OSD could learn from City of Olympia

Last year, in the middle of some of the toughest budget decisions in recent Olympia School District memory, the District publicized a list of potential cuts, allowing citizens an unprecedented level of transparency in the budget process. What was missing? Interactivity.

To fill in the gap, I took data from District PDF files and created a somewhat hurky spreadsheet, so you could play around with the figures and try to balance the budget on your own.

If I had any coding skills, I would've added something like the City of Olympia is offering now. "Constrained prioritization" is the name of the game: you rate services or priorities from 1-4, but you're forced to limit each rating to only 11 out of the 44 choices--in other words, you can't put everything as a "1" or a "4." It's hard. (Sorry, Parks and Recreation.)

It's not a perfect survey, but it's a step. Next time the OSD stares down another tough budget--and you can bet that's going to be soon--it would do well to collect its constituents' input in a similar fashion.



[Link via Mathias Eichler.]

saved by the stimulus, or adventures in accounting

How has the stimulus affected public education?

Teachers appear to have benefited most from the effort to save jobs with the $787 billion recovery package, which sent billions of dollars to states that were on the verge of ordering heavy layoffs in education.

The national data on the impact of President Barack Obama's stimulus plan won't be available until later this month. But based on preliminary information obtained by The Associated Press from a handful of states, the stimulus spared tens of thousands of teachers from losing their jobs.

Not surprising. We saw this very scenario play out here in the Olympia School District earlier this year. A potentially heartbreaking RIF was avoided in large part due to a sudden influx of federal cash, mostly averting--or, perhaps more accurately, delaying--a crisis.

But the article is also a commentary on the government's new attempt to bring transparency to the doling-out process. The brutal honesty quote:

The White House says more than 1 million jobs have been saved or created so far, a figure that is so murky it can never be verified. That's because the White House estimate is based on economic models that try to calculate the effect of tax cuts and the ripple effect of government spending.

And the good news/bad news quote:

Officials have said the unprecedented accounting could become standard for government programs in the future, and this week's data release will offer the first indication of how it's working.

The good news: translucency bordering on transparency. The bad news: somehow this is a new idea.

Board openings draw a crowd

...of applicants for the two vacant positions. Sixteen, in fact. This is fantastic [pdf], and shows how perpetual media attention on the budget crisis and fractiousness has really gotten people motivated, the best thing to come out of the last six months.

Tuesday, August 5th, the Board will meet with the candidates, the next official step in the whittling-down. I'd predict that the process wraps up by the August 25th meeting.

rubber stamps and potted plants

Bob Shirley and Russ Lehman, in rapid succession, resigned from the Olympia School Board. Both cited health reasons--Shirley's, thankfully, "non-life-threatening." They left the Board in turmoil

Lehman follows Shirley, resigns

As a commentator noted earlier today, and as The Olympian reports, Russ Lehman has resigned.

“The stresses inherent in serving on a board that continues to suffer severe leadership and organizational problems are at this time, simply too disadvantageous to my health. I believe that my final responsibility as a resigning board member is to identify the specific leadership/organizational issues that, from my perspective, are rendering the board ineffective. The most critical of these issues is the lack of understanding or conflicting views about the role of a school board member,” his memo stated.

This comes as less of a surprise after Bob Shirley's early exit, especially given Lehman's ailing health. You can read Lehman's letter of resignation here.

The Board now requires two replacements, making three in the last six months.

an open letter to the Olympia School Board of Directors

President Barclift, Vice President Lehman, Directors Miller, Shirley, and Wilson, and Student Representative Hoekje:

Near the end of the second act of Romeo and Juliet--sorry, it's what I've been memorizing lately--Friar Laurence warns Romeo, "Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast." The padre's not too great at practicing his preaching, though, consenting to marry the "star-crossed lovers" in an ill-conceived attempt to reconcile their warring families.

Regardless, it's still good advice. I was glad to read that you're not hurrying to make a decision on the Superintendent's proposed budget. Too much is at stake.

I'm not going to tell you what you should or shouldn't gut, ax, trim, or nix. You've already heard enough from the community to know what's viable, and what will set Olympia on fire. My sympathies lie with parents who want to keep cuts "as far away from the students as possible," but I also understand that personnel are 85% of the budget, and it's tough, mathematically, to pare 2.4 million without paring staff. (Easy for me to say: I'll still have a job.)

Instead, I'll stick to the things within my expertise. Just as we learned tough lessons from the previous budget crunch, there are several lessons we can learn from this experience.

1. We need transparency in the budget process. It is impossible, without extreme assistance, for the average person to see how and where specific cuts can be made. The District-provided materials are excellent, but don't approach the level of detail needed, which is program- and building-specific numbers. If you desire informed public input, you have to press District administrators to fully inform its public.

2. We need to better use technology to facilitate citizen involvement. I applaud the District for making so much information available. However, an Adobe PDF file isn't very useful when trying to calculate costs. Instead, press the District to release proposed changes in an interactive format, like the spreadsheet I created. Give them a chance to see just how difficult your job is--and how this can make it at least a little easier.

3. We need to keep lobbying the state. We're hardly the only district in this pinch: just look at this list. Until the state develops a stable funding formula, we're going to skim from crisis to crisis. So, for those of you who've been putting the squeeze on your friends in the legislature, keep it up.

Thanks for your commitment to the students, families, teachers, administrators, and constituents of the Olympia School District. Good luck navigating these choppy waters.

Regards,

Jim Anderson

Olympia School District recommends its balanced budget

Big savings through attrition. That's the major sticking point of the formally-proposed Olympia School District budget cuts [pdf], which save Drill Team and sports (but increase pay-to-play fees), largely relying on a combination of smaller savings aligned with fairly steep increases in class sizes.

I'm not terribly surprised: to list one example, administrators at Capital have been planning for next year under the assumption that we'll push 30 students in 9th grade, and 30+ in upper-level English courses.

If, like many community members, you want to keep cuts "as far away from the students as possible," you'd better continue lobbying the Board. It'll be entirely in their hands, and soon.

The next meeting for public comment is Thursday, 6:30 p.m., at the Knox Building.

OSD budget forum attracts massive turnout

Tonight's community forum at the Knox Center gave over two hundred Olympians a chance to share thoughts about the projected $2 million school district budget cuts. The event filled the Board Room and a spillover room hastily arranged upstairs. As the meeting began people stood along side walls and out in the hallway.

To start the forum, Jim Crawford, Assistant Superintendent and the night's emcee, gave a 15 minute synopsis of the budget process. In short, projected costs and revenues are both increasing, but costs grow faster. Combine this with a needed 5% contingency fund--$4 million--and we'll have to trim about $2 million from next year's expenses. "Reductions to balance the 2008-2009 budget will help forestall major additional reductions in 2009-10," Crawford's PowerPoint noted. Or, in his words: "Our outlook for the following year is another deficit... If we can solve this now, we won't be in this position next year."

Crawford also explained why the publicized cut sheet [pdf] wasn't as much cause for alarm as some think. "There are more cuts on this sheet than we're going to need to adopt, and that's very intentional... We want to hear from you before we [make cuts]."

Students, parents, teachers, and other concerned community members crammed around tables for the next hour and a half, discussing, debating, brainstorming, grousing, and, for the most part, learning a lot about their neighbors' values and their own. I sat in the back corner, sometimes blogging, sometimes taking part in a lively discussion led by constituents of Capital and Olympia's Drill Teams.

Along with Crawford, Board members Russ Lehman, Frank Wilson, and Carolyn Barclift, and Superintendent Bill Lahmann circulated throughout the tables, answering a constant barrage of questions about all things budgetary.

I had to go at 8:00, leaving behind an animated group who filled several poster pages with suggestions. The one I liked best: instead of cutting two or three programs--Drill, wrestling, or swimming--cut 5% from all sports and activities, saving roughly the same amount. "We can figure out how to make it work," said Angela Mattox, Oly's Drill Team coach, and I agree.

As he closed his introduction, Crawford said he "really is heartened" by the turnout. Me, too. I came away energized by the civil participation and spirited discussions by so many people crammed into such a small space. I think most folks left with a far better understanding of the challenges we face--and how to creatively solve them.

Speaking of solutions, I've updated the interactive spreadsheet. Download it, and give it a shot: save us $2 million. If you're successful, send your plan to Peter Rex or Jim Crawford. You can be a hero.

Update: The Olympian's wrapup is decent. I'd just add that those who "appeared to be students" actually were--and were at least a quarter of the participants.

blogging the budget forum

I'll be at Community Budget Forum #1 at the Knox Building, Tuesday evening starting at 6:30, both to blog, and, if the mood strikes, to speak up. Come by and say hi if you see me there. I'll be the guy hammering away on his laptop, only semi-oblivious.

If you can't make Forum #1, try Forum #2, 6:30 on Wednesday, May 7 at Marshall Middle School. If you can't make either, email Peter Rex. Info here.

balance the OSD budget for yourself!

The Olympia School District recently publicized a list of potential cuts (with a few additions) for the next fiscal year, and it's set off a firestorm of controversy, mostly because folks aren't sure what's really on the chopping block. The Board wants direction from you, concerned citizen. Here's where I can help.

Using the initial document [pdf] offered by the Olympia School District, I've created a spreadsheet where you can try to save dollars and programs in your own attempt to balance the Olympia School District budget for 2008-2009 by cutting roughly $2.5 million.

Want to keep the Drill Team intact? Better delete it from the "potential savings" column. But what will you cut instead?

More options will be added as they become available. This morning, District and school reps met to discuss other potential cuts and additions, so I'm sure I'll have to update this soon.

If you have questions about the spreadsheet, email me; my contact info is at right. If you have questions or concerns about the budget, email Peter Rex. Better yet, show up at one of the two community forums: Tuesday, May 6th, at the Knox Building, 6:30 p.m., or Wednesday, May 7th, Marshall Middle School, same time.

Before you go, download the spreadsheet and give it a whirl. Maybe you can find a clear path to politically tenable savings.

Update: I should add that the spreadsheet is interactive: it balances the numbers as you save or cut programs. If you don't have Microsoft Excel, Box.net offers its own online editing program, so you can still crunch the numbers.

Read this doc on Scribd: Web-Ready Budget Worksheet

Mandatory disclaimers: this work is my own, using public information supplied by the Olympia School District. It is not endorsed by the District, and is for educational purposes only. Values are subject to change; check the District website for the most current information.