Savoy

As discussed earlier, now that the teachers' union has ratified the recently negotiated contract with Unit 4, a little more information is being made available.

Champaign teachers voted Tuesday afternoon to ratify a new three-year contract that includes raises of 4.5 percent per year for each of the next three years for most teachers, and increases beyond that for teachers with more than 21 years of experience.

"I'm happy with what they've put up for us," said Franklin Middle School teacher Cindy Stein. "They've got some good proposals that I think, outside the salary, are nice additions."

Hundreds of Champaign's 700-plus teachers showed up at Centennial High School to vote, and they approved the contract – retroactive to July 1 – by about a three-to-one margin, said Bottenfield Elementary librarian Patricia Plaut.

The Unit 4 Board will vote on this contract later this month.

In light of the imminent Champaign County Sales Tax referendum, I have been intrigued by the relative flurry of activity. Having followed and done a bit of reading about the Consent Decree, talked to Unit 4 Board Members, community activists, reporters and parents, I am fascinated by all that is being said and done on this issue.

Which leaves me befuddled; I hear people saying that Unit 4 is a mess, that the schools are in trouble, etc etc, and I know of many people that have left for the "greener pastures" of Mahomet, Monticello and even Tolono. Why? Granted, I do not have any children in school, and I have yet to make a personal visit to any school, which is why I am reserving my own judgement. But what in particular makes the general impression of Unit 4 Secondary Education "bad"? I really do want to know.

There are certainly verifiably good things going on in Unit 4. If one chooses to use the standardized tests as a metric, the scores have been going up. In fact, the elementary schools are doing great! There are lots of special programs offered at various locations, and lots of exciting opportunities. There have been several innovative planning sessions invovling prominent and lay folks alike, collaborations like Great Campus and Great Schools Together. We have a lot of awesome diversity here in the Champaign area, a rich mixture of cultures. I have heard that there is much less diversity in Mahomet, which makes comparison of the various schools rather awkward at best.

I am not looking for opinions about the administration; I have heard an earful about that. And the reasons for the Consent Decree (in all its awful glory) have been spelled out many times; no need to rehash that. Why is there "white flight"? Why is there distrust, especially in the current climate? Call me naive, but I am trying to learn.

In posting this, I am looking for feedback. I plan to answer my own questions as I talk to more folks, review the many postings on IP and what is still publicly available online with News-Gazette. With all the verbiage swirling around, I am finding it is hard to seperate the facts from the thoughts, the objective from the subjective.

In closing, my one challenge is that if things really are a mess, we get out there and clean it up. Kudos to those who have worked hard to that end; they need more recognition.

There's now a campaign committee pushing the sales tax.

The committee, Citizens Looking at Supporting Schools, with between 15 and 18 members, has been meeting for about two months, said Lin Warfel, who co-chairs the committee with Susan Abbott. The members come from all the school districts in the county.

The committee worked with two Springfield consultants on how to structure the campaign to promote the tax increase, Warfel said.

I've only seen one anti-sales-tax sign, and it was homemade, and no pro-sales-tax signs or materials.

Also, Unit 4 announces more of its intentions if the sales tax passes:

The Champaign school district plans to build a new elementary school in Savoy using the money from the countywide school facilities sales tax if the proposal passes in November.

The district would close Carrie Busey Elementary School and move the staff and students to the new school in Savoy in 2011. It would also extensively renovate six other elementary schools.

Discuss.

UPDATE:  From the comments:

The volunteer group promoting the sales tax increase is called CLASS (Citizens Looking At Supporting Schools).
Their new website is here: http://www.champaigncountyclass.cc/

Thanks!

Today's News-Gazette:

The Champaign school district and its teachers' union reached a tentative contract agreement Wednesday night.

They reached the agreement after four and a half hours of negotiating, with the help of a federal mediator. It was the third time the two sides had met with the mediator.

The main issue that had to be resolved Wednesday was pay raises for teachers. Neither side released details of the three-year agreement.

Will details be released before the Board votes on the contract?

It's budget time at Champaign Unit 4:

The Champaign school district is in good financial shape, even though its budget of nearly $100 million for the current school year has a $1.8 million deficit, says Gene Logas, the chief financial officer for the district.

The district has the money to cover the difference between what it will spend this school year and the money it will bring in, from surpluses the past two years and from working cash, Logas said.

"You can't simply look at the deficit in the '09 budget and say the sky is falling. You really need to look at it in ... perspective," Logas said.

He'll present the 2008-09 budget to the school board at its meeting Monday at 7 p.m. at the Mellon Administrative Center, 703 S. New St., C. The budget covers the fiscal year that began July 1 and ends June 30, 2009.

The district will get $800,000 less in general state aid this fiscal year, Logas said. As the assessed value of property within a school district increases, the amount of money it receives from the state decreases. However, the amount of additional money the Champaign school district could get from the growth in property values is limited by tax caps.

Good news:

The district is also spending $1.5 million on new positions this year, most of them teachers. About $500,000 is for staffing the alternative academy that recently opened on North Randolph Street, for high school students who aren't doing well in a traditional, large high school setting.

Bad news:

An extra $500,000 has been budgeted for attorneys' fees this year – the last year of the district's consent decree....

He also noted that if the consent decree ends as scheduled in June 2009, the district will have about $2 million more available that is now used for attorney fees related to the consent decree.

Sheesh.

Champaign Unit 4's School Board reveals a bit about its plans for anticipated sales tax revenue:

The Champaign school district would rebuild Washington Elementary School and add more space at Garden Hills Elementary School, with the goal of making each a magnet school, under a recommendation to be made to the Champaign school board Monday.

The proposed project would allow the school district to meet its consent decree requirement to add more elementary seats in north Champaign. The school district will also be working with the Champaign park district.

Discuss.

For the second year in a row, the annual Showcase of Homes will be in Savoy. Fieldstone subdivision is located just east of Rt. 45 on Airport Rd. The Showcase starts today and runs through July 27th.

If you are anything like me, I get a bit envious seeing the clever alcoves, gigantic home theaters and all those kitchen cabinets. Who buys these places anyway? Sigh.

From yesterday's News-Gazette:

Purchase of the Lo property means that, out of 19 properties, only one 7-acre piece would remain to be acquired. Schmidt said the local governments are likely going to have to use their "quick-take" eminent domain authority to obtain that property, which he said is owned by a defunct land trust. Under quick take, the city gets immediate control of the property while a purchase price is litigated.

The next phase of the Curtis Road project calls for building a four- and five-lane road for 1 1/2 miles from Wynstone Drive in Champaign to Wesley Avenue in Savoy. It will cost $12.1 million. Of that amount, $5.7 million will be federal funding, with the county paying $3.7 million and Champaign and Savoy paying $1.6 million each.

Discuss.

Both Champaign Unit 4 and Rantoul Township High School boards have voted to support a November ballot question asking voters for a one percent sales tax increase to support education.  Both Districts are using a miniscule amount of property tax relief to mask their request for the largest-possible tax increase, as have most other area school districts, and most media reports are emphasizing the property tax relief as if it somehow offsets the sales tax revenue which will be generated.

It will be interesting to see if the County Board puts the full one-percent increase on the ballot, or if they settle for a smaller amount.

And it will be interesting to see how long the "this is about property tax relief" storyline is allowed to play out before people realize that the sales tax revenues of a one percent increase are several times larger than the maximum amount of property tax relief allowable.

There is another batch of Great Schools Together community forums:

The schedule for the upcoming forums is:

– 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Washington Elementary School, 606 E. Grove St., C. Topic: Excellence and Equity.

– 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 5, Garden Hills Elementary School, 2001 Garden Hills Drive, C. Topic: Programs.

– 2 to 4 p.m. May 18, Barkstall Elementary School, 2201 Hallbeck Drive, C. Topic: Buildings.

– 10 a.m. to noon, and 2 to 4 p.m. May 31, Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, 1310 N. Sixth St., C. Open topic forums, with a cook-out between forums.

This is really cool:

WILL AM-FM-TV is videotaping interviews at each forum and posting them on a Web site dedicated to the school planning process. It is http://will.atlas.uiuc.edu/greatschools.

Discuss.

Champaign Unit 4 is studying its demographics:

Tomlinson said new housing in north and northwest Champaign has added families in that area. The school district needs to put more elementary seats in the north part of Champaign to satisfy a requirement of the consent decree. He said the data shows a need in the future for a school in north Champaign.

He said southwest Champaign is built out to the school district boundaries, but there is still growth to the south.

The study also shows the Asian and Latino populations in the Champaign school district are growing, the black population is holding steady, and the white population is down somewhat because of a declining birth rate.

Are they talking about population living in District boundaries or population enrolled in schools?

From today's News-Gazette:

Greg Novak, a member of the Champaign school board and Savoy resident, said the school district would be going on the record endorsing a countywide sales tax to be put on the November ballot.

A state sales tax law, which took effect last year and patterned after one in Iowa, allows an increase – if voters approve – of a quarter-cent, half-cent or full cent.

"This is a first step to see if this something we can pursue," Novak said.

The sales tax would be solely used for infrastructure and existing debt.

Eighty percent of the revenue generated would be distributed to school districts based on their enrollment. The remaining 20 percent would get banked to serve as a buffer, according to Novak.

Novak said that if the tax were increased by one cent, the estimates show Tolono would receive $1.1 million; Urbana, $3.1 million; Mahomet, $2 million; and Champaign would receive $6.8 million.

The school board would then issue bonds and debt for capital services. With the bonds, he said an estimated $50 million to $60 million could be generated. He said a portion of this money could be used for a new elementary school.

"Savoy has been mentioned (as a site)," he said. "Savoy is one of the areas the board is obligated to look at."

This sales-tax-for-education referenda is starting to sound more and more like a certainty instead of a possibility.

The first Champaign Unit 4 "Great Schools Together"community forum will be tonight at 6:30 PM at Centennial.

From today's News-Gazette:

The biggest challenge for Champaign school Superintendent Arthur Culver in the next year or so will be to see the district's consent decree come to a successful conclusion.

That was a priority for the Champaign school board when they evaluated Culver in closed session Monday night.

The board discussed with Culver both the things they felt were going well in the district and those areas where they want to see improvement.

"Making sure this last year of the consent decree, we really continue to ... satisfactorily meet the goals that were laid out ... We see that as a big issue in the next year and a half to complete that, and probably the biggest thing facing the district," said board President Dave Tomlinson.

Discuss.

From yesterday's News-Gazette:

Under the approved agreement, most residential property will not be annexed for 25 years. But all new developments will have to annex into the MTD district once they are annexed into the village and become contiguous with the MTD boundary.

"We're throwing them under the bus," Dykstra said. Even if those individuals know about the tax, Dykstra said, they will not want to pay it. She said now that the agreement has been passed, she hopes to see the village watch over the MTD and challenge the district to prove its services are being used.

Trustee Bill Smith said he had some concerns about the MTD and asked about having a representative work closely with the transit board.

"I'm disappointed because we as a village had the unique opportunity to make MTD accountable in a variety of ways," Dykstra said. "I think we've missed it."

Discuss.

From the NG:

Savoy voters decided by an overwhelming majority Tuesday to approve a half-cent sales tax increase.

The results ended with 74 percent of the voters approving the increase and 26 percent opposed. Also, 73 people, who participated in the voting, did not vote on the ballot question.

Savoy shoppers will see the sales tax increase from 6.5 to 7 percent starting April 1.

The MTD rejects the Savoy annexation agreement:

Champaign-Urbana's mass transit board on Wednesday unanimously rejected an annexation agreement with Savoy that would have required rebating tax money to the village.

The issue has been left hanging since November, when Savoy's board voted 5-1 to forward an agreement with MTD that changes its annexation map and stipulates that the MTD must reimburse the village for 10 percent of the Savoy property tax payments for 25 years.

The rebated money would be used to repair and maintain roads.

Though MTD did not have a board meeting in December, individual members have been saying for nearly two months that approving the tax rebates would set a dangerous precedent, suggesting to boards in Champaign and Urbana or any future annexation area that they seek infrastructure reimbursement.

CUMTD had a blog post responding to concerns about road damage here.

From today's News-Gazette:

The Champaign school board will begin its evaluation of Superintendent Arthur Culver on Thursday evening, but it won't be extending his contract any further this year.

The board will meet in closed session at 6 p.m. at the Mellon Administrative Center, 703 S. New St., C, but it will not formally evaluate Culver at the meeting.

Board President Dave Tomlinson said Culver asked that his contract not be extended this year.

"He felt the new board wanted more time to work with him before making any decision to extend or not extend," Tomlinson said, adding the decision not to discuss a contract extension this year was a joint one between Culver and the board.

With five new board members elected last spring, it was not the time to ask for a contract extension, Culver said.

"It's not fair to this current board," he said. "They want a part of setting goals." Culver's current contract goes through 2012.

Discuss.

From today's News-Gazette, a follow-up by Champaign Unit 4 School Board to discussions on here last week:

A Champaign school board member questioned whether allowing students an excused tardy for them to pray at school is justifiable.

The issue came up at a school board meeting Monday evening.

School board member Greg Novak said the issue is not one of school prayer, but of allowing the students to arrive late for class because they were praying.

Novak noted the biggest discipline problem at the Champaign high schools is tardiness. He said the district must remain neutral on the issue of school prayer, and he questioned whether it was doing so by allowing the excused tardies.

Discuss.

From an email:

We received a legal opinion from our attorney regarding the practice of daily prayer by Muslim students in our schools.  According to our attorney’s analysis of legal statutes and case law, the District’s past practice of allowing the students a designated time and place to practice their religion is appropriate.  The District does not encourage or participate in the practice of said religion, but, neither do we inhibit the student’s practice of his religion.  Staff has reported that providing a designated place for a Muslim student’s daily prayer is less disruptive than forcing the students to seek random accommodations for the practice of their religion.  
 
I understand your concerns, however, to change our current practice could violate the rights of students.  This practice applies to all students.  Thank you for communicating your concerns.  
 
Arthur Culver

Discuss.