Residents of the Oxford school district came out in droves to let their voices and opinions be heard March 11.
Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Tim Loock and Deputy Superintendent Nancy Kammer oversaw the one-hour public forum held at OHS.
‘Tonight we want to talk about what the problem is, share some data and information about that and collect your comments and questions about what you see and hear,? Loock said in his opening statement.
He told the crowd that the numbers they were seeing were constantly changing on a daily basis and that these were only predictions.
‘The problem is the information we have now, a lot of it is speculation and we are not that far away from a new year in terms of budget,? he said. ‘I have no idea what they (state government ) are going to do in terms of school budgeting.?
Entering the 2010-11 school year, the district is facing a potential $4.8 million deficit.
Loock told the crowd that many factors in both expenses and revenue contributed to the school district’s projected deficit. There was a $700,000 increase to the employee step and percent increases in contracts from the 2009-10 to the projected 2010-11 school budget. This equates to an increase of $154 per pupil
A 2.47 percent increase in the retirement rate, up now to 19.14 percent, represented a $577,000 increase in cost, or $125 per pupil. Health care increases at seven percent would equal an increase of $65 per pupil, while inflation would increase the budget by $352,000, or $76 per pupil.
In addition to the increases in expenses, the district is predicting a revenue loss of 2.6 million dollars due to federal stimulus dollars running out.
After explaining the shortcomings of the budget, Loock unveiled a series of ideas that would help erase the budget woes on the expense side.
‘Because our budget is 83 percent people and because our problem is very large, there is no question that no matter what solution we come up with, it’s going to impact people’s compensation, fringe benefits and so forth,? said Loock.
The first item he mentioned was privatizing transportation and janitorial services, a saving of nearly $900,000 between the two services.
This idea was met with stern objections from members of the audience. Oxford resident Jim Reis asked Loock what was going to happen to the custodians if they were privatized. ‘Where would they go? Would they be out of a job? Would they be able to apply for a job with the privatized company?? Reis asked.
‘If they privatize and everybody was hired back into company contracts, chances are we are taking a 40 percent reduction in pay to work for them because we are getting no health care benefits, no retirement; no nothing,? said a member of the audience.
One audience member voiced her concern about the privatized company coming in and putting drivers on the busses who do not know anything about the children.
‘Do they know the mom is going to be there five minutes late, or to drop them off at the right address or whether to drop them off at the grandmothers or mothers house that day? We know that,? she said. ‘We know their attitudes and moods on a daily basis.?
‘We know their names, we know the problems they have,? said another female member of the audience.
The previous female audience member also raised concerns about the privatized drivers not getting drug tested as rigorously as the current bus drivers.
Loock indicated that the privatized drivers would be held to the same standards as the current ones because it’s state law.
Another member of the audience concluded that ‘when you take away the people who work for you and really enjoying working for your school, you’re taking good people out the community…and their kids will go with their parents and the grandma’s will take the other kids out and they will leave.?
Other ideas for cutting expenses included support staff reductions, which would save $185,00, employees being contracted out, saving $70,000 and operational savings of $45,000 due to student days being reduced.
These measures would cut $1.185 million from the deficit, lowering it to $3.6 million
Two items were introduced to the crowd that were still under negotiations, an across the board pay freeze, which would save $900,000 and the idea that employees would contribute to their own health care. This would save the school district an additional $645,000.
Loock also mentioned that building administrators, district administrators, at-will employees, secretaries and para-pros have already taken pay freezes for next year.
The district is also looking at a one percent wage concession from the total number of employees in the district.
He added that the total savings between the pay freezes and contributions to health care would equal $1.8 million.
‘Most of these things we went through have not yet been implicated…it’s just one way of solving the problem,? said Loock. ‘But a lot of things have to happen in order to accomplish that.?
Loock announced at the meeting that the Board of Education approved a resolution for an early separation plan on Monday, March 8 that would generate half-a-million dollars in savings.
‘What we have offered is a plan for teachers for the financial incentive to leave the district, whether it is to retire or choose to work somewhere else. The idea is to take a high salary teacher and replace them with a low-salary teacher. There are savings that would be generated with that,? said Loock.
The plan would be a payout of $45,000 over five years plus sick days teachers are entitled to in their contract.
Even with the announced pay freezes, audience members still were unhappy.
‘I don’t understand how the upper echelon can take a freeze while the lower echelon can take a 40 percent reduction,? said a male member of the audience.
‘Why would they not take a cut? Why would they take a freeze and try to eliminate everybody else’s job?? asked another resident.
Another hot topic was the Schools of Choice students.
Last year, OCS generated $2.3 million dollars in revenue from school of choice students. Nearly 10 percent of the students are school of choice, according to Loock.
One woman spoke frankly, saying ‘People with school of choice are getting a free ride and they are not paying anything. They may live in Pontiac, where their taxes are next to nothing, and in the meantime, I am paying a handful to take care of their children. I think we should balance this out.?
Loock responded by saying that every home in the state is accessed a 6-mill school tax and that the money generated by that tax goes to Lansing and is distributed back to the school districts.
A question was raised about how much the district would lose if the Schools of Choice students disappeared.
‘As I mentioned, the $2.3 million would go away. Perhaps there could be some reduction in cost, but I don’t know if we could eliminate teachers that would support the 300 students because they are dispersed across the school district,? Loock said.
Concerns were also voiced about the cost of the IB program and Skilling’s recent global travels to China and South Africa.
‘If we want to protect the integrity of our school system, we must continue to add fine programs that keep our students here and give them the best education in an ever-changing world,? said Pat Bono.
The next community forums will be held on Thursday, March 25 at 7 p.m. in the Oxford Middle School LGI room and at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 31 at Clear Lake Elementary.