The Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District and its teachers union reached a settlement in the nick of time. With the start of school only days away, the school board announced at its Aug. 27 meeting that it had approved new contracts with the unions representing teachers and the support staff, avoiding a strike.

In a 4-1 vote, the board approved three-year contracts with both unions; each contract has an optional fourth year. The district says the new agreements will save more than $6 million over four years.

The union members agreed to maintain their current salary schedules through the 2014-15 school year, with steps frozen and not restored in the future. Teachers who continue their education will receive pay raises based on the current salary schedule.

The health care plan was also reworked, and the district projects savings of more than $3.8 million over four years. Under the new contracts, union members will contribute 15 percent of premium costs for health and dental insurance, and prescription drugs.

In addition, coverage will not be offered to union members’ spouses who are eligible to participate in group plans offered by their own employers (there are some exceptions). The contracts provide for spousal premium reimbursement, which will be capped at $125 per month during the life of the contract.

Another major part of the new agreement, an eight-hour teacher workday, which includes planning time, will be the standard.

The dissenting vote came from board member Mark Dosen. ”These new agreements do contain meaningful and significant concessions that will have a positive effect on district finances for years to come,”said Dosen. ”However, there were a few areas where this agreement fell short for me.”

Dosen cited the lack of a second-tier salary schedule, claiming it means the school district did not address the long-term problem of accelerated salary increases for educators elevated to the top pay level in 15 years.

He also felt that the cost structure needed work. ”Until we correct this fundamental problem with our cost structure, sustainability will be elusive,”said Dosen.  “For me, that unfortunately, was a deal-breaker as I was committed to addressing both our short-term and our long-term economic  challenges.”

Throughout the course of contract negotiations, the school district had received plenty of attention, both locally and nationally. ”We appreciate the support of the community in terms of their comments and actions,”said board member David Tryon. ”We thank our teachers and support staff for the savings we will realize now and in the future.”

Superintendent Scot Prebles echoed Tryon, offering up his own praise for the agreements. ”I am pleased with this outcome,” he said. ”Students, families and our community did not have to endure a

work stoppage.”

Prebles also said he was glad sports and extracurricular activities went off without a hitch and that he is looking forward to the new school year getting off to a great start.

For Dosen, he remained optimistic - and cautious - about the future. ”While these agreements do provide significant cost savings through lower benefit levels and step freezes, they also leave a heavy tax burden for the community,”he said.  “While time will tell if the community is willing to shoulder this burden, I was hopeful that the burden would be lighter.”

For now, the teachers and students are back to school, ready for a fresh start.

In the end all it took was a federal mediator, plenty of hours of negotia­tions and one nervous community for the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District's Board of Education to bang out a three-year contract with its unions.

A tentative agreement was an­nounced on Aug. 22 and within a week all parties, including the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Asso­ciation and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organization of Support Staff had approved the contract that contained language for an optional fourth year. The board of education approved the contract by a 4-1 vote, with Mark Dosen voting against the deal.

Overall the district is claiming more than $6 million in savings, while the unions appear happy with their results.

"My thoughts on the process was ev­eryone on the board was sincere in their efforts to reach a fair deal and worked well together to accomplish this com­promise," said Brecksville-Broadview Heights Board of Education President David Tryon. "I would say just collec­tively being able to save over $6 million over the life* of the contract is a very sig­nificant step in the right direction to re­storing the district to financial health. The whole idea was having a package deal and how we got there was less important ~ u actually getting the savings."

Added Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association (BEA) spokesperson and Middle School teacher Joe Zenir. "We're excited it's over and happy to be back in the classroom to start anew and put everything behind us. I think both sides showed good faith in negotiating to come up with a fair and equitable agreement."

A press release of the deal revealed the give and take between the board of education and its unions. This includes: roughly $2.4 million in savings from salaries, the existing step salary schedule doesn't change for the next three years, an optional fourth year of the contract (for school year 2015-16) would freeze salaries and teachers can receive raises due to education advancement.

There's also language requiring an eight-hour teacher workday and expect­ed savings from insurance changes to be nearly $4 million. Regarding the latter, both unions' employees will contrib­ute 15 percent of premium costs, while spouses who work outside the district will take their employers' insurance.

As for the negotiating process, it was a bumpy road filled with unexpected twists and turns that at times took both sides off guard. This past spring, the BOE's contingency plan against a teach­ers' strike included advertising for hun­dreds of substitute teachers. This was followed months later by the unions vot­ing to authorize a strike if needed.

"If you look at the initial proposals, you'll see there was a significant divide and both parties had to make some sig­nificant compromises over their initial proposals before we could reach that compromise," Tryon said. "I was pleas­antly surprised that we were able to get a deal before school started."

Tryon said this was due to the fact that the previous district-union negotia­tions lasted into the next school year.

He said, "It's pretty early but limited feedback I've gotten so far is that people are pleased that we have a deal."

Still, not everyone in the community is content with the new deal.

"Once again, the board approved a contract our district cannot afford un­less the voters approve a new levy in the future." schoolboardwatchdog.com pub­lisher Renee Engelhart said. "The board should have stuck to its guns - in spite of the teachers' threat to strike. The board $hould not have approved any contract that requires the taxpayers to pay more than we already pay."

As the lone vote against the contract. Board Member Mark Dosen explained his decision.

"My bar was probably set higher than my colleagues, which is probably why I was the lone dissenter." Dosen said. "I ran for the board with great hopes to reform our system and set us on a path to long-term sustainability and success. These new agreements definitely make an impact on our short-term problem, and improve it. Unfortunately it does not address the long-term, and by that I mean the board was pursuing a second-tier salary schedule that would have had 25 steps. The current salary schedule has 15. A step is equated to a year."

Dosen stressed he's not against teachers receiving raises but said the cur­rent step schedule creates financial pres­sures on the district. He added the pro­posed new schedule would have affected only new teachers entering the district.

Elected to the school board last year as part of a reform slate with Mike Ziegler that included a campaign slogan of "Change You Can Afford," Dosen at times during the negotiations process had been called "anti-teacher" by mem­bers of the community. It's a tag that he rejects.

"One of the most disappointing el­ements of this entire process has been people not focusing on the solutions and debating our different options but tak­ing it to a personal level," Dosen said. "I don't think that benefits the community, I also don't think that benefits the open and honest debate that needs to occur on how we fix our system. Before run­ning for the board, I counted a number of teachers as my friends. Unfortunately, things have changed a bit.

"I understand that these are difficult economic times and we have hard choic­es to make. If we decided that we want to continue to keep our teacher pay at the levels we're at, that's OK but the voters need to fund it. So \ve failed three new levies in a row and the community to change the board. I think we need to be mindful of what message the commu­nity is sending. If they're unable to or un­willing to pass new tax dollars and they vote in change on the board, what can we glean from that?"

For Mark Dosen, the decision to vote no on the new agreements with the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District’s unions was not an easy one.

Dosen, however, said he made it because he truly believes that more concessions could have been made that would have lessened the burden on the taxpayers.

“Every board member struggled with, ‘Is this enough?’ ” Dosen said after the vote.

He acknowledged that the agreements are a step in the right direction but, “For myself, it didn’t measure up to what I wanted to accomplish.”

Dosen was elected to the board last November on a campaign platform that stressed changing the system to decrease the burden on taxpayers without losing the quality of education. He says there are two ways to address the district’s budget woes.

One is approving a new levy, which is a short-term fix. The other is by adjusting the pay structure in the district. It’s the latter where Dosen said more could have been done.

Echoing what he said during his 2012 campaign, Dosen says the problem is not that a teacher makes $90,000; the problem is that, under the current system, it only takes 15 years to make it to that point.

That is why Dosen says the board wanted to pursue a two-tier pay scale in which current employees would be frozen and new hires would be placed on a 25-step scale. Those steps would be unfrozen so new hires could continue to advance, but at a slower rate.

“If you don’t fix the long-term problem, we could be in the same situation,” he said, referring to the end of the newly agreed-upon contract.

He added that, looking at a broader scale, most other industries with organized labor have brought on two-tier systems.

“I hope by my dissenting vote, I shine some light on it,” Dosen said. “The system we have now is becoming too expensive to support.”

Though negotiations take place behind closed doors, Dosen said he had hoped that the process would have included more public dialogue about solutions to the district’s long-term financial issues.

“There was a whole segment of dialogue going on that was of a more personal nature,” Dosen said. “What I have a hard time and struggle with is that these attacks made it seem like we’re against teachers. I reject that. This isn’t about feelings, it’s about economics.”

With the agreements signed, Dosen says that only time will tell if what the board and unions agreed to were enough to sway voters who have vigorously rejected new money levies in the district.

“The concessions that were achieved are real and significant,” Dosen said. “There are real cost savings, there are real changes. Is it enough? The voters will decide.”

Though there were personal attacks made and many found the negotiation process polarizing, if one good thing came out of it, Dosen says it’s that more people in Brecksville and Broadview Heights have “plugged in and reached out.”

That is one of the reasons, he says, that the board is trying to become more transparent. By doing so, Dosen feels that the public has become more educated making for a stronger democracy and better decision-making in the voting booth.

“It sparked a whole series dialogues and conversations,” Dosen said.

For Mark Dosen, the decision to vote no on the new agreements with the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District’s unions was not an easy one.

Dosen, however, said he made it because he truly believes that more concessions could have been made that would have lessened the burden on the taxpayers.

“Every board member struggled with, ‘Is this enough?’ ” Dosen said after the vote.

He acknowledged that the agreements are a step in the right direction but, “For myself, it didn’t measure up to what I wanted to accomplish.”

Dosen was elected to the board last November on a campaign platform that stressed changing the system to decrease the burden on taxpayers without losing the quality of education. He says there are two ways to address the district’s budget woes.

One is approving a new levy, which is a short-term fix. The other is by adjusting the pay structure in the district. It’s the latter where Dosen said more could have been done.

Echoing what he said during his 2012 campaign, Dosen says the problem is not that a teacher makes $90,000; the problem is that, under the current system, it only takes 15 years to make it to that point.

That is why Dosen says the board wanted to pursue a two-tier pay scale in which current employees would be frozen and new hires would be placed on a 25-step scale. Those steps would be unfrozen so new hires could continue to advance, but at a slower rate.

“If you don’t fix the long-term problem, we could be in the same situation,” he said, referring to the end of the newly agreed-upon contract.

He added that, looking at a broader scale, most other industries with organized labor have brought on two-tier systems.

“I hope by my dissenting vote, I shine some light on it,” Dosen said. “The system we have now is becoming too expensive to support.”

Though negotiations take place behind closed doors, Dosen said he had hoped that the process would have included more public dialogue about solutions to the district’s long-term financial issues.

“There was a whole segment of dialogue going on that was of a more personal nature,” Dosen said. “What I have a hard time and struggle with is that these attacks made it seem like we’re against teachers. I reject that. This isn’t about feelings, it’s about economics.”

With the agreements signed, Dosen says that only time will tell if what the board and unions agreed to were enough to sway voters who have vigorously rejected new money levies in the district.

“The concessions that were achieved are real and significant,” Dosen said. “There are real cost savings, there are real changes. Is it enough? The voters will decide.”

Though there were personal attacks made and many found the negotiation process polarizing, if one good thing came out of it, Dosen says it’s that more people in Brecksville and Broadview Heights have “plugged in and reached out.”

That is one of the reasons, he says, that the board is trying to become more transparent. By doing so, Dosen feels that the public has become more educated making for a stronger democracy and better decision-making in the voting booth.

“It sparked a whole series dialogues and conversations,” Dosen said.

Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District Superintendent Scot Prebles was pleased that the agreements between the school board and the district's unions were approved and a work stoppage was averted.

“The new school year should get off to a great start,” he said at the Aug, 27 board meeting.

That new school year began today and not much has changed at the six school buildings. The bulk of the change came in the form of five new teachers at the high school.

The new teachers are Kiersten Franklin, science; Kevin Malone, business; Ashley Rowland, art; Meghan Slattery, math; and Kayla Woods, math.

According to Rich Evans, district director of personnel, other personnel changes came in the form of fill-ins for employees taking leave of absences or doing job shares.

In the week leading up the start of school, Prebles said he is looking forward to having the students back in the buildings.

“We’re up and we’re moving,” Prebles said.

Improvements from the summer include new bleachers at the football field, new lighting and roofs as part of an energy conservation project and an updated math and science curriculum. Prebles added that the Parent School Organization is also geared up for all that they do for the schools.

“It’s a fun time of the year,” he said, enthusiastically, adding that even superintendents go out to get new clothes for the school year.

With two days to go before school started, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board and the employees in two unions ratified the new three-year contracts.

At its Aug. 27 meeting the board voted 4-1 to accept the new agreements. The lone dissenting vote came from Mark Dosen.

At the meeting, Dosen said his two main problems with the agreements were the lack of a second-tier salary schedule for teachers and the fact that the tax burden on the community was not lessened enough.

“These agreements are a giant step in the right direction, but for me personally, they do not rise to the level of reform I believe we need,” Dosen said.

Like the board meetings since April, about 200 teachers, support staff and those supporting the district employees packed the meeting. They also applauded after the board approved the agreements.

“We’re pleased to be going back to school with an agreement in place,” said David Tryon, board president, after the meeting.

After the meeting, Joe Zenir, spokesman for the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association and a Middle School teacher, said that he, like his counterparts are busy planning for the Aug. 29 start of classes.

“We’re excited to start the school year,” Zenir said. “We’re just excited to put this behind us.”

“Both sides made concessions that were in the best interest of the students,” he added.

When asked about those concessions, Zenir nor Tryon went into great detail.

“There were concessions on both sides,” Tryon said, acknowledging that the process was aided by the help of the federal mediator.

“I think it would have taken much longer to reach an agreement without the federal mediator’s involvement.”

According to Tryon, he and the school board put in more than 100 hours in negotiations and getting the contracts approved.

“It was challenging, that’s for sure,” Tryon said. “But it was worth it in the end. All parties found an acceptable compromise.”

In a press release following the meeting, Tryon highlighted some of what was in the new agreements, which have an optional fourth year.

• Potential savings forecast will amount to more than $2.4 million from employee salaries over four years. The unions agreed to maintain the current salary schedule for 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 with steps frozen and not restored in the future.

An optional fourth year (2015-16) also calls for freezing the current salary schedule with steps frozen and not restored. The board will not trigger this option unless the school district budget can accommodate it.

Teachers who advance their education will still be able to receive a raise in pay based upon the current salary schedule

• An eight-hour teacher workday replaces the current teacher day. This item will provide flexibility to serve student needs now and in the future.

• Projected insurance savings over four years will exceed $3.8 million. Both unions’ employees will contribute 15 percent of premium costs for health and dental insurance and prescription drugs.

The agreement requires employees whose spouses work outside the district to take their employers’ insurance.

During the life of the contract a spousal premium reimbursement will be in effect, capped at $125 per month.

The new agreements, which are estimated to save the district more than $6 million, can be found at the district’s website bbhcsd.org.

Sun Star-Courier correspondent Chuck Poliafico contributed to this story.

BRECKSVILLE -- The Brecksville-Broadview Heights  school board will meet at 5:30 p.m. today (August 27) in the middle school auditorium, 6376 Mill Road, Broadview Heights.

The meeting will begin with an executive session to review the negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees and the board will reconvene in public session at 7.

The largest item of note on the public meeting portion of the agenda is the vote on both the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association and Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organization of Support Staff contracts.

According to Joe Zenir, spokesman for the unions, both unions ratified their contracts. With the approval of the board, the contracts can be released to the public.

Also on the agenda is an update about the opening of the new school year, discussion about August's renewal levy and discussion on school district facilities.

In the ongoing saga that is the labor negotiations between the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District board and its unions it appears that some serious headway was made Aug. 21.

Following what board president David Tryon referred to as a "productive" negotiation session Aug. 16, representatives from the unions and the board met with a federal mediator Aug. 21.

In that session, which started at 5 p.m., the board and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organization of Support Staff reached a tentative three-year agreement according to Todd Jaeck, a labor relations consultant for the Ohio Education Association.

As for the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association, according to Jaeck, the two side met until 3:30 a.m. and also came out with a tentative agreement.

At this time, Jaeck was unaware of the details of the contracts but said that members of both unions still needed to ratify the agreements.

Tryon confirmed that all parties had reached the new tentative three-year agreements and more information would follow.

BRECKSVILLE -- Hot on the heels of the announcement that Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organization of Support Staff, the non-teaching members of the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District had taken a strike authorization vote, both unions that represent employees in the district called for a truce between the organizations and the school board.

At an Aug. 13 press conference the unions asked the board to sign a memorandum of understanding. The press conference was originally set to take place before the Aug. 13 special school board meeting, which was cancelled. 

Many district employees and their supporters were on-hand and surrounded Joe Zenir, a teacher and spokesperson for the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association, made the unprecedented announcement.

In that memorandum, referred to as "The Pledge" the unions would relinquish the right to strike and the board would relinquish its right to impose a contract. By doing so, both sides would agree to negotiate for as long as it takes to reach a fair and equitable contract.

The unions did so as an olive branch to help quell some of the "fear" they perceive is taking over the Brecksville and Broadview Heights communities that a new collective bargaining agreement will not be reached and the unions would strike if the board forces a contract.

Though the board has maintained it wants to avoid a strike and does not want to force a contract, the unions believe that is not the case given some of the board’s actions during the negotiation process.

According to Zenir, despite nearly $2.5 million in concessions from the BEA the district is "on the brink of a destructive and unnecessary labor conflict."

That conflict would result in a work stoppage, one that would tear the communities apart.

"At all times the goal of the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association and the Organization of Support Staff has been to secure a fair and equitable contract that would show shared sacrifice by employees, while also preserving the education that our students deserve," Zenir told the crowd.

By signing "The Pledge" the fear would subside and the parties would be able to continue negotiating on a new contract while the employees operate under terms of the 2010-2012 collective bargaining agreements.

Since "The Pledge" would be a legally binding contract the board is required to vote on it and the earliest it could do so is the Aug. 27 regular board meeting.

However, the board could vote on it during a special meeting. The unions would like "The Pledge" signed immediately to do what is "is right for the kids," Zenir said after the press conference.

"It doesn't solve the problem, but it commits to solving the problem in a more private setting," Zenir added.

Not only does "The Pledge" call on the board to relinquish its right to impose a contract and the unions to strike, it also supports both sides’ contention that they want to bargain in good faith on a fair and equitable contract.

"The board has said that they are committed to negotiating in good faith. They said they do not want to force a strike," Zenir said. "To the board we say this. Prove it, sign ‘The Pledge’."

School board President David Tryon and his fellow board members were not at the press conference. The Aug. 13 meeting was cancelled due to a lack of information pertaining to the scheduled Executive Session, which was the only item on the agenda.

Because the board did not meet, BEA President Bonnie Monteleone taped the pledge to the Education Center door and organized volunteers to hand-deliver copies of "The Pledge" to each board member's doorstep.

BRECKSVILLE -- The Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board announced that it is canceling its special board meeting set to take place at 6 p.m. August 13 at the Education Center.

The agenda included only a closed-door Executive Session to update the board on the negotiation process. The email announcing the cancellation of the meeting said it was cancelled due to a lack of necessary information.

A call to Joe Zenir, Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association spokesperson, confirmed that the BEA and Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organization of Support Staff press conference set for 5:45 p.m. would still take place at the Education Center, 6638 Mill Road, Brecksville.

At that press conference officials from the unions will discuss plans for the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year. School is scheduled to begin Aug. 29.

Like the BEA did in July, BOSS announced Aug, 10 that it had taken a strike authorization vote. The vote would allow the union to strike if the board attempts to impose a contract.

In an Aug. 13 press release, school board President David Tryon announced upcoming dates for negotiation talks with a federal mediator between the the board and the two unions.

BEA meetings are planned for Aug. 16, 21 and 24 and meetings with BOSS are planned for Aug. 23 and 27. 

BRECKSVILLE -- The Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organization of Support Staff, the union that represents the classified workers employed by the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District approved a strike authorization vote Aug. 10.

According to a press release from BOSS, members approved the vote by a 91 percent margin. Like the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association, which represents teachers in the district, by approving the vote BOSS can issue a strike notice if needed.

The release went on to say that the members felt it necessary to take the vote because "they received inside information that the board plans on eventually unilaterally implementing a contract."

What that means is that the board would force a contract on the union as opposed to continuing negotiations. The union members believe that it was the school board's intention to do that since the beginning of the negotiation process.

As for the teachers, a 5:45 p.m. press conference is planned for Aug. 13 outside the Education Center, 6638 Mill Road, Brecksville in regards to that union's plans for the school year. The school board is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. the same night.

The agenda for that special meeting consists of an executive session to 1) Reviewing negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees concerning their  compensation or other terms and conditions of employment and 2) to consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, or compensation of a public employee.

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District Board of Education will meet at 6:15 p.m. July 17 at Brecksville-Broadview Heights Middle School, 6376 Mill Road, Broadview Heights.

The meeting will begin with an executive session and will reconvene at 7 p.m.

Judging by the meetings in April, May and June, this meeting will be packed with supporters of both the school board and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association as well as those who want to encourage the board and the unions to work together to get the contract issues resolved.

Stories about the contract negotiations have garnered a lot of comments online and this is just a sampling of what our readers are saying.

The comments were not edited and appear as the Cleveland.com user posted them. Some of the comments are part of a larger back-and-forth conversation.

The bulk of the comments are attached to the story about the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association taking its strike authorization vote. 

Jl4: Teaching is an HONORABLE profession. I am hurt and saddened at the way I am being talked about. You do not know me. I love what I do, and I would never disparage another's profession because that is morally wrong.i am more than a teacher- I am a confidant, a counselor, a mentor, a shoulder to cry on,and most importantly an educator. I am good at what I do and worth every penny of what I make. I am sorry if you did not have a good experience with teachers or your children have poor teachers,but DO NOT generalize me into a group of lazy, video playing, greedy people when you do not know who I am.

You want me to give back? What about the administrators that just received a raise? And the new treasurer that is costing the same as the previous one? Oh don't forget the superfluous law firm that has already spent more than the previous one and is not even close to finishing.

TaxpayerReform: Jl4 – I am sure you are a great teacher. That is not the issue. Many great people work in the private sector for companies that are losing money. So cuts in salaries were required. Why should the teachers be any different?

Your union leadership fails to acknowledge that the district will be out of money in 2014. The union could really turn the tables on the board by thinking outside the box and proposing a contract that solves the financial problems. Instead they just attack the board and demand that the board go back to the taxpayers for more money in a very tight economy.

The union proposal did not acknowledge the financial cliff we are headed toward. The union should seriously try to solve the problem rather than stick with the same old story of going after more tax dollars.

speedbump50: I encourage everyone interested to spend some time sifting through the proposals from the two sides - they're both posted on the Board's website. I find it interesting that for the most part, the issue isn't really about salaries - they both have the same base starting point for a new teacher, who begins at $37,786.

Where I find a problem is in the minutiae of the proposals. I mean, the Board has the audacity to include in their proposal that the teachers work an eight-hour workday. The union's proposal: a seven and a half-hour workday, plus a 40 minute lunch period.

It may seem like a little thing, but it's really not. You always hear about teachers complaining how they spend SOOO much of their time away from work doing work-related activities (grading, preparing, etc. - funny how so many other jobs require this as well, but you never hear those people complaining), yet they balk at being required to be in the building for another half-hour??

And again, let's compare this to a private-sector job. My workday is a nine-hour workday with an hour taken out for lunch (office is open 8 to 5) - teachers are wanting 7.5 hours, and even taking 40 minutes out of that - so their actual "work day" is only 6 hours and 50 minutes (and we're not going to get into the garbage that is "prep periods."

Once more, let's look at the comparisons with a private-sector position. The average person in the private sector works 241 days a year (365 days - 104 (weekends) - 10 (vacation days) - 10 (holidays). The teacher work year is 186 days. Now, let's factor in the salary. A private-sector worker making that same $37,786 as a first-year teacher is making $19.60 per hour. That teacher making the same amount? Yeah, they're at $27.09 per hour (even the board's audacious proposal to extend the workday to eight hours would still have them at $25.39 per hour). I know, I know, the usual refrain from teachers is that "You couldn't do my job! You couldn't last a week in my job!" - would they care to try doing MY job? I'd give them four hours before they go running back to their cushy gig in the classroom.

Don't tell me the taxpayer isn't getting fleeced here.

sparky69: It's not a problem with the number of minutes in the building, it's a problem that the Board has no idea how that time is going to be structured. Is it going to change the start and end time of the school day for the kids? How is that time going to be spent? The teachers agreed to an extra half hour in the last contract. They are not opposed to working an eight hour day - the DO already work way beyond that. And if people would get all the information before bashing the teachers they might not spit out so much

 

smitty1008: I have lived in Brecksville all my life with the exception of college, grad school and my first job on the east coast. I did not attend the schools. My children began in private schools, but then enrolled in the district. It is ok. The classes are simply too large and we don't have the programming of other fine districts..the International Baccalaureate program comes to mind. There has been one teacher in my children's careers at BBHCSD that I feel is an outstanding teacher. She is dedicated, intelligent, caring, and innovative in her approach. She teaches in a specialized program for which very few students qualify. My child was lucky to have had her. We are returning to independent private schooling in the Fall and I couldn't be happier. Of course, this is a significant investment and sacrifice on our parts. When I was growing up, I remember my friends from the neighborhood talking about their small classes at Chippewa...15-18 a class...making my parents second guess their decision to invest in independent schooling. Not so today as the classes are upwards of 26-30. My son's class this year was literally a free for all....virtually no classroom management, and very little learning going on..a substitute teacher virtually every other week. My daughter's class was even worse. I was very disappointed in this "excellent district" and was very disheartened to see the red union shirts on the teachers at the end of year. I also did not appreciate the letters coming home from my children's teachers concerning the board and the negotations. I vote for every levy that is put on the ballot. We support the schools, but can't imagine a teacher's strike in this community. It is a shame what is going on, and if it really were for the children it would not be at this point. I have a very close friend who once crossed a picket line at a local hospital when she was an R.N. Her comments to me concerning that time are very telling. To her, nursing was a calling, not just a job. She crossed the line to care for her patients. To me, education should be a calling as well. Unfortunately, it really doesn't appear that way. I think the ones who have been "called" can be found at the independent schools making next to nothing, holding PhDs in their subject areas, and not reaping the benefits of the STRS. Certainly there are some excellent teachers in the district, who do not want to strike. It is very sad that the union would make the future work conditions of these teachers unbearable if they crossed the line. As people in the private sector are being downsized, paying more and more each year for mediocre health benefits, the teachers continue to receive raises and what seems like more and more time off. Something has to give. It is a different world and economy. I am saddened for this community's children....should the strike occur, they are the only losers in this game.

poetrywriter: I agree with some of your comments but let's be real. Teachers are human and anyone who thinks that everything is about their students is fooling themselves. Teachers have to earn a living, pay bills and take care of their families just like everyone else. As far as working in an independent school and earning next to nothing making someone called to the profession is not true.Teachers are either dedicated because they care or they are not. Working for next to nothing may be a preference or may be due to the lack of education jobs in Ohio. While I don't live in a city that is as nearly well off as Brecksville, I know that most of the public school teachers in Euclid are very dedicated to their students.

I know that my children were in an independent school, (private) and I thought that they were getting a good education. Finances forced me to enroll my children in the public system,and I found out how far behind that my children were academically. I know that it wasn't easy, but the teachers worked with my children and they are doing well.

I think that some of your comments were unfair to the teachers and to the board. We now live in a time where politicians are making decisions that educators should be making. We live in a state that wants to cut funding for education but increase funding in tourisim. We also live in a state where both democract and republican governors have refused to acknowledge the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling on school funding.

I don't think that it is wise for the teachers in your district to go on strike because of the econonmy. I do think that they should be happy to have a job and that they should recognize that former Cleveland, Lorain and other district teachers have the qualifications and experience to replace them. However, things are not always the way they are presented in the media. I have a difficult time believing that working conditions don't have something to do with their desire to strike.

nowreallynow: I looked it up, your communities have some of the lowest property taxes in Cuyahoga County! And you are complaining about a possible levy? You haven't had a new levy for schools since 2004!!! They average salary is high because you have lost programs and newer teachers. Any average joe could figure out that if there were new teachers the avg. would be lower.

averagejoe: nowreallynow: Okay, let's talk about property taxes. In Cuyahoga County, 14 tax districts have lower property tax than Brecksville which pays 2.14%. 13 years ago, more than 80% of the Cuyahoga Residents paid less than 2% in property taxes. These days, very few people are lucky enough to pay less than 2% in property taxes. We are currently paying what Shaker Heights was paying 15 years ago. If we don't stand up and fight the teachers union now, 15 years from now, are likely to have to pay more than 3% in property taxes. I am doing well financially, and we live in a cheap house. Our property tax is less than 3% of our gross income. However, all my neighbors are retired and on fixed income.

Sad4Kids: I can't believe what I'm reading! What happened to respecting teachers and valuing their experience and expertise? I don't know of any teacher that went into the profession for the money, yet based on the posts, you'd swear that the educators were stealing money from all of your pockets. Why should a teacher be ashamed of earning a decent living? Why don't people criticize baseball players for their incomes and the cost of the tickets and food at the ballpark? If it's for entertainment purposes, throwing out money is OK with everyone. When it comes to educating our youngsters, it's a different story. We need a teacher to sit down and figure out the amount of money they earn per hour once they figure out all the time spent outside of school doing work. I don't think anyone will say they're overpaid then.

cask23: If you are so confident in the value of your skills, the why don't you become a free agent (like multi-millon dollar sport stars) and see the value the private sector assigns to undergrad and masters of education.

Your going to quickly find out that a masters of education has about the same value as a degree in underwater basket weaving and that the only reason you are getting paid what you are is due to salary wage floors established by the teachers union. The same union which which sells you a line of propaganda that says just because you got a degree, you entitled to X number of dollars. The same union that tells you to get a masters degree, even though it offers no value in teaching K-12, just so you can jack up your tax payer funded salary even higher.

The public is on to the public union game and we are not falling for it anymore. The facts are out on what teacher's salaries and benefits actually are anyhow they are bankrupting our schools and communities. 

In response to the July 11 announcement that the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association had taken a strike authorization vote, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board said it will continue to negotiate with the unions on a fair and equitable contract.

The vote does not mean that the union is on strike or will strike. It means that if the board forces a contract on the union, the union could give a 10-day notice and then strike. As of now, the board has not forced a contract on the union.

"In the last negotiation cycle, discussions continued well into the new school year before a new contract was signed," said David Tryon, school board president, in a statement issued by the board.

He added that the association's timing is premature and that the board will continue its efforts to negotiate the contract in good faith.

"Continued discussions are scheduled to resume on July 30 with the participation of a federal mediator," Tryon said. "Our goal continues to be a contract which is fair, good for our students and responsible to budgetary realities. We ask the union to continue these good faith efforts as well."

The board president also reiterated that the board does not want a strike, but that it will continue contingency planning to make sure the fall semester starts in August.

Tryon also indicated in the statement that the board was encouraged by recent comments made by union members that the union does not want a strike and that the union wants to reach a fair and equitable contract.
 
Below is a look back at what caused the unions and the board to get to this point.

In an effort to be more transparent, at the onset of negotiations, the board launched its Negotiation News link on the district's website. This caught the union off guard because never before had a board publicly posted both contract proposals.

In response, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organization of Support Staff launched a similar website Beestaff.org to tell its side of the story.

At its May 21 meeting, the school board was confronted by a sea of red-shirted supporters. At that meeting, residents got up and spoke in favor of the teachers and the good work that they do for the children. 

At the June 25 school board meeting, with contracts expiring June 30, the red-shirted supporters filled the Board of Education office and forced the meeting to move to the Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School auditorium. The supporters urged the board to negotiate with the unions to reach a fair and equitable agreement. 

With three days to go before the contracts expired, the board surprised the unions when it announced that it was declaring an impasse and bringing in a federal mediator. The board was also go on to announce that it would advertise for substitute teachers to staff the schools in the events of a strike.

Feeling blindsided by these actions, the unions saw this as the first step towards the board declaring an ultimate impasse meaning that it could force a contract on the unions. This would leave the union with two choices accept the contract as is or strike.  The unions also issued a July 3 press release in regards to the district advertising for substitute teachers.

BRECKSVILLE -- With talks between the Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board and the unions deteriorating, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association took a strike authorization vote.

The vote, approved by 99.5 percent majority, allows the union to strike if and when it feels it is necessary.

"Today's vote is a call to action to the Board of Education that teachers of the district are highly invested in providing top-quality education to the children of our communities," said Association spokesperson Joe Zenir in a press release emailed to the media.

Zenir, a teacher, coach and parent in the district, went on to say that the majority of the board appears to care about the money but that negotiations should be more than that.

"The draconian language changes the board proposed will have an enormous negative impact on our students and we won't allow that to happen," Zenir added. "Our working conditions are our students' learning conditions."

In the release, the associations says it took the vote because the board's tactics indicate that it plans to impose its contract on the association, forcing the teachers to strike as the only way to avoid the imposed contract. 

The Association took the vote because the Board plans to ultimately unilaterally implement a contract. An implemented contract would ignore the collective bargaining process altogether, and would force the teachers to exercise their right to strike as their only means to avoid accepting imposed working conditions against their consent.

In a previous story as well as the release sent out today, Zenir said that contrary to the message the board is sending, the teachers do not want to strike. Today's release adds, "Unfortunately the radical anti-education board has privately wanted a strike from day one, and is doing everything in their power to force one to happen."

“We have always said that our only goal is to achieve a fair and equitable contract that perpetuates the heritage of our fine educational programs that people in our communities expect and deserve,” Zenir said. “As a parent, community member, teacher and coach, today is a sad day for our schools.”

The vote follows a jam-packed June board meeting filled with teachers, staff and their supporters voicing their concerns about the negotiation process.

A week later by the board declared an impasse and said it would seek the help of a federal mediator. That was followed shortly by the board announcing and advertising for substitutes in the event that the teachers strike.

BRECKSVILLE -- The Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association is once again feeling blindsided by the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District Board of Education.

This time the union, which represents the teachers in the district, was "shocked" when it found out the board had declared an impasse, per the current contract with the union, and brought in a federal mediator to handle negotiations. The current contract expires June 30.

 “BEA is extremely disappointed that the Board has already taken the first step towards unilaterally implementing a contract,” said BEA crisis chair Ben Lesh in a media release. “By prematurely forcing mediation, the Board has revealed to the public and to the Association that they are more committed to forcing a strike than they are to bargaining in good faith."

The union sees this as the first step by the board to get to an ultimate impasse, meaning the board can invoke its best last offer to the union.

In an earlier story, David Tryon, board president, said that the board is not anticipating having to get to that point.

"We anticipate a resolution through mediation," he said.

However, should matters get to that point, the union would have only two options: Vote on the contract being forced upon it or go on strike. This is referred to as a strike authorization vote and, according to state law, must be done 10 days before the union can begin the strike.

BRECKSVILLE -- In an emailed press release sent at 7 p.m. June 27, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District school board announced that it was turning over contract negotiations with the unions to a federal mediator.

“We have given the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association (BEA), the union that represents area teachers, written notice declaring impasse and requested the services of the federal mediator pursuant to Section 9 (H.) of the current agreement,” said David Tryon, board president. “Since the mediator will now have jurisdiction for the negotiations process, we cancelled all July negotiation meetings so we can be sure to accommodate the mediator’s schedule.”

In an interview June 28, Tryon said that the board took this measure, instead of exploring other options because it was the most prudent decision available to them

"Time is running out and we felt this was the fastest way to move things forward," he said.

In the release, Tryon also said that as an example of the board's efforts to negotiate in good faith with the union it unanimously decided to honor the current agreement as it pertains to pay increases for the 2012-13 school year.

Tryon indicated, in the June 28 interview, that the board agreed to this in hopes that the union would continue to negotiate and not go on strike. With this provision in place, Tryon says that 43 percent of the teachers will get a "double bump" in pay, a 10 percent increase. And another 10 percent will receive a $750 increase for longevity.

“We are disappointed that we had to take this action,” Tryon said in the release. “But on June 30, 2012 the current contract expires. It is time to make progress toward a resolution that will be good for education, reflects our current budget situation and is as fair to every employee as we can be under these circumstances.”

The board president wanted to make it clear that the mediator is there to assist both parties in reaching a resolution and that the mediator has no authority to impose a contract on either side.

If for some reason the two sides cannot come to terms on a contract, the board can deem the negotiations at an ultimate impasses and impose its last best offer to the unions for a vote.

At this point, Tryon said that the board has not attempted to impose its last best offer nor has it made its last best offer. The proposals from the unions as well as the board remain the same as what appears at the Negotiation News tab on the board's website.

"We are not anticipating an ultimate impasses," Tryon said June 28. "We anticipate a resolution through mediation."

Tryon also reminded the residents that the board is continuing to seek input on the negotiations at the Negotiation News

section on the school district website.

As for the Beesstaff.org website created by the unions, a message now appears on the home page that says that due to negotiations, the website is closed for public viewing. However, there is a contact box for residents to fill out if they would like periodic updates.

June 30 is the last day of the current contract for nearly 450 teachers and support staff in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District. And that is a concern for both the unions and their supporters.

Those concerns were voiced June 25 when the employees and supporters crammed into the Board of Education building for the regular monthly school board meeting.

According to a release from the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organization of Support Staff, nearly 400 people gathered at the meeting, forcing a change of venue to Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School.

Joe Zenir, spokesperson for the unions, said that many of the community that spoke expressed that they were not pleased with how the board was handling the negotiation process.

“They were in support of figuring this out,” Zenir said June 26. “They urged the board to figure this out and negotiate in a fair and equitable manor.”

Since the school district launched a negotiation news tab on the district website, the unions have said that the site, in its quest for transparency, only tells the board’s side of the story.

With the contracts expiring, the unions will have the ability to strike, though Zenir says a vote to do that has not been taken.

“I know that no teacher ever wants to go on strike,” Zenir said.

In order for the unions to strike, they must give the board a 10-day strike notice. School board President David Tryon concurred that the board has not received such a notice.

Tryon also addressed talk of the possibility that the district might lock the unions out of the buildings.

“A lockout is illegal,” he said. “We cannot do that and we will not do that. They are welcome to come and teach and we hope they do.”

A statement from the unions also noted concern that the board had contracted Huffmaster Strike Services, a firm that would provide the district with substitute teachers and other staff should there be a strike.

Tryon replied that the board, in an effort to be proactive should the unions strike, had contacted Huffmaster, but has not entered into any agreements.

“The schools will open promptly in the fall,” Tryon said. “If the unions choose to strike, we will utilize Huffmaster.”

The unions, and their supporters, are mostly concerned with what they perceive as a lack of urgency by the board in reaching a fair and equitable contract.

“All the Association wants is a fair and equitable contract that the Board can afford, but refuses to settle in good faith,” Zenir said in the release. “Unfortunately, the Board is only interested in a union busting agenda no matter what the cost is to children.”

Tryon rejected that charge.

“We are continuing to negotiate in good faith,” Tryon said June 26. “We hope that the union will do the same and choose not to strike.”

When asked to address the board’s concerns with the unions’ offer, Tryon said at the heart of the issue is the fact the district will run out of money in a year and a half unless something is done.

“The unions’ proposal does not solve that problem — ours’ does,” he said. “We hope through the negotiation process to reach a solution that solves that problem.”

When school districts withhold public records, taxpayers don’t know what pay raises teachers will get until it’s a done deal, or how much a superintendent will be paid until the ink has dried on a new, multiyear agreement.

Parents might not learn about allegations of student abuse in schools or misuse of money because school officials sometimes withhold those documents despite public-records laws, as is illustrated by a series of recent local examples.

Leaders of some school associations say that there might be confusion over the law and that not every question about public records has been answered by courts. But legal experts say that, in recent cases, schools clearly should have provided the records they withheld.

Ohio law states that any record held by a public body dealing with its business “or other activities” is public, no matter who prepared the document or whether it is a final version, unless it falls under one of 17exemptions.

“Unless they can cite to you a particular statute that exempts these, then they are presumed to be public records,” said Tom Hodson, who is the former director of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University and previously an Athens County judge.

None of five school districts that have withheld records from the public since March cited an exemption. Instead, officials simply refused to make the records available until they decided it was time to release them.

Gahanna-Jefferson school officials released their new superintendent’s contract only after the school board approved it on May 21.

Administrators in Grandview Heights schools had planned to release a contract with the district teachers union only after the board approved it on May 15, but, when pressured, they provided it that afternoon, before the board vote.

In those cases, school officials said that records from labor negotiations are public only after they are finalized. But a 2001 Ohio Supreme Court ruling determined that negotiation meetings are private, but that any agreement — even one that’s tentative or incomplete — is public.

“There’s nothing in the definition of public record that says it has to be a final document,” Hodson said.

The law gives taxpayers the chance to weigh in on how their money will be spent before a deal becomes final.

A lawyer for Olentangy schools gave several reasons that the district could keep a tentative agreement with its teachers union under wraps. Gregory Scott said a draft would be available after it was ratified by the teachers union. Then he said the document was prepared by the teachers union and was not considered by the district to be a “tentative agreement.”

Hodson said that doesn’t matter. As long as a public official has the document, it is a public record, he said.

There is some gray area regarding drafts, said Hollie Reedy, the chief legal counsel for the Ohio School Boards Association. “If the board has not discussed, deliberated or used that document in any way, there is the question of whether that meets the definition of a public record.”

Olentangy school officials provided the draft union agreement at 5:01 p.m. on May 16, two days after The Dispatch requested it and shortly before the teachers union ratified the deal.

In Columbus schools, administrators have said that records from a recent case in which a special-needs student says he was beaten by school employees don’t exist, even though other records make reference to them. Witness accounts routinely gathered in school investigations weren’t provided after a records request, and the district said it has no other records in the case.

Hilliard school officials said two months ago that they couldn’t provide documents detailing accusations that an athletic director misused money because it was part of a police investigation. Records later showed that police hadn’t been called yet. A week later, the schools turned over the records.

School administrators typically favor transparency, said David Varda, the executive director of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials. But they often rely on lawyers and are hesitant to give records regarding labor deals, which also are regulated by federal laws.

He said that he, like some school officials now, thought that records of labor negotiations were private when he was president of the Upper Arlington City Council in 2001. “I thought everything was in confidence until you had an agreement,” he said.

Then the city was sued when it withheld records of an agreement between the city and a union. The city lost in a case decided by the Ohio Supreme Court.

It’s clear now, Varda said, that those documents are public.

BROADVIEW HTS. A sea of red T-shirts filled the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Middle School Auditorium Monday night as teachers and their supporters stood united before the school district’s board members during its regular meeting.

The teachers, their support staff and their union representatives are currently in negotiations with the school board concerning salaries and other benefits. Several hundred people attended Monday’s board meeting, which was also held as a special recognition to students, teachers and community members.

Many of the teachers and their supporters wore T-shirt stating “BEA BOSS Excellence for a Lifetime” and “Bee Pride” while holding signs stating, “Excellence is NOT Replaceable.”

Benjamin Lesh, a high school teacher and crisis committee chair for the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association, said he was pleased with the outcome of those attending the school board meeting on Monday night.

While none of the educators spoke before the board, several parents and concerned community members did speak out. None were as passionate as Deanna O’Donnell, a Broadview Heights resident whose son, Quinn Mackovjak, is an eighth-grade student in the school district and who was also honored by the school foundation’s Farnsworth Inspiration Award.

While turning the microphone around and facing the audience, O’Donnell told the school board that their “excellence” was right before them, indicating the teachers at the meeting.

O’Donnell told the board that she and her husband were told my many doctors that there was not much they could do concerning her son, who is hearing impaired. But O’Donnell said it was the love, support and dedication that came from the Brecksville-Broadview Heights teachers that helped her son to achieve a great education in the school system.

“This is excellence right here, in the individual teachers,” she said. “I am so very, very proud to know you. When you gave up your hearts and minds to my son, and the love and support we got when my husband tragically passed away, there is no way we can truly tell you how much you mean to me and my family.”

BEA and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organization of Support Staff (BOSS) recently launched its own professional website — beesstaff.org. The organizations launched the site after the school board announced last month that it had its own website concerning the negotiations between the school board and the educators/support staff.

“With a tip of the hat to Paul Harvey, we encourage everyone to take a moment and go to the website and get the rest of the story,” Lesh said. “Too often it is easy to only hear one side of the story.”

Following the public statements and during Treasurer Karen Obratil’s financial reports, all the teachers and their supporters stood up and exited the auditorium in unison, leaving only a handful of people in the audience.

The board approved the revision to the school district’s five-year forecast and assumptions, as well as approved a tax rate resolution that would be assessed in 2014 and an increase in the Food Service Fund from $1,677,700 to $1,707,700.

Obratil, who is also the district’s chief financial officer, gave a lengthy discussion to the school board concerning the five-year plan, which needed to be approved in May. The plan will be reviewed again and re-approved in October.

The five-year forecast is a financial planning tool for the school district and presents the expected revenues, expenditures and operating balance of the district’s operating fund for each of the fiscal years that end June 30, 2012 through June 30, 2016. Historical information from the district’s actual budgets used from June 30, 2009 through June 30, 2011 is used.

Obratil said three main factors in the forecast that need to be looked at include the district’s cash balance, surplus and deficit. Several factors that continue to change the five-year forecast are the school levies that are either put into place or taken away from the district.

A 6.8-mill dual-purpose three-year renewal levy is going back on the ballot before voters in August. School Board President David Tryon said the levy would not increase taxes to any resident in the district and it would help to continue school operations in the future.

A detailed five-year forecast and the financial forecast revision is available on the school’s website.

The next regular meeting of the board will be held June 25 at 7 p.m. at the district’s Education Center, 6638 Mill Road, Brecksville.

As promised, the unions that represent the teachers and support staff in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District have launched a website.

The beesstaff.org site is the unions’ countermeasure to the school board-approved website that went live earlier this year. That site was launched as a way for the district to be more transparent during the negotiating process.

Among other things, much like the school district’s site, this site has links to the current contracts as well as the proposals from the board and the unions.

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association, which represents the teachers, and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organization of Support Staff announced the site May 14.

According to the unions’ release from Ben Lesh, crisis chair, the site includes interactive features that encourage visitors to ask questions and communicate with the unions.

“With a tip of the hat to Paul Harvey, we encourage everyone to take a moment and go to beesstaff.org and get the rest of the story,” Lesh said in the release. “Too often it is easy to only hear one side of the story.”

BRECKSVILLE — Come August, voters in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District will have an important decision to make in helping the school district remain financially stable.

At its April 23 meeting, the school board took the final step in placing a 6.8-mill dual purpose 3-year renewal levy on the ballot.

School board President David Tryon stressed after the meeting that the renewal would not increase taxes to any residents in the district and it would keep things the way they are now.

First approved by voters in 1997, the levy generates approximately $4.5 million for operating expenses and $766,658 for permanent improvements. The annual cost per $100,000 of home valuation is $158.02.

“It is vital to the continued funding and success of the district,” Tryon said.

Normally, when the district is faced with a levy renewal, the issue is placed on the ballot a year before it expires. To eliminate voter confusion, the district opted not to place the renewal on the November 2011 ballot.

By doing so, the district does not have the one-year cushion and if the renewal is not approved this year, it will expire at the end of 2012.

In an effort to continue being more transparent to the residents who live in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District, the school board has created a website to keep the community informed about contract negotiations.

According to board President David Tryon, the information available on the site addresses many of the commonly asked questions that voters have.

Under the “Negotiations News” link found on the left side of the bbhcsd.org website, residents can find the current contract with the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association, which represents the teachers, as well as the school board’s proposal and the new BEA proposal.

Also on the site are some financial facts and figures for the district and a link to some frequently asked questions.

Tryon says that everything on the site is matter of public record and does not cross over into what goes on during the closed-door negotiations.

This transparency caught the unions off guard, according to Benjamin Lesh, a high school teacher and crisis committee chair for BEA.

“We do, as a union, understand the need for transparency,” Lesh said. “The website kind of took us off guard.”

He added that union members also feel that though the site is transparent, it only tells the board’s side of the negotiation story. To that end, BEA is working to create its own website to inform residents.

Heading into the negotiations with BEA and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organization Support Staff, which represents the district’s non-teaching staff, Tryon says the board has three guiding principles: quality education, fiscal responsibility and fairness to employees.

“We are in a race to complete negotiations by June 30,” Tryon said, referring to the date this contract expires.

“Our goal is to reach a fair an equitable agreement,” Lesh said.

Should the sides not come to an agreement, the contract will roll over.

Because the current contract stipulates that all communication between the union and the board go through the superintendent, a group of union members and their supporters gathered at the April 23 school board meeting.

“We wanted to silently express our concern with what we have seen with the contract proposal,” Lesh said. “You have grabbed our attention and we are very concerned.”

“We appreciate our teachers and their hard work,” Tryon said after the meeting. “This is simply a reflection of the financial situation of our country, our state and our school district.”

He said that if things continue down the current path, the district will run out of money by the end of fiscal year 2014.

Tryon took a few moments to address a trio of rumors at the start of the board’s April 23 meeting.

The rumors allege that the board or a board member suggested moving all of the special education students to the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center, that teachers in the district should not be able to afford living in Brecksville or Broadview Heights, and that a teacher should only work for five years and then go out and get a real job.

“None of these rumors is true, and neither the board collectively nor its members individually have made these statements,” Tryon said in the statement.

He went on to address each rumor individually and then called for whoever was spreading the rumors to cease doing so.

Both at the meeting and during the interview following it, Tryon urged residents to contact the school board if they have any questions regarding the negotiations or any other matter pertaining to the district.

Contact information for board members, as well as negotiation information, can be found at bbhcsd.org.

According to Lesh, BEA will have a website about the negotiations up soon and the union is also considering coffee talks with the community to help them better understand the union’s position.

Financially-strapped school districts will not get relief from state lawmakers any time soon.That was the message from Representative Lynn Slaby.

"I will be the first to admit the state of Ohio has caused some substantial problems in some school districts," Slaby said."We did not anticipate the backlash we got on (Senate Bill 5)."

Slaby, who has left the 41st district seat for an appointment on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, addressed public school financing at the request of Twinsburg City School Board President Ron Stuver.The representative riled Twinsburg school officials earlier this year with a letter suggesting the district’s financial distress might be the result of a "spending problem."

Slaby’s letter, published in a community newspaper, was in response to an earlier letter blaming flagging state funding for the anticipated budget shortfall. Slaby said his response was not intended to point the finger at Twinsburg school executives in particular, but to highlight the role teacher salary increases over the years have contributed to "how we got where we are."

Twinsburg, like many of its fellow school districts, is especially sensitive to criticism of its money management as it looks to gain community-wide support for a levy that will likely be on the ballot this fall.Despite an anticipated $3.2 million cut to its bottom line – via staff reductions, new fees and other operational changes now underway – expenses will outpace revenue beginning in the 2012-13 school year, according to the district’s five-year forecast. With no new money, its $20 million fund balance will be exhausted by 2015.

 Twinsburg is not alone.The five-year forecast for Brecksville-Broadview Heights schools shows a $10 million balance surplus that disappears by 2014.Westlake runs out of money in 2014, Aurora in 2013.Even districts with recent levies face impending deficits.Hudson, which passed a 4.9-mil levy in May 2011, will be in the red by 2016.Nordonia Hills’ voters supported a 6.0-mil levy last fall, yet the district anticipates a $2 million shortage next year.

School districts like these say recent cuts at the state level are contributing to burned-up cash reserves and shifting of the tax burden to residents.Slaby said public school support (i.e., the "state foundation") has actually increased and the problem lies in escalating personnel expenditures, which lawmakers had intended to help districts control with the passage of SB5.

At the center of the debate is an obscure change in the way schools get a portion of their state aid. In 2006, the state began a four-year phase out of the tangible personal property (TPP) tax system, a tax on business inventory that went directly to school districts and for some was a major part of revenues. For example, in 2006 when the phase-out began, Twinsburg schools was collecting $9.8 in TPP tax revenue, about 25 percent of the district’s budget, Stuver said.

According to Ohio’s 2009 two-year budget bill, districts that lost TPP revenue were to be reimbursed through 2013 at 100 percent and gradually reduced to zero. The most recent budget bill, HB 163, accelerated the reimbursement reductions so they began in 2011.

"This is the topic that I refer to as the 800-pound gorilla," Stuver said."This is the most significant factor that has affected our budget, and yet, it is a topic that no one in Columbus desires to address."

Slaby said legislators are well aware of the hardship caused by shrinking TPP reimbursements.SB5, he said, was drafted and passed to ease some of the financial losses by allowing schools to better manage costs associated with their single highest outlay: employees."Even if SB5 would have succeeded, it would not have solved the problem," Slaby said."But it would have given school districts some way to control costs, more tools to negotiate their contracts."

Among the SB5 reforms were new minimum employee contributions to health care premiums, the exclusion of fringe benefits (such as the share employees pay to their pensions) from collective bargaining negotiations and the elimination of a common union contract stipulation that new employees are cut first in the event of layoff.

With SB5 repealed and an $8 billion deficit in the state budget, Slaby said state lawmakers can do little now to keep some districts from spilling into the red."I don’t know where (the money) would come from."

Representative Kristina Roegner said vanishing fund balances in several area districts have not escaped her attention either. Roegner represents House District 42 in the state house, which includes Hudson and its neighbors to the south. Following redistricting, in November she will run for a two-year term in the newly-apportioned 37th district that encompasses Twinsburg and other parts of the former 41st district.

Roegner said concerns about the consequences of completely phasing out TPP reimbursements prompted the house to amended the language of HB 163 so that any reimbursement a district is still receiving in 2013 (after 25-percent reduction between 2011 and 2012 and a 50-percent reduction in the next year) continues to be received at that level in the future.

"Originally it was supposed to go away entirely," she said, "We have actually made it better for schools by holding (TPP replacement) steady at about 35 percent. It does not phase out."

Roegner also said while there are no statewide efforts to reintroduce aspects of SB5 that would help schools manage personnel costs, those concerns might be addressed on a local basis. Mayor Frank Jackson has proposed changes in state law governing teacher pay and layoffs that would apply only to Cleveland. Roegner has not yet seen the bill but said she and fellow lawmakers are eager to "give schools the tools to control costs and improve quality."

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District is posting its current union agreement as well as the new con-tract proposals that will be considered during negotiations with the Brecksville- Broadview Heights Education Associa-tion, representing the teachers, and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organiza-tion Support Staff (BOSS), representing the non-teaching staff. The site address is bbhcsd.org/negotiations, according to David Tryon, board of education president.

"In our desire for transparency, we are posting these documents, which are public record," Tryon said. "We have entered into these negotiations with three guiding principles in mind. They include quality education, fiscal responsibility and fairness to employees.  We are all in this together, and we want to retain all of our employees."

According to Tryon, there have been four years of deficit spending in the school district, and expenditures will again ex-ceed revenues in 2012. The school district has created fact sheets and includes them on its website.

"Unfortunately, our community has not passed a "new money? levy since 2004," he said. "This is the third time that three levies in a row have not passed since 1957. We must live within our budget."

The school board is seeking community input. As part of this process, the board directs the community to bbhcsd.org/ negotiations where they can find infor-mation as well as connect to the school board to submit their comments. "Again, we thank the community for its support," Tryon said.

Feb. 29 board of education regular meeting

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board will place a 6.8-mill, dual-purpose, three-year renewal levy on August ballots. If passed, the levy, originally approved by voters in November 1997 and expiring on Dec. 31, would designate 5.8 mills towards operating costs and 1 mill towards permanent improvements.

The board also discussed those proposed improvement projects, which would include a $750,000 roof replacement on Hilton Elementary School and $120,000 to repair and replace bleachers on the visitor’s side of the high school stadium. The proposed permanent improvement projects presented to the board would total $1,101,000.

"These numbers are on the high side," district Director of Business Services Larry Tomec said when presenting the proposal. "Some of the numbers are controlled by what the fund is, and we try to keep a couple hundred thousand dollars in there in case something comes up.

The 1-mill portion of the levy for improvements would generate approximately $766,658 and would cost homeowners $23.27 for each $100,000 of their home’s worth.

The 5.8-mill operating-funds portion would generate approximately $4,446,614 and would cost homeowners $134.75 for each $100,000 of their home’s worth.

The board discussed ways to alter the continuing levy by expanding it to five years, making it permanent or even letting it end and crafting a new levy. In the end, the board chose to target an August renewal.

"We have a lot of work to do between now and August," Superintendent Scot Prebles said. "I do believe, however, in light of what we’ve seen with regards to other district’s levies failing, to assume that another, later option is going to work would be wrong."

The superintendent further acknowledged that voters could be dissuaded by the current levy because of the frequency by which they have to vote on it. "It is a little disorienting that it’s only a three-year levy, which adds to the frustration of the public," he said. "We could consider extending it to five years, to reduce the fatigue at the end of the process."

In response to board inquiries, district Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer Karen Obratil said the district could work with the state legislature to get a law to make the levy a continuing levy after it passes this time around. 

Treasurer Puts In for Retirement

After 11 years of handling the school district’s finances, Obratil submitted her letter of resignation to the school board for the purpose of retiring. "It has been an exciting part of my job," she told board members about working with them.
"We know you appreciate this district and work hard for the district," board President David Tryon said. "You have a board and superintendent who can go to sleep at night not worrying about the things that plague other district," board member Mark Dosen said.

Obratil closed her report for the meeting by telling the board that the district’s General Operating Fund was in line with the percentages of expenditures and revenues for this point in the fiscal year. "That just shows we’re where we should be," she said.

Board Able to Lower Energy Program Costs

The board approved an "Energy Service Project and Performance Agreement" with The Brewer Garrett Co. for a House Bill 264 Energy Conservation Program to improve energy savings in district buildings through installation of energy management systems. Prebles said this was a significant contract for the school district because although the state rescinded $203,000 in rebates that were to go to the $679,000 price, the district got the contract down to only $155 more than it would have been with the rebates.

"The board was vigilant and was able to push the contract price down," he said. The final cost will be around $476,000.

Additional Business

The board agreed to contract with Behnke Associates Inc., for $15,800 in professional planning services for the removal and replacement of the visitor and band bleachers in the high school stadium. This would allow the architect to talk about and begin to draw up plans for the project.

The board agreed to contract with Glen D. Ramage Architect Inc., for $12,160 for architectural design services for the 2012 Hilton Elementary School re-roofing project.

The board approved the waiver for the Body Mass Index Screening Program for the 2011-12 school year, thereby bowing out of the program. "We believe this program is not in the best interest of the school district because we don’t have the staffing to address it," Prebles said.

The board approved a five-year contract to continue using Time Warner Cable Business Class voice, data, video and business class Ethernet for the district through June 30, 2017. "After several years, we’ve had no outages or downtime as a result of the company," Prebles said, adding that by remaining with Time Warner, the district will save about $3,400 per year over the term of the contract because it would have to add new equipment otherwise.

The board also approved professional services security assessment agreements with National School Safety and Security Services Inc. in the amount of $26,500, with Foremost Safety Solutions Inc. for $55,323.

After 11 years in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District, Karen Obratil, district treasurer and CFO, has decided to retire when her contract expires at the end of July.

“It’s time to retire,” Obratil said in an interview before the Feb. 29 school board meeting.

In addition to her 11 years in BBHCSD, Obratil spent 19 years in the West Geauga Local Schools. Her career in education started as a substitute secretary at her child’s elementary school.

From there, she worked her way up the ladder to become an assistant to the treasurer, then assistant treasurer and on to treasurer. When she applied for the BBHCSD position, Obratil said she was excited just to be in the final three.

While some people might wonder why someone would want to be a treasurer for a school district, Obratil welcomes the challenge.

“I like the diversity of the job . . . you’re the problem-solver,” she said. “It’s not without its challenges, but it’s been fun.”

When she looks back on her time with the district, Obratil is proud of her work on 13 levy campaigns and participating and completing a pilot program for a 60-day audit, including being the only district to add a comprehensive annual financial report. She has received many awards for her audits.

However, she is most proud of helping form the Financial Activities Communications Team (F.A.C.T.), made up of volunteers from Brecksville and Broadview Heights with financial or business backgrounds. In their time together, F.A.C.T. has released 36 “Bee Line” newsletters to keep voters abreast of the school’s finances.

“I hope they continue to be as helpful to the district as they are,” Obratil said about the group, which continues to meet monthly. She added that F.A.C.T. is a model throughout the state of Ohio.

“Thirty years is a good stopping-point,” Obratil said. “After 11 years, I think I can look for new challenges. I’m keeping my options open.”

At the meeting, school board President David Tryon acknowledged Obratil’s dedication to the district, pointing to the wall behind him where many of her awards are hung.

“Thank you, Karen, for all of your sweat and tears,” Tryon said. “We know you worked hard for the district.”

At a special March 5 meeting, the board approved a resolution hiring Finding Leaders to assist the district in hiring Obratil’s replacement.

The plan is to have the new treasurer in place before Obratil leaves, so she can help her replacement get some footing in the district.

Efforts to revamp public education are increasingly focused on evaluating teachers using student test scores, but school districts nationwide are only beginning to deal with the practical challenges of implementing those changes.

Only an estimated 30% of classroom teachers in the U.S. work in grades or subjects covered by state standardized tests. Currently, most states test students only in math and reading in third through eighth grades and once in high school, as mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind law. Few states test students in other core subjects, such as science and social studies, and for many other subjects there is no testing at all.

Rolling out systemwide tests and devising ways to measure educator effectiveness require additional spending for states and districts, many already low on cash. And some parents and teachers complain that the effort has translated into more testing for children, taking away from classroom learning.

"Nothing like this has ever been done on this scale, and states and districts have to ensure it's done in a rigorous way so we feel confident the information actually reflects how well teachers are helping students learn," said Mariann Lemke, a researcher with the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, a federally funded research group that advises states.

The efforts began two years ago, spurred by President Barack Obama's Race to the Top education initiative, which has doled out $4.35 billion to states that have embraced reforms. Governors had been pushing similar efforts on their own at the state level. In the past two years, at least 30 states have passed such legislation and are in the process of implementing changes.

Washington state lawmakers passed a bill in late February that will judge teachers on student achievement, and lawmakers in Kansas and Wisconsin are currently debating the issue.

Some states and districts are looking to adopt a system like the one in Hillsborough County Public Schools in Florida, where the district created exams for every subject at every grade five years ago in an effort to award merit pay to teachers.

Tennessee rolled out a system this year that ties most teacher evaluations, even those in subjects like music and gym, to schoolwide math and reading scores. In Memphis, the system is being refined, with music, drama and dance teachers creating their own "portfolios" to prove students have progressed under their tutelage.

"No system is perfect," said Kevin Huffman, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education, "but the question is whether the one we have now is better and more fair than the previous one. And the answer is, indisputably, yes."

In Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, officials jettisoned 52 end-of-the-year exams last month that were created to measure teacher effectiveness after parents complained. Parents were especially angered by kindergarten exams, administered one student at a time, saying they ate up too much instructional time. The exams were used for only one year before being scrapped.

Latarzja Henry, spokeswoman for the district, said the testing regimen was ditched because the district plans to adopt the new assessments state officials are creating.

Pamela Grundy, the mother of a fifth-grader and co-chairwoman of Mecklenburg Area Coming Together for Schools, a parent advocacy group, thinks parental outcry played a roll.

She said school-board meetings were packed with parents who were "appalled" by the increase in student testing. "We thought it was stifling kids' creativity and warping our children's classroom experience," she said.

Elsewhere in the country, a Louisiana state lawmaker recently filed a bill to delay the new teacher evaluations, citing concerns about adopting potentially costly new evaluation methods that might lack validity.

Memphis music teacher Jeff Chipman is part of a small group of teachers piloting the new assessment based on student portfolios, and he acknowledges the district's challenges.

"We are about teaching kids to perform and experience art, and that cannot be measured with a pencil-and-paper test," he said. "We want to be evaluated on how we help kids grow, but we don't want to turn the arts program into a testing machine."

The dust has barely settled on the March primary, but the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District is looking to August for its next renewal levy.

At its Feb. 29 meeting, the board gave the go-ahead to draw up a resolution for the March 26 meeting to begin the process of placing the renewal of a three-year, 6.8-mill, dual-purpose levy on the Aug. 7 ballot.

First approved by voters in 1997, the levy generates approximately $4.5 million for operating expenses and $766,658 for permanent improvements. The annual cost per $100,000 of home valuation is $158.02.

At the meeting, Karen Obratil, district treasurer and CFO, discussed the fact that the levy would expire at the end of the year if it is not approved.

Normally, the district would have a one-year cushion, but opted to not place the renewal on the ballot in 2011 when it had a new money levy on the ballot.

“It is critical to keeping the operations the way they are,” Obratil told the board.

Following the meeting, Superintendent Scot Prebles reiterated that position. Citing aging facilities, reductions already made and cuts in state funding, Prebles said the renewal would maintain what is currently in place.

“Losing an additional $4.5 million would be devastating to the school district,” he said.

An option Prebles discussed, but the board was against, would have let the renewal expire and instead have placed two new-money levies on the ballot.

The superintendent’s discussion was rooted in the fact that voters ask him why the district is on the ballot so much. As it stands right now, renewals will be on the ballot every year through 2015.

The district cannot switch this to a continuous levy, based on state law pertaining to dual-purpose levies,.

Because of House Bill 920, which caps how much a levy can generate to the amount received in the levy’s first year of collection, the effective millage has decreased since 1997.

By placing two separate levies on the ballot — one for permanent improvements, the other for operating expenses — at the current effective millage, the district could collect the same amount of money and spread out the levy cycle.

However, this would have required time to educate voters. Both board members and Obratil were concerned that the money would be lost.

The board and Prebles acknowledged at the Feb. 29 meeting the voters’ continued support of the district when it comes to approving renewals.

After the March 26 resolution, Obratil will request certification from the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer. If all goes as planned, the board will vote to approve the renewal at its April 23 meeting.

May 9 is the deadline to file with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections for the August special election.

The release of a trove of data evaluating New York City teachers on their ability to boost student test scores represents a potentially powerful new tool for parents to assess their children's public schools.

Nationally, teachers unions have staunchly opposed releasing such information, and even some supporters of linking teacher evaluations to student-test scores worry the data could be misunderstood or misused.

If school districts across the U.S. were to begin taking similar actions, it could add to pressure on school administrators to improve or to remove their weakest teachers.

In New York, the nation's largest school system, the teachers' union opposed release of the data on 18,000 public-school teachers. A state court ordered the release in response to a public-records request by The Wall Street Journal and other news organizations. It comes 18 months after the Los Angeles Times published a database, calculated by the newspaper, of teacher rankings in Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest school district.

Michelle Rhee, who pushed through a teacher-evaluation system in Washington, D.C., when she headed the district there, said parents should have access to teacher ratings. But she said the data should be released only if they also included such information as principal observations. The information released by New York doesn't include such observations.

"If we truly want parents to be taking a seminal interest in their kids' education and understand fully what type of education they are getting, then we need to be ready to give them all the information we have," said Ms. Rhee, who is executive director of StudentsFirst, a nonprofit group pushing to overhaul teacher evaluation and pay systems. "You can't say we want parents involved and then limit their access to information."

The New York data cover only grades 4 through 8, in reading and math. Around 80% of teachers aren't covered by the data analysis.

The scores have large margins of error because they are based on limited numbers of students and school years. And there are practical limits. Parents who want to move their children into classrooms with better teachers may find there are none available or the classes are full.

Some parents worry the data could have errors or could motivate teachers to cheat on student exams. Still, many said they would read the scores.

"I think it is good to be able to look it up, especially if you have a problem with a teacher," said Mariza Morales, a 31-year-old Bronx resident who has three daughters in public school. She recalled a friend who was unhappy with a teacher but afraid to say anything.

"I think maybe making it public will give parents the confidence to go in there and make it right," she said. While it is important to remember that the data contain errors, she said, "I'm always going to want more information."

Teachers unions are against making the data public. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, called the release of the New York data "outrageous," saying in a statement that it "amounts to a public flogging of teachers based on faulty data."

Some prominent advocates of using test data to evaluate teachers, such as Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, say making data public can shame teachers without helping them improve. Others say it could scare away potential teachers or sow divisions at school.

"A bad teacher should not be humiliated into leaving. A bad teacher should be given a chance to improve, and if she does not, she should be fired," said Sandi Jacobs, vice president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, a group that supports judging teachers by student performance. "A Scarlet Letter policy is really a bad idea."

New York's release of the data comes as efforts to improve public education settle around two issues: improving the quality of teaching, and arming parents with more information about schools—and the power to overhaul them.

Over the last two years, at least two dozen states have passed legislation linking student test scores to teacher evaluations, prodded, in part, by the Obama administration's Race to the Top education initiative.

At the same time, a half-dozen states are debating or have passed laws that give parents the power to convert low-performing schools to charter schools—public schools run by nongovernment groups—if more than 50% of them sign a petition.

Linda Serrato, spokeswoman for Parent Revolution, a group that has tried to help parents take control of schools in California, said the group doesn't support posting teacher evaluations online, but does support handing them over to parents. "This is about empowerment of the parent," she said.

There are practical obstacles to evaluating all teachers. Only about 30% of teachers in U.S. classrooms work in grades or subjects that are covered by state standardized tests, a key to generating the kind of data being made public.

In New York City, that number is closer to 20%.

Thus far, efforts to make teacher data public have come mainly from media organizations, which have argued that parents deserve access to the information.

"Public education is paid for by the public, used by the public and of crucial public concern, so these data should be made public," said the Journal's editor in chief, Robert Thomson.

Whether the release of teacher information becomes widespread likely will depend, in part, on how strongly people in other parts of the U.S. push for it, and how successful they are in overcoming opposition.

The New York City data were issued only after a legal battle that lasted more than a year. The teachers' union fought to keep the information private, arguing, in part, that it is riddled with errors.

The city said the public interest in the information overrode concerns about its validity.

Efforts elsewhere to make teacher data public have shown mixed results.

Last month, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback unveiled a teacher-evaluation overhaul that would give parents access to teacher evaluations, but the proposal has faced resistance in the state legislature.

In Florida, a state that has one of the strongest open-records laws, teacher evaluations can be made public after one full school year. The statistics aren't posted publicly, but parents can request them. The evaluation is a basic checklist, and the vast majority of teachers receive satisfactory ratings.

The Akron school board’s decision to sit out the March primary and instead try for a new-money levy in November raises the stakes at the bargaining table for teachers, whose two-year contract expires this year.

Both sides agree that a negotiation demonstrating the teachers’ willingness to sacrifice could help win support for a tax hike in tough times.

But how much sacrifice will be enough?

School officials, parents and voters in four area districts seeking new money on the March ballot — Woodridge, Buckeye, Field and Waterloo — are asking the same question.

Although superintendents have tried to keep cuts away from the classroom, wages and benefits comprise 73 to 83 percent of those districts’ budgets.

This year is different: The size of Akron’s projected deficit next year — $22 million — means the district won’t be able to shield teachers and other staff from steep cuts.

“We tried to stretch our dollars as far as we could by trying to be smart with the cuts that we made,” Superintendent David James said. “The cuts that we have to make now are going to affect everybody.”

Cuts to erase such a deep deficit probably would require the elimination of 224 jobs, James said, and even if the levy passes in the fall, some teachers will lose their jobs.

The five districts in the Akron-Canton area seeking new money this year are confronting the same dilemma: Without new taxes, the deficits of four of them are so steep it would take ?double-digit wage reductions to fill the gap, according to a Beacon Journal analysis of district budget projections.

Akron would need a 12 percent across-the-board wage cut from all employees to eliminate next year’s shortfall.

In some districts, the cuts would be even more severe.

Woodridge is so deep in the hole it would take a 32 percent cut in wages across the board to climb out, according to the analysis.

In Portage County, Waterloo would have to reduce employee wages by 21 percent.

Such draconian cuts would mean losing many good teachers, Waterloo Superintendent Andrew Hill said.

“We’d probably have a mass exodus of people,” he said.

Ohio’s poor economy already has exacted a toll on teachers in recent years, Many have agreed to pay freezes and have increased contributions to health-care costs to help districts balance their books.

Akron’s teachers have gone three years without a raise in base salary and are paying more for prescription drug co-pays and health insurance deductibles.

Those concessions and other cuts, coupled with federal stimulus money, have helped extend the life of a levy voters approved in 2006 longer than school officials expected.

Jeff Moats, the teachers’ union president, said he understands the pressure he and the district will be under to strike a deal that will persuade voters to approve the levy.

“I’m aware of the circumstances and the levy going on the ballot in November,” said Moats, president of the Akron Education Association, which represents 1,700 full-time and 500 to 600 part-time employees. “Teachers are a big force in the levy.”

Negotiations with the teachers typically begin around March 1 and should conclude by late May or early June, followed by the five smaller unions, which typically agree to similar deals.

Jason Haas, newly elected school board president, agreed that the outcome of the contract talks will be a key selling point in November.

“That’s an important question for the next year: How do we approach negotiations and get to a position where everybody leaves relatively happy?” he said.

Akron came close to passing a 5.5-mill levy last November, losing by only 197 votes after an automatic recount.

Haas said teacher pay wasn’t a big issue in that campaign.

“When it did come up, what I did say was, ‘Hey listen, they’ve taken pay freezes [and] we’re working with a joint health-care committee to assess how we can save money,’?” Haas said. “The people I talked to in the fall, they understood that.”

Teachers haven’t received an across-the-board raise in base pay since 2008.

A first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree starts at $34,378. A teacher with 30 years of experience and a master’s degree makes about $73,000 annually.

Defeat follows concessions

Getting more concessions might improve Akron’s chances at the ballot box, but it’s no guarantee.

Just ask Waterloo school officials in Portage County.

Waterloo teachers agreed to freeze their base pay and to forgo scheduled salary increases last year as part of an overall package of savings that trimmed $1 million — a tenth of its budget. The teachers also agreed to higher deductibles for health insurance and higher prescription co-payments.

Voters still turned down Waterloo’s levy request in November.

If voters don’t approve a levy in March, the district will need to cut $400,000 by the beginning of the next school year, Hill, the superintendent, said.

That probably would mean layoffs.

“We’re not far from being at state-minimum staffing levels,” Hill said. “There are no areas we can cut where it’s not going to have some kind of direct impact on either increasing class sizes greatly or eliminating programs.”

Most districts face deficits

Many schools in Ohio face the same dire prospects, according to a recent survey of the state’s districts by Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit think tank specializing in economic research and government.

The survey found that two-thirds of Ohio districts face deficits and nearly a quarter of school officials who responded to the survey said they plan to cut teaching staff by about 2.5 to 5 percent.

“Respondents also reported that they have already reduced staff, through attrition or layoff, by 700 positions, more than twice as many as the 331 reductions reported for the last school year,” according to the survey released Jan. 19. “If this rate of reduction occurred in all Ohio districts, then up to 2,500 teaching jobs may already have been eliminated in Ohio schools in the current school year.”

Parents generally hate layoffs because they might lose popular young teachers who lack seniority, and the teachers who remain have larger class sizes and fewer course options.

School officials across the state have combed their budgets to find alternatives to mass layoffs and program cuts.

In 2010, the Martins Ferry school district in southeast Ohio attempted uniform, across-the-board pay cuts to avoid layoffs.

“We actually had an audit from the state, and they came in and they were telling us basically, ‘You’ve got to cut a lot of folks,’?” Superintendent Dirk Fitch said. “We just didn’t want to do that to our students and our staff. We tried to look for an alternative way.”

The district imposed a two-year, 5 percent cut on every employee, including the superintendent.

“The teachers union actually voted to accept it,” Fitch said. “They pretty much saw the need for it and how it would help the district. Up to that point, most of the people had been getting raises.”

But the union representing nonteaching staff objected, arguing that it violated the contract. An arbitrator agreed, finding that the Ohio law dealing with collective bargaining trumps another statute that allows for uniform pay reductions.

“As a general rule, you can’t cut anyone’s salary unless it’s for misconduct or they’re moving to a lower-rated job,” said Don Collins, general counsel for the State Employment Relations Board, which is not involved in the Martins Ferry case. “Most of that is guarded by the collective bargaining agreement.”

Martins Ferry is appealing the arbitrator’s decision.

Some districts have persuaded their unions to accept a pay cut through regular contract negotiations.

Sidney City Schools, north of Dayton, negotiated a four-year contract in June that cut teacher pay and benefits by an average of nearly 6 percent.

“Both our unions agreed to the same reductions, and these same reductions were implemented for all 400 employees,” Superintendent John Scheu said.

The district, which has about the same enrollment as Barberton, will be solvent through 2016 without seeking new money, Scheu said.

Overall, only about 22 percent of requests for new money succeeded in the November election, according to Support Our Schools, a nonprofit that assists small districts with levy campaigns.

Scheu said the low passage rate “sends out a loud and clear message to me that voters will support renewals, but before districts ask for additional sacrifices from their taxpayers, all employees are expected to show sacrifices on their part as well.

“Salary reductions are expected if voters are asked to ante up additional money.”

The Policy Matters survey found that most districts are leery about asking voters for more money. About three-quarters of school officials who responded said they had no plans for ballot issues this year.

Major cuts on table

Toledo City Schools, like Akron, is an exception and plans to try for a levy in November.

Superintendent Jerry Pecko said he hopes voters will appreciate that Toledo’s teachers agreed to a 3.5 percent pay cut in August.

That concession helped the district overcome a $44 million deficit that threatened to wipe out course offerings important to teachers, said Pecko, who had spent 13 years as superintendent in the Barberton and Springfield Local school systems in Summit County before he was hired in Toledo in 2010.

“We had art, music and P.E. on the table. We were going to eliminate them completely,” Pecko said. “That was big in their minds as well. They were adamant that they did not want to see that go. But when your back is up against a wall, sometimes those are hard choices to make.”

Pecko said the district skipped the March primary to give the public more time to absorb a massive reorganization that eliminated the district’s middle schools and created K-8 elementary schools in their place. Holding off until November also will give the public time to realize that teachers made a significant sacrifice.

“These negotiations were important for us to complete and be able to demonstrate that there is sacrifice on the part of the employees,” Pecko said.

He said the pay cuts bought Toledo some time, but the district still will need new revenue.

“We have this year and next year as wiggle room, but we have to pass something in calendar year 2012 and start collecting in 2013,” Pecko said. “If we don’t, we’re going to be in deep trouble.”

In Portage County, Waterloo Superintendent Andrew Hill acknowledged some voters think all the cuts should come out of the employees’ paychecks.

“That’s definitely the mentality that a lot of people have,” he said.

Hill said he understood that attitude. Although Waterloo teachers make less than the average among Portage County districts, that “doesn’t mean much” to people struggling on even smaller paychecks — or no paycheck at all.

Voters in March will have to judge how much sacrifice is enough, Hill said.

“We want to attract and retain top-quality people,” he said. “At some point, the community just has to decide what is it that we want.

“How important are these people? How important are these programs? What is the quality of education you want for your kids?”

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Teachers across Ohio should expect a lot more criticism of their classroom work in the next few years.

Their principals will be in their classrooms more. Or their assistant principals, or even outside evaluators, all watching them, taking notes and essentially grading the teachers.

Don't expect glowing reviews either, or the perfunctory check mark in the column marked "Satisfactory." Each teacher will be graded as Accomplished, Effective, Developing or Ineffective and some will even be fired if they don't improve their marks over time.

"It's going to take a little bit of adjustment for some people," said Deb Tully, director of professional issues for the Ohio Federation of Teachers, one of the two large teachers unions in the state. "I don't know a lot of people who want to be told they're doing just OK when they put their heart and soul into it."

But teachers aren't complaining much -- not about this part of their new state-required evaluations, at least. They see potential for the classroom observation, and the coaching and feedback that should follow, as a chance for constructive criticism, not just judgments.

That's what state officials say they want to happen. Tom Gunlock, vice president of the Ohio Board of Education, said the teacher evaluation framework the board passed in November, and which will be used statewide by the 2013-14 school year, is meant to find the strengths and weaknesses of teachers and help teachers improve their weak areas.

"Everyone thinks this is a cut and dried attempt to fire teachers," Gunlock said. "That is the least of our desires here."

Even the OFT says some teachers may be fired deservedly - if they're poor teachers and don't improve after coaching.

"If they document that someone truly doesn't get better, I'm totally comfortable with that," Tully said. "Kids in the classroom deserve the best teachers we can get for them."

The plan leaves a lot of leeway to local districts, but sets a basic framework all must follow.

State law passed last year requires measures of student academic growth, like standardized tests and the Value Added measure, to make up 50 percent of a teacher's rating. The state board is still working on what tests it can use along with the Ohio Achievement Assessment tests now given and how to measure growth in grades and subjects that are not tested.

Gunlock said he hopes to have a list of measures early next year that districts can use along with Value Added.

Though those measures draw criticism from teachers, the state plan for the other 50 percent of the rating has much stronger support.

The board in November required districts to evaluate teachers with at least two 30-minute visits to each classroom each year, in addition to shorter stops in the classroom. It also calls for teachers to be evaluated based on educator standards the state passed in 2005. Those standards were set with input from teachers.

"Those are things we pretty much agreed make a teacher a good, solid teacher," said Tully. She also said that longer classroom visits by evaluators are better for teachers than the brief pass-throughs that often occur now.

But how much weight is given to different factors - like the learning environment a teacher creates or how much a teacher collaborates with others - will be up to districts.

Gunlock said 139 districts are doing full evaluations of teachers now to test-drive the plan.

After a district does its own evaluation of a teacher using the observations and the 2005 standards, those results are then used along with the student growth measures to set the teacher's overall rating. The state has set a matrix for how those two halves must be combined that puts teachers in the highest and lowest designations only if they excel or fail in each half.

The Cleveland school district is starting its own teacher evaluation plan this year in 23 schools that district chief Eric Gordon says fits within the state plan. Gordon said instead of using a quick checklist that a principal can fill out on a short visit or two, teachers evaluate themselves and principals visit classrooms multiple times, often gathering student work or materials created by the teacher, for a full picture.

The teacher and administrator will compare evaluations and talk about how they differ. Gordon said the evaluation is meant to go beyond just impressions of an observer.

"It's really important that the evaluator find evidence to support claims, rather than just saying it's my opinion," Gordon said. "They have to say, 'I observed this,' or 'I collected that.'"

Though the highest-rated teachers can be observed every two years, all others must be observed yearly. Those observations - and the discussions and coaching that follow - pose a significant challenge, many educators say.

Principals or assistant principals will need to spend the extra time with each teacher, which adds to their work or cuts into other tasks. Julie Davis, executive director of the Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators, said principals would love to be in classrooms but their days are often consumed with safety or budget issues, parents, discipline and other daily duties.

"In reality, as much as they'd like to do this, there are other demands," Davis said, noting that many districts have already cut assistant principals to save money. "Something has to give here."

Gunlock said, however, that the state board considers the classroom more important than other issues principals face.

"Maybe there's some other stuff you're doing, but you have to let other people do it," he said.

The state also wants to make sure any evaluator, principal or not, understands the state standards and has some perspective outside their district, so the Ohio Department of Education is requiring every evaluator to be certified.

That will require each evaluator to take a course over a few days. Gunlock said prospective evaluators will likely watch videotape of a teacher and write evaluations. The trainer will also evaluate the taped lesson and compare the evaluations. Prospective evaluators will have to pass a test to be certified, he said.

The state has not decided who will pay for the training. The Department of Education has begun its search for trainers, many of whom will be set up through county Educational Service Centers.

Oct. 24 Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board meeting

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board considered its financial position from several viewpoints at the
October meeting.

Chief Financial Officer Karen Obratil gave financial reports for the month of September and for the financial year to date. The fiscal year 2012 cash balance is about $86,000 higher than forecast and $3 million lower than FY11, she said.

"This is due to receipt of real estate advance, as well as the loss of public utility reimbursement. It fluctuated due to money that was received in October," she said.

Obratil also gave insight on the real estate tax situation in the district. Real estate taxes, which are paid by personal homeowners and commercial property owners, make up about 67 percent of FY12 revenue, she said. She also pointed out that, due to the impact from House Bill 920 on "outside," or voted, millage, local real estate tax revenue will remain essentially flat from year to year.

Board member David Tryon gave a quick explanation of what this means for the district. "In layman’s terms, because property values are going down, we’re losing money."

Robert Routson, a representative from the Financial Activities Communications Team (F.A.C.T.), gave a report on the district’s financial state. The group’s objective is to achieve a better understanding of the school district’s financial activities and communicate this financial information to the community.

According to Routson, this group is made up of community residents with financial expertise who meet monthly with Obratil. "F.A.C.T. was pleased when the district placed the renewal of the 6.9- mill, 5-year operating levy on the ballot for a continuing period of time," he said.

His report said that, with the passage of this continuing levy, there are three limited levies for the voters to approve. F.A.C.T. recommends that the board continue to reduce the district’s reliance on limited levies by seeking to renew the 7.4, 5-year current expense levy for a continuing period of time at the earliest opportunity. It also recommend that the district continue to strive towards an annual balanced budget.

Board President George Balasko commented on the assistance the group gives to the board. "We appreciate having people with financial acumen looking over our shoulders."

...

Brecksville-Broadview Heights School district voters made a clear statement on election day as they ousted school board president George Balasko, an eight-year member of the board. Recently appointed board member Kathleen Mack garnered 26 percent of the votes.

The team of Mark Dosen and Mike Ziegler ran on the slogan “Change You Can Afford.” They proposed a 6-percent rollback of recent cost-of-living increases that all district employees received; a two-tier system to put new teachers on a modified salary schedule; and, after securing these concessions, a small short-term new tax levy.

Doesen received 21 percent of the votes; Ziegler received 19 percent. Their proposals will no doubt be submitted to the teachers in June when the current contract expires.

In a prepared statement, the two men, who ran together, said, “We are very thankful that the voters of Brecksville and Broadview Heights took the time to review and ask questions about our plans for moving our school district forward, and we are obviously very encouraged by their enthusiastic support at the ballot box. We look forward to working with the board, the administration, labor leaders and others to ensure the continued excellence of our schools and we are committed to providing the BBH residents responsible stewardship of their tax dollars.”

Following the January departure of Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board member George J. Balasko, the board will have a combined total of five years of experience.

The question of whether that is enough to tackle a deficit spending cycle and teacher contract discussions is yet to be answered.

“I am disappointed,” Balasko said. “I had hoped to continue. I feel I did a good job.”

Voters in the Nov. 8 election elected Kathleen Mack and reform slate newcomers Mark Dosen and Michael Ziegler, who were backed by the campaign slogan, “Change You Can Afford.”

Dosen and Ziegler have a top priority of fixing school district finances. Their platform revolved around a three-step plan in addressing budget deficits: a 6-percent rollback of recent cost-of-living increases received by employees, a two-tier system to put newly hired teachers on a more gradual salary schedule, and a short-term new tax levy.

Their swearing-in will be in January.

“There is a pretty good learning curve to being on the board,” said Balasko, an eight-year member. “I wish them the best of luck with running the school district and engaging in negotiations.”

Balasko, who works as property evidence facility manager for the Parma Police Department, said he will continue officiating recreation league and travel team soccer. He also plans to coordinate and oversee a March school safety drill in conjunction with neighboring city police and EMS departments.

Balasko

 Voters in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District feel it’s time for a change in school board leadership.

The eight-year reign of school board member George J. Balasko is over as voters approved the seats of incumbent Kathleen Mack and reform slate newcomers Mark Dosen and Michael Ziegler.

Mack earned 5,251 (26 percent) of the votes, Dosen received 4,093 (21 percent) and Ziegler got 3,791 (19 percent) of the total votes, according to final, unofficial results by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

Backed by the campaign slogan “Change You Can Afford,” Dosen and Ziegler have one top priority of fixing school district finances. They have a three-step plan in addressing budget deficits: a 6 percent rollback of recent cost-of-living increases received by employees, a two-tier system to put newly hired teachers on a more gradual salary schedule and a short-term new tax levy.

“The current teacher contract ends in June and we need to begin immediately on negotiations for the next contract,” Dosen said.

Throughout their campaign, Dosen said constituents liked their three-step plan.

“It seemed to resonate with people,” Dosen said.

Mack walked 1,300 houses throughout her campaign.

“I got perspective on what people want from this school district,” Mack said. “We need to work on communicating what we learn from the state and fiscally make sure we’re going to be sound these next few years.”

She learned many residents approve of merit based pay for teachers but also have a lack of understanding on how the funding system works in education.

“As school board members, we can lobby but we are not able to reform school funding,” Mack said.

Mack

Dosen

Ziegler

Nearly two-thirds of states have overhauled policies in the last two years to tighten oversight of teachers, using techniques including tying teacher evaluations to student test scores, linking their pay to performance or making it tougher to earn tenure, according to a report issued Wednesday.

At least 23 states and the District of Columbia now evaluate public-school teachers in part by student standardized tests, while 14 allow districts to use this data to dismiss ineffective teachers, according to the report from the National Council on Teacher Quality, an advocacy group.

Eleven of these states use the test-score evaluations to decide if teachers get tenure, the report said.

Two years ago, just 16 states used some measure of student performance in evaluating their teachers, which may have included standardized test results, the report said. None mandated that performance-based teacher evaluations be used in tenure decisions, the report added.

"We've seen a major policy shift away from [teacher] evaluations that tell us little about whether kids in a particular teacher's classroom are learning, to evaluations designed to actually identify our most outstanding teachers and those who consistently underperform," said Sandi Jacobs, vice president of the council, which advocates judging teachers based on performance.

The report offers one of the first comprehensive looks at recent changes in policies governing teacher evaluations. The study was funded by the Gates Foundation and the Joyce Foundation.

For decades, teachers were judged only sporadically, based mainly on brief classroom visits by principals. Pay was awarded by seniority and advanced degrees, and tenure was virtually automatic. Student performance rely was taken into account. That has shifted as evidence mounts that teacher quality plays a pivotal role in student achievement and people across e political spectrum have pushed for new approaches. Last year, President Obama's $4.35 billion Race to the Top initiative awarded grants to states hat adopted policy changes such as linking teacher evaluations to student test scores. This year, Republican governors in Idaho, Indiana, Nevada and Michigan ushered in overhauls to teacher rating, compensation, bargaining rights and tenure.

Critics, including some teachers unions, say many of the changes are aimed at firing teachers and usurping union power. They say the new evaluations use flawed standardized tests that measure a narrow window of student learning.

"The purpose of teacher evaluations is to improve the teaching and learning process, and if your system is done correctly, it will get rid of ineffective teachers," said Adriane Dorrington, senior policy analyst with the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union. "But many states started with the idea of how to get rid of ineffective teachers."

The report highlights a litany of policy shifts since 2009:

In Florida, tenure was eliminated. In Colorado, teachers now must get three positive ratings to earn tenure and can lose it after two bad ones. Several states, including Indiana and Michigan, did away with "last in, first out" union rules that resulted in districts laying off effective new teachers instead of ineffective tenured ones. Indiana and Tennessee passed merit-pay laws that base teacher pay primarily on classroom performance.

The report said, however, that continued implementation of the new policies could be derailed. In New York, where lawmakers passed legislation linking student test scores to teacher ratings, the state's largest teachers union and the state Board of Regents are fighting in court over how much weight state exams should be given in the ratings.

In Indiana, teachers unions fought legislation that, among other things, trimmed teacher's bargaining rights, tied evaluations to student test scores and linked pay to performance.

"Of course, there is fear of the unknown," said Sharon Densler, who works in the Capital School District in Dover, Del., training science teachers, and sits on a state committee that is devising new teacher assessments. "But knowing that teachers helped create the system is going to give it a whole lot more validity."

1. What are your qualifications for this position?

Balasko: I have served on the BBHCSD Board for eight years and on the CVCC board for two years. I have attended board member training each year including the OSBA Board Leadership Institute and the president’s workshop. I also earned the OSBA Award of Achievement.

Dosen: I am a 1982 graduate of BBHHS with children in the district. I have a B.S. in computer information science, have worked in information technology for 25 years and currently serve as a senior database technical architect for Accenture. Church, school and community are all places I volunteer regularly. My passion for our educational system has led me to establish bbhcsd-facts.org to inform, educate and empower; attend board meetings; study our finances; and invest countless hours researching and reading about our system.

Garee: No response.

Mack: I am a member on the current school board and have proven to be fiscally responsible and able to collaborate well with the leadership in our district. I have been president of two successful child-centered organizations, Chippewa PSO and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Preschool Mothers Club. Both of these roles helped me to gain a better understanding of what parents want from this district. I am an educator. It is this background that helps to create a diversity that enables us to work effectively as a whole.

Putka: Previously earned the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation. Was a member of a financial committee for the North Royalton School District in 1993. Candidate for North Royalton School Board in 1993.

Ziegler: I will bring financial and business skills to the board. I have a B.S. in engineering and an MBA. My working career included several turn-around situations in which I was able to return businesses to financial health. I have had extensive experience negotiating with organized labor. I am actively involved in church and community activities, volunteering time, talent and treasure where I can make a difference. I have two children who graduated from BBHHS.

2. Funding for schools is a constant problem and voters are not in the mood to pass levies. How will you safeguard the current funds and prepare to keep the district on a balanced budget?

Ba l a s k o : Th e board receives monthly updates on our budget and we are constantly looking for cost saving programs. During my tenure we have implemented two energy cost savings projects to save money and increase comfort in our buildings. We must also continue to lobby for an improved state school funding system. The current system is unsustainable.

Dosen: The board has little control over funding but tremendous influence on spending. The key to a balanced budget is reforming our cost structure so that district employees share equitably in the financial sacrifices needed. Mike Ziegler and I have developed a three-step solution to fix our budget and put us on a path towards long-term sustainability without endless new tax levies. See Mike’s answer to this question for more details or visit MarkandMike4SB.com. A vote for us is a vote for “Change You Can Afford.”

Garee: No response.

Mack: We have to continue the work we have already done by being creative on how we can reduce costs. Until the current funding system is changed, we must educate and inspire our community to help us maintain and increase our revenues.

Putka: BBHCSD average teacher salary in 2010 was $77,352 the third highest out of 611 districts in the state. School districts with similar Performance Index Ratings such as Avon Local and Chagrin Falls had average teacher salaries of $53,569 and $60,095, respectively, in 2010. A school system’s success has more to do with the socioeconomic demographics of the district then with how much money is spent. Also, BBHCSD enrollment is declining rapidly, with a projected loss of 376 students or 9.3 percent by 2015. Because of these facts, I believe there is no need for additional taxes in order to have an excellent school system and cost controls in the June 2012 contract should be the solution to balancing the budget.

Ziegler: Mark Dosen and I have entered into this race as a reform slate focused on addressing our economic challenges. The status quo is no longer working. Here is our plan: 1) A 6-percent rollback of recent cost-of-living increases received by all district employees in 2008-09 and 2009-10. 2) A two-tier system to put newly hired teachers on a modified, more gradual salary schedule resulting in significant long-term savings. 3) After securing concessions, a small, short-term, new tax levy to repair the budget deficit. Visit MarkandMike4SB.com and learn how electing us represents “Change You Can Afford.”

3. What new courses of study would you like to see the district develop to help today’s students take their place in society after graduation?

Balasko: I would like to partner with a local financial institution to provide our students with some real world financial training. Hopefully we can help them manage their money after they graduate.

Dosen: My son is a junior at the high school. At open house I learned that he has 34 students in his algebra-trig class and that his environmental science class has no lab because of cutbacks. If we cannot do math and science properly, introducing new courses of study will not matter. Fixing our budget will cure many ills.

Garee: No response.

Mack: Our current course of study absolutely puts our students at the top of their game by the time their education is complete. I would however, like to see more course work offered in the area of ACT/SAT preparation. The curriculum prepares students well for these tests. We just need to work harder at helping them to improve performance.

Putka: I would like to see a greater emphasis on the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) courses with possibly adding additional requirements for graduation in these classes.

Ziegler: Our first priority needs to be restoring our system back to full health. With staff reductions and cuts to programs and services, our system is degrading. Establishing a sound, sustainable budget will allow us to change the focus from austerity and cutbacks to improvements and new opportunities.

4. Do you believe the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District is top heavy on the administrative level? Why or why not?

Balasko: The district is not top heavy and the facts from the Ohio Deparment of Education prove it. BBHCSD ranks 26th out of 30 districts in Cuyahoga County for administrative cost/pupil. Our administrative costs are about 10 percent of our total expenditures. We have also reduced administrative positions over the past three years.

Dosen: We are running budget deficits so all expenditures need to be re-evaluated including the administrative level. A thorough review is needed.

Garee: No response

Mack: In the last year I have seen several rounds of reductions. These reductions have been both in the areas of administration and educational staffing. I do not feel comfortable stating that one area of employment needs more reductions, without thoroughly examining how this area functions as part of the whole district.

Putka: Until you work with the superintendent’s staff, I believe there is no way of knowing if the administration is top heavy. However, because of the looming large deficits, all staffing and compensation levels must be reviewed and evaluated for potential cost savings.

Ziegler: According to the Ohio Department of Education, we rank 79th out of 612 districts in pupil/administrator ratio at 207.4. We need to review our administration structure and explore avenues for improvement.

Aug. 22 school board meeting

During the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board’s Aug. 22 meeting, as reported in last month’s issue, school district Chief Financial Officer Karen Obratil stated revenues for real estate taxes decreased $2.5 million between 2010 and 2011 and was quoted as saying, “We are not too concerned about it.” However, Obratil has explained that the school board is not concerned about the tax revenue monthly change from this year to last in July because the district receives tax advances based upon the collections received by the county, so the amount of the tax advances varies based on when taxpayers pay their taxes. “We do not get concerned until we receive our final tax settlement where we can easily compare the actual tax collections for the second half of the year to the previous year’s second half tax collections,” she has said since.

She stated that “we,” referring to the district as a whole, were not worried about the decrease due to the timing of the arrival of the money. She said she ran a comparison of final tax settlements and found that the settlement has been fluctuating differently this year but the results are mostly the same as in previous years.

Obratil was also quoted in the article as saying, “So far, all we are receiving is delinquencies.” She has since explained that the statement was made regarding the tangible personal property taxes received this year totaling $7,898 compared to $19,825 last year, which were based on delinquencies received by the County and distributed to the District. “This was pointed out because tangible personal property taxes are no longer being collected on businesses,” she said. “We only receive tangible personal property taxes on public utilities and the taxes are receipted when we receive our final tax settlement for the second half of the year.”

Sept. 26 school board meeting

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board examined the current state of the district’s finances and noted recent achievements. Chief Financial Officer Karen Obratil gave a general operating fund analysis report, in which she noted changes in funding, and fluctuations in how revenue was received by the district this year.

“We received $5 million more in taxes than was forecast in August, and this was due to timing,” she said. “In fiscal year 2012, there is a significant variance between the forecast and the actual revenue due primarily to the timing of tax distributions by the county. In the past two fiscal years, the tangible personal property reimbursement was received in August. Due to the state budget reductions, this reimbursement was not received.”

Obratil went on to explain expenditures for the month of August. “Expenditures are currently in line with the forecast,” she said. “However, compared to FY11, costs are $64,000 higher due to increased insurance premiums, timing of special education tuition and transportation costs, timing of audit costs and a truck purchase.”

She also stated that the higher cash balance had a significant impact on both monthly and fiscal year-to-date financial information. Although tax collections should be distributed in September, she explained, the district has not yet received them and, because of the timing of tax collections, the fiscal year-to-date revenue exceeded expenditures by $9 million.

Superintendent Scot Prebles noted that the preschool at the Hilton Elementary campus had received its six-month provisional license approval to begin operations. “The furniture, teachers and kids are there, and everything is up and running,” he said. “A lot of hard work went into earning this license.”

Board President George Balasko commented on the fact that the BBH district was awarded the Ohio Department of Education’s “Excellence with Distinction” banner for the 12th year in a row. State representative Marlene Anielski was present at the Bees varsity football game against Olmstead Falls, where the banner was presented to Balasko, Prebles and other board members.

“It was great to receive the banner,” Balasko said, “but it’s the teachers, students and parents who have helped us earn this distinction for 12 years running. We thank you.”

Many Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District voters have already cast their ballots. It is because of this early voting that the district commissioned a survey of its constituents.

In cooperation with district officials, Cathy Harbinak, coordinator of community relations, coordinated a survey aimed at capturing the mindset and perceptions of absentee voters. She revealed what the district learned from this survey during a special board meeting on Oct. 11.

Absentee voters have always been an important presence, Harbinak said.

“At the time we commissioned the survey, the number of absentee or vote by mail voters was growing dramatically and the time frame in which they could vote was 45 days prior to the election date,” Harbinak said.

The survey was conducted in June and had a population size of 6,000 and 779 actual respondents.

“It was felt that the district needed to reach out to these people and ask about their voting needs including what additional information would they have liked to have received, what were their sources of information about the district, what were their concerns and unanswered questions,” Harbinak said.

Through survey results, district officials learned that these respondents had unanswered questions that concerned them when they cast their absentee votes.

“We learned that we need to expand and continue our current communication efforts,” Harbinak said.

Officials discovered that:

• A significant amount of constituents want hard copy, not online, information

• There is confusion about who runs and finances a levy campaign. They are manned by volunteers and funded by donations.

Respondents want:

• More simplistic information about district finances like charts and graphs

• A list of specific reductions in staff, services and programs

• An explanation of the compensation package

• A definition of the workload/responsibilities of teachers and administrators and funding sources like local and state revenue and grants

Some of their unanswered questions are:

• What is the strategic direction of the district?

• Why are untrue or misleading published statements permitted to go unanswered?• What is the step grid for teachers

In response to survey findings, constituents will start to notice increased communication and personal contact like monthly superintendent coffee chats. A district Facebook page is also being created.

To give the district a consistent look, a style guide has been adopted along with generated electronic newsletters and videos on the homepage.

Data learned from the survey will be shared with the Communications Advisory Committee and incorporated into Superintendent Scot Prebles’ Communication Work Plan, Harbinak said.

It will be used to help draft future communication messages and tools.

Last week, readers got a glimpse of the candidates for Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board.

During the candidate interviews, one of the main springboards for discussion was the three-point plan which Mark Dosen and Michael Zieglar are hoping to implement if they are elected.

Much of the conversation revolved, not surprisingly, around school finances. Stepping off that conversation was discussion about the Dosen-Ziegler plan.

Dosen: Our three-point plan calls for a 6 percent rollback of recent cost of living increases received by all district employees in 2008-09 and 2009-10, a two-tier system to put newly hired teachers on a modified, more gradual salary schedule resulting in significant long term savings and a small short term new tax levy to repair the budget deficit.

We're very much in touch with member David Tryon. He ran on a similar platform and we are united in our beliefs and vision in what we need to fix our finances. It's not appropriate to reach out to labor right now. I don't think labor will be receptive to this, but we do believe this will happen.

Ziegler: Every organized labor management discussion has to be surrounded by facts. We're running this deficit and we can t continue to that. I believe many teachers will be open to this.

Kathleen Mack: I don't think you should come to any of this with any sort of agenda. Until you see the numbers and sit on the other side of the table, you need to remain open minded because it's not the way it seems all the time. It's not because of not being transparent. It's just the whole picture is not presented in front of you until you are sitting there. It doesn't mean that I don't have cost saving ideas. There are things I would like to look at insurance-wise. I'm not looking for gimmicks. In both cities, the median income has not gone down six percent, so to ask the teachers to take a six percent pay cut is unfair and you will force a very horrible situation to happen.

George J. Balasko: As a sitting board member, I cannot endorse or deny their three-point plan. I will say that our system statewide is unsustainable. There are 500 out of 612 districts in Ohio with a deficit budget schedule. That tells me the problem is not Brecksville-Broadview Heights. The problem is in the State of Ohio. The healthcare contribution has increased for all administrators, our teachers are paying for their retirement plan, we've implemented spousal language for new employees. Over the past three years, we laid off 14 percent of our personnel. Again, it's the system that we're dealt with.

Richard Putka: The two-tier system will not work because so many teachers are in that eighth step or above. Plus, there are no openings. I'm proposing to have 12 steps and we get rid of or shrink away from the four highest steps. The highest salary would be roughly $81,000. And the temporary new tax? We know how that always works. A temporary tends to become permanent and permanent becomes continuing. A two-tier system will not do anything to reduce the deficit.

Dosen: Roughly 87 percent of the cost structure is salaries and benefits. Ultimately, we have to get expenses down. The board has done a wonderful job in finding savings everywhere they can. The problem is there is nothing left. The next time you need to cut $2 million off the budget, you're going to be laying off significant staff. Let's be realistic. How much more can you trim to just cover the $1.3 million deficit? The problem isn't that a teacher can make $90,000. The problem is that they can get there in 15 years.

Do you think that's fair? That in 15 years, you can get to the top? Can that be stretched?

Balasko: It was 15 steps when I came on the board eight years ago. Can it be changed? Yes. There are proposals before the state legislature to eliminate the step grid completely and implement merit based pay.

Ziegler: It s not the fact that a teacher shouldn't be able to make $90,000 a year. It should be the right teachers who are definitely doing the best job. You should have the ability to downgrade somebody who is not an effective teacher, and just cause they're there for 15 years, they shouldn't be making that same $90,000 as somebody who is really committed and devoted to their profession.

Mack: Merit-based pay is a very interesting idea. Yeah, it's good to be on the other side for sure, it s very quick, but I'd also like to see it based on something.

Dosen: Right now there is no merit-based component in compensation. It just doesn't matter how good of a teacher you are. Your compensation is based on how many years have you been there and how many continuing education steps have you earned. We would like to see something else in there. We need to turn our system around now.

Do you favor or oppose retire-rehire?

Ziegler: I don't believe it's a major issue for us. I would oppose it. I believe we need to get younger, newer teachers involved in the system. At this stage, with the current employment situation, I think we're much better off that teachers retiring stay retired.

Balasko: It depends on the specific situation. I would not be in favor of rolling somebody over in a position. If there is a specific slot we need to fill that could be filled with a retire from another district it can save the district a good bit of money and fill an immediate need.

Mack: I am not for retire-rehire, but I can understand the specific situations of it.

Dosen: I would oppose it except in extreme circumstances unless if you had a short term need and it filled the gap.

Putka: I oppose retire-rehire. Once a person retires that should be the way it is. I don t see any benefit.

Closing statements:

Mack: When you look at the finances you can t just throw messages out there without educating the people on the why.

When we are talking about cutting and restructuring, especially these last 10 months, I felt good that our education was intact. The unfortunate decisions we had to make I feel like I am capable of making those decisions and I'm still capable of having the conversations that need to be had to explain the actions of the board.

Balasko: I've been on the board for eight years and for all eight years my primary focus has been on the education of our students. We've had to make some financial changes. Through all of that we were still able to provide an excellent education for our students.

Dave Garee: It comes down to the synergy that the board has to have. A board member must have the ability to work well together as a group and keep an eye on serving the needs of the students. Above all, members must respect diverse points of view and know that others might not agree, but it's for the best of everyone and what s important is that it's working. The minute that school system starts falling back that is when it will move into problems. The confident level is needed from the people.

Ziegler: At this point in the district progression, a change needs to be made. We believe we cannot wait for the state to make changes that would force everyone else into cooperating to make our finances more manageable. We're trying to address a pay system that has resulted in an unsustainable cost curve.

Dosen: Mike (Ziegler) and I are the only candidates in this race who actually have a plan to fix the problem in our district. If we don't fix our budget problems we re in for more cutbacks and more degradation of our school system. We feel our plan is very reasonable. It calls for everyone to put skin in the game not just tax payers but everybody. If we don’t do it we’ll stay at the status quo and the status quo is leading us down the wrong path.

Though busing for Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School students is not expected to return, Superintendent Scot Prebles presented another option for members of the board to explore.

The “H.S. RTA Model” would feature 16 stops students could congregate to catch a school bus to the high school. Students would return to those same stops at the of the school day.

As part of a transportation analysis presented Sept. 26 at the regular meeting of the school board, Prebles illustrated a comparison between transportation services of today and those of the proposed H.S. RTA Model.

The district has reduced its fleet by six buses and 39 routes which equates to 161,000 less miles traveled. In the 2009-10 academic year, roughly $2.4 million was spent on transportation services and about $2.1 million was spent last school year. This resulted in a $302,000 savings to the district.

Salaries reported a decrease as well with $1 million spent in 2009-10 and $870,000 for the 2010-11 school year. This is a $140,000 difference. Benefits were reduced by $144,000 and “other” costs like bus insurance, tires and licensing fees were reduced by $18,000.

Under the proposed model, aimed at streamlining routes, many dollar figures would increase. Transportation services would cost $2.3 million and salaries would jump to $936,000.

As mentioned in the analysis, considerations for the school board include reduced congestion in school lots but increased traffic in major city arteries, diminished savings, safety related to sidewalks, visibility and teen drivers and the congregation of students near driveways and business entrances.

Aug. 22 school board meeting 

Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District Chief Financial Officer Karen Obratil gave the financial report for the 2011-12 school year thus far. This is the first month of the 2012 fiscal year, she said. The revenue for real estate taxes is a $2.5 million decrease between 2011 and 2012, but we are not too concerned about it. So far, all we are receiving is delinquencies.

Obratil also described some reductions in staff salaries and benefits: We paid off 15 of last year’s teachers out of the June payroll. We’re going to see significant savings from the reductions.

During the meeting, the board passed a resolution to authorize the execution of House Bill 264 energy conservation measures, which includes replacing lighting fixtures in all of the district’s buildings and switching to 25-watt lightbulbs. According to the Ohio School Facilities Commission website, H.B. 264 is a statewide program that allows school districts to make energy-efficient improvements to their buildings.

Lawrence Tomec, director of business services for the district, gave details on how the project will be implemented and how the district will pay for it. We are anticipating issuance of bonds to pay for changes to school buildings,he said. We’re borrowing the money from our bond retirement fund, essentially from ourselves. We pay it back to ourselves, and the interest will pay back to the general fund.

Tomec said the project, which will be contracted to Brewer-Garrett Co., will save the district $815,000 over 15 years. We’ll pay for the project in about six and a half years. The plan is a real winner for our district,he said. We will be starting installation in the first or second week of September after regular student hours.

The board passed the resolution unanimously.

As Northeast Ohio school districts kick off a new year, most are making do with a lot less from the state.

The seven-county region will see close to a $40 million drop in state funding this school year compared with last. That's largely because the state budget passed in June unexpectedly slashed reimbursements for lost business and utility taxes to stave off a looming deficit.

The lost funding is enough to cover the salaries of about 670 teachers at the state average pay.

An additional $65 million - enough for 1,130 or so more teachers -- will disappear next school year, if state simulations analyzed by The Plain Dealer hold.

On top of that, local districts won't have $111 million in federal stimulus money that pumped up their budgets last year.

Do the math, and the bottom line is bad news for the school officials who have to balance the books.

"We knew the stimulus money was going away, and for us that was just shy of $1 million," said Cliff Reinhardt, treasurer for Willoughby-Eastlake schools. "But what blindsided us was the loss of the reimbursements."

The Lake County district, with more than 8,000 students, provides a good example of exactly how the budget plays out for local districts.

Willoughby-Eastlake kept its basic state aid of $11.2 million a year because Gov. John Kasich and the legislature guaranteed no district would get less than last school year.

In fact, about half the districts in Northeast Ohio (including Cleveland, Akron and Lorain as well as many in inner-ring suburbs and rural areas) got at least a slight increase in basic state aid. Overall, that funding went up about $59 million in the region this year and will go up an additional $8 million next year under the current formula.

In addition, Willoughby-Eastlake will get a bonus of $17 per student -- adding up to an extra $144,000 -- because it is ranked excellent on the recent state report cards.

About two-thirds of local districts will get the bonus for being in the top two rankings. That will bring in less than $4 million across the region this year.

But -- and it's a huge but -- Willoughby-Eastlake will lose about $1.5 million a year in state reimbursements tied to electricity deregulation. In addition, compared with last school year, its business tax reimbursement will be about $1.7 million less this year and $3.4 million less next year.

Reinhardt says he's struggling to keep his budget balanced. The district is negotiating with its employees, who will get no increase in base pay this year and are being asked to chip in more toward health care. And, like 40 other local districts, Willoughby-Eastlake will have a tax request on the November ballot.

Districts across the state are in the same boat.

"They're dealing with it in varying ways," said Dave Varda, executive director of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials. "Some are approaching taxpayers for more support. And some unions are willing to negotiate or renegotiate to help avoid layoffs."

All 97 districts in Northeast Ohio lost money from the change in state tax reimbursements, though a cap reduced the blow for those who depended on them for more than 2 percent of their total revenue.

The state will send about $100 million less in reimbursements to the region this school year. The cut increases by $75 million next year.

Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lake counties were hit particularly hard by the sudden change. In fact, two out of every three Cuyahoga County districts are among the 100 in Ohio slammed the most when all was said and done.

Kasich and state legislators cut the reimbursements to help avoid a multibillion-dollar deficit that loomed as stimulus money petered out.

Most of the payments make up for a tangible personal property tax on businesses' inventory, equipment and furniture that legislators voted to dump in 2005 to encourage development. Another type of business tax -- the commercial activity tax -- took its place, and part of the money raised has been funneled to districts that lost revenue from the old tax.

District officials knew the plan was to shrink the reimbursements, starting in 2012, and end them altogether by 2018. But many got a rude surprise when the budget started taking away big chunks July 1.

As the wrangling over various budget proposals began last spring, residents of property-rich suburbs -- like Solon, Independence, Westlake, Rocky River, Medina and Twinsburg -- gathered to hear superintendents warn that they might lose the little state funding they got.

At the time, Solon was facing a 50 percent cut in state basic aid as well as the loss of the business tax reimbursements. Ultimately, basic aid stayed intact at about $2.5 million a year, which is a win in the view of Superintendent Joseph Regano.

"We thought we did pretty well in light of what the financial conditions were in the state," Regano said, giving credit to local legislators who responded to the pleas for help.

However, Solon's tax reimbursements will plunge about $1.2 million this year and drop an additional $1.2 million next year, landing at about $8.4 million a year. The district has eliminated about 25 staff positions, and employees agreed to a three-year pay freeze so that a levy request can be avoided for the time being, he said.

Regano also is pleased that the budget says districts will keep receiving whatever reimbursement amount they get next year, instead of seeing it phased out entirely.

Varda, from the business officials group, said some in Columbus are already suggesting that guarantee might not stand, depending on the state of the economy when it's time to draw up the next budget.

Regano prefers to be optimistic. "If Gov. Kasich's jobs initiative comes through and revenues rise, we won't be asked to contribute again," he said. "But it's possible two years from now we may face another assault and we'll be ready to address it."

Meanwhile, the funding picture for districts may well change again soon. Kasich intends to propose a new formula for distributing state aid within the next several months, said spokesman Rob Nichols. It could take effect as early as next school year.

"The goal is to get more dollars into the classroom as opposed to bureaucracy and overhead," Nichols said.

But the overall amount the state doles out is unlikely to change because of "finite resources," he said.

Greg Slemons, the treasurer for Orange schools, has been in some conversations with the people who are crafting a new formula. His district's reimbursements will go from about $3.4 million last year to $2.1 million this year to $1.2 million next year.

His main message to the state: Come up with a formula that has "longevity" -- no matter who is in the governor's office or state legislature when the next two-year budget has to be hashed out.

"Allow us a concrete level of funding from the state so we can place that amount in our forecasts and make prudent, fiscally responsible decisions for the education of our students," Slemons said.

Plain Dealer Data Analysis Editor Rich Exner contributed to this story.

BRECKSVILLE — Classes are back in session for students in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District.

Following a recent school board meeting, officials have some homework of their own as the school year kicks into gear.

Together with members of the school board, Superintendent Scot Prebles discussed goals that fit into five main categories: Communications, Continuous Improvement Planning, Professional Learning Communities, Efficiency/Cost Savings and Negotiations Process.

Each category has a number of sub-goals.

In regards to communication, the district aims to schedule superintendent coffee events at local businesses, continue the informational videos found on the district website and maintain transparency with constituents.

The continuous improvement plan category centers around student performance.

“Our performance data reflects well on students, teachers and parents working together,” Prebles said.

Teachers will utilize extra time in the school day to discuss student data including specific standards and essentials students should be able to demonstrate. The professional learning communities category also calls for intervention strategies and ways to accelerate learning for gifted students.

The district has a number of green energy projects in place, as called for in the efficiency/cost savings goal category, as well as educational components for students and staff in learning how to reduce the carbon footprint.

Officials will also address strategies for the negotiation process.

In regards to the new school year which started last week, Prebles he is “definitely excited.”

“I think that we are a fantastic school district in a fantastic community that provides us the support to continue to grow and improve,” Prebles said.

In the days leading up to the start of school, Prebles took time to see a practice of the marching band and football team.

“It’s exciting to see that many students come together,” Prebles said. “It’s really nice to sit at my desk and begin to hear our students in cross county, tennis, football and band.”

Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board member Alan Scheufler is not seeking reelection in the Nov. 8 gen­eral election.

The Brecksville resident cited additional work respon­sibilities in his job as a busi­ness law attorney in Cleve­land.

"I have been very honored to serve eight years on the board and I care very deeply about this district and its cur­rent and future success," Scheufler said.

Scheufler served the BBH schools in many ways prior to his election in 2003 and re-election in 2007.

He began his involvement serving on a Blue Ribbon Committee examining the dis­trict's finances. Scheufler co-chaired the 1994 bond issue campaign for the new high school and three operating levy campaigns.

He was also a trustee of the Brecksville- Broad view Heights Schools Foundation for 10 years, serving as presi­dent for six years, according to information released by the school district.

Scheufler has lived in Brecksville since 1981.

"The Brecksville-Broad-view Heights School District is very near and dear to my heart," Scheufler said.

"They never obscure the true reason for why the school district exists and that is to provide a superior education to the children of the commu­nity," Scheufler said.

The residents of Brecksville-Broadview Heights voted on Aug. 2 to approve the renewal of a 6.9-mill levy for the BBH school district. The only thing about the levy renewal that has changed is that voters will no longer be asked to renew this levy in the future, as it will continue uninterrupted for an undetermined period of time.

School Board President George Balasko commented on the importance of this levy being renewed at the July 25 school board meeting. “If the levy fails to pass, we could run out of money in 2013,” he said. According to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, the levy passed by 4415 to 2835 votes, out of 22 precincts total.

July 25 BBH school board meeting

The board reviewed a roadmap of the revenue and expenditures of the general operating fund provided by Chief Financial Officer Karen Obratil in order to provide more accurate information on the five-year financial forecast.

“The expenditures exceed revenue by $1.3 million, and this year marks the third year in a row of deficit spending for the district,” she concluded.

Board President George Balasko remarked on the passage of HB 153, the state budget, and how this affects future financial decisions made by the board.

“The version of the budget that finally came out was the least negative to our district. We still need additional operating funds; however, Senate Bill 5 is going to be on the ballot in November,” he said.

Balasko added that school boards across the state have been advised to take a long, hard look before putting new money levies on the ballot.

“I believe we need a new money levy on the ballot, but due to many reasons, I do not think we should put any new levies on the ballots until 2012,” he said.

The board considered a resolution to extend Superintendent Scot Prebles’ contract through July of 2015. A press release on the resolution stated that due to positive feedback received from the community on Prebles’ efforts, and especially in light of difficult economic conditions, board members are replacing his current contract, which was set to expire in 2013. Under the new contract, there is no built-in salary increase, and Prebles’ health care contributions will increase from 10 to 15 percent. The board approved the resolution 4-0, as board member Mark Jantzen was absent on vacation.

Constituents in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District approved Tuesday a 6.9-mill renewal levy.

The renewal levy does not increase taxes. It will continue to raise $6.3 million per year for the operations of the school district.

The renewal levy passed by 4,415 votes (61 percent) compared to 2,835 votes (39 percent) against the tax levy, according to final, unofficial results posted by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

“I’m certainly very thankful for the support of our community,” said Superintendent Scot Prebles. “The voters understand how important $6.3 million is to the operations of the school district. I pledge to continue to seek opportunities to provide education in a fiscally responsible way.”

Despite its passage, approval of the renewal levy does not mean changes are coming to transportation and busing, pay-to-participate rates for athletics and extracurriculars, reduced positions, pay rates or provided employee benefits.

“It is just the status quo,” Prebles said.

Future plans do not call for a new money levy in November.

Members of the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board voted to approve a new contract for Superintendent Scot Prebles.

Because members could not extend his current contract, they voted July 25 to terminate and replace it.

His new contract is effective Aug. 1 through July 31, 2015. Prebles’s base salary is $156,000.

“In recognition of his outstanding work over the past year, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Board of Education replaced Scot’s current contract, set to expire in 2013, with a new four-year contract, effectively extending his term with the district for the next four school years,” said George J. Balasko, board president. “There is no built-in salary increase with this contract and Scot’s health care contribution will increase from 10 to 15 percent.”

The school district will also no longer contribute to his half of the pension, Balasko said. Previously, it contributed 10 percent.

Revisions to the contract of Treasurer/CFO Karen Obratil call for the same. Her healthcare contribution will also increase.

June 20 school board meeting

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board considered and approved changes made to its Five-year Financial Forecast. Chief Financial Officer Karen Obratil gave a presentation of the changes that have taken place since the forecast was approved in November 2010.

“Back in May, we talked about changes between the November and May forecasts, and revised accordingly. The May revision to the forecast is a state required, semi-annual update, a public document intended to represent the district’s financial condition in order to support near and long-term decision making. The five-year forecast is subject to change over time,” she said.

Obratil gave a direct assessment of the heart of the forecast. “The cash balance is the ultimate measure of the district’s solvency, which is normally noted at June 30, the end of the fiscal year. For fiscal year 2011, the district is $612,000 favorable in the May forecast as opposed to the November forecast due to lower expenditures,” she said.

Despite this good news, Obratil stated, the distant outlook is still bleak. “As in November, the May forecast has the district reaching a zero cash balance during fiscal year 2013, due to the annual deficits incurred,” she said.

Board Member Alan Scheufler asked Obratil to clarify a point in light of this forecast. “So, in spite of all the implemented cost cutting, we’re going to be in the red and out of money by 2013?” he asked. Obratil said that this was so, and that the calculations were based on Gov. John Kasich’s budget.

“Projections are something to strive for, but you never hit it right on – no business does, and no business or school district ever will, because there are always variables you can’t control,” Scheufler said.

The board approved the changes to the forecast by 5-0.

On Aug. 2, residents of Brecksville and Broadview Heights face a special election for a school renewal levy. Since it is a renewal, if passed, it will not increase taxes.

The 6.9-mill levy is a renewal, but with one change. If passed, it becomes a continuing levy, which means that it will continue for an undetermined period of time without going back to the voters.

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District already has three such continuing levies in place that have remained in existence since 1976, 1978 and 1986 respectively, according to a presentation put forward at the regular BBH school board meeting in April of this year.

Karen Obratil, chief financial officer for the BBH school district, gave some facts about the costs to voters and the schools, which this levy will incur.

According to Obratil, the cost to an owner of a $100,000 property in the district will remain at about $211 per year. It will generate $6.3 million per calendar year for the school district.

According to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, the cost incurred by the district for this special election will be $3,000 per precinct, and there are 21 precincts in the cities of Brecksville and Broadview Heights combined.

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District will take a devastating hit if an upcoming renewal levy does not pass, said George J. Balasko, school board president.

The 6.9-mill renewal levy will come before voters on Aug. 2.

The renewal levy will not increase taxes. It will continue to raise $6.3 million per year for the operations of the city school district, said Treasurer/CFO Karen Obratil.

If voters oppose the renewal levy, more cuts will be coming including layoffs and diminished school programming, Balasko said. A failed levy will mean a 10 percent loss to the nearly $50 million budget.

“We’ll have to make the same cuts all over again,” Balasko said.

Voters would also see the renewal levy again on the Nov. 8 ballot.

“The loss in funds would begin in January,” Obratil said. “It is really critical that it passes. $6.3 million is a pretty sizable amount of money. This renewal levy maintains our existing operations. It doesn’t give the district any additional money.” 

BROADVIEW HTS. In early March, Dave Garee announced his intention to run for an at-large position on City Council. When the June 15 filing deadline passed, however, Garee had not filed his petitions, prompting speculation throughout the city.

As it happens, Garee is running for a spot on the Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board.

“Instead of just standing around, I knew I still wanted to get involved,” Garee said, citing the time commitment as an obstacle to a campaign for a council seat.

“This is something I can do that I’m very passionate about,” Garee said. With three children in the school system, his interests and experience line up with both parents and taxpaying residents.

Garee has a significant background in and around Broadview Heights. A member of the Broadview Heights Lions Club, the Shade Tree Commission, The Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Community Emergency Response Team and many other organizations, Garee has devoted a great deal of his time and know-how to community-oriented projects and events.

He noted that his experience with negotiations and professional support will be a boon to his work with the school board. On the back end of any organization, a strong support system is needed to carry out the work that needs to be done, he said.

The terms of school board members George J. Balasko, Kathleen Mack and Alan W. Scheufler expire at the end of 2011. The filing deadline for candidates for those terms is Aug. 10. The election will be held Nov. 8.

It might be time for Brecksville-Broadview Heights parents and students to start putting money aside from their summer paychecks.

Members of the Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board unanimously approved 100 percent pay-to-participate fees for the 2011-12 academic year.

The fees apply to middle and high school student participation in sports, clubs and art programs.

Prices for Brecksville-Broadview Heights Middle School sports range from $375 to play basketball to $300 for football. Examples of club fees include $75 for Stage Crew and $100 for Builders Club.

At the high school, sports fees include:

• Volleyball: $750

• Basketball: $700

• Wrestling and Baseball: $600

• Varsity football: $575

• Swimming $475

• Track: $375

• Show Choir: $145

• Marching Band $130

Students wishing to participate in Drama Club must pay $15, Student Council $50, Science Olympiad $110 and Academic Challenge $150.

Last year, parents and students paid 80 percent of participation fees, said Fiscal Assistant Pat Stankey.

One result of the failed May operating levy was the increase in fees to 100 percent.

Last year’s fees did not really affect participation levels, Stankey said.

“The fees this year are in the same ball park as last year, but last year was the shocking year,” Stankey said.

Application forms can be found in the main offices of each school building or online at bbhcsd.org/. Fees are due before a student begins practicing or meeting with the team or group.

May 23 school board meeting

Despite a passing funnel cloud that sent attendees of the May 23 meeting of the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board into the basement for cover, the board still got around to rewarding excellence and taking stock of its financial status. Bonnie Monteleone conferred the BBH Education Association Friend of Education award onto Terri Neff. In addition, Board President George Balasko awarded six instructors in the BBH school district with the distinction of Master Teacher, for which they had to go through an extensive application process. “Thanks for putting in extra effort, which makes our school district excellent,” Balasko said.

The board also reviewed the district’s five-year financial forecast, which it originally passed in November 2010. Chief Financial Officer Karen Obratil explained the changes made since then, which would be added to the May forecast. “Real Estate tax collections are down by $371,000 from the November forecast, and we don’t know when people will pay their taxes. Total revenue is $289,000 less than forecasted in November,” she said.

In addition, the proposed reductions in the state budget have posed further challenges, according to Obratil. “For financial year 2012, we will lose $911,000 in Tangible Personal Property, due to the new state budget,” she said. “We will lose $6 million over the next three years by 2015.”

Superintendent Scot Prebles gave a presentation on the state budget impact to the BBH school district. “We are $2.9 million different from where we thought we would be,” he said. “We will have a deficit of $19.7 million by 2015. We are going to reduce by almost 60 staff members over a three-year period.” He also stated that further reductions to the budget were needed.

Balasko gave a grave account of a meeting he and other school board members from across the state attended with Gov. John Kasich. “We’re going to have to see more cuts in our future and need to raise more funds locally,” he said. “Mr. Prebles, you will have to expand on these cuts. I don’t see any way around it, even with the best reports from the state. We can’t count on more federal funding.”

The lowest fruit has been plucked from the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District tree.

The school board unanimously approved Superintendent Scot Prebles’ recommendations for further cost savings to the district. The plan calls for cutting 104 hours, or 22 employees, out of the classified workforce, said Director of Human Resources Kathryn Powers.

Five certified personnel will also be laid off and administrative personnel will be reduced at the middle school. Pay-to-participate fees will also increase to 100 percent calling for $120,000 in cost avoidance to the school district.

“In my opinion, we have plucked the lowest fruit that we possibly can,” Prebles said. “Any further reductions are going to have to impact the classrooms. It’s not about threatening. It is factual information as I understand it today.”

Members of the school board met June 2 to discuss the district’s current and projected forecast. Under Gov. John Kasich’s budget proposal, the district is expecting to lose $2.9 million in funding from the state. In fiscal year 2015, the district may be facing a $19.7 million deficit.

“We cannot continue to eliminate custodial positions, eliminate administrative assistants and reduce teachers because it’s going to increase our class sizes to a level that is going to be unmanageable for the same product that we currently are producing,” Prebles said. “It’s manageable, but it is not the Brecksville-Broadview Heights tradition of excellence in the classroom that is, for the most part, almost individualized instruction for students.”

Members of the school board voiced their feelings of grief.

“Even with all the layoffs and the retirements and the attrition and the cutbacks in expenses, we are in a very dire situation,” said member Alan Schuefler. “I don’t see that we have any choice but to implement additional reductions in employees and programs. I think right now we’re just trying to stave off the inevitable of a potential shutdown and we’re one of the best school districts in the state. We’re ranked 16th in the state and we’re fighting to keep our doors open. This is really sad.”

Members met June 6 in executive session to review negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees concerning their compensation and conditions of employment. Treasurer/CFO Karen Obratil and Prebles will approach the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association and Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organizational Support Staff to reopen negotiations.

In the past three years, the district has reduced 14.7 percent of its teaching staff.

“Much of our planning is about restructure and efficiency so that we’re not having people come in and having people go out,” Prebles said. “As we restructure, refine and realign, we’re trying to create situations in our organization where we’re stable and providing quality services with less people but certainly with a tremendous focus on student performance.”

The plan shaves off $620,000 from the school budget. School board member Kathleen Mack noted that the message from Columbus is clear and school districts are on their own.

“The prudent thing to do is not to hope that we get a better result,” said member David Tryon regarding the proposed economic forecast. “The prudent thing to do is to expect the worst which looks like it may well occur.”

Cost saving measures are specifically prioritized to have the least amount of impact on the classroom, Prebles said.

“Look at the square footage of this high school. You want this place clean with this many reduced people?” Prebles said of potential conversations with staff. “ ‘There are going to have to be, Scot, some places that aren’t done.’ I’m willing to have that as an equation right now prior to a teacher in a classroom saying, ‘Scot, we’re just not able to do that anymore.’ ”

“This school district has protected the classroom from distraction and I believe that is why it is ranked 16th in the state. We capitalize on the time that teachers have with students and now each little piece takes away from that. Education needs to become more efficient. That’s a general statement. That’s the reality. Other industries are being asked to do more with less. We can do more with less. This isn’t beating up the public. This is the reality of our business in a very difficult situation.”

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District is facing additional cutbacks.

Under Gov. John Kasich’s budget proposal, the school district is set to lose $2.9 million, or roughly 5 percent of its budget, next school year.

“We had planned to be receiving less money,” said George Balasko, school board president, on May 24. “We had planned for about $1 million, but we did not anticipate another $1.9 million.”

In light of this loss in state funding, the school board is reviewing recommendations made by Superintendent Scot Prebles asking for an additional $500,000 to $750,000 in budget reductions.

This does include the elimination of some classified, certificated and administrative personnel.

A special meeting is in the works for 7 p.m. June 2 at the board office.

The meeting will include a public discussion of proposed budget reductions and an executive session to discuss possible negotiations and talks with bargaining units, Balasko said.

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board decided to approve another levy for renewal at its meeting on Apr. 26.

The meeting began with several BBH students and academic advisors receiving recognition from the board for many outstanding achievements. These included students participating in the “Talking Bees” Speech and Debate team, the Ohio Council of Teachers Mathematics Competition, the Math League team, the National Chemistry Olympiad and the Scholastic Art and Writing Award.

Superintendent Scot Prebles gave Excellence in Education pins to every student and advisor recognized. “We want you to wear them proudly,” he said. Board members then considered how the new state budget put forward by Ohio Governor John Kasich would affect the BBH City School District. The budget, if passed, would cut state funding to schools to the tune of $2.9 million, which means that 39 percent of funding will be lost over 2011-2013. “We weren’t prepared for all of these reductions,” district chief financial officer Karen Obratil said.

Prebles joined her in expressing surprise at the proposed changes. “We knew the changes were coming but did not expect them to be this abrupt or dramatic,” he said. Prebles asked members of the community write to Ohio state representatives Ron Amstutz and John Carey, who are on the State Finance and Appropriations Committee, to complain about the unfair treatment the school districts are receiving. He also pointed out that State Representative Marlene Anielski is working to help the schools voice their disapproval and to get the changes to the state budget lessened. “My hat is off to her,” Prebles said.

The board also approved the renewal of a 6.9-mill levy that expires this year. The board did alter the levy renewal so that, if passed, it would become a “continuing” levy, meaning that it will continue for an extended period of time at the board’s discretion instead of expiring in five years.

Obratil detailed the types of levies the BBHCSD currently has in effect. Three of the six existing levies are “continuing,” having been in place since 1976, 1978 and 1986, respectively. The other three levies are expiring, one of which is the 6.9-mill levy in question.

“One levy not being renewed will bring the district to its knees, even though it’s a renewal. This is having a destabilizing effect on our community,” Prebles said. The board approved the levy renewal unanimously, and it will go on the ballot for the August primary.

Voters on May 3 turned down the 5.3-mill school levy for Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District, but while the defeat poses challenges for the district, morale among administrators is determined and mostly positive.

“The voters have spoken, and I respect their collective voice,” school board member David Tryon said. “This is their community, and as the board of education, we need to listen to them. I believe we will continue to prosper – I’m not a prophet of doom.”

Superintendent Scot Prebles also thought the election results were no cause for a gloomy outlook. “Obviously I’m disappointed at the outcome, but there are a lot of positive things to be gleaned from this levy,” he said. “We increased the number of positive votes in all but four of our voter precincts, and also increased the number of passing precincts to eight, whereas last time it was four.”

Tryon said the defeat was more directly related to economics than education. “People didn’t vote against the levy because they don’t like teachers or education,” he said. “I think many people recognize the changes that the board made so far in how we do business as a school district, and therefore changed their vote from ‘no’ to ‘yes.’ But there are some who simply cannot afford more taxes, and I understand that.”

As far as the next step for the district in the wake of this levy failure, Prebles said that a discussion of options is imminent. “That conversation will begin in the next few weeks. If we have any reductions that are staff-related, those will have to be done before teachers take off in June,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do in a short window of time.”

Tryon stated that the unions are a source of voter dissension when it comes to passing levies. “The taxpayers I hear from tell me they want the union to agree to share the pain of this difficult economy by spreading the sacrifices across all teachers and not just by forcing a few teachers out to make up budget difficulties,” he said. “Previously, the union had far more power than the school board. Senate Bill 5, if upheld, will make for fairer negotiations between the union and the school board.”

Prebles also said it is difficult to change contracts that affect salaries. “(Salaries) are subject to a negotiated contract discussion,” he said. “I don’t think that will be a part of any further reductions. To make adjustments outside of the discussion process is illegal; you have to go to the bargaining table to do it.”

Residents in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District could see another new money levy on the November ballot, said school board President George J. Balasko on May 9.

Members have not met formally or held public discussion since the May 3 failure of a 5.3-mill operating levy, but Balasko speculates that a levy could come in six months, at the earliest.

The next regular school board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 23.

“I’m disappointed with the loss of our levy, but I understand that it is difficult to support new tax money in these tough economic times,” Balasko said. “I wish to thank all of our many levy volunteers. I thought they did a wonderful job getting information out to the voters about all the great things our district is doing for our students.”

Superintendent Scot Prebles did not respond in time for the Sun Star-Courier print deadline.

As part of Gov. Kasich’s budget proposal, less money will be coming from the state. The school district is facing a projected $2.9 million in cuts from state funding, or a roughly 39 percent loss in funding over two years. The district’s current forecast shows a $21.2 million deficit in fiscal year 2015, Prebles said at an April 26 regular school board meeting.

The district received $8.9 million in state funding, Balasko said. This is expected to drop to roughly $6.5 million for 2012 and $5.8 million in the following year.

“All the cuts we’ve made, we’d have to do that all over again,” Balasko said.

He said layoffs may be inevitable. In the last three years, 10 percent of staff have been reduced.

“To reduce our budget, we have to eliminate people; we are a service-oriented business.”

Because of focus groups, town hall style meetings, one-on-one conversations and neighborhood coffee events, Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District Superintendent Scot Prebles said he has a better sense of where constituents stand.

He now knows too where constituents stand when the district asks for new money.

On Tuesday, voters turned down a 5.3-mill operating levy by 4,531 votes (51.63 percent) compared to 4,245 votes (48.37 percent) in support of the tax levy, according to final, unofficial results posted by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

“The reality of that failure is that we need to go much quicker with our economic perspective as opposed to what can we streamline and become more efficient with and still maintain a quality education for the students,” Prebles said. “A failure will have a significant negative impact on the service we provide for students. That is the failure of the levy with the fact also of losing $2.9 million in state budget funding.”

As part of a 2011-12 restructuring plan, more than 10 percent of staff will be reduced and more reductions may be coming.

“This levy is designed to maintain, not increase, our staff or program,” Prebles said. “No salary increases are tied to this levy.”

The school board approved more than $1 million of reductions for the term of the current contract including an absolute salary freeze, increased employee medical, dental and health premium contributions, a two-tier spousal insurance coverage to new employees, the elimination of supplemental contract compensation increases tied to the base salary and a starting salary reduced $2,000.

Along with cuts made over the last two years, officials have also trimmed an additional $1.2 million from the budget.

“This will bring our three-year total to slightly more than $4 million which includes a three-year reduction in just over 10 percent of our total staff,” Prebles said.

Since Jan. 1, teachers have been paying 10 percent of the insurance premium share and will continue to do so in the 2011-12 academic year. Beyond that, percentages have yet to be negotiated, along with service increases, base salary, and increases for those who receive additional certification or licensure.

Arguably, volunteers for the School Issues Committee, led by co-chairs Megan Sarfi, Dave Schroedel and Greg Skaljac, certainly won’t hear that they didn’t have enough of a presence within the two communities.

The committee garnered hundreds of volunteers all armed with the intention of gaining voter support.

Campaign rallies were held through April 30, and plenty of mailers, phone calls, emails of support and yard signs were displayed.

“They have done a phenomenal job of putting information out about the school system,” Prebles said May 2.

He noted also that community members engaged in the process have a better understanding than most of district operations.

“Now it’s about meeting their expectations in a cost that is appropriate and that serves the best interest of students,” Prebles said.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio's new collective bargaining law would wipe out automatic public school teacher pay raises in favor of a statewide pay-for-performance system that would be the first of its kind in the country.

No state now has a mandatory statewide merit pay system for teachers. And while districts or schools across the country have experimented with plans tying bonus money to student achievement, teachers are still guaranteed their annual pay raises as called for by their contracts.

That won't be the case in Ohio under the new law, commonly known as Senate Bill 5, which eliminates salary schedules and step increases for Ohio's 110,000 full-time public school teachers in favor of a straight pay-for-performance system paid for at the local levels.

"That's the most fascinating component of this," said Kathy Christie, chief of staff for the Education Commission of the States, a Denver-based nonpartisan group that studies education issues and policies across the country.

While it is done with success at a single school district in Colorado, Christie said Ohio would be the only state in the country where merit pay would replace automatic raises statewide.

"That is the type of component that really, really resonates with the public. If you are not pulling your weight, if you are not getting performance, if you are not tenacious and really trying to learn and all those sorts of things you want to see teachers doing, then you don't move up at all," she said. "And I tell you, you run that by public opinion and you get a thumbs-up every time."

Teachers in Ohio certainly hope that is not the case. They oppose the far-ranging new law and, more specifically, oppose merit pay as it is proposed because they say too many factors beyond a teacher's control affect student learning.

Under Senate Bill 5, teacher performance would be weighed partly by a new set of standards being created by the state board of education that involve observing teachers in the classroom and evaluating their knowledge of the subject they teach and their teaching skills.

But the biggest piece, which is far from complete, is developing a test that will gauge student academic growth over a school year or from year to year, said Ohio Department of Education spokesman Patrick Gallaway.

Student achievement will be the biggest single metric in a teacher's evaluation, making up 50 percent of the final performance mark for each educator and determining whether he or she gets a raise, nothing, or potentially gets fired.

The new system would not affect current teacher contracts, which would remain in effect until they expire.

Because of improved teacher evaluation systems and data collection on students, more states are looking for ways to link the two items -- teaching skills and pupil achievement -- though pay-for-performance is not necessarily on the radar everywhere, Christie said.

"We are seeing a sea change in the last 12 to 18 months on the teacher evaluation piece," she said. "It is an unbelievable amount of movement on this issue."

In recent years, school districts in Iowa, Texas, Minnesota, New York and elsewhere have experimented with pay-for-performance programs and many have not lasted beyond a few years. Most struggle to find an equitable way of providing raises to all while also handing out merit pay to some, Christie said.

Harvard economist Roland Fryer in March concluded that a $75 million pay-for-performance pilot program in New York City that started in 2007 did not increase student achievement.

A study from Vanderbilt University released last September that followed Nashville teachers eligible for merit pay from 2007 through 2009 also concluded that student academic achievement did not improve.

But that study concluded that teachers are likely to agree to work under a merit pay plan if they are convinced their employer has a sound policy reason for doing it as opposed to feeling as though it is being forced on them.

Unlike those other programs, Ohio's would not allocate any special funds for merit pay. The bonus pay would be money the districts already had intended to pay all teachers as part of automatic annual pay raises.

Matt Mayer, president of the conservative Buckeye Institute, supports Senate Bill 5 and merit pay.

If he could further design the pay-for-performance program in Ohio, Mayer said only one in four teachers would be rewarded with pay increases and the bottom teachers would have to immediately boost their teaching skills or be fired.

"The real focus on K-12 pay for performance should be on rewarding the top 25 percent of teachers that when compared to their peers excel in terms of the academic achievement of their pupils," he said.

"And then there is the bottom 25 percent who are below their peers," Mayer continued. "Get those who underperform help or help them move on to a new career."

And the middle 50 percent would get raises only as resources within the individual districts allow, he said. "Kind of how the private sector works," Mayer said.

He added that teachers should be compared only to other teachers within the same district and grade level so that an educator with at-risk students isn't compared to one with affluent pupils.

Needless to say, teachers and their unions are not thrilled with any of this.

They wonder how anyone can be certain that the way student achievement is measured will be appropriate, given that it could be the basis for teachers losing their careers.

"We are concerned about it because currently there aren't any student growth measures that exist that are designed to be valid and reliable for high stakes decisions like teacher compensation," said Matt Dotson, of the Ohio Education Association.

"At this point there are just indicators of where students might need more intervention or diagnostics," Dotson said. "These tools have always been designed to help teachers, not punish teachers."

And Dotson said their could be a huge backlash for the state in terms of being able to hire and retain well-qualified educators.

"It certainly may undermine the ability to recruit and retain high quality teachers if they feel they are being compensated and evaluated in an unfair manner," Dotson said.

The Ohio Federation of Teachers did not return a call for comment.

Furthermore, Senate Bill 5 does not provide any extra incentive or pay for teachers who go back to school to earn advanced degrees such as a master's or doctorate. Currently, such degrees could mean higher salaries and bigger annual step increases.

That is a factor that could still be worked out by the state board of education as it works on designing the program.

Ohio's superintendent of education must develop and submit to the board that framework for how to evaluate teachers by April 30, 2012. By that same date, district superintendents must tell the state board how they plan to measure student achievement. It is possible districts will use different ways of assessing academic growth.

The state board then must adopt a state framework for evaluating teachers by July 1, 2012. The district superintendents will then have to formally adopt a policy for their districts by July 1, 2013, to be implemented that fall -- about two years away.

Still, the wildcard in all this is the possible referendum vote that could void Senate Bill 5. The law is enormously divisive politically and triggered large Statehouse protests by well-organized labor unions as the legislation moved through the legislature.

Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, supported the intent of Senate Bill 5 from its inception, and the GOP-controlled Ohio Senate and House ushered it through the General Assembly. Kasich signed it on March 31.

But since then, unions, with support from Democrats, have launched a drive to place a referendum on the November ballot that will ask voters to overturn Senate Bill 5, which has not yet become effective. Ohio teachers unions are among the most active supporters of the referendum.

The unions are likely to get enough signatures for a referendum, which would hold up Senate Bill 5 at least until voters have a chance to decide on it.

The upcoming May primary election will feature yet another school levy for the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District (BBHCSD). But while passing levies makes sense to those who work within the public school system, district officials feel that many residents of Brecksville and Broadview Heights tend to be confused about the nature of school funding.

One concern that many residents have is how large the teacher salaries have become, and what is or is not being done about it, school leaders say.

The Schools Issues Committee, which is campaigning for the 5.3-mill levy that will appear on the May 3 primary ballot, has much to say on the topic of where levies and teacher salaries fall in the current funding system.

According to a list of campaign points provided by the committee, the BBHCSD average salary rate for 2007-08 was ranked eighth in Ohio at $69,143. Because of reductions in staff at the lower end of the salary range, which the campaign claims have “artificially” raised the average, the ranking is now third at $77,352 for 2009-10.

One reason teacher salaries are so high, according to the campaign points, is that the state of Ohio requires teachers to obtain their master’s degrees by their fifth year of teaching. The campaign also confirms that 83.4 percent of teachers in the BBHCSD have their master’s degrees, while only seven other districts in the state of Ohio have a higher percentage.

The average starting salary for teachers in BBHCSD is $37,000, according to the campaign. But Superintendent Scot Prebles said that the current staff is well seasoned. “BBHCSD is a premier district that educators aspire to join and wish to remain for the duration of their career. Therefore, our staff is a veteran one averaging over 16 years of experience,” he said.

Because the staff is mostly comprised of veterans, they are not receiving starting salaries. For instance, 11 of the BBHCSD’s most highly compensated educators have decided to retire this June. According the Prebles, they were offered a “Timely Retirement Incentive Plan,” which gave them sufficient incentive to leave their average salaries of more than $84,500.

Another reason for the high salaries is that BBHCSD is the 16th-best district in Ohio, and student performance is in the top 4 percent of Ohio public schools, according to Prebles. In order for BBHCSD to remain competitive with other school districts, it needs to pay a competitive wage to attract teachers.

The campaign stresses that altering salaries and benefits is not the answer to the problem of funding woes. “Reducing salaries, having staff pay more towards benefit packages and program reductions do not change the reality that the only way schools can pay their operating costs is through levies,” the campaign points state.

But when it comes to the question of whether or not to reduce salaries, the campaign claims that this will only delay the inevitable, since Ohio’s laws regarding school funding require the districts to fund only through local levies. The campaign also states that the levy, which will appear on the May 3 ballot, will not go toward salary increases.

March 21 school board meeting

Student recognition and the renewal of a continuing levy took the spotlight at the most recent Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board meeting, with the board unanimously approving a resolution to renew the 6.9-mill school levy, which would otherwise expire this year, so that it will last for a continued period of time.

The levy has been up for regular renewal; this time, however, board members had to choose between two resolutions for the renewal levy, one that would last for another five years or one that would last for a period of time of the board’s discretion.

Board members also had to choose when to put it on the ballot, with member Alan Sheufler laying out the options. “The question is, can we take on another levy campaign to get this on the ballot in August,” he said.

“I’d like to see it on (the ballot) in August, as a continued period of time, instead of a five-year levy,” Board President George Balasko said before the board approved the continued levy.

To begin the meeting, the board recognized many student achievements. “These students have done great things that make us proud of our district,” Balasko said.

The girls gymnastics team won its eighth consecutive state championship, bringing their total number of state championship wins up to 11. Superintendent Scot Prebles said the members on the team were fairly young and gymnastics holds a bright future for them.

The results of the Ohio Art Exhibition also gave the BBHCSD reason to be proud – no less than seven students had art projects that placed in the top 25 entries, out of 12,000 entries overall. The exhibition is dedicated to the artistic advancement of Ohio students and gives them opportunities to advance their talent.

The top 25 entries receive the governor’s award of excellence. Prebles voiced pride in the achievements of the seven students. “Thank you for your dedication to your craft, and for exercising good habits that brought you to this point,” he said.

The last recipient of recognition from the school board was Marshal Willet, a high school wrestler who won third place in the Wrestling Championship for the state of Ohio. He is the eighth wrestler in the school’s history to record 100 wins and also recorded 41 wins for the year in a single season record. Prebles remarked that wrestling takes a special kind of person to participate in it. “It takes a tremendous amount of work. It is moving when we have the opportunity to honor people who put out great effort and achieve great things,” he said.

With Aaron Marshall / Plain Dealer Reporter

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio's new collective bargaining law, if it survives a possible voter referendum, will allow local governments and schools across the state to cut their personnel costs like never before.

The new law, known as Senate Bill 5, includes the elimination of long-standing pay raises based on experience, a mandate that all public workers to pay at least 15 percent of their health care and new limits on sick leave and paid holidays.

Republican Gov. John Kasich and GOP legislative leaders are quick to point out that the new restrictions will give communities and school districts much-needed help to control costs.

But how much of a difference would SB 5 make in an individual city or in one of Ohio's 611 diverse school districts?

It's impossible to determine the exact savings or what the expected cuts would mean to public workers' paychecks because workers would still have the right to negotiate wages.

But The Plain Dealer surveyed a handful of local governments and school districts to find out how much they spent in 2010 on personnel costs -- costs that SB 5 could reduce.

The answers revealed that SB 5 wouldn't save everyone money.

But cities like Akron, for instance -- where union and non-union workers alike don't pay for health insurance -- could save millions in personnel costs.

The city's tab for health care in 2010 was $23.5 million. Under SB 5, Akron workers would have paid more than $3.5 million of the cost. For the 1,941 workers with health care, that would amount to about $1,800 each.

Akron officials, however, said they were unsure exactly how much workers would have to pay for health care under SB 5.

"The part about SB 5 and our 'required' payment may be premature," Mark Williamson, the city's director of communications, said in an email. "We really have no idea as to how this payment would be calculated. We don't believe it will be a simple 15 percent of our total cost. It could be calculated in some other way...but at this point, we're not certain of what that would be."

Employees in Avon already pay 20 percent of their health care. So they wouldn't pay a dime extra for coverage under SB 5.

"I kind of chuckled because we headed in this direction a long time ago," Avon Mayor James Smith said. "We pretty much do everything that's there."

SB 5 would increase Cuyahoga County's workers health care costs by about 5 percentage points. The county spent $71.6 million on employees' health care last year and workers -- whose insurance rates varied based on job title and other factors -- paid about $7 million of the cost.

A bump in employee contributions to 15 percent would increase the price workers pay to $10.7 million. County Executive Ed FitzGerald opposes SB 5, a spokesman noted, and believes government can cut costs without eroding workers' collective bargaining rights. 

Health coverage is just one piece of the SB 5 puzzle. The bill overhauls the state's nearly 30-year-old collective bargaining law and sets up a new system for paying all public workers, both union and non-union.

SB 5 replaces the traditional method of handing out raises based on experience with a new system that values job performance.

The bill eliminates longevity pay and "step" pay increases -- both of which increase wages based on experience.

SB 5 also prohibits local governments from paying a portion of workers' pension contributions. Workers typically pay 10 percent of their salary toward their pension. But some unions have negotiated a deal in which the employer pays a portion of the 10 percent.

The practice, known as a pension "pick-up," increases workers' take home pay because less of their salary goes toward their pension plan. Avon Mayor Smith called pension pick-ups "hidden raises."

For governments with pension pick-ups, SB 5 would restore workers' 10 percent pension contribution, effectively reducing their salary.

All these changes could mean significantly lower personnel costs for cities and school districts with low-cost employee health care benefits and pension pick-ups.

Gary Johnson, a management labor lawyer who represents governments in Northeast Ohio, said employers might agree to wages that offset some of the financial burden SB 5 would place on workers -- if they can afford it.

"I have a lot of towns that are just barely making it," Johnson said.

While it isn't clear exactly how salaries would shake out, SB 5 does give management a strong hand at the bargaining table because it eliminates binding arbitration in favor of a system that is heavily weighted toward local governments. The bill also prohibits public workers from striking.

The new law is "designed to scale back salaries for teachers," said Sue Taylor, president of the American Federation of Teachers, Ohio's second-largest teacher's union.

"It's saying basically here we are going to give you back a few dollars and here's a way to roll back teacher salaries."

Taylor said the law handcuffs districts that may need to pay a premium to get a teacher with specific skills, such as a physics teacher. She said it also does nothing to end disparities that result in starting salaries of $32,832 in Windham in Portage County and $44,652 in Beachwood in Cuyahoga County.

The Plain Dealer survey looked at three school districts: a large urban one of average property wealth (Elyria in Lorain County), a small, rural one of low property wealth (Windham in Portage County) and an average-sized suburban district of high wealth (Beachwood in Cuyahoga County).

On teacher contributions to health insurance, the survey found levels ranging from 5 percent in Beachwood to 12.5 percent in Elyria. The savings from forcing teachers to pick up 15 percent of the costs ranged from about 1.5 percent of teacher payroll costs in Windham and Beachwood to a tiny blip of 0.4 percent of teacher payroll costs in Elyria.

Senate Bill 5's ban on pension pick-ups doesn't affect teachers in any of the four districts because they don't have that perk in their contracts. However, administrators in all four districts did have their pensions picked up, ranging from two positions in tiny Windham to 41 in large Elyria.

Windham Treasurer Dawn Altman, whose school district is so small that she doubles as the cafeteria supervisor, said the potential health insurance savings is one of the best cost-cutting tools in the bill.

However, Altman, as well as the other treasurers surveyed, noted that the potential savings could be offset by school budget cuts proposed by Kasich.

The potential savings on salaries is nearly impossible to figure out because of the radical realignment that could come in determining how much teachers in all 611 school districts across Ohio are paid.

Currently in place in all school districts is a carefully negotiated pay scale that increases the base pay for teachers depending on their education level and then allows for hikes in steps based on their experience.

Senate Bill 5 upends the teacher pay structure and replaces it with a system in which Ohio's 146,000 primary and secondary teachers are paid according to four different licensure levels with a pay range within those tiers negotiated by the unions in each district.

A teacher would move within the pay ranges in their licensure level based on how well they did on annual evaluations that would incorporate student standardized test scores, field observations as well as other criteria.

"The state has to figure out what they are doing with us," said Elyria Treasurer Fred Stephens. "We can only hope that what comes in its place is something fair and reasonable."

 The Plain Dealer surveyed a handful of cities and school districts to determine how much they spent last year on personnel costs that could be cut under SB 5. The bill requires workers to pay at least 15 percent of health care costs and eliminates longevity pay and "step" pay increases. SB 5 also prohibits employers from paying a portion of workers' pension contributions, a practice known as a pension "pick-up."

Constituents of the Brecks-ville-Broadview Heights City School District may have al­ready cast their absentee vote for a 5.3-mill operating levy, but Superintendent Scot Pre­bles is doing everything he can to score support leading up to the May 3 election.

In a town hall style meeting April 6, Prebles tackled scores of hard-hitting ques­tions voters have been throw­ing out. Amid resident gossip is the hot button question of whether district teachers are being paid too much.

Cost per pupil is $11,871. The starting salary average of a district teacher is $39,786. To defend figures floating around town, Prebles ranked BBH to comparable districts like Hudson, Solon and Beachwood.

In that comparison, the av­erage salary of master's de­gree teachers here is $44,560 with those similar districts coming in at $46,055. Here, the highest possible salary av­erage is $93,298 with similar districts at $94,921.

To reduce costs, roughly $1 million was saved from nego­tiated new teacher contracts by way of a base salary freeze, a freeze in pay in­creases and an increase in contribution for healthcare coverage.

The 5.3-mill levy will generate $5.3 million each year. The district has not re­ceived increased levy revenue since 2004. This levy will cost $162.31 for every $100,000 of home valuation. To help resi­dents figure what the operat­ing levy will cost them, a cal-cfclator is available at bbhcsd.org.

Through its promise of "Re­newed Excellence," more than $3 million in service, staff and program reductions were implemented in 2009 and 2010 and in January, the school board approved a re­structuring program plan cre­ating additional savings.

Under Gov. John Kasich's state budget proposal, the dis­trict is also set to lose $2.9 million next academic year. This figure breaks down into an estimated $600,000 loss an-nually in public utility, $911,000 in tangible personal property taxes, $367,000 in federal stimulus dollars and roughly $1 million in state foundation aid.

"This levy has become even more infinitely critical to our school district," Prebles said of the announcement in pro­posed budget cuts. "This is an extremely critical levy for our schools."

The Schools Issues Com­mittee will host a campaign rally on Brecksville's public square from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 16.

See more Brecksville news at cleveland.com/brecksville. See more Broadview Heights news at cleveland.com/ broadview-heights.

Contact Macho at (216) 986-6066.

Gov. John Kasich's plan to have public employees pay more into their retirement plans while their employers pay less would save school districts $229 million a year, according to the Ohio Office of Budget and Management.

In all, that would save Ohio school districts more than half the $400 million in the state aid that Kasich would cut by 2013. But the actual amounts realized by individual school systems can vary widely.

Ten school districts in Northeast Ohio would see their pension costs fall by more than $1 million a year, with Cleveland saving $8.7 million, Akron almost $3.9 million and the Parma schools nearly $1.7 million, should the state legislature approve the plan.

For Cleveland, that would turn a nearly $1.8 million aid cut next school year into just short of a $7 million gain. Euclid schools would see their aid reduced by about $555,000 but would save $993,000 in pension costs. A small number of districts, like East Cleveland, would gain more aid and save on pensions.

Yet, in other Cuyahoga County districts, like Brooklyn, Chagrin Falls and Westlake, the pension savings would cover only a fraction of the aid cuts.

Tim Keen, director of the OBM, stressed the pension changes make up much of the losses in aid, particularly for the poorer districts.

"We're trying to ensure that the districts that have trouble raising money locally and depend on state aid are protected," he said.

Kasich spokesman Scott Milburn said changes in aid to districts should have been anticipated.

"We're also giving schools powerful tools to cope with them," he said. "One of those is reducing personnel costs."

Kasich's plan calls for school districts and employees to pay equally for the employees' retirement plan. School employees -- teachers, bus drivers, custodians, aides and administrators -- now pay 10 percent of their salary into the State Teachers Retirement Plan or School Employees Retirement System while districts pay 14 percent.

Kasich would have both sides pay 12 percent.

The savings estimate is based on payments to STRS and SERS for the employees' share in the 2009-10 school year. Actual savings to each district -- and cost to teachers, bus drivers, janitors and administrators -- will vary depending on number of employees, future salary amounts and how much of the employee share that districts pay for employees.

Kasich's proposal is not popular with unions representing the employees.

"It's a 2 percent pay cut for Ohio's public employees," said Michelle Prater, spokeswoman for the Ohio Education Association teachers union.

Van Keating, director of management services for the Ohio School Board Association, said the change would not make up for lost state aid in most districts. And, he said he expected employees will want their losses offset by higher salaries.

"If the employees have to pay it, they will be looking for schools to make it up," Keating said.

The state legislature was already considering increasing employee contributions to keep struggling pension plans afloat. Under those proposals, teachers and administrators would have their contributions to STRS rise from 10 percent to 13 percent, while keeping the district share at 14 percent.

On Friday, Michael Nehf, executive director of STRS, called for Kasich to drop his plan because it would ruin the earlier proposal.

State Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, who proposed the bill already in the legislature, said lawmakers will have to sort out the different plans. He said he does not think the legislature will increase employee contributions by 3 percent on top of the increase to 12 percent that Kasich proposed.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: paodonnell@plaind.com, 216-999-4818

Every dime is "sacred" to Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board member David Tryon.

When the Broadview Heights resident ran for office two years ago, he took a strong stance against putting operating levies on the ballot. At the time, Tryon said con­cessions were needed from teachers and expenses had to be restructured.

"We got that. Nevertheless, before signing on to ask for another levy, I did it with the understanding that we still need more restructuring," Tryon said.

"I recognize, though, that you cannot restructure over­night. You can't turn a battle­ship on a dime. I also recog­nized that we might run out of money before we can accom­plish more restructuring."

Tryon voted against putting a 5.8-mill operating levy on the November 2010 ballot. With great misgivings, he moved to approve pursuing another levy, this time at 5.3 mills, on the May 3 ballot.

"The long-term solution is to restructure things. The cur­rent system is unsustainable and requires new levies over and over again," Tryon said.

Letters have urged the board to pull the levy off the ballot due to the passage of Senate Bill 5, which provides for reducing the district's con­tribution to healthcare and enables the district to select the healthcare plan that it chooses. SB 5 also eliminates pay increases for teacher lon­gevity and education ob­tained.

"We still have two prob­lems. The unions are planning to challenge SB 5 and they're planning to spend $20 million," Tryon said. "By the time our current union con­tract expires, we don't know if SB 5 will be law or not.

"We also anticipate a loss in excess of $2 million in state funding. The current budget is $50 million, so that is close to four percent of our budget. We have to make up that $2 million in some way."

School board members re­cently cut $1 million from the budget, Tryon said.

"My expectation is that we need to restructure the sys­tem enough where we need to not come back to the voters again," he said. "I know peo­ple are stressed with their budgets, and it's a matter that people simply cannot give any more.

"I have complete empathy there. I regard every dime as being very sacred. It is peo­ple's money we are spending and we need to spend it wisely."

See more Brecksville news at cleveland.com/brecksville. See more Broadview Heights news at cleveland.com/ broadview-heights.

Contact Macho at (216) 986-6066.

In the midst of deficit spending and facing $1 million in budget cuts from State of Ohio funding, Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District (BBHSD) returns to the voters with Issue 1, a 5.3-mill operat­ing levy for the May 3 ballot. If approved, the five-year levy will cost $324.62 annu­ally for every $200,000 of home valuation. District officials have watched two similar new-money levies fail over the past two years.

"We absolutely have to get back on the ballot trying to erase a bunch of defi­cit," said Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board of Education President George Balasko. "With the news that just came out from the State of Ohio, it's even more imperative that we're back on the ballot so fast. We're hoping we can show the voters we're being fiscally responsible with their money and that how important it is to maintain an excellent school district. An excellent school district benefits the students in a variety of ways from giving them a good education to helping them get scholarship money. It's the return on the in­vestment for parents in getting scholarship money. I also believe good schools lead to good neighborhoods, lead to safe cities."

Someone who isn't in favor of Issue 1 is schoolboardwatchdog.com publisher Renee Engelhart, who in a nutshell feels the school district has enough money. She said its teachers have the third highest sala­ries in Ohio, with 23 percent earning more than $90,000 annually.

"The financial forecast shows that at the end of this year, the district expects to have a cash balance of about $10 million," said Brecksville resident Engelhart. "The forecast also shows the district projects to spend $14 million more for increased salaries and benefits over the following four years even though, also according to the notes to the forecast, enrollment is ex­pected to drop by nearly 400 students over those same four years. If the (school) board thinks it doesn't have enough money, then we need a board that is better able to man­age our tax dollars."

Balasko said due to the fact the district has laid off its lower-end salaried teachers, the average annual salary has increased. More so, he said the district recently cre­ated a retirement incentive program in hopes 11 high-paid educators - averaging $84,800 annually - will leave the district. He said their replacements would be at half the cost, and thus help to lower the average salary.

"Yes, we will have about $9 or $10 million at the end of the year," Balasko said. "Even though this year we will have completed over $4 million in cuts over three years - the past two and the coming year - we are still in deficit spending. Our budget is $50 million a year. So the $10 million (cash balance) is 20 percent of the year and that doesn't take us very far."

A popular theme among those against the passage of Issue 1 is the notion the dis­trict should live within its means. Engelhart even went as far as to say that passing the new-money levy would reward a school board she feels that has been reckless in 

approving salary increases.

Balasko disagreed, "I think we've been very financially responsible with our district. Our latest contract we approved is said to have been cutting edge across the state of Ohio, getting an absolute freeze (in salaries) and increase in healthcare con­cessions that we received. I don't know of anybody else in the area who has gotten an absolute freeze on salaries or the same sort of concessions we have. I know many of the districts around us have gotten a freeze on the base, but they're still getting step raises. Our healthcare contribution is at 10 percent and before that we were tied for highest in the county as far as contribu­tions. We need this levy to increase the op­portunity for us to be financially stable in this district. It's really that simple."

Something else looming for BBHSD is a 6.9 mill levy renewal, which is expect­ed to be on the August ballot. Originally passed in 2000, the levy raises $6.2 mil­lion annually; however, the district added a wrinkle to the issue, which could be viewed as controversial.

"If passed, it also will renew it for a continuing period," Balasko said. "Mean­ing, if it's approved, voters will not have to vote on it again. One of the complaints we hear is you're on the ballot all of the time. Well, we're on the ballot all of the time be­cause ajl of our levies are limited, whereas many other school districts are able to have continuing levies. So that's what we'll try to do with this one to make it a continuing levy. There will be no increase in taxes on that one."

He added, "We'll educate the voters to show this has been passed several times be­fore and we can show a need for the money and other levies. Voters still have a chance to cut our funding with limited levies we have. This also will give us a chance to save the district money because we have to pay every time we put an issue on the ballot. We pay the board of elections thou­sands of dollars to put it on the ballot."

As far as Issue 1, Balasko said even if it passes the district is facing roughly $1 million more in cuts.

"We have certain positions that will not be reinstated at the schools," Balasko said. "That will still happen. The two things that will be reduced is pay to participate fees will drop from 80 percent to 60 percent. We're also hoping to be able to address some of our larger class sizes down at the elementary level. Right now they're at 25 to 26 (students per teacher), and that's kind of big for an elementary school."

Finally, what does Balasko think is go­ing to happen come May 3?

"If you'd asked me a couple of month ago I was kind of worried but there's posi­tive energy from the levy committee," Balasko said. "There are so many people stepping up and wanting to be a positive in­fluence on the levy and this community, it's really giving me a positive feeling about this levy."

With Reginald Fields and Aaron Marshall / Plain Dealer Reporters

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. John Kasich and fellow Republican leaders delivered on their pledge last week to pass a collective-bargaining bill that dramatically reduces the power of some 350,000 unionized public workers, including teachers, police officers and firefighters.

Likewise, opponents of the bill, led by Democratic and union leaders, followed through on their promise to launch a campaign to kill the bill with a statewide referendum.

The contentious Statehouse debate that led to Kasich's signing of the bill Thursday night drew thousands of energetic protesters to Columbus, forced a splintering within the GOP ranks and set off some rare legislative maneuvering. With the ink now drying, this battle is over.

But a massive public campaign to win the hearts and minds of voters is only beginning. It will ignite full-scale election-year politics by attracting millions of dollars in political advertising, pulling in special interest groups from around the country, and drawing the national spotlight to American's favorite bellwether.

But the facts of the bill could easily be lost in the GOP's charge that the law will stave off financial doom, or in the Democrats' warning that the bill will kill the middle class.

Here's a look, politics aside, at key provisions of the bill, known as Senate Bill 5:

• Collective bargaining: Restricts collective bargaining to wage issues. Under the former law, public workers had a right to collectively bargain for wages, benefits such as health care and pensions and specific workplace conditions, including staffing levels at fire stations or building assignments for teachers. Under the new law most public workers will be able to bargain only on their pay.

• Safety equipment: Allows police and fire officials to negotiate for safety equipment. This is an exception to the above provision, which was added by the House. It concerns only equipment directly related to the safety of the officer or firefighter, like bulletproof vests and shields. It does not include other equipment, such as computers in squad cars.

• Traffic tickets: Prohibits linking patrol officer evaluations to how many citations they write. Patrol officers in some police agencies and the state highway patrol were evaluated and given pay increases, in part, according to how many traffic violations they issued to motorists. That can no longer be a basis for performance evaluation under the new law.

• Health care: Requires public workers to pay at least 15 percent of their health care coverage. The goal here is to force unionized workers to pay more for their health care costs and thereby lower that expense for local and state governments. Supporters of the law say that private sector workers on average pay about 23 percent of their health care costs.

• Merit-based pay for teachers: Ohio's 146,000 primary and secondary school teachers will be evaluated largely based on how their students did on standardized testing along with other more subjective criteria. By April 1 of each year, teachers would be evaluated based on their students' test scores, their licensure level, whether they had achieved "highly qualified" teaching status, at least two 30-minute or more observations of them by administrators as well as other criteria selected by local school boards. Decisions about which teachers are laid off or fired and what kind of pay they would receive would be based on this evaluation process.

• Pension pickups: Ohio governments cannot offer so called "pension pickups" where the governmental unit pays a portion of the 10 percent employees are supposed to contribute to their pensions. The law does not raise the employee contributions above the standard 10 percent, nor does it reduce the contribution levels of the state as an employer. However, a pension reform bill being considered in the House does increase contributions levels for pensions for teachers, police officers, firefighters and state highway patrolmen. Once again, it is not a part of SB 5.

• Binding arbitration: Eliminates binding arbitration and creates an alternative allowing contracts in some cases to go to voters if they cost more. If governmental employees in a union cannot reach an agreement with management on a new contract, a fact-finder must be appointed to make recommendations. If a majority of the union members or management reject the fact-finder's recommendations, the legislative body that oversees the government workers (a city council, for example) must hold a vote within 30 days of the current contract expiring to choose between the "last, best" offers of the union and management. If the legislative body chooses to do nothing, the last best offer of management becomes the new contract. In cases where the higher-cost offer is selected by the legislative body, the chief financial officer of the governmental body determines whether new revenue is needed to fulfill the offer that has been chosen. If so, there is a procedure by which signatures can be collected and both "last best" offers placed on the ballot for voters to chose between.

• Decertification: Makes it easier to end union representation by lowering the percentage of workers needed to trigger such a move. In the past, a majority of employees was needed to back a petition to decertify a union. Now, a vote by only 30 percent of workers is needed.

• Payroll deductions: Prohibits any public employer from providing an automatic payroll deduction for contributions to a union political action committee.

• Dues: Employees who do not want to join a union -- but nonetheless still receive the same wages and benefits spelled out in the union contract -- no longer have to pay "fair share" dues. Fair-share dues are based only on the cost of bargaining a contract and are less than full dues.

• Strikes: Prohibits public union workers from striking, though workers who strike illegally will not be subjected to jail time because lawmakers dropped proposed contempt of court penalties from an earlier version of the bill.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. John Kasich signed a controversial collective-bargaining overhaul into law Thursday evening, setting off a statewide election campaign that promises to be one of the biggest ballot battles in recent memory.

With the bill headed for the books, opponents of Senate Bill 5 -- which dramatically reduces the power of unionized state workers, including firefighters and teachers -- moved quickly with plans to put the issue before voters by launching a campaign organization called "We Are Ohio."

The campaign will coordinate efforts to write a ballot issue, gather signatures to place a referendum on the November ballot and raise money to persuade Ohioans to throw out SB 5.

"This is going to be a very big campaign," We Are Ohio spokesman Dennis Willard said, noting that that the collective bargaining debate is drawing attention from supporters and opponents from other states as well as from numerous interest groups here.

The new group is heavily influenced by Democratic and union leaders but was created to stand alone from the party and any single labor group, in part to try to attract others who do not subscribe to Democratic politics but who oppose SB 5.

Dale Butland, a long-time political consultant to unions, said he expects both sides to raise millions and predicted that supporters of the bill, which includes chambers of commerce and businesses, will out-spend unions.

"Obviously, to the unions and the to Democrats, this is an existential threat," he said. "On the other side, there will be corporate money flooding into this place."

Butland predicted supporters of the new law could raise $20 million or more.

"I don't think the anti-Senate Bill 5 side can match that" he said.

Supporters of the bill, which has become the centerpiece of the Ohio Republican Party agenda this year and an issue championed by GOP Gov. John Kasich, have not formally announced their campaign to oppose the referendum effort. The Ohio GOP's new executive director could not be reached Thursday.

Supporters of SB5 have launched a website, sb5truth.com, to counter what they say are misstatements by unions about the bill.

Ohio Chamber of Commerce President Andrew Doehrel said he'd be shocked if either side spent $20 million.

"You can do a heck of a statewide campaign for 6 to 8 million dollars," he said.

The chamber supported Senate Bill 5 and plans to defend it with contributions and grass-roots organizing, though doing so is not the chamber's top priority, Doehrel said.

"It's not our baby, so to speak," Doehrel said. "It's not our issue to lead the charge on."

If opponents get a Senate Bill 5 referendum on the November ballot, it would be the 13th referendum on a statewide ballot since 1915 and only the fourth since 1939.

The payday lending industry led the most recent referendum effort in 2008 in an attempt to defeat a law setting a 28 percent cap on short-term, high interest loans. The law was upheld with support from 64 percent of voters.

Prior to that, in 1997, organized labor led a successful effort to overturn a law that would have changed the workers' compensation system. Fifty-seven percent of voters cast ballots to throw the law out.

Doehrel chaired the campaign to counter the labor-sponsored referendum. But Doehrel said the collective bargaining battle is much different.

Workers' compensation, he said, is a complex issue that was difficult to distill in a political campaign and voters tend to reject issues they do not understand. But he said collective bargaining is an easier sell, one he framed as a debate about the growing costs of government.

"This issue has a whole different aura about it, if you will, than workers' comp did," he said. "There's been a growing awareness of this. I think more people will be in tune with it."

Ohio's debate over collective bargaining, like Wisconsin's, will likely become a national focal point this year, a proxy election on the Republican agenda.

The national conservative group, FreedomWorks, announced in March that it plans to spend $5.6 million in Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana and Tennessee, to influence the collective bargaining debate in the upcoming elections. FreedomWorks didn't return a call Thursday about its specific plans for Ohio.

The campaign to protect the bill ultimately falls to Kasich, who's talked up collective bargaining changes for months as an indispensable tool that allows cities and the state to control costs.

Kasich, after signing the bill at a brief Statehouse ceremony, was noncommittal about what role he will play in defending the bill. His administration would not say whether he will raise money for a separate campaign or spend his own campaign funds to push back on We Are Ohio. Instead, it issued a statement reiterating Kasich's key talking point.

"Ohio's taxpayers and the local governments that serve them need powerful cost-savings tools like those in government union reform," Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said.

But hours before Kasich signed the bill, his gubernatorial campaign issued a far more politically charged statement in a fund-raising appeal.

"There is a reason that the union bosses opposed these changes; because it strips power from the union leaders and returns it to the taxpayers and workers," said Kasich in an email, which asked for small donations. "The nation is watching us in Ohio and we will provide the leadership necessary to become a job creating state and serve as a model for the rest of America."

Asked about the email after he signed the bill, Kasich responded: "Do you have any idea the politics that have been used to club me over the head and Republicans over the head?" I think there's nothing inappropriate to the fact of letting people know what we've done, and if people want to help us, that's great. Period, exclamation point."

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern also used the passage of Senate Bill 5 to rally contributors, arguing in a fund-raising appeal that out-of-state Republican business interests are poised to spend millions "attacking Ohio's middle class."

We Are Ohio has 90 days to gather 231,147 valid voter signatures – the number equal to 6 percent of the total turnout in the most recent gubernatorial election. If it does, Senate Bill 5 is on hold until November.

If voters approve the bill in the referendum, it becomes law after the election.

Voters in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District will see a 6.9-mill renewal levy on the Aug. 2 ballot.

At the regular school board meeting, March 21, the school board unanimously passed the first of two resolutions needed to place the levy on the ballot.

The resolution will be sent to the Cuyahoga County Audi­tor's Office for certification. Once that certification is re­ceived by the district, school board members will vote on a second resolution.

According to Treasurer Karen Obratil, the renewal levy will not increase taxes. It will continue to raise an esti­mated $6.2 million per year for the operations of the school district.

A renewal levy was origi­nally passed in 2000, said Cathy Harbinak, coordinator of community relations.

The School Issues Commit­tee, which is comprised of vol­unteers from the community who campaign in support of renewal levies, will meet at 7 p.m. April 6 in the middle school auditorium.

Bill Gates shook up the battle against AIDS in Africa by applying results-oriented business metrics to the effort. Now, he is trying to do the same in the tricky world of evaluating and compensating teachers.

The Microsoft Corp. co-founder has moved on from a $2 billion bet on high school reform—much of it spent on breaking up big, failing high schools and replacing them with smaller ones.

Now, he is venturing that improving teacher effectiveness is the key to fixing broken schools. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded $290 million to school districts in Memphis, Tenn.; Hillsborough, Fla.; and Pittsburgh, and a charter consortium in California to build new personnel systems Mr. Gates hopes will be models for the country.

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Gates said the nation spent a "mind blowing" amount of money on education. Still, he said increased taxes and a restructuring of budgets is the only way to substantially improve U.S. graduation rates.

And, in the wake of moves by Republican governors in several states to cut costs and curb collective-bargaining rights for teachers and other state workers, he argued that lasting school improvement required more-targeted investment and close collaboration with teacher unions, who are painted by many governors as an obstacle.

Mr. Gates has been touring the country recently, urging politicians and educators to eliminate teacher salary increases based on seniority and master's degrees and instead reward teachers for boosting student achievement. His interview with the Journal follows.

Q: What do you think the recent statehouse battles over collective bargaining mean for education-reform efforts?

A: I think the whole budget environment we're in is unfortunate because it will both reduce funding for education and distract a lot from improved ways of spending. If you're putting in a new personnel system that rewards great teaching, rewards teachers who help other teachers be better, you're going to need good collaboration between the teachers and the principals, the superintendents, the administrative people.

Q: Some reformers think teacher unions are the obstacle and it's more expedient to work around them.

A: In some of these systems, there's a huge emphasis on the teachers who should be let go, and that's an element of a personnel system. But the bigger impact actually comes in professions where a personnel system helps raise the average up of the people who stay.

Q: Do you think it is possible for school districts to build great teachers?

A: Absolutely. But the amount of research into what great teachers do has been so slow that you can't make huge improvements in the average….Even professions like long-jump or tackling people on a football field or hitting a baseball, the average ability is so much higher today because there's this great feedback system, measurement system.

Q: You've said before that you do not think it is wise to cut K-12 budgets right now.

A: I think that society has to be careful not to shift all of its resources to the elderly versus the young. I get very concerned when people talk about cutting education budgets.

Q: Do we need to increase taxes to spend more on education?

A: The only way to make the overall equation work involves some increased taxation and some cuts in spending in various categories, including the miracle of not having medical costs go up so much faster than GDP [gross domestic product] growth. There are a lot of challenges here to make the numbers work.

Q: What is the boldest effort that has come from the $290 million you've awarded to restructure teacher personnel systems?

A: We video a great teacher and then she watches it and comments on her video, saying, "that kid's foot is jerking. I'm not making this interesting enough." Just the narrative of a great teacher talking through what she did right, what she could have done better, is so informative.

Q: What will be your measure of whether this project was a success?

A: Ten years from now, if we have a very different personnel system that's encouraging effectiveness and our spending has contributed to that, we'll feel good.

Q: Do you think using student test scores to measure teacher effectiveness is a reliable measure?

A: Test scores aren't perfect, but having a test score for math or reading or other things that we can objectively measure is a meaningful component that makes a lot of sense. Now you put everything onto that one thing, that's not ideal. You want a broader set of measures.

Q: You spent hundreds of millions to create small high schools. What did you learn from that effort?

A. We had some very good results in a lot of the high schools, and it's a tactic we absolutely believe in. But in terms of our big goal of getting lots and lots of kids to go to college, that effort alone wasn't going to close that gap much at all. If you don't actually deal with this issue of helping teachers be better by helping them make a leap of faith to a real personnel system, you just aren't going to get there.

Q: Are you disappointed schools have been slow to embrace technology in the classrooms?

A: You can't blame them, but oh yeah, I'm disappointed. The dreams of the past—whether it was public TV being rolled into the classroom to teach Spanish, or the film projectors or the videotapes or the computer-aided instruction drill systems—the hopes have been dashed in terms of technology having some big impact. The foundation, I think can play a unique role there. Now, our money is more to the teacher-effectiveness thing, and technology is No. 2, but I'll probably spend more money on the technology things.

Fearing their livelihoods are at stake as their careers hang in the balance, some local educators and teacher-union representatives joined in the fight against a proposed state law to abolish collective bargaining for public-service employees. The measure, Ohio Senate Bill 5, which passed the State Senate on March 2, in its current form would end collective bargaining for public workers, including teachers, if approved next by the House and then the governor.

Meanwhile, area school administrators are generally taking a wait-and-see approach to the legislation and political wrangling that has come along with it. By most counts, local school districts have been free of the boisterous protests in Columbus played out in the media and are prepared to deal with the outcome of the bill.

In Brecksville-Broadview Heights Schools, only one staff member attended the February anti-SB 5 rally in Columbus, and as the president of the teachers’ association, she is permitted to take a day off to do so, according to the district’s Coordinator of Community Relations Cathy Harbinak. "She followed proper procedure and requested the day off in advance," Harbinak said.

Teachers have not brought he topic into any of the district’s classrooms, as they are "focusing on their students as we face the March testing schedule for the Ohio Graduation Test and the Ohio Achieve-ment Assessments," Harbinak said. "Our staff acts in a professional manner and keeps their private political views out of the classroom, as professionals should." The bill would make it so there is no requirement for government units to bargain with employees over work conditions, ranging from health insurance to safety equipment for first responders.

The bill would remove all step increases and sick days from state law, which would affect mainly teachers.

In Independence, School District Su-perintendent David J. Laurenzi said he knew of one teacher who attend the rally in Columbus, using a personal leave day as provided in the district’s master contract. The school paid a substitute teacher $85 to cover classes for that day. "At this point in time it is a very difficult situation to predict. We are in close communication with teachers and the union, but we’re in a holding pattern," Laurenzi said. "I believe there are components of the current collective bargaining law that can be restructured to provide labor and management the ability to restructure contracts to allow successful collective bargaining."

Public-employee union leaders have blasted the March 2 Senate vote, and some individual lawmakers were shouted down as the crowd inside the Senate chamber in Columbus left after the vote. If the bill passes the House, Gov. John Kasich said he will sign it. After that, Democrats and union leaders anticipate going to the ballot to ask Ohioans to overturn it.

Kasich called the bill "a major step forward in correcting the imbalance between taxpayers and the government unions that work for them."

The bill would ban all strikes for public workers and eliminates binding arbitration – where an impartial third party is called in to resolve an impasse – for law enforcement and firefighters, who already are barred from strikes. Instead, the bill sets up a new settlement process for all public workers that would bring in a fact- finder, who would present a public report. If rejected, the school board, city council or other legislative body would then either accept its own last best offer, or that of the union.

The bill would limit what public unions could bargain for, taking issues such as health insurance off the table, and some so-called management rights, including staffing levels.

the ongoing and sometimes hostile debate over collective bargaining in Ohio, opposing sides finally have found some common ground.

There are too many rumors, misinterpretations and outright lies about Senate Bill 5, the sides agree.

Republican Gov. John Kasich, who supports the bill overhauling the collective bargaining law, recently said bad information about SB 5 is influencing the opposition.

"I think some of the people who are very upset about this bill don't know what's in the bill," Kasich said on Feb. 27 while in Washington for a National Governors Association conference.

Darold Johnson, director of legislation and political action for the Ohio Federal of Teachers, said some rumors surrounding the bill stem from the sweeping power the bill would give to management.

One rumor floating in teachers' circles is that SB 5 would force them to pay out of pocket for substitute teachers, although the bill contains no such requirement.

"Anything's possible," Johnson said. "You hear so many different rumors on so many different days."

SB 5 would reduce collective bargaining rights of all public workers in the state. Kasich and supporters argue the changes are needed to help public employers control labor costs. Organized labor groups and other opponents say the bill is a union-busting attack on the middle class.

Sen. Shannon Jones, a Republican from Springboro, said she suspects some misinformation is spread intentionally.

"I understand the insecurity around this," Jones said. "When we use fear to keep people from having the conversation, it's counterproductive."

An Ohio House of Representatives committee is reviewing the bill. The Senate passed SB 5 last month in a narrow, 17-16 vote that included six Republicans siding with all 10 Senate Democrats in voting against the bill.

The measure has sparked numerous protests with thousands of union workers and other opponents descending on the Statehouse, mirroring similar demonstrations in Wisconsin and injecting Ohio into the national debate over Republican governors' attempts to curb public workers' collective bargaining rights.

The widespread interest and potential for drastic changes have brought many different voices to the debate. Collective bargaining reform has evolved into a water-cooler topic, ripe for gossip and misinterpretation.

With that in mind, The Plain Dealer combed through the 294-page bill to sift out fact from fiction. Here are some significant changes the bill would make, along with some myths about the proposed law.

Plain Dealer reporter Sabrina Eaton contributed to this story.

What's in SB 5

•Collective bargaining rights reduced for all Ohio public workers

SB 5 preserves wording from Ohio's existing collective bargaining law that gives public workers the right to collectively bargain wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment. However, the bill contains numerous exceptions -- some broad in scope -- that severely limit, or outright prohibit, the terms and conditions subject to collective bargaining. For example, SB 5 lists 15 topics that management can refuse to negotiate. These issues include employees' qualifications and work assignments. The bill also lists topics that cannot be negotiated under any circumstances, including health care benefits costs (locked in at a minimum 15-percent employee contribution) and the number of workers required to be on duty or employed in any department of a public employer.

•Safety forces could lose right to negotiate for protective equipment

This has been a contentious issue between some Republicans and opponents of the bill. At the heart of the disagreement are two topics of negotiation that employers can refuse to discuss under the bill: "the type of equipment used" and "the making of technological alterations by revising either process or equipment or both." Police and fire unions have said this could allow management to provide lower quality safety equipment, such as bulletproof vests. Republicans who support the bill, including Senate President Tom Niehaus, deny that employers can take safety equipment off the bargaining table under SB 5. Niehaus suggested the issue is subject to legal interpretation, and said any problem would be remedied before the bill becomes law. He said Senate Republicans never intended to compromise safety equipment for police officers and firefighters.

•Workers who strike could be jailed

SB 5 bans all public workers from striking and establishes penalties for violating the ban. Under current law, only certain workers, such as police and firefighters, cannot strike. Under SB 5, employers could obtain a court order to halt any strike. Workers who violate the court order and continue to strike could be subject to a $1,000 fine and/or punishments in state law for contempt of court. A first offense for contempt is punishable by up to 30 days in jail and up to a $250 fine.

•Teachers could not negotiate class sizes

Among the topics teachers cannot collectively bargain in SB 5 is "a maximum number of students who may be assigned to a classroom or teacher."

•Teachers' salaries tied to test scores

SB 5 sets standards of performance that will determine how much teachers are paid. The standards are: the teacher's level of license; whether the teacher is considered a "highly qualified teacher," as defined by law; a "value-added measure" of student performance; teacher evaluations; and any other criteria the school board establishes. The performance-based salary schedules will vary by school district, but standardized test scores are a type of value-added measurement elsewhere in Ohio law.

•Public university professors could lose collective bargaining rights

A provision of the bill aims to address the management-like authority afforded some unionized college professors. The language in the bill mirrors a 1980 U.S. Supreme Court case involving Yeshiva University, a small, private school in New York City. In that case, the court ordered the decertification of the faculty union after determining faculty members were performing significant managerial functions involving tenure, hiring and curriculum. SB 5 would classify professors who participate in such activities as "management level" workers and, therefore, exempt from collective bargaining rights.

What's not in SB 5

•Teachers' salaries cut in half

Currently, a salary scale for teachers is set in state law. The scale dictates the minimum amount teachers can be paid, $17,300, and lays out pay raises based on experience and level of college degree. Many school districts, however, have adopted their own salary scale, through collective bargaining, to replace the state's scale. SB 5 completely removes the scale from state law. In its place, the bill establishes performance-based criteria for teachers' raises. The bill does not establish a new minimum or maximum salary that teachers will be paid. That will be up to individual school districts. Once existing contracts expire, school districts would set their own pay scales, including a minimum salary, through negotiations with teachers' unions. If the two sides cannot agree on a pay scale, the school board would act as the final decision-maker. SB 5 establishes a new method of dispute resolution that requires an employer's legislative body -- commonly a school board or a city council -- to settle disputes.

•Pension benefits cut

The bill does not require public employees to pay any more or less toward their pensions. Under current law, public workers contribute up to 10 percent of their paycheck toward their pensions and their employers must pay 14 percent. These percentages can be adjusted under current law through labor negotiations using "pension pick-ups" -- a practice by which employers agree to pay a portion of the employees' 10 percent contribution. SB 5 outlaws "pension pick-ups" but it does not increase the standard 10 percent pension contribution public employees are expected to make, nor does it reduce management's contribution.

•Domestic partner benefits eliminated

According to a Feb. 21 e-mail from Equality Ohio, urging opposition to SB 5, the bill "contains language that could impact current and future domestic partner benefits for LGBT employees." There is nothing, however, in SB 5 that specifically targets the LGBT community. Confusion arose when an earlier version of the bill was under consideration in the Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee. That version restated the existing Ohio marriage law, including the state's policy against extending benefits in same-sex relationships.The latest version of SB 5, as it was passed in the Senate, removed any reference to Ohio's marriage law. Equality Ohio remains opposed to the bill because collective bargaining is often the only way members of the LGBT community can receive domestic partner benefits.

•Existing collective bargaining agreements eliminated

SB 5 is not retroactive. If the bill passes, all public employees' collective bargaining agreements in place before the law takes effect would not be changed. However, once SB 5 takes effect, if it passes, provisions in previous contracts would not automatically be subject to future negotiations. SB 5 removes language from the existing collective bargaining law that forces both sides to negotiate terms agreed upon in the prior contract.

•Teachers required to pay for substitutes out of their own pockets

There is nothing in the bill that would set such a policy, despite a rumor that has been circulating among teachers. But union leaders fear school districts could eventually set their own rules because they say SB 5 tips the scales so drastically in management's favor. The provision stoking these worries allows management to refuse to collectively bargain "any and all reasonable rules and regulations."

"They define reasonable," Sean Grayson, general counsel for AFSCME Ohio Council 8, said. That means an employer could say, "I've got this reasonable work rule and we're not going to bargain about it," Grayson said.

•Workers' sick leave allowances eliminated

SB 5 does not eliminate sick leave, but it reduces the amount of sick leave afforded most local government employees from three weeks a year to two weeks. State workers currently get two weeks of sick leave per year.

A federal judge in Kansas on Friday ruled against a group of suburban parents who sought to put a property-tax increase on the ballot in order to raise funds for their public schools.

Kansas, like a handful of other states, caps the amount of money that local school districts can raise from property taxes, in an effort to enforce a rough parity in spending across the state. Parents in the Shawnee Mission School District, which serves mostly affluent suburbs of Kansas City, sued to lift that cap. They were opposed in court by Gov. Sam Brownback's administration and a coalition of superintendents representing mostly poor and rural districts.

U.S. District Judge John W. Lungstrum dismissed the case on the grounds that the cap was a crucial and integral part of the state's complex formula for distributing education funds in a manner meant to ensure that wealthy school districts don't pull far ahead of poorer districts. "If the plaintiffs were to prevail on their claim that the cap is unconstitutional, the entire [school funding] scheme would be struck down," Judge Lungstrum wrote.

Tristan Duncan, an attorney representing the Shawnee Mission parents, said they planned a swift appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

"In a nation founded on freedom and local initiative, it's inconceivable that any state would prohibit a community from voluntarily raising taxes to improve their children's education, especially when education funding is in crisis," Ms. Duncan said. "It's almost mean-spirited."

The Shawnee Mission School District has cut programs including sports teams, library service, foreign-language classes and support for gifted students in recent years as state education funding has dwindled. According to district administrators, a mill levy of roughly $260 a year on a typical $250,000 home in the district would make up for all recent and proposed funding cuts. Voters in the district have approved several such ballot measures in recent years.

Write to Stephanie Simon at stephanie.simon@wsj.com

Senate Bill 5 stands to sweep away many of the rules that educators, administrators and school boards have worked under for decades. Here are some of the changes in the version of the bill passed by the Ohio Senate:

• Wages still will be negotiated through collective bargaining. But management gets to decide much more than it does now, including leave policies, class sizes and where employees are assigned.
• Employees can't strike. If agreement can't be reached on bargaining issues, a fact-finder's report and the last offers from both sides will be made public. The school board then chooses one of the offers.
• Salaries must be based on merit. Automatic raises now pegged to years of service and education credentials - known as step increases -- will be abolished.
• Seniority no longer determines who gets laid off. Performance will be the primary factor, though seniority still will have a role.
• Continuing contracts for experienced teachers - more commonly known as tenure - will no longer be granted.
• Districts will pay for no more than 85 percent of employees' health care premiums. Currently, at least 335 districts pay a higher percentage.
• Districts won't pay for any of the employees' required contribution to their pension plans, which is 10 percent of their salaries. Some districts pick up part of that now, but it's unclear how many.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- School employees account for more than half of the public workers likely to lose collective-bargaining rights under Senate Bill 5, now marching toward passage in the Ohio General Assembly.

That's about 196,000 teachers, aides, counselors, bus drivers, custodians and others who are trying to figure out where they'll stand as the balance of power abruptly shifts toward their bosses.

Neither they nor the superintendents and school board members they work for know exactly what the final bill will say, as committee hearings begin this week in the Ohio House of Representatives.

But the version that squeaked past the state Senate amid protests last week is clearly a game-changer, taking away the right to strike, pegging salaries and layoff decisions to performance, and increasing health care payments for many workers.

From the perspective of Tom Schmida, president of the Cleveland Heights Teachers Union, "It's horrific. It destroys much of what we've accomplished."

In the view of Gov. John Kasich, "This is a major step forward in correcting the imbalance between taxpayers and the government unions that work for them."

State organizations representing school boards and administrators also support the bill, saying it gives districts the flexibility they need to deal with looming state budget cuts. But with 99 pages of amendments added just before the measure passed the Senate, many questions remain about the details.

"There are a lot of provisions we don't fully understand at this time," said Damon Asbury, director of legislative services for the Ohio School Boards Association.

"We believe there should be a transition period after its adoption so we can, for example, set up structures for performance-based compensation. Evaluation systems need to be put in place, and people need to be trained."

Normally, a law takes effect 90 days after the governor signs it. This one could be held up by a state referendum --if enough petition signatures are gathered -- or court challenges.

Current contracts will remain in effect until they expire, although it's unclear at the moment how reopeners would be affected.

The sea change will be tricky for districts that are in or about to enter negotiations. Asbury said about a third of districts are negotiating in any given year; he guesses that's closer to 40 percent this year because many have gone with one-year contracts recently.

Kirk Hamilton, executive director of the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, said the bill promises to level the playing field and allow superintendents to manage more effectively. But the reaction from members has been mixed because of uncertainty about how and when it will be implemented, he said.

In the end, superintendents probably will get a lot of what they want, judging from a January survey commissioned by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank with a special interest in Ohio.

The report, titled "Yearning to Break Free: Ohio Superintendents Speak Out," has a cover illustration of Gulliver being tied down by an army of arrow-slinging Lilliputians.

The 40 percent of Ohio superintendents who responded to the survey said they can deal with "the new normal" in funding and improve student achievement if they have more authority to manage personnel, said Fordham's Terry Ryan.

In fact, when asked to choose which would lead to higher student achievement, 51 percent picked more authority compared with 44 percent who said more money for schools.

About 65 percent said the state's collective bargaining law needs a fundamental overhaul, while another 32 percent said it needs some modification.

More specifically, strong majorities said it's important to change state law to:

• End mandating automatic step increases in teacher salaries.

• Stop requiring that layoffs be based solely on seniority.

• Make it easier to fire unmotivated or incompetent teachers.

However, superintendents were quick to say the bad teachers are only "a handful of bad apples," said Steve Farkas of the FDR Group, which conducted the survey and related focus groups.

And Ryan noted that the superintendents didn't blame unions for all their problems. Instead, they pointed to a gradual accumulation of restrictions and rewards that both sides agreed to over time as part of the bargaining process.

In Strongsville, nine months of often tense negotiations yielded a teachers contract that the Strongsville Education Association approved Tuesday -- the day before the Senate passed SB5.

The agreement will save the district $2 million, thanks to a salary freeze and the elimination of step increases, a higher health insurance payment for teachers and other concessions.

Even so, the district will have to cut another $1.4 million or so to balance next school year's budget. That number could well rise, depending on how much the state decides to slice from its education funding.

Tracy Linscott, president of the teachers union, said the concessions were painful, though she understands the tough situation the district faces. Teachers who earn their master's degrees, for example, will see no boost in their salaries. "A lot of money goes into paying for those classes," she said.

Perhaps even more discouraging for her, the new contract expires in June 2012, giving Strongsville teachers just over a year before SB5 might kick in for them.

The contract for Cleveland Heights-University Heights teachers expires at the end of June. Schmida, the union president, said historically there has been a good relationship between the union and administration, though they haven't always agreed.

He, the superintendent and the school board president traveled to Denver last month as one of 13 Ohio delegations to a high-profile conference on labor and management collaboration.

Superintendent Douglas Heuer said in a statement that it was too early to speculate about the effects of SB5 on his district, but "we are committed to maintaining a relationship of respect and trust with all of our staff."

Schmida, however, worries about the effects of SB5 on younger teachers. During a visit to one of the district's schools last week, he heard young teachers talk about leaving the state.

"One of them said she and her husband are putting their house up for sale and going to a state where she'll be respected," he said.

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates will step into the national debate over state budgets Thursday with a call for states to rethink their health care and pension systems, which he says stifle funding for public schools.

Mr. Gates in an interview said he will use a high-profile conference Thursday in Long Beach, Calif., to urge that more attention be paid to how states calculate their employee-pension funding and health-care obligations. "These budgets are way out of whack," Mr. Gates said. "They've used accounting gimmicks and lot things that are truly extreme."

The comments come after Mr. Gates spent more than a year studying the issue and enlisting the advice of leading academics and others.

The talk will be at a meeting of leading thinkers called the TED conference. Mr. Gates will outline how, as he sees it, rising state health-care costs and flawed pension accounting hamper the ability of states to pay for education. He said he'd use California as an example to illustrate his point.

"I'm just very worried about the investments we make for kids' education and what that means for the future," he said. "It's going to take voters to really look at that." Without that, he said, "The default course—where the health care costs are squeezing out education — is quite bleak."

Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, which has 3.2 million members, said U.S teachers have been trying to make up funding shortfalls by raising their contributions to their pension plans. He added that pensions are one of the reasons schools can attract quality teachers.

"People within public services know they are not going to make a high salary but they know that you have some semblance of retirement security," Mr. Van Roekel said in an interview.

As co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, Mr. Gates focuses most of his efforts on three areas: global health; overseas development; and U.S. education.

Yet he occasionally uses his stature in the service of other causes, and when he does, it's very deliberate. Two years ago, Mr. Gates used the same TED conference to outline his views on energy. That talk was the start of an increasingly higher profile by Mr. Gates in national discussion on the state of government investment into energy-related research and nuclear power. His involvement has stirred debate on streamlining the licensing process for U.S. nuclear-power facilities.

He said he is concerned that states' public employee-benefit costs could now stand in the way of broader changes. These include programs Mr. Gates's foundation backs that aspire to use technology (including cameras that monitor classrooms) and strengthened teacher evaluations to improve K-12 education.

"Those goals will never be met with the kinds of cuts that we're seeing right now" in education, he said.

One focus of Mr. Gates is public pension funds' use of a relatively high discount rate to calculate obligations. The discount rate is an assumed rate of return used to calculate the current value of a future liability.

The higher the rate, the smaller a fund's obligations appear—and the less that states need to contribute to their pension funds. Critics blame this accounting approach for contributing to state pension shortfalls, estimated nationwide to total more than $1 trillion.

Pension funds say their discount rates are prudent when considering investing returns over several decades.

Mr. Gates downplayed any suggestion that his view on pensions will court controversy. "The only position I'm taking you could call a political position is that I wish education spending can go up," he said.

Over two days last September, Mr. Gates hosted experts in state pensions and health care at his office near Seattle. Several of the participants continue to advise Mr. Gates.

Among the participants in the meetings were Jeremy Gold, an independent actuary, who argues that state and local government accounting methods understate the true size of pension liabilities; Robert Clark, a North Carolina State University professor who has written a book on the history of public pension funds in the U.S.; and Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, whose research has focused lately on the cost of state and local pension plans.

Along with his comments Thursday, Mr. Gates will unveil a new set of tools to his personal Web site, "The Gates Notes."The tools allow visitors to click through U.S. maps that show state-by-state the funding status for pension obligations and retiree health-care benefits.

There is also a feature on Mr. Gates's site that ranks how much each state spends on programs such as higher education and prisons, as a percent of its total budget. "A lot of society's resources go into state budgets and yet it has been made complicated enough and the accounting is bad enough that people haven't had a sense of what's going on," Mr. Gates says in a video on the Web site.

Write to Robert A. Guth at rob.guth@wsj.com and Michael Corkery at michael.corkery@wsj.com

Every day matters for the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District Levy Committee.

More than 200 constituents have pledged to volunteer their time in helping gain approval for the 5.3-mill operating levy on the May 3 ballot.

Whatever the outcome of that election, members of the committee surely won’t hear in May that they didn’t have enough of a presence within the two communities.

“The superintendent may be the first to admit there really wasn’t anything out there during the last campaign,” said Greg Skaljac, committee co-chair and Brecksville councilman. “Officials were taking time to negotiate contracts, and there really wasn’t much of a message out there.”

On Nov. 2, 2010, voters turned down a 5.8-mill operating levy by roughly 55 percent of the votes. Since then, more than $1 million in reductions have been approved by members of the school board.

“The feedback we were getting, even from supporters, was that they didn’t hear or really read anything,” Skaljac said of the 2010 campaign. “We heard ‘were you guys even out there?’”

The difference this time around is like “night and day,” Skaljac said.

“We have a lot more people involved and there are many things planned,” Skaljac said.

In the remaining days of February, nine pieces of campaign literature are being designed and edited. The plan calls for voters to receive literature once a week starting in March.

Automated phone calls will go out, town hall meetings will be conducted, rallies will be held and folks will welcome school officials into their homes for neighborhood coffee events.

Since the Feb. 3 campaign kickoff, the volunteer infantry continues to grow. Leaders of six subcommittees will run various facets of the campaign.

District Coordinator of Community Relations Cathy Harbinak is heading up the communications subcommittee, responsible for maintaining the campaign website , the social media pages on Facebook and Twitter, press releases, letters to the editor and automated phone calls.

Brecksville Councilman Rex Mack is overseeing fundraising, a large campaign component that will partly include hosting lunches for local businesses to explain the levy.

Broadview Heights resident Sharon Hayjek and Brecksville resident Ed Greenlee will manage the ground and field subcommittee aimed at signage, manning poll sites, hosting town hall meetings and neighborhood coffees, performing walking literature drops in neighborhoods and coordinating rallies on city squares.

Lila Tamulewicz will head up volunteer coordination, with the main responsibility of identifying and securing additional campaign volunteers.

Chris Beiswenger will oversee the literature subcommittee that creates all campaign literature including fliers, postcards, mailers and signage.

Cathy Roderick, a high school teacher, is managing the voter ID and registration subcommittee set to target any unregistered voters, identify high school seniors eligible to vote, reach out to recent graduates and track absentee ballot responses.

Michelle Trouvé wants to pay more taxes to support her local schools. The state of Kansas won't let her, and the resulting standoff has pit parents in affluent districts against those in the state's poorer towns.

Ms. Trouvé, a mother of three in a wealthy Kansas City suburb, saw the state trim classroom funds several years running, forcing the local Shawnee Mission School District to slash sports programs, library services, foreign-language classes and support for gifted students.

Ms. Trouvé and other parents came up with a solution: Put a property-tax increase dedicated to school funding on the ballot. Voters in her school district have approved several in recent years and Ms. Trouvé is confident they would do so again, if given the chance.

But Kansas is one of a handful of states that limit how much money local school districts can raise from property taxes—a restriction to ensure a rough parity in spending across the state.

The Shawnee Mission School District has hit that cap, so there won't be a vote on a tax increase this year. Instead, the district will shut three schools and make millions of dollars in additional cuts because of state funding cuts.

Ms. Trouvé and other parents have filed a civil-rights suit in federal court, claiming Kansas has denied them the fundamental right to use their property as they see fit, including paying higher taxes on it for better schools.

If citizens want to "go above and beyond" what the state will fund for their public schools, Ms. Trouvé said, "they ought to be able to do that. Don't tie our hands behind our back."

The state is fighting back. In court filings, lawyers for Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback noted that parents can spend as much as they want on their children's education through private tutors.

But courts in Kansas and across the U.S. have repeatedly held that states have an obligation to ensure equity—or at least, get as close as possible—at public schools. "The state should provide the same level of education to all students," said Sherriene Jones-Sontag, a spokeswoman for the governor.

The state's position has drawn strong support from parents and school administrators in poor districts across Kansas.

"We do not want a situation where the quality of a student's education depends on his Zip Code," said David A. Smith, chief of staff for the Kansas City Public Schools, which serve many low-income and immigrant families.

If wealthy districts are allowed to spend substantially more, Mr. Smith said they could poach the best teachers from his district. Worse, he said, self-funding undermines the principle that public education is a state responsibility.

"If we simply let districts fund locally, there is no pressure on the state to fulfill its constitutional obligation" to give every school across Kansas adequate resources, Mr. Smith said.

A coalition of poorer districts has joined the state in asking a federal judge to dismiss the parents' lawsuit. A hearing is set for Monday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City.

The Shawnee Mission School District hasn't taken an official position on the suit, though Superintendent Gene Johnson said he would like to see the cap on local funding lifted. He said about 20% of the students in his district attend private school, a percentage that has remained steady.

The case marks an unusual twist on decades of school finance litigation.

Since the 1970s, nearly every state has been hit with lawsuits from activists and families of students in low-income districts alleging inequities in public education. Several—Texas, Vermont and Kansas among them—responded by capping how much districts could raise through property taxes or by mandating that money generated in affluent towns be shared with lower-income districts.

The Texas Supreme Court struck down the cap there in 2005, though it has since been revived somewhat in a different formulation. In Kansas, state courts have upheld the principle of a cap, saying it serves to reduce disparities among districts.

Parents in the Shawnee Mission district say Kansas needs to set a floor—a minimum standard for all schools. But they question any benefit from setting a financial ceiling. If their citizens are willing to tax themselves to restore fourth-grade violin lessons or Chinese classes or the middle-school track team, they ask, why should anyone object?

The owner of a typical $250,000 home in the district now pays about $1,600 a year in taxes specifically to support public schools. A levy that would add about $260 to that bill would make up for all recent and projected cuts in funding, according to district data.

"If you want to spend more, more power to you," said Brian Herbel, a father of two students in the district who supports lifting the cap on property taxes.

Alan Cunningham is sympathetic to that argument. But as superintendent of schools in Dodge City, Kan., a lower-income district, he joined the legal effort to block the parents' lawsuit.

Even with the current cap, he said, wealthy districts can offer students more extras because they don't need to spend as much on such basic services as after-school tutoring for children who are behind in English because they were raised speaking a different language at home.

If richer suburban districts were allowed to widen their financial advantages, Mr. Cunningham said, "those who have, will have more." His students, he said, may never be able to catch up.

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District will head into the 2011-12 school year with $1.5 million in reductions in place.

The school board voted unanimously on Monday night to accept the reduction plan.

It calls for reducing replacement equipment purchases, delaying technology purchases, reducing 50 percent of the bus mechanic personnel, reconfiguring the high school block schedule, and reducing positions in custodial, transportation, special education, middle and high school, administrative assistance and media positions.

The vote follows several weeks of back-and-forth discussion between members of the academic community and voters.

Constituents were given two opportunities, Dec. 6 and Jan. 6, to attend forums held specifically to allow for the chance to hear from administration and voice their concerns. Officials also welcomed e-mailed, written and telephone comment throughout the past few months.

That, coupled with heavy discussion amongst officials and personnel, shaped and prompted the vote.

Voters will also see a 5.3-mill operating levy on the May 3 ballot.

Treasurer Karen Obratil will send the board approved resolution to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections for certification. On Monday night, school board members unanimously approved the second resolution required for the levy to appear on the ballot.

If approved, the five year, 5.3-mill operating levy will equate to $162.31 for every $100,000 of home valuation. At the end of 2015, the millage will allow for $3 million in the bank, said new Superintendent Scot Prebles, and the opportunity for one year of not being in a deficit spending cycle.

A levy calculator is posted on the district’s website for voters to learn what the upcoming levy will cost them.

For more information on the board approved reductions and the May 3 operating levy, visit bbhcsd.org.

Voters in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District will see a 5.3-mill operating levy on the May 3 ballot.

At a special Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, board members unanimously approved the first resolution required for the issue to appear on the ballot.

If approved, the five year, 5.3-mill operating levy will equate to $162.31 for every $100,000 of home valuation.

Before the vote to approve the resolution, Superintendent Scot Prebles presented three mill options to the school board. He presented data on introducing either a 5.8-, 5.3-, or 4.99-mill operating levy.

Members collectively agreed on approving a 5.3-mill operating levy. At the end of 2015, the millage will allow for $3 million in the bank, Prebles noted, and the opportunity for one year of not being in a deficit spending cycle.

At 7 p.m. Jan. 24, in the high school auditorium, board members will hold a regular meeting and vote on $1.5 million in proposed reduction options.

Prebles presented an updated draft of the restructuring plan. The components will collectively go into effect beginning with the 2011-12 academic year.

The proposed $1.5 million in reduction options call for reducing replacement equipment purchases, delaying technology purchases, reducing 50 percent of the bus mechanic personnel, reconfiguring the high school block schedule, and reducing positions in custodial, transportation, special education, middle and high school, administrative assistance and media positions.

Board members noted that even if the May 3 levy is approved by voters, the proposed cuts and restructuring will not change and things will not return.

On Wednesday, a levy calculator will be posted on the district’s website for voters to learn what the upcoming levy will cost them.

Close to $2 million in reduction options are facing the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District.

But that isn’t news to voters throughout the region who are all watching their school districts dig deeper into deficit spending cycles.

"The real issue is school funding in the state of Ohio," said Superintendent Scot Prebles. "That’s the issue."

Constituents packed the Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School auditorium Thursday to hear updated information on a range of cuts facing the district. The forum was second, of two, held specifically to allow voters the chance to hear from administration and voice their concerns.

At the meeting, six updated proposals were presented including operational, cost avoidance, supplemental programming, administrative, certificated, classified and support personnel reductions.

Participants were asked to gauge their opinions via Scantron computer survey. After the presentation, audience members were given the chance to address the school board and administration.

Andrew Sabol, a high school senior, addressed proposed changes to the music department and program.

"It provides so much for kids to have an outlet to have something to express themselves," Sabol said. "The bonds that people form are just incredible. It would be an awful shame to have to lose something like that."

Parents John and Debbie Burkhart of Brecksville appreciated having the chance to learn more about the proposed options, which are not final until the school board approves them.

"It’s good to have your opinion asked," said John, who is father to two middle school students. "The superintendent’s expressions about school funding, I think we’re all aware of that. It’s so puzzling how after four times being ruled unconstitutional that funding hasn’t changed. You would think if something is unconstitutional there would be a way for the judicial branch to make a change, but apparently not."

Bob Belovich of Brecksville is parent to two high school students.

"It’s a sobering discussion for a parent because we have great schools here and now we have to take something less," Belovich said. "That is pretty bitter to take."

During his presentation, Prebles showed graphs outlining future spending cycles of several neighboring districts including Parma, North Royalton, Strongsville, Garfield Heights and Rocky River. Belovich said he does not take comfort in knowing that BBHCSD isn’t alone in its financial dilemma.

"I rather take offense that we are unable to fix the school funding for the state," Belovich said. "This is something that has been wrong in this state for more than a decade, much more than a decade."

Prebles took the opportunity to make a self proclaimed editorial during the public engagement forum.

"Not all of these school districts pay their people the same amount that we do. I’m not going to hide behind the fact that we pay our staff much higher than any of these school districts," Prebles said. "But if you reduce our salaries, as I have heard suggested, this will not change. Because that reduction in salary is the same reduction as eliminating funds. The mechanism that we fund the schools with does not work. So the pressure is on you and me to deal with these issues. The legislature has not done it in the state of Ohio."

From this point forward, Prebles said any new teachers to the district will have a reduced salary and different benefits packages as compared to teachers currently in the system.

"This board of education, when we went to the Ohio School Boards Association, was acknowledged as one of the boards that is stepping forward, who is on the cutting edge of negotiations," Prebles said. "Is it enough? Probably not in the eyes of everybody around here. Could it be better? Absolutely. Yes it could. But they have not sat silently and not addressed the issues. Freezes in our salaries, freezes in our steps, no increases for administrators, reductions in positions, they are trying to the best of their ability, as you are, to deal with this economic dilemma that has not been addressed."

Money from November’s failed 5.8-mill operating levy would have been received starting this month. It would have generated approximately $5.8 million per year for five years. The levy equated to roughly $177 for every $100,000 of home valuation.

Prebles noted that 500 of 612 schools in Ohio are in deficit spending cycles. Just 15 percent of new operating levies passed two months ago.

If a levy is necessary again in May, members of the school board will present a first resolution Jan. 18. Submission to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections must be received by Feb. 2 to make the May 3 ballot.

Some of the proposed options include reducing replacement equipment and custodial/maintenance supply purchases, reducing building budgets, delaying technology purchases, applying 100 percent pay-to-participate fees, reductions in new bus purchases, relieving the music therapy/therapeutic riding program for children who are multi-handicapped, eliminating district administrative positions through attrition, reducing positions in bus driving, seasonal help in summer cleaning, custodial staff, media assistants and specialists, and K-12 teachers.

Changes could also come to some offered electives and the gifted program. The high school schedule may also be restructured and shift from block scheduling.

"I value community and I value schools. This is about Brecksville and Broadview Heights and what we as a community want for our students, our communities, and for each other," Prebles said. "We’re constantly being pressured by people who are not doing the right thing at a much higher level. I’ll do the best I possibly can to reduce costs, streamline and become more efficient in all the things you want to have happen. I will do that for you because when I raise, or ask to raise your taxes, I’m raising my own.

"I brought my kids to Brecksville because this is the best, I think, there is out there. I’m committed to it and I know you are. It saddens me that this discussion has to be put on the table," Prebles said.

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board is trying to find an umbrella for the rainy days ahead.

Treasurer Karen Obratil explained some revisions for assumption to the five-year financial forecast, concerning tax revenue and state funding. The board considered approving the prescribed format, which Obratil said gives a clear picture of finances in the district. "When expenditure exceeds revenue, it’s a red flag to make decisions in the district," she said. "In our case, we have been proactive in trying to reduce expenditures and increase revenue."

Board members Mark Jantzen and David Tryon explained that there was some confusion in the community over the approval of this forecast. "We will end up in the red in four years," Tryon said. "Why approve the forecast? It’s so we know what to do." The board unanimously approved the revisions.

Superintendent Scot T. Prebles gave an administrative report on the financial impact of the failure of the levy in November. He explained that the school district has been in a deficit spending cycle since 2009. "Our district is not alone; we learned that 500 out of 612 schools in Ohio are in a deficit spending cycle, and 85 percent of districts with new levies on the ballot did not pass." Prebles also stated that Ohio’s funding system for schools has been ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court and is not sustainable.

He then moved on to a presentation considering options for spending cuts in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District (BBHCSD). "These are not done already – they are only options. There is plenty of room for the board to make decisions on what they would like to do," he said. All of the cuts considered represented $1.73 million saved. But, according to Prebles, that may not be enough. "We will be solvent up to 2013; in 2015 reductions plus a levy will have us at $6.7 million, and above the zero line."

Board members discussed dates and times for two public forums. They settled on Monday, Dec. 6, and Thursday, Jan. 6, at 7 p.m. on both dates in the high school auditorium.

Tryon said he liked the idea of the public forums and stated, "I don’t think we’ve done these well enough in the past, and I’m hopeful that this will be an opportunity to hear in a nonjudgmental way what they’re thinking, why they don’t want to vote for the levy."

The board considered several resolutions, among which was whether to ask for a waiver from the Body Mass Index Screening Program. This would require every student in kindergarten, third, fifth and ninth grade to be screened for body mass index and weight category, prior to the first day of May of the school year. The resolution, which passed unanimously, states that the BBHCSD is unable to comply with the requirements and seeks a waiver for the 2010-11 school year.

Like their sons and daughters, parents in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District used a Scantron form Monday evening at the high school.

However, these were not used for an important test but rather for and important survey. The survey gauged parents’ opinions of an estimated $1.7 million in reduction options, following the failure of a 5.8-mill operating levy last month.

Members of the school board called the special meeting to openly discuss the options proposed to help correct the district’s budget.

From these public forums — the second of which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 6 again in the auditorium — members of the school board and administration will gather data and comments received.

"We will use that to help us decide what items to keep and maybe what others to add to our options list," said School Board President George Balasko. "Administration will digest all that and discuss options with the board."

Up for discussion are reductions in building budgets, maintenance supply purchases, delays in technology purchases and the continuation of pay-to-participate fees. Options also call for trimming busing to state minimum levels.

A handful of staffing reductions in various departments including administrative personnel, classified/support staff and certificated personnel are also proposed, along with a thorough review of the high school schedule. Some reduced positions will come through attrition and not be refilled.

Cuts will be discussed and voted on possibly as early as January, Balasko said. The options are not final until the school board approves them.

About 100 constituents gathered Monday to hear from new Superintendent Scot Prebles.

"It is expected that when you have change people will be resistant," Balasko said. "I can understand parents not wanting to lose the great programs we have here. But there is also an economic reality that we might not be able to afford these great programs."

BBHCSD isn’t alone in its financial conundrum. Of the 612 school districts in Ohio, 500 are in a deficit spending cycle. Just 15 percent of new operating levies passed in November throughout the state, leaving 85 percent that failed.

"The district is trying to be out ahead of the problem and deal with the financial difficulty earlier rather than later," Balasko said. "Other districts, two in the area I can think of, are much closer to fiscal caution. We are trying to be out ahead of the issue, but it is tough economic times and we are getting to the point that we possibly can’t afford the excellent programs we have."

The school board and administration hope to present updated information at the next forum in January. A resolution introducing a levy could come next month in order to make the Feb. 2 deadline to file for the May 3 primary.

"I’d like to compliment our superintendent and administration for the untold hours they put into this," Balasko said. "These are not random ideas pulled out of a hat. Many, many hours of time have been put into these proposals and we take them very seriously. We also have to face the economic reality."

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District could be facing 20 full time staff reductions.

Superintendent Scot Prebles announced an estimated $1.7 million in reduction options, following the failure of a 5.8-mill operating levy earlier this month.

Prebles has been discussing the options with an administrative team since September in preparation for voters turning down the levy. The options are not final until the school board approves them.

Plan components call for reductions in building budgets, maintenance supply purchases, delays in technology purchases and the continuation of pay-to-participate fees. It also calls for trimming busing to state minimum levels.

A handful of staffing reductions in various departments including administrative personnel, classified/support staff and certificated personnel are also proposed.

A new high school schedule is also being introduced.

As it stands, high school students have eight academic periods which are 40 minutes each. Prebles is suggesting altering that to eight academic periods at 50 minutes each. Lunchtime would be reduced from 40 to 25 minutes.

Two public engagement forums will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 6 and Jan. 6. The tentative location is the high school auditorium. Constituents will have the opportunity to share their thoughts and concerns.

From those sessions and feedback received, school board members will review and discuss the community input.

A resolution introducing a levy could come by January in order to make the Feb. 2 deadline to file for the May 3 primary.

The district has a $11.7 million cash balance and a projected end-of-year balance at $9.8 million. Deficit spending comes in at $1.8 million.

Prebles noted Monday evening that the district is not alone. Of the 612 school districts in Ohio, 500 are in a deficit spending cycle. Just 15 percent of new operating levies passed this month throughout the state leaving 85 percent that failed.

Oct. 25 School Board Meeting

The financial future for the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District is anything but rosy.

After Chief Financial Officer Karen Obratil gave the school board a look at the five-year forecast she prepared, board members Mark Jantzen and David Tryon spent an hour trying to understand it. In the end they gave their approval.

Obratil projected a $17-million negative balance by the end of 2015, and that included the passage of renewal levies in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

"We will be losing federal stimulus funding, an education jobs grant and state funding, and the personal property tax is being phased out," she said.

She noted that the district will have to add all-day kindergarten in 2013, and that would probably require five new teachers, plus equipment.

Board President George Balasko pointed out that space should be available for all-day kindergarten, since enrollment is declining. The current senior class has more than 400 students, while the lower elementary classes are between 250 and 275.

Before swearing in Kathleen Mack as the new board member, replacing Terri Neff, Balasko stated, "We had 17 applicants. I was surprised there was so much interest. I think Mrs. Mack will make a good addition to the board."

Mack currently serves as PSO president at Chippewa Elementary School. She and her husband, Rex, have three children in the schools.

Financial Activities Communications Team (FACT) Chairman Rob Routson reported that the committee suggested the conversion of three- and five-year term levies to continuing levies, and recommended the district continue to pursue cost saving measures and maintain a three month cash reserve.

Before introducing high school principal Joseph Mueller, who was to present the National Merit Scholars, Superintendent Scot Prebles, said, "We have the best in the nation to present." He then thanked the parents for their support.

Before the students came forward, Mueller said, "It is wonderful when we can celebrate our students."

He introduced National Merit Commended Scholars Marielle Blumenthaler, Andrew Cooper, Carolyn Creneti, Kevin Krymowski and Claire Sonneborn.

He said, "Their finish in the top 2 to 3 percent of the PSATs (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Tests) helps them compete for scholarships."

The next students to come forward were the National Merit Semi-finalists – Malcolm Cole, Roy Kucia, Peter Nie, and Daniel Snow. These four, in the top 1 percent of students taking the PSATs, will continue to compete for National Merit scholarships.

Budget, ballot woes mean leaner times

Northeast Ohio voters sent a clear message on Tuesday when they gave a resounding thumbs-down to additional taxes for public schools.

That's likely to be followed by a message about subtraction, as Governor-elect John Kasich and the Republican-controlled legislature figure out what to cut to plug a hole of as much as $8 billion in the next budget.

All of which raises the question: How will Ohio pay for public education?

Across the region, 21 of 47 school issues — or about 45 percent — passed on Tuesday. But 13 of those approved were renewals, which just continue existing taxes. Of the eight that will bring in new money, six were for relatively modest amounts of 4 mills or less.

All of the 26 issues that failed sought extra money, whether for basic operations or building projects.

The statewide picture was similar. There were more requests for tax increases than usual, but only about a quarter of them were approved.

With federal stimulus money due to stop flowing in soon, the state probably wont be in a position to give more to districts that are forecasting deficits.

That includes the Cleveland district, which counts on the state for two-thirds of its operating budget and has just launched a sweeping reform plan.

"Funding is a critical part of any work we've done," said the district's chief executive officer, Eugene Sanders. "I would want the folks voting on the [state] budget next year to know what progress we’ve made in Cleveland."

At this point, no one knows what the budget for education will look like next summer.

The state school board has determined that a 2 percent increase is needed in each of the next two years. But the Ohio Department of Education, like other state agencies, has been directed to prepare two budget requests: one with flat funding and one with a 10 percent cut.

Kasich has pledged to put more money in classrooms. However, he 'favors scrapping the "evidence-based model" of school funding that Gov. Ted Strickland got through the legislature last year.

Strickland maintained that the new formula would lessen dependence on local property taxes but that it would take 10 years for the state to provide full funding.

Kasich says the model is burdening districts now with too many unfunded mandates, like full-day kindergarten for all.

People like Richard Lukich, president of the Constellation charter schools, are assuming the model may be on its way out. Lukich is a member of the School Funding Advisory Council, which is supposed to submit recommendations regarding Strickland's funding system by Dec. 1.

"A lot of work went into those recommendations, but the new government coming in will be a real game-changer as far as the model goes," Lukich said.

William Phillis, head of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy in School Funding, sees no reason to do away with Strickland's plan. He believes it has the potential to nearly eliminate the funding disparity between districts that the Ohio Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 1997.

"Elections and politics really should not have a major influence on school funding," said Phillis, a former state assistant superintendent of education. "We have a constitutional mandate for a thorough and efficient system of public education."

That's not the view of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank with a particular interest in Ohio.

A recent analysis by Terry Ryan, a Dayton-based Fordham official; and Jeff Jacobson, a former Republican state senator, cited "an increasing disconnect" between the boom in school funding and the much smaller rise in overall state revenue.

Something's got to give, and in their opinion, it has to be public school employees' salaries and benefits, which typically account for 85 percent of district budgets.

They argue that the state largely satisfied the demands of the court, but more money has continued to be pumped into public schools to satisfy "editorial writers and school-spending advocates."

The result, according to the analysis, was a 35 percent increase in the number of public-school employees over the past two decades, while enrollment dropped by 1.4 percent.

The impact is huge when teachers get "step" increases based on longevity and cost-of-living adjustments in addition to negotiated raises, Ryan and Jacobson say.

But now, "the state is broke and so are local taxpayers. The money just isn't there to keep the spending train on the track of steady and unremitting growth," they wrote in their analysis.

Daniel Wilson, chief financial officer for the Mentor School District, thinks digging a little deeper into the numbers reveals a more complicated picture. The studies he has seen suggest that public employees in jobs that require a college degree actually make less than their counterparts in the private sector, while the opposite is true of jobs that don’t require a college degree.

"And schools have a more educated work force than most private-sector companies," he said. "It at least is something that should be discussed."

Without the prospect of more revenue, districts like Mentor have to take hard looks at their spending for salaries and benefits, he added. When you have a large class, for example, would it suffice to hire an aide instead of splitting the students into two rooms and hiring a new teacher?

Even relatively well-off districts like Shaker Heights are being prodded to be more frugal.

A task force set up by Mayor Earl Leiken last month called for the schools to "exercise restraint" in pay and benefits and to go much longer than the typical three years between levies.

District spokeswoman Peggy Caldwell said more than $6 million has been cut from the budget in the last four years and plans are to slash $10 million more in the next two years.

"There's a great degree of belt-tightening," Caldwell said. "We are taking great pains to do it as surgically as possible and not whack away at programs that have taken decades to build and really set us apart."

Lavea Brachman, executive director of the nonpartisan Greater Ohio Policy Research Center, suggests it's time to think about the economies of consolidating some of the state's 613 public school districts.

Greater Ohio and the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution recommended school mergers in a study released this year. Reports had Kasich embracing the call for consolidation, but he denied making such a statement. He did, however, endorse a less-drastic position: sharing services.

Districts already collaborate on things like buying natural gas and electricity but should do more, Solon Superintendent Joseph Regano said. They could, for example, contract with cities to clear snow from school grounds or to pool employees in insurance plans.

Solon school employees recently agreed to a three-year pay freeze, and Regano predicts districts will continue making sacrifices to satisfy voters hit by layoffs and pay cuts.

"We all get it," he said. "You'll see changes that will reflect what's happening in the private sector."

In the meantime, districts like Brooklyn are scrambling to find new ways of bringing in money.

Brooklyn had a bond issue on Tuesday's ballot that would enable the district to renovate and connect its aging buildings, making them accessible to people with disabilities. Businesses also would have been invited to provide community services like health care or child care on the campus — and contribute revenue to the schools.

"If the state is not going to provide relief, we need to provide our own relief," said Superintendent Cynthia Walker.

The district's tax renewal measure passed by 400 votes on Tuesday. The bond issue failed by more than 1,000 votes.

Brecksville-Broad view Heights City School District Superintendent Scot Prebles will meet with administrators Nov. 12 to begin a review of items potentially up for reduction.

On Tuesday, voters turned down a 5.8-mill operating levy by 6,416 votes (54.01 percent) compared to 5,463 votes (45.99 percent) in support of the tax levy, according to final, unofficial results posted by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

The list will contain building budgets, staffing assignments and adjustments/ reductions in programming and services. The potential reductions will have significant impact on the district and its ability to maintain quality service and education, Prebles said.

"So, day after the levy, is this a threat? Absolutely not. Should it be accepted as condescending or disrespectful? Absolutely not," Prebles said.

Members of the school board will be provided with the draft reduction timeline and gathered feedback. Pending members' review and final approval, Prebles will proceed with announcements in reductions.

"This is a sad day," Prebles said. "We will continue to work to the best of our ability to better communicate the realities of the school district's financial health. We live in a great community that is supportive of education. We are proud of that and we will continue to try to respond to their expectations. That's our work, period."

Prebles, who is new this year to the district, said he understands the challenges residents are facing. "It's scary. It's scary because this is a pure example of how an unconstitutional funding system in the State of Ohio can bring a premier district to its knees and make it look like the local tax payers are at fault," Prebles said. "Challenge is exciting to me. Because the district is going through a difficult time now, does not mean that it cannot reinvent itself and emerge from the rubble stronger, more effective and efficient than it was before."

Kathleen Mack, 41, of Brecksville, assumed her role as the new Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board member at Monday's meeting.

Mack was sworn in at the beginning of the meeting after board members unanimously chose her to fill the vacancy left by Terri Neff.

Neff, a former middle school teacher, served on the school board 11 years. Her resignation was effective Sept. 30.

Mack is the wife of Brecksville Councilman Rex Mack and the couple has 3 children in the district Alexis, 13; Ethan, 9 and Chelsea, 6. The term will expire on Dec. 30, 2011.

"Kathleen is a good addition to our board," said President George Balasko. "I thank her for her time and energies."

According to her resume, Mack serves as co-president of the Chippewa Elementary Parent School Organization. She teaches the "Mommy and Me" class at the Broadview Heights Recreation Department and is completing a Cleveland State University master's degree in gifted eduation.

Mack taught in the Elyria and Mt. Healthy public school districts and served as president of the Brecksville-Broad-view Heights Preschool Mothers' Club. She also served as editor of the Chippewa Chatter Newsletter and served as coordinator of Chippewa Elementary parent volunteers.

Her PSO service work inspired Mack to apply for the vacancy. Mack founded a Chippewa PSO Web site and spearheaded efforts to make all PSO organizations communicate electronically.

Mack is exploring the availability of podcasts, more interactive features linked to the district's site and easy-to-understand district financial information.

"Podcasts can range from messages from the president and a look at what we're working on," Mack said. "It would require getting a site that can support that. It will happen. But right now it's reaching out and making that line disappear."

Mack said she'd also like to introduce more informal opportunities for residents to meet and speak with district officials.

The district received 17 applications for the vacant seat.

The application process included an Oct. 12 public meeting, allowing hopefuls the chance to introduce themselves and explain how their experience could benefit the board. From that, the five most promising candidates were chosen and privately interviewed.

The 2009-10 Ohio school district report cards are in, and many administrators are shaking their heads in wonderment. The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) graded schools and districts on 26 state indicators, a performance index, adequate yearly progress (AYP) and a value-added measure.

Many high-performing districts that have historically received the state’s top designation of Excellent with Distinction lost the "distinction" designation this year, sparking a controversy over the three-year-old value-added measure.

The state indicators require that districts meet or exceed 75-percent proficiency for math, reading, writing, social studies and science in grades three through 10 and 85 percent in grade 11. They must also meet or exceed a 90-percent graduation rate and a 93-percent attendance rate.

The performance index is a weighted-average point measurement of all students in grades three through eight and grade 10. The top score is 120 points.

AYP is a federally-required measure with goals in reading and mathematics proficiency and participation and attendance rate and graduation rate for the following student sub-groups: all students; economically disadvantaged; Asian/Pacific Islander; Black, non-Hispanic; American Indian/Alaska Native; Hispanic; multiracial; White, non-Hispanic; students with disabilities; and limited English proficient. Districts that do not meet AYP for consecutive years will face federal and state consequences, including reductions in rating designation.

The value-added measure began in the 2007-08 school year and uses complex calculations to measure the year-to-year progress of fourth- through eighth-grade students. A district rated "met" when its students’ expected academic growth stayed at the same level; "below" showed that students had less than a year’s expected growth; and "above" showed more than a year’s expected growth. According to the ODE Guide to Understanding Ohio’s Accountability System 2009-2010, "This measure recognizes that districts and schools may be making significant improvement in the academic performance of their students even though they may have not met the standard for student achievement."

While the ODE rated Brecksville-Broadview Heights, Independence and North Royalton school districts as Excellent on the 2009-10 report cards, all three districts lost the coveted "with distinction" honor. All three met the 26 state indicators and AYP, and all had high performance index scores – 107.8, 106.1 and 105.3, respectively.

How are Brecksville-Broadview Heights, Independence and North Royalton responding to losing their places on the distinction list?

"It was because of the value-added component," said Cathleen Harbinak, coordinator of community relations for Brecksville-Broadview Heights, "partly because you must increase by a specific percentage each year, and the closer you get to 100 percent, the more difficult it is to improve by the number expected."

"Value added was definitely the reason we didn’t receive ‘with distinction,’" said Independence Superintendent David Laurenzi. "The concept of value-added has some merit; however, if a district is already displaying extremely high scores, upper 90s to 100 percent, the ability to add ‘additional value’ and growth decreases."

"The value-added system ODE uses to measure the growth of students over time on state tests has some inherent problems," said North Royalton Superintendent Edward Vittardi. "Students are placed on a Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) based on the frequency of scores. Students who perform at a level further up the curve from the norm have little room for movement or the ability to obtain more then expected growth.

"For instance," said Vittardi, "in one of our grade levels that did not make value-added, we had 104 of the 276 students score at the highest level of achievement. Sixty-eight of those students had an NCE score of 75 or higher. In comparison to a district that did achieve above expected growth with a mean NCE of 32.9, North Royalton had an NCE score of 59.4 at the same grade level. In essence, the better your students perform, the more difficult it is to make above expected growth on the state value-added measure."

Of the 37 Northeast Ohio districts that received Excellent with Distinction last year, 20 dropped to Excellent this year. However, some local districts that consistently score in the 80th and 90th percentile for the state indicators, including Aurora, Copley-Fairlawn, Solon and Twinsburg, achieved above expectations in value-added and rated Excellent with Distinction.

Nordonia Hills went from Excellent to Excellent with Distinction. "We are excited and happy," said Director of Curriculum and Instruction Irene Beville. The district’s performance index score has risen steadily to 101.6, and it met all 26 state indicators this year. "What really made a difference for us this year is that we had three years of scoring above expectations in the value-added piece," said Beville.

On Oct. 5, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association ratified a new two-year contract with the district, and the board of education approved the contract at a special meeting on Oct. 8.

Key components of the contract include: base salary freeze for 2010-11; a base salary and index freeze (experience and education steps) from date of ratification through June 30, 2012; freeze in pay for extracurricular positions for 2011-12; insurance concessions, including increases in premium shares; reduction in salary index; retirement and resignation clauses; and an extension of the teacher work day at no additional cost to the district. The extension of each workday by 30 minutes amounts to 12 additional workdays per year. Each building’s administration and teaching staff will collaboratively structure this time.

Board President George J. Balasko said he is pleased with the agreement and the nature of the negotiations, led by Superintendent Scot T. Prebles.

If a 5.8-mill operating levy for the Brecksville-Broadview Heights (BBH) School District is approved by voters Nov. 2, high school students could be back on buses in January and families could see lower pay-to-participate fees next school year.

If it fails, those fees will remain in effect or even rise next year. High school students will continue to find their own transportation to classes and each building in the district could face further cuts.

School officials say the district desperately needs the $5.8 million a year the five-year levy would generate. The district has seen no increase in operating funds for six years. The last time voters approved a new levy was in August 2004.

Even though officials cut some $3 million in staff, programs and services over the last two years, they say it is not enough to offset new expenses and reductions in state funding.

"We have a levy on the ballot so that we can maintain the financial stability of our school district. We have a budget deficit of approximately $1.7 million per year," School Board President George Balasko said. "We are hearing about a state budget deficit for the next biennium that may cut our state funding by $1 million per year, and we have a state mandate to increase our staffing and expenses so we can provide all-day kindergarten in the next school year."

Superintendent Scot T. Prebles said this district, like others, is faced with operating under a state funding system that has been found unconstitutional.

"The funding model in Ohio is unconstitutional and requires we continue to come back to the voters to operate our schools," he said. "We get a finite amount of money and regardless of the cuts we make, costs continue to increase."

He urged voters to support the levy for that reason, and also because class sizes in the district have started to grow.

"We need to locally deal with the state’s inability to deal with proper funding, to protect class size and protect against additional cuts we might have to incur," Prebles said.

To date, some of the major cuts involve staff, busing and extracurriculars. Families must pay higher fees this year for students to participate in sports, music and other programs.

"We cut our expenses by approximately $3 million over the past two years. These cuts have included laying off over 50 employees, eliminating high school busing, increasing pay-to-participate fees and reducing building budgets," Balasko said. "When you put all that together, if we want to maintain an excellent school district with superior services, we must pass this levy."

Prebles said if the levy passes, the board would try to reinstate high school busing and would look to reduce pay-to-participate fees next year. He noted that staffing cuts would not necessarily be restored. "Before we put positions back in place, we need to look at that closely," he said.

A survey of community residents in the spring indicated the levy was in jeopardy of failing. In the poll, 47 percent of voters said they would support a 5- or 6-mill levy and 43 percent said they would not. The consultant who conducted the survey predicted the 10 percent who were undecided or would not commit would cast ballots against the issue. The issue would cost homeowners $177.63 per year for every $100,000 of home valuation.

Opponents of the levy have questioned school board decisions at public meetings and with posts on a Web site, complaining that officials raised salaries for teachers and other employees despite fiscal projections that showed the district heading into the red.

"The BBH School Board has known for years that the district would now, in 2009, have to deal with deficit spending, yet the BBH School Board approved union contracts that would result in increased salaries and benefits for district employees in the amount of $6.7 million over the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 school years," said Renee Engelhart on schoolboardwatchdog.com.

The site also notes that the average salary of a BBH teacher, at $73,249, was the third highest among the 611 districts in the state in 2008-09. The average BBH teacher salary last school year was $77,306. Balasko defended the raises based on the timing of the deal.

"We last negotiated a contract with our employees over two years ago. At that time, the terms of the contract were consistent with other educational contracts being settled at that time. Since that time, the economy has taken a severe downward turn. But we were still bound to abide by that contract," he said.

David Dosen, a former school board member, pointed out that teachers threatened to strike during the contract talks two years ago.

"Their threat of a strike was a powerful influence on the board to approve the contract without cost controls, even though all parties knew such action would result in significant deficit spending," Dosen wrote in a letter. He said unless union members agree now to cost reductions, it would be difficult to achieve a "shared sacrifice solution" to the district’s fiscal woes.

School administrators spent September in contract talks with teachers. Prebles said the goal is to change the way the district operates to "reduce the angle of the trajectory at which our costs are increasing" and "reduce the burden on our taxpayers." He said he expects an announcement on the details of the contract before voters head to the polls.

"The board is seeking a contract that does not increase its expenses for personnel over the two-year period of the contract," Prebles said. "The board wants to hold personnel costs at a zero increase during the life of the contract."

Teachers’ two-year contract expired June 30. Until a new agreement is reached, the previous contract stays in effect, less any cost-of-living increases; however, automatic step increases based on years of service and continuing education are still being awarded.

Engelhart said opposition to the levy stems from the fact that the school board "invited the problem of deficit spending when it approved salary increases the district could not afford. The board should be expected to fix the problem it invited without making cutbacks that will affect our schoolchildren. If it can’t do that, then the solution is to get a new board instead of giving more money to a board that acts irresponsibly."

Engelhart also said she and other residents are frustrated by what they believe is "misleading" information about district finances – things like using estimated figures when actual are available; overstating the number of employees who have been laid off by including those whose hours have been reduced; and understating the average teacher’s salary by using figures from a prior year.

"The financial picture the board presents to the public has been ‘Photoshopped,’" she said.

Her idea is for the board to admit to its mistakes and seek to increase revenue by campaigning to persuade residents who want the district to have more money to voluntarily contribute rather than trying to force everyone, including those who are struggling, to pay more.

Balasko noted that a teacher making the average salary has a master’s degree, a professional license and 10 or 11 years of experience with the district.

"I believe that our average salary would be similar in private industry with the same credentials. As a parent, I want the best teachers that money can buy for my student (and all our students). And our employees have done an excellent job with our students," he said. "That is shown not only by our state report card, but by our students’ success after they leave our schools."

Pending the outcome of a vote by the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association, members of the school board will vote Friday evening to approve a new two-year contract for teachers.

Negotiating teams have been meeting since last April to reach a tentative agreement, said School Board President George Balasko.

Key components of the agreement include a base salary freeze for 2010-11; a base salary and index freeze from the date of ratification through June 30, 2012; a freeze in pay for extracurricular positions for 2011-12; and insurance concessions, including increases in premium shares, reduction in the salary index, retirement and resignation clauses, and an extension of the teacher work day.

The agreement calls for teachers to be on-site an additional 30 minutes each day, which adds up to 12 more working days per school year at the same salary, Balasko said.

"This time is to be devoted to student achievement in two parts. The first is collaboration among the teachers, including work sessions and the team concept, so that teachers are coordinating lesson plans," Balasko said. "Also — this is still in the planning stages, but also possible — additional time for students themselves with the teachers. This is not so much extending the school day, but the time teachers are available."

The remainder of this school year will be spent planning that time allotment. It will go into effect for the 2011-12 academic year.

The tentative agreement calls for teachers to contribute 25 percent more to their health insurance premiums. In addition, a reduction in the base salary for starting teachers would be implemented, along with changes in the teacher salary grid.

If officials approve the contract, it is effective immediately, Balasko said.

"I expect that this should pass through our ratification," said Education Association president and social studies teacher Bonnie Monteleone. "I am extremely proud of my staff for recognizing the economic challenges facing our school community.

"This is a concessionary agreement and represents significant changes that will impact our staff for years to come. This is a contract that requires sacrifice from our teachers and will impact new and existing teachers."

Teachers were to vote on the agreement Tuesday and results were not available in time for deadline.

Teachers in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District have new two-year contracts.

School Board members unanimously approved the agreement Friday evening following ratification earlier last week by the Education Association.

Key components of the contract include a base salary freeze for 2010-11; a base salary and index freeze from the date of ratification through June 30, 2012; freeze in pay for 2011-12 extracurricular positions; insurance concessions including increases in premium shares and clauses in retirement and resignation; and an extension of the teacher work day.

The agreement calls for teachers to be on-site an additional 30 minutes each day, which adds up to 12 more working days per school year at the same salary. This time will be collaboratively structured by each building's administration and teaching staff and is aimed at student achievement.

"That is really interesting, because in most instances, it is difficult to increase the teachers' day," said new Superintendent Scot Prebles. "This move shows that our teachers have great interest in providing the best for our students and have agreed to increasing the length of their day to accomplish that. This speaks highly of their efficacy."

The contract vote comes at a critical time for the city school district, since a 5.8-mill operating levy is on the November ballot.

"From my perspective, we are beginning to gain some very positive momentum," Prebles said. "It is apparent to me that we do have a very supportive community."

As part of his transitional efforts, Prebles is continuing to gain valuable feedback from a series of community focus groups.

New Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District Superintendent Scot Prebles asked school board members Monday night to consider a recommendation to reinstate high school busing and reduce pay-to-participate fees pending passage of an upcoming 5.8-mill November operating levy.

The proposition trails recent and continuing efforts by Prebles to connect with constituents and learn of their opinions for the future direction of the school district.

Earlier this month, Prebles met with more than 100 district residents in a focus group setting. Residents were asked a series of questions regarding their expectations for the district and what they considered to be noteworthy accomplishments. Some attendees agreed to host their own smaller focus groups aimed at gauging constituents’ views of the academic community. Prebles will continue to present focus group progress reports.

Following Prebles’ proposal Monday evening, each school board member expressed their agreement and were collectively in favor of the recommendation. Members do not yet have information on exactly when these policies will take place, but Vice President Alan Scheufler noted it should be at the first logical and feasible time. The precise reduction in pay-to-participate fees and the time frame to do so, either for the start of spring or fall sports season, has also not been established but will be examined.

More than half of Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School students participate in extracurriculars.

"Our students are so involved, and I want to see that high level continue," Scheufler said.

Member Mark Jantzen noted the importance of the upcoming operating levy.

"If this levy does not pass, we will be facing the fact of having to make additional painful cuts," he said. "This will be very painful in the future. I think all bets are off if the levy fails."

The district is saving roughly $220,000 by slashing high school busing. Jantzen suggested possibly also making busing more cost effective if it is reinstated.

June 21 BBH School Board meeting

In spite of a recent community survey concluding that the majority of voters oppose a new school levy, the board approved an amended motion to let voters decide the fate of a new operating levy in November by a four-to-one vote. Treasurer and CFO Karen Obratil explained that after the 5.5-mill levy was defeated in November 2009, the board determined that a 5.8-mill levy and $1.6 million in reductions were necessary for the district to achieve the same balance by the end of fiscal year 2014.

Board member David Tryon cast the dissenting vote, citing results of the community survey. "I personally don’t think that putting a 5.8-mill operating levy on the ballot is prudent," he said. "If you reduce it to 4 mills, it might pass."

Superintendent Dr. Thomas Diringer stated that the district’s goal is to have a two-month reserve – roughly $8 million.

He said, "We still have a red balance with 4 mills in fiscal year ‘14. In my mind, a 4-mill levy would not be beneficial to the district."

Obratil made a case for placing a 5.8-mill levy on the ballot by explaining the cycle for renewal levies. Typically, renewal levies appear on the ballot a year prior to the levy’s expiration. A renewal levy was slated for the November ballot, but did not go on because of the new operating levy. Consequently, voters can expect renewal levies on the ballot each year from 2011 through 2016. Obratil said a 4-mill levy would be beneficial in the short term, but would require a new levy effort in conjunction with renewal levies in subsequent years. This would "almost guarantee failure," according to Diringer.

"In 2004 we told the voters we would make (the levy amount) last four years," said Obratil. "It’s now lasted six."

Board President George Balasko commented that voter approval of a 5.8-mill levy, along with other efficiencies, could stretch revenues beyond 2014.

Other board members acknowledged unemployment and other financial hardships facing the district’s residents and agreed that the current economy is not levy-friendly. Conversely, they argued that failure to give voters another opportunity to choose would further limit the board’s options.

"If we don’t take some kind of action, the cuts this next time around will make this last round look painless," said Board Vice President Alan Scheufler. "The next cuts will be far worse."

Approval of the resolution allowed the board to send the proposed levy amount to the Cuyahoga County auditor’s office to determine the dollar amount for 5.8 mills. Once certification is received, the board will reconvene for further discussion of a November 2010 levy effort.

The board unanimously approved the selection of Scot T. Prebles to replace Diringer as the district’s new superintendent. Prebles is currently the superintendent of Granville Exempted Village Schools in Granville, Ohio. He also brings experience as a director of secondary education, teacher, coach, and high school principal to this position. Prebles signed a three-year contract at an annual salary $140,000 and will join the district on Aug. 1.

In the hearing of the public, five 2006 BBHHS graduates spoke up to praise the quality of education they received and how their teachers prepared them for success in college and beyond.

Broadview Heights resident Jim Fallon expressed a positive opinion of the schools and teachers, but said he was concerned with what he considered "a union hard-line stance" to a new levy. He maintained that shared sacrifice would go a long way to encourage voters to support the levy. "People have lost their jobs, lost their pensions, lost their houses," he said. "I think if you went back to the people and said ‘we feel your pain’ and were willing to give a little, you would get a lot more people willing to vote for it, rather than, ‘how are we going to sell this levy.’"

Mark Dosen of Broadview Heights introduced himself as a 1982 BBHHS graduate with three children in the district. Dosen proclaimed his fondness for the district but challenged the board’s efforts to curtail expenses. "The district has published a five-year financial forecast, and overall district expenditures are going up every year for the next five years," he said.

Dosen questioned the reason for rising expenses despite budget cuts, declining enrollment and staff reductions. He encouraged the board to "do more with less."

The board recognized eight middle school students for placing second in the state of Ohio in a Power of the Pen competition. Eighth-grader Sabrine Djemil won the Best of the Best award at the state level for her essay titled "Sticky Fingers," which she wrote in 35 minutes with no revisions. The essay is slated for publication.

The board also recognized BBHHS junior Malcolm Cole for achieving a perfect score of 36 on the ACT college entrance exam. The most recent statistics from 2009 reported that only 638 out of 1.5 million graduating seniors who took the test earned a perfect score.

Diringer introduced Brecksville Police Sergeant Bill Goodrich, the department’s juvenile officer and school district D.A.R.E. officer. Diringer acknowledged Goodrich’s 18 years of service in these capacities and reported that Goodrich had been reassigned within the police department.

Fifth-grade science teacher Kathy Schwinn said, "We figured out the other day that because he teaches our kids from Safety Town to Senior Prom, by the time the kids have gone through our school system, he has really affected all of their lives. And that’s something few of us can say."

Goodrich gave a poignant farewell address. "I’m very fortunate and thankful for being given the opportunity by the city’s police department and the schools to serve as a D.A.R.E. officer," he said. "A lot of times you want to reach for your dreams, but you don’t know what they are. My dream found me. I’m honestly going to miss it because I really do enjoy it. I had no idea what I was getting into, but I love it. It’s fun."

Goodrich will continue to serve the citizens of Brecksville as a patrolman on duty. Sunny, the German Shepard trained for narcotics detection, teamed up with Goodrich in 2007 and will retire from the force to spend his days chasing rabbits in the sergeant’s backyard.

Scot T. Prebles is the new chief executive officer of Brecksville-Broadview Heights schools. His appointment was unanimously approved by the school board Monday.

Prebles’ three-year contract begins Aug. 1, with an annual salary of $140,000. He will replace Tom Diringer, who announced his resignation in March.

Prebles is leaving the Granville schools in central Ohio, where he has served as superintendent since 2006.

"He brings us his experience from a similar district facing many of the same challenges that we currently face," President George Balasko read from a prepared statement. Prebles was not in attendance at Monday’s meeting, but was notified of the board’s decision immediately following the vote.

Prebles has served as director of secondary education and high school principal for the Worthington schools, and held a number of other administrative positions in Ohio school districts. He has a bachelor’s degree in education and master’s degree in administrative educational leadership from Miami University.

Prior to Monday’s action, Balasko described the ideal candidate.

"We are looking for an individual who can be an educational leader for our district, while also being able to run our district in an efficient manner. This individual must also be a good communicator with students, staff and the community," he wrote in an e-mail.

Diringer had been superintendent for four years. At the time his resignation was announced, he cited a desire to take advantage of available retirement benefits after 35 years of working in education.

"I have confidence in the board," he said. "We’ll try to assist in the transition."

Valley View-based consulting firm Finding Leaders was hired to lead the search for Diringer’s replacement, and used focus groups to gauge the public’s opinion on characteristics they valued in a superintendent.

Out of 25 applications received, six semi-finalists were recommended to the board. The board narrowed that group to two finalists, who were then interviewed by a panel of staff, community members and students. Board members then conducted final discussions with the candidates.

BRECKSVILLE — The Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board took the first of two steps required to place a 5.8-mill operating levy on the Nov. 2 ballot.

The board voted Monday to set the wheels in motion with the Cuyahoga County auditor's office. The county will now certify the dollar amount to be generated by that figure, and the board will need to approve a second resolution in July to officially bring the operating levy to the ballot.

In November 2009, voters rejected a 5.5-mill operating levy, resulting in signficant cuts. According to information provided at Monday's meeting, those cuts included almost $1 million in personnel costs and roughly $320,000 in operating expenses for the 2010-2011 school year.

Board member Alan Scheufler predicted harsher financial effects if an operating levy is not passed this fall. "The next round of cuts would be far, far worse," he said. "I think we owe it to the schools — and the quality of education we provide — to at least try (to pass the operating levy)."

Results from a district-sponsored phone survey in April show 47 percent of voters questioned to be in favor of a November operating levy. The 2009 operating levy failed with 42.56 voter approval.

Board President George Balasko believes it is the district leaders' responsibility to let voters ultimately decide if the operating levy is in the community's best interest.

"I believe we (should) give voters the choice whether they want the levy," he said. "I think that's the fairest way to approach it."

Board member Terri Neff echoed Balasko's position. "I think we need to offer our constituents the chance to vote again," she said.

David Tryon delivered the board's sole dissenting vote. Noting the community survey results and the continued poor economic climate, he suggested that a 4-mill operating levy could present a more likely chance for approval.

"I personally don't think a 5.8-mill levy on the ballot is prudent," he said.

At its June 21 meeting, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board may make the decision to go back to the voters with a 5 to 6 mill operating levy.

Once the decision is made, the district will be able to get the ball rolling to place the levy on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Following the failure of a 5.5-mill levy last November, the district made several cuts. Should voters approve a levy this year, many of those cuts would be restored. The operating levy would pay for salaries, supplies, extracurricular activities and day to day expenses.

If the board plans to return to the ballot, it will need to pass two resolutions, one in June and one in July, before the August filing deadline.

When the 5.5-mill operating levy failed last November, 14½ teaching positions were eliminated, an administrator went from full to part-time, 11 transportation staff members were laid off, a position in the central office went part-time and two custodians were laid off. Class fees and pay to participate fees were increased, busing was reduced to the state minimums and department budgets were cut.

It has not yet been determined what would be reinstated if a levy were to pass, but teachers showed up in droves at the May board meeting asking that a levy be placed on the ballot.

"The reason we are all here in red is we came together as a staff — we are teachers, bus drivers and support staff — to support our colleagues who were recognized as master teacher at the award ceremony," said Bonnie Monteleone, president of the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association. "We’re also here to ask for a levy and for them (board members) to recognize our excellence is not by accident. It’s by design."

"We want to send a positive message to the board that our teachers work hard every day with their students to inspire them to achieve their potential," said Sean Brennan, a middle school teacher. "Teachers are working hard. We care about our students. We’re not in it for the money."

The next board meeting will take place at 7 p.m., June 21 at the Education Center.

May 24 BBH School Board Meeting

Hundreds of teachers, parents and community members poured into community rooms at the Brecksville Community Center to share their opinions and hear firsthand what the board of education had to say about the serious issues facing the district for the 2010-11 school year. Many people waited hours to learn the fate of busing.

Before broaching topics like transportation and staff reductions, the board heard about the achievements and goals from each school’s Parent Student Organization (PSO) president. The official meeting began with an award ceremony for 35 teachers who achieved Master Teacher designation, presented by Director of Human Resources Kathi Powers. Director of Pupil Services Kasey Spirakus presented outstanding achievement awards for special education to students and paraprofessionals, and Teachers Union President Bonnie Monteleone presented Bruce Mc-Crodden with a BEA Friend of Education award for his efforts as treasurer for the Schools Issues Committee, responsible for running the levy campaign.

Board President George Balasko thanked the award recipients and the PSO parents for "going above and beyond. you are all part of what makes our school district as great as it is," said Balasko. "It takes not only good teachers, good administrators, good students, good parents, (it takes) all that working together to make a great school district."

Elimination of busing, a fermenting seed at the core of public outcry in many recent school board meetings, was partially rescinded. The board agreed to a resolution to reinstate busing for kindergarten through eighth grade for the 2010-11 school year. No decision was made for subsequent years. The board cited revenue from an oil and gas well installed on school property as the funding source to support the $51,000 cost of busing lower grades. High school busing will not be restored.

The school board does not respond to public comments at meetings, but several concerned parents and community members wanted their voices heard. One parent challenged Superintendent Dr. Thomas Diringer’s philosophy of spreading cuts across the board. "Budget cuts shouldn’t be made to ‘spread the pain,’" she said. "They should be made based on what is in the best interest of students and parents." She disagreed that the burden of transportation should fall on the shoulders of parents and students, since getting to school is part of the requirement for learning. Other parents postured that cutting busing, to slash $270,000 from a $50 million budget, was fiscally illogical and compromised the safety of students and the entire community due to lack of sidewalks, no crossing guards and increased traffic.

BBH teachers, faculty and staff comprised at least half of the audience and wore red as a public display of unity. Some parents opposed the board’s proposed staff reductions and the concept of replacing experienced, high-paid teachers with inexperienced teachers at lower salaries. "Success in any organization depends on having a highly skilled and motivated workforce," said a parent who introduced himself as the husband of a teacher in the district. "If you take a meat cleaver to key personnel, it will hurt learning, lower student performance and lower the overall standing of the district."

Two parents called for the end to an "us against them" mentality between the board and the community. They asked the board to present positive solutions for overcoming the district’s financial challenges and to step up efforts to educate the public about why a levy is needed.

Cathy Harbinak introduced Dr. Jack DeSario of D&R Consultants, a firm retained to conduct a statistically valid community survey regarding the school district’s performance and financial position. DeSario shared the survey results with the board. D&R Consultants interviewed 411 registered voters in the BBH school district via telephone between April 12 and 26. The overall results indicated that the community rated the schools as excellent or good in most categories, but did not understand the need for additional funding.

When asked if they would support a 5- to 6-mill levy on the ballot, 47 percent said "yes," 43 percent said "no" and 10 percent refused to answer or were unsure. DeSario said, "In every poll I’ve done, this ambiguous piece will vote ‘no’." He concluded that, "The majority of this district opposes a levy."

The prevailing reasons for opposition were the belief that the district has enough money, the inability to afford higher taxes and that the district needs to increase efficiency. DeSario said, "You can pass a levy, but it won’t be easy, and it is going to be very close." The survey is posted in its entirety on the school district’s Web site.

Schools are required to prepare updated five-year financial forecasts to reflect 3- to 5-percent variances from previous financial forecasts. The board prepared an updated five-year financial forecast reflecting an increase in $215,748 from grant money, including $26,000 in federal stimulus money. Notable changes in the forecast appeared due to increased revenue from the pay-to-participate policy, a reduction in federal stimulus money for special education, lost revenue from elective all-day kindergarten, decreased earnings on investments, salary reductions based on staff reductions and gains from a two-month prescription premium holiday.

Treasurer/CFO Karen Obratil said the board expects further losses from reductions in state and federal dollars. "The state sometimes has difficulty making ends meet," she said. "We try to watch that carefully. In 2012 . . . the forecast shows federal dollars going away and the state not making that up."

Legislative Liaison Terri Neff reported that the Ohio School Board Association speculates a 22- to 30-percent reduction in state aid by year 2012 or 2013, meaning a $1 to $1.5 million loss for the district.

Diringer discussed potential changes to the contract length, benefits and responsibility level for the position of director of business services. Paul Cevasco, who currently occupies that position, will retire at the end of this year. Restructuring the position would save the district approximately $25,000 in administrative salaries. The board will vote on Diringer’s proposal in June.

Maynard Bowers, a representative from Finding Leaders, a professional search firm, presented the findings of 12 focus groups formed to assist with locating a replacement for retiring Superintendent Diringer. The focus groups involved 128 community stakeholders who profiled qualifications for an effective superintendent. They were also asked to prepare interview questions. Suggestions included, "How do the schools need to improve?" and "Have you ever ridden a bus with kids?"

Although the main focus of this series is on the Cleveland School District, many national educational trends are discussed.

Part 1: The Most Important Book In The Cleveland School District Is Being Rewritten: The Union Contract

Part 2: Teachers' Seniority Rights Under Assault In Cleveland, Across The Nation

Part 3: More At Stake In Teacher Contract Negotiations Than Simply Salaries

Part 4: How Should Teachers Be Evaluated? Question Being Debated In Cleveland And Across The Country

April 26 BBH School Board meeting

Cheers went out to the Ganim family and the Bees Gymnastics team at the April 26 school board meeting. The board distributed certificates to the team in appreciation of its recent win to become state champions and to the Ganim family for its dedication.

Brian Ahola and Wendy Bosley also received cheers and certificates for their achievements in the 40th Annual Government Youth Art Exhibit directed by Joe Applebaum. Ahola received two exhibit awards, and Bosley received one. A PowerPoint presentation featured highlights of the exhibit and the students’ work.

When the discussion was opened to the public, parents and one high school student in attendance tossed jeers at the school board over busing concerns. They used adjectives such as "inconvenient" and "unsafe" to describe the busing plans for the 2010-11 school year. Like many school districts in the state, beginning next school year, students residing two miles or less from their school buildings will be required to walk or find other transportation to school.

Parents expressed concern over lack of sidewalks in some areas, walkers facing distracted or unsafe drivers and loss of work hours spent transporting their children, which, one parent suggested, might lead to loss of jobs.

Norman Griffiths, of Broadview Heights, questioned the two-mile rule for daycare children. As it stands now, buses will pick up and drop off students at daycare only if their residence is outside the two-mile limit. Students attending daycare, and whose residence is within the two-mile limit, will not be picked up by the buses at daycare and will need to find their own transportation from daycare to school. Griffiths said it "makes sense to transport if a child is already there," and asked, "What is the expense of three more students?"

Superintendent Dr. Tom Diringer explained that it is a "conceptual issue" and the "way the law works." He also said, "It is not good, not easy, but an economical decision."

Allan Freeman, of Brecksville, asked for a show of hands from the audience to see who was attending the meeting because of the busing situation. The majority in the audience was there for this reason. Freeman suggested the board "leave it be ... you are poking a bear with a stick." Later in the meeting, in response to Diringer’s comments about budget cuts and class sizes, Freeman suggested that overcrowded classrooms would be preferred over the inconvenience caused by a lack of busing.

Lindsey, a freshman at BBHHS, said she fears an "increase in accidents (in school lots) . . . Students have created a system (for entering and exiting the lots) that parents don’t follow." She also cited concern that the cost of parking passes would increase the lot congestion because families may prefer to drop off students instead of paying for passes.

School board member David Tryon said he had looked into "alternatives for parents." At a previous school board meeting, paying for busing was suggested, but Tryon learned that "the law does not allow" for that. "Another option," he said, would be for "parents (to) get together and subcontract taxis."

With state funding cuts and changes in the business property tax, the board is looking for alternatives to school funding and saving.

In a PowerPoint presentation, Ted Howell, of The Energy Instruction Group, explained how he discovered areas of energy waste within the schools. Paul Cevasco, director of business services, said that Howell would create Green Teams in schools by working with teachers, students and maintenance staff. Using a five-step program that focuses on sustainable energy and environmental conservation, the Green Team would encourage students to take an active part in conservation.

Cevasco and the board are looking into the placement of oil or gas drills on school property to generate funds. With "the district’s best interest in mind," Cevasco requested proposals from companies instead of settling on the original offer made by a company that approached the board. Cevasco said that two requirements in all proposals are an ADA accessible playground if the original needs to be demolished and landscaping around the drill site.

Not only has Diringer resigned from the district, but he also announced that Cevasco would retire at the end of this school year, after 20 years of service. While Cevasco and Diringer are exiting, a new principal for the high school is entering the district. Diringer introduced Joe Mueller, whose two-year contract begins Aug. 1.

Residents in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District will not be asked to vote on an operating levy in August.

At its regular meeting on Monday, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board declined to pursue action necessary to bring an August levy to voters.

Board member Alan Scheufler summed up the opinions expressed by his colleagues regarding the levy.

"The statewide record for passage of levies in August is really poor," he said. "... In light of that sentiment, I don't think our community will support an August levy."

However, residents fearful of increased tax rates should hold-off on a sigh of relief.

Superintendent Thomas Diringer indicated after the meeting that a November levy is possible, and would require a board resolution in July. Figures provided by the Cuyahoga County Treasurer's Office and timing issues would determine the levy amount.

In anticipation of a potential November levy, the district will conduct a community survey at the end of April to gauge -public perception of the school system.

At Monday's meeting, district community relations director Cathy Harbinak pres-ented the board with a sample survey of 29 questions that cover issues such as overall school quality, the district's handling of finances and past and future levy efforts.

The survey states that the district is considering a $5 million-$6 million levy. Board members will be providing input regarding final survey content.

According to Harbinak, information will be gathered by telephone during 4-6-minute interviews from approximately 400 residents representing proportionately accurate demographic segments of the district population.

"(We want to determine) what are some of the messages we need to clarify to help support our cause," Diringer said. D&R Consulting has been contracted to assist in the survey. Results are expected to be made available at the board's regular May meeting.

District voters shot down a 5.5-mill levy last November, resulting in significant budget cuts that have included layoffs and reduced transportation services.

"I think the number one reason (the levy was defeated) was a really horrific economy," Diringer said. "... I think it was a logical thing not to be supportive."

Feb. 22 BBH School Board meeting

It was standing room only at the February school board meeting. Parents and concerned citizens asked questions and expressed unease about proposed budget cuts for the 2010-11 school year. The hot-bed issue was the elimination of busing for high school students and kindergarten through eighth-grade students living within two miles of their schools. Parents cited safety risks with increased vehicle and pedestrian traffic as the most significant consequence, a concern recognized by Superintendent Dr. Thomas Diringer and board member David Tryon.

Tryon recalled that when busing was cut in 1997, traffic increased and parking was an issue, and that was before the law passed that limited 16-year-old drivers to one passenger.

School Board Vice President Alan Scheufler reported that parents in his subdivision discussed the prospect of pooling their funds to hire a private bus.

One parent requested a line item listing of proposed cuts and their economic impact, stating that the elimination of busing seemed like a "stereotypical thing for the board to do to gin up excitement to pass a levy."

The board stood by its decision to cut transportation to reduce expenditures.

Board member Mark Jantzen reported that only 40 percent of high school students currently use the busing system.

Diringer, noting that parochial school students will also be impacted by the cuts, agreed that the solution is flawed but a viable attempt to "spread out the pain" of balancing the budget.

"Half the schools in our area don’t bus high school (students)," he said. "It’s a common thing to cut. It’s not perfect. But then again, neither is cutting 14 teachers."

The transportation reduction plan is estimated to save the district $274,000 and eliminate 11 full-time equivalent positions.

Jantzen mentioned that if a levy is passed this year or in 2011, the board will need to do a cost analysis and decide which programs to reinstate.

Scheufler pointed out that not restoring busing for the high school could present other educational opportunities.

"Experts are telling us that it is educa­tionally better to have younger students going to school earlier and high school going later," he said. "We could delay the start of high school, move up elementary, and follow what they say is a better edu­cational model."

Paul Cevasco, director of business services, presented a resolution for advertising and receiving bids for new school bus chassis and bodies. The board questioned why new buses were necessary since routes would be eliminated. Cevasco explained that the State Highway Patrol has a stringent safety inspection process, and some of the district’s buses are up to 15 years old and "falling apart." He said the district retires two to four buses each year for safety reasons, and, even with transportation cuts, new buses are needed. A new bus costs $80,000 to $90,000. It was noted that the savings from the transportation reduction would be in the areas of personnel and fuel costs, not the elimination of buses. The board agreed to go out for bids for up to four bus chassis and bodies.

Staff reductions for the 2010-11 school year will include 14.5 full-time equivalent teaching positions totaling $720,000.

Cuts include, but are not limited to, gifted education, advanced programming, physical education, music, art and special education. Class sizes may be impacted in some instances. Other reductions include custodial, transportation, administrative, certificated and classified staff.

"This is the toughest work we do," said Diringer. "When we talk about eliminat­ing jobs, we talk about impacting families and the community."

Reductions will be made in extracur­ricular activities and athletics, building and department budgets, and extended days for staff. Other adjustments include an 80-percent pay-to-participate policy and increased class fees. The reduction plan will result in a total financial benefit of approximately $1.63 million to offset a deficit projected in the $4- to $5-mil­lion range.

Board members approved recognizing the high school debate team as a club activity for the 2010-11 school year and approved credit flexibility guidelines man­dated by the State Board of Education.

The board approved a $4-per-day in­crease in the fee for the Beekeepers sum­mer childcare program due to changes to the program for 2010. Detailed informa­tion is available on the school’s Web site at bbhcsd.org.

Community Relations Coordinator Cathy Harbinak proposed that the district conduct a community survey to obtain data concerning public opinion of dis­trict performance and economic issues. Four hundred completed surveys would be needed to ensure statistical validity. A professional firm would conduct a ran­dom telephone survey in April, subject to board approval at the March 22 board meeting.

School Board Treasurer/CFO Karen Obratil reported that the district met 30 out of 30 criteria on the state report card. The district will compile data to see how it compares to other schools with the "Excellent with Distinction" designation in such areas as cost per pupil, average income and home values.

Nov. 16 BBH School Board meeting

Several months ago the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board agreed that if the levy failed there would be cuts in student busing, but that decision does not seem to be final.

During the public comments to the board portion of the November regular meeting, Renee Engelhart said, "In the October Bee-Line, the public was told that if the levy failed, the board would eliminate busing of all high school students and all schoolchildren in grades kindergarten through eight who live within two miles of the school. If the board eliminates busing, working parents would have to compromise their own employment to drive their children to and from school. The increased traffic would increase the risk of accidents and congestion, and our children’s safety would be put at risk if they have to walk up to two miles to and from school each day on streets without sidewalks.

"According to the board’s reduction plan, eliminating busing is expected to save about $275,000. That is about 1/2 of 1 percent of the district’s $50 million budget."

Engelhart stated that a local paper reported that the district expects more than a $4.5 million cash balance at the end of next year – enough money to pay for busing.

"As a taxpayer," she said, "a member of the community and a parent, I would like to know if the board is still planning on cutting busing. If so, please explain how cutting $275,000 in busing costs in a $50 million budget could possibly justify wreaking such havoc on the community and putting our children’s safety at risk?"

While the board does not make a habit of responding to public comments, President George Balasko announced that eliminating busing is still under consideration.

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights City Schools will begin planning cuts for the 2010-11 school year after a 5.5-mill operating levy failed in Tuesday’s election.

According to the final, unofficial, results from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, Issue 104 received 6,349 votes (57.44 percent) against to 4,705 (42.56 percent) votes for the levy

"The voters have spoken," Superintendent Thomas Diringer said. "We will begin planning our reduction process for next school year and evaluating our needs regarding future levy efforts. Significant cuts of $1.5 million are already in place for this school year. No further cuts are scheduled for the 2009-2010 school year."

School board president George Balasko added, "I am disappointed that our residents were not able to support the excellent educational system our students need to compete in today’s world. The program cuts we will have to make will dismantle an excellent school district."

When the district goes back to the ballot, it will likely ask for a higher dollar amount in order to meet the state and federal mandates and give the students the best educational opportunities possible according to Balasko.

The district will not receive levy funds for 2010, so many participation fees are forecasted to increase and layoffs could be made to balance the budget.

The board of education and the administration have stated that if the levy didn’t pass transportation would be severely limited. High school students will no longer be able to take a bus to school and students in kindergarten through eighth grade who live within two miles won’t be able to take a bus either. Selected electives and advanced placement classes would also be eliminated.

As of now, the district is uncertain when it will go back to the voters with another levy. Contact Quinn at (216) 986-6066 or tquinn@sunnews.com

July 27 board of education meeting

After a several months of discussion, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Board of Education voted to go ahead to begin the process of putting a 5.5-mil operating levy on the Nov. 3 ballot.
David Dosen cast the only dissenting vote. He stated, "In today’s world we need to do more with less, and I believe we can do that."

He suggested the board meet with the staff and ask them to, in effect, do more with less. Dosen reiterated his earlier suggestions that there should be meetings with personnel to try and lessen district costs.

"We need to find out where we go on the bargaining table," he said. "We have another year (on the contract) and the odds are this levy won’t pass now anyway."

In casting her vote for the levy, board member Terri Neff said, "We have to provide for our own. It is up to our community to decide what level of education they want here."

In Dosen’s suggestion that board members meet to consider what action to take if the levy fails, there was general agreement.

Superintendent Thomas Diringer presented information on what cuts might have to be made.

There are two ways that pay-to-play might be adopted – one would be to charge the actual cost of the sport or club, and the other would be to charge students a flat fee.

The chart he provided showed that the 2008-09 high school football program costs the district about $75,600 and 95 players paid $63 each. The actual cost per player was $796. The 20 members of the gymnastic team paid $63, while the cost to the district was $1,400 each or about $27,900. Students who participate in high school clubs pay $25. The actual cost of the four members of the Academic Challenge team is $586 each.

The actual cost of high school athletic programs and non-sporting activities is $575,067 and students pay $85,150 of that.

Board member Alan Siebert noted, "If and when it is necessary to decide on pay-to-play, it could cause a decrease in students playing."

Diringer replied, "Sometimes it causes an increase in participation if using one fee." He added that after paying one fee, students often decide to get involved in more activities.

Other cutbacks might include reductions in building budgets, administrative positions, staff and transportation.

…

From pay to play sports to bus route consolidation, field trip elimination and larger class sizes, school systems are feeling the pinch. Many area school districts are reassigning and realigning their priorities and expenditures. Bailouts, buyouts and bankruptcies are not an option for cash strapped schools. Taxpayers, no longer as willing to support funding levies and operational expenses, are questioning where their education dollars have gone and where they will go in the future. Many times the question arises "what about the teachers?" Are they feeling the pinch and sharing the burden?

Local school districts claim they are doing what they can to curtail salaries, which are 80 to 90 percent of their budgetary pie. But what they often want to do as opposed to can do are two different things. "We cannot by Ohio law reduce administrative contracts or arbitrarily change union contracts reducing salaries or benefits," said Revere Treasurer Dave Forrest. "Teacher contracts are negotiated binding agreements with the union." He added that according to the Ohio Revised Code the district cannot reduce teacher salaries unless it is through contract negotiations.

"In today’s world we cannot negotiate a three-year teacher contract unless we can certify that we have enough money to pay the entire contract," said Forrest. "Should we run short, the superintendent, myself (as treasurer) and the head of the school board will have to pay a hefty fine. For that reason some schools now negotiate one- or two-year contracts."

Teacher contracts are negotiated with union representatives. With 97.6 percent of Ohio teachers being union members, contracts shape the district’s financial future. Ohio law requires that each district contribute 14 percent per salary for retirement funding. Teachers must contribute 10 percent of their salary.

In a country where CEOs and ordinary workers have 401k accounts and retirement plans falling by the wayside, teachers continue to enjoy guaranteed retirement funding. That funding will, if approved by the Ohio legislature, be increased to 16 percent from the district and 12 percent from the individual. The increase is being considered to offset monies lost by retirement fund investments. Meanwhile, school districts, no matter what their financial crisis or need, cannot reduce their current 14-percent teacher retirement funding.

"We can and have asked for a pay freeze," said Independence School Treasurer Gerald Zelenka. "In this next school year there is a 1.1 raise in the contract but in the 2010-2011 school year there is no pay increase."

However, even without a base contract increase, individual teachers’ salaries increase almost each year based on a step system, with levels based on years of service and educational level.

For the record, local school district base teacher salaries average $37,000. Base salary is a starting salary with a bachelor’s degree. That number increases with experience and can reach as high as $95,000 with an advanced degree and over 20 years experience. Besides salary consideration each district, like each employee, contributes 1.45 percent to Medicare. Healthcare coverage, including medical, dental and vision is an additional cost averaging just under $500 per month per employee for single coverage and over $1,000 per month for family coverage. State law fixes Medicare percents, but healthcare figures, like yearly salary increases, are set in contract negotiations.

"Brecksville-Broadview Heights (BBH) teachers get a three percent base salary pay increase this next school year," said BBH Treasurer Karen Obratil. "Besides the 1.45 percent we contribute to Medicare, our healthcare cost per employee for single coverage is $5,458 per year and $13,180 for family coverage."

Looking at the figures, the real cost to the district of a Brecksville-Broadview Heights teacher earning $50,000 is $63,183 after adding 14 percent retirement funding of $7,000, a Medicare contribution of $725 and single health coverage of $5,458. Adding on the $7,722 for family medical coverage brings the $50,000 salary to $70,905.

The burden of teacher salaries on the budget can be reduced if the district can prove financial hardship, said Forrest. "We are allowed to do a reduction in force or RIF, but that means we do not terminate the teacher, just put them on furlough. When new positions become available, perhaps due to a retirement, those teachers are the first to be rehired providing their certification is in line with an opening."

The BBH school system has 10 people affected by RIF. According to Kathryn Powers, the district’s director of personnel, "It is a savings for the district and those affected will be the first rehired if their certification fits the teaching requirement."

RIF contributes to a district’s financial stability by decreasing the number of salaries, but not reducing existing salaries. Districts are not permitted to RIF teachers based on performance, only on seniority and programs.

In the midst of the school financial concerns and the role teachers’ salaries play in the big picture comes word that Ohio Governor Ted Strickland supports increasing the school year by 20 days. What appears to be a sound educational move would be a financial nightmare for school districts. Adding 20 days to the school year without additional funding is not feasible say school administrators.

With increased school employee benefit packages and an extended school year before state lawmakers, even the sharpest pencils will not balance the schools’ budgets.

May 18 school board meeting

The board approved an appropriations resolution revision and a five-year financial forecast revision, changes that invited discussion on the district’s financial direction and the need for a new levy. Treasurer/CFO Karen Obratil said that these revisions were necessary because various projected costs, like bus fuel heating, were lower than expected.

Board member David Dosen cited the need to make an accurate prediction of where the district would be in five years and to tighten the budget in anticipation of going to the voters for a new levy. He cited the four-percent increase in personnel costs in the recently approved teachers’ contract and the trend toward lowered enrollment, stating that personnel costs are an area the district needs to examine carefully. "We’re boxed in on state revenues and expenditures. We’re not boxed in on personnel costs," he said.

The board then focused on the type and amount of levy needed. Obratil said an operating levy, which generates funds for operating costs, can last from one to five years and is tied to millage rates. An emergency levy, which is for a flat dollar amount, can last from one to 10 years and could cause millage rates to vary.

Board member Alan Siebert questioned the criteria used to determine if an emergency levy would be necessary.

Board President George Balasko noted that while the word "emergency" might have negative connotations to some voters, an emergency levy in legal terms merely refers to the fact that the revenue is generated through a cash levy and not a millage levy.

Obratil said administrators are examining a 5.5-mil levy for the November ballot, which would keep the district financially sound until 2013. She noted that if the levy passes in November, the money would not be collected until 2010. If the levy fails, a larger levy might be necessary and that might be more challenging to pass. Any levy failures might result in further cuts to the staff.

Dosen again cited the need to cut personnel costs in the next round of contract negotiations, saying, "If everyone shares the load [of lowering costs], people won’t lose jobs and the education of the kids won’t suffer."

Board Vice President Terri Neff said that in neighboring communities, like Bay Village, they use continuing levies, which is a levy that can be assessed indefinitely unless voters revoke it or the school board requests that the county auditor stop assessing it.

Dosen stated that a continuing levy would be a bad idea now, and that the district needs to get its cost projections in order first.

Board member Alan Scheufler noted that cost projections "always have unknowns" and that things like health care and prescription drug costs are particularly difficult to predict.