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Health & Fitness

Geneva School Board Candidate Dan Garrett's Top 3 Issues

Geneva School Board candidates - Dan Garrett's top 3 issues.

I introduced myself in my December blog post, and tossed some numbers around about the Geneva 304 school district. In sum: Our number of staff, teachers and students is the same as 2007, but our education operations budget is nearly 50% higher, what gives? I understand governance is more than finances, and I have serious questions about common core, board / taxpayer communication and the salary study group established in our most recent teacher contract.  But the big responsibility for the board member is education, with fiduciary responsibility to the tax payers. 

So my top 3 issues are:

Fiscal responsibility: To the taxpayers, holding the line on tax levy rates, including long term plan for debt restructuring.

Compensation: Reform compensation rewards to be results-based instead of current "step & lane" seniority/continuing education.

Communication: Improve clarity on all issue positions and decisions, especially budget and tax levy.

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I've been fairly quiet since that first post, waiting to absorb information from school board meetings, and talking to a few board members over coffee, and getting helpful insight from a meeting last week hosted by the school board for Q&A session with candidates. I've asked many questions about the budget process, and have nothing new in 3 months of intense digging — that concerns me because a budget increase of $20 million since 2007 should be easy to find, right? Why can't anyone give me a one-page summary of why are spending so much extra money?

Where did I look, beyond talking to folks? I watched several finance committee and regular meeting videos covering March 2012 to Feb 2013. I studied the 98 page CAFR (comprehensive annual financial report) of district 304, which the board graciously made copies available to the candidates. The $20 million increase? Still unanswered.

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So, I tried to make some educated guesses. For example,  I understand salaries are a big part of spending, but how much of that 5-year increase is salaries and benefits?   Did the $40 million get to $60 million, because we are paying teachers 50% more than 2008? I doubt it. Where did the 5 -ear increase come from? I can't tell.

I'm a financial analyst and read the 98 pages — asked questions — have no answers. In my job, we would not buy bonds of the school district that couldn't answer those questions. I'm digging and I know what I'm looking for, woe to the average parent/voter trying to make sense of what's going on, even if they attend all the meetings and read the reports.

So either we need to really dig into the numbers and find the story and fix it, or we need to communicate clearly to the public, on one page, where our money is going, and why the budget is increasing so much when the # of people being paid and taught hasn't changed.

My current conclusion, based on what I've discovered: we have either become really ineffective or inefficient if it takes 50% more $ to get the same job done.  Someone who knows (administration, board, teachers) please fill us in. 

To find out more on my positions, please attend the forum on fiscal responsibility co-hosted by Rick Nagel-Patch on Wednesday 3/20 at 6:45 p.m. at Williamsburg school. Four local papers sent me questions and I wrote in-depth replies on: common core standards, are we preparing our students adequately, budget cut thoughts, salary reform, communication improvements between the board and the public, tax levy process and levels, among other questions. Hopefully those answers I wrote get some ink.

If you share my concerns on D304 budget, taxes and communication — and want faithful representation by someone with the know-how and determination to make a difference for the better on your behalf - vote for Dan Garrett for school board on April 9th.

I plan on having coffees/gatherings at a few places around town, but trying to gauge interest in how many people might show up.  If you are interested in talking about school district issues or have questions about what I've blogged, I'd love to meet with a group or several groups between now and the election.  Should it be a table for 4 at Grahams 318, the large room at the pub for 20, or a room for 50 at the Herrington Inn (very optimistic!)... the ice arena or Munchie P's is fine too.

Dan

 

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