Indya KINCANNON
2nd District School Board Representative

School Board Update – January 2009

Hello Everyone,

I hope you enjoyed the holidays and are staying warm during this wintry weather. We had a lengthy meeting tonight, mostly discussing the budget situation. Details on that and other issues are below. As always, I welcome your feedback.

Budget Woes

Like so many businesses and families, the school system faces some serious budget challenges. Property and sales tax collections are significantly lower than expected. We just found out a few days ago that a teachers’ retirement fund, which has been closed to new employees since the mid-1970s, lost over $30m on the market in the last few quarters and cannot meet its obligations for the coming year unless we add about $2.5m to the fund. We face a $7-8m deficit in the current year and at least a $15m deficit expected for next year.

While revenues are down, most of our costs, such as health insurance, utilities, and salary step increases, remain constant or rising. Both the Governor and our local government leaders have indicated they will make every effort to spare cuts for k-12 education. Nonetheless, at this juncture our best case scenario is a flat budget, with no increase from last year.

Clearly we have serious budget constraints, but it’s also an opportunity to do things we didn’t think were possible before. We will identify operational efficiencies and reallocate resources towards highest priorities. Cuts will be necessary, and they will affect Central Office and every single school, but they will be done in a conscientious, rational, and strategic manner, always trying to minimize the negative impact on student learning.

I have long suggested a more transparent and rational allocation of our budget. Two schools with the same student enrollment and same level of student need should receive the same budget. Dr. McIntyre and his staff have developed a formula that allocates teachers based on enrollment and poverty level of the school. Higher poverty schools will have lower student-teacher ratios. Staffing for special education students is considered separately since those needs vary dramatically from school to school and from student to student.

In the long term I hope we can fund schools on a weighted per capita basis, with variables for higher need students, and let principals have considerable autonomy over how to spend the money within a school.

At tonight’s meeting Dr. McIntyre presented a draft proposal of position cuts across the system. The numbers are not fixed by any means, but it looks like about 70 classroom teachers, 7 Assistant Principals and 11 classified (non-certified) positions may be eliminated k-12. He expressed confidence that these positions could be cut through normal attrition and we would not have to resort to lay-offs.

Unfortunately, those painful cuts only save us about $3m, and we have an expected deficit of more than $15m. Dr. McIntyre is also reviewing all Central Office positions and will propose reductions there. He is also reviewing all district-wide programs, initiatives and commitments. Everything’s on the table. All expenditures need to be effectively and efficiently supporting student academic success.

I do not want to use budget woes as an excuse to impede progress, but rather as an opportunity to focus resources on our highest priorities. I applaud Dr. McIntyre and staff for finding ways to innovate in the midst of so much financial uncertainty.

Capital Budget

The capital budget is as tight as the operating budget. Dr. McIntyre’s recommendation is fiscally conservative, while also making prudent investments to maintain our current facilities. He proposes spending $10m on physical plant upgrades, roof/HVAC upgrades, modular classrooms, and foundation stabilization. Any new projects would be contingent on external funding sources.

There is a lot of talk that a federal stimulus package will include money for school facilities. There may also be some state funds available for certain school building initiatives. Accordingly, the Board will consider a list of projects that would be approved contingent upon external funding sources. The Superintendent’s recommended projects are:

· Growth Project – Southwest Knox County Elementary School

· Green Project – Belle Morris Elementary Addition

· Urban Project – Magnet Technology High School

· School Condition Project – Chilhowee Intermediate School

· Additional Consideration – Carter Middle School Gym Project

We will likely vote on this recommendation at our February meeting.

Superintendent’s Vision

In December Dr. McIntyre presented his vision for the future of Knox County Schools to the Board. It’s based on his discussions with Board members, teachers, students, parents and the community. I’m excited about it. The vision recognizes the school system’s strengths, but is realistic in its assessment of our unrealized potential. It’s a conceptual document and raises the bar considerably for our school system. I won’t try to summarize it here, but encourage you to read it on-line and let me know what you think.

Dr. McIntyre expects to present a strategic plan to us in a few months, which will set forth the steps towards fulfilling the vision.

Ethics

Knox County Law Director Bill Lockett discussed the Board’s ethics policy at tonight’s meeting. My view on ethics is that Board members are leaders of our school system and role models for our children. We should hold ourselves to a high level of professional and personal ethics at all times.

Data Warehouse

Earlier this month we approved a contract to establish a data warehouse for the school system. This will enable us to better track inputs and outputs. If we’re investing money in a particular program, we need to know if we’re getting a reasonable return on that investment. It will also help us understand how money is spent by department, by school, by student. A big thank you to the Knoxville Chamber for partnering with us on this important endeavor and agreeing to pay the start-up costs.

Legislative Agenda

The Board recently approved 4 resolutions to share with our legislative delegation in Nashville.

1. Support Continued BEP reform: The re-structuring of the state school funding formula greatly benefits Knox County Schools. Phase I was implemented two years ago, but budget constraints have postponed the implementation of Phase II.

2. Support Local Control over School Calendars: Although we have different opinions on school calendar issues, we all agreed that such matters are best left to the local school boards, not state authorities.

3. Support Appointed Superintendents: The Board voted 6-3 in support of our current ability to appoint, rather than elect, a Superintendent. I firmly support appointed Superintendents. This allows selection to be based on professional qualifications and leadership skills rather than political savvy. It broadens our pool of applicants, and gives the Board power to replace a Superintendent at any time if he or she is not meeting the community’s expectations. Only three states in the entire country (Alabama, Florida and Mississippi) continue to participate in the outdated practice of electing school superintendents. Only 149 out of the more than 15,000 superintendents in the United States are elected - less than one percent.

4. Require passage of a core set of End of Course exams (EOCs) for graduation: The state is raising standards and expectations for high school graduation, which is a good thing. Gateway tests are going to be replaced by end of course exams, but currently passage of end of course exams is not required for graduation. This resolution asks the legislature to address this discrepancy.

Superintendent Evaluation

We will discuss and vote on the Superintendent’s Evaluation Instrument next month. This document has been discussed by the Board already, and is being refined based on those discussions. The evaluation instrument tells Dr. McIntyre what we expect of him and offers performance incentives for making significant academic progress.

Dress Codes

You may have seen the front page article in today’s paper that 20 schools have expressed interest in adopting stricter dress codes. I see pros and cons on this issue. Both Fulton and Austin-East High Schools adopted stricter dress codes this year, and I’ve heard mostly positive feedback from teachers, students and families. Obviously such a change works best if it has broad support among students, parents and staff.

Our current policy states that individual schools may pilot alternative dress standards after extensive consultation with parents, students and teachers, and with the permission of the Superintendent and the Board. Between now and March, interested schools must complete a parent survey showing that more than 50 percent are in support; contact vendors about clothing options; have public forums; establish contact with feeder schools; develop a plan to help poorer students; and submit a plan to the superintendent and school board. The board will then consider the proposals in April or May.

Take a Step in Time to Preserve Gresham Middle School

A group of Central High School Alumna has been working to preserve their historic campus, which now houses Gresham Middle School. They are raising funds to preserve the 115 year old building, beautify the grounds and install an historic marker at the site. You can support this project by purchasing a brick for $50 with an inscription of your choice. Checks should be payable to the Central High School Alumni Association "Step in Time" Campaign, P.O. Box 5341, Knoxville, 37928. If you have questions please contact Suzanne Methany at sz_matheny@bellsouth.net. Many thanks to the people and businesses that have supported this project.

Wellness Challenge

In, ahem, lighter news, I convinced 4 of my Board colleagues to join me in the school system’s wellness challenge. For 8 weeks we are keeping track of our nutrition and fitness and trying to meet personal goals for healthier lifestyles. We are supposed to eat lots of fruit and vegetables, drink lots of water, and exercise daily. There are dozens of teams across the district competing to be the healthiest. I’m calling my own goals “the Eights” – in 8 weeks lose 8 pounds, sleep 8 hours a night, and reduce my 3-minute mile time by 8 minutes. I’ll let you know how it goes!

On a personal note, I was in DC with my family last weekend to meet our new niece, who was born Friday, and also attend the Inauguration. It was a moving weekend on many levels and gave me a renewed sense of optimism for the coming year. Despite our budget troubles, good things are happening in our schools. If you want to be part of this energy, consider volunteering in a school near you. You’ll be glad you did.

My best wishes to you and your family in the New Year.

Very Truly Yours,

Indya Kincannon, Chair

Knox County Board of Education

2nd District