Sacrifice Should Start at the Top

 I sat at Monday’s school board meeting, covering it just like every other meeting I’ve ever been to. I try not to care, too much, about anything that’s being said. I’ve found that when I get emotionally involved in what’s being said, it becomes more difficult to hear what’s being said and much easier to hear what you want to be said.

A visual presentation by district chief financial officer Dan Garno brought me to life, a little bit. Garno was providing pretext for the budget and this particular segment highlighted the loss of jobs in Michigan and the rest of the country. In this presentation, a green dot signified job growth and a red dot the opposite. The more jobs or job loss, the bigger the dot.

Early in the presentation, there were lots of little green dots on the map. Except for, it seemed, in the Gulf coast area, where a giant red dot began growing on the screen (Hurricane Katrina?) As the chronological presentation continued, a red dot began hovering over Michigan. The dot kept growing. Soon other dots appeared all over the rust belt. Then on the west coast. As the map moved towards today’s economic picture, the entire country was covered in growing red dots. It looked like blood splatters soaking through a white t-shirt. It was a vivid presentation of the violence the economy has wrought on this state.

Garno’s message was clear. This school district was drowning in red ink unless and deep cuts were necessary. The board cut close to $1 million in the budget of this small school district. That’s almost astounding. And yet there’s still a close to a $300,000 deficit. Tough choices were made. People’s paychecks were being attacked. Their college funds at risk. Their homes were being put at risk.

I don’t know many of the teachers facing layoff. I know Christina Walters, the Spanish teacher who was cut from full-time to half-time, ran the Boston Marathon this year. I’ve seen her cleaning up the boundless playground during Make A Difference Day. I saw that teacher Kevin Wernette was laid off. I’ve seen him in action as softball and football coach. I’ve watched him get down and dirty in the mud with the football team at Sauk Valley, pushing them go harder and be tougher. I see maintenance worker Dave Mutter just about every time I go to the school. He’s being asked to work for about half of what he made last year and the district is taking his wife off his insurance plan.

Don’t think for a minute that anyone on the school board or administration wanted to do this. I know that people worked hard to minimize the hardship. But it simply couldn’t be done. It could have been worse. And, if things don’t turn around, it most certainly will be worse. If the economy is like this a year or two from now, I’d wager that you’ll see Blissfield voters being asked if they want to join a consolidated district with the Britton-Deerfield district. Over in Whiteford and Summerfield, I’d say that these districts better start talking merger before they’re swallowed whole by Bedford and Dundee.

These are tough times. Tougher for some than others, as some school support staff will tell you. I’d wager that few employees at the school district are happy with what’s happened with the superintendent’s position. Scott Moellenberndt retired and then is coming back to work as superintendent through a third party. He’ll collect his pension and health benefits from the state. And he’ll be paid a raise by the school district, through the third party. Since the district is no longer paying for his health benefits or paying toward his retirement, they can pay for his raise and still save more than $30,000 from this position, all by itself.

The bottom line is, this move saves $30,000. That potentially saves another half-time teaching job or a couple bus drivers from being cut.

Moellenberndt recently scored a 4.2 on a five-point scaled during the board’s evaluation of his performance. This guy works hard. He’s a genuinely nice fellow. He represents the school in a professional and positive manner in every situation. He busted his tail, along with many others in the district, to give Blissfield voters the opportunity to improve the school district with no-interest loans. He deserves a raise.

But so do a lot of people.

Kevin Wernette deserves his job. The Royals football team deserves to have him barking at them at Sauk Valley. Dave Mutter didn’t deserve his 50 percent pay cut. His wife didn’t deserve to lose her health insurance. Todd Shepard didn’t deserve a $4-an-hour pay cut. Christina Walters didn’t deserve to have her job cut in half. Greg Tarrant, the long-time art teacher, didn’t deserve to lose his job. Nicole Lajiness deserves her art room. Elementary students deserve a highly-qualified art teacher. High school students deserve to have a wealth of electives to choose from when they pick their classes. The list goes on and on and on.

I understand why the board did what it did with Moellenberndt. It saves money and it rewards a superintendent who has done very good work for the district and the community. If Moellenberdnt didn’t come back through a third-party and the district were to try and replace him through traditional means, it would cost the district an extra $30,000. I get that.

But something about this stinks. On the phone with Dan Garno Monday morning, he mentioned that the increasing cost of retirement benefits was a constant drain on the district. This year, the state was requiring more than ever before. When superintendents, principals, bus mechanics and teachers retire early, it only adds to the problems with the underfunded pension system. When they are replaced by workers who aren’t paying into the system, which is the case with these third-party employees, it adds to the burden on the pension system. You can bet that the school districts are going to have to pay even more in retirement costs next year.  This act of trickery comes with a cost that the district will feel down the road.

It’s also fair to suggest that Moellenberndt and middle school principal Mark Willson might not have retired had this opportunity to double dip not presented itself. One can make the argument that the district is saving money this year. But now the state is paying them a pension and health benefits, and the district is still doling out a ton of money. Garno told me that the district is saving about $50,000 between Moellenberndt and Willson. Okay, but do you think the state is doling out more than $50,000 for the two? I’d say yes. By far. And last I checked, Blissfield taxpayers paid taxes to the state of Michigan. In the end, Blissfield will pay for this. You know that these kinds of deals are going on all over the state. It’s another example of a short-term money savings that will cost you more in the end. But nobody seems to be thinking about that.

The other issue is one of fairness. How in the heck can the board justify a raise for an administrator while workers are being laid off and having their salaries and benefits cut?

On principle, it’s the wrong thing to do. This is a community. This isn’t Wall Street, where it has become a religious doctrine that bosses make millions and employees are worthless.

There was almost nothing the board could have done to avoid these tough choices, except delving into the fund balance (Had they done this, as some wanted, years ago, there would be nothing left to dip into). Dipping into the rainy day fund, something that this district has wisely avoided until now, could come into if the state reduces its funding to the district later this year.

These cuts were going to happen.

Knowing that, the board and superintendent should have been more sensitive to their employees. When you lose your job, or you lose 15-years worth of raises you earned, or you lose health insurance for your wife and kids, the last thing you deserve to hear is that your boss got a raise.