Another state budget, more questions . . .

The House presented their budget today. The cuts in this budget are not as deep as those in the Senate budget. That is the good news. The not so good news is that because they are so far apart it will likely take longer in conference committee to reach a compromise budget that the Governor will not veto. It could take until late April before we will have the final budget. Even with these differences, however, we are in a better position today than we were prior to the announcement of these budget bills. We at least know the worst case scenario for cuts, the Senate budget.

What we learned today, however, again demonstrates just how difficult this work is given the time constraints and complexity of the task. Late this afternoon Lori Cloud came back from a meeting with disturbing news. Basically, we were advised to not use the data given to us on the Senate’s spread sheet because they have not included all of the cuts in their calculations. In addition, there are far too many unanswered questions to know if the stimulus funds can be used in the way the Senate has included them in their budget. One step forward and two steps back. Oh well, onward we go.

I was going to share the differences in the level of cuts for the three budgets, but I will wait until we better understand the net impact of the cuts. I say this because though the House level of cuts is smaller the net impact may be greater because they do not back fill with as much revenue from the stimulus package. So, we find ourselves in the continuing position of waiting to learn the impact on our system. That will emerge over the next days and weeks. Meanwhile, we will continue to move forward with April 13th the date for the recommended budget adjustments to be shared publicly and May 5th the date when the board makes the final decisions.

The bad, the good, and the not so good . . .

First, the bad news:

As promised, the Senate released their budget this morning. Listening to the news conference I found myself wondering how are we going to make this work with the depth and breadth of cuts. The cuts included the following main areas.
· I-728 – 93% cut of approximately $2,700,000. The Governor proposed a cut in December of 23% or approximately $680,000.
· Levy Equalization – 75% cut of approximately $250,000. The Governor’s proposed cut was about $120,000.
· K-4 Enhancement, revenue that allows for lowering class size in grades K-4, 100% cut. This was a complete surprise as it was not in the Governor’s budget and could have meant the loss of up to 15+ teachers in these grade levels.

Second, the good news:

Senator Pflug sent us a copy of the excel document that showed the impact of the cuts on each school district. In this document we saw for the first time the stimulus funding used to partially offset the proposed cuts. The Senate basically tried to equalize the cuts to each district at 3.5% by using the stimulus funds to back into this percent. They also funded the reduction of grandfathered districts related to the Federal Way lawsuit. Together, these two new pots put approximately $2,000,000 of the cuts back into our system next year. This was definitely good
news.

It seemed odd, however, to be celebrating additional cuts to our state revenue. We are learning through this process that emotions change with new information and tomorrow’s House budget will, I’m sure, provide another opportunity for a roller coaster ride.

Third, the not so good news:

We are still processing the Senate budget to see how some of the other changes will impact our revenue for next year. We know that the net effect will be an increase over what the Governor proposed, but we will not know how much until we have more detailed information. What is also problematic is the use of the stimulus funds. It eases the issue for next year, but it does not eliminate it in the long term as these funds are only available for the next two years. After that, we will be forced to revisit the need for additional adjustments unless basic education funding undergoes a significant overhaul at the state level.

Forgot this one additional item - LID days were cut.

A truly crucial conversation . . .

Once again Ethan’s comment has created a wonderful context for continuing the discussion on budget adjustments. The meeting that he shares taking place tomorrow is an opportunity for interested staff to share their private thoughts and to influence the direction that the Association chooses to take. I don’t know how or why the meeting was called, but it is good to see that something positive has emerged from the sharing.

My experience tells me that it will be important for all attending to truly examine their ladders and be aware of the assumptions that drive those ladders. When we engage in emotional conversations, as this one will be, it is more difficult to stay in our rational brains; where this one needs to be. It is also important to remember that there are valid reasons for people to hold differing views on how to proceed. These differing views do not make people good or bad because of the view that they hold so it will be critical to balance advocacy with inquiry. Trying to understand each other at a deep level through inquiry can keep us in our rational brains as opposed to simply advocating for a preferred outcome.

If a safe environment is not created and maintained it will be easy for a meeting such as this one to quickly slip into a debate. People go to fight or flight when it does not feel safe to engage. Facilitating meetings where people are emotionally invested in an issue is very difficult. I do not envy the task in front of the Association leadership. I can imagine that they are under extreme pressure from WEA to not engage in problem solving this issue and are being told that it is the district’s responsibility. Calling for a meeting under the current circumstances shows leadership and a desire to place a priority on the needs of the local association.

Many school districts are ahead of us in identifying budget adjustments and have already sent out non-renewal letters to staff. I have not read or heard of an association in these situations being open to engage at the table. For me, tomorrow’s meeting is affirmation that the culture we are creating in our system is based on collaboration and respect. Regardless of the outcome of the meeting, I am proud that people stepped forward and requested an opportunity to be heard and that the leadership has created that opportunity. You are to be commended for your actions.

I encourage you to take this opportunity to actively engage in this conversation. In my time at Tahoma there has been no other conversation with as much potential to influence who we are in both the short and long term. I eagerly await the outcome.

At last, hope for a target . . .

The Senate will be releasing their budget on Monday followed on Tuesday by the House budget. If the two budgets are similar, we could see a final version before the scheduled last day of the session in late April. If not, it will make it more difficult for us to identify the target and the session could drag into May.

With this information, we can make an estimate of what will emerge from the conference committee that will likely be necessary to reconcile differences in the two versions. The only other variable that could have a significant influence on this target is the stimulus package and how the Governor chooses to use it. If she backfills some of the cuts that were in her original budget and next week’s versions the target could be less. We can only hope that this happens in a manner that supports our system and that this information also becomes available early next week.

Not knowing continues to cause stress and anxiety for all of us. Having these two budgets doesn’t replace this anxiety, but it will at last begin the process of closure for us.

No news is not good news . . .

We were hopeful that we would have at least one of the budgets posted by today from Olympia. Unfortunately, we are now told that the Senate budget will not be unveiled until sometime next week followed by the House version. This is disturbing, is increasing our anxiety, and is supporting the perception that it will be worse than we are expecting. No news in this case is not good news.

Today, I had occasion to speak to a Republican member of the House. When I asked about the budget timeline he responded with next week and reinforced the fear that it will be bad by saying that he believes the Democrats may make extensive cuts to education and health care in an effort to put a tax increase measure to a vote. Something like if you want to support these two programs here is your chance. If this were to be done with little backfill from the stimulus package I would be very upset. The likelihood of any tax measure being approved in this economic climate I believe is not very great. Holding the work we do and the needs of young people hostage is not what I expect of my elected officials. Unfortunately, by bad he meant the elimination of all of I-728. This would be approximately another $1.4 million hit to our budget that would make an already very difficult situation unbelievable to me.

The cultures that we have created are in jeopardy as we struggle with a potential $3.35 million deficit. Adding to this amount will make it even more difficult to emerge from this crisis preserving the essence of who we are. Already we are seeing chips form in the solid foundation we have built through consensus decision making, on the needs of students being our first priority, with a focus on collaborative problem solving, and the need for a system viewpoint. Decisions are being questioned, inaccurate information is being shared, individuals and groups are forming around different beliefs about how to proceed, and trust and credibility are being lost. These losses will be very difficult to rebuild, but are essential if we are to continue our PLC journey when this crisis is behind us.

Is it possible, given the current conditions, to influence what we are reading on some of the latest posts to the district’s discussion board and on today’s e-mail exchanges? What should we be doing that could replace the need for these exchanges that result in potentially divisive behaviors or are they perhaps, the beginning of a healthy exchange that may result in positive changes? My leadership beliefs suggest that the conversations need to take place, but not through debate on e-mails. Dialogue and skillful conversations are what this situation demands, with all participants using SPACE, balancing inquiry with advocacy, and being willing to be influenced. Given where we are, I don’t believe that it is my decision to make on how to move forward, but I believe that it must be made. Any suggestions?

Tahoma High School

On Friday I had the opportunity to listen to Ray McNulty speak to our high school and junior high staff about the work of the Successful Practices Network. He was here because our high school is one of five in the state that was invited to participate in this national program. They received this honor for the programs that were in place at the time, student achievement, and the potential for continued growth. Also in attendance were representatives from three other state high schools in the program.

Mr. McNulty shared data gathered over the last four years from survey’s given to students and staff in the participating high schools. His message was basically that students are bored and that there is a significant disparity between what students and staff report about their school experiences. If given the chance, I wonder what our high school staff would tell Mr. McNulty about our school in comparison to this national data? Though I know there is some data that is similar, much of what he shared I do not perceive as prevalent in the high school’s culture.

In the afternoon we heard from each of the high schools. After hearing the stories I left feeling even greater pride in what is being done at Tahoma High School. Terry set the stage by focusing on Classroom 10 and the supportive documents created by the Teaching and Learning Department. The wonderful work of Outdoor Academy was represented by Mike and Jamie. Chris then shared the rationale for closing Maple Valley High School and beginning a new program at Tahoma. The focus of his message was the support that students receive from the quality staff at his school. What is most impressive to me is that these three stories could have been replaced by any number of additional impressive stories in place at our high school. Great kids, great teachers, and supportive leadership results in quality learning every day, in every classroom, for every child.

Once again, one of our schools is given an opportunity to share and they steal the show. Our young people are fortunate to be in the culture created and nurtured by Terry, Tony, Julie, Will, and the teachers and support staff that make up Tahoma High School. Thank you!

Today's state budget forecast . . .

More bad budget news; the economic forecast from this morning projects an increase in the projected shortfall of $522 million to an unprecedented $9 billion total. How this increase will impact our school system is not known, but it can't be a positive influence. We are, however, getting closer to learning the impact with the release next week of the Senate's budget. This budget followed by the House version are important documents as we try to identify the target of adjustments that we must make.

On Tuesday a coalition of representatives from our district's PTA, school board, TEA, and PSE met with three legislators (Senator Pflug, Representative Sullivan, Representative Maxwell) to share our story and to ask for information. The one piece of information we left with is the likelihood of the reduction in levy equalization in the Governor's budget being eliminated or reduced because of an effective lobby effort by property poor school districts. The problem for us, however, is that the increase in revenue in this area will be more than offset by what will probably be a larger decrease in I-728 funding. Once again, a negative impact on us.

If you haven't taken the opportunity yet to visit the budget information on our website please consider it. It includes a review of the process we are using to identify budget adjustments, a calendar of key meeting dates, and an opportunity to share your ideas with us.