Lancaster ISD Board votes to approve 4-day school week

Well, we know how well those walking tours worked on bond elections.

SocraticGadfly Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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An $8 million deficit? I thought a $6 million deficit was projected last spring. And wasn't the original year end deficit around $2.3 million when Lewis arrived? I thought this guy was supposed to have been a financial genius who solved the year end deficit problem he inherited from a prior administratio. If the year end deficit problem was so huge when he got here, why has this financial genius let it get worse, and why does the "yes-man" school board keep rubber stamping this man's deficit budgets?

Where is the fat in the budget? Could it be that these summer track meets and other events at our athletic stadiums are not net revenue producers? Could it be that our enterprise services director isn't producing the projected revenues he was predicted to produce? How about the summer programs? They were supposed to be revenue neutral. Were they or were they not? Did the cost of running these programs contribute to next year's deficit budget? Is the school board asking these questions? If not, why not? Do they not have the basic intelligence to ask them or do they have something to lose if they challenge the supt? Maybe a spouse could lose a job if they don't vote with the supt. or if they try to make him accountable.

It is no great wonder that student interns who are on Supt Lewis payroll would speak in favor of his proposal. They aren't objective at all. They are bought and paid for. Their reliability as objective witnesses is zero.

I've seen a lot of fancy police vehicles around town. It sure does make LISD look good, until we realize those vehicles with a reasonable life expectancy of five years were bought with 30 year bond money. Knowing that, those fancy police vehicles make LISD and its supt. look stupid.

interestedcitizen Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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I only recently graduated with a masters degree so I remember well how hard it was to concentra for fours of college in a day. Frankly, three hours was my limit. What is there to debate? It would be impossible for children to get any additional knowlege out of their ninth and tenth hours of school each day. Sorry Lancaster it time to merge with another district or be taken over by the State.

terryorze Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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This is good news. Doctor Lewis doesn’t just let problems go on. He’s got plans. On KKDA radio its clear

Doctor Lewis has got good folks watching his back. John Wiley Price and Royce West are in favor of the Lancaster

Four Day Exemplery Plan. Plans to save money and help kids learn deserve support from everybody. But hear again

the only news igoes to critics like Carol Morris. Why can’t any other six trustees get on TV or on radio and support

Doctor Lewis? How did the TV find Morris to roll her eyes and complain – where’s the board president? Where

do people who support his plan go to speak up?

Shelia_in_Lancaster Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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Shelia in Lancaster.

You obviously didn't read Josh Benton's article in the Dallas Morning News. Supt. Lewis and his supporters still have their head in the sand. The world is watching.

Kenneth Lay and Jeff Skilling kept the Enron house of cards going as long as they could, and they had a lot of loyal people around them leading cheers for them, including a major accounting firm and prominent law firms. Also, think of what recently happened to Jenkins and Gilchrist. One prominent lawyer thought he had discovered a unique tax angle that would make its partners rich. They brought him in as partner. Then the IRS got involved. A fine law firm with a great history came crashing down. It can look great for a while.

The problem we have here is much worse. With Enron, they were dealing with funds that stockholders and pension fund managers voluntarily invested. With Jenkins and Gilchrist, people who wanted special tax breaks took risks relying on an attorney's tax letter. All investors and all people who take tax risks know up front they are voluntarily taking risks.

With school districts, we are talking about money that is taken from people by coercion. If there is a need for transparency and accountability in private firms like Enron, there is even more need for transparency and accountability in government.

No, it is not sufficient to take the word of the top adminstrator. We can expect top administrators and their subordinates to spin the truth. It is all about building a resume and moving up the next step for public administrators. We need supporting documents. We need primary sources and it needs to be readily accessible, not hidden behind walls of public information requests and high fees.

Thankfully, we do have a Carolyn Morris, who refuses to be duped. She demands the truth and she can discern when people are spinning.

We do have a problem. We do have excessive expenditures. Why was it prudent to buy those fancy police vehicles with 30 year bond money? I know the debt payments are going to come out of the debt service fund rather than the maintenance budget, but it reveals a habit, a custom, and a routine. It reveals a mentality that there is a never ending well of money.

Let's think about maintenance money. Where did all the money come from to mail out one after another slick glossy ad in support of the bond issue disguised and mislabeled as information only? Where did the money come from a year ago to send our kids to that Enterprise City conference after the close of the regular school year? Where does the supt find all that money to spend in the middle of the year for new projects and ideas that weren't planned at the beginning of the budget year? Most importantly, why are our trustees not asking questions and demanding answers?

Why do we need so many school police vehicles, and why do they have to be so fancy? If we're having financial problems, it doesn't seem prudent to create a veneer of prosperity. I see them parked most of the time. Is it ever prudent to finance property that has a reasonable life expectancy of 5 years over a 30 year period? That was foolish.

Why is our school district so top heavy with administrators as Josh Benton pointed out? We give Supt Lewis blind loyalty at our peril. Instead of sitting there like stooges, the school board needs to start asking more penetrating questions. Why don't they ask intelligent questions out in the public? Are they so bound by conflicts of interest they can't be objective? Can't they see through Supt. Lewis' strategy of hiring family members or referring business to school board members in order to secure the silence of the school board?

Be assured, the world is watching. Josh Benton covered the downfall of Wilmer Hutchins. The world sees another Wilmer Hutchins coming. It is unfortunate that there is an inner circle of "yes men" watching it collapse before their eyes, just as there was an inner circle in Wilmer Hutchins that was blind to reality.

"Believe it and you will see it" is the slogan of a person who is blindly optimistic. It is the "field of dreams" mentality. "Build it and they will come" It is cliche thinking. It is lightweight thinking,on the order of Robert Tilton and his Word of Faith house of cards.

It is not realistic or prudent to spend one's way to prosperity. Reckless, blindly optimmistic budgeting, is a poor approach to planning. We have a house of cards here and it is going to fall. Those blindly loyal to the emperor such as Shelia in Lancaster, deserve to fall with him.

Unfortunately, there are innocent people who have been silenced through threats and intimidation, who are going to fall as well.

interestedcitizen Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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The turnout at Thursday night's meeting at the Lancaster High School was good. Lots better than similar sessions held for bond referendum discussions.

Dr Lewis repeated the 2 hour presentation offered the Trustees. He also attempted, as Monday, to limit the discussion and question period following. The community was less pliant to that attempt than their Trustees were.

Sentiment appeared to be mixed pro and con.

The emphasis has shifted. On Monday night at the Trustee's "budget workshop" it was clear that the 4 day week idea originated as a response to a projections of $8 million more in expenses that revenues -- what expenses might be cut with a 4-day week. But by Thursday the presentation denied that finances play more than a small part in the proposal. Now, it's all and only about the academics. Why, if that is so, the idea did not get serious consideration until after the budget workshop of 12 July, was not well addressed.

jefmelch Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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Hi FedUp,

First, I suppose there remain readers who haven't yet concluded that commenter "JefMelch" is also contributor "Jeff Melcher". So in disclosure let me make that clear.

Next, I invite others "...in_Lancaster" such as yourself to step out from behind pseudonyms. Particularly p*sst ov takspayers -- the T.I.G.E.R.s (Taxpayers Involved for Government and Education Reform) are always looking for folks to knock on doors, pass out flyers, collect petitions, and if you can, chip in a little cash. Is it a violation of Pegasus anti-spam rules to mention how to get in touch? (T.I.G.E.R.s are very concerned with following applicable rules... unlike certain other powers in Lancaster.)

C. "InterestedCitizen" has not yet pointed out that making fun of Superintendent Lewis's fashion sense is an "ad hominem" attack, but I'm sure he (she?) will. Soon. Frankly I wouldn't care if the man dressed in a purple "Barney the Dinosaur" costume and a "Wonder Woman" tiara -- provided he could balance the district's checkbook and boost academic accomplishments. I'm willing to give Lewis a pass on his purple pimp suits. (though I wonder if a dress code for the Trustee's wouldn't be appropriate. When the Team of 8 shows up with half in sloppy bolwing shirts, one does wonder.)

(4) I keep hearing innuendo that the Lancaster district is rife with sexual shenannigans and harrassment. But in two years I have only met ONE soul who has any paperwork or witness on the matters. And SHE asked me to keep it private. If the problem is as bad as FedUp implies I strongly recommend he/she step up, call out the witnesses and plop down the evidence. I mean, DNA on the little bastard ought to show who the parents are, right?

V.Sheila appears to be the kind of booster mom who's "eaten too much of the parents'-club popcorn". (tm) That's not a sin. She's starting to ask some pertinent questions of her own. And I'm pleased to learn, from her, that another local media outlet is also airing the debate, even on Dr Lewis's side. The more exposure the better, as far as I care. If Royce West is as deeply involved in Lancaster as he has been in Wilmer Hutchins, the outcome is clear.

Sixth, is there, as FedUp implies, a Starbucks in Lancaster? The new one I'm thinking of is just across I-35 in DeSoto. Former city manager Landon had great hopes of working with DeSoto to make the Pleasant Run I-35 interchange some sort of architectural edifice marking the entry to both cities. The area is sometimes referred to as the "La/Soto" region but I suspect if trends continue it might just be re-christened the "DeS-aster" area... How come DeSoto has so much less expense on school police than Lancaster, why have they, so much richer than LISD, paid their superintendent $186K while we pay ours $197K, and why did WFAA .COM pull their story on the matter? (residual stub of the original story:

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws... )

"Carolyn Morris is a Lancaster ISD board trustee. "I don't like that - I have a problem with that," she said of the proposal. "I would have many questions about it. You're reducing five days to four days but you're increasing your salary.". Lewis's new salary, assured this year by contract, makes him one of the highest paid D/FW... Lewis's salary is $197,600, while the superintendent for Desoto ISD gets $186,000, Crowley $167,000, White Settlement $158,000 and Keller $143,000. ...

Why would a major outfit like WFAA pull a merely factual article?

Penultimately, I think it would be fun to host an "anonymous commenters" convention at the Lancaster Whatburger. We could invite in everybody, and some "ringers", and see if we can guess who is how. Maybe some Monday just before the board meeting? Wouldn't it be funny to find out "Shelia" is really in real-life a "Curtis" or something?

And Finally. (Whew!) The question about Special Education funding -- listening carefully to the current budget projections, it appears to me most targeted funds are being re-purposed to cover salaries. Compensatory education, AYP funds, extended day plans, etc. None left over, after paying our experts for another month, to invest in infrastructure like wheelchair ramps, TV-DVD connection cables, or padlocks on the supply closets. Dr Lewis knows where his priorities lie. And maintenance and capital improvements generally fall behind bonuses and retention incentives.

So, FedUp, any more questions? You ask very good ones. I'd like to hear more from you.

jefmelch Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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Jeff wants many of us to come out from behind the anonymous curtain and tell who we are; it is a dangerous thing to do if we work for the district. As a teacher or staff member in Lancaster, if you speak your mind or have a different point of view from Dr. Lewis, then it is a certainty that you will be demoted, harassed, or intimidated by him or one of his henchmen.
As a staff member, we were told we should not speak to the media about the four day week proposal so we would not try to influence TEA with our comments. When Lewis tells you not to speak, you better not or you do so with great peril coming your way.
As an educator, our first responsibility is to our students and the only reason we should ever do anything is to improve the instruction to those students. This plan was ill-conceived and was not given time to be researched and planned for the betterment of our kids. When we went to block scheduling, we sent surveys to parents, ex-students, community members, staff members and educational experts throughout the state for over two years before we went to a major change that affected the way we taught kids. When we decided to go to uniforms for the district, we studied the idea for over a year. Ideas that affect the entire community and student body should be studied far longer than four days. Dr. Lewis made the decision to go to a four day week on Thursday night before the board meeting on Monday night. He decided to make this decision because we needed find 2 million dollars in savings-not because it was educationally based.
Although as a teacher, I may want to only work four days a week, this is educationally unsound and not good for our kids, and after all isn’t that what education is suppose to be about. "Children first."

estherspeaks Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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Since, the parents are'nt going to support Doctor Lewis plans. Then Doctor Lewis needs more money for his schools, so we need to have a school bond election. Doctor Lewis needs to pay teachers, he can't have any school without paying teachers. Why can't the parents and other folk support this good man trying to do his job?

Shelia_in_Lancaster Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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To Shelia in Lancaster:

Using capital improvement bond funds to pay operating expenses is illegal.

Do you understand that our tax rate is composed of debt taxes and maintenance taxes? Do you understand that our maintenance tax rate is planned to be $1.04 per $100.00 valuation, and can be no higher according to state law? Do you understand that our debt tax rate is planned to be around $.39 per $100.00?

Are you saying that Lewis wants to use part of the debt taxes to pay back the bridge loan that keeps creeping up year after year because Lewis has failed to contain operating and maintenance expenses? Why don't you do some serious work to find out why maintenance expenses have overshot budgeted revenues in the past to create the need for the ever increasing bridge loan? Do you know what we mean when we use the word "bridge loan?"

Are you suggesting that, in order to generate the cash needed to pay down the bridge loan and free up operating revenues, Lewis intends to overstate the cost of the hard infrastructure in a capital improvment bond issue and then create fake savings from the hard infrastructure in order to pay down the bridge loan? How do you suggest that he document the savings from the bond program if he intends to use those savings to pay down the bridge loan? Don't you think the best way to manage debt is to repay the debt from construction savings rather than use funds intended for capital improvments for annually recurring operating and maintenance expenses? Isn't that a little like using a home equity loan to pay credit card debt or to pay the next year's food bill? That isn't prudent debt management for a private individual, and it is an illegal use of public debt tax funds.

I certainly hope you are not LISD trustee Shelia Stanmore, because your awareness of the limits of your power to authorize the use of public funds appears to be woefully deficient. If your fellow trustees have a similar lack of awareness, we not only have a serious leadership problem in LISD, but a leadership team that is severely ethically challenged.

Do you understand that legally, we cannot collect any more debt taxes than necessary to pay our bonded indebtedness, and do you understand that our bonded indebtedness can only be used to purchase capital improvements, or what I call "hard infrastructure?" Whether or not it is legal to use use bond funds authorized by the taxpayers to be used for capital improvements to pay a bridge loan for maintenance expenses, thereby converting a maintenance tax to a debt tax, raises a significant legal question.

It sounds to me like you are proposing to use debt taxes to pay back the bridge loan for maintenance expenses. If so, please clarify whether that is your intent. Then, maybe we can solicit some legal opinions to determine whether that is in fact legal. On its face, it doesn't pass the smell test. Maintenance taxes are just that. They are for annually recurring expenses and they can only be paid with maintenance tax funds, even if those annual maintenance expenses have been converted to debt with a bridge loan. Debt taxes are for capital improvements. People authorize debt taxes to pay for hard infrastructure. Debt revenues are predictable and debt taxes are predictable. There is no reason a bridge loan should be necessary to cover debt obligations. We must infer then that a bridge loan is used solely to cover annually recurring operating and maintenance expenses. To use debt taxes to repay a bridge loan for maintenance expenses is, on its face, a breach of what the taxpayers authorize when they vote for debt taxes by approving a bond issue.

Think about this. If you are Shelia Stanmore, there are criminal implications for what you suggest and you should consult legal counsel before proceeding.

Don't forget. The world is watching. You can't hide. Think before you engage in concerted action with your fellow trustees and either direct or authorize our Supt. to commit a criminal act. Think before you represent publicly that debt taxes can be used to pay down a bridge loan for operating expenses. Your public representation might be an expression of criminal intent.

interestedcitizen Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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The school administration does not considered how decisions like this will affect the teachers. Dr. Lewis and general public fail to considered how this will affect teachers and their families. Some people failed torealize that there are teachers who have young childern as well. Most daycare centers do not stay open passed 6p.m. What about teachers who are in graduate schools who are pursuing advanced degrees? What about teachers with health conditons? Teachers do not have uninterrupt planning periods. During their planning periods they are expected to meet with parents, meet with their academic team, and meet with in their department. There will be days in which teachers will not have a minute to take care of their needs due to meetings. I feel sorry for the teachers because most of their Fridays will be taken away from them for faculty meetings and professional development. The plan sounds ideal for teachers but in truth teachers will work harder for less money.

disgusted Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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Hi FedUp,

If you think Sue Mendoza, Russ Johnson, or even second-string substitute Trustee Sheila Stanmore have been on the Board too long, you have from now until March to find candidates to run for office against them.

(Interested Citizen? Doesn't Ms Stanmore -- Sheila -- spell her name differently from our co-commenter here SHELIA? Or is it the other way around? )

Anyhow, without meaning to be too awfully negative about the matter, the current Trustees have been on the Board a long time. And we've had a lot more bond referenda lately than we have had chance to vote on trustees. I think nobody bothered to file for the office in May 2004 and the whole election got cancelled. If the community wants more of the same all we have to do is nothing, and Sue and Russ and Sheila will be happy to continue pulling their load on the dog-sled known as the Team of Eight.

Some of the PTA leadership might want to consider stepping up. Lawyers, accountants, medical professionals ... the black (and otherwise) middle class is alive and thriving in Lancaster-- we are most assuredly NOT a bunch of impoverished ignorant wretches depending on the magnanimity of the Harvard Classes to convey their grandiose plans from on high. We can screw up our own plans just as easily, and MIGHT actually come to the matter with enough humility to avoid certain types of mistakes.

jefmelch Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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Hi Cynthia,

Thanks for taking it public. Brave, for around here.

Thanks, too, for your comments Wednesday night at Carolyn Morris's town hall meeting, about Dr Lewis's meeting with the TEA. I suggest you transcribe your recollection of the phone call you described and e-mail Pegasus to post the whole thing.

There is nothing quite like the bright light of public scruntiny to encourage government officials to behave better.

jefmelch Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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FedupCynthia and Interestedcitizen,

Both of you have some thought provoking questions. Let’s hope the DMN is monitoring. I would think that a blood hound of an investigative reporter would relish pursuing answers; however, to discover what is really going on in topsy-tervyville, my suggestion is to first follow the money which will undoubtedly be a bit challenging in this administration. All other tantalizingly spicy rabbit trails, perhaps even the 4 day week, may prove to be diversions designed to buy a desperate fox more time and distance on the real trail.

Chestertonian Anonymous

2 years, 4 months ago
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