I will answer some of the questions that were asked by a group of patrons. On some things I am waiting for more information to be able to give a more accurate response.
We are going to discuss open enrollment at our board meeting on the 9th. I think from past conversations, we will probably vote to have open enrollment and try it for a year. But as I have understood the process of allowing outside students come to Firth, I do think the rules were followed.
I answered a question to some others about a possible conflict of interest regarding having family members working in the school district. So I will respond to you as I did to them.
Since I am one who has a son working as a teacher for the district, I will tell you what my thoughts are about this. There is no policy against being on the board and having adult children working at the school. In some ways I don't think it is much different than having children going to school in the district. One reason I wanted to serve on the board was to try and help the schools succeed. I have a daughter that will be a sophomore and a granddaughter in 2nd grade with more grandchildren coming. My son was hired as a teacher before I became a board member. As a board member I don't have individual authority to hire or fire anyone. If, or when, my son might get recommended to be laid off by the administration, I won't stand in the way for that to happen. At this point my son has not been recommended to be laid off. I don't think as a board member I should be able to dictate how the administration manages the employees unless there is some kind of major concern that comes up.
I don't think there is any plans to combine K-8 in the same building. The elementary is the oldest building by far but it has the kitchen, so it would be hard to close it down. At this point it doesn't look like there is any practical way to close a building.
There are no current plans to have another levy. If the public encouraged us to consider one maybe we would. I think it is too early to say.
As far as board elections. Bart and I will continue as board members for a term of four more years, since no one ran against us in May. The other three board positions will all be up for election in two more years. The state changed this procedure I think before last years elections. I thought it was an odd way to set the elections, but we had no say in how it was done. I am unaware of all the ways the district promotes the elections.
Your concerns about the four day week are similar to mine. If the levy had passed, I doubt we would have considered going to a four day week yet. I wish we had more time to study the idea and how to best implement it. Throughout the discussion about the levy we said if the levy failed we would probably have to go to the four day week to save as much money as possible. One estimate is that we can save about $1,100 for each day we are not in school. One problem I think we have had is convincing patrons that we have made numerous cuts and that we really needed the money to cover expenses. I think if the school year looks different, and they can see the lay offs we have made, we will have followed up and made all the changes we said we would have to make. The state wanted our school calendar in May to verify that we are following the required hours of class. We are going to discuss this at our board meeting this week. I think we will have to vote on it Thursday, and probably give it a try. I don't think in the long run a four day week is the best way to teach kids. I am concerned how many students we might loose, but if they go to Shelley,the lower grades will have a much larger number of students in their classes than we will have. If we don't go forward with all the changes we said we would have to make, I think we will loose credibility with the patrons, that we didn't really need the money as bad as we indicated. I think it helps us with the teachers and other staff, the more we can save, or try to save, maybe we can prevent some of the future cuts we may have to make if we stayed at the five day schedule.
I don't think the board has any desire to consolidate with another district. I think it would be the worst possible thing that could happen to our district. Our taxes would go way up and our representation would go way down. I am concerned if we can't maintain the required contingency fund or show our schools can succeed in student achievement with less staff, we could be forced into consolidation. The community, board and our staff needs to work together and make sure this doesn't happen.
Most high school teachers at least won't have to worry about the lay offs effecting them. My understanding is you can only lay off teachers that you can cover their classes with other teachers. You can't lay off a tenured teacher and bring someone else in to take their place at a lower pay. So for example, if a teacher teaches an advanced math class that no one else in the district is certified to teach, that teacher really has no worries about getting laid off. But if they choose to leave, we will have to hire another certified teacher to teach that class.
I know you had more questions and concerns, but I am waiting for an email so I know for sure the best way to give you your answers, as I am still learning too. I wanted to make sure I sent you what I could so you could read this before our board meeting. I will answer most of the rest of your questions as soon as I can. I plan on using this blog to relay information to the public after our board meetings or when patrons have questions. Thank you for your input. Let me know if you have further questions and I will do my best to answer them. I have learned a lot over the last few months and have more to learn going forward.
Brian Esplin
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