Observer: Vote no on June 7

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

NOTE: This editorial was changed at 5 p.m. on June 3 to reflect a previous error. The proposed savings from reorganizing the custodial department amount to $44,367, not $444,367. We regret the error.

Every member of the Flagler County School Board wants the children of our community to have the best education possible, at the lowest cost possible. No one is trying to cheat the taxpayers.

Looking at next year’s numbers, the board knew the budget was going to fall short. As Property Appraiser James Gardner pointed out in his editorial, the school budget has been slashed from $94 million in 2007 to $54 million in 2012. Therefore, the board members decided to ask the voters to generate more revenue to help offset losses. All things considered, it is a modest proposal: Continue the .25 mill that was set to expire, and add another .25, with the average homeowner contributing $24 per year and raising $3.2 million for the schools. The money will allow the schools to restore 45 minutes that had been previously cut from the school day, as well as add security measures to the schools.

If that’s all we knew, this would be an easy decision. Two bucks a month to help the students? Let’s pull together as a community and make this happen!

However, we have watched some drama unfold in a series of emergency budget meetings, in which the board has attempted to plan how it would cut its budget in the event the tax does not pass.

State of emergency

Let’s review a few key moments in those meetings.

First, Superintendent Janet Valentine prefaced the discussions with something we’ve heard from all elected officials in the past few years at budget time: “There’s nothing major that you’re going to see because there’s nothing major left to cut.”

And so, the board decided to consider anything and everything. Let’s think outside the box, they said.

One possibility was to close Wadsworth Elementary School and Indian Trails Middle School, at a savings of $1.8 million per year. It was a suggestion that caused much hand wringing. After all, it seems drastic to close a school. What message does that send to the community about our education system? Are we collapsing?

School Board member Sue Dickinson was distraught. She said the June 7 vote would determine whether a school would be closed. “It’s not our final decision,” she said. “It’s the public’s final decision. If they don’t want us to have one of our schools open, if they don’t want us to have these other programs, let them make that statement June 7.”

Two days later, at the next meeting, Valentine reminded the board what closing two schools could mean. She said the district’s schools are operating significantly below their capacity, and that enrollment has been steadily falling for the past few years, so the district could close Wadsworth and Indian Trails without overcrowding its remaining schools. Closing both would save the district about $3.19 million.

Dickinson was taken aback. Why was this not brought up before now?

“The capacity (levels) didn’t happen overnight, and that means this info was known to someone, somewhere,” she said. “We are not using taxpayers’ dollars appropriately when we are operating two school buildings half-empty.”

That is the quote that changed everything. We couldn’t agree with her more.

School Board member Colleen Conklin said after the workshop: “I don’t think it would be fair to tell taxpayers that if they approve the 0.5 mill, they’ll save a school, because pass or fail, we’re still probably going to need to look at closing a school in the next year or two.”

Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency

But Valentine had even more savings up her sleeve. She worked with school principals on May 8 and reported to the board on May 9 that she had found $417,124 by cutting down on costs for supplies and travel. The custodial program will also be reorganized, at a savings of $44,376, she said.

School Board member Andy Dance’s reaction says it all: “If we can save by reorganizing our custodial department, we can probably save elsewhere.”

Agreed. At the meeting, it was suggested that perhaps it had been too long since the other departments had been thoroughly reviewed. Dance suggested: “I’d like to bring back the Business Advisory Committee to look at our organizational structure. Good or bad, we’ll have more people out there in the public with intimate knowledge of our organizational structure.”

And that wasn’t the end of it. The School Board agonized over the prospect of cutting paraprofessional positions. No one wants to put people out of work, so their sentiment was understandable.

But Valentine revealed that, in fact, the school has too many paraprofessionals and has for some time now. Even without the threat of losing the tax money, she said, some would have to go. Exceptional Student Education Director Tracy Umpenhour confirmed Valentine’s assessment. The state recommends 56 paraprofessionals based on our student population, and we have 98.

Well.

Given that chain of events, along with other recent votes, such as the raises given to administrators after a Dec. 18, 2012, vote (six short months ago), we are not able to recommend that the community pay more taxes. We no longer have confidence that Valentine’s original statement — “there’s nothing major left to cut” — is true.

Perhaps the board would still make these cuts even if the tax does pass, but we don’t want to take that chance. However, even under the financial constraints they will be presented with, we urge them to find a way to add the 45 minutes back into the school day regardless.

Voting no in this special election does not mean you’re against kids or schools. It means you’re in favor of efficient, effective government.

Vote no on June 7.