WCS budget (Franklin, Brentwood, Spring Hill: sales, health insurance, house)

[septimus]

Commissioners express disappointment with school budget | The Tennessean | tennessean.com County

AKM4 and WSMN4Life-
Are they playing chicken or are the county commissioners really trying to destroy the crown jewel of Williamson County?

[BirdieBelle]

I don't understand what their problem is.

I don't think they're playing chicken right now. I think they seriously don't understand the importance of the school system to the county.

Well, back up. There are two problems with the current commission, IMHO. There are a few commissioners who are more than clueless about the value the school system brings. That old-fashioned obliviousness is now serving on the funding body with a couple of rookie commissioners who, although they belong to my own political party, are there to stonewall any possible tax increase that might be brought up.

So you get a mess for the schools regardless of which way you look at it.

I have personally traveled to four different schools and three "community meetings" over the past year to hear Dr. Looney speak. I honestly think he is doing the job that the past four superintendents should have done. He is now "the bad guy" who gets a bad rap for bringing "all these rezoning problems" and this "HUGE" budget, when really those are problems that have been allowed to grow by school administrations and county commissions over the past 20 years. They are now trying to kill the messenger, so to speak.

I've seen the budget. I honestly think it's a good budget. It is not a Taj Mahal budget, but one that will only maintain. It doesn't even begin to cover the strategic goals the system wants to implement next year, such as fluency in foreign language or an orchestra program. The schools have cut just about everything they can, many cuts that were not advertised. For example, the middle- and high-school student-teacher ratio was quietly increased last year so teachers wouldn't have to be fired. Now class sizes are bigger.

The possible cuts Looney has spoken of (bus service, school nurses etc) are not threats but a sample of the types of cuts we will have to make if the county commission won't stop being adversarial and look at WHY PEOPLE MOVE HERE.

One statistic that I think needs investigating is the county's health insurance cost. In Tennessee, Williamson County Schools ranks 17th out of 136 school systems in average weighted teacher salary, yet WCS ranks 1st in average weighted health insurance spending. The amount the county spends on health insurance for employees is double the state average, and to me that is a red flag for someone in HR.

The problem is that the county's benefits plan isn't just for teachers but for ALL county employees. So it's complicated. But it is someone's job to investigate alternative plans and CUT COSTS.

It's safe to say that the growth is no longer paying for itself.

[septimus]

I think Looney is doing a good job.

I get the impression that Danner is out to destroy him because she got rezoned to Centennial, not because of any true ideological stance. It is telling to me that she is not fighting to make sure every school in the district is a crown jewel but instead trying to take down the system because she is no longer zoned for Ravenwood.

As for the healthcare I'm not sure anyone has a good answer on how to control the costs. We switched to a high deductible plan about 2 years ago because it was supposed to save our employer money, the costs still keep going up.

[septimus]

Another question WMSN.

How many property tax appeals do you think there will be? The Tennessean is saying values are up 10% since 2006. My house is personally worth about $150k less than what we paid for it in early 2007.

Do they really think we can get by without a tax increase? They've done a good job holding the line the last 3-4 years, but once the new appraisals come in, I'd be shocked if we have the revenue

[ExIslander]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

It's safe to say that the growth is no longer paying for itself.

When growth comes with a high proportion of multiple-school-age-child families, it usually doesn't, sad to say.

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by septimus

Another question WMSN.

How many property tax appeals do you think there will be? The Tennessean is saying values are up 10% since 2006. My house is personally worth about $150k less than what we paid for it in early 2007.

Do they really think we can get by without a tax increase? They've done a good job holding the line the last 3-4 years, but once the new appraisals come in, I'd be shocked if we have the revenue

It depends. There is a reappraisal every 5 years, and this is a reappraisal year. Dennis Anglin, the property assessor, recently said that after reappraising a majority of the subdivisions, the values for high-end homes and vacant lots are down. I can only speak to Brentwood, but as an example, home values in Governors' Club are down 7%, and lots in the new Old Towne subdivision on Murray Lane are now listed at basically half price. But values in older neighborhoods are increasing. So it may even out, but not if sales taxes took a huge dip.
Commercial property taxes may be up as well. Still, as much as I hate it, a sales tax is a "fairer" tax.
We have to do something. It's great to brag about not raising taxes for 20 years, but all that really does is make it worse when you DO finally have to raise them.

[Vandy-bound]

No matter how bad this budget issue here is, it's still better than where we moved from last year. It is sad to see how the commissioners are acting.

Our old school district had an education foundation that was a non-profit fundraising organization that teachers would write grants to have funded. We raised a significant amount of $$ in two main fundraisers a year. Do the WCS schools have anything like this or do individual schools? If the commission ends up slicing part of the school budget, an organization like this might be a way for parents to donate and have direct impact on keeping programs in the schools.

[BirdieBelle]

There's nothing like that here in the county. The PTOs have some leeway with funds, but it raises some serious equity issues. Even though it's Williamson County, there are some wide gaps in income in different parts of the area, and parental contributions would be (and are) much greater in some towns.

[septimus]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

There's nothing like that here in the county. The PTOs have some leeway with funds, but it raises some serious equity issues. Even though it's Williamson County, there are some wide gaps in income in different parts of the area, and parental contributions would be (and are) much greater in some towns.

The liberal in me worries about the equality issues. The tiger mom in me is willing to give $$$ for my kid to have an excellent public school. I would be willing to donate thousands if the school would let me direct it towards foreign language instruction in my elementary school.

Relying on PTOs would basically make some of the elementary schools in Brentwood and Franklin private schools while schools in Fairview and Spring Hill would probably not be able to raise the same amount from parents.

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by septimus

The liberal in me worries about the equality issues. The tiger mom in me is willing to give $$$ for my kid to have an excellent public school. I would be willing to donate thousands if the school would let me direct it towards foreign language instruction in my elementary school.

Relying on PTOs would basically make some of the elementary schools in Brentwood and Franklin private schools while schools in Fairview and Spring Hill would probably not be able to raise the same amount from parents.

Exactly. You can already see it in little things like athletic uniforms. Brentwood Middle gets contributions from the Viking Athletic Club, for example, which supplements things the school system won't provide. So BMS and Woodland Middle kids are wearing professional-looking track uniforms right now while Fairview's are whisper-thin and Freedom Middle is wearing basically a PE uniform. Not that any of that really matters, but it does. And it makes the other schools hate BMS and WMS.
I hear the parent comments in the stands.