District's Fuzzy Math & Board Members' Fuzzy Memories

At the Tuesday, April 8, 2014 Iowa City Community School District board meeting, Superintendent Murley and the ICCSD administration unveiled its district budget adjustment summary. Included was a long list of curriculum, sports, and other staffing cuts to prevent the district from deficit spending. We've all heard about the German language and fourth-grade orchestra cuts; the general education para-educator, cuts in library staffing, and so on. One of the only hits to administration in the budget cuts was highlighted as being a $100,000.00 savings for not filling the director of community relations position.

This item caught my eye as I have often commented on this position. As you may or may not remember, the home-building program was eliminated about five (5) years ago to save $60,000.00. I have always argued that the money spent to pay the director of community relations could have been better used to provide curriculum for our students in the construction field. When the district chose to eliminate the community relations position, I was curious as to how they came up with "$100,000.00" in savings since the Press-Citizen reported that the last person to hold that position received only $73,000.00 a year for a part-time position. Is this the district’s way of rounding to the nearest $100,000.00 or did this position receive $27,000.00 in benefits and perks?

And let’s be honest; the district hasn’t eliminated the position, just retitled it. The position is now called coordinator of community affairs and is a full-time position that pays $60,000.00 a year. So actually, it’s only a savings of $13,000.00 a year.

Who says the administration isn’t enduring pain in this budget crisis? They're also sacrificing an elementary school principal. Wouldn't it be better for students to keep the elementary school principal and sacrifice the coordinator of community affairs? We would not need a public relations spokesperson for our schools if we maintained our curriculum and provided for the needs of our students.

In the 4/13/14 Press-Citizen, school board president Sally Hoelscher urges residents to contact their legislator to request more state aid: “I think we just have to make as much noise as possible."  As a citizen I have tried to make as much noise as possible for the board to examine the consent agenda which ranges from $2-4 million dollars at each meeting but president Hoelscher has no interest in conserving current resources. It’s much easier to complain that we’re not getting more money to waste than to closely scrutinize your own spending which you have 100% control over.

And let’s not forget what the school district, enabled by the board, has spent money on: 

$500,000.00 to an unnamed land developer for a road;

$154,000.00 to pay for a contractor’s mistake in the City High Fine Arts addition (why don't contractors pay for their mistakes? why does the district continue to pay for contractor errors?);

$172,000.00 for administrative parking behind the district administration building at 1725 N. Dodge Street in Iowa City;

$78,000.00 for a test kitchen at the Physical Plant,

and millions of dollars for “NO BID” contracts to vendors.

The district and the board still have no policy for competitive bidding on service contracts. How many months of board time and effort were spent on trying to suppress and regulate community comment at board meetings when we should have been working together to discuss ways to sensibly prioritize student education and save money?

Get your own house in order before you gripe about how much money you're getting from Des Moines!

Phil Hemingway