How I View the Budget, Finances, and Facilities of Firth School District.

I would like to explain more about our district’s budgeting and the state of our finances and facilities. 

At every June meeting the board is presented the proposed budget for the coming school year by the Business Manager. The Business Manager and Superintendent work together after the completion of the state legislative session to figure out the complicated funding formulas. Over the last several years the district has maintained a Contingency Fund balance of approximately $800,000. This is about two months operating revenue recommended by the accountant that annually audits the district finances. It took probably thirty years to be able to build up and maintain the $800,000 so the district has worked hard not to overspend which would require tapping into this fund. 

In recent years with patrons supporting supplemental levies and the state slowly increasing our funding, our district is in much better financial shape than it was during the recession. Our district has no debt. All our facilities are paid for. In my business as a dairy farmer I have a lot of debt, but constantly strive to reduce it as much as possible. I really hate having the burden of debt, and feel good that our district has none. There is one more year on our current supplemental levy. Most of next year’s money will go toward solving the need for a bus shop. The exact plan hasn’t been determined yet. I am hopeful that with state funding increasing, there won’t be a need to ask for another supplemental levy next year. The Strategic Planning Committee (which is established by the administration, and consists of community members, district staff, and at least one administrator) will meet and determine future needs of the district. If they determine our current needs exceed our revenue they will make recommendations to the board as to what the needs are, and if we should ask for another levy. 

The district is current with curriculum and technology after being behind during the recession. When the district needs to purchase new curriculum, the money will be set aside in the budget to buy it. 

I have always stated when asked about potential facility needs that there are only really two reasons to build any building. One, if a building is structurally unsound, and the other is if we are getting crowded. All our buildings are in good shape. We have spent approximately $500,000 fixing up the elementary the last few years, with a new roof and boiler being the major updates. The middle school now has a new roof and several new windows. Other updates and maintenance, like furnace replacement are scheduled in coming years. The high school has a mostly new roof and other updates, with more planned in future years. 

As far as getting crowded, we are in good shape in this area too. Our district has been growing about twenty five students a year the last few years, but this year we took a step back with a very small kindergarten class of only forty four kids. Last I heard our attendance is about a dozen less than last year. There are several empty classrooms throughout the district. 

I know eventually this will change, but not in the foreseeable future. With the cost of an elementary being around ten million dollars, and with all the money we have spent updating it, I think any plan to abandon the building would be irresponsible. When needed, the most cost effective expansion would be to add classrooms to the middle school. The way it was designed would make adding rooms fairly simple. 

As I have said before. One main reason I chose to run for re-election was to help hire a new Superintendent. There are at least two ways to go about hiring a Superintendent. One would be to hire the Idaho School Boards Association out of Boise to put out the job notice and do the initial screening of applicants, which could be quite costly. The other way would be for the district to manage the process. The district would form a committee with community members and staff to handle the initial interview of applicants. I personally much prefer the later method. There wouldn’t be the cost, and I think we would likely find someone who would be a better fit for our district. I don’t like the idea of Boise academics basically choosing the finalists for our Superintendent. I have no idea what method the other board members would prefer, because it hasn’t been discussed yet. 

Choosing the right Superintendent is such an important decision that will have a lasting impact on the success of our school district. I would appreciate the opportunity to be able to help with this process, and I think my many years of board experience would prove beneficial in helping to make this decision. 

If you have any questions on this or any other issue please let me know. You can contact me at besplin@d59.k12.id.us or call me at 208-521-6217

Thank you, Brian Esplin

School Districts are Governed by Their Policies and Procedures

School districts are governed by their policies and procedures from the student, to the administration and the School Board. One of these policies is the Grievance Policy. If a student or parent has a concern or complaint it’s first taken to the teacher. If the teacher can’t resolve the situation it moves up to the principal. If there is no resolution there, the Superintendent then tries to do what he can. Most issues get resolved before they go this far. Occasionally if every step is followed and there is still no resolution to the problem the school board then can be informed about the situation in an executive session of the School Board. 

The board is purposely left out of the loop as these issues work their way up the channels. It’s better if the board can remain unbiased through this process. 

As an example, if a student violates a school policy and is suspended by the administration, the student has the right to appeal the decision to the School Board. The Superintendent does not give the board details so that if the student comes before the board in executive session, the student will get a fair unbiased hearing. If not, that could result in a legal challenge against the school district. So the Superintendent is always very careful not to give very many details, just in case the issue may come before the board. 

I have heard it said that someone within the administration has encouraged some students to consider dropping out of school, or go to the alternative school. It would be irresponsible for any administrator to encourage a student to drop out. If this actually happened, the Grievance Policy wasn’t pursued through to the board. No complaint by anyone about this has ever been brought to the board. 

There are also many reasons why students attend the alternative school. It’s not always discipline or school performance related. This school can be a great benefit to students to help them through whatever their issues may be. As a board we never hear any details about who, how many, or why students attend it. It’s private information that we have no business knowing. 

The board really doesn’t just write policies from scratch. There is an opportunity to update and change some things, but every change has to be legal. As an example.

There was one policy that was discussed extensively, for months. It is Policy 3080, dealing with open enrollment. Every proposed change required a review by legal council. I think it ended up being a good well balanced policy, but the board rarely has the ability to change policies very much, if at all, from what’s given to us by the Idaho School Board Association. 

The teachers are evaluated twice a year by their principal, using a set procedure. Everyone is evaluated using the same standards. If a teacher has any deficiencies they are provided guidance to help them improve. The Superintendent evaluates the principals using basically the same set guidelines. Lastly the Superintendent is evaluated by the School Board, also with a preset similar set of guidelines. The School Board receives an annual report from the principals about their evaluation of the teachers under their jurisdiction. The Board never interacts directly with the teachers, or principals about anything to do with their job performance. We only critic the job performance of the Superintendent directly. We are informed if there are concerns with the job performance of individual teachers, but it’s entirely up to the administration to provide whatever professional development that may be needed. The Superintendent also informs us of any concerns he might have with the principals. However, like the Grievance Policy for students, teachers can go to the Superintendent to resolve an issue. If necessary a teacher then can come before the board in an executive session. This is the way district policies are required to be followed. 

If you have any questions or comments please let me know. You can email me at besplin@d59.k12.id.us, or give me a call 208-521-6217

Thank you,

Brian Esplin

School Board Election

I thought I would write  and explain why I decided to run for the school board one last time. 

I have been on the board for about eleven years. I was on the board when we went through the big recession. It was a very difficult time, dealing with the financial funding cut backs from the state. Some personnel had to be let go, and wages cut. It definitely wasn’t an easy job, and very unpleasant. It took several years for the state to finally restore our funding and the teacher pay back to pre-recession levels. I think it could have been much worse for our district than it was, if we hadn’t had a financially responsible Superintendent and Business Manager. 

With the help of the patrons supporting some much needed expenditures, like the technology, roof repairs, and elementary boiler, we have been able to keep up on our needs without depleting our contingency funds or running a deficit. Other districts haven’t been able to manage their budgets nearly as well as our administrators. Many have had to maintain large Supplemental Levies. I have felt like the district patrons support us well when we have asked for a Supplemental Levy, as long as we have identified a real need, and followed through in spending the money how we said we would. I am hopeful that if the funding from the state continues to improve, we won’t need another Supplemental Levy next year when our current Levy expires. 

As a school board you only really hire one person, the Superintendent. He or she hires everyone else. The Superintendent hires all the administrators, and annually reviews their performance. The Superintendent, with the help of the Management Team, which includes the Principals, hires all the teachers, determines curriculum, oversees student performance, and student discipline. The Superintendent is responsible for the management of the district finances, and numerous other very important responsibilities. I have also appreciated not having our district in the news for any inappropriate or illegal activities. 

So my main reason to run for election again is to help select our new Superintendent. It’s such a critical decision that could affect our district in either a positive or negative way, for many years to come. 

I would also like to help with the transition to a new Superintendent, to ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible. There has been a lot of board turnover in recent years, and with Wade Christensen choosing to retire this year, I thought staying on the board to provide some long term experience was also a good idea. 

I think we have always had very good teachers. Our six kids all went through Firth schools. The education they received here has benefited them in their continued education. I now have a grandson and two granddaughters to attend Firth schools. So even though my kids have all graduated, I still have a vested interest in the continued quality of education in the Firth School District. 

I have always tried to be responsive to any emails, phone calls, or comments on the blogs I have written. I have written many blogs to try and give as much details of board meetings as possible along with my opinions of issues before the board. 

The district operates by the Policy Manual. Each year the State School Board Association sends the district new, or updated policies. There are very few discretionary options in most of the policies because the legislature changed a law or some other legal requirement. The administration and school board follows the district policies very closely. I know some people have problems with various policies, I do too, however, we have to accept and approve them, or the district could get sued for not abiding by the law. 

Every month at the end of board meeting, there is a discussion about what to talk about the following month. Some are issues brought to the different board members. When the board talks about these concerns, ideas are discussed between board members and the Superintendent. If there are any recommendations that need further action, the administration is responsible to research and determine the best way to proceed. The board oversees and approves, but doesn’t overstep the administration when it comes to school education or program decisions. 

As an example,  a concern was brought to the board about student mental health and the need to provide more help to prevent self harm. The administration was asked to investigate a group called the Hope Squad to see if it would be a good program for our district. After some time and research, the administration reported to the board that they recommended a different organization. It was not the board’s responsibility to decide which option was best for our district, decisions like this need to be left to the administration. The district hired a new school councilor, who is also a certified social worker. So now we have a very qualified person on staff that can direct the administration, and school board about any future mental health concerns. 

Any board member wants what’s best for our students, I know I do. However, even if we as individual board members, think we know what’s best, we have to leave these type of decisions up to the real professionals. This is another critical reason why who we hire is so important, and why I request your support to be able to help with the hiring of the new Superintendent. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask. Again, I request your support to be re-elected one last time to serve in Zone 2, on the Firth School Board. The election will take place November 5th at your usual voting precincts. Thank you.