12/10/13

District extremely bloated - The Greenwood Commonwealth: News

District extremely bloated

By BOB DARDEN Staff Writer | Posted: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 2:00 pm The Leflore County School District is an extremely bloated institution with almost twice as many employees as it should have, according to the conservator sent by the state to bring the failing district back into shape. Robert Strebeck, in a candid presentation to the Greenwood Rotary Club Monday, said the overstaffing is just one of many problems he has discovered since arriving in the district in late October. The district was taken over by the Mississippi Board of Education after receiving an accountability grade of F for two consecutive years based on low scores on state tests and low graduation rates. At that time, the superintendent, Dr. Viola Williams McCaskill, and all five school board members were removed from office and their compensation ended. Strebeck said one of the first things he did after his arrival was order a personnel audit. The school district employs 541 people, including 266 teachers, he said. With a student population of 2,800, that should equate to an average of 11 students per class. Thats not happening, Strebeck said. Weve got classes that are full. Where are all those people? When asked to provide a percentage of how bloated the districts employment was, Strebeck said he would estimate it was almost 50 percent. Ive never in my life seen anything like this, said Strebeck, a veteran Mississippi educator who has served as a conservator previously in five other troubled school districts. There are going to be some changes made at the end of the (school) year. Im going to try my best to honor contracts until the end of the year. Probably about May or June it is going to hit the fan. It is going to happen, he said. Strebeck said he is sympathetic for the toll the pending job cuts will take. Were talking about human beings who are teachers and administrators. They are human beings with families, said Strebeck, 63. Strebeck said he has already taken care of excessive personnel costs that were added in the final weeks of the previous administration. According to Strebeck, during the six weeks that the takeover was blocked by a legal challenge filed by the school board, it met unofficially six times.
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12/10/13

District extremely bloated - The Greenwood Commonwealth: News

They hired some people, they gave people raises among other things, Strebeck said. All of those hires and raises have been rescinded, he said. When asked later about Strebecks claim, Shemeka Collins, the former president of the Leflore County School Board, said she didnt have any knowledge of raises and hirings taking place during her final days on the board. I didnt do any of that, she said. Collins said she didnt attend most of those special call meetings and had gone on record as opposing new hires. Strebeck said he has been working with a financial adviser sent by the state to straighten out the districts bookkeeping. I have been in the district since Oct. 28, and I cannot tell you what my fund balance is because of the financial situation that I inherited, he said. The districts former longtime business manager, Doug Segars, retired last December, and the district didnt hire his replacement until July, going without a business manager for some seven months. The result was chaos, Strebeck said. Bank statements were not reconciled. They just continued to spend, spend, spend without any knowledge of what they had. I dont know about you, but at home, Id be in trouble if that happened, he said. Safety and a deteriorating physical plant are also significant concerns, according to Strebeck. And there are 66 seniors in the district this year who may not graduate in May because they have not passed one or more of the four subject area tests required by the state. He said efforts are being made to provide remediation to the students in an effort to improve their test scores. The district is also making sure that teachers are teaching the curriculum frameworks as required by the state. When asked about possible consolidation of the Leflore County and Greenwood districts, Strebeck said the concept made sense, but he emphasized that he was not endorsing a merger. I realize that is a full can of worms, he said. Im not here to advocate that. Dr. Montrell Greene, superintendent of the Greenwood School District and a Rotarian, said afterward that he didnt have a problem with discussing consolidation. Strebeck said hes committed to turning the Leflore County district around.
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District extremely bloated - The Greenwood Commonwealth: News

Everything that I try to do for this school district is in the best interest of the boys and girls. It is about boys and girls. It is about students. It is not about adults. I want to drive that point home, he said. For the school district to be successful, the community must get more involved and hold those in charge accountable, he said. You get what you deserve. If you look the other way, if you dont accept responsibility for the public schools in your community, its on you. Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.

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