Ames School District Mission: Dealing With Change

January 4, 2010

The events shaping 2009 gave Ames Community School District a first-hand tutorial in its own mission: to prepare (students) for a changing society.

As state revenue shrank, a late result of the nationwide economic downturn that began in 2008, education was not spared from budget cuts. School districts remained on the hook for meeting state and federal expectations, with little recourse for replacing lost revenue.

At one point, Superintendent Linda Beyea said, "Schools are supposed to have local control, but they don’t."

In danger of exceeding its spending authority even before state funding was cut, the district already was looking for ways to balance costs while preparing to meet state-wide core curriculum standards and correcting student achievement gaps in certain subgroups for federal No Child Left Behind requirements.

Long overdue in addressing aging and inadequate facilities, the district did not have the luxury of postponing facility planning, despite the burden shifted to property taxes by state funding shortfalls.

Dwindling resources did not prevent the district and its teachers and students from pulling off a banner year. They improved student achievement, enhanced afterschool programs, maintained the district’s share of funding for the school resource (police) officer, and continued to implement programs, such as Responsive Classroom, which contribute to the learning environment. Ames High school outranked the national average in ACT scores, and earned several state sports titles.

A look back:

A first wave of state cuts in January struck 1.5 percent from state aid for school funding, setting the stage for months of budget wrangling. Setbacks, such as a $200,00 0 loss in revenue from fees declared illegal, added frustration and distractions to the process.

The school board missed the April 15 deadline for notifying staff of layoffs or contract changes, and was unable to reduce the 85 percent slice of the revenue pie represented by salaries and benefits. By the time the new budget was in place, the district had cut nearly 9 full-time equivalent positions.

In May, the board asked Beyea to find ways to trim another $750,000 from the budget to spare the district’s dwindling cash reserve fund. Beyea found about $800,000 to cut, but the board approved only about $400,000.

The timing of the announcement of a new elementary schedule designed to provide uninterrupted blocks of instruction, especially for literacy skills and to a lesser degree, math, got mired in the talk of budget cuts. Art, music and physical education teachers said they were given the brunt of cost-cutting measures and weren’t consulted in the change. Some still say the district is controlling the information that gets to the public concerning the consequences of the schedule.

The Iowa Department of Education denied the district’s application for a statewide voluntary preschool program in June, underscoring the difficulty of matching facilities and revenue to enrollment. Work already was in progress to convert Northwood Elementary School to a preschool center. Hit by a surprise bumper crop of kindergartners, the district scrambled to make room for them. In October, the state reversed its denial of the preschool grant and awarded it to Ames because several districts failed to qualify.

As the campaign for school board election shaped up in July, members Gail Johnston and Anita Rollins declined to seek re-election. The July 31 filing deadline closed with only two candidates on record to fill three seats: two-term incumbent Roy Cakerice, and newcomer David Putz. Write-in candidates Bill Talbot and Kevin Stow later threw their hats into the ring. Cakerice, Putz and Talbot were elected in September.

In August, Beyea unveiled the first complete draft of an academic plan tying the district’s mission to 13 essential actions common to school systems around the world that are improving student achievement. The plan helped set the stage for the new board to work toward goals for student achievement, fiscal responsibility and improving facilities.

Gov. Chet Culver ordered 10-percent across-the-board budget cuts in October. Before those cuts, the board had been looking to trim $1.7 million from the fiscal year 2010-11 budget. Now facing as much as a $2.1 million funding shortfall next year, the board has formed an ad hoc budget advisory committee that includes community stakeholders and has studied the deadlines and procedures for making staff cuts.

Early in December, Cakerice announced he would resign from the board in January, due to health concerns. Later in the month, Ames High Principal Mike McGrory announced he would leave the district at the end of the school year to take a similar position at a school in Hinsdale, Ill.

The board ended the calendar year with a working draft of a facility plan to complement the academic plan. Looking ahead to a year when state revenue is predicted to be flat or falling, the district at least knows its mission.