From the Sonoran News…
CCUSD is all about the spin and money
And while the district professes poverty has prevented it from completing “critical capital projects,” taxpayers may want to note Superintendent Debbie Burdick authorized the expenditure of $18,000 to engage Primary Consultants, LLC to conduct a push poll to try to garner support for the override election.
District policy does not require board approval for expenditures less than $30,000.
And, the district spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $48,000 to install electronic marquees at three of its schools so it can have “optimal communication with parents and the public.”
Since the electronic marquees also cost less than $30,000 each, the district did not require board approval for those purchases either.
So there you go $66,000 and not one penny of that money spent will improve the learning and achievement of our students on the classroom.
And let’s not forget that we were told that we could not implement the IB program for our elementary schools because it was too expensive.
So there you have it, politics and ‘optimal communication’ over academics.
Is CCUSD really a cash-starved school district, as many school administrators have proclaimed? No!
ReplyDeleteCCUSD revenue surpluses in the 2009-10 school year were $2.4 million in the overall M&O accounts, which are intended to fund district daily operations. CCUSD has also experienced such revenue surpluses (defined as revenues less actual expenditures) several times in the past four years.
CCUSD administrators have also repeatedly announced that they lack funding for textbook, computers, library resources, instructions aids, etc and have frequently called upon parents/PTOs for contributions. Yet, unrestricted capital outlay and soft capital allocation funds, which normally pay for these items, showed a $1.9 million revenue surplus in the 2009-10 school year.
As for budget overrides, CCUSD will receive its last budget override money in another three school years (2013-14) and may require some additional funding four years from now (2014-15 school year).
So, the M&O override funding will last for another three school years! And, CCUSD has not actually spent over $5 million of its M&O/capital revenues in the past four years! Shouldn't the district taxpayer question why CCUSD administrators now ask for a 15% budget override rather than when they will actually need it for the 2014-5 school year? And, when CCUSD asks for such additional funding, can they assure the district voter that they have, indeed, spent all the revenues provided to them by district taxpayers (no significant revenue surpluses)?
Otherwise, what is the justification for the district to now ask for another budget override? One wonders whether the district is merely being opportunistic?