By DEB WUETHRICH
A spokesperson for SEAC (Special Economic Advisory Committee) informed members of the Tecumseh School Board Monday night that one of the things that the committee of citizens studying Tecumseh Public Schools financial situation agreed on was the need to better market the school district and its positive assets.
“You don’t hear about cuts in Hudson, Addison or Adrian,” said Stan Ames, who made a presentation for the group assigned to review the district’s financial condition and to consider areas of recommended study for further cost-cutting. “They’re all doing the same thing we are, but we’re the ones with the black eye. We really need to do a better job promoting the positives instead of bickering,” Ames added.
Over a period of three meetings, one in December and two in January, approximately 25 members of the committee worked toward fashioning a statement regarding TPS finances. SEAC’s assessment included making some recommendations regarding areas the board might focus on as it develops next year’s budget, which has a projected $2.3 million deficit.
The committee pointed out the sense of urgency in pursuing measures to reduce costs, partially because the state requires a balanced budget by July 1. Ames said when the group first met, schools were facing dire predictions for next year, and although an additional cut to the school foundation allowance of $127 per student did not take place, actions must still be taken because while the district could work out of its $1.9 million fund balance, that would be a one time only situation.
“The economics in Michigan are not going to return that quickly, so we have to do something to this number,” said Ames. “We got a reprieve, but the sense of urgency is still there. Now you have some time to implement some of the cost-cutting measures the board was previously talking about while at the same time doing some marketing to help raise the student count to positively affect revenues.”
Ames said SEAC members analyzed such areas as employee benefit costs, and pointed out that the private sector already has taken pay cuts to save jobs, as well as contributing more per employee for health insurance coverage.
“Here we’re looking at higher numbers than what we see in the public sector, so one of the recommendations the school board needs to look at is increasing the amount of contribution employees make toward their premiums,” Ames suggested. “If implemented at 20 percent, you could save the school system approximately $475,000 in benefit costs,” he said. At TPS, principals currently make no contribution toward premiums; teachers contribute 5 percent; custodial and maintenance staff and central office staff contribute 10 percent. The committee also looked at sick time and substitute teacher costs, recommending possible changes there. Ames said the committee realizes that these are areas that would have to be negotiated with unions, but the cost savings could be significant.
Other areas SEAC members considered regarding cost-savings possibilities included closing the administration building and utilizing empty classrooms (due to loss of students) at Tecumseh Middle School and Tecumseh High School; closing an elementary building since there are nine empty classrooms; and adopting a single bus run for transportation.
“People have concerns about middle school and high school students riding the bus together, but most of us did that and we all survived,” said Ames. “And they didn’t have video cameras then.”
A continued study of consolidation and collaboration in the areas of purchasing, cafeteria services, administration, and moving custodial staff to a third party also were recommended.
“And we need to continue to do a better marketing job, to tell others about our programs,” Ames reiterated. He cited such positive attributes as the highest averages in the county for ACT scores, reading specialists, outstanding music and arts programs, an array of AP classes, co-teaching arrangements, sports and block scheduling as worthy to publicize.
“Regarding sports, people complain but we offer as many or more sports offerings for kids to participate in as any other school in the county does,” Ames said. He added that the “much beloved block scheduling” could be included as a marketing plus, though there also was a recommendation to continue to look closely at this because of its labor-intensive and higher-cost components.
Tecumseh experienced a gross loss of 408 students last year, with a gross gain of 238 through the School of Choice program.
“We need to do a better job of understanding why these kids are leaving,” said Ames. “I’m pretty sure nobody has done a very good job of finding out why those people came to Tecumseh or why others have left. Both sides are important.” Keeping students, and/or gaining as many as have left, could also provide significant dollars, he pointed out.
In conclusion, Ames said, “Change is inevitable and nobody likes it. It’s unfortunate, but Michigan as a state cannot continue to do things as they have in the past, and Tecumseh Public Schools cannot continue to do as it has in the past.” He said, “Change is coming, like it or not,” and suggested that it needs to be embraced in an effective and positive way.
Board president Debbie Johnson-Berges said she hoped the dialogue was just the beginning of collaboration between the board and its constituents in the community, “because we don’t have the answers here.” She said the board would be taking SEAC’s recommendations into further discussions at the Finance Committee level as well as with the whole board.
“This is just the start of our budget and we’re going to be talking about it at every meeting,” Johnson-Berges said.