School Spending

On Monday, May 6, 2019, the Middletown Town Council met with the Middletown School Committee and school department administrators to discuss specifics related to the school budget that had not been addressed at the All-Day meeting on April 27^th.

A list of issues was printed in the May 11^th Middletown Leads newsletter - published on the Middletown Public Library web site and on this blog - along with a graphic which provided a visual representation of the current state of the school department.  Discussion focused on three areas:  special education/staffing, administrative bonuses, and student performance.

School budget discussions began with questions about the way the school department has addressed anticipated revenue over the previous years when it was known that state aid would be reduced.

School administrators stated that it makes decisions about elimination or recall based on anticipated enrollment. For example, this year a reduction of an Art teacher is planned, and last year a Music teacher was eliminated.

It was pointed out that the enrollment of military children fluctuates at the beginning and in the middle of the year, so staffing is not easily predictable.

Questions were asked about services for children who do not speak English. The response was that there are 2 teachers, one serving K-8 and one serving MHS. 

There were further questions about expenses related to Special Education.

When asked about elimination or non-renewals of teachers, the school department said that 4 teachers were retiring (a high school art teacher, 2 elementary teachers, and a special education resource teacher.) Currently, 8 nonrenewals are projected.

No information was offered about reductions in any other area.

The most animated discussion was related to the compensation of those employees who are not members of any union. Data was provided from FY13 to FY18 amounting to more than $250,000.  

The response from the school department was that bonuses were awarded in place of salary increases. However, some of the bonuses amounted to as much as 4% increases when at no time did the teachers receive 4% increases and, in some years, they did not receive increases at all.

For example, in FY13, the teacher contract provided a 0 % increase while top administrators received $3,800, $4,500, and $4,000.

Similarly, in FY16, when the teacher contract provided a 0 % increase, top administrators received $8,000 each.

The school department responded to this inequity by saying that the bonuses were awarded for the previous fiscal year. It should be noted that in FY 15, the previous fiscal year of the $8,000 bonuses, performance bonuses were awarded in the amounts of $6,000.

Members of the Town Council also noted that the bonuses appeared to be awarded in Executive Session rather than Open Session when the public would have access to the information. One School Committee member claimed that personnel matters were appropriate for Executive Session. This claim was not well received.

Additional data provided by the school department reflects 2% increases for FY19 awarded across the board for the non-union personnel.

It was noted that the School Department has almost always requested the maximum increase under RI law while using claims of the need to cut activities and athletic programs while it awarded bonuses for less than stellar performance, as indicated by the assessment results.

At the request of a member of the Town Council the school department provided a printout of the enrollment of individual courses by sections. The maximum class size in the teacher contract is 25 students.

The printout clearly identified the current enrollment at Middletown High School: 165 students in grade 9,  99 students in grade 10, 138 students in grade 11, 132 students in grade 12, and 85 students specified as special education for a current total of 619 students. (It should be noted that, largely due to military transfers, the total number can fluctuate minimally from day to day.  

High school scheduling depends on 2 main variables: the number of courses offered and the number of students at each grade level. The number of sections of each course depends on the number of students and the ability of the schedule to meet student needs when students in different grades have signed up for different courses.

There are 2 scheduling options for administrators who are cognizant of the budget impact on taxpayers of each additional teacher:  offer fewer courses or offer fewer sections. 

A review of the scheduling document reflected several anomalies, among others:

             A disproportionate number of sections of AP/Honors classes in all grades

             A disproportionate number of class sections below 20 students

             A phasing out of French instruction (leaving only Spanish)

The data shows that the school department has attempted to maintain an educational program that meets the needs of its students without regard for the financial impact on taxpayers.   

The poor assessment results of RI districts, including Middletown’s, were attributed to the multiple changes in state testing.

Going forward, both the Town and the School Department will have to make some decisions that will not please everyone.

Improving Special Education For All Students

Recently I spoke with someone knowledgeable and credible who has experience with Special Education in the Middletown schools. It made me wonder about who is watching out for the students. 

Special Education is unique in that it is almost always adapted to the student. While general education students can be grouped according to age, grade, and level of knowledge, special education students range across the spectrum with few common denominators. That is why they require special education.

Special Education teachers are also unique in that they walk a line between the expectations of the parents (which might differ from the expectations of the school) as well as a close-up knowledge of the individual student’s strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities.

Special Education is expensive, not only because of the range of differences but also because of the extent of a teacher’s ability to adequately service all his/her charges’ needs. If it is possible to service the child within the school, it may require full services, partial services, or supplemental services, all of which require time and staff.

As a result of their close association with the special education teacher, students form relationships that are generally closer and perhaps even more educationally dependent than the typical student does with a regular education teacher, who could be providing learning experiences for 100 or more students.

What does all this mean for the special education students and teachers in the Middletown schools?  It means that special education staff – resource teachers and aides – are vital components in the broader educational environment, and consideration needs to be given to ensuring that, when they are absent, the needs of the students are still being met. 

How is this situation different from the absence of a teacher in a regular education classroom? In the latter, a substitute can follow the lesson plan for each class that the responsible teacher has left behind. It might not be accomplished as efficiently or effectively as the regular classroom teacher would do it, but the majority of the students will still have a learning experience in that class

However, when a special education teacher is absent, students may be placed in an alternative setting or the substitute might be not much more than an unknown baby sitter who may lack the individualized training that special education requires or be personally unable to relate to the students.

The absence of a special education aide who works with teachers in the classroom is just as detrimental because there is not usually a replacement so the students who get services in that classroom are on their own.

The scenarios above reflect the issues related to special education in the public schools, not just Middletown’s. Some students have so much greater needs that they have to be out-placed. 

All of the special education options are expensive. What is important is the way schools ensure the best services for their students.

Until special education personnel are recognized as vital components of an educational institution, some of our students will fall through the cracks along the way.

Cost is always the biggest factor. So when I talk about consolidating high schools, I see it as pooling our knowledge base, our resources, and our capabilities to provide better education and services for all students.

Middletown High School Has Changed

To those who graduated from MHS before 2000 and still live in the area, I’m telling you that education in Middletown has changed. The school administration would have you believe that the current status is the result of reduced state aid and inadequate local funding, an easy answer for a more pressing problem that is going to get progressively worse. The real culprit is reduced enrollment.

Fewer students means less opportunity at greater cost.

How do I know this? Because I was an administrator in 5 districts of varying sizes in 3 states: the class scheduler for 1,600 students in a RI high school, 400 in a CT regional 7-12, and 200 in a MA 9-12, and the Deputy Superintendent in charge of Curriculum & Operations in the largest regional district in MA (the last 2 immediately following the passage of the MA Ed Reform Act that has resulted in an outstanding state-wide program.

Change is hard, and waiting for the state to revise its standards means that, even if work is done to improve curriculum, it will take years to filter down to the individual districts. Meanwhile, the current generation of students will fall through the cracks. Of course, the top students will always get what they need while the majority are stuck in mediocrity – at increasing costs per student.

Please do not dismiss the above as “gloom and doom” criticism. Those of you personally acquainted with me will know that I am a positive person. But I am also an activist. If something can be done to improve a situation, I will pursue it relentlessly, and that is the reason I have consistently advocated for high school consolidation. Common sense says that double the students in one facility rather than two provides more opportunity at a lower cost – especially in light of a potential 55% reimbursement.

What are the hangups that are getting in the way?  Issues such as control, provincialism, and resistance to change, none of which speak well for their advocates. These issues are emotionally-based and irrelevant to the improvement of education for students and lower cost to taxpayers. To those who would raise the flags of fear, I say “Get out of the way.”

Our children’s future is at stake. Let those of us who care about future generations and the ability of our children to succeed in life address those important considerations and leave the self-centered protectionism behind. 

Previous generations were kinder and more civil, looking to the future and making it better. Yes, there will be issues that need to be resolved, but we must not lose sight of the big picture. The future is in the children. Let’s put them first.