CSD Meeting Wednesday to Consider Salary Freeze and Work Reduction
Decatur Metro | March 16, 2010From Superintendent Dr. Phyllis Edwards…
As you may know from the recent news, the State of Georgia is not collecting the revenue they anticipated because of the weak economy. This shortfall will affect all public schools in Georgia. At City Schools of Decatur, we have been working hard to create a responsible budget that allows us to keep our staff but we will need to make some cuts to account for the reduction of funds we will receive from the State. Currently, we are proposing a 3-day reduction in work year calendars for all of our staff (with the exception of 185 day employees) and a salary “freeze.” These proposals will be outlined in a public hearing so that we can receive feedback from our community.
I want to let you know that this public meeting will be held on March 17, 2010 at 4:30 pm and again at 6:00 pm to review the proposed changes to our salary scales for the 2010 – 2011 school year.
The meeting will be held in the auditorium at Westchester (758 Scott Boulevard, Decatur 30030). You are welcome to attend and let the Board of Education hear your opinions.
Thank you in advance for your understanding during these difficult times.
Latest from Decaturish
What this situation calls for, no doubt, is a new $46,000 website.
Why exempt 185-day employees from 3-day reduction and salary freeze? Who are those employees? Just wondering. I think all staff should shoulder the burden except perhaps if any are paid at below poverty level.
If any layoffs eventually occur, the last to be cut should be the folks who spend all day in classrooms with our kids–teachers and paraprofessionals. It’s a shame to lose any non-classroom staff but they have to be prioritized lower. Whatever they do, please don’t let CSD cut elementary paraprofessionals! At $17,000 – $25,000, they provide one of the highest benefit/cost ratios of any CSD staff and they interact with our children more and have more day to day impact on children than many non-classroom staff. In fact, given test scores in a couple of schools and given recent cutbacks, more paraprofessionals are needed. You can have the greatest curriculum, teaching strategies, enrichment activities, and remedial processes, but none of it’s worth the funding if tno one can provide he quality time with each student that the activity requires.
I’m not positive, but I do think the 185 day employees might in fact be the paraprofessionals.
If the 185-day employees ARE paraprofessionals, they are the ones with the lowest salaries, with the least flexibility in terms of budget.
Wonder if this will affect Bruce Roaden’s promotion from excellent principal to community relations, central office staff?
It’s a tricky situation. On the one hand, I don’t want to stand in the way of promotion for an excellent administrator. And he’s been terrific.
And the system clearly needs a community relations person. (Although, professional PR people can be hired for far less than the salary of a principal. One ad will garner 500 resumes, at least!)
But, if money is tight………
Agree that some of our paraprofessionals are incredibly underpaid given their considerable talents and skills, hard, hard work with some of our most challenging students, and dedication to all students. So sparing them from 3-day reductons (furloughs) is appropriate and won’t break the bank.
Also agree that excellent principals deserve promotions to prevent them from being attracted to other school systems. But also agree that these are extraordinary times and if money is so tight that we have to cut front-line classroom educator salaries with 3 day reductions and freezes, we need that principal salary level to be spent on principal responsibilities, not Central Office responsibilities. Both types of responsibilities are critical, but one is more critical than the other. If it is true that a top-notch community relations/communications can be hired at less than a principal’s salary, that may be the fiscally sound choice.
A semi-green PR person would be a waste in Decatur because they would not have earned the credibility to be anything more than a mouth piece. Bruce is the right fit for the job because of the high level of trust he’s earned within the community.
The community relations position is being created in response to requests from a very particular constituency within the CSD community. Maybe I’m off base, but I think those folks would eat a run of the mill flack alive.
I think the particular constituency just wants information, facts, etc.
Decatur has quite a few competent journalists and media professionals without jobs within its borders, so I daresay you could hire out that job with someone competent. That job wasn’t advertised, I don’t think.
And if Bruce keeps that job, we’re gonna need to hire another principal over at Renfroe.
I’m just saying. I really rather doubt that they’re going to yank that job away from Bruce at this point.
Wow, Scott, you make is sound like Bruce was perhaps moved into this position as a backhanded punishment against the “particular constituency.” Sort of a …”We’ll show you, we’ll yank the best principal ever seen at CSD and move him into a position just to deal with you high maintenance types. That will teach you!”
I’m sure that’s not the case.
Not at all what I’m saying, Sweettea. It’s clearly a promotion, and justly earned.
What I mean is that a run-o-the-mill spin doctor would likely be run out of this town because the standard approach to a PR job would be taking information, putting a good shine on it, and releasing it. That’s clearly not the kind of “communication” folks have been asking for.
What people have been pushing for, and what is leaps and bounds above the typical “public relations” position, is a true liaison between the community and the school system. Someone who can share information honestly, but who also has the cred to present difficult trade-offs and work with the community to consider hard choices. That’s a very specialized individual in a town like this, and Bruce has earned the cred to pull something like that off.
I say hats off to him. And that’s speaking as someone who’s kid starts Renfroe next year.
Hey….. I figure if he’s been dealing so well with 13-year-olds for all these years, Decatur “constituencies” are going to be a cakewalk!
What happened to the two million in stimulus money? (this is an honest question; I don’t know). Elemntary parapros were cut due to this year’s shortfall but then we got the stimulus money and I haven’t seen any change.
Here’s the link to the Superintendent’s presentation on the proposed budget cuts. FYI, it’s a PDF.
The “3 day reduction” option isn’t the only one on the table, but it’s the one the Superintendent is recommending.
185 day employees include nurses, clerks, nutrition workers, and paraprofessionals.
Are these new positions? If so, are you kidding me?
DRAFT 2 accounts for position increases of $337,000:-Central Office Administrator-Decatur High Events Coordinator-GlennwoodGifted Math Coordinator-Decatur High Spanish Teacher-ClairemontExceptional Student Services Teacher
Do we need a Central Office Administrator, whatever that is? And an events coordinator at Decatur High?
Isn’t the administration heavy enough at the top?
I think we should send all the kids to California to go to school. I mean we can’t even do a website here in town how could we possibly educate our children!
Vote with your money folks! Don’t patronize business’s whose owners feel that buying local isn’t a good idea. No names just facts.
Don’t vote them into office either, right David?
FYI – The new Fifth Avenue plans have been posted. I think design looks pretty good. They were able to get street parking, half turn the building and create what looks like larger classrooms with a bigger field. I think the multipurpose room may have a balcony.
As a taxpayer, my first choice would be that the school system not take out an interest-only loan, wait for SPLOST to do construction and instead pay their teachers with local tax dollars so there wouldn’t be furloughs.
However, if they are going to do it, it looks like a good facility.
I also would choose no furloughs and no cuts in the number of school days over paying for a loan. I don’t care where the new 4/5 Academy building goes–5th Avenue, Westchester, Beacon Hill, Renfroe, Disneyworld–I’d rather continue with trailers than have teachers’ pay cut by furloughs or the school year shortened. The latter may affect learning; trailers, no matter how inelegant, do not.
Glad the design looks good. Sounds like all the feedback was worth it.
Article in AJC mentions that a resident spoke up at meeting about CSD budget and asked for an increase in the millage rate instead of cutting teachers’ pay with furloughs. I would prefer that too. I realize not everyone would agree and some are worried about whether they can afford to stay in Decatur. But I have a sense of impending doom coming upon public education in Georgia, in general, and upon Decatur, in particular. I would rather lose our parks, our library, our vibrant downtown, and even our churches, than lose decent public schools.