According to a document apparently floating around the Doyle Administration Building and MTI offices, the MMSD administration will recommend cutting 92 positions when the Board of Education meets on April 3.
Disappointment best describes my reaction. I’m not surprised, of course. I’m not even upset that the union has the information even before the board, since it might be wise to alert John Matrhews rather than surprise him on April 3.
I’m disappointed. Disappointed because the board and administration have not listened to a single plea about following a new budget process. This is the same-old same-old. The administration puts last year’s spending into a black box. And presto! Cuts come out.
For years, those of us on schoolinfosytem.org and others throughout the community have begged and pleaded for a more understandable budget process, for input on the budget from the community, for a budget that reflects some set of priorities, and this year a budget that reflects the $100 budget exercise.
We should have saved our breath.
The administration and board don’t hear.
They only want to talk AT us — to tell us that we don’t understand the state budget, don’t understand the district’s changing demographics, don’t understand the complexity of school issues – like we’re all dummies.
But we DO understand all of that!
What we don’t understand is the MMSD budget process, the MMSD budget document, and the MMSD budget priorities. And to tell you my frank opinion, neither does a single soul on the board because they too never get to see inside the black box and they have no priorities to reflect in the budget.
It’s time to throw the bums out and replace them with board members who will listen, respond, and create an open process and understandable budget.
2 thoughts on “MMSD administrators will propose cutting 92 positions”
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I share your frustration with the continued lack of openess in the first and most important stages of the budget process, but I don’t share your despair. You wrote: “We should have saved our breath.” I say, take a deep breath and prepare for the long haul. Nothing happens in school policy or politics without sustained public pressure. Sustained is the key word. Just because the results are so hard to see right now, doesn’t mean there hasn’t been progress made. Hang in there.
TJM
As I wrote in my blog yesterday, the School Board will not be part of the resource allocation process. I checked the budget timeline and the agenda items currently on the School Board’s calendar on the MMSD website – the budget timeline and discussion items/decision items are NOT on the board calendar as of 4:20 p.m. today.
Priorities are being set, decisions about reductions in staffing, and how allocations are being determined/trade offs are being made, etc., and these decisions are being made without public discussion and without any board input or oversight. A budget framework of some sort must be used in order to determine priorities and staffing allocations – this must include $8 million in reduced revenue, because of contract obligations re the timing of layoff and surplus notices for MMSD teaching staff. Why was this not before the Finance and Operations Committee in March is beyond me, and it is not on the calendar for April 3rd. The Supt. is treating the allocation process as perfunctory. Even discussions with principals shows confusion re what’s the process as it affects them and their planning and decisions for next year.
I can understand the district notifying the union, but I find no credible reason that the School Board is so out of the loop of the budget process at key decision points – and the public is not being informed as a result of this process.