Roger Price’s corrected table of FTEs shows that the proposed MMSD budget would cut 29.5 FTE aide positions compared to the cost-to-continue budget. According to my comparison, the budget would cut 13.16 FTE aide positions in the coming year compared to the actual FTEs this year.
When I plow through the budget document titled Department & Division Detailed Budgets (undated), the document appears to show total FTE reductions of 18.95 (see pages 16, 38, and 63) in postions for educational assistants.
So, dedicated detectives, see whether you can make sense of the numbers. Does the proposed budget reduce educational assistant FTEs by 29.5, 13.16, or 18.95?
2 thoughts on “MMSD Budget Mystery #7: Aides, aides, where are the aides?”
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Here’s the solution proposed by Roger Price:
“You need to include page 97 under Teaching and Learning which includes 8.63 fte of EA (library pages) cuts. The detailed staffing history I provided to you last week shows how the total numbers for the revised page 41 were calculated.
In addition, the numbers included in the individual department/division reports reflect the Department Head’s statement of impact and change by building level decisions. There is considerable fluidity between ea, clerical and teaching allocations at the building level thru conversions. For example the total Elementary Schools reduction in staff in the budget and on page 16 is 15.2(5). The distribution of the cuts in the write up is – ea 11.95, teacher 3.3 and in the budget – ea 12.65, teacher 2.3 and misc perm .25. This not an error, has no fiscal impact, but reflects changes that occurred during the budget process.
The Budget includes the estimated fte impact on each employee group and the fiscal estimate for that impact at a point in time. The final question of how many less fte’s in each employee group will change throughout the year as principals make decisions to best meet the needs of their student population.”
My apologies for overlooking page 97.
I retract my apology for not understanding the MMSD budget document. I apologized before I actually looked at page 97, which Roger Price referenced.
But no way could I or anyone else know that the cryptic entry, “Elminate Library Pages” on page 97, equated to elmination of 8.63 FTE.
This example proves my point, once again, that the budget document obscures more than it illuminates, leaving the board and the public with little clear idea of what will happen once the board adopts the budget and leaving the administration with a free hand to do whatever suits its fancy.