Congratulations Mr. Byron Ernest!

Mr. Byron Ernest, who teaches agricultural science at LHS, is one of ten finalists for Indiana's Teacher of the Year Award! Here's a link to today's article in The Reporter: http://www.reporter.net/local/local_story_240020247.html (This is a shorter version of the story than what appears in the print version.)

Here is the announcement of the top ten candidates from the Indiana Dept. of Education web site:

http://www.doe.in.gov/news/2009/08-August/toy_finalists.html

Mr. Ernest is a teacher of tremendous energy, passion, and creativity. We're lucky to have him, and I'm delighted to see him get this sort of recognition. Best wishes to him going forward--it would be fantastic for Lebanon to have its first Teacher of the Year!

(I just edited this post for an egregious misspelling in the title. Gaaack! Sorry!)

The challenge of health insurance premiums

There's an article in today's Indy Star ( http://www.indystar.com/article/20090827/LOCAL0101/908270441/1013/NEWS04/Health+premiums+slam+Carmel+teachers) about the challenges of dramatically rising health premiums in the Carmel schools.

Schools and other public entities are caught in a real squeeze on this issue. Our general fund is completely determined by the state, and of course we want and need to pay our teachers what they're worth. But on the other side are rising premiums. Last year the LCSC received notice that employee health premiums were rising by about 45%. When the board looked at the figures (with our asst. superintendent and CFO Charles Tait) we realized the impact this would have on teachers who are on the LCSC plan. We decided to use about $330,000 from our corporation Rainy Day Fund to defray the additional costs for this year.

Teachers on the insurance still felt it--their premiums increased by about a third. But as my colleague Tom Merritt said in our meeting, "Now they're going to feel like they've been hit by a car instead of a truck."

This year the premiums are certain to go up again. We're not sure what we'll do, but the bind that faced us last year and that Carmel is grappling with right now is not going to go away. It's one of many reasons I'm keeping an eye on the national health care reform debate.

August meeting: H1N1 virus, test results, enrollment information

We got important information last night about the H1N1 virus. Dr. H. "J.R." Servies Jr., the public health officer for Boone County, gave a presentation on what is anticipated and plans for response. Keep an eye on local media as this situation develops. There should be vaccine available by the end of October, but not for everyone. Vaccines will be free, and will be available only at local health departments. Priority groups will include pregnant women and children ages 6 months to 18 years. Here's a web site where you can track this information:
http://boonecounty.in.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=130

Among the "good news," Dr. Taylor reported that Lebanon students passed the state-mandated Algebra I test (called an End of Course Assessment or ECA) at a rate much higher than the state average. The statewide pass rate was 41%; in Lebanon, 84% of LMS Alg. I students and 75% of LHS Alg. I students passed the test! LHS students also exceeded the state average in the pass rate for English 10, but fell short of the state average in Biology.

We got information about enrollment figures for the new school year. The official state count, which is crucial to determining funding, will take place Sept. 15. Dr. Taylor estimates this "ADM" count will come in at about 3320, which is down about 84 students from last year. Analysis shows most of that loss coming in the high school age students, rather than in the elementaries. Of course we're concerned about this trend, although it's not dramatic. I asked Dr. Taylor if we know how many students who had been enrolled at the Academy left the corporation. He said 11 of these students have left, along with a few more siblings of these students. George Piper told me at the end of the meeting that his count for the total with Academy ties who haven't enrolled at LCSC this year is 14.

I asked Dr. Taylor to clarify where we are with numbers of teachers. Last spring 15 teachers were notified that their positions were in jeopardy due to budget constraints. As of yesterday, all 15 of those teachers have been hired back into the LCSC. The net number of teachers is down no more than two or three from where we were last year. (Four teachers were let go for "cause," last year, that is they didn't measure up to expectations and would have been let go regardless of budget concerns.)

The corporation is in the final stages of selling the home built by the LHS building trades program last year. The house is in the Clear Vista addition, is being sold at a modest profit, and the sale should close by the end of August. The building trades students and teachers have begun another house already this school year.

If you'd like to watch the board meetings they're broadcast live on local cable channel 19; they are also rebroadcast several times during the month on channel 19.

A couple new items for the new school year

As we approach the first day of school (Monday, August 10), it's good to remind Lebanon families that there are a couple changes taking effect.

First thing is the dress code. The discussions about "standardized dress" last year resulted in changes to the LCSC dress codes. The dress code was written by teachers and administrators, and approved by the school board. Families are being notified in registration materials, and will be asked to sign either a copy of the dress code itself or the student handbook containing the code, indicating that they understand it. (Like most rules, you don't have to agree with it, but if you don't follow it there are consequences).

Here is the new dress code:


A. LCSC Dress Standards
While fashion trends may change, the reason for being in school does not. A
student’s dress should contribute to good health, cleanliness, safety, and
common decency. It should be non-disruptive and support a positive learning
environment.

Elementary and Middle School
• No open-toed footwear.
• No outdoor coats or jackets to be worn in classes or hallways during school
hours.
• Overall Apparel
o No exposed skin on any part of the midriff or back.
o No articles of clothing can be torn, ripped, or shredded.
o No inappropriately oversized or form fitting clothing. Clothing must be of
appropriate size.
o No attire that may damage school property or cause injury to others
(chains, metal decorations, etc.)
o No clothing that addresses or promotes tobacco, alcohol, drugs,
promiscuous behavior, or derogatory commentary.
o No pajamas and/or sleepwear.
o No headgear is to be worn. All headgear shall be removed at the
entrance of the school and shall not be worn until the building has been
exited.
• Shirts
o No shirts without sleeves. Sleeves must extend past shoulder and not
show underarm.
o No see-through shirts.
o No exposed undergarments.
o No exposed cleavage.
o No plunging necklines.
• Pants
o Pants must sit at or above the hip bone.
o All shorts, pants, and skirts must be knee length or longer.
o No writing on the seat of pants.
o No shorts worn during 2nd and 3rd grading periods.

High School
• No outdoor coats or jackets to be worn in classes or hallways during school
hours.
• Overall Apparel
o No exposed skin on any part of the midriff or back.
o No articles of clothing can be torn, ripped, or shredded.
o No inappropriately oversized or form fitting clothing. Clothing must be of
appropriate size.
o No attire that may damage school property or cause injury to others
(chains, metal decorations, etc.)
o No clothing that addresses or promotes tobacco, alcohol, drugs,
promiscuous behavior, or derogatory commentary.
o No pajamas and/or sleepwear.
o No headgear is to be worn. All headgear shall be removed at the
entrance of the school and shall not be worn until the building has been
exited.
• Shirts
o No shirts without sleeves. Sleeves must extend past shoulder and not
show underarm.
o No see-through shirts.
o No exposed undergarments.
o No exposed cleavage.
o No plunging necklines.
• Pants
o Pants must sit at or above the hip bone.
o All shorts, pants, and skirts must be knee length or longer.
o No writing on the seat of pants.

B. LCSC Dress Standard Consequences
All violations of the dress standards must be referred to the administrative office for documentation and determined consequence.

Elementary
• 1st & 2nd Violation
o Letter sent to parent
o Parent contacted via phone
o Child removed from classroom until appropriate attire is provided
• 3rd Violation
o Parent contacted
o Child suspended from school for one day. Return not authorized until parent participates in on-site conference
with administration.
• Future Violations
o Parent contacted
o Child suspended from school according to Table of Consequences. Return not authorized until parent participates in on-site conference with administration.

Middle School
• 1st Violation
o Verbal warning
o Letter sent to parent
o Child removed from classroom until appropriate attire is provided
• 2nd Violation
o Friday school
o Letter sent to parent. Includes warning that next offense will result in loss of
extracurricular activity privilege.
o Parent contacted via phone
• 3rd Violation
o Saturday School
o Parent contacted by phone
o Letter sent to parent
o Suspension from participation in all extracurricular activities for remainder
of semester
• Future Violations
o Removal from school (Out-of School Suspension) assigned to the
alternative school

High School
• 1st Violation
o All School Detention assigned
o Letter sent to parent
o Child removed from classroom until appropriate attire is provided
• 2nd Violation
o Friday school
o Letter sent to parent. Includes warning that next offense will result in loss of
extracurricular activity privilege.
o Parent contacted via phone
• 3rd Violation
o Saturday School
o Parent contacted by phone
o Letter sent to parent
o Suspension from participation in all extracurricular activities for remainder
of semester
• Future Violations
o Removal from school (Out-of School Suspension) assigned to the
alternative school

Second, there is a new law in Indiana regarding anyone who uses a cell phone or other electronic device to send, or even possess, sexually explicit material (words, photographs, and videos are included). It's a very serious situation, because so many students have cell phones and a small lapse in judgement can result in a felony charge. The following is copied from page 56 of the 2009-10 LHS Student Handbook (the whole handbook is available online here: http://www.leb.k12.in.us/pdf/LHS/academics/handbook.pdf). It also appears in the elementary and LMS handbooks. You should read and understand this, and explain it very clearly to your students. What may seem to them like a harmless prank could have grave consequences, and because it's state law, school officials have little latitude when enforcing it.


Important Notice to Students and Parents Regarding Cell Phone
Content and Display

1. The Child Abuse/Neglect Law requires school personnel to report to law enforcement or child
protective services whenever there is reason to believe that any person/student is involved with
“child exploitation” or “child pornography” as defined by Indiana Criminal Statutes.

2. It is “child exploitation,” a Class C felony under I.C. 35-42-4-4(b), for any person/student (1) to exhibit,
photograph or create a digitalized image of any incident that includes “sexual conduct” by a child
under the age of 18; or (2) to disseminate, exhibit to another person, or offer to so disseminate or
exhibit, matter that depicts or describes “sexual conduct” by a child under the age of 18.

3. It is “child pornography,” a Class D felony under I.C. 35-42-4-4(c), for any person/student to possess a
photograph, motion picture, digitalized image, or any pictorial representation that depicts or describes
“sexual conduct” by a child who the person knows is less than 16 years of age or who appears less
than age 16.

4. “Sexual conduct” is defined by I.C. 35-42-4-4(a) to include sexual intercourse, exhibition of the
uncovered genitals intended to satisfy or arouse the sexual desires of any person, or any fondling
or touching of a child by another person or of another person by a child intended to arouse or satisfy
the sexual desires of the child or other person.

5. The Indiana Sex Offender Registration Statute at I.C. 11-8-8-7 and the Sex Offender Registry
Offense Statute at I.C. 35-42-4-11, as of May 2009, require persons convicted of or adjudicated as
a juvenile delinquent for violating the Child Exploitation Statute at I.C. 35-42-4-4(b) to register as a
sex offender.

6. Because student cell phones have been found in a number of Indiana school districts to have
contained evidence of “sexual conduct” as defined above, it is important for parents and students
to be aware of the legal consequences should this occur in our school system.


I know this is a lot of detailed information (and I'm sorry some of the formatting is such a mess!), but it impacts many LCSC families, so I thought I'd post the chapter and verse here. Thank you for reading! I hope the start of the school year is a time of excitement and anticipation for all.

Lebanon schools 2010 budget

Our July meeting was as close to "routine" as I've seen the board get. We paid the bills and approved the hiring of some teachers and other personnel. We also approved a resolution to advertise the budget for 2010, which is a legal requirement (the resolution, the advertisement, and the budget are all legal requirements). The board met in a long budget workshop last week and went over the nuts, bolts, and fine print of the various funds that make up the budget.

Here's something interesting about the LCSC 2010 budget that's being proposed: It's smaller than the 2009 advertised budget. That's right, smaller.

The way the budget process works we "advertise" a budget, which is what we're asking the state to approve. We advertise high, knowing that the folks in Indianapolis (specifically the Department of Local Government Finance, a place shrouded in mystery) will make some cuts. Eventually, they approve or "certify" the budget. It's like asking for a larger salary than you know you'll get, hoping that you'll eventually get what you needed or wanted in the first place.

Here are a few figures: In 2009 we advertised a budget of $39,817,791; the state certified our budget at $36,244,194. For 2010 we're advertising a budget of $37,343,552, anticipating that it will be certified at several million dollars less than that.

What has happened to your tax rate? Per $100 of assessed value, LCSC property owners paid $1.54 in 2008, and $1.19 in 2009. The rate we're advertising for 2010 is $1.2643, but it will probably be certified between $1.05 and $1.15

Why is our budget shrinking slightly? The state budget passed last month has the Lebanon schools slated to receive a .7% increase for this year, and a .7% decrease for next year--essentially "flat-lining" our budget. The largest factor in determining our state dollars is our enrollment, which is steady. But costs like utilities and insurance keep climbing, so we're economizing where we can while striving to insure quality programs and reasonable class sizes.

The budget process is painstaking, but I'm getting the hang of it. The corporation CFO and assistant superintendent Charles Tait is very good at his job, which includes preparing the budget and explaining it to the board. Unfortunately there is almost no public attendance or participation in the budget process, although it's all accomplished in public meetings, and in much more detail than I've offered here. If you have any interest in learning more, budget documents are available for review at the administration office, and the budget will be advertised in The Reporter. I also have a file folder with all sorts of figures in it, and I'm willing to share it, if you'd like to contact me to arrange a meeting.

"Reporter" columns

While I haven't been posting on this blog for the past year or so, I have written a couple columns about education issues for the Reporter. My most recent, about the variety of programs available at LHS, is available online here: http://www.reporter.net/archivesearch/local_story_157003816.html

An earlier column with some basics about the very complicated process of school budgeting was published in mid-March but did not appear online, so I have cut-and-pasted it below. Our budget woes are likely to be around for a while.

School Budgeting Basics, Recession Version (published March 2009)

At last month’s regular school board meeting, LCSC Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor notified the board and the public about some reductions that will be necessary in the Lebanon schools, due to the overall economic climate. These reductions will include some programming adjustments and some personnel reductions. As a board member, I thought it might be helpful for the community to have a little more information about the situation we’re in, and how we plan to address it.

There are revenue factors contributing to this situation:

• A slightly declining enrollment (down about 90 students since September 2007) will result in less money coming from the state to our general fund, which is the source for teacher salaries and accounts for about $24 million of the LCSC’s $37 million budget. We get about $5000 per student from the state—a drop of 100 students means a drop of $500,000 in our revenue.
• The state plans to “flat line” the education budget for 2010. The state controls the entire general fund, as of this year. No local property taxes go to pay teachers’ salaries. Every general fund dollar comes from the state, much of it from sales tax and income tax. Declining tax revenues statewide and Governor Daniels’ resolve to “flatline” the education budget means we will have no more money for 2010 than for the current year 2009, and possibly less, depending how the state calculates the flatline.

Contributing expense factors include:

• Meeting the increment with fewer retirements. If you’re a teacher with 0 to 16 years of experience, you get about a 3% pay increase each year for your additional year of experience. Your increment is larger if you’ve taken continuing education. In order to pay for this increment, we have to see 7-8 teachers retire each year. For various reasons, fewer teachers are planning to retire this year, so their pay and benefits will continue at or near the top of the pay scale. We’re fortunate to have many of these experienced teachers, but it’s an economic reality that they cost more than newly-minted teachers.
• The master teacher contract for the last two years has included a 2.5% and a 3.5% base salary increase (in addition to the increment some teachers receive). Non-certified personnel like bus drivers and food service employees have received modest raises as well.
• Costs like utilities and transportation are likely to keep increasing.

The net result is pretty straightforward: LCSC revenue and expenses don’t match up and we don’t have control over the revenue situation. We have to look at some reductions. Dr. Taylor said at February’s board meeting that the reductions will amount to about $325,000 for the remainder of 2009, and $700,000 for 2010, which is less than 2% of the total LCSC budget.

In context, this is not a dire situation, it’s part of a nationwide phenomenon, and things are much worse in other states. Connecticut is cutting its education budget by 10%; nationally 600,000 teachers are at risk of losing their jobs. Around central Indiana most districts are tightening their belts—Lawrence Township schools for instance, are looking at cutting 101 teachers.

The teachers who are most nervous right now are first- and second-year teachers who are not protected by tenure. You can argue about teacher tenure six ways to Sunday, but we can’t change teacher contract law on a dime, even if we wanted to, and in many businesses the most recent hires are the first ones cut when times get tough.

We’re not only looking at personnel reductions. Where we can make programs more efficient, we’re looking to do that as well.

Our class sizes are reasonable across the corporation. At the elementary schools there are some classes with fewer than 20 students, and more than 25 in an elementary classroom is very unusual.

We’re already managing our money well. As reported at last month’s board meeting, the state Office of Management and Budget shows that LCSC has increased its percentage of money spent on student instruction from 53% in 2007 to 57.2% in 2008. (Non-instructional expenses include things like maintenance, transportation, food service, athletic coaches, business support, interest, and debt.)

Our spending is effective. Our Fall 2008 ISTEP+ scores rank 60th in the state, out of 294 school corporations. In 2003 LCSC ranked 110^th in the state. Our four-year graduation rate has gone up in the last three years from 80 to 86%, well above the state average. (For a wealth of statistical information about public schools check the Indiana Dept. of Education Web site at http://www.doe.state.in.us/asap/data.html.) There’s always room for improvement, of course, but there are many positive trends as well.

The school budget process is incredibly complicated. While the LCSC has submitted a budget for 2009, the state has not adjusted or approved that budget. We are spending money right now based a proposed budget that has not yet been approved. The 2008 budget was not approved until September 2008, but our schools were open and we were paying the bills just the same. This process means we have to plan very carefully, because the state could, without much notice, cut our budget. Maintaining a cash balance in this environment is critical.

Many things can and will change. For instance the effect of the federal stimulus package—how much money comes to Lebanon, and how it can be spent—is still unclear. Some teachers may decide later in the year to retire or resign. In the best case scenario we can hire back all of the staff that will be part of the reductions. But we are required to notify employees of their status by May 1, so we’re preparing for that based on what we know, or can reasonably guess, right now. We’re confident that we will not be compromising the quality of education we offer this community.

The next regular meeting of the school board is 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, in room B-14 of Lebanon High School. As always, the public is welcome to attend these meetings or watch them on Channel 19. School board e-mail addresses are available through the corporation Web site at www.leb.k12.in.us.

One year in ...

I thought it was about time to start using this blog again. One year into my term I've learned so much, but I've also learned how much more there is to know.

When people ask me how my work on the board is going, I tell them that it's interesting and challenging, and that I'm confident we're making good decisions for the students and staff of LCSC. The past year included several issues that brought out strong feelings from the community. The dress code, a personnel decision about Coach Hammel, and the budget cut package, including eliminating the Academy, were all truly difficult episodes. Though we didn't always agree with each other, board members treated each other with genuine respect and worked toward consensus in a professional way.

One of my goals on the board is that school issues be well-publicized, but that the board itself not make headlines. Too often there are personality conflicts, or just questionable behavior by board members, so that what a community hears about is the board itself. This can never lead to strong educational decisions, and takes the focus off of student achievement. I'm grateful to be part of a board that truly works together--a big "thank you" to Alan Cragun, Tom Merritt, Michael Burtron, and Dave Herr.

I'll try to post here a couple times a week. I will use this blog to try to explain what's happening, and to reflect on education issues, local and larger.

Thank you for reading. My board e-mail address is thomasmm@leb.k12.in.us. Feel free to drop me a line with any thoughts about the board, Lebanon schools, or this blog. For now I'm not inviting comments, but if you think I really should, please let me know.