Thomas M. Ramming, Ed.D. – Superintendent of Schools
In Support of Fiscal Responsibility – When I was appointed superintendent in November 2002, our budget reserves and fund balance (i.e., savings account) totaled $7,000 for a budget of approximately $35 million. In addition, we, like other school districts across New York, were starting to experience rapidly rising costs for liability insurance, health insurance, and State retirement system payments. For example, our Teachers’ Retirement System payments have jumped from one-quarter of one percent of salaries in 2002-03 to nearly eight percent next year. On a payroll of approximately $20 million, this translates into an increase from $50,000 to $1,600,000. Unfortunately, increases in state aid have not kept up with these rapidly rising expenses. Without reserves to help fill the gap, the District has turned to our property owners for help in addressing these escalating costs.
Within the first week on the job, I initiated a staffing utilization study to determine how many teachers and administrators we employed and how they were being utilized. Ultimately, this led the Board of Education to abolish seven teaching positions and one administrative position in the spring of 2003. Clear and equitable class size guidelines were put in place and requests for additional staff now requires strong justification based on “numbers.”
At the same time, we reviewed our per pupil expenditures for supplies and equipment. This review led to a more equitable distribution of resources among schools. It also allowed us to claim all of the state aid we were eligible for in the area of supplies and equipment.
Finally, in order to bring the technology in our schools and classrooms up to date (but not cutting edge), we began to take advantage of a program that allows us to purchase hardware and some services through Erie 1 BOCES. Doing so allows us to recoup nearly sixty percent of the cost through “BOCES aid.”
Despite these efforts, we continue to face extraordinary financial challenges. This year is the second of what we believe will be at least three very difficult years. Nonetheless, we are committed to building a budget that seeks to address the needs of our students and concerns of our taxpayers. With the support of the Board of Education, we are also engaged in developing a 3-5 year financial plan that will preserve the financial integrity of the school district for the foreseeable future.
Now I would like to turn to some specific issues that have been raised by members of our community.
Union Contracts – We have contracts in place with our administrators and support staff through June 2006; the teachers through June 2007. Our insurance consultant was asked to examine the health insurance afforded to all three groups and suggest changes that could be made with minimal impact on the affected employees. His strongest recommendation was to move the teachers to one insurance carrier. Earlier this year I approached the leadership of the teachers’ union about this matter. They were willing to discuss changes to the present contract, but only in the context of a contract extension. We hope to have further discussions on this matter later this year and the District is currently re-examining whether or not it would be cost-effective to move only the other two employee groups to a single carrier.
Class Size – Class size is a very emotional issue. While some research has suggested that class sizes under eighteen students in the primary grades (which we do not have because of cost/room availability concerns) can lead to improved student achievement (especially in urban school districts), there is little evidence that links class size to student achievement at other grade levels. However, because elementary class size is a concern for many of our parents, the Board has made an effort to maintain “low” class sizes (18-26 depending on grade level) in grades K-4. Also, from a practical standpoint, most of our classrooms were designed for classes with approximately twenty-five students. This, along with the integration of students with special needs (i.e., slow learners or students with disabilities) into regular education classes leads to a “reasonable” or “practical” limit for the number of students in a class. Finally, our teachers’ contract limits class size to no more than twenty-nine students. This means, for example, that we cannot begin the year with an upper level math class with more than twenty-nine students, even if history has shown us that some students will drop the course later in the fall. To those who claim that teacher quality is the major school-related variable affecting student achievement, you are absolutely correct! We place a great deal of emphasis on hiring high-quality teachers. Furthermore, we strongly encourage professional development for the purpose of improving student achievement. We constantly ask our teachers, “What are you doing, or can you do, to help your students do better?”
Certification Issue – Shortly before I started at Grand Island, I was informed that a certification audit of our staff had recently been conducted. While questions surfaced regarding the certification status of some teachers, no such question was raised with regard to any administrator. Furthermore, the State Education Department annually conducts its own certification audit of school employees but these audits did not show that any administrator lacked the appropriate certification. Once we discovered that one of our administrators lacked the appropriate certification, our staff audited the files of all other administrators to make sure they held appropriate certification. A system is in place to regularly check and follow-up on the certification status teachers and administrators.
Character Education – It is important to recognize that children are growing up in a society that is different from the one you or I grew up in. The transformation of the traditional family unit, from where dad worked and mom stayed home to care for the children, to one where both parents are working or there is only one parent, has increased expectations for what schools are expected to teach our children. Schools today, in addition to providing the normal programs and subjects, must devote significant resources to helping students become morally responsible citizens.
Transportation – In terms of transportation, we are required to transport students to over sixty schools in Niagara and Erie Counties. Sometimes this results in having only a few students per bus, perhaps making it appear that we are “inefficient.” With regard to high school bus runs, the most significant variable is the number of students who will use District versus private transportation on a given day. In an effort to account for this, the number of high school students assigned to a bus typically exceeds the capacity of the bus by fifty percent or more. We work very hard to ensure that we are following State law and Board policy in transporting students. Over the last twenty years, the District has been able to reduce the number of high school and middle school bus runs, lower costs, increase state, and avoid serious accidents.
Summary – In closing, with the support of the Board of Education, we have taken many steps over the last three years to provide a cost-effective program that supports the goal of improving student achievement. We have also taken significant steps to help ensure the long-range financial integrity of the District. On the other hand, rising costs, especially in the areas of contractual salaries, health insurance, retirement, and liability insurance have placed significant strain on our budget and taxpayers. The Board of Education is cognizant of the fact that there is a limit to how much it can expect of the taxpayers, and is taking steps to reduce the budget-to-budget increase even if that means increasing class size and negatively affecting some student programs. The Board, working with the administration, will ensure that that 2005-06 budget contains the lowest tax rate increase over the last three years.
For further information about the school budget, please attend our April 11 Board of Education meeting (7 p.m. at the Middle School), check our website regularly, or e-mail me at thomasramming@k12.ginet.org.