On the block

For the better part of two years, school administrators have been crunching the numbers, looking for ways to reduce expenses in the face of steadily declining enrollment.

That’s led to tough decisions for Jay School Board, closing schools and consolidating operations.

But it turns out that consolidation alone won’t solve financial woes.

Faced with a capital project with a price tag of more than $20 million, superintendent Jeremy Gulley knew that a remonstrance and referendum on the project were likely.

So he went looking for outside assistance, figuring that he needed to be able to show that the project would put Jay Schools on sound fiscal footing.

The numbers, however, said otherwise.

“I was surprised,” said Gulley. “We all were surprised.”

An outside analysis by consulting firm Administrator Assistance concluded — even if the $20 million project were shelved — the school corporation will be drowning in red ink within a few years unless it dramatically reduces personnel costs related to block scheduling at the high school and team teaching at the middle school level.

“It was the longest cash flow projection we ever asked for,” said Gulley. “It was long-term planning. The results were startling. It shows a foreseeable and unsustainable deficit.”

The seven-year projection, which also involved former business manager Brad DeRome and interim business manager Michael Bush, was predicated on annual raises of 2 percent through 2024.

“We’ve had a third party review our financial position, and we can’t ignore that,” Gulley said. “We’ve got a responsibility to tell the truth while we still can.”

The long-term projections shifted the discussion to staffing levels, and those are directly related to block scheduling and team teaching.

“We are 30 positions over” when compared with school corporations with similar student enrollment numbers. Currently, there are 225 certified staff for an enrollment of 3,125. “We’re way off the chart. … We can’t afford to keep that form of schedule.” 

Gulley said he remains a fan of block scheduling, which is used by only a handful of high schools in the state, but it is simply too expensive.

Under block scheduling, students can choose from 80 different course offerings, including a number of popular electives and vocational classes. That would drop to 56 under a typical seven-period school day, which is the norm for most high schools.

Annual savings with a seven-period day are estimated at $1.5 million beginning with 2020 and up to $15 million through 2030.

“We estimate the elimination of 20 to 30 jobs,” said Gulley.

In addition, the switch led to a major revision of renovation work needed for the next step in consolidation, dropping the estimated costs from more than $20 million to about $9 million.

Fewer teachers and fewer course offerings will result in fewer classrooms at both the high school and junior high level, Gulley said.

Two laboratory classrooms now used by the high school, for example, will be made available for junior high science classes, said Jay County High School principal Chad Dodd.

“We can juggle rooms in a different manner,” said guidance counselor Vickie Reitz.

The shift — if approved by the board at its Feb. 18 meeting — would take effect in August 2020, by which time the renovation and construction work would be completed.

In the meantime, changes in curriculum and student schedules will be worked on.

“Probably this spring we’ll start to prioritize which (courses) stay and which are removed,” said Dodd. “I see the South Adams vocational courses continuing to be offered.”

“It’s just a matter of planning,” said Reitz. “We’ll go back through (student schedules) with each kid.”

“That’s why the year (to make the transition) is needed,” added Dodd.

Gulley acknowledged there will be some impact on class size, bringing Jay Schools in line with its neighboring school districts.

“Class size will go up, but it shouldn’t go up significantly,” said Reitz.

Administrators acknowledge community concern about vocational classes and dual credit courses, but Gulley noted that JCHS had an active vocational program before it adopted block scheduling in the 1990s and said dual credit courses would continue. He noted that most high schools offering early college credit classes are already on a seven-period day.