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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
OUSD Trustees to vote on 10% reduction to own pay and ending taxpayer paid Health Benefits
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
OUSD Trustees to vote on 10% reduction to own pay
and ending taxpayer paid Health Benefits for Trustees
The Orange Unified School Board Trustees will be voting at their May 28th, 2009 Board Meeting to reduce their $750 monthly stipend 10% to $675 per month for three years starting in July 2009. The annual savings to the district taxpayers will be $6,300 per year ($18,900 through July 2012). The Action Item, Agenda Item 12 A (Agenda page 3), is co-sponsored by OUSD Board political minority allies Trustees Melissa Smith, Kim Nichols and Kathy Moffat. Smith this year has repeatedly brought up the idea of the OUSD Trustees taking a reduction in their monthly stipend in light of the continued state fiscal crisis and the sacrifices that the OUSD Board and OUSD Administration was asking the community and employees to make. Board President Rick Ledesma to date had not agendize Smith’s proposal. Under rules adopted when the minority members were in the majority, it takes three Trustees to request an item be added to the agenda. Smith, Moffat and Nichols are listed as the Agenda Item’s co-sponsors.
In proposals to the two employee groups, the OUSD Trustees and Administration have asked district employees take a 3.75 % pay cut and are currently in negotiations with those groups. Those proposed pay cuts maybe in addition to further cuts in workdays. The OUSD Board has approved numerous other program and personnel cuts, including cuts in teaching, administration and support staff positions. In addition the Board voted to raise the classroom student to teacher ratio in the lower grade special Class Size Reductions from a 20 to 1 ration to a 24 to 1 ration. Other cuts included the OUSD Board voting to close OUSD’s smallest school, Silverado Elementary that had around 60 students. Some cuts have not taken place. Former OUSD Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Jon Archibald in the beginning of the state-wide financial crisis had recommended four small OUSD schools be closed. To date, only one, Silverado has been closed. According to the February 5, 2009 OUSD Board Work Study Session the savings from Silverado closing and consolidating is $198,000 a year. Those OUSD figures also show an additional $955,000 can also be saved yearly by closing and consolidating three other small schools: Imperial ($342,000 a year); Panorama ($268,000 a year); Riverdale ($345,000) a year. The three year savings of closing these three small schools would be close to $3,000,000 (compared to the $18,000 3 year savings in reducing Trustee pay). The three year savings to OUSD from closing Silverado is close to $600,000. Closing all four small schools would result in a three year savings of $4,000,000.
Also under consideration in Action Item 12 B is a first reading to change the OUSD Board Policy 92450 (a) to stop OUSD taxpayers from paying for health benefits to OUSD Board of Education members. The change would allow the OUSD Board members to pay “at their own cost” to be covered by OUSD for health coverage.
For information on the savings to OUSD from closing small schools CLICK ON:
Small School Question (see question #7)
OUSD Trustees to fill Administrative Positions during fiscal crisis
Former OUSD Superintendent Dr. Robert French created two positions of Executive Director in 2004 in the French Reorganization, supporting the new positions by calling the creation of the new bureaucratic positions an administration “cut”. Those two intermediate level of administration positions at OUSD grew to six positions under former OUSD Superintendent Dr. Thomas Godley. During the OUSD May 28th, 2009, during the Closed Session the OUSD Trustees will be filling two Executive Directors (Secondary Education and Business Services) positions, an Administrative Director (Communications and Technology) position; a Director of Facilities Planning; and a Director of Maintenance & Operations. These appointments come just a week after voters rejected the bailout propositions in the May 19 Special Election, and in the middle of the worst fiscal emergency in the history of the State of California since the Great Depression. (Voters in Greater Orange voted down the propositions by greater margins than Orange County and California).
Also in the May 28th Closed Session, the OUSD Board will be filling an OUSD Middle School Principal opening.
INSIDE the May 28th, 2009 Agenda
Information Agenda 13 A- Budget Update (Agenda page 7)- with the defeat of the May 19th Budget Propositions in the Special Election and Sacramento law makers again meeting to close budget deficits, this OUSD report will be tentative at best.
Community Donations
Angels Baseball Foundation $1,000- Sycamore E.S. literacy and Technology; Legislative Coalition $400-to OUSD Superintendent for Sacramento Trip; Friends of the Orange Public Library $100- Curriculum for Annual Art Exposition; Orange Community Foundation $210-Sycamore E.S. supplies; Lowes Education Foundation $2100- supplies Imperial E.S.; Villa Park H.S. ASB $5,411- salary stipends; Canyon H.S. ASB $2,645-salary stipends; El Modena Band Boosters $1,900-salary stipends; Orange H.S. Baseball Boosters $7,000-salary stipends.
For a complete list of the $69,623 in community donations see Agenda page 9.
INSIDE the OUSD Budget
INSIDE’s EDUCATIONAL TAX DOLLARS WATCH 2009:
Total $378,000
2009 Attorney Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Parker & Covert (for 1/09 -6/09) $200,000
3/12/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (Sp. Ed) $ 50,000
Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 98,000
Total $348,000
2009 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
01/24/09 Leadership Associates Consultants $ 3,000
2009 TOTAL $ 378,000
Former Superintendent Godley’s Retirement Bonus running total (beginning 8/2008):
$9689.00*
* The Godley Retirement Bonus presented here is an estimate of the amount in “bonus retirement” accrued since the Superintendent’s retirement on 6/30/08 using a 6% lifetime formula calculated here at $1210 a month since 8/08. The actual retirement plan the former OUSD Superintendent opted to take is not public information and the figures presented are only as an estimate of the taxpayer costs after the OUSD trustees voted against an amendment to exclude Godley from the retirement program. The on-going estimated figure is presented as a reminder to the community of the high cost in educational tax dollars the OUSD Board vote to allow the former Superintendent to participate in the 6% retirement incentive cost the OUSD education community in tax dollars. Godley retired from OUSD on June 30, 2008 after he worked for the school district for a little over five years.
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2008: $901,200
2008 Attorney Fee Tally:
6/19/08 Parker & Covert $ 60,000
6/05/08 Miller, Brown & Dannis $ 40,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $150,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $200,000
2/07/08 Parker & Covert $100,000
11/15/07 Parker & Covert (for 1/08 to 6/08) $200,000
$750,000
2008 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Subs for SDCDE (Reading First) $24,000
11/13/08 SDCDE (Reading First) $30,000
10/30/08 Dr. Willard Daggett (ICLE) $ 4,500
10/16/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 4,200
9/25/08 Visual Ink for Sadler Consultant <$ 6,600> CANCELED in 2009
9/25/08 Bob Sadler Consultant Fee $ 8,500
9/25/08 Candace Simpson-Sadler Helper $ 5,500
7/24/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 10,000
4/17/08 Dr. Kenneth Stichter Speaker Fee $ 6,500
3/7/08 Dr. Kathleen Weigel Speaker Fee $ 8,000
Consultant Total $ 101, 200
2008 TOTAL $ 901,200
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2007: $704,090.00**
2007 Administrative Conference/Travel: hidden since 6/8/06**
*JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to APPROVE Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2006: $849,717.00*
2006 Consultant Fee Tally: Total $176,400
2006 Attorney Fee Tally: Total Approved $655,000
2006 Administrative Conference/Travel: Total $ 18,317 *
* JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to
APPROVE OUSD Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2005: $978,300.00:
Total 2005 Conference Administrator/Board Fees: $ 7,500.00
2005 Attorney Fee Tally: $730,600.00
Total Watched 2005 OUSD Consultant spending: $ 270,200.00
Next OUSD Board Meeting May 28, 2009 -OUSD BOARD ROOM
FOR the Agenda CLICK ON: MAY 28 AGENDA
CLOSED SESSION- 6:00 pm
OUSD Regular Session: 7:00 pm
For more information call the OUSD Superintendent’s office at 714-628-4040
For budgeting questions call Business Services at 714-628-4015
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
Independent insight into OUSD
is an independent news service of /O/N/N/
ONN.ORANGENETNEWS@GMAIL.COM
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
OUSD Trustees to vote on 10% reduction to own pay
and ending taxpayer paid Health Benefits for Trustees
The Orange Unified School Board Trustees will be voting at their May 28th, 2009 Board Meeting to reduce their $750 monthly stipend 10% to $675 per month for three years starting in July 2009. The annual savings to the district taxpayers will be $6,300 per year ($18,900 through July 2012). The Action Item, Agenda Item 12 A (Agenda page 3), is co-sponsored by OUSD Board political minority allies Trustees Melissa Smith, Kim Nichols and Kathy Moffat. Smith this year has repeatedly brought up the idea of the OUSD Trustees taking a reduction in their monthly stipend in light of the continued state fiscal crisis and the sacrifices that the OUSD Board and OUSD Administration was asking the community and employees to make. Board President Rick Ledesma to date had not agendize Smith’s proposal. Under rules adopted when the minority members were in the majority, it takes three Trustees to request an item be added to the agenda. Smith, Moffat and Nichols are listed as the Agenda Item’s co-sponsors.
In proposals to the two employee groups, the OUSD Trustees and Administration have asked district employees take a 3.75 % pay cut and are currently in negotiations with those groups. Those proposed pay cuts maybe in addition to further cuts in workdays. The OUSD Board has approved numerous other program and personnel cuts, including cuts in teaching, administration and support staff positions. In addition the Board voted to raise the classroom student to teacher ratio in the lower grade special Class Size Reductions from a 20 to 1 ration to a 24 to 1 ration. Other cuts included the OUSD Board voting to close OUSD’s smallest school, Silverado Elementary that had around 60 students. Some cuts have not taken place. Former OUSD Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Jon Archibald in the beginning of the state-wide financial crisis had recommended four small OUSD schools be closed. To date, only one, Silverado has been closed. According to the February 5, 2009 OUSD Board Work Study Session the savings from Silverado closing and consolidating is $198,000 a year. Those OUSD figures also show an additional $955,000 can also be saved yearly by closing and consolidating three other small schools: Imperial ($342,000 a year); Panorama ($268,000 a year); Riverdale ($345,000) a year. The three year savings of closing these three small schools would be close to $3,000,000 (compared to the $18,000 3 year savings in reducing Trustee pay). The three year savings to OUSD from closing Silverado is close to $600,000. Closing all four small schools would result in a three year savings of $4,000,000.
Also under consideration in Action Item 12 B is a first reading to change the OUSD Board Policy 92450 (a) to stop OUSD taxpayers from paying for health benefits to OUSD Board of Education members. The change would allow the OUSD Board members to pay “at their own cost” to be covered by OUSD for health coverage.
For information on the savings to OUSD from closing small schools CLICK ON:
Small School Question (see question #7)
OUSD Trustees to fill Administrative Positions during fiscal crisis
Former OUSD Superintendent Dr. Robert French created two positions of Executive Director in 2004 in the French Reorganization, supporting the new positions by calling the creation of the new bureaucratic positions an administration “cut”. Those two intermediate level of administration positions at OUSD grew to six positions under former OUSD Superintendent Dr. Thomas Godley. During the OUSD May 28th, 2009, during the Closed Session the OUSD Trustees will be filling two Executive Directors (Secondary Education and Business Services) positions, an Administrative Director (Communications and Technology) position; a Director of Facilities Planning; and a Director of Maintenance & Operations. These appointments come just a week after voters rejected the bailout propositions in the May 19 Special Election, and in the middle of the worst fiscal emergency in the history of the State of California since the Great Depression. (Voters in Greater Orange voted down the propositions by greater margins than Orange County and California).
Also in the May 28th Closed Session, the OUSD Board will be filling an OUSD Middle School Principal opening.
INSIDE the May 28th, 2009 Agenda
Information Agenda 13 A- Budget Update (Agenda page 7)- with the defeat of the May 19th Budget Propositions in the Special Election and Sacramento law makers again meeting to close budget deficits, this OUSD report will be tentative at best.
Community Donations
Angels Baseball Foundation $1,000- Sycamore E.S. literacy and Technology; Legislative Coalition $400-to OUSD Superintendent for Sacramento Trip; Friends of the Orange Public Library $100- Curriculum for Annual Art Exposition; Orange Community Foundation $210-Sycamore E.S. supplies; Lowes Education Foundation $2100- supplies Imperial E.S.; Villa Park H.S. ASB $5,411- salary stipends; Canyon H.S. ASB $2,645-salary stipends; El Modena Band Boosters $1,900-salary stipends; Orange H.S. Baseball Boosters $7,000-salary stipends.
For a complete list of the $69,623 in community donations see Agenda page 9.
INSIDE the OUSD Budget
INSIDE’s EDUCATIONAL TAX DOLLARS WATCH 2009:
Total $378,000
2009 Attorney Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Parker & Covert (for 1/09 -6/09) $200,000
3/12/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (Sp. Ed) $ 50,000
Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 98,000
Total $348,000
2009 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
01/24/09 Leadership Associates Consultants $ 3,000
2009 TOTAL $ 378,000
Former Superintendent Godley’s Retirement Bonus running total (beginning 8/2008):
$9689.00*
* The Godley Retirement Bonus presented here is an estimate of the amount in “bonus retirement” accrued since the Superintendent’s retirement on 6/30/08 using a 6% lifetime formula calculated here at $1210 a month since 8/08. The actual retirement plan the former OUSD Superintendent opted to take is not public information and the figures presented are only as an estimate of the taxpayer costs after the OUSD trustees voted against an amendment to exclude Godley from the retirement program. The on-going estimated figure is presented as a reminder to the community of the high cost in educational tax dollars the OUSD Board vote to allow the former Superintendent to participate in the 6% retirement incentive cost the OUSD education community in tax dollars. Godley retired from OUSD on June 30, 2008 after he worked for the school district for a little over five years.
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2008: $901,200
2008 Attorney Fee Tally:
6/19/08 Parker & Covert $ 60,000
6/05/08 Miller, Brown & Dannis $ 40,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $150,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $200,000
2/07/08 Parker & Covert $100,000
11/15/07 Parker & Covert (for 1/08 to 6/08) $200,000
$750,000
2008 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Subs for SDCDE (Reading First) $24,000
11/13/08 SDCDE (Reading First) $30,000
10/30/08 Dr. Willard Daggett (ICLE) $ 4,500
10/16/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 4,200
9/25/08 Visual Ink for Sadler Consultant <$ 6,600> CANCELED in 2009
9/25/08 Bob Sadler Consultant Fee $ 8,500
9/25/08 Candace Simpson-Sadler Helper $ 5,500
7/24/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 10,000
4/17/08 Dr. Kenneth Stichter Speaker Fee $ 6,500
3/7/08 Dr. Kathleen Weigel Speaker Fee $ 8,000
Consultant Total $ 101, 200
2008 TOTAL $ 901,200
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2007: $704,090.00**
2007 Administrative Conference/Travel: hidden since 6/8/06**
*JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to APPROVE Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2006: $849,717.00*
2006 Consultant Fee Tally: Total $176,400
2006 Attorney Fee Tally: Total Approved $655,000
2006 Administrative Conference/Travel: Total $ 18,317 *
* JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to
APPROVE OUSD Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2005: $978,300.00:
Total 2005 Conference Administrator/Board Fees: $ 7,500.00
2005 Attorney Fee Tally: $730,600.00
Total Watched 2005 OUSD Consultant spending: $ 270,200.00
Next OUSD Board Meeting May 28, 2009 -OUSD BOARD ROOM
FOR the Agenda CLICK ON: MAY 28 AGENDA
CLOSED SESSION- 6:00 pm
OUSD Regular Session: 7:00 pm
For more information call the OUSD Superintendent’s office at 714-628-4040
For budgeting questions call Business Services at 714-628-4015
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
Independent insight into OUSD
is an independent news service of /O/N/N/
ONN.ORANGENETNEWS@GMAIL.COM
