NJASBO 2013 Annual Spring Conference in AC

DO AC!  If you are looking for real professional growth and opportunity centered on the Business of Education, then you should make plans to DO AC IN A BIG WAY!

Among the various workshops, presentations, networking and speakers will be a presentation put together through the collaboration of my Director of Technology, Doug Orr and me on "How to Prepare Memorable Presentations!"

If you are ever tasked with public presentations on any subject you should stop by on Wednesday for one of the two presentations:  1:45 & 3:00 PM.

The Cost of School Security

The following paper was written and presented by Lauren LoPorto in the Montclair State University School Finance Class that I taught this past semester.  This paper is one of many that I have chosen to highlight on this blog as it is contemporary and directly related to the issues in financing public education.

The Cost of School Security

Montclair State University

Lauren LoPorto - ELAD 622 

Professor Pepe 

Review of Material Covered

Allen, J. (2012, December 21). Part one: A columbine survivor’s perspective on sandy hook. Examiner.com. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/article/a-columbine-survivor-s-perspective-on-sandy-hook

 

Karissa Marcum, a Columbine survivor, now 28, describes her tale of the horrific day she and her sister experienced as high school students. Marcum shares her sadness for the senseless murders committed at Sandy Hook and discusses her opinion on gun control.

Carson, D. (Writer) (2012, October 11). To survive a shooting, students learn to fight back. NPR. [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2012/10/11/162712905/to-survive-a-shooting-students-learn-to-fight-back

The controversial strategy known as A.L.I.C.E. Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evaluate is defined and explained in this podcast. The program creator believes training children as young as 5-years-old to, “fight back” against an active shooter is an effective strategy. This is a controversial approach but many believe we need to change our thinking about how potential victims should respond, and that a shift toward more active resistance in crime situations is happening. He supports this idea by explaining before September 11, passengers were advised to comply with hijackers, and that self-defense instructors used to tell women to go limp to survive a rape.  

Candoli, C., Guthrie, J.W., Hack, W.G., Hart, C.C., & Ray, J,R. (2008). Modern School Business Administration: A Planning Approach. Boston, MA: Pearson  

The text describes the need for school security and the level of crime increase due to a number of factors including drugs, gangs, and vandalism. The most successful school security personnel have a close working relationship with building administrators and students they serve.  

Kennedy, M. (2012). Today’s school security. American School & University, 16-22. 

This journal article summarized the lessons learned from the school shooting massacres including Columbine and Virginia Tech. The measures taken by schools and universities today have been intensified to ensure public safety. Finally, prevention is discussed by identifying problems and why the role of violence prevention programs at schools is beneficial. 

Terkel, A. (2012, December 21). Columbine high school had armed guard during massacre in 1999. Huffinton Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/21/columbine-armed-guards_n_2347096.html 

The gun control debate ensues and many politicians are using school violence to promote their stance both for and against gun control. Those invested in pro-gun laws are pushing for armed guards at every school to make them “safer.”  

Toppo, G. (2009, April 19). 10 years later, the real story behind columbine. USA Today. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm 

This article summarizes the events that occurred on April 20, 1999 when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris terrorized and murdered their classmates before turning the guns on themselves. Not only did the boys have guns, but they planted bombs that thankfully failed to explode. Also discussed are some of the security steps put in place since Columbine. 

Trump, K. (2009). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.schoolsecurityblog.com/ 

Ken Trump is the President of a National School Safety and Security Services firm. His School Security Blog is a “news and opinion blog for educators, safety professionals, parents, media, and others who are passionate and concerned about K-12 school safety, security, and crisis/emergency preparedness.” I read over a dozen of his posts and posts by guest published on his website: schoolsecurityblog.com. While most posts are one-sided, his contributions to this issue are informative and valuable.  

Thesis 

The safety and security of our schools should be a top priority; but what strategies are truly effective and what measures are schools taking to prevent violence from happening in their town?

Issues and Strategies Identified 

“A tragedy of unspeakable terms,” were the words spoken by Connecticut Governor, Daniel Malloy. On December 14, 2012 twenty-six children and educators were killed when a disturbed man shot his way into an elementary school. The Newtown school shooting has brought attention to school security back up to the surface. Administrators, teachers, parents, and even students are now wondering the same thing; how safe are our schools? With the economy on the brink of a recession, and Federal and State aid being rerouted in order to pay for new mandates, many schools have been challenged to maintain their budgets with less. Schools everywhere, especially in New Jersey, have been forced to make weighty cuts and have reduced levels of security as a result. Should the security of our schools and the safety of our children be a top priority? The obvious answer is yes, but how this is achieved and at what cost is up for debate.

Launching a Title One School-Wide Program

The following paper was written and presented by Alice Keller in the Montclair State University School Finance Class that I taught this past semester.  This paper is one of many that I have chosen to highlight on this blog as it is contemporary and directly related to the issues in financing public education.

Issues in School Finance: Launching a Title One School-Wide Program

Alice Keller
Montclair State University

Thesis

            The federal government provides grant funds to public school districts that can only be spent according to narrowly defined purposes and cannot be reallocated to other accounts within the budget.  In the case of Title One funds, they must be used for targeted assistance services to support students who fall below the district target on state assessments.  At WWW Middle School, there is a large percentage of students just barely reaching the target who could also benefit greatly from the programs funded by our Title One grant.  This year, WWW Middle School is applying to become a Title One School.  If the school is granted permission to switch from targeted assistance to a school-wide program, the administration will have the power to use the funds to support “any students that we believe could utilize support to grow and get better” (Director of Secondary Education, personal communication, April 16, 2013). The district believes that this change will be crucial in increasing student achievement across the school and avoiding being labeled as a “school in need of improvement” and being subjected to interventions by the state. 

Review of Title I Grant Funding

In 1965, Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which was “specifically directed to supporting public education for low-income students” (Guthrie, Hart, Ray, Candoli, & Hack, 2008, p.211). The ESEA established grant funds that are distributed to public schools, and “historically, the bulk of ESEA funds have been dedicated to ‘Title One,’ which seeks to support students in poverty” (Guthrie et al., 2008, p. 211).  Schools receive Title One grant funding based on the number of students who qualify as economically disadvantaged as indicated by their “Free or Reduced Lunch” status (Director of Secondary Education, personal communication, 2013).  These funds are considered “fund 20” restricted special revenue funds, which must be used for specific purposes and cannot be reallocated (Pepe, personal communication, 2013).  Funds also come with accountability to the federal government, which mandates the “use of standards and assessments to determine if schools receiving federal money were attaining concomitant student achievement gains, and a system of rewards and sanctions for states, districts, and schools receiving funds and that could not demonstrate improved results” (Guthrie et al., 2008, p. 211).  Under No Child Left Behind, schools receiving Title One funds have been required to meet AYP or else undergo a series of mandated reform measures. 

For the 2012-2013 school year, WWW Public schools received $536,152 in Title One funds, which is roughly 1% of the total $51,216,516 revenue reflected in the budget (Board of Education, 2012).  Of this, WWW Middle School received $147,962, based on having 411 students or 62.4% of students considered to be “economically disadvantaged” (State of New Jersey, 2012).  The breakdown of how these funds were spent to support our at-risk students is outlined in Appendix A and will be discussed in the following section. 

Recently Published Article in AASA School Adminitrator

Streamlining Central-Office Staffing BY LOUIS J. PEPE

http://www.aasa.org/content.aspx?id=27768

At a time of serious budget cuts, it is incumbent for those of us at the executive level to ensure we have the necessary personnel to accomplish our school district’s mission. Absent clear, thoughtful practices for staffing, we run the risk of impeding progress in our schools. We also risk a far more serious situation, resulting in breakdowns in operational efficiency and service or procedural violations that will be cited in annual financial audits.

Simultaneously, we need to be mindful of opportunities to reduce expenses through attrition by redistributing workloads and eliminating unnecessary or obsolete tasks and positions. Our school district, which serves 4,100 students in central New Jersey, has conducted a thorough assessment of existing practices, procedures and services, which allows us to budget resources to support supervisors and administrators while ensuring classrooms, buildings and grounds are clean, safe, secure and conducive to learning.

Staffing Cuts - To increase efficiency in the district’s central operations in cost-effective ways, we developed recommendations for creating, eliminating and retaining positions. This review process requires effective communication, support and teamwork through collaboration of cabinet-level administrators and the superintendent.

The district’s management group effectively applied this process over the past three years, yielding reductions of two full-time positions with benefits to part-time posts with no benefits and elimination of a part-time engineer/environmental technician. We also eliminated two full-time secretarial positions, one in the office of the superintendent and another in special services.

Notably, these personnel reductions took place during a time frame when student enrollment continued to grow and the district opened two new primary centers. The latter additions brought the district’s facility count to nine schools, including five elementary schools, one middle school and one high school.

Dispassionate Analysis - Simply eliminating positions for cost cutting demands a closer look at the opportunity costs associated with such rash decisions. Downsizing as a quick fix to reduce personnel costs has irreparable consequences, as positions eliminated often cannot be restored easily by school districts facing reduced state and federal aid, tax-levy caps and anti-public-spending sentiment.

Today’s mind-set of doing more with less has become a reality of concern over maintaining existing programs and services. However, consider the alternative — using strategic planning for expansion and retention of quality staffing levels to meet the needs of current and future operations. In this regard, public education is a business that requires proper planning for effective management.

A favorite book on this topic is Dwight Gertz and João Baptista’s Grow to be Great: Breaking the Downsizing Cycle.

These authors say: “Managers must move beyond the current wave of downsizing, restructuring and reengineering.” Contrary to current management fads, they contend organizations must grow to be great, adding, “Managers now involved in downsizing must consider long-term goals for growth alongside short-term measures for slimming.”

As managers of a school district, we must prepare adequate analysis, absent emotional responses, to support legitimate recommendations to sustain and benefit the operation of schools. This process begins with an administrative analysis of current staffing and assignment of responsibilities related to each aspect of the central office.

Start by reviewing the various responsibilities and areas of operation with members of the administrative team. All staffing decisions must include the capacity to reassign, train and maintain the necessary administrative oversight for these various functions. Each staff position must be considered along with all active positions within the group and the wider operation based on efficiency, cost justification, support benefit and current workload of the particular office and central office as a whole.

March 7, 2013 Board of School Estimate Budget Presentation

S1191/A3960 - Establishment of more county-wide control in the area of school district services

This is a great case of where select individuals in the Assembly and Senate have an extreme disconnect from the actual operations of a school district and the ability of management in this cases School Business Administrators in partnership with Boards of Education to effectively oversee and administer services in a fiscally responsive manner providing cost savings to resident tax payers.

S1191/A3960 - Establishment more county-wide control in the area of school district services

03/21/2013 Received in Assembly and referred to Assembly Education Committee.  THIS BILL WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON SCHOOL DISTRICTS.  YOU ARE URGED TO CONTACT YOUR ASSEMBLY REPRESENTATIVES AND INDICATE THAT YOU OPPOSE THIS LEGISLATION.

 SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE, No. 1191

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 4, 2013

       The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably a Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 1191.

      This substitute bill permits counties to establish a county-wide purchasing system to provide custodial or food services, or both, to school districts within the county. This simply grows county government which in some counties has proven ineffective in their ability to maintain tax stability and more importantly decrease taxes through reductions in spending.   These contracts would be awarded to contractors using the competitive contracting process set forth in the “Local Public Contracts Law,” P.L.1971, c.198 (C.40A:11-1 et seq.).  If a county establishes a county-wide purchasing system and a school district in the county is currently using a private contractor for the service, the district will be required to participate in the county-wide contract.This position eliminates the board’s ability to consider alternative service selection based on other criteria beyond price alone.  Where district’s are currently and effectively operating within a profit margin beyond break-even it usurps the rights of management to evaluate continuation of the existing company or consider going out to look at the market through a competitive request for proposal (RFP) or public bid.  The county established program should be a viable consideration amongst other companies, thereby preserving the best price and service through fair and open competition.
 

      In addition, a district that is using its own employees to provide custodial or food services will be required to participate in a county-wide contract if it determines to privatize the service Again, loss of considerable options.  Prior to participating in the county-wide contract, however, the district will be required to meet certain criteria, including holding a public hearing on the proposal to participate, providing a period during which the public will have the opportunity to submit comments on the proposal, and providing written responses to the comments This is contrary to effective management as the requirement serves as a barrier to consideration of outsourcing and complicates an already difficult public policy decision.  Ultimately, the decision should rest with the elected representatives at the local level as the decision impacts the community – not the county.

   A district in these circumstances will not be permitted to participate in the county-wide contract during the term of an existing collective bargaining agreement with employees who will be affected by the participation in the county-wide contract, and after the term of the agreement, the district may participate only after:

      (1)  providing written notice to the majority representative of employees in each collective bargaining unit affected by participation in the county-wide contract and to the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission; and

      (2)  offering the majority representative the opportunity to consult with the district to discuss the decision to participate in the county-wide contract and the opportunity to engage in negotiations over the impact of participation  This would be a major setback to the collective bargaining process for school districts as they would lose significant bargaining leverage at the table by favoring unions and the status quo in ineffective districts.  Why would custodial members ever consider agreement to outsourcing of their jobs? 

Each employee replaced or displaced as a result of the district’s participation in the county-wide contract would retain all previously acquired seniority and would have recall rights whenever the district’s participation in the county-wide contract terminates.

      Any administrator whose position is eliminated due to a countywide purchasing system will receive terminal leave pay pursuant to N.J.S.A.40A:65-19 of the "Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act."

      The substitute also provides protection for food or custodial services employees employed on school district premises during a transition to employment by a successor contractor, which is defined in the substitute as a contractor that has been awarded a food or custodial services contract.  Under the provisions of the substitute, a successor contractor must offer employment during a 90-day transition employment period to all service employees providing food or custodial services employed by the predecessor employer, whether that predecessor employer is a school district or another contractor providing food or custodial services for the school district. The successor contractor is prohibited from discharging, without just cause, a retained employee during that transition period, and must perform a written performance evaluation for each retained employee at the end of the transition period. In many cases this is the reason for considering the outsourcing in order to separate ineffective employees from the district.

 Employees whose performance was satisfactory, must be offered continued employment by the successor contractor.  This provision would apply in the case of participation in a county-wide contract for food or custodial services, in the case of a district privatizing these services, or in the case of a change from one private contractor to another private contractor for these services.

      The substitute includes a provision that applies to all subcontracting by any of the following employers: any local or regional school district, educational services commission, jointure commission, county special services school district, county college, State college, public college or university under the authority of the Secretary of Higher Education, or board or commission under the authority of the Commissioner of Education or the State Board of Education.  Under this provision, during the term of an existing collective bargaining agreement covering its employees, the employer is prohibited from entering into a subcontracting agreement which affects the employment of those employees.  Following the term of a collective bargaining agreement, the employer is permitted to enter into a subcontracting agreement only if the employer provides similar notice and opportunity to negotiate over the impact of the subcontracting agreement as described above in relation to the decision by a school district to participate in a county-wide contract.  As in that case, each employee replaced or displaced because of a subcontracting agreement would retain all previously acquired seniority and would have recall rights when the subcontracting terminates.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      This bill is not certified as requiring a fiscal note.  This may be the case; however, it will have a sever negative fiscal impact on districts who are currently managing these services effectively and at a cost savings with the outside companies.

Senate Approves Subcontracting, Arbitration Bills

As reported by New Jersey School Boards - The following legislation hampers district's ability at the table as it weakens the bargaining process for management as leverage taken away with respect to cost containment in salary and other terms and conditions of the contract that permit sustained continuation of employment for select groups.  I for one have never been a strong proponent of outsourcing with respect to custodial/maintenance operations; however as the Chief Financial Officer for the district, often I state the obvious when dealing with represented groups, "Do not price yourself out of a job!" 

Absent the ability to subcontract or outsource at will, district's loose a credible option and key bargaining chip at the table. 

http://www.njsba.org/news/sbn/20130319/senate-approves-subcontracting-arbitration-bills.php


The state Senate on Monday passed by a 22-15 vote a bill that would limit the ability of school districts and higher education institutions to enter into subcontracting agreements for services such as busing, custodial or cafeteria services.
The bill, S-1191, would make subcontracting much more difficult by making such decisions a mandatory subject of negotiations. The bill also places significant obstacles in front of school boards that have not yet subcontracted services, but desire to do so.
S-1191 would impose onerous, pro-union requirements such as extensive notice and comment periods, as well as transitional employment for affected employees, which appear intended to preclude school districts from privatizing food or custodial services altogether, regardless of whether such a decision makes sense from a managerial or fiscal standpoint.
NJSBA opposes the bill. In 2009, the Association performed a survey into subcontracting. Approximately 40 percent of school districts responded, reporting savings through subcontracting that totaled at least $34.3 million annually.
Sample Resolution Available NJSBA has created a sample resolution that boards can adopt to demonstrate their opposition to the bill. NJSBA’s position statement on the legislation contains additional information.

5 Waves of Trust - Stephen M.R. Covey