I had the opportunity to attend most of the holiday musical programs at our schools over the last few weeks. The Central Elementary Chorus almost always ends its show with this favorite song - “There’s No School Tomorrow”.
Of course, that’s every child’s wish come winter time. They wish that there would be such a snow as to cause school to be canceled. Children of all ages are not shy about lobbying the superintendent when he happens to be in the school and there are flurries in the air.
They like to give me a hard time. “Sure looks bad out their Dr. Curry. Don’t you think we should go home early? Why don’t you cancel school for tomorrow and let us know right now?”
I dish it right back. “No way! Haven’t you heard? I’m from the mountains. This little bit of snow is nothing. Don’t you want to be able to tell your children about how you had to walk 2 miles to school in 3 feet of snow, trudging up hill, both ways?”
Of course the decision is made, I assure you, independent of any lobbying by students or guardians.
Our transportation supervisor, Bill Morris, monitors the weather and the potential for fog on a daily basis. When the weather report calls for it, he’s up at 3 or 4 in the morning. Often he drives the roads and maintains communication with other transportation supervisors. If he thinks we should consider a delay or closure he calls me by 5a.m.
Often, the Kent County school chiefs will have a conference call around 5:15a.m. We try to stick together with our decision. But, sometimes the temperature can be very different between Harrington and Smyrna or from Sandtown to Bowers Beach. That difference in temperature often means the difference between rain on one road and ice/snow on another. That’s why we don’t always make the same call.
So, that’s how it works. Once a decision is made I sit at my kitchen table and record a message to go immediately to all families in Lake Forest. I make a few other calls to staff members who follow a pre-determined routine or direct more specific work rules for certain employee groups.
The thrill of a snow day is not reserved just for students. Most of us like one once in awhile. It’s a great time to catch up on piles of office work. For the teacher it’s a great time to grade papers, plan lessons or collaborate with others. It’s bonus time that is well used.
That storm last week was a real freak and I, for one, am grateful that it fell on a Saturday. Let’s hope we don’t have any of those for a long time.
Enjoy the holidays and we’ll see you next year.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
What to do with the $$ ?
If you haven’t been by Lake Forest High School recently, I encourage you to do so. You’ll be surprised at the attractive new additions for fine arts, physical education and athletics that are underway and soon to be complete. You can view photos of the projects at http://www.lf.k12.de.us/lfhs/.
Years ago, when planning for the remodeling and additions presently underway at Lake Forest High School, we were asked to stretch the projects out over 4 years. Given the way costs had been going up, we added to our estimates to allow for inflation. Then the economy took a nose dive and, as a result, construction bidding became very competitive.
The result – projected costs of $16 million will turn out to be more like $13 million.
Since the bonds have been sold and the money is in hand and it is clear that we will do everything promised in the referendum election and still have a surplus of about $3 million. The Lake Forest Board of Education is in the enviable position to consider additional projects.
We’ve generated a list of things that we’d like to do and will be making that decision hopefully in January. We’re sharing this information so that you may provide us with your thoughts. We cannot afford all of these things, so we’ll need to prioritize. When the final part of our current plan goes out to bid, we want to include any additional items so that we may take advantage of the current bidding climate.
The final phase at the high school (to be bid this spring with work done this summer) includes new student lockers, replacing the exterior windows, some specific classroom renovations and replacing some of the old folding classroom wall partitions with masonry walls. Final phase at W.T.Chipman includes interior walls, lockers, parking lots and athletic fields.
Following are just some of the items under consideration for inclusion:
• Brick the LFHS exterior to match the new additions
• New parking lot lighting - LFHS
• Expand and renovate library - LFHS
• Add a third serving line in the cafeteria - LFHS
• Remove walls surrounding interior courtyard and cover with roof - LFHS
• Renovate office areas - LFHS
• Install artificial turf in stadium - LFHS
• Install front entrance awning – WTC
• Air condition gym – WTC
Your thoughts are encouraged and appreciated. There are lots of ways to let us know what you think. You may comment through my blog. You may directly contact me or any members of the board of education. You can send us an e-mail or write a leter.
Years ago, when planning for the remodeling and additions presently underway at Lake Forest High School, we were asked to stretch the projects out over 4 years. Given the way costs had been going up, we added to our estimates to allow for inflation. Then the economy took a nose dive and, as a result, construction bidding became very competitive.
The result – projected costs of $16 million will turn out to be more like $13 million.
Since the bonds have been sold and the money is in hand and it is clear that we will do everything promised in the referendum election and still have a surplus of about $3 million. The Lake Forest Board of Education is in the enviable position to consider additional projects.
We’ve generated a list of things that we’d like to do and will be making that decision hopefully in January. We’re sharing this information so that you may provide us with your thoughts. We cannot afford all of these things, so we’ll need to prioritize. When the final part of our current plan goes out to bid, we want to include any additional items so that we may take advantage of the current bidding climate.
The final phase at the high school (to be bid this spring with work done this summer) includes new student lockers, replacing the exterior windows, some specific classroom renovations and replacing some of the old folding classroom wall partitions with masonry walls. Final phase at W.T.Chipman includes interior walls, lockers, parking lots and athletic fields.
Following are just some of the items under consideration for inclusion:
• Brick the LFHS exterior to match the new additions
• New parking lot lighting - LFHS
• Expand and renovate library - LFHS
• Add a third serving line in the cafeteria - LFHS
• Remove walls surrounding interior courtyard and cover with roof - LFHS
• Renovate office areas - LFHS
• Install artificial turf in stadium - LFHS
• Install front entrance awning – WTC
• Air condition gym – WTC
Your thoughts are encouraged and appreciated. There are lots of ways to let us know what you think. You may comment through my blog. You may directly contact me or any members of the board of education. You can send us an e-mail or write a leter.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Consolidation - again.
On October 9 I posted a blog with my view on consolidating school districts in DE. This week, State Auditor Thomas Wagner released a report suggesting that consolidating the 16 regular districts into 3 would save more than $45 million in "administrative costs."
The report suggests that Lake Forest would become part of a Central District that would stretch 45 miles from Milford to Middletown, a district I would estimate at around 35,000 students. The folks who put the numbers together for this report used actual school districts elsewhere in the country for comparison. I understand that Norfolk City Schools and Pittsburgh City Schools were two that were viewed as comparable to the Central School District.
Most people think of positions like mine that will be eliminated in consolidation. Going from 6 superintendents down to one is obviously a big savings. But after that, the report has some funny numbers. So funny, that it begins to lack credibility.
What they call "administrative costs" includes more than the professional leadership team. It also includes clerks, secretaries, cafeteria supervisors and maintenance staff. He're a few examples:
There are presently 19 clerks employed from Milford to Appoquinimink. The auditor's report suggests we would need no clerks when we consolidate into one.
There are presently 72 secretaries employed from Milford to Appoquinimink. The auditor's office suggests we would need only two.
There are presently 48 financial secretaries (processing purchases and payroll). The auditor's office suggests we would need only two.
OK. So, my understanding of this report suggests we'll close the central offices of Milford, Lake Forest, CR, Capitol, Smyrna and Appoquinimink and open a new one somewhere to support and serve 35,000 students, 2500+ teachers and 1500+ support staff. That central office will have 2 secretaries and 2 financial secretaries.
I don't mind Mr. Wagner suggesting that we could reduce superintendents when combining school districts. It is common to think that there are too many at the upper end of the pay scale. But, I've got to draw the line and call him out when he starts picking on the secretaries. This report makes no sense. There is no way an operation that big functions with 4 secretaries total.
Makes it hard to take the report seriously.
I refer you to the October 9 writing in this blog for more thoughts on consolidation. No doubt, some regional cooperation will help reduce administrative costs, but the auditor's plan is just numbers. And most of the numbers just don't add up.
The report suggests that Lake Forest would become part of a Central District that would stretch 45 miles from Milford to Middletown, a district I would estimate at around 35,000 students. The folks who put the numbers together for this report used actual school districts elsewhere in the country for comparison. I understand that Norfolk City Schools and Pittsburgh City Schools were two that were viewed as comparable to the Central School District.
Most people think of positions like mine that will be eliminated in consolidation. Going from 6 superintendents down to one is obviously a big savings. But after that, the report has some funny numbers. So funny, that it begins to lack credibility.
What they call "administrative costs" includes more than the professional leadership team. It also includes clerks, secretaries, cafeteria supervisors and maintenance staff. He're a few examples:
There are presently 19 clerks employed from Milford to Appoquinimink. The auditor's report suggests we would need no clerks when we consolidate into one.
There are presently 72 secretaries employed from Milford to Appoquinimink. The auditor's office suggests we would need only two.
There are presently 48 financial secretaries (processing purchases and payroll). The auditor's office suggests we would need only two.
OK. So, my understanding of this report suggests we'll close the central offices of Milford, Lake Forest, CR, Capitol, Smyrna and Appoquinimink and open a new one somewhere to support and serve 35,000 students, 2500+ teachers and 1500+ support staff. That central office will have 2 secretaries and 2 financial secretaries.
I don't mind Mr. Wagner suggesting that we could reduce superintendents when combining school districts. It is common to think that there are too many at the upper end of the pay scale. But, I've got to draw the line and call him out when he starts picking on the secretaries. This report makes no sense. There is no way an operation that big functions with 4 secretaries total.
Makes it hard to take the report seriously.
I refer you to the October 9 writing in this blog for more thoughts on consolidation. No doubt, some regional cooperation will help reduce administrative costs, but the auditor's plan is just numbers. And most of the numbers just don't add up.
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