Appointment to Examine Records

Renee Dulin, Janey Munday, and I have been making plans to go to the Central Office and view some of the I-SS financial documents. Renee and I were planning to go Thursday of this week and Janey and I were going to go next Thursday. Renee called and tried to schedule for this Thursday but she received word that Mrs. Wike, I-SS Financial Officer, would be busy this week as she was preparing for the annual audit. Since we could not go in and examine the documents this week, Renee and I decided to meet at the Statesville Library and share the information that we each had been accumulating. It was interesting to see that we each had several letters from the I-SS attorney, Mr. William McMillan, with regard to information we had requested. Who knows how much money the administration could have saved if they had simply provided the information requested.

I called Mrs. Wike this morning (Friday) to schedule an appointment for Janey and me to examine documents. As Mrs. Wike was in a meeting, I left a message saying that Janey and I would like to examine the following documents next Thursday: the 2008 audit report, all invoices from Jim Shipley and Associates for the last two years, all I-SS database indexes, and all consulting contracts between I-SS and any business, organization, individual, or group of individuals from January 2002 until the present. Renee wants us to look at the audit report, Janey wants to look at the invoices, and I want to look at the indexes and contracts. This afternoon, I received a call from Dawn Creason, I-SS Public Relations Director, and she told me they would have the documents ready for us to examine next Thursday.

An interesting note is that, not only are they going to have the database indexes that I have been requesting for some time, they are also going to have the consulting contracts available for inspection. Just a couple of weeks ago I received a letter from the I-SS attorney telling me that I would have to pay $2,000.00 for the staff to research and accumulate the consulting contracts. That was based on 40 hours of staff time at $50.00 per hour. I had responded to Mr. McMillan that I should not have to pay for those contracts since they were existing records and NC State law states that agencies must provide copies of existing public records at a minimal cost, which is defined as the actual cost of reproducing the public record. I have not yet heard back from Mr. McMillan.

In order to try to get the administration to follow state law I also sent an e-mail yesterday to the Board members, several administrators, and the school attorney. The text of the e-mail is inserted below.

Since many of you don't seem to be aware of the NC State law with regard to accessing public records I am providing a web address that will take you to the relevant section of NC State Law. When someone asks for access to public records you cannot deny access, or charge a fee, because that information is hard to find, or it is stored off site, or you have to redact confidential information. I ask that all of you carefully study the law so that, when in the future, someone asks for access to, or copies of, public records, he or she will not get the run around as I have been getting for the last several months.

Web address for access to section of NC law regarding public records.

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByChapter/Chapter_132.html

I don’t know if my response to Mr. McMillan or if my e-mail made a difference. I am just glad that the administration is finally allowing access to the requested information. There is other information I have asked for and not yet received but hopefully this will get Renee, Janey, and I some of the information we are looking for. I will write a post next week and let every one know what we find out.

Look at what is important.

Coming from Michigan I have seen a lot of heartache but I am amazed at what the state and counties are doing here. Last year most people at the central office were given outrageous raises (a raise of more than I make in a year). Then they turn around and say how they do not have the money to educate the children of this county. What is going to happen is that parents will see the lack of support to schools and their child’s education and want to go somewhere else. Money is thrown around at pointless positions that really do not help better the teachers or students. Stop providing people on the top of the chain so much because honestly, they are just passing their jobs on to someone else. A $35,000 raise in one year is unbelievable when you are talking about cutting teaching jobs. Most teachers only receive a $600 to $1000 raise a year. I do not even make $35,000 in a year, and that is how much administrators get as a yearly raise. Who are we truly helping with that? Making $80,000 in a year working for the school system is very well paid. Even a teacher who is in the classroom teaching the students and preparing these students to be our future will not see that kind of pay EVER. This is showing schools and parents that their children are less important then the head office, when truly we should be finding out ways to help the students be prepared for the real world. Completing a weekly PDSA and taking time out day after day to graph data is just taking away from instructional time which has already been cut. We wonder why we are so underperforming compared to other states: this is why. The Central Office treats the people that really make a difference with little respect and expect them to do better with less time, materials, and pay, yet more responsibilities and bigger classes. I have seen teachers making schedules, counseling students, buying their own materials to enhance teaching and all they are told is that they are not doing enough. Look above the teachers and determine what is truly important to this county. Do we want our students to be able to compete in a growing world where more education is becoming a necessity? If so, we are not showing them or preparing them for what they truly need. Really look at what is important before you look at the bottom of the totem pole. If it were not for the teachers no student would be successful. I cannot tell you the last time a student said someone at the head office taught him or her to be successful and prepared for the future.

This post was written by a concerned parent.

Computer Database Indexes

As I have mentioned in a previous entry, I have been trying for some time to have I-SS provide me with copies of all computer database indexes. Both I-SS policy and NC State law state that these indexes should be made available to anyone asking for public records. The following is the relevant section of the NC State law.

The index shall be a public record and shall include, at a minimum, the following information with respect to each database listed therein: a list of the data fields; a description of the format or record layout; information as to the frequency with which the database is updated; a list of any data fields to which public access is restricted; a description of each form in which the database can be copied or reproduced using the agency's computer facilities; and a schedule of fees for the production of copies in each available form.

Today, Wednesday, I received a letter from Dawn Creason, I-SS Public Information Officer, stating that I could stop by the Central Office and pick up a copy of all I-SS database indexes. Of course I went right over to the office to pick up the copies. What I received was not the indexes but rather a list of 12 database names and a brief description of each database. I then called Dawn and stated that what I received was not acceptable. She said that she would look into the matter and get back to me. I have not yet heard back from her. I also sent an e-mail to Dawn, Dr. Holliday, the Board members, and the school attorney in which I outlined the situation and included the State law section I have inserted above. Once again, the I-SS administration continues stonewalling my requests for public records.

This post was written by Paul Klaene.

Does Dr. Holliday deserve a hefty compensation?

I would like to comment on Emily Ervin’s letter to the editor that was printed in the Saturday, May 23^rd, edition of the Statesville Record and Landmark. The headline for the letter states the I-SS Superintendent’s position warrants hefty compensation. Ms. Ervin’s letter justifies her opinion by stating that the school system is the county’s largest employer and that the superintendent is there for the credit or the blame. If you look at the I-SS administrative chart you will see that there are over 30 central office administrators who do the actual work of running the school system. That includes the associate superintendent, assistant superintendents, directors, officers, supervisors, and coordinators. But, that does not include all of the principals, assistant principals, and instructional facilitators. How many of these administrators does Dr. Holliday supervise? According to the administrative chart it is just one, and that is Brady Johnson, Deputy Superintendent. The I-SS attorney, Mr. William McMillan, confirmed this at the April Board of Education meeting. He was at the meeting to speak to my assertion that Dr. Holliday supervises Mrs. Holliday, who is a central office administrator. That would be a violation of the I-SS nepotism policy. Mr. McMillan said Dr. Holliday does not supervise his wife because there are at least two administrative intermediate links between them. Why does Dr. Holliday deserve a hefty compensation if he only supervises one employee? And the real question is: why is the School Board spending millions of dollars to pay all of these administrators when the budget is as bleak as it is? As others have said, we should take that money and put it in the classrooms where it will do some real good.

This post was written by Paul Klaene.

What is the Administration Hiding?

According to ISS Policy (Policy Code 5070), all computer database indexes should be made available to individuals requesting public records. NC State law also states that these indexes are public records. I first requested public records in January of this year, and I specifically asked for a copy of the database indexes over a month ago. In addition, I spoke during the Public Comment time at the last I-SS Board meeting and asked the Board to have the administration expedite my request for these indexes. However, I have not yet received them. Is the administration is trying to hide something? I am hoping that once I have the indexes I will be able to see how the School System categorizes their information. Then I will be able to appropriately request the school records needed to see just how the administration is allocating public funds. What is the purpose of having a policy if the Board and Administration are just going to ignore it?

This post was written by Paul Klaene.

NC House Budget

The following was taken from the NC Department of Public Instruction web site.

www.dpi.state.nc.us/newsroom/news/2008-09/20090521-01

NEWS RELEASES 2008-09 :: MAY 21, 2009

STATEMENT FROM STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION CHAIRMAN AND CEO BILL HARRISON AND STATE SUPERINTENDENT JUNE ATKINSON ON POTENTIAL BUDGET CUTS TO EDUCATION

"It is our hope that the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education's budget draft is only a beginning and that there is much more discussion ahead. It is clear the state faces an extremely difficult economic situation, and that sacrifices will have to be made. The 11 percent budget cuts outlined by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education are severe and would have a significant negative impact on our classrooms and our schools."

Following is a sample of the proposed cuts:

• Reduction of the length of the school year for students by five days in fiscal year 2009-10 and five more days (total of 10) in fiscal year 2010-11. This would reduce instructional days to 175 in 2009-10 and to 170 in 2010-11 (rather than the current 180).
• 6,005 fewer Classroom Teachers (increase class size teacher allotment by two per grade)
• 4,663 fewer Teacher Assistants (base formula on K-2 ADM rather than K-3)
• 354 fewer Instructional Support personnel (counselors, media specialists, social workers)
• 187 fewer Assistant Principals (increase allotment to 1:890 rather than 1:799)
• A 5 percent reduction to Non-instructional Support (clerical and custodians)
• Low Wealth Supplemental Funding – Fund counties at 90 percent and below. This adjustment would eliminate funding 13 school districts from Low Wealth funding. ( Craven, Cumberland, Davie, Gaston, Lincoln, Madison, Mitchell, Onslow, Pender, Perquimans, Union, Warren, Yancey)
• A reduction of $4.5 million to Small County Supplemental Funding
• A 10 percent reduction to More at Four
• Elimination of Learn and Earn Online
• Elimination of application fee payment for teachers seeking certification by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.
• Elimination of Literacy Coaches
• A non-recurring reduction of $38 million to Textbooks
• Non-recurring reduction to staff development (no funding for two years)
• A 5.38 percent reduction or $6.5 million to Central Office
• An 11 percent reduction in FY 2009-10 and an additional 4 percent (total of 15 percent) reduction in FY 2010-11 to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This would eliminate 52 positions in 2009-10 and 19 more (71 total) in 2010-11.

Thanks to Janey for telling me about this. What will happen to the education of our children if this is passed? Surely there is a better way to balance the NC budget.

Board Member Contact Information

The ISS web site now includes the e-mail addresses for the Board members. But to save you the hassle of going to the web site I will list the contact information here. You might want to contact the Board members and tell them they need to concentrate on the needs of the students and not on the opulence of the administration.

Mr. Bill Brater (District 5) 529 Catspaw Lane Statesville, NC 28677 704-528-3531 billbrater@bellsouth.net	Dr. David Cash (District 2) 149 Foxglove Drive Statesville, NC 28625 704-873-3269 davidcash@iss.k12.nc.us
Mr. Charles Kelly (District 6) 132 Blueberry Hill Drive Statesville, NC 28625 704-873-7578 cskllll@bellsouth.net	Mr. John B. Rogers, Jr. (District 3) 851 Wesley Drive Statesville, NC 28677 704-873-7777 Greyhoundgren65@aol.com
Mrs. Karen Watson (District 7) PO Box 4533 Mooresville, NC 28117 704-660-8018 ktwatson@iss.k12.nc.us	Mr. Keith Williams (District 4) 1724 Jones Street Statesville, NC 28625 704-878-6559 keith.williams@iredellmemorial.org
Dr. Kenneth Wilson (District 1) 293 Rash Road Olin, NC 28660 704-876-4515 kenwilolin@yahoo.com

I-SS Should Cut Administrative Budget

I am writing this letter in response to the article by the Iredell-Statesville Schools stating that they are ready to present a leaner budget. In the article, Melissa Wike( I-SS Chief Financial Officer) states "We've looked at every possible option of where reductions can be made." How many of the reductions came from the central office staff is the questions citizens of Iredell County should be asking the school board. The budget for personnel at the central office rose over one million dollars this school year. The increase was due to the 7 new administrative positions at a total of $779,207 and the raises totaling $259,745 that 17 employees received. If the governor can take away .05% of all state employees salaries then our local board should be able to require the school system to cut administrative staff first. Every citizen should contact the board and let them know how they feel about cuts coming from classrooms in the form of larger classes because of not hiring teachers, doing away with some teacher assistants, and lower the amount of money that schools receive for supplies. The addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of the board members can be found on the I-SS webpage. Please support education in Iredell County by asking that those who directly impact the learning of our children be the last to feel the effects of this budget crunch.

This post was written by Janey Munday

Baldrige Award: Did We Win It Or Was It Purchased?

This letter is in response to Saturday’s update from Dr. Holliday. Are questions from stakeholders now considered criticism or are they indeed a necessary part of the process and welcomed as a quality component of Performance Excellence? How much money has Iredell Statesville Schools spent on Baldrige materials, training, personnel, and paper for the purpose of data collection since Dr. Holliday’s arrival? Does anyone outside the school system realize that the Chief Quality Officer and Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources are listed as Baldrige examiners? What training is necessary for the title of Examiner or Judge with the Baldrige Organization, when did it occur, and what was the expense to Iredell Statesville Schools? Isn’t it interesting that the current Associate Superintendent of Learning, Executive Director Leadership Academy, and the Executive Director of Elementary Education (as his title is listed on the ISS website organizational chart) or the Executive Director of Professional Development (as his title is listed on the agenda for The Quest for Excellence Baldrige conference) were all associated with Baldrige or Jim Shipley Associates prior to their employment with Iredell Statesville Schools? When were these positions created? The combined salaries for these three positions for Iredell Statesville Schools in 2008 were over $300,000. One must remember salary information often does not include funds for housing, car allowances, professional development, etc. All of which causes me to wonder did we win the Baldrige Award or purchase it with good Iredell taxpayer money? Who are the fifty spectators accompanying Dr. Holliday toWashington to accept his award? How many administrators will be attending? What is the cost of this trip and all the other conferences our administration has attended just this school year to Iredell Statesville Schools and subsequently, taxpayers?

Lest my feedback be interpreted as all deltas (ISS employees, you know what I mean), I applaud the many positives associated with Iredell-Statesville Schools, beginning with the students, all of them with their unique needs and learning styles that have created the demand for teachers, staff, and the buildings themselves. There are many dedicated, kind, and caring educators in this system. Their missions to their students are not posted on the walls of classrooms but are found in their hearts. They are the ones who understand that students have lessons to provide as well. The churches and community partners who support the schools with volunteers and provide cards, meals and inspiration for staff are truly a blessing. Additionally, the improvements in facilities should be noted and celebrated.

And finally, if this letter assigns me the label of critic by the administration of Iredell Statesville Schools, I will consider myself to be in the good company of other IredellCounty citizens who understand education doesn’t exist without questions, answers, and accountability.

This post written by Renee Dulin

McKinsey Education Report

I would like to comment on Dr. Holliday’s article titled “I-SS Redoubles its Efforts” that was printed on Feb. 18^th in the Statesville Record and Landmark. In the article Dr. Holliday talks extensively about the McKinsey Education Report. I have had a chance to study that report, and although I agree with some of Dr. Holliday’s statements, I feel that he missed the true focus of the report. Dr. Holliday refers to the recent achievements that have been made in the Iredell - Statesville schools but does not give proper credit to the teachers in the system. The main emphasis of the McKinsey report is that “The quality of an education system rests on the quality of its teachers.” Therefore those achievements are due to the quality and dedication of all of the I-SS teachers and their efforts to make sure that students have many opportunities to excel. In his article, Dr. Holliday does talk about recent efforts of I-SS to enhance its recruitment efforts in order to hire the best candidates. However he then goes on to dismiss the efforts of most of the teachers by saying that over 80% have been with the system for more than three years and thus must be retrained. Does their education and experience mean nothing to Dr. Holliday? The McKinsey Report does stress the need for professional development, but true professional development enhances the abilities that the teachers already possess rather than replacing those abilities. What Dr. Holliday is really saying is that he wants all teachers to march in step with his version of the Baldrige system. The Baldrige system does have some good points such as continuous improvement, but to say it is the only method that works is against all sound educational pedagogy. The McKinsey Report states that students have different strengths and weaknesses and teachers must be encouraged to select the appropriate instructional methods to help them learn. Teachers also need to have exposure to variety of learning opportunities. Dr Holliday states that teachers are not sent to conferences unless they are presenting. Is Dr. Holliday afraid those teachers might learn something other than his precious Baldrige dogma? Dr. Holliday recently criticized a group of science teachers who, at their own expense, went to a one-day science conference. He said that you couldn’t learn anything at a one-day conference. If Dr. Holliday had bothered to ask any of those teachers he would have found out just how much they learned at that conference. I-SS has put instructional facilitators in place at each school but their main job is to force feed the Baldrige method and its myriad of acronyms to each of the teachers. Did you know that OFI means Opportunity For Improvement? Just imagine how much more improvement there could be if the instructional facilitators were truly allowed to facilitate instruction. All the time and money that I-SS spends on the implementation of the Baldrige method would be much better spent on sending teachers to conferences and enabling them to share ideas with their students and colleagues.

This post written by Paul Klaene

Dr. Holliday's Compensation

Much has been written recently about the Iredell Statesville School System and Dr. Holliday, its Superintendent. Some time back I requested a copy of Dr. Holliday’s contract. In Dr. Holliday’s contract it states that in addition to his published base compensation of $170462.28, Dr. Holliday is to receive several bonuses each year.

In addition to his base compensation Dr. Holliday also receives a bonus equal to his Social Security payments, a bonus equal to his retirement contribution, a bonus of up to $5,000.00 to match his cafeteria benefit payments, and a bonus of an annual paid up annuity equal to 10% of his base pay.

Recently, I requested the actual amounts for these bonuses over the last year. The school system provided me with the information for several recent months and stated that I could use those numbers to estimate the amount for the year. Based on my estimates Dr. Holliday was reimbursed $19,577.00 for his retirement and social security payments, the system also paid $2,393.00 for Dr. Holliday’s life, dental, and vision insurance. Most I-SS employees have to pay for these items out of their own pockets. The system also gave Dr. Holliday a paid up annuity worth $17,046.00. This brings Dr. Holliday’s total yearly compensation up to $209,478.00. That means that Dr. Holliday is paid $44,000.00 more each year than the next highest paid public employee in Iredell County.

I guess the school board is trying to emulate those AIG officials who used taxpayers’ monies to pay bonuses to executives even if they didn’t deserve them. How many other I-SS central office administrators are receiving such extravagant and unjustifiable bonuses?

Dr. Holliday also receives reimbursement for professional and civic memberships, travel expenses, and staff development expenses. I have also requested those amounts but I was told that I would have to pay the school system $200.00 to ‘compile’ the information for me. It seems like the school system is trying to hide something.

To paraphrase what Brenda Johnson said in her letter to the editor of the Record and Landmark, the school board could hire someone more capable of doing the Superintendent’s job for much less money than what they are paying Dr. Holliday. I am sure that there are many qualified individuals who would lead by example and integrity instead of ruling by fear and intimidation.

This post written by Paul Klaene