JOCO Schools Rule (8th place)

I saw this MSN Lifestyle piece this morning. A school ranking story is like a dog and a squirrel for us in JOCO. We just love hearing about our great schools. We may need to hire a PR company. We are slipping.............. we took 8th in midsize city category in this analysis and they combined Blue Valley, Shawnee Mission and Olathe. I guess if they would have excluded Olathe we would have ranked quite a bit higher......you know it is so close to Gardner and all.

Anyway you can read about it here.

Say what you want about the Golden Ghetto but we tend to get schools right.

Timing is good for the districts as they announce property tax increases. Be careful though School Board....there is very little tolerance for more taxes..........even in Johnson County for schools. You are on thin ice. My property taxes are already too high.

Capish??

BV Announces less cuts........but how?

Turnout will be miserable because there really isn't that much to motivate the average voter in Johnson County.

So today....according to the Blue Valley School District 2+2=5?

The fact that many positions are uncontested some might suggest means that nobody cares but does the whole anti incumbent attitude extend to local.....almost micro politics?

School Boards and City Council positions are generally non-paid, or so minimally paid it doesn't even matter, and so to consider that type of service you really do have to care about your community or have a serious ax to grind. I'd say most are devoted community servants.

This whole budget problem with Blue Valley gave me a new respect for those people serving and I've paid more attention to JOCO city hall issues since I've started the blog and I can tell you those people serve without much reward either.

The Blue Valley School board didn't cut music and sports for now but somehow only cut $6 million of $9 million they said they needed to cut. They did increase revenue by raising fees which seemed logical. I wish they would take more seriously the idea brought forward by the KCK school district and cut non teacher's making over $67,000. Pay levels could be agreed to be reinstated over time over a few years when things turn around. It makes me think possibly the board and staff are too close if this hasn't even been discussed. Of course it is possible that it has already. I'd be interested in knowing what that number would look like. They were pretty good at showing us what cutting other things meant in terms of savings.

Nobody likes to have their pay cut. For many of us our pay is directly determined by how we perform and a slow economy almost certainly means less cash. Many of their constituents have already taken pay cuts...........if not lost their job altogether. I'm not suggesting their performance was bad. I'm just suggesting everyone do their part.

In today's KC Star board member Tony Thill said, "Everyone is willing to step forward and take a piece of this". Really?

How can the figure needed to cut move by over $3 million? How can we go from a $9 million shortfall to only needing to cut $6 million? When does the other shoe fall?

I can't figure out if coming up short of the needed cuts represented courage or non-feasance on the board's part.

At any rate.....I'm left with more questions than answers this morning. I'm going to have to look into this a little bit more. Maybe it is just that the KC Star didn't give all the facts.

Does 2+2=5 or at least $6 million equal $9 million?

KCK Trumps Blue Valley in Ideas

Who would have thunk it?

While everyone was waiting around for brilliant Blue Valley to tip their hand on how to handle the budget shortfall the KCK district trumped them with one of the best ideas.

Blue Valley proposes cutting elementary music and middle school sports while adding 1 to 2 kids to each class while KCK proposes that any non teacher, para, aide making over $67,000 take a pay cut of 3% to 5% reports Dawn Bormann in the KC Star today.

Well done Cynthia Lane...incoming Superintendent of KCK Schools.

While nobody wants to take a pay cut many of us have suffered reduced income through lower sales, commissions, bonuses, etc. Asking administrators to give a little during this tough time seems like a great approach...........if not symbolically but also practically.

KCK says their move will save almost a half a million bucks. I wonder if Blue Valley making the same move would be enough to save music and French? Or maybe just add one kiddo per class instead of two?

KCK is also looking at a one day furlough option. I personally like this idea as well. If you told me I could take an extra Friday--just without pay..........I'd be all over it. Especially if it meant others not losing their jobs and that we could keep important programs. Also it is one of the easiest things to undo once things in the budget improve. It sends a strong message. Obama would love it.

I guess when you are used to living without you get used to it and learn to be not only creative but thoughtful. In Blue Valley we freak out when we hear there isn't enough to go through the line twice let alone once.

Okay Dr. Trigg...........the ball is smacked back into your court. Forehand or back hand?

Check back later in the day for the Good Friday Best Wine of the Week.