In reply to AggieVictor10
I'd say reducing team staffs (and therefore stipends) would help, except how many teachers do you lose by doing that? I imagine a not small percentage of coaches only teach because it's part of coaching.
6:17p, 5/5/24
In reply to B-1 83
And coach more than one sport (Baseball) or two levels of football (Varsity/JV)? And do they teach?B-1 83 said:Our local varsity football team alone has 7 coaches.aggiehawg said:
How about cutting admin staff and coaching staff instead of librarians? Would seem to me there would be even bigger savings by doing that.
6:18p, 5/5/24
In reply to bigjag19
Most assistant coaches teach. Usually just the head guy, maybe the coordinators in some schools, might not or they teach PE.bigjag19 said:
I'd say reducing team staffs (and therefore stipends) would help, except how teachers do you lose by doing that? I imagine a not small percentage of coaches only teach because it's part of coaching.
6:20p, 5/5/24
In reply to TAMU1990
They definitely all teach. I'm saying a not small percentage of those guys would give up teaching, creating a significant shortage.
And before people start in on coaches not being good teachers, I'd estimate that the percentage of coaches who are good teachers is about the same as non coaches who are good teachers.
And before people start in on coaches not being good teachers, I'd estimate that the percentage of coaches who are good teachers is about the same as non coaches who are good teachers.
6:22p, 5/5/24
CFISD has 90+ campuses and 118k students?!
Holy crap! How many cities does that include? Is everywhere outside of HISD?
Holy crap! How many cities does that include? Is everywhere outside of HISD?
7:34p, 5/5/24
In reply to Funky Winkerbean
I could probably think of a lot better ways to reduce the budget. Would be nice if more people used the libraries but that would take a fundamental change in our educational system geared towards learning, not social engineering.Funky Winkerbean said:https://www.khou.com/article/news/education/cy-fair-isd-librarians-fired/285-1cfbf408-b71b-4471-aca2-c8e17c238072Quote:
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas The third largest district in Texas is cutting dozens of its librarians.
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD confirmed that it's cutting 50 librarian positions. Those cuts were made official in an email sent after business hours.
The librarians we spoke with said they woke up to an email letting them know they were without a job. As you can imagine, they were heartbroken and nervous about what's next for them.
Apparently the new superintendent doesn't like being over budget. Good to see someone taking action on the problem.
The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, the public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome become bankrupt.
People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.
-- Cicero, 55 B.C.
People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.
-- Cicero, 55 B.C.
9:20p, 5/5/24
In reply to B-1 83
As opposed to 6 or 7 classes a day by a non-coach? Does that extra 20 hours a week of work not deserve a stipend?
B-1 83 said:Sure! 5 or 6 classes a day of physics, and with a stipend to boot! I suspect there are better bang for the buck teachers out there.akm91 said:But do they teach in addition to coach?B-1 83 said:Our local varsity football team alone has 7 coaches.aggiehawg said:
How about cutting admin staff and coaching staff instead of librarians? Would seem to me there would be even bigger savings by doing that.
As opposed to 6 or 7 classes a day by a non-coach? Does that extra 20 hours a week of work not deserve a stipend?
10:18p, 5/5/24
Class 3A Div. 2 Gunter has a Head football coach and 12 assistants. I'm sure they are all fine teachers on the side.
8:47a, 5/6/24
Does anyone know of a source that would capture something like a statement of cash flows for ISD's in Texas?
Most of the resources I can locate match expenses to revenues fairly well but I would love to see revenues versus expenses + balance sheet liabilities (bond outlays, in particular).
Most of the resources I can locate match expenses to revenues fairly well but I would love to see revenues versus expenses + balance sheet liabilities (bond outlays, in particular).
9:18a, 5/6/24
In reply to Big_Time_Timmy_Jim
They had 3 years to figure this out but waited un the the funding was eliminate?Quote:
Federal stimulus funding eliminated which offset budget shortage last 3 cycles runs out in September
9:47a, 5/6/24
In reply to akm91
I'm sure it's more complex than that, but sure seems like they knew this funding was coming to an end and didn't plan for it. Kept living the high life off pandemic money.
9:57a, 5/6/24
Someone should FOIA the salaries of all administrative staff for the district. Bet you'd find some cost savings. Also should the ISD be putting out propaganda pieces? I'd have questions.
10:02a, 5/6/24
In reply to Sims
Once a week I drive by a $70,000,000 hs football stadium on prime real estate not far from the Sam Rayburn / 121 toll road. That stadium sits quiet for months... all while $$$$s are spent to maintain it for years into the future.
10:13a, 5/6/24
In reply to aezmvp
I think you would be surprised.
I saw the number in my district which has two 5a high schools, four middle schools, and nine elementary schools and it was a very small percentage of the payroll overhead. Low single digits. Im sure that is replicated State wide.
Admin bloat is like porn in the library. It exists but is not nearly the issue people make it out to be. Not saying it couldn't be addressed in some way but that will have little impact on the overall problems. It's just a hit button issue people like to throw out there to get everyone riled up.
Most of the payroll is teachers, janitors, grounds crews, coaches, etc. I'll see if I can find that number.
aezmvp said:
Someone should FOIA the salaries of all administrative staff for the district. Bet you'd find some cost savings. Also should the ISD be putting out propaganda pieces? I'd have questions.
I think you would be surprised.
I saw the number in my district which has two 5a high schools, four middle schools, and nine elementary schools and it was a very small percentage of the payroll overhead. Low single digits. Im sure that is replicated State wide.
Admin bloat is like porn in the library. It exists but is not nearly the issue people make it out to be. Not saying it couldn't be addressed in some way but that will have little impact on the overall problems. It's just a hit button issue people like to throw out there to get everyone riled up.
Most of the payroll is teachers, janitors, grounds crews, coaches, etc. I'll see if I can find that number.
The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you never know if they are genuine. -- Abraham Lincoln.
6:31p, 5/6/24
Today, a group of bi-partisan members of the Texas House who represent Cy-Fair ISD sent a letter to TEA requesting that surplus funds be used to help fix a budgetary shortfall.#txlege pic.twitter.com/vsJpSl4WCQ
— Tom Oliverson, M.D. (@TomOliverson) May 6, 2024
7:59p, 5/6/24
In reply to G-Town Cracker
And the "budget shortfall" is based on Covid spending ending when there was a lot of handouts from big gov. Remove the additional Covid spending and they are where they should be budget wise.
CFISD wants to keep the bigger budget thus removing any option for taxpayers getting relief later.
"Surplus funds". Also known as too much money taken from taxpayers because taxes are too high.G-Town Cracker said:Today, a group of bi-partisan members of the Texas House who represent Cy-Fair ISD sent a letter to TEA requesting that surplus funds be used to help fix a budgetary shortfall.#txlege pic.twitter.com/vsJpSl4WCQ
— Tom Oliverson, M.D. (@TomOliverson) May 6, 2024
And the "budget shortfall" is based on Covid spending ending when there was a lot of handouts from big gov. Remove the additional Covid spending and they are where they should be budget wise.
CFISD wants to keep the bigger budget thus removing any option for taxpayers getting relief later.
Learn about the Texas Nationalist Movement
https://tnm.me
https://tnm.me
5:53a, 5/7/24
In reply to Tea Party
Or god forbid we have a surplus of money sitting around to help with aid if a hurricane, large tornado, or large fire event happens.
Tea Party said:"Surplus funds". Also known as too much money taken from taxpayers because taxes are too high.G-Town Cracker said:Today, a group of bi-partisan members of the Texas House who represent Cy-Fair ISD sent a letter to TEA requesting that surplus funds be used to help fix a budgetary shortfall.#txlege pic.twitter.com/vsJpSl4WCQ
— Tom Oliverson, M.D. (@TomOliverson) May 6, 2024
And the "budget shortfall" is based on Covid spending ending when there was a lot of handouts from big gov. Remove the additional Covid spending and they are where they should be budget wise.
CFISD wants to keep the bigger budget thus removing any option for taxpayers getting relief later.
Or god forbid we have a surplus of money sitting around to help with aid if a hurricane, large tornado, or large fire event happens.
6:30a, 5/7/24
In reply to chase128
Looking at salaries online, over $2,000,000 in top 7 salaries for 2023, with superintendent making ~$545,000.
6:41a, 5/7/24
I just checked and tuition at the most popular private catholic school in our area is only $9,800, so a voucher would cover most of that. Of course there are many private schools that cost substantially more than which will continue to exist.
Good public schools can absolutely compete and win against charter schools and private schools paid for with vouchers. Bad public schools won't, so they'll either go away or become good. Also, I suspect parents will be more involved on average when they feel like they are "paying" for the school since that's where they decided to send their voucher funds.
The superintendent salaries honestly don't bother me. The districts need qualified executives, so they need to pay enough to compete with the private sector. I'd argue some districts don't pay enough and end up with unqualified leadership who cause a lot of these issues. Paying $150k/year for an assistant superintendent who is basically the district CFO over a billion dollar budget could be why they can't manage it or develop plans for future budget cycles that are sustainable.
The rest of the district office staff should be reduced to an absolute minimum before they start touching on campus positions (which I'm sure also have their fair share of waste.) Pull the district office org chart from 30 years ago and start there.
I have no idea how valuable librarians with master degrees are compared to a para-professional but, regardless, I would want to see layoffs in the district office and then campus administration before touching student facing teaching positions.
Good public schools can absolutely compete and win against charter schools and private schools paid for with vouchers. Bad public schools won't, so they'll either go away or become good. Also, I suspect parents will be more involved on average when they feel like they are "paying" for the school since that's where they decided to send their voucher funds.
The superintendent salaries honestly don't bother me. The districts need qualified executives, so they need to pay enough to compete with the private sector. I'd argue some districts don't pay enough and end up with unqualified leadership who cause a lot of these issues. Paying $150k/year for an assistant superintendent who is basically the district CFO over a billion dollar budget could be why they can't manage it or develop plans for future budget cycles that are sustainable.
The rest of the district office staff should be reduced to an absolute minimum before they start touching on campus positions (which I'm sure also have their fair share of waste.) Pull the district office org chart from 30 years ago and start there.
I have no idea how valuable librarians with master degrees are compared to a para-professional but, regardless, I would want to see layoffs in the district office and then campus administration before touching student facing teaching positions.
8:25a, 5/7/24
In reply to LostInLA07
The fight against vouchers has really never been about active and involved parents.
The fear is that the parents who abdicate the rearing of their children to the public school system will be left with the repercussions of their abdication and apathy. That's probably more harshly worded than is appropriate but I think it is a true description of what many fear will happen.
The fear is that the parents who abdicate the rearing of their children to the public school system will be left with the repercussions of their abdication and apathy. That's probably more harshly worded than is appropriate but I think it is a true description of what many fear will happen.
9:54a, 5/7/24
In reply to Sims
That's probably not an incorrect opinion.
Although currently most of the schools that would face that fate are already the "school of last resort" since anyone who can afford to buys or rents in an area zoned elsewhere.
Although currently most of the schools that would face that fate are already the "school of last resort" since anyone who can afford to buys or rents in an area zoned elsewhere.
10:15a, 5/7/24
In reply to Big_Time_Timmy_Jim
So Cy Fair spends ~$560,000 per campus for security, and ~$432 per student. Is it just me, or does that number seem a bit high for an annual basis? I'm having trouble reconciling half a million per elementary school annual for security.
So based upon the numbers by in that mailer earlier in the thread, there are 90+ campuses and 118K students.Big_Time_Timmy_Jim said:
Highlights from Superintendent's email..
- projected $138 Million deficit for 24-25
- attendance down since 2019, costing CFISD $15M annually
- attendance down cause losing pandemic funds
- Poor CFISD, we lose $63M annually to homestead exemptions
- State increased school safety allotment from $1.04M to $2.3M but CFISD safety/security costs are $51M annually.
- Special Ed funding from State is $88M, actual costs $138.5M
- Record inflation since 2019 of 19%, CFISD hasn't asked for an increase
- Federal stimulus funding eliminated which offset budget shortage last 3 cycles runs out in September
- We need more time to figure it out, need state to pay our deficit now
- laying groundwork for tax increase, but won't help till 25-26, when it'll be twice as bad
- this is tip of the iceberg, next year will be worse
So Cy Fair spends ~$560,000 per campus for security, and ~$432 per student. Is it just me, or does that number seem a bit high for an annual basis? I'm having trouble reconciling half a million per elementary school annual for security.
10:23a, 5/7/24
118k students, 11k employees
Hard to fault district for super salary. Far less than a non-profit CEO of similar sized org would make.
As most have said, it's where you are putting the money. Need more teachers, fewer admins.
Hard to fault district for super salary. Far less than a non-profit CEO of similar sized org would make.
As most have said, it's where you are putting the money. Need more teachers, fewer admins.
10:25a, 5/7/24
In reply to jrdaustin
My assumption is they roll their entire police force into that number...Salary, new vehicles, retirement, etc
From their website:
From their website:
- CFISD Police Department has an authorized strength of 111 Police Officers and 36 Support Services Personnel
10:51a, 5/7/24
In reply to 96AgGrad
The state loves unfunded mandates for schools. The security mandate probably contributed to the increase. Every school now requires a uniformed officer, unless exemptions are given. That's a significant cost that most schools are not able to eat without issue.
Add in the grandstanding and budget cuts to push vouchers. Now think about the ever changing requirements for 504 students, behavior plans, IEPs, GT requirements, the dumbass STAAR test and what not, it's easy to see the cause of the shortfall, along with the chronic waste in government programs.
Add in the grandstanding and budget cuts to push vouchers. Now think about the ever changing requirements for 504 students, behavior plans, IEPs, GT requirements, the dumbass STAAR test and what not, it's easy to see the cause of the shortfall, along with the chronic waste in government programs.