Concord Community Schools Referendum FAQ's: TH TH

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Concord Community Schools Referendum FAQs

1. Can extra-curricular activities be cut in order to save money? Concords community traditionally has high expectations for excellence in the classroom, in fine arts, and on the playing fields. Co- and extra-curricular programs are part of a comprehensive educational experience that keeps many students engaged in school that might not otherwise remain active or in school. We have already reduced expenses for maintenance and grounds keeping for these programs, and plans are in place to implement transportation cost-sharing in athletics and music next school year. 2. Can administrators be paid less, or some administration positions be eliminated? We have been very careful and frugal in order to ensure that funds are prioritized within the classrooms for work directly with students. According to the most recent state reports available, Concords average administrative salary is 167th in the state while our enrollment is the 56th largest and continuing to grow with over 250 additional students this school year alone. 3. Can the school corporation use a Rainy Day fund to offset property tax cap losses? Our current rainy day balance is less than one-half of our annual tax-cap losses, and once it is used, there is no funding source to replenish that emergency fund which is already far below the recommendation of the state board of accounts. Our rainy day fund is small because we have always budgeted frugally and our expenditures are closely aligned with our revenue in all funds supported by local property taxes. Prior to this referendum to replace lost funds, we have not asked the community for additional money. 4. Doesnt the school get most of its money from other sources besides property taxes? Can the school use that other money for all of its needs? We get funding directly from the State of Indiana through the state funding formula. The funding formula is designed by the state legislature and funded based on the amount that the legislature puts into the state budget. These funds are generated by student enrollment and meant for direct use in educating children personnel costs (teachers, classroom paraprofessionals, principals, librarians, counselors, secretaries, custodians, central office staff) including salaries and benefits; supplies; and professional development. We could use these funds to replace the tax cap losses, but reducing staff to cover 4.2 million dollars would not only change the culture of our community but also have a profound impact on student learning.

5. Does the school corporation receive money from Indiana sales tax? Does the sales tax revenue help with property tax cap losses? The school corporation does not directly receive sales tax revenue. Sales taxes are a part of the tax funds the State of Indiana receives. 6. Would the school corporation be willing to do an outside audit of finances and the budget? All public schools are audited by the State Board of Accounts every two years. These audits are available to the public on the State Board of Accounts website. Our budgets are published in the newspaper and hearings are held for the public to provide feedback. Budgets, debt, and salaries are all available to the public online at websites of the Department of Local Government Finance, the Department of Education, and the State Board of Accounts. Schools must also publish in the newspapers two reports annually the Annual Performance Report that gives data on student demographics and academics and the Annual Financial Report that includes salary schedules, budgets versus actual expenditures, estimated revenues versus actual receipts, and all vendors paid in excess of $2,500. 7. Why cant the school corporation just make do with less money, like taxpayers have had to do under a weaker economy? We have made cuts since 2008 when the state funding formula was reduced and extended them further as the property tax caps went into effect. Our enrollment has increased by over 250 students in this year alone, yet we have reduced teaching and support staff. As revenue has continued to decline, Concord Community Schools has reduced staff, kept 10-year-old computers for our students, increased student walk zones, consolidated elementary and intermediate bus routes, delayed maintenance and repairs to facilities. Not only are the tax caps impacting us, but the weaker economy has reduced the value of homes, which has made the property-tax losses even more catastrophic. 8. What is on the cutting block if this doesnt pass? Estimated savings for each area or estimate revenue increase in the case of paying more for things like AP testing or sports participation. What are people agreeing to pay more for? a. The short response is that everything except food service is on the chopping block and that exception is because food service is self-funded. In short, we are agreeing to pay more to keep what we have and maintain the culture of the Concord community. $4.2 million is a lot of money, and there is no single quick fix. Concord has worked hard to keep our request balanced and fair to avoid scare tactics in order to get a vote. We will continue to honor that philosophy throughout the voting season; however, well offer some examples that help show

the magnitude of a $4.2 million shortfall; likely, however, the distribution of the shortfall will fall across all of these categories and more. i. In order to fully cover the $4.2 million by cutting teachers using our starting salary as the divisor, we would have to eliminate 125 teaching spots equivalent to cutting more teachers than we have in our four elementary schools combined. We obviously cant do that. 1. Cutting 125 of 500 teaching spots would create class sizes that would go as high as 40 students in the elementary schools if the slots could be distributed equally among buildings, which isnt truly possible. 2. With 30 students per class, many young adults have an average about 1 square yard within a classroom. Increasing the number of students in the classroom reduces their personal space even further. ii. Cutting all transportation and technology staff members would not cover the $4.2 million shortfall and we are legally obligated to continue providing transportation for three more years, so that wont fix the problem. iii. Completely eliminating every principal and central office administrators salary would not get close to covering the $4.2 million. Wed also have to cut the equivalent of 74 full-time first-year teachers salaries. iv. Eliminating all K-12 athletic program salaries would still leave a shortfall of about $4 million. 9. What has been cut thus far over the past 3 years or so and resulted in savings? a. With increased enrollment that typically would have resulted in addition of 10 or more teaching positions, we actually reduced 6 positions in 2013-2014 alone, effectively eliminating 15 classroom teaching positions and 1 special education position this year. In the years prior to that additional teaching positions were eliminated by attrition. b. We have reduced utility expenses and have saved over $1 million since the Energy Conservation Program began in 2009. c. Since 2008, the 5-year computer replacement plan has been extended to as long as 10 years, with no intent to replace those computers without referendum success. The state has mandated high stakes testing, which we must have students take on these antiquated computers. In addition, we have delayed implementation of 1:1 computing which would keep Concord competitive with other school districts in the area. d. With aging computers that require additional technology supports, we have eliminated a computer technician position and a building technology resource position. e. We have outsourced much of our grounds keeping and extended the time between lawn mowing; coaches have resorted to mowing their own practice fields when the grass is too long.

f. We have eliminated bus routes and extended neighborhood walk zones even though there are no sidewalks within most of Concords boundaries. We have also delayed replacement of aging buses some of which are now 14 years old. We have resorted to borrowing buses from another school district. g. We eliminated full-time K-4 assistant principals unless funded through a grant. h. We have reduced fringe benefits for staff while increasing their cost for the benefits. i. We reduced locally funded, general education paraprofessional staff by 25%. j. For several years, there has been no increase to the salary schedule. k. Building-level equipment and facilities upgrades have been eliminated for several years. l. We have indefinitely delayed adding on to the high school even though enrollment continues to expand and the building size would ideally serve approximately 1,200 students as opposed to our current 1,600. This referendum will not address the overcrowding at the high school. m. Administrators took a voluntary pay reduction. n. Supply budgets have been cut by 50% for nearly a decade. o. We have reduced library hours in three buildings. p. We have mandated cost sharing for music and athletic transportation. q. We have eliminated locally-funded field trips due to transportation expenses. r. We have delayed implementation of inquiry-based science instruction in the elementary schools and other STEM initiatives. s. We have reduced our emergency funds (i.e., Rainy Day) to less than one half of the $4.2 million shortfall. If expended completely, there would be no way to deal with emergency expenses and repairs and we would still be short more than $2 million in the first yearand be back to the $4.2 million shortfall after only one year. 10. Average cost per student in Indiana vs. USA? Average cost per student at Concord? Where do we fall? Average cost per student comparisons cannot be made with any sense of integrity because formulas for calculating that cost vary dramatically from state to state and even within Indiana, depending how expenses are classified in budgets, whether food service is included, whether transportation is included, whether grants are included in the calculations, etc. Further, the average cost per student misrepresents the cost for educating a typical child. Expenses for students with special needs may far surpass those of students without special needs, by as much as $40,000 or more for one child in any given year. State agencies calculate our per pupil averages using three different formulas, some of which cant be duplicated locally. The variation between those calculations is about $5,000 per child. The state provides a basic grant that covers $4,569 per student in all districts within the state. Additional funding is provided for various categories of students.

11. Expected classroom size if this doesnt pass as each level? It is difficult to say what class sizes will become because decisions need to be made regarding where the cost reductions will occur. It is clear that class sizes will increase significantly; currently, class-sizes exceed 30 students per class at all levels: K-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12. Currently first grade classrooms reach as high as 28 students and fourth-grade classrooms reach as high as 32. High school classes reach as high as 34. It is also important to recognize that the impact of needing to increase class size will result in cancellation of high-level courses with low enrollment, such as advanced placement and dual credit courses; high-level math, science, and world language courses; special education and services for English Language Learners beyond the minimum mandates, etc. Canceling those courses impacts students ability to meet Indiana diploma and college entrance requirements.

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