Addison Northwest Supervisory Union

Unified Union School District

Planning Committee Report

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

The work involved with Vermont schools has become much more complex over the past decade.  Demands on policy makers, administrators, teachers and staff have escalated due to new initiatives and mandates from local, state and federal sources.  Concurrently, the heavy public emphasis on cost containment, limited resources of time, money and people have increased significantly. These new factors and conditions beg for greater organizational effectiveness and efficiencies.  We need new ways for organizing and managing our schools.  The Addison Northwest Supervisory Union has historically made great strides in all of these areas.  The challenge in this work is to fine tune both effectiveness and efficiency initiatives to enable continued growth in the ANWSU school systems.  The following findings will reveal compelling evidence supporting further coordination and consolidation of governance/management functions.

 

Finding # 1

School board members are critically important in creating the school mission, establishing policy, ensuring sound use of public resources and setting direction for the schools through their administrators. These school board members are spending a tremendous number of evenings at school board meetings and other school board functions.  There is much redundancy in the work that is being done and board members need more time to focus on the most important policy issues. Reorganization will reduce the number of school district boards to one unified union district board.  Representation on this board is consistent with the “one-person, one-vote” constitutional requirement.  The number of school board meetings will be reduced from over 100 per year to approximately 24.  The 100 meetings per year equates to approximately 800 person hours for preparation, attendance, and follow-up of meetings.  A new governance structure would reduce the hours of effort to approximately 240, leaving time for board members and administrators to focus on other significant areas. 

 

 

Finding # 2

The ANWSU school board, administrators and staff have been very successful in establishing common policies, written curriculum, planned technology, coordinated special education programs and regional master contracts for teachers and support staff.  School board members and administrators should take great pride in these accomplishments. These specific accomplishments are significant leverage points that will facilitate the establishment of a unified union district.  It is also recognized that the past accomplishments for coordination and collaboration will be difficult, or nearly impossible, to sustain without significant reorganization.  Compelling improvements include enhancing capacity in the following areas compared to current restrictions caused by district boundaries:

·         More consistent curriculum implementation across all schools;

·         Maximum use of faculty and staff as resources;

·         Ability to better utilize the expertise and skills of faculty, staff and administrators;

·         Less duplication in the purchasing and use of equipment, materials, supplies;

·         Greater capacity to match teacher expertise and skills with student needs when faced with reduction in force;

·         Reduces the redundancy in adoption of school board policies.

 

Further explanation of bullets:

 

Policies are drafted and recommended at the S.U. level. There remains duplication of effort in adopting policies since each of the autonomous school boards must take action to officially adopt each policy.

 

The complexity of the current organization and the uncertainty for the capacity and location of decision making causes implementation of consistent curriculum and education programs to be less than desirable.  Some staff and administrators in the ANWSU stated that efforts in Implementation of curriculum are inconsistent and sporadic rather than systemic across all schools. Isolated decisions regarding curriculum implementation result in inconsistencies in learning opportunities for students among the various schools.  If all schools were functioning under a unified school board there would be a greater likelihood for systemic implementation of established curriculum.

 

The central office staff is also to be congratulated on their success in implementing, for the most part, consolidated bidding, centralized bookkeeping, coordinated purchasing of insurances, coordination of the transportation system and other similar business functions.  These unified efforts have already resulted in cost savings and other efficiencies.  They have also positioned the S.U. well for advancing school board unification to attend to other desired efficiencies and to attain greater effectiveness. Unification will do away with current duplication of effort in budget preparation, financial reporting, income tax forms and procedures, audit reports, and state and federal reports.

 

Another significant advantage of forming a unified union school district is the greater capacity for “sharing specific staff members” involved in instructional areas such as special education, physical education, fine arts, performing arts, guidance, nursing and other instruction support areas. 

  

 

Finding # 3

Redundant tasks, activities and requirements for school board members and administrators alike are revealed in the following table. Once again, all of this work is important and well intended.  However, these activities could be carried out more efficiently if one common or unified system were in place.  All of the tasks listed in this report would be made more streamlined.  School board members would have more time to devote to their important work of setting direction for the education of children throughout the organization.  Administrators would be able to refocus their attention and work from redundant tasks to implementation of new initiatives, carrying out school board policies and otherwise engaging in areas most important in carrying out the school district mission.

 

Area

Present Status

 

Monthly Board Meetings

8 Regularly Scheduled Monthly Board Meetings

Budgets

8 Budgets

Budget Publications

8 Budget Publications

Budget Votes

7 Budget Votes

Food Services

4 Food Services

Management of Facilities

5 Facilities

Transportation Services

6 Transportation Services Contracts

Audits

8 Audits

Payrolls

8 Payroll Accounts

Required State & Federal Reports

8 Required State & Federal Reports, Including Income Tax Forms and Statements

Treasurers

5 School District Treasurers

Accounts Payable

8 School District Accounts Payable

Professional Seniority List

5 Professional Seniority Lists

Support Staff Contract

1 Support Staff Contract

Teacher Contract

1 Teacher Contract

 

Ø      More time for administration to focus on instructional leadership rather than management of services.

Ø      Greater potential to bring about meaningful curriculum and instructional program implementation with one governance body.

Ø      Allows for potential movement of students and staff which will increase the probability that the ANWSU can more successfully address the individual educational needs of students served.

Ø      Board meetings can focus on what’s most important and critical.

  

 

Finding # 4

If the ANWSU school districts were to form a unified union school district, the present plan is to operate all school facilities as they currently exist. The unified school district would result in one cost per pupil assessed to each of the member school districts. In the first year, some school districts would increase their cost per pupil while others would realize a reduction.  It is important to note that the cost per pupil would be equal across the entire unified union school district. The following chart reveals a comparison of the actual FY 2005 costs per equalized pupil with the current structure and the projected costs per equalized pupil using the same budget amounts per school but with a unified union school structure.  Note:  The following chart does not include new construction costs for any school facilities.

 

 

School

Equalized Pupils

Current Ed.  Spending Per Pupil

Unified Union Spending Per Pupil

Addison

246.47

$9,447

$9.671

Ferrisburgh

401.67

$9.878

$9,671

Panton

110.23

$8,768

$9,671

Vergennes

431.53

$9,909

$9,671

Waltham

94.38

$9,339

$9,671

Total

1,284.28

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Finding # 5

Our findings reveal that there will not be substantial financial savings in the first year while moving to a unified union school district. There are school districts within the State of Vermont that do realize tremendous financial efficiency by unifying because they currently operate at a much less efficient and coordinated level than the ANWSU. The member school districts within the ANWSU have already enacted sound fiscal decisions through the central office. Therefore, these school districts are already realizing financial savings. It is significant to note that the formation of the unified union school district will enable the schools to maintain cost containment in a time of declining enrollments.

 

Finding # 6

The school districts in the ANWSU are currently and will, for the next few years, continue to see declining student enrollments. This decline will bring with it challenges in maximizing use of space, staff and core facilities. Unification of the S.U. would enable greater flexibility in the use of space, staff and core facilities.  Unification of the seven school districts within the current ANWSU will greatly enhance the school board member’s capacity for flexible use of school facilities, sharing of staff, closing facilities that are no longer needed and generally maximizing economies of scale. 

 

Finding # 7

According to current Vermont law each of the member school districts in a unified union school district maintains its own grand list and responsibility for raising local financial resources needed to support education. State money to support education is, in part, based on the amount spent by each school district, the number of equalized pupils and the local common level of appraisal.  If the ANWSU school districts were to consolidate, they would all have the same cost per pupil as shown in Finding # 4.  However, local capacity to raise money to support schools would remain the same as what currently exists.  Local grand lists are not commingled. 

 

 

Finding # 8

One Charter exists in Vergennes I.D. and would need to be either amended or dissolved if this district chose to be a member of the unified union school district.  Action would have to take place in accordance with State Statutes (Title 17, Section 2645 and, if election of municipal officers is involved, Title 17, Section 2631).  Incorporated school districts would also have to attend to Title 16, Sections 471 and 477.

  

 

Finding # 9

All school facilities need continual maintenance, repairs, and updating.  At the present time, there are urgent facility needs at the Ferrisburgh and Addison Elementary Schools.  The repairs necessary to accommodate health, safety, and educational needs may be accomplished prior to the formation of the unified union school district. If not, these projects will become part of the responsibility of the newly formed unified union school district.  In any case, the current or future debt load for all communities will be assumed by the unified union school district.  This means that the sum of all debt will be prorated in accordance with the number of equalized pupils from each town.  If there is school construction the estimated cost per pupil shown in Finding #4 would be adjusted accordingly.