Taylor proposes restructuring EBR school system

I have witnessed attempts to solve problems by delegating responsibility without accountability too many times to count. I can't recall many successful attempts. Insufficient resources to accomplish the task is usually the first explanation for lack of success.

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the 80 Principals in the EBRPSS will now be expected to perform a budgeting/prioritizing function that they have zero training or experience doing.

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So, principals are completely ill-equipped to put together a budget and determine effective instructional programs/initiatives for their student population?

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How much experience do you think they have in budgeting for repairs and maintenance to buildings, purchasing cleaning supplies and other mundane aspects of operating a school that they have never had to worry about?

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And you believe principals won't be allowed to see or even ask what their schools historical expenses in those areas have been?

And as for accountability, if a schools performance goes down or stays down, why do you assume the principal won't be held accountable for it?

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How much experience do you think they have in budgeting for repairs and maintenance to buildings, purchasing cleaning supplies and other mundane aspects of operating a school that they have never had to worry about? The budgeting isn't limited to instructional programs.

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The school board subcontracted out janitorial and maintenance service to Aramark years ago.

I don't think the principals have anything to do with that anymore other than maybe to report problems.

ETA (from 2004)

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BATON ROUGE, LA — The East Baton Rouge Parish school system is holding a series of informational meetings this week to explain to more than 400 custodians, maintenance, groundskeeping and warehouse workers what will happen now that their jobs are in the hands of ARAMARK,, according to the Advocate. The School Board voted Thursday to approve a $22.5 million contract with ARAMARK, the article said. The school system has set up an automated 24-hour information line outlining meeting times, and has a four-page application for employment with ARAMARK

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Full article.............LINK

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My thoughts exactly.

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I actually agree that the Principals should be doing this. I like the idea. I'm concerned about the execution. This is the EBRPSS we are talking about. They have a history of plans poorly executed. The plan as announced is to just dump it into the Principals' laps.

Just a few additional observations/questions. What will the Superintendent's office role be in the budgeting process? Will they dictate the goals and objectives for each school and Principal? What will be the public's input in the process? What resources will be available to the Principals to assist them in preparing the budgets? (Experts to help them review prior operations and finances to establish some baselines. I don't expect the Principals to try and completely reinvent the wheel.) What steps will be taken to eliminate as many redundant programs, and corresponding expenses, as practical? (Some programs should be concentrated at as few schools as practical to promote efficiency.) These are not all of my questions, but they should give some ideas of the details that need to be addressed before adopting Taylor's proposal.

Do you plan on asking your school board representative those questions?

Asking them only on this board is a waste of time, unless your real goal is to impress other posters but you really don't want to know the answers to your questions.

ETA: Your questions are good and need to be answered.

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His proposal should be thrown in the garbage can until his school system can undergo an audit by a reputable firm.

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Do you mean the audit that recently came out or the financial statement audit?

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How radical of a change would this be?

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I wouldn't call it "radical"...it isn't a secret that schools who serve a poor demographic are subject to increased funding.

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Shouldn't roughly the same amount be spent on each child (discounting special needs children, and slow learners, or kids with disabilities)?

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Not necessarily...under-performing schools need the extra funding to provide more instructional staff to lower S/T ratios, increased access to technology, intervention programs, etc...the problem is, quite often the money is placed into the hands of total (sometimes corrupt) morons and is spent without any rhyme, reason, or benefit...just throwing money at the problem without any real plan. I can't even begin to tell you how many instructional initiatives (that cost a significant amount of money) were implemented and never followed through on, outside consultants that set foot on campus once and never returned, etc. That's what you get when you have district mandates instead of principals making decisions in the best interest of their campus.

The school system has done a fairly good job of handling their finances. They are audited regularly by outside firms and have gone years if not decades without audit findings in the general fund. They have some of the lowest millage rates as far as school systems go in the area. Handling their finances doesn't seem to be one of their weaknesses.

Why would you take something that is being handled well by people who know what they are doing, who understand concepts of supplanting federal dollars, audit findings, and all the other legal requirements placed on them by the state and federal government? Why would you want people who have only balanced their personal checkbook handling millions of dollars? Most principals were teachers and before that they were students. You are asking people who have done nothing but instruction to become a CFO. This has disaster written all over it. If anyone has any experience working in a school system you would know that this is going to be a recipe for all kinds of problems.