Finances have been mismanaged

To the editor:
Jay School Corporation finds itself in what has been portrayed as a dramatic financial shortfall.
So dire is the situation that superintendent Tim Long has proposed the closing of buildings and the busing of students further distances.
How did this situation arise? What has the reaction been to this point? Is further consolidation the answer to the situation that we are in?
Attending school board meetings for the last few months, I have found information has been distributed showing enrollment decline and corresponding jobs eliminated over the past two years. While this is helpful, it offers an incomplete picture.
According to data provided by Jay School Corporation the following information has been obtained.
Long was hired in 2007 to succeed Barb Downing. Enrollment was at 3,616 students, with a job force of 499. The enrollment had been in gradual decline. This decline continued for three years. The number of jobs increased to 520, then 539, then 549, all during declining enrollments. After a minor increase of 20 students in 2010, jobs were cut to 523 for a couple of years then increased to 540 in 2013, all the time with the enrollment decreasing by a total 0f 250 students since Long was hired.
While there is no data obtained to demonstrate the pay level of the added jobs, central office staff stands at the largest since the very early days of unification in the 1960s.
Anyone remotely familiar with school finance knows the revenue stream is tied to enrollment. If an organization’s revenue stream or sales are decreasing, successful, well-managed, well-led businesses have fewer, not more, positions. Common business sense dictates this.
That however has not been the response of our leadership. In fact, JSC in an enrollment decline has added positions at the highest paid levels, while teachers and building level administrators’ salaries have fallen further behind those in the area making JSC much less competitive for teachers. The decision-making appears not only faulty, but highly questionable.
JSC has been living large, using the $3 million bank account or cash balance up little by little as spending had eclipsed income for the last five years.
The direction given by the superintendent is a plan to close buildings; bus younger students further, build on to and or renovate existing buildings in Portland and move eighth graders to the high school.
Is this possible? Of course it is.
Is there anything in this plan that is best for students, or even good for communities and their tax base? I think the answer is obvious.
On first blush, the only thing that looks even remotely reasonable is the closing of Pennville. By Long’s own estimate, this would save $300,000 per year — lot of money to many of us, but on a budget that exceeds $35 million it amounts to a savings of about 0.8 percent of the total budget. Is there that much value to be gained by removing a school from a community, a move sure to accelerate both the decline of the tax base and the population? In my opinion the answer is a resounding no.
While the decline in enrollment requires action, this has been a trend that was occurring even prior to Long’s arrival. The management of our situation has led us to this point, and the reaction is not one that is based on what is best for kids, but what generates more dollars that frankly may not be managed any better in the future than the past.
The best predictor of management’s skills and decision-making ability in the future is what has happened in the past. We have been steered into a financial ditch by the current leadership.
JSC’s job and the job of the administration must always be to provide the best education possible in the most efficient manner. A strong argument can be made that this has not happened for the last four or five years, and, based on the most recent recommendations to the board, is not slated to occur soon. Much more accountability is needed.
What is the appropriate action when a business has run a deficit for five years?
Phil Ford
Dunkirk