Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Horry County Schools
District Office
Conway, S. C.
Members of the Board:
Whether we agree or not on what constitutes a major program, I would like to know the total costs of programs that our Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) calls special programs, such as the Scholars Academy, Early College High School, Connect, and MAP testing, to name a few. Among other programs of a rather special nature would be PACE, the Academy for the Arts, Science, and Technology, the Academy for Technology and Academics, International Baccalaureate, and Compass Learning. Not only do we need total costs from all funding sources for these, but we also need statistical and anecdotal data to determine whether or not they are succeeding at levels worthy of our time, efforts, and expenditures. Under our current Coherent Governance system, it is the board’s responsibility to monitor results. Have your monitoring reports been sufficient to make evaluations on these major programs, or are you relying on administration to evaluate these and determine whether or not they are viable programs in this economic downturn? These should not be seen as areas of micro management but of primary concern for a board of education. Are you aware of the total cost of each, from all funding sources? With a projected $20 million shortfall next year, we must evaluate everything we do on a costs-benefits basis, especially those programs and practices which go beyond the norm. We should do this on a regular basis, with or without an economic crisis. The only way to do this effectively is to return to traditional governance, create standing committees and subcommittees on finance, curriculum, and operations to involve not only the administration in making these very important determinations but the public itself, including teachers who are on the front lines.
After devoting countless hours to preparing for my classes, grading papers, and putting my students first, I have devoted just about every waking minute over the last few weeks to study our CAFR, the Official Budget, and the transparency reports to try to get answers to my questions. The district office has provided me with some information, but I am not satisfied that the totality of the costs for numerous specific programs are being revealed to the public.
Our Chief Financial Officer has confirmed my belief that we should not be seeking a per pupil expenditure for identified programs, for various factors such as demographics, teachers’ salaries, and extracurricular activities can skew one’s interpretation of program costs. For example, according to a chart provided by the district office, Green Sea Floyds High School, student population of 578, has a per pupil expenditure of about $13,500. This is much higher than for Early College High School, student population of 366, which now stands at $7600, a difference of $5,900. No one should draw any conclusions from simply looking at per pupil expenditures. Some programs will be more expensive than others. It should be up to the public, however, to determine the effectiveness and value of one program over another.
Total costs of major programs, on the other hand, are very important, for although some programs cannot reasonably be curtailed or eliminated, some can. Without bottom line figures, no one should be able to make valid evaluations as to whether or not programs such as Scholars Academy, Early College High School, Connect, International Baccalaureate, AAST, ATA, and MAP should be on the cost-cutting table.
The relative value of one program over another must be considered by the public, for these are our programs and our tax dollars. They do not belong exclusively to the district administration and/or the board of education. The district should publish the total costs of these for the public’s consideration ASAP. Difficult decisions should be decided openly through discussion and debate, even though Coherent Governance does not lend itself to such democratic practice. Voting to return our district to traditional governance will help us function as we should, the sooner the better.
Sincerely,
Bobby Chandler
722 Pine Drive
Surfside Beach, S. C. 29575
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