[BurleyBulletin] March 15, 2007: Dance Volunteers Still Needed, Tax Rate Update

Thu Mar 15 14:32:52 EDT 2007

The Burley Bulletin
March 15, 2007

Inside This Issue...
*        More  Volunteers Needed for Dance this Friday
*        Update on Tax Rate
*        Mark Your Calendar...
____________________________________________________________________________
_________________

More Volunteers Needed for Dance this Friday
Please contact MM Gardiner at HYPERLINK
"mailto:EMMYSHOW at aol.com"EMMYSHOW at aol.com if you can help set up dance
decorations this Friday.  Right now she only has two volunteers and she only
has two hours to get things set up!  Thank you!
Karen Lilley is also looking for chaperones for the dance this Friday, March
16 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM.  Both moms and dads are needed!!  Please contact
Karen at 973-8617 or HYPERLINK
"mailto:cklilley at hotmail.com"cklilley at hotmail.com
Update on Tax Rate
The following article provides a good summary of the current budget
situation.  In summary, it appears that some Supervisors are leaning away
from the $0.68 tax rate due to the huge negative impact it would have on the
budget.  However, they are still looking at a $0.04 reduction to $0.70. 
This reduction would mean the schools would lose $1.97 million in current
(2006-07) school funding and $3.41 million in 2007-08 funding.
An interesting piece of information is how the state continues to place a
higher burden on localities.  To quote this article, “The percentage of
total school revenues contributed by the state was 31.2 percent this fiscal
year and would be 30.1 percent for next. In the 1990-91 budget year, the
state contributed 40 percent.” 
HYPERLINK
"http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FC
DP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173350220257&path=!news"http://www.dailypro
gress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FCDP_BasicArticle&c=MG
Article&cid=1173350220257&path=!news
Cutting the tax rate is very short sighted.  It is a classic case of being
penny-wise and pound-foolish.  In the short term we have a lower property
tax, however, we will end up losing good teachers who are very difficult and
expensive to replace.  In fact, a recent article states

“Each year turnover costs more than $10,000 per new employee at nearly half
of the 200 medium-to-large sized businesses surveyed in 2005 by William M.
Mercer Inc., a New York-based human resource and management consulting firm.
Industry experts say the real cost of losing a worker is higher for small
businesses.
This is taken from the article found at the following link HYPERLINK
"http://remodeling.hw.net/industry-news.asp?sectionID=150&articleID=449666"h
ttp://remodeling.hw.net/industry-news.asp?sectionID=150&articleID=449666

If you would like additional information regarding teacher attrition and the
causes leading to it please check this article HYPERLINK
"http://www.all4ed.org/publications/TeacherAttrition.pdf"http://www.all4ed.o
rg/publications/TeacherAttrition.pdf   Here is an excerpt:
“Why is teacher turnover so high? Many assume that retirement is the primary
reason for teacher attrition, but when the facts are examined closely, it
becomes clear that the number of teachers retiring from the profession is
not a leading cause. In an analysis of teacher turnover, teachers reported
retirement as a reason for leaving less often than because of job
dissatisfaction or to pursue another job.
Among teachers who transferred schools, lack of planning time (65 percent),
too heavy a workload (60 percent), problematic student behavior (53
percent), and a lack of influence over school policy (52 percent) were cited
as common sources of dissatisfaction.”
This article further states the importance of experienced teachers in
improving over all educational performance, as well as increasing employee
retention for new hires and improving the performance of new hires.  But
these are the very teachers we lose first to other school divisions who are
willing to pay competitive salaries and provide high quality work
environments.

In anticipation of potential budget cuts the School Division has developed
the following preliminary strategies.  However the School Division is
limited in flexibility when identifying budget reductions since 82.5% of its
expenditures are tied to personnel.  Potential actions if a $0.70 tax rate
is adopted:
*         Eliminate new instructional staff to support new programs
*         Eliminate or reduce funding for Intervention/Prevention Services
Staff
*         Reduce funding for professional development
*         Reduce funding for technology
*         Increase class size for grades 4-12
*         Reduce grade K-3 Teaching Assistant staffing
*         Reduce classified staff
*         Cut operational funds

As you can see, the strategies that the School Division would take to meet
this budget cut would lead to the very conditions that increase teacher
turnover.  Please consider sending a message to the Board of Supervisors
expressing your views on this very important decision.  The e-mail address
is HYPERLINK "mailto:bos at albemarle.org"bos at albemarle.org.  
____________________________________________________________________________
_________________

Mark Your Calendar...
*         Friday, March 16, 4:15 – 7:00 PM, St. Patrick’s Day Dance
*         Thursday, March 22, Snow Make-up Day, SCHOOL IN SESSION
*         Friday, March 23, Staff Development – NO SCHOOL for Students
*         Friday, March 23, Staff Appreciation Breakfast

____________________________________________________________________________
_________________

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