Thank You, School Board Members!!!

This blog post was submitted for publication in the Friday, May 6 edition of the Traer Star Clipper.

May is School Board Recognition Month in Iowa, honoring the men and women who serve on the of Boards of Education in school districts across the state. These dedicated public servants become school board members because they are committed to improving public education and their communities.

Our board members devote many hours to making sure North Tama is a safe and efficient place to work and learn. Their actions ensure that the dedicated educators are North Tama have the resources and instructional programs needed to educate children to their fullest potential.

School board members face complex and demanding challenges. Yet few people fully understand the scope and far-reaching implications of board members’ responsibilities. I hope that all North Tama citizens appreciate the vital contributions of our board members for the crucial role they play in the education of our children. Their job entails an endless string of meetings and school functions to attend; reams of reports, agendas, proposals and other information to read and study; and a host of difficult decisions to make.

These volunteer leaders also are responsible for formulating school policy, approving curricular changes, maintaining school facilities and adhering to ever-changing state and federal education laws. Legal concerns and the complexities of school finance, including budgeting and taxation, require them to spend many hours in board meetings and personal study to enhance their understanding of these issues.

As elected leaders, school board members are accountable to the voters who elected them. This isn’t always easy, but our board members show again and again that they are up to the task. They each work tirelessly to do what’s best for all of our students. Although they may individually disagree on certain issues, their role as a board is to keep the district moving forward in achieving our goals.

North Tama’s current school board members are Trisha Kennedy, Tiffany Feisel, Gretchen Pargeon, Robert Young, Cheryl Popelka, Rod Zobel, and Doug Dvorak. When you see these leaders, please thank them for their dedication and their service to our school. They deserve our recognition for a job well done! 

To our school board: we appreciate your dedication and hard work on behalf of our students, staff, and community. Thank you.

The Benefits of Sharing, part 2

This blog post was submitted for publication in the Friday, April 8 edition of the Traer Star Clipper.

In last week’s column, I listed the three basic types of sharing arrangements available to schools: 1) Whole-grade sharing; 2) Program & Staff Sharing; and 3) Operational Sharing. In my column, I emphasized that North Tama is NOT headed toward a whole-grade sharing agreement or merger with any other school district. However, the district is currently benefitting from other types of sharing, and we are investigating more possibilities for sharing for the benefit of our students.

Last week’s column focused on two types of sharing -- Whole Grade Sharing and Program/Staff Sharing -- and described the current staff & program sharing agreements that we have in place with some of our neighboring districts as well as the sharing arrangements that are being considered for next year.

This week, we’ll continue with a description of the third type of sharing arrangement, called operational sharing. If you happened to miss last week’s column and would like to read these two columns together, you can find the article on my blog at http://redhawksupt.blogspot.com/.

OPERATIONAL SHARING

As a way of encouraging school districts to share certain operational positions, the state of Iowa offers a major financial incentive. The state allows districts sharing certain types of positions to count “extra” students in the district’s enrollment, resulting in additional spending authority (funded partially through local property taxes and partially through state aid). Districts involved in operational sharing receive two financial benefits: 1) The SAVINGS that come with sharing the cost of the individual’s contract; and, 2) Additional REVENUE in the form of the ability to count more students in their enrollment.

The law lists certain positions that qualify for the incentive and the number of students that can be counted as an incentive. The following table lists the positions and the number of students allowed as an incentive:

Superintendent (8 students)

Business Manager (5 students)

Buildings & Grounds Director (5 students)

Transportation Director (5 students)

Human Resources Director (5 students)

Guidance Counselor (3 students)

Curriculum Director (3 students)

Districts are allowed to count up to 21 additional students as an incentive for operational sharing agreements. Some of our surrounding districts have been “maxed out” on operational sharing for years, counting 21 additional students year after year and receiving the associated funding. This additional funding has been a large part of the financial solution for many smaller Iowa districts over the years.

While many other districts are making the most of operational sharing, these incentives have largely been an untapped resource at North Tama.  North Tama currently counts just three additional students through operational sharing, as a result of our sharing a curriculum director with GMG, BCL-UW, and Gladbrook-Reinbeck. While our superintendent is also shared, our arrangement doesn’t qualify for the operational sharing incentives because I’m a principal at Union and the superintendent here -- the law requires that the person hold the same job function in both districts.  

We are currently having discussions with two other districts that could allow us to count an additional 13 students by sharing our superintendent and transportation director. The North Tama board recently approved a sharing agreement with the Gladbrook-Reinbeck district to share me as the superintendent of both districts. If this agreement is approved by the G-R board at their next meeting, I will officially become the superintendent of both districts starting on July 1.  We are also having discussions with another area district about sharing North Tama’s transportation director in the coming year.

If these two operational sharing agreements become a reality, North Tama will count 13 additional students in next year’s enrollment, resulting in nearly $86,000 in additional income annually for our district.  We’ll still have a superintendent in the district about half of the time, so the students, staff, and school community really won’t see much of a change in that respect. As for our transportation director, we will all need to get used to the idea of sharing his time with another district. While this will be an adjustment, these types of opportunities are exactly what we need to be looking for! They will save our district money AND bring in additional revenues, while not limiting any opportunities for our students. I see it as a “win-win” for North Tama.

We will continue to look for further opportunities for program/staff sharing and operational sharing, as both of these types of arrangements have the potential to help us achieve our overall goal of financial stability and viability for the long term. I would like to thank those who took time to contact me with your questions and concerns about sharing, and I encourage others to do the same. Perhaps you have a question, a concern, or even an idea to help the North Tama district as we move forward. You are welcome to visit my blog at http://redhawksupt.blogspot.com/ where you can leave comments or suggestions if you wish. You are also welcome to follow me on Twitter, where my handle is @DavidRobertHill, or of course I can be contacted at the school. I appreciate your interest in the future of North Tama Schools!  

The Benefits of Sharing, part 1

This blog post was submitted for publication in the Friday, April 1 edition of the Traer Star Clipper.

Recently, I was contacted by a few of our school district’s patrons that were concerned by something they had read in the school board minutes. Specifically, they had read that North Tama has been having discussions with neighboring school districts about sharing opportunities. These folks were concerned because they had interpreted the use of the term “sharing” as whole-grade sharing, which from the viewpoint of most students and parents is essentially the same thing as a merger.

Your school board’s number one goal is to maintain the financial stability of the district and retain existing programs so that North Tama will remain a viable K-12 school. North Tama is NOT headed toward a merger or whole-grade sharing situation with any of our neighboring districts. However, the district IS looking at some other types of sharing possibilities to help us achieve our goal of long-term financial stability without limiting opportunities for our students.

There are three basic types of sharing arrangements available to schools: 1) Whole-grade sharing; 2) Program & Staff Sharing; and, 3) Operational Sharing. In my column this week and next week, I’ll explain these three types of sharing arrangements, and provide an explanation of the various types of sharing that we are engaged in at North Tama as well as the sharing arrangements that are being considered for next year.

WHOLE-GRADE SHARING

Whole-grade sharing arrangements are usually a precursor to a school merger. While the two districts involved in whole-grade sharing maintain their individual school boards and have separate taxing authority, students are usually transported to another community to attend classes -- at least for some grades. Often times, one district has the high school while a middle school or junior high is located in the other district. Elementary grades may also be combined.

While whole-grade sharing arrangements have the potential to provide greater opportunities for students in small districts, this is NOT the type of sharing that North Tama has been considering. We are, however, making major strides with the other two types of sharing. I’ll describe one of these types of sharing in the next few paragraphs, and will provide an in-depth description of the other type in next week’s column.   

PROGRAM & STAFF SHARING

North Tama and Gladbrook-Reinbeck have successfully shared the GRNT RebelHawks wrestling program for many years.  More recently, North Tama began a sharing agreement with Union for girls’ soccer. In another sharing agreement, students from Hudson wanting to take Family & Consumer Science classes and Business classes are able to enroll in classes here at North Tama. In all of these programs, we are sharing coaching/teaching staff and resources in order to provide opportunities that students may not otherwise have.

For the coming year, our board has approved a new agreement to share our agricultural education teacher and FFA advisor with Gladbrook-Reinbeck. Mr. Cibula will teach two periods each day at G-R before coming to Traer to finish his day at North Tama. He will also advise separate FFA chapters at North Tama and Gladbrook-Reinbeck. While Mr. Cibula will remain an employee of North Tama, the two districts will split the cost of Mr. Cibula’s contract, saving both districts money. What’s great about this arrangement is that no student opportunities will be eliminated; in fact, North Tama’s students will be able to enroll in the exact same agriculture courses that they were able to take in previous years.  

We have also had similar discussions with other districts related to other staff sharing opportunities, and it is possible that other sharing agreements may be enacted for next year or in the coming years. Any time we consider staff or program sharing, the following criteria will be considered: 1) “Will it save money?” and, 2) “Will it provide additional opportunities for North Tama students, or will it at least not take away opportunities for students?”  If the answer to either of these questions is “no” then we most likely won’t pursue sharing. If the answer to both is “yes” then sharing will strongly be considered.  

As many of you know, this year I have been shared between North Tama and Union, serving as a principal in Dysart and the Superintendent at North Tama. This sharing agreement has allowed both districts to realize a financial savings by sharing the cost of my employment contract. While there has been an adjustment period for everyone getting used to having the superintendent in the district less often than before, it has still been a positive move for the district because it reduces our costs and student opportunities have not been limited in any way.  While our sharing arrangement with Union has been beneficial, it does not qualify the district for the OPERATIONAL sharing incentives offered by the state of Iowa, which leads us to the final type of sharing, known as Operational Sharing. We’ll discuss operational sharing in next week’s column.

These Star Clipper columns as well as my blog and Twitter postings are part of my plan for open communication with the community. As a part-time superintendent that also has duties in another school district, I believe that open and clear communication is more important than ever before. If you’ve missed any of my columns or would like to re-read or share them with your friends and family, you are welcome to visit my blog at http://redhawksupt.blogspot.com/ where they are all posted. You are also welcome to follow me on Twitter (@DavidRobertHill) where I will occasionally post updates or other information not found on the blog.

NEXT WEEK: Operational Sharing: What is it, and how can it benefit our school?  

Let's Not "Short-Change" Iowa's Most Important Investment

This simple graphic from the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) shows the cost per student, per day for each of the current proposals for Supplemental State Aid for schools. Whether the final result is the Iowa House of Representatives proposal of 2%, the Iowa Senate's 4% proposal, the initial 2.45% mentioned by the governor, or something in between, this graphic does a great job of illustrating the relative costs:

If you are a parent, ask yourself this simple question: "Do I expect the cost of raising my child to increase more than $1.43 per day in the coming year?" Even if you are not raising children...do you expect your own cost of living to go up more than $129 to $258 in the coming year?  If your answer is "YES," then consider the cost of educating a child. Just as your family's bills seem to increase each year, a school's cost of operation also keeps increasing. Whether it is the cost of maintaining school buildings and keeping them clean, fueling buses, purchasing instructional materials and supplies, or paying our utility bills, our costs seem to keep increasing.

The largest single cost any school has is the cost of paying the wages and salaries of the teachers and other school staff. Yes, teachers generally receive a raise each year and I would argue that in general they do deserve a raise. Even if school boards and superintendents DIDN'T want to give teachers a raise though, this really isn't possible due to Iowa's collective bargaining laws. When the cost of employing staff keeps increasing and school funding either doesn't increase or doesn't increase enough, schools have few options other than to cut staff.

School districts in Iowa have been cutting, cutting, cutting over the past few years in order to keep their schools operating in times of inadequate state funding, declining enrollment, and increased costs. Schools have become leaner, more efficient, and more creative in their approaches to meeting students' needs. But cutting, efficiency, and creativity will only go so far...we need the leaders of our state to INVEST in our children and INVEST in our future.

Iowa's educators and education supporters aren't "whining" when asking our state's leaders to support our schools. Educators and supporters of Iowa's schools aren't "greedy" when they ask for an increase in funding. Providing a world-class education for Iowa's students isn't free and it isn't cheap. It is an INVESTMENT in our children and the future of our state. Let's not "short-change" Iowa's most important investment.

School Funding: Still a Guessing Game

This blog post was submitted for publication in the Friday, February 19 edition of the Traer Star Clipper.

Another deadline has passed without a resolution for Iowa’s schools. Last week was the Iowa Legislature’s self-imposed deadline to resolve the issue of how much general fund financial support to provide for public schools in the coming fiscal year. Long before the legislature convened on January 11th, the governor and legislators from both parties were talking about the importance of following the law this year by setting the level of Supplemental State Aid (SSA) within the first 30 days of the session. The first 30 days of the session have now passed, and an agreement has not been reached on SSA.  Schools across the state have important decisions to make regarding whether to keep or cut programs, services, and staff.

Each April, school boards across the state are required by law to approve a budget for the coming year. Last April, the North Tama board was forced to approve a budget for the coming school year without knowing how much money would be appropriated for their operations. Finally in July, Iowa’s school boards learned that per pupil SSA would increase by 1.25%, and that a large amount of one-time funding that had been approved by the legislature had been vetoed by the governor.

For North Tama, the 1.25% per-student increase in SSA translated into an a $72,000 loss due to our decrease in enrollment, and an additional $53,931 was lost due to the governor’s veto of the one-time funding. This loss of funding has presented significant challenges for North Tama and similar districts. The challenge was made even greater for Iowa’s schools because the news of the veto and Supplemental State Aid didn’t come until the fiscal year had already started, nearly three months after districts were required to pass their budgets.

Remember earlier in this article when I mentioned that the law says the legislature has to set the level of SSA within the first 30 days they are in session? The truth is, I was simplifying my description of that law for those readers who may not read past the first paragraph. If you’ve continued to read this far into my article, you’re ready to hear the whole story about the Iowa law: The SSA they are supposed to be setting is the level for the 2018 fiscal year! That’s right, lawmakers are supposed to set Supplemental State Aid TWO years in advance, so they should have released the rate for the 2018 fiscal year last week.  According to the law, we should have already known the state aid level for next year since LAST FEBRUARY. Now, here we are a year late. We still don’t know, and we don’t know when we will know.  Our budget development may once again be a “guessing game.”  

So what is the budget outlook for North Tama for the coming year?  Since the legislature has made this a guessing game, I suppose we need to look for some clues so we can at least make an educated guess. The Iowa House recently released budget targets that maintain a 2% increase to SSA, while many in the Iowa Senate are promoting 4 percent. Governor Branstad originally proposed a 2.45% increase, but more recently he has said this amount would be a “stretch” due to decreased revenue estimates. If the legislature would happen to complete their session without reaching a compromise, the funding increase would be ZERO percent. Under ANY of these scenarios, North Tama will have another LOSS of funding due to our continued declining enrollment. That’s right...whether our per-student funding increases by 0%, 2%, 2.45%, or even if it increases by 4%, North Tama will experience a DECREASE in funding next year.  

It is our responsibility and our obligation to provide a quality education for all North Tama students. We need to be able to plan strategically as we make important decisions for next year and the coming years. We know that funding will be down even with an increase in state aid due to our loss of students. Difficult choices may need to be made. It would be so helpful to know HOW MUCH funding we will lose next year...and we would know this if the legislature would have simply followed the law in the same way they expect school districts and every citizen to follow the law. Since they haven’t followed the law, the least they can do is end our “guessing game” by working together to reach a compromise on school funding for next year right away. School districts must live by the rules. We need the Iowa Legislature to do the same.

For information on how to contact Senator Steve Sodders, who represents the entire North Tama district in the Iowa Senate, click here. (Includes email, postal address, and telephone.)  


For information on how to contact Representative Dean Fisher, who represents the entire North Tama district in the Iowa House of Representatives, click here.  (Includes email, postal address, and telephone.)  


For information on how to contact the office of Governor Terry Branstad, click here. (Includes postal address, telephone, and a way to register your opinion online.)  

North Tama Needs Your Help - Please Advocate for Our School!

This blog post was submitted for publication in the Friday, January 1 edition of the Traer Star Clipper.

The 2016 Iowa Legislature will convene on January 11, 2016. The last legislative session was not good for education in Iowa, so our advocacy is more important now than ever before. Legislators often hear from school superintendents, administrators, teachers, and school board members. After a while, it seems that they get tired of hearing from those of us in the educational community. The legislature needs to hear from parents, community members, and local business owners that our schools are valued and a vital part of our communities! I was recently told by one former legislator that an advocacy phone call or letter from a parent or community member is more highly regarded than 10 advocacy calls from school superintendents.  

Perhaps in the news last summer you heard the story about a Waterloo teacher who was told by a legislator to “stop whining” when he advocated for a special legislative session to overturn the Governor's veto of one-time funding for schools. While I don’t appreciate this legislator’s response, it does make sense that some legislators will perceive advocacy from educators as self-serving rather than an effort to help our students. Because of this, and the fact that our efforts were not very successful  last year, it is evident that we need your help. If we can get parents and community members involved in our advocacy efforts, I think you can help make a huge difference for North Tama Schools. Here is what I believe are the highest priorities for this legislative session.

ADEQUATE SUPPLEMENTAL STATE AID (SSA): This is absolutely the highest-priority item. Supplemental state aid is the primary driver of funding for school districts’ general budgets. Last year, school districts received a 1.25% increase in SSA. Since this increase is on a PER-STUDENT basis, districts with declining enrollment like North Tama actually LOST money. Meanwhile, our costs have increased more than 1.25% even despite the cuts that were made. A situation like this will not be sustainable in the long term. Adequate SSA will be a key factor in keeping schools like North Tama viable in the long term.  

TIMELY SUPPLEMENTAL STATE AID (SSA): According to Iowa law, within the first 30 days of the legislative session each January the legislature is supposed to set the rate of school funding for the next TWO fiscal years. The Iowa legislature broke this law last year, and has done the same numerous times over the last several years. North Tama’s board was required by law to adopt a budget last spring, even though they didn’t know what the funding levels would be at the time. Schools need to be able to plan ahead in order to be fiscally responsible. Let’s ask our legislature to comply with the law and set the rate of school funding for the next TWO fiscal years.  

PER-STUDENT FUNDING EQUITY: Iowa’s school funding formula has built-in inequities that impact school districts and the students they serve. Since, the 1970’s when the current school funding formula was established, North Tama has received the LOWEST amount of per-student funding possible from the state of Iowa. While we do receive the exact same funding per-student as many districts in the state, just look at what some area districts have received, year after year, since the 1970’s:

Hudson: $175 more per student than North Tama

Union: $82 more per student than North Tama

BCL-UW: $81 more per student than North Tama

Cedar Falls: $7 more per student than North Tama

South Tama: $20 more per student than North Tama

Across the state, there is a $175 range in basic per-student funding that exists just because “it has always been that way.” This means North Tama and many other districts have less to invest in each student from day one. Please ask the legislature to end this inequity immediately, as ALL of Iowa’s students are important assets for our future!

TRANSPORTATION EQUITY: Districts that must spend more on transportation have less to spend on classroom instruction. There are districts in Iowa such as West Burlington (Total Land Area: 2 Square Miles) and Marion (Total Land Area: 3.6 Square Miles) that have very few students that even qualify daily for bussing because they live so close to the school. These districts spend virtually nothing on transportation compared to larger rural districts like North Tama (Total Land Area: 155 Square Miles). North Tama’s students deserve equal educational opportunities, yet districts like ours are forced to spend a higher percentage of our available funds on transportation leaving less money to provide these opportunities. Our legislature should be asked to provide an additional funding stream for transportation or use a formula based on population density when determining Supplemental State Aid.

If you would like to learn more about these or any other advocacy issues that are important to North Tama Schools, please feel free to contact me! Your help and advocacy will be critical during the upcoming legislative session. On my blog, I have posted contact information for our legislators and the Governor’s office so you can easily make contacts on our behalf. You are welcome to visit my blog at http://redhawksupt.blogspot.com/ where this column and all of the columns I have written for the Star Clipper are posted. You are also welcome to follow me on Twitter (@DavidRobertHill) where I will occasionally post updates or other information not found on the blog. THANK YOU for your support of the North Tama County Community School District!

For information on how to contact Senator Steve Sodders, who represents the entire North Tama district in the Iowa Senate, click here. (Includes email, postal address, and telephone.)  

For information on how to contact Representative Dean Fisher, who represents the entire North Tama district in the Iowa House of Representatives, click here.  (Includes email, postal address, and telephone.)  

For information on how to contact the office of Governor Terry Branstad, click here. (Includes postal address, telephone, and a way to register your opinion online.)  

Keep Your School & Community Strong - Do Business Locally!!!

This blog post was submitted for publication in the Friday, December 11 edition of the Traer Star Clipper.

Several of my recent columns have focused on issues related to school finance and the challenges we are facing at North Tama because of declining enrollment, decreased flexibility in funds available, and lack of adequate funding.  I have asked for the community’s support by contacting your legislators and the governor’s office to request adequate general fund resources for schools. In today’s column, I’ll discuss something else that every one of us can do to help keep our school and our community strong.

A community that has a variety of thriving businesses is a more attractive place to live. Many people prefer to live in a community where they have easy access to various entertainment options, access to the services they need, and the opportunity to purchase necessary items such as groceries, clothing, and hardware without having to drive a long distance. When you choose to do business locally rather than spending your dollars outside of the school district, you help to make your community stronger by keeping your dollars local and by helping to keep those businesses open. A thriving business community results in greater job opportunities and makes the community a more attractive one in which to live, which could result in increased population and greater enrollment in the local schools.  

The Christmas shopping season is now in full swing. This is a great time to think about doing more of your business right here in the communities of the North Tama school district. Shopping locally doesn’t need to be confined to a particular “season” though -- your community can benefit from your support year-round, and you will personally benefit, too.  

The North Tama County Community School District is so fortunate to have a multitude of options for doing business locally! Right here in the communities of the North Tama school district there are great businesses where you can purchase hardware, groceries, apparel, furniture, agricultural supplies, lawn mowers, pharmaceuticals and personal care items, tires and auto parts, specialty items such as floral arrangements and quilting supplies, and much more.

There are numerous great local options for banking, lodging, insurance, medical and dental services, accountants, photographers, realtors, legal services, auctioneering, agricultural services, plumbing and electrical contractors, veterinary services, beautician/barber services, construction services, and automotive services. Other local services in Traer and Clutier include an amazing small-town theater, great local libraries, three museums, a country club, swimming pool, fitness center, and more. There are also some wonderful dining options in Traer and Clutier, so consider spending your next night “out-on-the-town” in your own community rather than driving to Waterloo or Cedar Falls.

Here are some reasons why you should consider doing business locally whenever possible:

1. Better customer service. When you run into a problem, you’re more likely to receive a satisfactory resolution from a local business owner than from a big-box chain. That’s because you probably know the people in charge at a local store.
2. Stimulation of the local economy. When you shop at locally owned stores, the money you spend stays in the community. And local businesses are more likely to purchase from other local businesses, so the local tax base grows and so do local businesses. A stronger tax base means improved schools, better roads and greater support for local police and fire departments.
3. Job creation. Small businesses are big employers. With jobs being created where you live, your friends, neighbors and family can find jobs closer to home. That has a huge impact on family, community and the environment because it keeps money in the community (see No. 1) and cuts back on commutes. It may also result in increased enrollment for your local school district.
4. Better consumer choices. The more choices you have, the better the deals you can find. Small businesses encourage competition in the marketplace in a way that mega-corporations just can’t. Many people don’t shop locally because they think they can’t buy the things they need in a local store. Not true! Small business owners are more than willing to carry and stock special items.
5. Greater non-profit support. Local businesses tend to donate more to local schools and non-profit organizations. This directly benefits your friends, family and neighbors.
6. Your bottom line. Because local businesses help grow the economic base of the community, the dollars you spend have the ripple effect. That money will eventually find its way back to you.

You don’t have to shop locally every time to make an impact. Just getting in the mindset of doing business locally first is all it takes to start improving your community and your school.

I hope you have enjoyed the columns that I have submitted to the Star Clipper over the past several months. These columns as well as my blog and Twitter postings are part of my plan for open communication with the community. As a part-time superintendent that also has duties in another school district, I believe that open and clear communication is more important than ever before. If you’ve missed any of my columns or would like to re-read or share them with your friends and family, you are welcome to visit my blog at http://redhawksupt.blogspot.com/ where they are all posted. You are also welcome to follow me on Twitter (@DavidRobertHill) where I will occasionally post updates or other information not found on the blog. Have a Merry Christmas!