.0005 – Or .05%
According to the 2009 Quantum Performance Group (QPG) report on the state of School District 11, the district loses over $6000 per year in state funding for each student that leaves the struggling district. With a migration out of the district totaling about 400 students per year, D11 obviously loses over $2.4 million each year. With these types of financial losses mounting year after year, one would expect that district leaders would finally see the need to make some hard budget decisions.
In a recent Gazette article on new D11 superintendent Nicholas Gledich, it was pointed out that Gledich already trimmed some fat from the ailing budget. And what amount did Gledich trim? $242,000.
Consider that the annual D11 budget approaches ½ billion dollars and you will find that this trimming of the fat equates to a whopping .05% of the budget. It is hard to imagine how Gledich and his staff reconcile the fact that their budget “cuts” are not going to address the annual budget losses that are 10 times greater.
Gledich found his $242,000 “cut” when he decided to leave an Executive Director (ED) position vacant. D11 never had a need for 5 Executive Directors in the first place, so don’t expect that the quality of educational services will be impacted in any way – either positively or negatively. Gledich decided to allow Deputy Superintendent Mary Thurman to handle the duties of this departed ED, which is not a bad idea in itself because it was never clear that Mary Thurman was all that busy in the first place. She has traveled from a job as Deputy Supe for Curriculum over to Personnel. Now it appears that she has migrated back to her old job yet again. When a person is performing at a high level of proficiency, that person is usually left in their job or even promoted. One has to wonder why a high paid executive would be moved around and around the admin building year after year. Better yet, one has to wonder about the performance of the person who is continuously moved and is never given a duty description that will allow for accountability of that job.
We also learned from the Gazette article that Gledich has designed a new logo for the district. What the article does not mention is that Gledich has declared that all written correspondence throughout D11 will now be conducted on stationary containing this new logo. All stationary with individual school logos is now forbidden, meaning all schools must spend money to use the new stationary. This seems like a frivolous waste of dwindling resources in a cash strapped district, and it calls into question the true priorities of the new D11 leader.
In a recent Gazette article on new D11 superintendent Nicholas Gledich, it was pointed out that Gledich already trimmed some fat from the ailing budget. And what amount did Gledich trim? $242,000.
Consider that the annual D11 budget approaches ½ billion dollars and you will find that this trimming of the fat equates to a whopping .05% of the budget. It is hard to imagine how Gledich and his staff reconcile the fact that their budget “cuts” are not going to address the annual budget losses that are 10 times greater.
Gledich found his $242,000 “cut” when he decided to leave an Executive Director (ED) position vacant. D11 never had a need for 5 Executive Directors in the first place, so don’t expect that the quality of educational services will be impacted in any way – either positively or negatively. Gledich decided to allow Deputy Superintendent Mary Thurman to handle the duties of this departed ED, which is not a bad idea in itself because it was never clear that Mary Thurman was all that busy in the first place. She has traveled from a job as Deputy Supe for Curriculum over to Personnel. Now it appears that she has migrated back to her old job yet again. When a person is performing at a high level of proficiency, that person is usually left in their job or even promoted. One has to wonder why a high paid executive would be moved around and around the admin building year after year. Better yet, one has to wonder about the performance of the person who is continuously moved and is never given a duty description that will allow for accountability of that job.
We also learned from the Gazette article that Gledich has designed a new logo for the district. What the article does not mention is that Gledich has declared that all written correspondence throughout D11 will now be conducted on stationary containing this new logo. All stationary with individual school logos is now forbidden, meaning all schools must spend money to use the new stationary. This seems like a frivolous waste of dwindling resources in a cash strapped district, and it calls into question the true priorities of the new D11 leader.
posted by Craig Cox | 9:46 PM
5 Comments:
Do people still really send their kids to D11? Wow.
What will the headcount be down to this year? How can we educate these poor, confused paretns to get their kids the hell out of this nightmare?
We live in D11 but have both our kids in charter schools in another district.
Fortunately, parents are becoming educated as to the lack of education occurring in D11. As the QPG report indicates, parents have been pulling their students from the district for a decade now, ever since it became clear that the bureaucrats who run D11 have very little interest in putting real effort into improving this district. That would require a lot of hard work and it would upset too many administrators who make a good living doing very little.
Craig,
Great to hear your voice again! We have decided to continue our course through the tunnel of D11. I know most, including my inner core, would say why? That would be a question you could easily ask our creator yourself, if you're willing to. We have ourselves asked and we believe that the answer is...in order to help make the turn around, that we all believe is needed, we have to keep ourselves involved in it. If we all jump off the ship, I believe the ship will never turn around. I am still involved in the BAAC & DAAC (as the BAAC rep) for two different D11 schools. I need your help to make the statements that need to be made at these meetings. I totally understand everyones reasoning in not wanting to involve themselves, but involve yourselves in this way and lets see what can happen. Our creature already knows and I believe He has choosen us, at this time, to make things happen.
I must say, your article is pointedly accurate -- disgracefully so, actually. I concur on every point except Gledich: he has really proven himself to be on top of things very quickly from the starting gate -- which, given the layers of muck pooled throughout D11 administration, cannot have been easy. I have been personally struck by his apparent ability to lead skillfully, with integrity and (dare I say it) transparency.
It is that aforementioned muck that comes to mind when I consider the district-wide change in stationery: at first glance, yes, it may appear frivolous...but really, what an immediate way to assure that communications, agreements, bids, arrangements, etc., are of this *current* superintendency and administration, and not simply a copy of some long-expired contract, backdated facsimile, or some similar such shadiness.
Spidra, good point about the stationery. I hope you are correct about Gledich's desire for transparency. That has been sorely lacking in the district. I have heard from others that they have witnessed some actions from this superintendent that they have never seen before in past D11 leaders. The point is that those actions were positive actions that look and smell like they are meant to improve the situation and not simply protect the status quo. Let's hope that this is the case.
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