By Crystal Hayduk
The Chelsea School District Board of Education approved the 2014-15 amended budget at Monday evening’s meeting, following a presentation by Teresa Zigman, executive director of business and operations. The three resolutions involved the general fund, including athletics; special revenues, including food service and community education; and debt service funds.
In the general fund, Zigman said that the district originally expected to use $578,000 of fund balance.
“After a lot of individual line analysis all the way through, we’re still looking at using about $551,000,” she said. Within the revenue and expenditures, there were huge swings of over $1 million each. Among the line items that make up the swings, the largest is for MPSERS (retirement). The state gives funding to the district, but receives it back five days later. “On their end, they’re able to say they’ve funded schools – and they have – but then in essence we’re giving them the money right back,” Zigman said.
Zigman reported that the special revenues are “break even” funds this year.
The estimated fund balance for June 30, 2015 will be $4.071 million, or 15.7 percent of the budget.
Superintendent Andy Ingall reported district plans for the future, mentioning projections that the current budget deficit will become a balanced budget in three years, with the goal of maintaining fund equity at 15-to-18 percent. He listed some priorities for the district when funds become available, including reducing class size, increasing office support, having a dedicated social worker and more counselors at Beach and the high school, K-6th grade world language program, and re-opening of Pierce Lake Elementary School if student numbers increase sufficiently.
“That’s a big chunk,” Ingall said. “We’d need a total of about $600 more per pupil to get us to where we could add all of these things.”
Board President Steve Olsen requested action from the community regarding the Bolger plan for funding roads that was recently approved by the State House of Representatives. The plan would send all sales tax on gasoline directly to roads, some of which currently helps fund schools and local governments.
According to Olsen, the plan diverts all funding to schools with “the promise” that sales tax on other items will go up in future years, holding schools harmless. Olsen said that the last time he remembers a similar situation was when they instituted the lottery and promised that money from the lottery would go into education. But for every dollar from lottery, they stopped giving a dollar from the general fund.
“It didn’t make a difference in funding for schools,” he said.
Olsen asked that people contact both Senator Rebekah Warren here and Governor Rick Snyder here to express displeasure with the House plan, but to recommend support for the Senate plan which will increase the revenue for roads without taking funds from the schools.
During the opportunity for public input, Jennifer Kundak thanked Olsen for his suggestion to take action. She added that due to the redistricting of western Washtenaw County, Joe Hune (R) will be the new state senator in January. He can be contacted through the link on his website here.
Kundak suggested two items to the district’s wish list for future improvements – reinstating school librarians and adding a school nurse.
Joe Tinsley spoke about the iPad technology that was implemented at Beach Middle School in September. “Enhancing one-to-one teaching and learning for sixth to eighth grade students has been a success. Beach is doing as good as or better of a job than other districts we’ve visited,” he said.
History teacher Jason Morris demonstrated an interactive sample of how he uses iPads in the classroom. Spanish and English teacher Andrea Zapor demonstrated Haiku, the web-based learning tool that also helps students to stay organized in classes, which can be accessed from any computer with internet. Science teacher Marie Lombardo explained how she uses Socrative for various types of student assessments. “With the live answers, I know who understands and who doesn’t; then I can adjust my lessons accordingly,” Lombardo said.
In other board news:
- A fact-finder has been assigned to the district. A pre-hearing conference is scheduled for next week, at which point timelines and protocols will be established.
- The board approved the purchase of three buses from 2012 bond fund disbursements for a total cost of $280,332.84, to be put into use for the 2015-16 school year.
- The board approved the Curriculum Council’s recommendation to eliminate the Fundamentals math courses, but add Introduction to Calculus and Math Lab as part of the math curriculum changes at the high school effective fall 2015.
- The board approved the group health care plan for district employees.
Upcoming dates:
- Dec. 22 – Jan. 2 – No school for students – winter break.
- The next board meeting will be on Jan. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the Washington Street Education Center.
- Jan. 19 – No school – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Courtesy photo. Students in one of Jason Morris’ eighth-grade history classes hold up their iPads to demonstrate the use of Nearpod, an interactive learning program.
All of these are wonderful things, but at what cost do they come? By forcing our teachers and staff to endure health coverage through a company that has a solid F rating with the Better Business Bureau? A company that routinely denies coverage for necessary procedures that a child with a serious medical condition requires. A company that denies coverage for vital prescriptions that puts a spouse back in the hospital. It would be wonderful to achieve all the things outlined in this article. Reopening Pierce Lake would be incredible! Am I willing to risk someone’s life for it? No. None of us should be. We’re being asked here to fight on a State level when the board isn’t even willing to listen to us on a local level. These state issues are important, they do need to be fought. But it is not more important than the health of our teachers and their families. One of the most important ways to invest in the future of our school district is to keep our fabulous teachers by showing that we value and respect them. Not by gambling with their health and the quality of teachers we may or may not get to replace them if they leave.
Please take a look at the insurance staff has. The teachers have a great program and pay less than many others. UM pays 30% of their premiums. The teachers pay far less. Yes, they have paperwork to keep track of, but no differently then the rest of us. It makes all of us better health consumers, which we were not previously. The Kaiser Foundation presents facts on insurance across the country. Our teachers stack up extremely well compared to most. I understand employees, other than teachers, have a better insurance program and was offered to the teachers, but they rejected it. They want MESSA insurance, which is operated by the MEA. Any unused premiums go back to the MEA, not to the district. The district pays those premiums. In essence, the district would be funding the MEA! We all need to support our teachers, along with the administration and the board. However they have a budget to live within. Besides supporting local teachers is different than supporting the union. The media should do an in depth article on the insurance package and actual cost to the district and staff. All the facts should be accessible.
We could take a look at the policy, but then what? Are we then going to say that all of these people who actually use it and have spoken at meetings about the problems with it are lying about being repeatedly denied coverage and the devastating effects it’s had on their lives? These are people who were actually brought to tears by these experiences. That’s not a paperwork problem. Speaking of paperwork, no, we don’t all have to deal with that. We hand our card to the doctor’s office or pharmacist and we’re done. That’s the way it should be. I understand that the teachers were offered something better during initial contract negotiations and it’s my understanding that it’s with the same company and doesn’t even come close to comparing to the plan they’re asking for. If the school district wants to remain the insurer, then they should acknowledge the seriousness of these issues and find something different. If they have a problem with supporting the union, then look into supporting Blue Cross or Aetna. But, please, let’s stop insinuating that our teachers are just being too emotional, can’t figure out the paperwork, or that they’re just being greedy. None of them deserve that.