School budget gap looms
If you go
The Janesville School Board is expected to discuss options for filling the budget gap when it meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Room 1145 at Parker High School, 3125 Mineral Point Ave.
Visitors are asked to park and enter on the west (student lot) side of the building.
The meeting will not be shown live on Janesville cable TV, but it will be shown on the following Thursday and Sunday.
Photo 
Keith Pennington
JANESVILLE — Using money earmarked for teacher raises is among the options the Janesville School Board will consider to fix a $748,000 budget error.
Taking money from teacher pay is bound to be controversial at a time when the teachers contract for this year still is being negotiated.
District Chief Financial Officer Keith Pennington announced the budget error to the school board Nov. 10. Raising taxes is not an option because the board set the tax levy before the error was discovered.
Someone had entered the revenue from a large state grant into the budget, but no one accounted for the required spending of that money. The result was that the budget showed $748,000 more available than actually exists.
"I think the situation we're in is unfortunate, but the fiscal condition of the district is thankfully at a point where we can address this. Many school districts across the state wouldn't have this option," said board member Lori Stottler.
Stottler said the error is understandable, given that the board lost "institutional memory" this year with the departures of former Superintendent Tom Evert, business director Doug Bunton and comptroller Lauri Clifton.
The Gazette filed a request under Wisconsin's open records law for documents detailing the budget error. In a Nov. 10 memo, Pennington outlined options.
One way is to use some of the approximately $1.5 million that has not been designated for any purpose in the district's operational budget. The so-called Fund 10 balance actually has about $27 million, but board policy sets aside most of that amount for emergencies and other uses.
Other options include taking money from underspent accounts, delaying capital purchases or using money from a Microsoft purchase refund, Pennington said.
Pennington also listed about $715,000 being added to the salaries of teachers who advanced one year on the salary schedule. Only teachers in their first 16 years of employment receive this money.
"Technically, this amount could be taken back," Pennington wrote.
The district traditionally has paid these "step" increases even if the teachers contract is not settled.
"It's definitely a possibility, but whether it has a 5 percent likelihood or a 95 percent likelihood, we're not at that point, yet, Pennington said Monday.
Stottler and board member Greg Ardrey said tapping this money is not a good idea.
Teachers union President Dave Parr declined to comment for this article.
Stottler called the idea a "dirty trick."
"I think that would definitely lead us down the road of being unfair, and I think it would just hinder the negotiations process at this point because that's a huge departure from what we've done in the past," Ardrey said.
Board member Tim Cullen said he's leaning against it, too. He noted that these "step" increases go to the lowest-paid teachers.
But board President DuWayne Severson said he wants to see all the options before deciding.
"I need to look at whatever else the administration has to fill the gap," Severson said. "As we said from the get-go, we want to keep good teachers; we want to pay them accordingly, fairly, but keeping that in balance with the dollars we have to work with. I think we have to look at everything."
Board member Bill Sodemann also opposes using the $715,000, because it could lead to legal costs if the union contests such a move, but he has a related idea.
Sodemann said the budget also includes more than $200,000 for teacher pay raises this year, if that amount is agreed to in negotiations.
The board's initial offer was a pay freeze, but extra money was included in the budget anyway. Sodemann said he'll propose that the money be shifted to help fill the budget gap.
A freeze would be fair because most taxpayers have had pay cuts or layoffs this year, Sodemann said.
"You'd have to be pretty courageous to say you're not being treated fairly when the rest of the county is being hit this way," Sodemann said.
Some board members said the fund balance is likely to be at least part of the solution.
"After we've done everything we can do, then it has to come from there," Sodemann said.
Cullen and Severson said it's possible the administration will come up with budget savings that do not include the fund balance.
Cullen and Severson, the board president and finance committee chairman, respectively, said Tuesday they hadn't seen any proposal from the administration.
Stottler said she fears a solution will be presented to the board at next Tuesday's meeting, having been worked out in advance between the administration, Severson and Cullen.
Schulte said she would meet with Severson and probably Cullen today to discuss whether the budget gap would be only a committee discussion Tuesday or whether it would be scheduled for a board decision.
Dec 7, 2009 at 7:10 p.m.
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Jim, I'm 100% in favor of the food drive and also very glad to see Dr. Schulte and the JEA are working hard to put this together in such a short amount of time. It is a great cause so I'll agree that there is no need to relate it to the negotiations and any of the other negative things going on. However, it is very frustrating to know that they, the school board/Dr. Schulte know that teachers will come through and work extra hard to raise as much as possible to keep the food drive alive for the sake of all the kids and families in the district. That is what teachers do each and every day.
I just hope and wish that the board and Schulte will remember all the good that teachers do next time they sit down to discuss working conditions, contract language, etc.
Dec 6, 2009 at 10:51 p.m.
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badger4life-
While I understand your frustration with some of the board members attitude, I don't in ANY way think we should try to tie the food drive to anything political or negotiations based.
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PERSONALLY, I hope that everyone gives to the food drive. I think it was a fabulous idea for Karen to get the unions and SDJ involved. Jon Maglio is doing a great job on the JEA end and all the other unions are involved.
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Think about it if all 1400 employees give $5 that's $7,000 for groceries. $10 is $14,000, that is a lot, tons even, of groceries that will go to people who need them. Many of them the kids we care so much about and fight so hard for.
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So, while I don't think you intended to seriously tie the two together, I PERSONALLY am all for the food drive whatever the board decides on Tuesday.
Jim Reif - Craig HS Math Teacher
Dec 6, 2009 at 9:31 p.m.
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I wonder how much money could be saved by not running the dreaded professional development programs for a year. Yeah, those professional development sessions that the teachers are trying to negotiate out of the contract instead of focusing on money.
Dec 6, 2009 at 9:15 p.m.
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"Hey teachers, we want you to take a pay freeze this year. Oh, and could you now donate your time and money to help the christmas food drive that the district is heading." I don't know a single teacher out there that isn't willing to give to such a great cause as the food drive that was once run by the UAW/GM.
However, at the same time the (the school district/board) doesn't want to give the teachers the time of day when it comes to negotiating or the small wage increase that was originally budgeted for the new contract. Instead they want to take it and use it to help pay for another one of their errors/mistakes.
Dec 6, 2009 at 8:18 p.m.
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badger4life - You are right, I don’t know of anyone that was automatically given a 10% raise every single year. No one in my profession or various other professions has ever received that. I do know, however, of teachers that were making more money than I was with a comparable degree during those unspecified years that you are speaking of. Everyone that I know now (except teachers) receives raises based on performance. I would be curious to know what you consider a “science researcher” since this is a very broad topic and could include anything from a lab assistant to a PhD doing research based on government grants. As for your other examples, everyone knows how well those excessive salaries worked out for GM and the housing industry. That itself should be a lesson learned. Sales commissions typically are based on a percentage of what you sell. Some companies offer base salary plus commission others offer straight commission. Engineers have typically always made higher salaries than a majority of professions because of the high degree of science, physics and math that is required to attain that degree.
Dec 6, 2009 at 6:53 p.m.
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badgerforlife: Do you think a pro-education school board candidate can get elected in this town? How many people care enough about educating kids to support a candidate who favors bringing in the resources that support teachers and programs?
Dec 6, 2009 at 6:43 p.m.
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"Stottler said she fears a solution will be presented to the board at next Tuesday's meeting, having been worked out in advance between the administration, Severson and Cullen." Souns like there is a lot of trust on this board. Under the table deals done behind closed doors with certain details being left out to the board when the vote is presented. Remember the chinese program the board voted on. Enough were on board at the time of the vote to pass it but when it was implemented certain details were left out when presented to the board. Disfunctional board I would say. Just one example of many. Bill I am pretty sure I remember you saying in past comments that the fund 10 balance was to be used for one time emergencies. Sounds like an accounting error is a one time error(hopefully). Instead you want to take budgeted money away from teachers pay. I just can't get over you nor can I figure out your agenda. Whatever it takes and whoever you have to run over to lower taxes. Screw the kids, just keep taxes low. Do you honestly believe this is going to keep teachers in the district, good or bad?
Dec 6, 2009 at 6:13 p.m.
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justsome: I'm really suprised that you can't name or don't have friends in fields that made a great deal of money when the economy was rolling. I have friends that were in the trades at GM making six figures there for many years. Some other examples of people I know include, science researcher, elevator sales, home remodeling sales, civil engineer (just got a nice raise in this economy as well) city employee in Fort Atkinson, realtor, on and on and on. It does take much to realize that teachers' pay should not be determined by how the economy is doing. If you believe it should, like many think it should, then speak up when the going is good or great and give teachers' higher raises then. Unfortunately that isn't the case.
Dec 6, 2009 at 6 p.m.
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Maybe we should not have been so quick to push the "institutional memory" from the district. The board is getting what it asked for!!!!
Dec 6, 2009 at 5:52 p.m.
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badger4life - You posted “. . . . when the economy was doing well and many public and private sector jobs were giving 5,6,7 or even 10% raises each year.” Would you please post what professions and what the educational requirements were for those professions as well as what year (s) those 10 % raises occurred? In a previous post you alluded to the fact that other profession received “very nice bonuses/commission checks”. What was the monetary value attached to those? Was the commission earned in lieu of a base salary or was it salary plus commission? What was the cost of health care, life insurance, pensions, etc. ?
Dec 6, 2009 at 1:59 p.m.
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There is no way teachers are going to give up pay.
Dec 6, 2009 at 12:04 p.m.
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Those of you that support teachers, students, and learning, please remember that there are open seats on the school board and that your vote is very important. Hopefully the school board can receive some fresh new faces in all three of these seats and that have a main focus on students.
Dec 6, 2009 at noon
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The QEO was seen as a negative for teachers for so many years when the economy was doing well and many public and private sector jobs were giving 5,6,7 or even 10% raises each year. Meanwhile teachers were getting a combined health/benefits and salary raise of 4.1, 4.0, or 3.0%. So the salary increase may have only been about 2% on average. Unfortunately the QEO has been removed at a time not favorable for teachers and therefore the school board/disrtict can stick it to the teachers like they are currently doing in Janesville. The board seems to use the "Fund Balance" to cover all the "errors" that keep popping up, why not use some of it to make your employees happy (One of Studer's principles)?
Dec 6, 2009 at 11:02 a.m.
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It is frustrating to see that monies designated for teacher salary are being considered as a solution to correct a huge "accounting error" made by district administration.
Dec 5, 2009 at 11:12 p.m.
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"Most taxpayers have had pay cuts or layoffs this year, Sodemann said. 'You'd have to be pretty courageous to say you're not being treated fairly when the rest of the county is being hit this way,' Sodemann said."
Crime increases in difficult economic conditions because of mindsets similar to Mr. Sodemann's. Teacher's pay increases are regulated by a law called the QEO(Qualified Economic Offer). In this state teachers have been set apart from other professions by the QEO law which makes it illegal for teachers to strike and in turn, promises teachers a 3.something percent raise each year (salary and benefits). Prior to the recession when other economic sectors were booming and being compensated monetarily, teachers slowly and steadily squeaked out the 3% increases the QEO assured and got by on a lot of student hugs and smiles. Again, this is Wisconsin state law. Disregarding the law is not a good precedent to set--especially in tough economic times.
Dec 5, 2009 at 6:06 p.m.
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Hear, hear, Domino!
Didn't realize how weird that looks spelled out ha ha.
Dec 5, 2009 at 11:19 a.m.
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Mr. Sodemann
I'm not a teacher but I have several friends who are. I'm just wondering about your comment. You claim it's only fair for teachers to take a freeze since many other taxpayers have taken freezes or cuts themselves. That's understandable. However, when times were great for a few years, were you also lobbying for teachers to enjoy those same benefits when times were good? I didn't think so!
Dec 5, 2009 at 9:28 a.m.
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This mistake is "understandable" ?!?!?! Are you serious? How much is Pennington getting paid to make mistakes like this? Is no one reviewing the budget? Is there no one in the administration or on the Board who understand how grants work? Even those of us who do not work with grant money understand that it is received for a specific purpose, and gets paid out for that purpose. "Money in, money out" does not seem overly difficult! The loss of "institutional memory" is no excuse !!
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