapidly being replaced by newer and more efficient stuff. However, I'm fixing to begin a search for two industries to invest in, pitchforks and torches. I have a feeling that unless our elected officials and their appointed functionaries begin behaving themselves we may begin seeing real life scenes straight out of those old black and white Frankenstein movies. My personal preference would be for tar, feathers, and rails, though.
I once told a legislator; "(d)o you want to get rid of me? It's real easy. Do the right thing. Do what's right and I'll go away. If I'm wrong, show me and I'll go away then too. Until then, I'll be right here."
Tired of hearing from Kookie and Price about how poorly our school system and county government are run? It would be real easy to get them to quiet down. Either do the right thing or show them they're wrong. Otherwise you might as well hunker down accept the fact you're under siege. They won't go away.
I sure wish I could get one of those super cool "ReplaceNaifeh.com" e-mail addresses. That in combination with my new double naught spy shades? Man, I'd be the cat's meow.
Royce E. Burrage Jr.
Royce@OfficiallyChapped.org
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