Last week’s school board meeting spent only about one hour reviewing three major areas of proposed spending including administration. And the old song about reorganization effecting savings was sung. It’s been mostly a game of musical chairs.
During times of fiscal restraint and overburdening property taxes, and while fixed costs — energy bills, negotiated salary increments, or health care provisions — will be higher, the school board’s work-in-progress should continue to focus directly on the student within that intimate learning experience with the teacher. Obviously, it is administrative overhead that has to be minutely examined.
The imperial superintendency still lives! The negotiated salary for the school superintendent this year is $178,573. Next year she will receive $184,823. A matching tax-deferred annuity provision awards an additional contribution by the district of $9,600 per annum. There are the usual expense items for convention-going as well as $5,000 per year for professional development.
Are we getting enough “bang for our buck?”
In past restructuring, a new expensive administrative position, director of instruction, was created. Such duties were previously conducted by the assistant superintendent of schools. Currently the responsibilities held by the assistant superintendent, an excellent hands-on educator, however, include human resources, which was originally processed by a talented support staffer.
Public relations was handled in the past by the school superintendent who picked up the telephone and was always available to the daily and weekly press. The school budget publication was accomplished with minimal temporary efforts. The current full-time employee, who functions quite creditably in this area, is also responsible for obtaining grants competing with our local parent organizations, parent support groups for high school athletics and music, and the education and recreation foundations.
It would seem logical that the current school superintendent — who also works for the national search firm Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates — might be able to pick up some of the slack in the above-cited administrative areas.
Blockbuster savings are in the utilization of attorneys. Some 12 law firms are currently being paid out of two budget accounts with a total allocation of $420,000. Consolidation might be effective. Also when viewing telecasts of board meetings with the board attorney always present, one asks why can’t critical legal advice be sought by correspondence or if an informal nature be provided by the superintendent, who is a former president of the statewide superintendents organization and still involved in their activities. One hopes the board members continue to dig into the “work-in-progress.”
For dig, they must.
Norm Goldman
Hopewell Township