An incomplete historical snapshot of bond issues, tax levies and referenda

After attending and chewing on the Community Dialog about various school options (which all lead to big tax referendums), I got to dwelling on the the Elementary School options. Partially, as I said before, I was surprised to see them in the packet on Tuesday in the first place. So let me state right off the bat, I am fully aware and acknowledge that our school buildings, at all levels, need a bit of help. We have known this for over two decades. The sad part is that we have not come up with a good plan to deal with these issues, which has resulted in a snowballing problem, an escalating urgency that eventually borders on a crisis.

First some definitions and attempts to bridge the financial jargon.

• Bonds (Sales Tax Bonds, Working Cash Bonds, etc): Basically, these are long-term loans, like mortgages.  The district gets a bunch of money from a bank to do stuff, and the district slowly pays back the loan (including interest) over 20 years (typically). To “issue” a bond is therefore to put oneself in debt to another.¹
• Tax Levies: This one is a bit harder for me to wrap my head around, but here goes. We pay property taxes, right? Various groups get a slice of the pie from those property taxes, and public education usually gets the biggest slice.² The tax levy by the Board of Education therefore determines exactly how big that slice will be. ^{3 5 7} Gene Logas often bragged that Unit 4 has one of the lowest rates going.⁴ At the same time, Gene complained that “tax caps hurt”. ⁶
• Referenda: The law states that when the school district wishes to acquire more money above and beyond what tax levies can bring in, the school district can ask the voters to approve more money via vote during an election in the form of a referendum. Obviously, this does not happen often because taxpayers typically do not want to pay more taxes. The Working Cash Bond is special because it slips under a certain ceiling that allows the district to raise property taxes without a voter approval.

(NOTE: Both Gene and Greg were amazing warehouses of information, but even more impressive was their willingness to sit down and explain things to folks like me)

Elementary School funding (and lack thereof)

While there is a rich plethora of statistics, financial data and worthy history, I am going to just rewind the clock to 1998 and focus on the elementary schools and related funding projects.

Gene Logas tells that

Jan 14th Reg Board Meeting: new school board members, new school attorney, lots of data

re: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2013-01-14/champaign-school-board-chooses-blank-and-van-ness-new-members.html

It was an interesting board meeting tonight, although I fear “interesting” does not do the meeting justice. I don’t have the energy to write about it all now, so here are some highlights:

• Another bevy of recognitions, including plaques and commendations for Greg Novak and Gene Logas, presented to Donna Novak and Nina Logas respectively.
• Scott Leopold presented a veritable plethora of data and information about the targeted phone surveys (I hate using the word “quantitative”) and the latest update about the research efforts of Dejong. Overwhelming in fact.
• Agenda line-item 10.a was removed from the agenda and then put back on the agenda at 9:50 pm after basically everyone had already left (and the tv cameras had stopped rolling I am sure); Tom Lockman will be the new school district attorney. Vote was 4-1 – oh how I wish I could write more about that.
• As reported by Meg, a new (permanent) program for emotional disabilities/mental health was approved – board members asked some good questions
• Oh, also as Meg reported (*grin*), two new board members; Arlene Blank and Phil van Ness. A few other candidates were also in attendance and stuck around to the bitter end.

UPDATE: Meg wrote another article about Lockman:

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2013-01-14/champaign-school-board-hires-former-board-member-school-attorney.html

Thoughts this week about the school board

Walking in reverse direction down the path of my thoughts of the school board this past week:

Who are we?

I subscribe to a feed of the Wake County School District blog, and just this morning is a post about the new school board chairman of the Wake County school district (which, by the way, is frickin’ HUGE!). What is fascinating about his “acceptance speech” is that he casts an identity for the school board that unites it with the community; he readily acknowledges the rocky road they have been through (you think Champaign has an issue with Schools of Choice? Ha!) and the challenges going forward.

“We the Wake County Board of Education will provide the kind of exemplary leadership that is expected of us by this community, and I intend to lead us in that direction. I ask my colleagues around this table to join me in this commitment and this effort for we are Wake County.”

2013 Board Candidate John Williams, III

I am going to be reaching out to candidates as I find out who they are. Last night I had a great facebook dialog (be sure to click the tiny “See More”) with Mr. Williams. I am impressed by his convictions and desire to tackle some big issues. Better yet, not just desires but ideas on how to make them come to fruition. I asked him further about two points (getting the community to show up at meetings and pedagogy); he responded to the first by admitting there is a lack of community participation that is not solved by free food, the need to build relationships and the need for more open communication; to the second he agreed there is no “one size fits all” and very much wants to move away from lecture-laden approaches to engaging the students more thoroughly. What’s cool is that I see a number of excellent teachers already doing this. Hearkens me back to the Sir Ken Robinson video shown at the Futures Conference. Having said all this, don’t take my word for it – go read about John Williams yourself, or better yet, ask him some questions of your own.

As I find out who other board candidates are, I am going to make it a point to drop by and get to know them. Laurie, I have some questions for you next. *grin*

Transparency

I already shared how I attempted to address the board at Monday’s board meeting. Dr. Joe Davis was kind enough to follow-up with me (and CC: Dr. Judy Wiegand). He mentioned Gene Logas’ previous efforts to spell out “Where does all the money go?” I agree that this is a good first step in breaking down the complex tongue of finances, but it only goes so far (it is, after all, a first step). I responded with an example of Jess Bachman’s now famous “Death and Taxes” poster which gives an awesome overview of the Federal Budget. On top of this, I followed up with a member of the Promises Made Promises Kept (PMPK) committee; here is an excellent example where the district communicates a ton of information to a group of people that is open to the public, but the public has next to no clue what is going on because 1) very few community members attend the PMPK meetings, 2) the “transparent” reports take a REALLY long time to make it up on the website. In fact, the last one I can find is from December of 2011. So, first hurdle is to get this information in the public sphere, second hurdle is to get these reports so that we the common people can understand them.

Transparency is not about pointing fingers. It is about collaborating towards a common goal. As John Williams implied, accountability is a good thing, when done right. It helps all of us.

[PS - I hope that a letter-to-the-editor I submitted on this topic is printed soon]

More about 2013 Board Candidates

Meg Dickinson wrote an article on Tuesday in the aftermath of Tom Lockman stepping down from his position on the board. One particular quote of Mr. Lockman that I really like is:

I truly believe that public education is the most critical aspect of a community’s ability to succeed and develop…

Most. Critical. Those are big words, ones that should challenge our community. But back to Meg’s article about the candidates. She relates the Stig Lanneskog intends to run for the 2-year slot. She also says that seven people to date have checked out petitions from the Mellon Center. Note that the petitions actually come from the County Clerk’s office and that the Mellon Center merely provides the forms as a courtesy; since the forms are downloadable from the internet, there is no telling the maximum number of people that have expressed an interest. On top of that, just because someone picks up a packet does not mean they will get all the signatures and actually submit it by December 26th. What is most curious to me is, of the people that have picked up a packet, we only know about three (Ileana Saveley, Laurie Bonnett, John Williams and Stig Lanesskog). Personally, I really want to find out who the others are because I want to meet these people who are so interested in the school district that they want to serve on the board, which is not all fun and games. Very worthy, no doubt, but a sacrifice none the less.

Digging at the root of the matter (part 1)

There are times when I find I have to take a step back. Especially this past week or two, with so much hubbub about the CFT negotiations, the Futures Conference, elections, the Immigration Forum and Bristol Place. And there is so much else just roiling beneath the surface – I am sure you can relate.

So as I step back, I see two very general categories, or catalysts, or … I don’t even know what to call them. But they get our goat. This is no great epiphany, but I had to start somewhere.

1. Differences of opinion
2. Money

It is not hard to find someone who believes in something different than you do. It is not hard to stumble across blogs, facebook pages, sound bites, tv ads or written commentary that expresses a strong opinion, and chances are that a large number of people feel differently. It is probably more accurate to say “think differently”, but the “feel” part of it is that knee-jerk reaction, that gut-level almost instantaneous “you’re wrong” thought that bubbles up unbidden. When we actually discipline ourselves to really think and not rely so much on “feel”, some great conversations and deliberation can happen. I was reminded of this just yesterday witnessing an exchange between a parent (Karen) and a Unit 4 administrator (Cheryl Camacho); what is awesome is that questions, thoughts, and genuine interest are traded back and forth – I find this to be an excellent learning experience. I invite you to join in (I will be right after this post *grin*).

From there I am going to

More about High School Configuration

Apparently, Unit 4 has been putting some serious thought into a part of Greg Novak’s “master plan” (I’m not sure that is what he called it, but that is what I am calling it). When looking through the June 11th Board Meeting agenda, one of the first presentations is by a University Master student:

The high school options under consideration include a change from the current grade configuration of K-5, 6-8 and 9-12.  One of the options under consideration includes changing the middle school grade configuration to include grades 6 and 7, a prep academy that would have grades 8 and 9, and one high school grades 10-12.  Previous presentations from Central and Centennial Administration highlighted the positive aspects of this configuration, along with the limitations.

In order to inform the Board and the Champaign Community, a thorough literature review was conducted by University of Illinois Graduate student, Lisa De La Rue.  This evening, Lisa will share her findings as it relates to grade configuration, student achievement and participation.

[Note: the "[p]revious presentations from Central and Centennial Administration” were mostly negative towards this configuration ]

School Configuration - A relatively short (22 pages) look at how “configurations” affect achievement. Basically, there are tons of factors that affect achievement and one kinda has to roll the dice on configuration. More significant factors are probably the downstream effects of the configuration; for example, how resources are allocated, the number of transitions, the climate of the school atmosphere, etc. Great short list of “quick points” starting on page 19.

Bibliography - Includes an almost one-page summary for each of the 23 sources cited

 

It is interesting that Unit 4 is stepping up the ante by engaging the University this way. I think this is what some of us have been wanting for a while. I also wonder if Dr. Wiegand is taking advantage of the fact that she graduated from the College of Education from the University. That would so totally make sense.

 

So if you are at the Board Meeting on June 11th, you are going to get a double whammy of high school options. Come prepared with thoughts and comments.

 

Looking at the rest of the agenda, I am amazed at how huge it is. Wow! And most of it is via Dr. Wiegand. This is going to be a challenging meeting for her; Gene was such a core piece of the team and carried a lot of weight, and now not only is Dr. Wiegand picking up that weight, but she also has to deal with the loss of a person. My thoughts and sympathies go out to her.

 

 

Services planned for Gene Logas

re: http://www.champaignschools.org/news/news_view.php?action=view&news_type=press_release&id_news=447

 

Visitation for Gene Logas will be on Friday, June 8th from 4:00-7:00 at First Baptist Church of Champaign, 1602 S. Prospect Avenue, Savoy.

There will be a second visitation on Sunday, June 10th at 12:00 p.m. at Irwin Funeral Home, 3960 Maryville Road, Granite City, IL 62040.

Funeral services will be held on Sunday, June 10th at 3:00 p.m. at Irwin Funeral Home in Granite City, IL 62040.

 

Nina Logas does not family nearby (her sister will be staying with Nina for an indefinite period of time); those of who live near Nina are trying to figure out how best to do some long-term TLC on Nina. Any ideas? Our goal is to surround her and embrace her. I asked if I could stop by every couple of days just to check on her, and Nina said she would like that.

Most unfortunate news: Gene Logas passed away this morning

The school district is mourning the sudden loss of a very fine Chief Operating Officer (and formerly Chief Financial Officer) Gene Logas. Others have said it better than I can.

Unit 4 press release: http://www.champaignschools.org/news/news_view.php?action=view&news_type=press_release&id_news=447

WILL: http://will.illinois.edu/news/spotstory/unit-4s-chief-operating-officer-dies/

NG: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2012-06-05/champaign-schools-official-gene-logas-dies-56.html

 

Open meeting with Jamar Brown and Gene Logas: Tuesday, April 3rd, 6:pm, CPL Room 215

From Jamar Brown:

I just wanted to let you know that I have set up a meeting to be available to the public for tomorrow 6pm in rm 215 at the library. There has been so much discussion over the past few weeks I just feel I have to give everyone a chance who wants to talk a chance. There won’t be an agenda just open discussion.  I will have Gene on hand because I’m sure WCB will come up.   I don’t intend people to stay the whole time just come get their questions answered and take off,  like the at large council members do once a month.

 

Again, for those that cannot make it, feel free to leave a note here, email me or contact Jamar Brown (facebook or email).

PS – WCB = Working Cash Bond

News: budget, communication, still meeting at Houlihans

First: I have nothing major planned for Houlihans today. I’ll be there if you want to come and chat. I might be reading a tome on ecological justice and transportation decisionmaking.

 

Mr. Gene Logas followed-through on his attempt to get the (preliminary) budget documents posted online (hat tip to Will Kyles).

• Board meeting Presentation (about 16 pages): http://www.champaignschools.org/Finance/FY13%20Preliminary%20Budget%20Presentation.pdf
• The source working document (about 34 pages): http://www.champaignschools.org/Finance/Preliminary%20Budget%202012-13.pdf

 

I have yet to go through them with a comb. I recommend skipping the “presentation” one if you want to go straight to the meat section.

 

On top of that,

Working Cash Bonds mashup : March 12th

Bonus Meeting with Dr. Judy Wiegand, Gene Logas, Sue Grey, Tom Lockman and Don Kermath

I gave my own sort of “notice” that I was going to be doing this meeting and nobody gave me any questions, so I was content to be a fly on the wall. I don’t remember how I found out about the meeting, but I promptly invited myself for the sole purpose of learning more about working cash bonds. It was a rather informative session; I’ll try to boil down all the finance jargon, and in doing so I hope I do not misstate anything. At the very least, you are getting my perspective on what happened. I am sure there are other perspectives.

For starters, there is a ton of historical context that I know I often forget about, and I am sure others do as well. Where to start, where to start….

• Over the past 50 some years, the School District had become negligent in maintaining its facilities. Instead of occasionally raising money to make minor updates/fixes/modifications, the District stalled and deferred what one might call “regular maintenance”. If I have my numbers right, back in about 2002 an out-of-town architecture firm was hired and gave an estimate of $200 million just to bring all the buildings up to modern standards. A few years later, BLDD confirmed the estimate (for free – no charge to the District). In the words of Sue Grey, this was the elephant. “And how does on eat an elephant?”
• On top of that, the one and only voter-approved bond referendum (aka, property tax increase) was for $26 million in 1998, after which Stratton and Barkstall were built. Keep in mind that old facilities were not touched – only new facilities were built.
• Another aspect; the amount of money coming in from property taxes consistently went down every single year since 1996 with exception of 2008 (documents from the COO). Pattsi argues (as have others by now) that this only tells part of the story. Yet this is the only story I currently have that has numbers.
• When Gene was hired, he looked at the budget and nearly passed out (author’s artistic rewrite of what was said *grin*) – he quickly filed a true emergency working cash bonds to get the District back on sound financial ground.
• And this last one gets to be a bit fun. When Unit 4 put up the referendum for the 1% Sales Tax, what exactly did they promise? The most common answer is probably “they promised not to raise property taxes!!” Which is interesting. Did they? Check out the promises that we the community have been holding the Board accountable to – this is nothing new. Even though we might forget about it from time to time. And especially since the PMPK meetings are sparsely attended. (Please note, I am not assigning blame, just trying state my observations). Greg Novak pointedly questioned Gene Logas about this back in June 2010.

There was probably more said. Don Kermath had some really excellent questions and

Promises Made, Promises Kept: a request and questions for the March 8th meeting

Here is an email I sent to the Board, Dr. Wiegand and Mr. Gene Logas:

Good afternoon,

I hope you all are able to enjoy the warm (although windy) weather we are having.

In light of the Promises Made, Promises Kept (PMPK) meeting tomorrow evening, and the general context of the various issues surrounding the working cash bonds, I have a general request and a few accompanying questions.

I request that any information presented at the meeting tomorrow be made publicly available (either via the U4 website, or I can post it quickly elsewhere) within 4 business days. I say this because the PMPK only meets every three or four months, thus meeting minutes take at least that long to be approved and finally posted. I am hoping for a quicker turn-around.

And now some questions for the PMPK Committee (the answers to which I am hoping will be made available soon after the meeting *grin*).

1. What is the current dollar amount the Board wishes to issue working cash bonds for? I understand from the last Board meeting that $14.5 million is the upper limit – what is the current amount of money under consideration that will actually be needed?
2. Related to the first question, what is the current quote for installing wireless infrastructure, and what are the individual line items for that component?
3. In the June 9th PMPK Meeting Minutes, Ms. Blank is said to seek specific descriptions of building deterioration for the sake of helping the community understand why sales tax dollars are spent on facilities such as the Bus Garage. What conditions have escalated the situation now that warrants an emergency working cash bond to cover these expenses?
4. And finally, this last one may not have a cut-and-dried answer yet (maybe it does), so I’ll ask it sort of rhetorically (but I do mean for it to be considered): During the Board’s various interactions with the community (whether it be face to face, one on one, small groups, business meetings, etc), what issues has the community indicated is a fiscal priority?

Thank you for your hard work, your long hours and above all, your stalwart and steadfast desire to provide excellent education to our children. You have my sincere thanks. Please note that I very much am aware of how the current economic situations is making life in Unit 4 rather difficult, with the impending promise of even less State aid in the near future; I realize you are trying your best to fix problems as you see it, and I respect that very much.

Humbly yours,

Have questions about working cash bonds, for the COO, or for the Board?

On Monday, I will be meeting with Don Kermath, Mr. Logas and Dr. Wiegand to talk about working cash bonds. My personal goal is simply to learn as much as I can. If you have questions I can pass along, please make them known.

 

Additionally, If you have any questions you would like to pose to the Board (about bills, suspensions letters, Superintendent’s Updates,  legal issues etc), the Board submits queries Wednesday morning and they receive answers by Friday. Either contact a Board Member individually, or email the group at u4boe@champaignschools.org.

The wrong question

“Shall the Board of Education of Champaign Community Unit School District Number 4, Champaign County, Illinois, be authorized to issue $14,500,000 bonds for a working cash fund as provided for by Article 20 of the School Code?”

– Unit 4 March 2012 Petition

I have been bothered by this whole thing (“torn“), and I think I finally put my finger on it; we are asking the wrong question. In my opinion, the real question is “How shall the Board direct the Superintendent to provide the best learning environments for all our citizens?” Allow me to deconstruct the current question that we have before us, and then build up the question I think we should be asking.

What the heck is a working cash bond?

Really torn about the current petition push

This week has been a busy one. Kicking off with the Feb 27th Special Board Meeting, a snowball started its not so gentle way downhill. Since then, I have had an excellent talk with Board Members and community folks at Houlihans, graced with an impromptu chat with Judy Wiegand and Gene Logas at the Mellon Center, received the DVD for the Board Meeting, picked up a small stack of petitions, corresponded with Don Kermath a bit, talked with my local PTA and held a discussion with the PTA Council. Also during that time, a number of articles, letters and news pieces have hit the public news media.

Why I am against the petition

Dr. Wiegand (probably) stepping up as the next interim super

re: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2011-10-28/wiegand-will-be-champaign-schools-next-interim-superintendent.html

 

Kinda saw this coming, with much of the higher up Admins leaving and Dr. Malito’s 100 days coming to a close. The cynical side of me wonders exactly what is needed to run a school district – we are losing a lot of high-paying jobs, so I cannot help but wonder how they will be filled or if they even need to be filled. The NG article says that they will be interim positions.

 

Dr. Malito has some big shoes to fill. I know that Dr. Wiegand already wears several hats; my best wishes to her as she takes on this juggling act. Same thing for Logas who is stepping up as COO. I am looking forward to find out how we are going to make this work. And I really want to hear the Board’s take on this. Guess I’ll be making a couple phone calls this weekend.