EmailToBCMinisterOfEducation WithAttachments RichardAjabu 2010 06 15

From: Richard Ajabu Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 5:08 PM To: 'MacDiarmid, Margaret EDUC:EX' Cc: 'Gorman,
James EDUC:EX'; 'EDUC DM EDUC:EX' Subject: Incremental Systemic Change Needed... Dear Minister of Education: It is unfortunate, but anyone who has paid attention to education issues in BC over the years must realize that the system itself is broken. I myself have tried for several years to help my local school district to see simple ways to increase revenues, decrease expenses, increase efficiency and otherwise improve for the benefit of students and the public. In fairness, some of my suggestions have been acted upon but overall school district decision-makers either just dont get it, or they dont want to get it (or both). Either way, it is clearly time for something new for the BC education system (probably long overdue). I have appended a few emails that I recently sent to my local school district (Trustees, District Admin, School Admin, etc) to give them some suggestions and to which I have not received a single reply. I have also attached some graphs that I created from Ministry of Education data that highlights some of my local school district expenses and revenues as compared to the Provincial average. This kind of comparative analysis is easy to do for any school district using the information provided by the Ministry of Education; it only takes me a couple of hours to produce these graphs every year and is a useful way to familiarize myself with historical financial data during the budget process every year. While I have noticed some school districts do a similar comparative analysis every year (ie SD33 see example graphs attached), my local school district does not. I hope that you and your staff will take a look at the appended and attached information so you will get a taste of what I am facing in my small school district (SD78). I encourage you to seriously consider making incremental, systematic changes to the BC education system for the benefit of students and the public. Three changes I would like you to consider are: 1. Amalgamate or redraw boundaries for school districts so that they are all approximately the same size (in student FTE), and make each of them sufficiently large enough so that they can take advantage of economies of scale, larger human resource pool, etc. 2. Implement better ways to ensure that emerging best practices are continuously being identified and transferred among the school districts. 3. Separate the pedagogical and administrative responsibilities of Principal/VPs so that districts can leverage less expensive school administrators (ie BCIT graduates, or similar, who could handle everything other than the pedagogical aspects of schools). I am saying get rid of the positions of Principal and Vice-Principal as we now know them. Empower teachers on a collaborative, professional basis to manage pedagogical issues in schools and require them to do so. A stronger regional presence of the BC College of Teachers (ie local chapters, etc) could play a central role in the organization, structure, and management of the pedagogical side of things. The School Act could be changed so that it does not overly constrain school districts; for example, I am not convinced that school administrators (Principals/VPs) need to be trained education professionals (certified teachers), nor do I think that trained education professionals necessarily make the best administrators (and they are too expensive on average Principal/VPs cost at least $100K per year in my local school district). I have many concrete ideas regarding the above that I am willing to share, but the above points give the general idea.
Page 1 of 5
I think we need to learn from Einsteins definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, and try something new. Education in BC needs systemic changes. Too much change at once would be disruptive, but incremental systemic change could be achieved collaboratively with the right vision and personalities. Be bold, ask for help, and give it your best. I hope this helps. Cheers, Richard Ajabu From: Richard Ajabu Sent: Sunday, May 30, 2010 12:04 PM To: [SD78 Admin] Cc: [Trustee]; [Superintendent]; [Secretary-Treasurer]; [DPAC]; [PAC] Subject: RE: Materials Presented at Tonight's Board Meeting for the Agenda and Minutes... Hi [SD78 Admin], I notice that addendum and late Item PDF documents were added to SD78 website a day after the May 25 Board meeting but neither of those documents contain the graphs that I presented to the Board at that May 25 meeting, copies of which I sent to you that same evening along with a specific request to include them in the addendum document. Question: Why did you not include those graphs in the addendum as I requested? I hope that this was a simple oversight and will be corrected because those graphs need to be included in the public record of that Board meeting so that anyone can find and use those graphs for the benefit of SD78 in the future. For your convenience, I have attached them to this email. I also hope that the minutes of that May 25 Board meeting will accurately capture the points that were raised during the Public Participation portion of the meeting because they too need to be accessible to anyone who needs them for the benefit of SD78. To make it easier for you to summarize my participation for the minutes, I summarized my points in the two emails that I sent to you previously. For your convenience, those two emails are appended below. Sincerely, Richard Ajabu From: Richard Ajabu Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 12:08 AM To: [SD78 Admin] Cc: [Trustee]; [Superintendent]; [Secretary-Treasurer]; [DPAC]; [PAC] Subject: Materials Presented at Tonight's Board Meeting for the Agenda and Minutes... Hi [SD78 Admin], I have attached the graphs I presented to the Trustees at tonights Board meeting so you can include them in an addendum to the Board Meeting Package. It is important that these graphs become part of the pubic record so that others can find and use them in the coming years during future budget processes. One PDF contains 14 graphs that I created that compare SD78
Page 2 of 5
expenditures to the Provincial average, and the other PDF contains 5 similar graphs created by the SD33 (Chilliwack) Secretary-Treasurer (an accountant) that compare SD33 expenditures to the Provincial average. Please include in the minutes for tonights Board meeting the following points that I made during my presentation: 1. SD33 starts its budget process early enough such that projected student enrolment information as well as projected surplus/deficit information is circulated to stakeholders, and consultation with stakeholders happens before budget decisions are made. 2. The Secretary-Treasurer of SD33, an accountant, creates almost the same graphs comparing district expenditures to the Provincial average as I have been creating for a few years. Those graphs help to indicate and prioritize potential opportunities for improvement by visually highlighting expenditures that stand out from the Provincial average. 3. Moving the Assistant-Superintendents salary from the Instruction category to the District Administration category is important because it brings SD78 into line with the standard Operating Fund Account Descriptions required to be used by all school districts in BC, and therefore allows comparisons between district accounting information to be more meaningful, accurate and useful. 4. For the same reason, if Principal/VPs are spending any portion of their time performing District Administration duties once performed by the District Principal, then it is important that they report that portion of their work under the District Administration category rather than under the Instruction category. That way SD78 will be better complying with school district accounting standards; SD78 accounting will more accurately reflect real operations in SD78; and that improvement in SD78 accounting accuracy will allow more meaningful, accurate and useful comparisons between BC school districts (which will enable better decision making). 5. SD78 would benefit by improving its budget process (Bylaw 24) so that the process starts earlier in the school year than it currently does, and so that the process starts with the consideration of historical graphs like those attached. Although I did not raise this next point at the Board meeting, I would like to add that the budget process would be also be improved if it concluded with a quick review of the process itself so that the process itself is improved incrementally, as necessary, every year. In fact all SD78 processes should have such self-tuning or incremental improvement formally embedded in the corresponding process bylaw/policy/regulation itself. To do so would be consistent and exemplary of an organization dedicated to learning learning and improvement, by design, would be a critical and explicit final step of each process cycle. 6. Although larger school districts may be able to apply more staff to their budget process, SD78 could leverage available human resources (employees, parents, the public and students) more efficiently by making it easier for those human resources to participate and contribute. [Open, inclusive, accessible, and transparent collaborative processes that efficiently leverage available (and inexpensive) asynchronous communication technologies like websites, online forums, email, online survey tools, etc would make participation easier and more accessible for everyone, therefore enabling more people to participate and contribute. Asynchronous online tools can help SD78 free itself from unnecessary geographical and temporal scheduling constraintscollaboration can be enabled to happen whenever and wherever it is convenient for each individual. The easier it is to participate, the more people will participate.] Good night, Richard Ajabu
Page 3 of 5
From: Richard Ajabu Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 5:55 AM To: [SD78 Admin] Cc: [DPAC]; [PAC]; [Trustee1]; [Trustee2]; [Trustee3]; [Trustee4]; [Trustee5]; [Trustee6]; [Trustee7]; [Superintendent]; [Secretary-Treasurer]; [Assistant-Superintendent]; [Principal/VP1]; [Principal/VP2]; [Principal/VP3]; [Principal/VP4]; [Principal/VP5]; [Principal/VP6]; [Principal/VP7]; [Principal/VP8]; [Principal/VP9]; [Principal/VP10]; [Principal/VP11]; [Principal/VP12]; [Principal/VP13]; [Principal/VP14] Subject: RE: Materials Presented at Tonight's Board Meeting for the Agenda and Minutes... Hi [SD78 Admin], At the May 25 Board meeting I also identified the following areas of the budget that appear to stand out from the Provincial average significantly and therefore may be good candidates for improvement (I continued the list numbering from my last email): 7. The percentage of the Services and Supplies (Instruction) expense that is budgeted for Regular Instruction is 77.3% whereas the Provincial average is 58.2%. That is 19.2% higher than the Provincial average so there may be an opportunity for improvement there. 8. The percentage of the Services and Supplies (Instruction) expense that is budgeted for Aboriginal Education is 10.0% whereas the Provincial average is 3.2%. That is more than 3 times higher than the Provincial average so there may be an opportunity for improvement there. 9. The percentage of the Services and Supplies (District Administration) expense that is budgeted for School District Governance (Trustees) is 31.2% whereas the Provincial average is 16.8%. That is almost double the Provincial average so there may be an opportunity for improvement there. 10. The percentage of the Services and Supplies (Operations and Maintenance) expense that is budgeted for Utilities is 55.6% whereas the Provincial average is 45.5%. That is 10.1% higher than the Provincial average so there may be an opportunity for improvement there. Although I did not repeat the following items at the May 25 Board meeting, here are some significant facts that I previously communicated via email and/or at budget committee meetings: 11. Overall, the total Services and Supplies expense budgeted is 16.3% of the total budget expense whereas the Provincial average is 12.0%. That is 4.3% higher than the Provincial average, or $865,257 higher than the Provincial average. 12. Secretary Treasurer Salary+Benefits is slated to increase from $128K in 2009/10 to $141K in 2010/11. Thats an increase of $13K or 10% in one year. The SecretaryTreasurer salary alone was reported as just under $105K in 2008/09. 13. The District Principal salary was reported as $102K in 2008/09. This year (2009/10) the position title was changed to Assistant-Superintendent and the salary was raised to $112K. Thats a 10% increase in one year. 14. This year (2009/10), SD78 is estimated to spend 4.3% of its budget on District Administration. The Provincial average is 3.3%. Thats $210,436 more than the Provincial average. If the Assistant-Superintendents salary was removed from the 2010/11 Budget, then SD78 would still be spending 3.8% of its budget on District Administration, which is closer to but still greater than the 3.3% Provincial average. 15. The average Principal/VP salary in SD78 is about $100K. The average Teacher salary is about $75K in SD78. SD78 Principal/VPs only do School Administration work for 59% of their billable time. The Provincial average is 69%. And SD78 has 14 FTE of Principal/VPs and only 10 schools (2 of which are alternate education sites). If SD78
Page 4 of 5
reduced the total number of Principal/VPs in SD78 by 2 FTE, reassigned the total School Administration workload among the remaining Principal/VPs, and increased the total number of Teachers by 2 FTE in order to teach 2 FTE worth of Regular Instruction previously being taught by Principal/VPs, then the same total amount of work would be accomplished, Principal/VP efficiency in SD78 would increase to the Provincial average (69%) AND SD78 would save about $50K. Notice that single improvement in Principal/VP efficiency could save SD78 the same amount of money that the Spring break extension is projected to save. And that is just one example based on what the average Principal/VP is already doing in BC. If SD78 set its expectations even higher than the BC average then it might be able to achieve even greater savings (after all, some districts are achieving 96% School Administration duties from their Principal/VPs). Attempting to achieve at least the provincial average certainly doesnt seem to be an overly ambitious goal for SD78, especially in consideration of current and projected economic realities; its a goal worthy of serious consideration. Cheers, Richard Ajabu
Page 5 of 5
May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 1 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON TEACHERS SALARIES COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$1,200,000
$1,000,000
$800,000
$600,000
$400,000
$200,000
$03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07
02/03
07/08
08/09
09/10*
10/11**
-$200,000 -$349,633 -$449,884 -$579,187 -$560,671 -$729,020 -$903,149 -$878,331
-$400,000
-$394,825
-$600,000
Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)
-$800,000
-$1,000,000
-$1,200,000 School Year
-$1,126,847
Calculated using data from Audited Financial Statements, except when not yet available (as noted at right):
* Calculated using data from Amended Annual Budget ** Calculated using data from Annual Budget
May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 2 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON PRINCIPALS AND VICE PRINCIPALS SALARIES COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$600,000 $467,051 $500,162
$400,000 $303,990 $219,642 $166,922 $67,622 $187,205 $301,834
$229,005
$200,000
$03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07
02/03
07/08
08/09
09/10*
10/11**
-$200,000
-$400,000
-$600,000 School Year
May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 3 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANTS SALARIES COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$400,000 $352,791 $349,329
$339,350
$200,000 $101,876 $116,568
$193,709 $120,013
$107,015
$03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07
02/03
07/08
08/09
09/10*
10/11**
-$100,611
-$200,000
May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 4 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON SUPPORT STAFF SALARIES COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$200,000
$141,761
$56,236
$65,281
$14,323 $0
03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10* 10/11**
$-$989
02/03
-$26,927
-$116,725
-$123,963
May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 4 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON OTHER PROFESSIONALS SALARIES COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$400,000
$200,000
$37,831
$03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07
02/03
07/08
08/09
09/10*
10/11**
-$20,122 -$25,576 -$93,151 -$111,881 -$162,665 -$128,848 -$184,219
-$200,000
-$205,618
May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 6 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON SUBSTITUTES SALARIES COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$400,000 $316,203 $270,606 $241,766 $301,834
$200,000
$41,183 $36,552 $29,383

06/07 07/08
$41,150
$03/04 04/05 05/06
02/03
08/09
09/10*
10/11**
-$21,563
-$200,000
May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 7 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON TOTAL SALARIES COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$800,000
$600,000
$400,000
$200,000 $53,808
03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08
$69,354
$-$97,913 -$76,047
02/03
08/09
09/10*
10/11**
-$39,328
-$38,020
-$200,000
-$400,000 -$406,375 -$417,446
-$600,000 -$623,790
May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 8 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON TOTAL BENEFITS COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$200,000
$03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07
02/03
07/08
08/09
09/10*
10/11**
-$32,081 -$45,081
-$44,489
-$95,847 -$134,433
-$130,581 -$130,074
-$140,856 -$178,858 School Year
-$200,000
May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 9 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON TOTAL SALARIES AND BENEFITS COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$800,000
$600,000
$400,000
$200,000 $21,728
03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08
$24,865
08/09 09/10* 10/11**
$-
02/03
-$200,000 -$209,893
-$169,908
-$171,894 -$216,878
-$400,000 -$451,455 -$551,878
-$600,000
-$784,768
May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 10 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON TOTAL SERVICES & SUPPLIES COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$784,768
$800,000
$600,000 $451,455
$551,878
$400,000 $209,893 $171,894 $216,878
$200,000
$169,908
$03/04
02/03
-$21,728
04/05
05/06
06/07
07/08
-$24,865
08/09
09/10*
10/11**
-$200,000
-$400,000
-$600,000
May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 11 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON INSTRUCTION COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$800,000
$600,000
$400,000
$200,000 $32,279
03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07
$1,563
07/08 08/09 09/10* 10/11**
$-$109,174 -$79,290
02/03
-$200,000
-$131,314
-$400,000
-$328,716 -$430,898
-$410,502
-$600,000 -$633,689

May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 12 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$400,000 $309,802
$244,319 $210,436
$200,000 $130,384 $104,311 $57,272 $45,677 $11,762

03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10* 10/11**
$50,808
$-
02/03
-$200,000

May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 13 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$400,000
$200,000
$18,841
03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10* 10/11**
$-$38,667
02/03
-$95,133
-$200,000 -$226,636 -$263,880 -$286,684 -$296,254 -$277,944
-$234,135

May 22, 2010
Richard Ajabu
Page 14 of 14
PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010
$400,000 $362,998 $307,319 $253,303 $237,428 $230,806 $199,117 $315,797
$388,072
$305,243
$200,000
$03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07
02/03
07/08
08/09
09/10*
10/11**
-$200,000

Teacher Salaries
50.0%
48.0%
46.0%
44.0%
42.0%
40.0%
38.0%
KAMLOOPS NORTH VANCOUVER DELTA ABBOTSFORD PROVINCE
Source 2009-10 Budget Information
CHILLIWACK PRINCE GEORGE MAPLE RIDGE
Educational Assistants
10.0%
9.0%
8.0%
7.0%
6.0%
5.0%
4.0%
3.0%
2.0%
1.0%
0.0%
Support Staff
12.0%
10.0%
8.0%
6.0%
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%
Principals & VP's
7.0%
6.0%
5.0%
4.0%
3.0%
2.0%
0.0%
CHILLIWACK
Estimate with Restructuring Changes
1.0%
PRINCE GEORGE MAPLE RIDGE
KAMLOOPS
NORTH VANCOUVER
DELTA
ABBOTSFORD
PROVINCE
Other Professionals
3.0%
2.5%
2.0%
1.5%
1.0%
0.0%
CHILLIWACK
Estimate with Restructuring Changes
0.5%
PRINCE GEORGE MAPLE RIDGE
KAMLOOPS
NORTH VANCOUVER
DELTA
ABBOTSFORD
PROVINCE

EmailToBCMinisterOfEducation WithAttachments RichardAjabu 2010 06 15

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

EmailToBCMinisterOfEducation WithAttachments RichardAjabu 2010 06 15

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

From: Richard Ajabu Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 5:08 PM To: 'MacDiarmid, Margaret EDUC:EX' Cc: 'Gorman,

May 22, 2010

$03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07

-$200,000 -$349,633 -$449,884 -$579,187 -$560,671 -$729,020 -$903,149 -$878,331

Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)

-$1,200,000 School Year

May 22, 2010

$600,000 $467,051 $500,162

$400,000 $303,990 $219,642 $166,922 $67,622 $187,205 $301,834

$03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07

Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)

-$600,000 School Year

May 22, 2010

$400,000 $352,791 $349,329

$200,000 $101,876 $116,568

$03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07

Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)

-$400,000 School Year

May 22, 2010

Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)

-$200,000 School Year

May 22, 2010

$03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07

-$20,122 -$25,576 -$93,151 -$111,881 -$162,665 -$128,848 -$184,219

Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)

-$400,000 School Year

May 22, 2010

$400,000 $316,203 $270,606 $241,766 $301,834

$41,183 $36,552 $29,383

$03/04 04/05 05/06

Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)

-$400,000 School Year

May 22, 2010

-$400,000 -$406,375 -$417,446

Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)

-$800,000 School Year

May 22, 2010

$03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07

Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)

-$140,856 -$178,858 School Year

May 22, 2010

-$400,000 -$451,455 -$551,878

Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)

-$800,000 School Year

May 22, 2010

$400,000 $209,893 $171,894 $216,878

Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)

-$800,000 School Year

May 22, 2010

PROPORTION OF SD78 BUDGET SPENT ON INSTRUCTION COMPARED TO PROVINCIAL AVERAGE 2002-2010

Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)

-$800,000 School Year

May 22, 2010

$200,000 $130,384 $104,311 $57,272 $45,677 $11,762

Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)

-$400,000 School Year

May 22, 2010

-$200,000 -$226,636 -$263,880 -$286,684 -$296,254 -$277,944

Difference From Provincal Average Spent By SD78 (Dollars)

-$400,000 School Year

May 22, 2010

$400,000 $362,998 $307,319 $253,303 $237,428 $230,806 $199,117 $315,797

$03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07