Munster school leaders blame state for deficit
By Carmen McCollum, The Times, Munster, Ind. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
It was an oft-repeated statement from retired Superintendent
"We've been toward the bottom all along," Florczak said. "We have a deficit, and it builds every year. We are not getting what it takes to educate each child. Something has to be done about the funding formula."
She said she thinks the funding formula is the biggest problem.
Florczak said new Superintendent
She said the district doesn't have a large transportation fund but can't charge bus fees, which used to cover fuel.
"It may have seemed like a drop in the bucket, but every little bit helps," she said. The district stopped with the
Florczak said Hendrix will do a thorough financial review. She said the district has tried to reduce expenses without cutting into programs, by trying to cut energy costs, reducing some hours and charging extracurricular activity groups to use a bus, she said.
In 2013, the general fund budget problems spurred the district to have the referendum.
The district began receiving the extra tax dollars earlier this year, and Sopko said Wednesday that, even after just six months, it has helped. The
An
The report said the district transferred
District Treasurer
Sopko said in terms of test scores, it's the No. 3 district in the state. In terms of per-pupil funding, it's 358th out of 367 school districts.
"We should have asked for a referendum sooner by two or three years," Sopko said. "We thought funding at the state level would improve, but it didn't."
Board member
"The irony is that we did cut. We cut from the superintendent all the way down to the office staff, maintenance, and our teachers didn't get increases," Yorke said.
Ridgley, who teaches math at
Ridgley said teachers have had their pay scale frozen since 2010.
"In 2010, the teachers ratified a contract that rolled back a 3 percent raise and froze the salary schedule at the 2009 pay amounts," he said. "We are now back to negotiating our contract this year, and we could see a continuation of the cuts that were supposed to be temporary."
The district began the year with a reduction of five teaching positions and another six that were absorbed, Ridgley said, noting that's nearly 5 percent of the total teaching staff.
"Currently for our teachers, insurance is running between
"Oftentimes they don't pay until the new budget comes around," he said. "Richard (Sopko had a plan worked out to catch it up over a four- to five-year period. We really waited too long to do the referendum."
Friend said, had they know it would pass on a 2-1 margin, they would have sought more money.
"If we hadn't gotten that referendum passed, only God knows what we would have done."
Hendrix said his previous district --
He said they were able to reduce the deficit over four years with cost-cutting and cooperation from the teachers union, which included a reduction in staff and early retirement incentives. Hendrix said when he left in June, the district was
Some lose, some gain
While
Former
Sopko retired as an assistant superintendent in
Five years ago as assistant superintendent, Sopko said he earned
"I think we came out ahead with those who retired and were rehired. We were in a position where we didn't have to pay any more into their retirement. That's my recall on that," Friend said.
Board member
"When people want to say you shouldn't have done that, once again, they need to look to
After
Asked how they prove or disprove if someone has an agreement in place, Dunlap said, "We would review any cases reported to us, but it would be difficult to prove existence of informal agreements."
In a superintendent salary survey conducted in 2010 by The Times, the
That year, Pfister had a base salary of
Sopko said this week he earned
Board
Hendrix said the language in his contract does not talk about a bonus. He earns a base salary of
"Right now, I don't expect to get any increase in salary," he said. "I would not ask for any extra dollars from this school corporation. The teachers have been flatlined. We have too much of a deficit for me to ask for money for myself. That would be unethical and wrong from my perspective."
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