Spy Op-Ed: The Kids Come First by Bob Kramer
I believe it is quite evident from the public hearings that the parents and citizens of the County of Kent care very much about our public education system. It should also be quite evident that our elected Board of Education (BOE), Superintendent Barbara Wheeler and the Central Office staff have done an in-depth analysis that has presented the public with four proposals regarding the school consolidation issue.
While I think each of the four proposals are well thought out and offer many advantages including substantial savings, I believe choosing one of them (or Proposal #5 – do nothing or Frank B. Rhodes ingenious Proposal #6) is the easy way out. And that’s why I’m offering Proposal #7, the hard choice, but the better one for the long run and will transform our public school system into an economic asset for the county. And here are some supporting thoughts…
A. A community school adds 10-25% to local property values. It’s difficult to say that eliminating a community school would reduce property values in Rock Hall, Millington or Galena by 25%, but even at 10% reduction in any of these communities would result in losses of property tax revenue by about $75,000 + or – within three years.
B. Many parents are considering home schooling and private school alternatives, if their local schools are affected. IF just 50 students depart the Kent County Public School System (KCPS), that results in an incremental loss of almost $300,000 annually in state funding. And depending where these departures come from, it might make further changes necessary.
C. Eventually the economy will rebound and parents will be looking at the County of Kent as a possible new location. IF the State Department does build its facility in Ruthsburg, then there might even more parents looking for schools for their kids. Hopefully, KCPS would be one of their choices. Will the changes in Proposals #1-7 make us more or less competitive with the other counties?
The potential dollar losses in A. and B. above seem to cover any savings in all the proposals except for #4, which seems too extreme to be considered a viable solution. And we’re still left with big future revenue opportunities in C. above and that’s why we should make these changes in stages as I have proposed in #7 (and I understand the logistics problems associated with the K-5 change). We cannot afford to exacerbate the student defections that we’ve been facing in recent years. And I’m not sure the founding families of the Charter School initiative will be engaged enough to consider moving their kids to KCPS… and that’s more lost incremental income.
I’m uncomfortable with putting price tags on school kids’ heads, but that’s what education in Maryland has come down to for a small county like ours. We have to do something, but we have to get it perfect the first time. We just don’t have any margin for errors.
I’m a newcomer to our slice of paradise, but what I’ve learned in ten short years is that there is a tremendous community spirit in our county. This may be a common trait for all rural counties, but I really think we’re more than a bit unique. In any case, don’t our kids come first?
Proposal #7
Keep all schools open.
Extend all elementary schools to K through 5th grade.
Move the Alternative School to the High School (or Chestertown Middle School)
Relocate the Central Office to Chestertown Middle School (or the High School). Invest the proceeds from the sale of the 215 Washington Avenue building into one time educational opportunities so as to not create any tag along operational expenses in future years. There also should be an opportunity to move several Central Office positions to other schools that would create an embedded co-joined sense of involvement in the day to day operations of the individual schools.
Create a strategic Blue Ribbon panel to include parents, educators and citizens (as representatives of the taxpayers) to review:
A. The state school funding formula. It’s not enough to keep saying that this formula is unfair to our small system. We should present what we feel are the necessary changes that would include a base allocation of funds for every system that would eliminate the economy of scale discrepancies between the large and small systems.
B. Evaluate the budget prospects for the next three fiscal years and what operational changes would need to be made to operate within those confines.
C. Delineate what would need to be done to meet all state curriculum requirements within the next three years.
D. Review all school consolidation possibilities.
E. Recommend a permanent location for the central office.
F. Invent the future of KCPS based on a thorough analysis of how the dynamics of STEM, 21st Century, Charter School and Magnet School initiatives can synergized.
G. Provide a continuous feedback at each BOE meeting… with a final report and recommendations due at the January or February 2011 BOE meeting
Interview with Ron Fithian — By Bob Kramer
Q: Why did the county commission effectively raise taxes for ’09-’10 while the school system was given the same budget as the year before?
A: We have a fairly high percentage of fixed costs in the county, plus health care costs were rising by up to $400,000, and we didn’t want to lay anyone off. We had committed to building and maintaining the community center as a quality of life issue for all of our citizens. The state had reduced our roads budget significantly. As for the school funding, we are one of the few counties this year who are funding well over ($1.5 million) the maintenance of effort threshold as required by the state.
Q: You’ve said the ’10-’11 budget will be even tougher. Why?
A: Unemployment will have a major impact on our income tax collections in the next fiscal year. It is unlikely that our real estate market will rebound sufficiently to increase our property transfer and registration fees significantly. Add to that the state’s method for using the stimulus moneys for fixing the cracks in their budgetary problems at the state level. I believe we’ll be faced with lower state funding and the possibility of having to absorb the costs for the assessment office and the teachers’ retirement funding.
Q: What advice would you give the Board of Education, if they asked, about improving the Kent County Public School System?
A: Discipline. I’m a big fan of the alternative school, because it keeps problem kids in school and not kicking them out. Uniforms would be a way to instill responsibility as to how to look and act.
Q: Sheriff Price has told the County Commission drugs are responsible for 95 percent of the crime in Kent County. How bad is it, what’s being done?
A: We’re not any different than any big city or any other rural county. Drugs are here to stay… unless we can shut the product down at its source. The best we can do is to minimize their effect and keep them out of sight and that’s what Sheriff Price is doing.
Q: What benefits have Kent County gotten from work of our state delegates and senator?
A: Kent County and the 36th district used to have a strong delegation in Annapolis. Our current senator said in his campaign against Walter Baker that it’s “results not excuses” that count. Well, I’m still waiting for the results. Yes, I’m disappointed in our representation.
Buy This It’s (Nearly) Free
By Bob Kramer
Everybody’s reaching for our money. And they’re going after it with giveaways.
I got a total of 26 email offers this week from companies (from Amazon.com to Expedia to hotels in Las Vegas, Minneapolis and Jackson to Subaru to Under Armor, etc.) that I’ve done business with over the last year. I didn’t even count the ones where I haven’t bought anything, ever.
Oddly, there was only one from a Chestertown business — $5 off on a $20 purchase from TrueValue. But, the locals have to be hustling for business also, don’t they? Maybe they’re in the pile of stuffings that come in my Kent County News every Thursday. B-I-N-G-O. As thick as the Washington Post except it looks like it’s all offers of a lifetime. So, for the first time in probably 10 years I venture into the realm of paper bait.
Bayside — double coupons with 5 percent discount on senior Mondays and ground beef for $1.99 per. Peebles — One Day Sale with super buys of 50 percent off. Food Lion — Good Neighbors, Great Prices with T-bone or Porterhouses for $4.99 per. Walgreens — The Pharmacy America Trusts with buy one, get one Axe Hair or Body Care. Rite Aid — With Us, It’s Personal with 33 percent off all grills, coolers and b-b-q accessories. SuperFresh — Play & win the BIG red grocery giveaway! And EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT PRICING savings of 10 percent on non-sale items. ACME — Good Things Are Just Around the Corner with London Broil for $1.99 per. Sears — Your Hometown Store just got bigger and Save on all Kenmore Gas Grills with savings of $50 to $120 plus coupons for free brats.
Yeah, it’s just the opposite of the water analogy where you’re floating in the ocean and dying of thirst. It’s like stuffing yourself at Thanksgiving and somebody offers you a gourmet meal at the very next moment for free.
Bob Kramer
Bob Kramer retired after 30 years in 2000 from a major New York City financial services company as Senior Securities Officer. He and his wife moved to the County of Kent in July 2000, and began attending weekly county commissioner meetings in April 2006. Bob started www.warfortheshore.com in July 2006 with Warrior Bob as forum host. He is a Member of National Turkey Vulture Society among several other wildlife societies. Also an action partner with key land preservation environmental groups.
Our Incredible Shrinking Schools
By Bob Kramer
It’s a common tale amongst the folk of the Kent County to bemoan the lack of children in our realm. And this is especially true when it comes down to how the state appropriates its share of educational funds through its complex and sometimes bizarre Balance Sheet Formula.
