November Election
With each new school year there comes a certain amount of uniqueness for students, parents, the community and staff. For the kindergartners what a unique time entering the classroom for the very first time! However this school year is certain to bring a level of uniqueness none of us have ever experienced. As your treasurer and superintendent, the one thing we know for sure is that the people of this community are capable of coming together like none other when the going gets tough. If you happen to follow our board meeting summaries all you need to do to get a feel for the magnitude and level of support for each other is to look at the donations to our food pantry that came pouring in this past March, April and May. The support is still coming. This school year especially we will all need to pull together like never before.
Unfortunately one of the unique cards we have already been dealt entering into the new school year is that of a $580,000.00 cut in state funding as a result of the pandemic. This is a direct hit to our general fund. The fund we rely on to finance the day to day operations of the district. We have been awarded just over $275,000.00 of additional dollars in Federal funding. However this money is earmarked for covering unforeseen expenses related to COVID-19. Unfortunately we will need every penny of it for those purposes and then some. To put our COVID-19 expenses into perspective, we are preparing ourselves to spend in excess of $50,000.00 in the coming year just to equip our classrooms with the hand sanitizer needed for the 20/21 upcoming school year.
In usual fashion our Administrative team, our leadership team and our teacher’s union immediately went to work implementing cost saving initiatives to help mitigate as many shortfalls as possible on the operational side of running our schools. The following are many, however not all of what we have been working on:
We have applied for and received over $68,000.00 in State and Federal bus grants in the last 12 months. One new properly equipped bus costs the district in excess of $95,000.00.
We have refurbished two of our buses over the last 12 months saving the district tens of thousands of dollars versus buying new.
All travel outside the district has been suspended.
Positions have been absorbed via attrition.
We have begun an audit of all electric billing going back 10 years.
We have filed for and received over $5,000.00 in Chromebook rebates.
We are buying used as opposed to new equipment when it makes sense to do so.
In response to COVID-19 our union membership spearheaded an initiative to forfeit their unused personal days. All staff were then invited to join in this opportunity to contribute for the good of the district, saving the district in excess of $22,500.00 in payroll and benefits.
Each year our teachers dig into their pockets and spend their personal money to purchase supplies for our students to supplement their district provided classroom supplies. This ensures their students have the supplies they need.
For FY21, the district implemented a zero based budgeting model. This approach is projected to save tens of thousands of dollars over the next twelve months.
An incentive was offered to migrate staff from our traditional health insurance coverage to a high deductible plan. Much of the heavy lifting was performed by the Teacher’s Union members. In the first year of this incentive the district realized first year premium savings in excess of $50,000.00.
This month we have kicked off a $4,000,000.00 energy project, utilizing local vendors at no cost to the district tax payers. This project is very complex and includes a complete rework of our failing HVAC cooling system at our primary school facility, replacement of all four failing chiller compressors at our high school facility, new controls district wide for all gas and electricity usage and new LED stage lighting in our auditorium. Our first year guaranteed energy savings are conservatively projected to be in excess of $200,000.00. We will utilize these savings to finance all of these necessary upgrades to our facilities.
We have entered into a lease with the city for our bus maintenance garage, saving the district thousands of dollars in rent expense.
Our solar arrays are now up and fully functional. These arrays are providing close to 80% of our electric needs at a fixed rate for the foreseeable future.
In excess of 3,000 lighting fixtures were replaced with high quality, high efficiency LED fixtures during the summer of 2019.
In spite of all these cost cutting measures, the district will be seeking community support to essentially renew our $835,000.00 Emergency levy this November. This proposed levy will be in the form of a substitute continuing levy. This proposed substitute levy will have a new name, substitute vs. emergency and the substitute will NOT increase taxes. Furthermore, the benefit to the schools is that it will collect at the same rate on all new construction throughout the district.
This emergency levy we are proposing to replace was originally passed in 1991 for the same $835,000.00 at a rate of 8.2 mills. The proposed levy will only be for 3.87 mills and will not be an increase in taxes to current district property owners. The reality of this levy is that the district cannot maintain its high standards of education without this revenue stream remaining intact. Essentially, if this levy were to fail, it would have dire consequences for the students of the district.
In today's dollars, adjusted for inflation, this levy should be generating in excess of $1.5 million dollars. Imagine not receiving a raise for over twenty five years and how difficult it would be to maintain a balanced budget.
In summary, the Wauseon Exempted Village School District has responsibly maintained local tax dollars and we continue to do so. The current emergency levy is 4.35 mills and as you read earlier, the new millage will be 3.87 mills. The Wauseon community has traditionally supported district levies and we ask that you continue this support in November.
If you have questions or would like to speak to Mr. Fleming and Mr. Armstrong, please contact the Board of Education Office at 419-335-6616. Informational meetings will also be scheduled in the near future.