CASD: Furloughs, taxes, and Covid 19

CCAP wants to address some of the concerns that we read yesterday on social media.

Furloughs - this is tough. The District cut 45 positions; this resulted in 33 teachers being furloughed. Teachers with multiple certifications were reassigned into positions open from resignations and retirement. Our heart goes out to the teachers who received notification. This is a terribly heartbreaking situation for the community.  

We are hopeful that community members’ surprise will be a wake-up call. Dr. Dunlap has been presenting the budget with this plan for months. This did not happen overnight. Please, we implore you to stay informed. The number did increase in the most recent board meetings.  Watch Board meetings, read the agendas, read CCAP recaps. Be involved to be part of the solution.

Our enrollment has been on a sharp decline for the past five years. Yet, the former superintendent did not fully assess the number of teachers and make the necessary adjustment to match the declining enrollment. (Click here to see the most recent to enrollment report )“A ‘study’ was done on how to best utilize the teachers. This should have been done each year of the decline.... All due to poor prior mismanagement. It was a place a cut could be made to save millions” (Jill Santiago, former board member.) 

Class sizes will increase. However, the current class sizes are not already high across the board. The former superintendent initially pushed for smaller class sizes. This was not consistent across the board and with the financial burdens, it is not a sustainable situation.  High school classes last year ran with four to six students. Many other classes had 13-19 students. However, the class size increase is going to align with the class sizes of area schools. North, without a doubt, was overcrowded as a school- that doesn’t mean class sizes were all outrageous. The district is solving the overcrowding at North, created by the former superintendent’s reconfiguration plan, by again changing the school configuration. Again, we ask the community to become involved. Many community members have expressed their dislike or concerns about the 9/10 center changing to an 8/9 center. People should not be shocked by changes like the reconfiguration. With only four or five community members emailing questions or statements for public comment, the district is making decisions without community input and for that, we can’t blame them for not listening. We, the community, have to be informed and involved. 

Now, with an increase in class size, it is a natural worry to be concerned about discipline and special education needs. Based on new information from CASD special education teaches, the district is currently re-establishing special education programming that was eliminated by the former superintendent. We don’t have specifics on this, but we encourage you to email questions to the administration to learn more about what is planned. 

Additionally, the district is heavily focusing on PBIS, Positive Behavior Invention Supports. Having training occurring and focusing on how to implement fully, hopefully with the fidelity, is a step in the right direction. Again, we encourage you to reach out to the administration to learn more about the plans for PBIS in the different schools. 

Class size and Covid 19- Contrary to the ideas presented by some community members, the furloughs are not putting us in a worse position than other districts. Again, our teacher student ratio is similar to other area schools. Our District is determining options for possible adjustments needed for a fall opening.

Taxes- some are calling for tax refunds or misunderstanding the spending for the district during COVID 19 closure with the money available to keep teachers. 

Our budget is public, and time and time again, it is disclosed that the amount of money we send to charter schools is causing our financial distress. The district is beginning to address the causes of students leaving for charter schools. ( Survey Result link here ) 

Remarkably, the recommendation to keep a zero tax increase is still in the budget. 

Turf and track replacement is necessary because the current track and turf are NOT SAFE. We are unable to avoid this. And it is not turf or teachers- “Staffing is operational expenses and improvements are capital expenses.  You can not use dollars for one to pay for the other.  It is not legal” (Donna Urban, former school board member).

Bottom line:  “The alternative is higher taxes, not bringing the deficit down, and the state taking over. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. This district, due to prior mismanagement, is in dire straights folks. As long as the enrollment decreases and families leave it will be tough. Place blame where it should be. So many unhappy folks the last 5 years left. Regardless of your beliefs, the mass exodus caused huge problems. If you have suggestions to balance the budget show up and share them. Use your voice for strategies and solutions to improve the district. It's going to be rough, no doubt” (Jill Santiago).

The district needs the community to rally. We need solutions to help us move forward. In addition to charter school funding reform, we need to bring students back or recruit students to give us a try. That is best accomplished by being informed.