Edina Public Schools Budget Feedback 2011-2012

Listed below is a compilation of responses from the Budget Suggestions Form. Suggestions that are posted on this page must meet the BRRRG assessment criteria. In an effort to avoid redundancies, feedback that is similar to an existing post will not be listed. It is our intent to be as transparent as possible; however, the District may edit lengthy responses to make them more concise. As we do this, we will be mindful not to change the overall tone of the response.

Feedback will be posted daily from Monday through Friday. The identities of those who provide feedback will be kept confidential. If you have concerns, please contact Doug Johnson.

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Suggestions

Investigate corporate sponsorships or underwriting for programs that are threatened by the budget limitations--such as 5th grade music or elementary Spanish or class field trips. There are quite a number of Edina-based companies that might be approached for this kind of help. Keeping our schools strong is in the best interest of both residents AND those doing business in our community.
Consider asking all families to pay or donate a supplies fee at the beginning of the year to help pay for both classroom supplies and office supplies needed in the main office.
Encourage teachers to solicit donations from parents for classroom needs on a regular basis. Maybe posting a "classroom needs" listing on their webpage on the District site or otherwise communicating regularly re: how we can help fund on-going teaching needs. Some teachers do this, but it could it be made into more of a standard procedure? Funds could be used for anything that the District currently pays for in the classrooms--books, pencils, paper, whiteboards, etc.
For corporate sponsorships/advertisements, one idea would be to place the money into the district’s general fund, but allow the donor to earmark the funds for athletic, academic, or arts programs. Sponsorships could also be incorporated into naming rights of buildings, athletic or academic events, but should have restrictions/guidelines, such as no alcohol, tobacco, firearms, unhealthy or non-nutritious foods (i.e. fast foods, soda). The same applies for individual donations, but allow the donor to designate a school, and have a set percentage of the donation benefit that specific school and the rest going to the general fund. Also, consider allowing donations to be used for staffing, as well as equipment, technology, and programs. With district oversight, consider allowing schools to make the decisions on how those funds are spent.
Eliminate use of consultants. If those hired to do their jobs are unable to make decisions or fulfill their responsibilities, something is amiss in the hiring process.
Get rid of the entire French Emergence Program
Why does Edina, with approximately 1100 employees, have SEVEN employees in Human Resources? Two neighboring districts, Eden Prairie and Minnetonka, have more employees and fewer HR employees; Eden Prairie with 1400+ employees and Minnetonka with 1300+ employees. The employee to HR staff ratio in Minnetonka is 260:1; in Eden Prairie it is 466:1 and in Edina it is 157:1. If other, larger districts can run their HR departments with less staff, why can't Edina? Are their HR employees more efficient? Is it really necessary to have a Director, a Manager, and a Supervisor? This department should be reduced by at least 2, preferably 3, employees.
If 5th grade music is again being looked at, please consider cutting the orchestra/band programs, maybe moving them into Community Ed, rather than their music class. Music teachers have a curriculum to teach, which is not necessarily met through band and orchestra. And if music, gym, and art were to be treated equally, it should be noted that all students have a class in these subjects to teach them the various skills and concepts. Any sports, athletic clubs, or special art classes are held outside the school day. It would be logical to apply the same principles to music. Lastly, by trying to share music time in 5th grade between a music class and band/orchestra would create a scheduling nightmare for the teachers concerned.
To increase revenue consideration should be given to increasing third part billing in order to offset the general ed find and consider allowing companies to advertise on the lockers in schools.
Decrease paraprofessional costs by clustering special education students.
Expand band and music programs. These "classes" are larger than average. By making band and music more attractive and growing enrollment in these programs, average class size will increase.
Group students by ability level. Class size could be increased, since teachers would be able to better target the ability level in the classroom. Currently, with a huge range of student ability in each classroom, teachers can barely target lessons to any particular student. With grouped abilities, larger classes would be OK, since the lessons could be targeted to a smaller range of ability. Most other developed countries do this, and their educational outcomes are better. Why don't we?
Move contracts to defined-contribution pension plans, like those most people have. Defined-benefit plans should be eliminated going forward.
Increase health insurance premiums, co-pays and deductibles paid by staff. There is no way that my small business could stay in business if we provided the kind of benefits that teachers have. It's time to move teacher contracts closer to the real world.
Limit further (eliminate?) the use of YPP at the elementary schools as the progress monitoring tool. Instead, put some of the save money into test formulation done by classroom teachers in teh summer. They would need some training, though, on CBM assessments. Just a thought.
Consolidate Principals and Asst. Principals where possible (ie; VV & EHS)
Consolidate Head Custodians where possible (ie; VV & EHS)
Turn temperature down in winter and A/C up in summer
Consolidate Grounds crew and Maintenance staff for more efficient and productive work flow perhaps reducing staff overall
Consolidate summer school to one facility (reducing need for A/C, duplicate staff in multiple buildings etc in multiple buildings)
Eliminate or have students pay for exotic language classes (i.e., Latin, Chinese, Japanese)
Consider purchasing a "WINDMILL" for long term sustainable savings.
Eliminate the teacher union president's half-time release or make the teacher's union pay for his salary and benefits for that part of his job.
Bussing opt out program - allow parents who don't wish to use the bussing system to voluntarily opt out allowing the Transportation Department to be more efficient in routing and scheduling and reducing transportation times for children not opting out
Cut assistant to buildings and grounds supervisor position. Start at the top that is where you will save the most money. No more assistant superintendants or whatever you call them. Combing all custodial supervisors’ positions by making one headman that would cover two buildings. At E.H.S cut two of the assistant principals and two or three counselors. Reduce clerical staff district wide starting at the D.O.
Make all sports that require field marking or maintenance, pay for the paint and the grounds staff for such services; this would be a big savings. Put solar panels on all schools to help cut electricity costs. No more ac at EHS. At E.H.S double some classes by using both auditoriums.
Reduce the number of days teachers are required to attend meetings/trainings that take them out of the classroom. When a teacher is taken out of their classroom, a substitute must be hired to take their place. This cost adds up very quickly when you think of how many teachers are employed in Edina. Money could be saved by simply allowing teachers to teach.
Drop teachers who work only with gifted students and let them talk to social workers or counselors if they have emotional needs
Would any savings be had by contracting for bus drivers and not employing them in-house?
What if you could freeze or reduce the budget for supplies? The schools would be told to be EXTREMELY mindful of paper usage, printing, etc.
Could the hours/days of office clerks or secretaries be reduced?
Could there be a reduction in the amount of days teachers must report during the summer? Furlough days?
My comments are both revenue enhancement and reduction suggestions:

With the economic state of things these days it makes sense to take a serious look at the Edina community at large and the total population of people served. State/City taxes and school referendum dollars come out of the same pockets. Complying with state and federal mandates and laws, it's about time the School Board and City Council identified the duplicate services provided by the school district and the city. Considering our limited resources - it's time to explore collaboration and possible joint power agreements between City and School that are appropriate and fiscally responsible. One example of needed collaboration is the Edina Senior Center. The Senior Center is underutilized, consistently operates in the "RED" and relies on subsidies from tax payers to operate. The "senior" name and model is dated and serves a very small percentage of the overall population. There's an opportunity to collaborate with the adult education program run currently through the schools (community education) to offer a comprehensive adult education program for adults of all ages; 21 to 100.
Go Green. At the high school have the students initiate an ad campaign to encourage bus transportation to and from school. It's cool to ride the bus! Good for the environment too.
Cancel all the blended classes at the high school. The instruction is not good. Students think they are classes that don't require hard work and parents are not happy with the quality of education in these courses. They really are of no benefit to most high school students as the majority of students go on to four year colleges where students meet in class rooms with real teachers. Online learning is for a very small segment of the population in college and that population is not 18 year old undergrads. If these classes were started as a cost savings measure they really need to be retooled before they are allowed to continue in future years.
Reduce school field trips.
Collaborate with the City operated Edina Art Center for student art education.
Offer retirement options for teaching and administrative staff close to "Rule of 90"
Reduce paper use by having all student report cards and schedules online only.
Eliminating the TOSAS and Instructional teachers that observe other teachers.
Cutting some para positions in Sp. Ed.
Having less teachers supervise the lunchroom at EHS.
Eliminating one of the Asst. Principals and keep just two.
Having Attendance person hours shortened since we are automated now
Please look at fine tuning the heating system at all of the school buildings. So sad to have to open windows in winter because classrooms are too hot.

Also, highlight projects for turning off lights in classrooms when not needed and shutting down computers at night.

Lastly, we could save a lot of money by challenging schools to do more recycling and not need as many trash pickups. Other districts have done this and saved a lot of money.
Possibly extend the school year into June for one more week, and have a 1 wk break instead in February to save heating costs.
Drop zero hour at the high school or make students pay a fee for it.
Face the fact that athletics have nothing to do with education. All related expenses (facilities, staffing, travel, equipment) should be self-supporting.
About 1996 as middle-school consideration came up for Normandale French Immersion, I and some others involved in Normandale, proposed taking over the ECC as a K-9 French Immersion Academy starting with the 3rd floor and eventually taking over district office space (middle up above as state laws want elementary on ground levels.) Certain middle school teachers could have been shared by teachers (and some students) walking over from South View. And maybe some FI students could walk over to SVMS (especially before remodeling added facilities to Normandale.) Shared French resources would be most efficient and continuous for students. I recall being opposed at the time by the senior center (then on 3rd) and some district officials who wanted offices in ECC and who believed FI would eventually end popularity some years after taking "their space."

No question, despite some bumps, French Immersion has been a rousing success at Valley View where it was initially stuck because between EHS and VVMS there was spare space between EHS and VVMS that could be shared. It certainly was great for the 4 of my 5 kids and their friends who attended.

It is still a good idea.

Yes it eliminates miniscule ECC rental revenue and eventually puts district offices (and now "staff development") somewhere else but adds to the cohesiveness of this popular, national award winning program. Importantly, for budget, it also frees up classroom space at Valley View for the expected growth of middle schoolers. Adapting that space is much cheaper than building out middle school space again. And again, some resources become shared at the ECC site and with SVMS.

I clearly remember the French Immersion program ("a passing fancy") was primarily originally agreed to by the board because it relieved growth pressure on the elementary schools without building expense and put kindergartners back in local elementaries as parents wanted, instead of in a K center in ECC. I remember years and years of internal discussion that eventually FI would eventually die and disappear - which of course was wrong.

Move 6-9 French Immersion over to ECC, starting with 6th grade which technically is still elementary for licensing purposes.

I also re-propose a simple solution of adding one more classroom to each Normandale grade (starting with K) taking it to 125 capacity per grade level. While it takes pressure off of standard elementaries I clearly remember opposition to this suggestion because it would make Normandale "too big" comparitively and therefore "special" amongst elementaries. Silly, because Normandale parents fund all of the special costs,not the district.
Isn't Special Olympics a volunteer organization? It is stated in the 2010 Annual Report that "Edina is the only district in the Twin Cities metro area to sponsor Special Olympics," Why in Edina when no other district offers this kind of program? If the district is the sponsor, EPS must be paying for coaching, facitlities, transportation, etc. I would assume that there is a relatively low number of participants and a high coach to student ratio. It might not make sense to continue this expense for a small number of students.
Consider furlough days for all staff.
Someone wrote that in a previous comment that it is the quality of the instruction not the class size that determines success. If this is true then increase the class sizes at the 6 elementary schools. The high school has taken several big hits over past budget reduction plans. It is time for other schools to share some of the burden.
Would it be possible to reduce the number of Administrators at EHS? There are currently two Deans and three Assistant Prin. Maybe combine something? Or reduce hours to part time?
Combine postions of the clerical staff in the schools or reduce hours to half time.
I believe after the last BRRRG process it was acknowledged the need to REDUCE the use of outside consultants. Unfortunately, the School Board continues to approve these costly and excessive expenditures for consulting services. It is time to REQUIRE school district administrators to have or develop this expertise as a part of their highly paid positions. Ironically, many administrators retire early and become what…? CONSULTANTS!
Discontinue funding to WMEP. This is a perfect example of throwing money at something just because everyone else is doing it. We need make some hard decisions and prioritize where district money goes. It is time these agenda driven WMEP program be put on a nice long hiatus. Also, the hidden cost of time, as in the saying ‘Time is Money’, that WMEP annually leaches from Edina School’s staff work hours is no longer acceptable. Example: Teachers attends a two day WMEP sponsored program and substitute teachers need to be hired to cover their classes. This needs to stop.
Utilize school land (like the huge lawn in front of Creek Valley) and develop a yearly Community Garden. Lease plots of this land to interested school staff and Edina Residents for growing summer flowers, vegetables, etc. Create some additional Community Ed. classes to compliment this endeavor.
Give the budget to Ryan Gallagher's Business classes and all of the economic classes; allow students to have the hands experience with cutting a budget. Including, feeling the genuine pain that goes along with cutting your own budget.
When soliciting the community for ideas for budget reductions, increase the feasibility of the suggestions through education/community meetings. Eliminating misinformation would streamline the process.
Commercialism is a hot topic in schools right now and some areas (like Milwaukee) even have a set of principles/guidelines for allowing commercialism in their schools. Why not consider doing some deals with local or national businesses? Examples: selling ad space on buses, lockers, even the roof of the school, naming parts of the school after a big donor, having a partnership with a healthy food or drink company or grocery store, etc. As long as it is done tastefully this could be a great source of revenue.
I don't think any parent who has paid the price for a house and property in Edina to be part of the amazing school district wants anything to compromise the quality and reputation of our schools. This may be unpopular, but if it would fly, it would fly in Edina. What about a 1 or 2 year "donation" of $50 per student/$100 per family to give the state a chance to reduce the deficit (and hopefully mitigate school cuts)? Parents do not want to see larger class sizes.
Implement comprehensive program for highly gifted students. It is working as a student draw for Minnetonka. Edina is rapidly falling behind other nearby schools districts in T&G opportunities and is losing students because of it. More students = more revenue
Increase class size at the elementary school level. Research has proven it is not the class size that determines student success but the quality of instruction. Edina has highly qualified instructors at the elementary school level.
Pre- test all students in core curriculum areas and cluster students at similar levels. Clustering would allow for higher class sizes as teachers would have similar learning abilities in the classroom.
Consider combining languages at the middle schools. French and German at VVMS and Spanish and Latin at SVMS.
Increase class sizes and hire a literacy teacher for the younger grades to make sure students are reading at level before they move on.
Cut Phy Ed at the elementary level and add an extra recess supervised by volunteers.
Continue to request supplies, from families, for all 9 schools and the district throughout the school year and summer.
Consider changing the middle school to a regular 6 class day similar to the high school or at very least the 9th grade. Would it be cheaper to have the 6th and 7th grades at SVMS and 8th and 9th grades at VVMS? If so this idea should be considered.
Combine the four positions of counselors (2), school psychologist, and school social worker at the middle schools. I would guess some of these positions overlap.
Let the Service Learning Coordinator go.
Is it possible to schedule Middle School and High School classes to begin and end at the same time? The District can choose either the late start (EHS) or the early Middle School time slot. The high school bus--which is nearly empty--would then be fuller as it would be transporting both the VVMS and EHS students to the same campus. I know we still have SVMS but there would be one less bus run in the AM and PM. In my neighborhood, we have a number of buses coming and going in the morning and after school.
Has any thought been given to holding an EPS fund raising gala with a live and silent auction? I imagine there are several event planners in Edina who could work on this event and there are plenty of residents who have connections for auction donations. All it would take is just one email from the district asking for help on this project. Many districts do something like this as a yearly event. The money could be earmarked each year so that donors would know what the specific need was for that year.
Offer early retirement incentives. This seems like a "win - win" situation. I'm not sure how much it would save, after benefits, but why wouldn't we offer this to our most veteran staff members (also most expensive) who may want to retire, but can't quite afford to do so for a couple more years? It could be a great opportunity for veteran teachers, increase job opportunities for new teachers AND save the district money.
Consider selling ad space to local businesses. Marketing could appear on TV monitors/announcements in common spaces, on lockers, score boards, uniforms, etc
Eliminate “equity” coordinator. Everyone should be doing equity. Edina is moving but seems way behind.
Paperless forms in special ed. By creating a secure system for parents to login upon receiving an email to create username/password and therefore can view team meeting notices, IEPs, changes to IEPs, eval reports, etc. Therefore reducing copies of draft IEPs, team meeting notices, etc. that occur for every child.
Make 5th grade band and orchestra an after school class through community ed. that parents must pay for.
Cut other district administrative personnel.
Lecture hall type classes at EHS. All AP history classes in one lecture. Use master teacher and some paras. Have occasional break out study groups just like college setting.
After having 4 kids go through the Edina system.......more than 1/2 of the parents drive their own kids.
I think it is time to eliminate Alt Comp. Seems to be nothing more than a "Bonus" and doesn't seem to accomplish any of the intent of what lawmakers thought it would.
Eliminate the Insurance Coach Stipend and the Wellness Stipend. Both seem unnecessary.
Eliminate the The EME President daily 0.5 FTE release time. This should not be funded by the District!
Do away with choices if they cannot be equal costs and don't spend more on students in French or cp programs than on my regular student
If we take a week off from school for both students and staff in February and add a week in June, this would result on energy saving. In Feb., it is certain that we need to heat buildings, whereas in June, it is not certain that we would need to air-condition buildings. This would be indeed a big cost saving measure beside being an extremely useful and healthy break for students during the long January, Feb. and March stretch. For instance, high school students could visit universities and colleges without having to miss school. Parents could use that week to plan winter vacation instead of using school time...
The cuts should take place at the administrative level: too many TOSAs, too many secretaries, and "specialists".
Technology is an integral part of the Edina schools. However, if cutting back on the amount of money spent on Smart Boards, Promethean Boards, projectors, computers, etc, would save someone from being laid off - isn't that worth it? Yes, Smart Boards/Promethean Boards are an amazing teaching tool that can impact the quality of a student's learning, but does this really compare to an actual experienced human being?
Increase the parking permit fee at the High School from $112.50 to $300 per semester (with the option for kids who face financial hardships and need cars to get to jobs to apply for a reduced fee). If students wish to drive and have the financial resources to own a car, they can afford to pay this increased fee. Otherwise, they should be encouraged to take school buses that currently are driving more than half empty. Congestion around the high school would be greatly reduced by this "green" initiative.
Look at the enrollment projections for the next several years for both in- and out-of-district students. If these numbers show us to be beyond capacity, pursue constructing additions to existing schools. As long as we remain a “desirable district”, families from surrounding districts will want to send their kids here. More kids is more revenue.
As I understand it, the State caps the amount for which a city can levy its voters for education. Is there any way to have this cap raised (statewide) during these fiscally challenging times? Yes there is. I believe the voters of our city would support a levy to offset the projected 3-year budget shortfall. We can’t keep cutting with one hand and crossing our fingers with the other in hopes that our educational system will remain strong. It’s not about being “better” than other districts; it’s about maintaining what we have. Quality isn’t relative, it’s absolute. Consider having the BRRRG committee call on our legislators to enable a vote on such a levy. All they need to do is raise “the ceiling” on the capitation amount. Our local legislators should respond to such a request and take it to the State Legislature in an expeditious manner. It’s not like they would be imposing a new tax, instead we’d be voting to raise our own taxes to support something we value as a city. No more cuts to programs, no more increasing class sizes. Let’s work together AND sacrifice together to preserve our top-tier education system.
Reduce the number of overnight field trips. Even though parents pay a fee, it doesn't cover the costs of teacher comp time or sending paras or nurses.
Reduce to one building and grounds supervisor. Reduce overall custodial staffing. Maybe consider 9 or 10 month contracts and not have custodians in all buildings all summer. I think you do that with some secretary jobs?
No consultants
Keep or make even lower low class sizes at early elementary grades, and make sure all can read, etc when they move on. Then plan to raise class sizes after that and spend less on special education for a permanent change.
Have all activities that pay a stipend be self-sustaining. In other words, student fees must cover the costs of the stipend. Students in need pay a reduced rate.
Examine the staffing of some departments, for instance HR: a Director, a manager, and a supervisor, all to oversee a secretary, a staffing specialist, an assistant, and a sub scheduler.
In reviewing the various labor contracts it appears the district contributions for medical insurance vary widely and that management level employees (including the superintendent) and teachers pay little, if anything toward this benefit, while other employee classifications probably pay a great deal. Establish equity among employee groups; no one group or person should get more towards benefits than another. The district should contribute the same for all employees, preferably amounts closest to the amounts the lowest group gets. This, I am sure would save a considerable amount. Also, why do you need an insurance coach? Can't employees go to the insurance companies with their questions? What a waste of money!
Eliminate the Insurance Coach (teacher position) and save over $20,000/yr. We already have an insurance person in the D.O. who answers those questions.
Don't need 1.5 Superintendent secretaries
Welcome Center is more work and cost than what the benefit is - eliminate it
Buy ads for....marquis, website, buses
Cut back on field trips, travel, airfare, meetings, conventions etc
The reality is the continued entitlement of our retired teachers and administrative staff for lifetime benefits after retirement is eating up all the money that is suppose to go to our children. We are so afraid to touch upon that subject but want to continue to hit up hard-working parents for more fees when we aren't the ones getting our benefits paid for the rest of our lives. Time to start re-negotiating contracts so our kids are getting the money.
Lecture hall type classes at EHS. All AP history classes in one lecture. Use master teacher and some paras. Have occasional break out study groups just like college setting.
Increase EHS semester student parking from $112.50 to $200. This would generate an additional $87,500 each year
Let's monetize the website for the district and each individual school website with businesses that are linked to school like Target for example. Why not get some ad revenue for banners on the page? What if there was a link from Edina's webpage to the retailer's site and the district got a cut for everyone who purchases online by following the links on the website?
Consider reducing some or all TOSA positions. Have them job-share a classroom 1/2 time and TOSA 1/2 time.
Increase activity fees
Has the district considered some furlough days for staff? I think that there would be many people who would be happy to take some days off without pay in order to keep their job. The district could save money without cutting staff positions.
Implement some method to stop the enormous waste of paper
Implement the technology we already have in place to shut off computers at night and on weekends to save on electricity.
Allow the middle schools to charge a user fee for the use of the fitness rooms for PE classes. These rooms require maintenance and upkeep and there is not anything in place at the school level or district level to help those rooms when a repair or replacement is needed. The high school weight room does not need this due to funding provided by the booster club and other athletic associations. This idea is not necessarily a revenue enhancement, but a way to offset costs that are taken on by the schools. This should have been done long ago, or the district should have something in place for this kind of expense. Of which they do not.
Does Edina put anything into Alt Comp? I know the State picks up the money that goes to the teachers, but does it pay all the TOSA salaries, too? If we pay anything at all, I would like to see some data that shows that our students are benefitting from it. Without that data, we should drop it.
Cut bus routes with in 2 miles of the schools children attend.
Lights OFF when you LEAVE your room - District-Wide Policy. Can save thousands in energy dollars with NO COST to the District. In a Digital Future, Textbooks Are History http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/education/09textbook.html
Lower district health insurance costs by more fully supporting healthy habits of staff. Allow staff to turn in 2-3 sick days for reimbursement towards the purchase of a gym membership or exercise machine.
Sell ads on website.
Elementary Spanish eliminate
Clerical in district office. Business office has a lot of people but now has a lot more technology that should make things faster and easier. Has there been any reduction there? Superintendent has two secretaries. How does our secretary staffing in district office compare with other districts.
Get rid of assistant job in building and grounds.
Freeze all salaries.
Can we pay off some of our people that are close to retirement? Get them to leave and then do not replace them. Saves dollars.
Administrators. Give 5% pay cut and give them a few more days of vacation.
Everyone a 3 or 4 or whatever percent it takes pay cut but no lay offs or elimination of peoples jobs.
Open a new school. There are plenty of people that want to come to Edina. We make money with new students I think so get more students. Open another building or find vacant space.
I am not so sure that TOSAs in all areas are really helping teachers become better teachers. I think it is a great opportunity for them to be out of the classroom and see what others are doing but don't think it is reciprocal....so I think we should look at cutting those positions.
Perhaps on Conference days at the Elementary Level, the Phy. Ed., Music, Spanish and Media teachers should not be paid for all of that time in that I do not think they have as many conferences or in some cases none at all.
What research shows that Spanish at the level we are able to provide at the elementary level is that beneficial to students? I totally believe in the Immersion setting but just not so sure that it helps in the way Spanish is being taught at the other elementary schools. "
Increase class size
The District could monetize its website with ads for educational services, products, etc.
The District could eliminate little used programs, such as the Curriculum Resource Program. It could also reduce expenses by having fewer administration at the district office. What does an Assessment Coordinator/Director actually do on a daily basis?
Increase the cost to attend various school events.
If we were to close schools during the week of President's Day (and then go one week later in June), schools could save some of the winter heating costs. Cooling costs in the second week of June are often negligible. Another benefit is that this would give high school students an excellent window of time in which they could visit colleges while they are in session without missing school. For families to be able to take full advantage of this (i.e. college visits, family trips, etc.) this would need to be coordinated with other school districts so that athletic students would not be required to have practices, games, meets, etc. during that week. This calendar has been used successfully in New York and Massachusetts since the oil crisis in the '70s.
One principal could be in charge of 2 schools. Anything that will keep class sizes stable and manageable for teachers.

Pay freezes on highest paid staff.
Longer school day and 4 school days/week.
No more back to school paper mail, instead use e-mails and notify staff by voicemail to check their e-mails.
No more subs for 1 day absences. Use school paras, principals and other support staff instead.
No more TOSAs. Use CoPs and staff development days for teacher sharing. Empower teachers to be specialists and share with their other colleagues.
Empower students to clean up their own classrooms and hallways.

Consider joining SEE (Schools for Energy Efficiency) http://www.seeprograms.com/ Great program that results in significant energy savings AND it gets the schools, students, teachers...everyone involved. As a former SEE school coordinator in another district, I saw the significant savings possible.
Eliminate the cultural liaison position. These duties can be handled within each building by current staff.
Sadly, perhaps eliminate Alternative Compensation.
Cut back on custodians. Maybe contract out.
The building and grounds assistant. Don't need it. Save money.
Get advertisers for the district and maybe even building web sites. Hire some people to sell ads so doesn't get added to someone’s job.
The EME President responsibilities do NOT require a daily 0.5 FTE release time. It could be a once a month daily release or one hour per day at the very most. Many of us do our outside of teaching work before school and after school. This should be no different.
In the interest of moving into the 21st century while also reducing expenses, we could consider having one day a week be online. (6-12 grade) (This is following the example of a 4 day week that some Minnesota school districts have implemented HOWEVER... to keep schedules and also be progressive, instead of longer days, we would have an ONLINE day. On the 5th day students would be expected to complete online activities. Teachers would be expected to create and monitor these online activities and be available online for questions) The savings would come from 20% savings on busses, electricity, heat and air conditioning, and staffing for support personnel. Just an idea : )
Eliminate the French Emergence Program
Revenue enhancement: Explore innovative ways to add revenues such as cell towers on buildings and banner ads on web pages. Explore corporate partnerships.
Cost reductions and efficiencies: As harsh as it seems, corporations have dealt with budget issues by asking more for less from each employee. Teachers are no longer underpaid and overworked relative to the corporate world. Yet, it seems that they have an entitlement to their benefits and salary which is long gone from the corporate world. When companies have laid off masses of employees who find work at 40-60% of previous salaries, it is hard to sympathize with a school district which has to tighten the belt less than 5% to make ends meet. The years of increasing property values leading to more revenues for schools is over. Expect pressures on your budget to be the norm. "
You have too many teachers on special assignment rather than teaching students in the classroom. Teachers should be teaching students, not engaged in other non essential activities.
Change the grade distribution at the middle and high schools. Make the middle schools grades 6-7-8, and the high school grades 9-12, utilizing some space at Valley View for the expanded high school population. This may require moving French Immersion to South View in order for all students 6-9 to fit. This change would make more efficient use of faculty, since the readiness level at the high school is so broad. The math department teaches, I believe, 9 different levels of math in grades 10-12. The same offerings could be managed with the same staff while covering one more grade level, reducing math staff at the middle schools. The same could occur with other subject areas, as well. This change would also simplify activities and sports, since many 9th graders have to make their schedules and transportation work around the divergent schedules of the middle school and high school.
Offer online courses for a fee. Our children have had to take phys ed online because it would not fit into their schedules at the high school. We paid about $150 each for these classes, offered by Brigham Young University. Edina could offer such classes online and charge for them, too.
For students who chose to attend a school outside of their neighborhood boundaries (e.g., student from Cornelia area enrolling in Creek Valley, or student from Countryside area enrolling in Normandale) charge a transportation charge for the extra transportation required.
Adjust activity fees to reflect the cost of the activity. Sports like football and hockey are tremendously expensive compared to sports like cross country. Why are the fees for these sports similar?
Cluster special needs students together, or create special needs classes. The expense for 1:1 paraprofessionals in classrooms is a huge piece of the budget. We have nephews with special needs who have attended clustered classrooms, and one who attended a special needs school. Their educational achievement has soared since moving to these specialized settings, and their school district's expenses have fallen."
Create clustered classrooms for gifted and talented students, reducing the need for in-class differentiated instruction. Edina is losing ground to other districts in its service to gifted students, and those students, when economically feasible, have been leaving the district for private schools and for other public districts that serve their needs much better.
Raise the deductibles and co-pays on staff health insurance coverage. Instead of the current coverage, use a high-deductible plan with an HSA, and premiums would at least level off. Only nurses, teachers, and cops have such extensive, nearly unlimited healthcare coverage.
Sell advertising on the school buses
Rent the auditoriums to outside groups on Sundays
Implement bulk purchasing at the district level rather than having every site use their own providers
Sell ads on the website
Secure grants to install solar panels on buildings which would also allow for revenue generation
Allow citizens to use the fitness facilities at the high school for a fee.
Encourage more kids to take band and stay in band. Since band takes up a class period, and since there are 45 to 90 kids in each band, having larger bands increases average class size, enabling a reduction in other class offerings, since the kids who are in band would otherwise be in a classroom taking something else, with a much lower student: teacher ratio in that other class.
Funds raised by the Edina Education Fund should be made available by petition by the district to fund critical ""one-time-expenditures"" for school-related areas that have budget shortfalls. For example, capital improvements to schools (replacement lockers, drinking fountains, bathroom upgrades)& technology purchases.
The Edina Education Fund has been quite effective in raising funds, but has spent money (in my opinion) on some "questionable" projects, simply because they have money to spend. These Funds should be made available to the district to make petitions for REAL needs. Contributors might up their contributions if they knew exactly where their money is going.....
Eliminate the "Kindness Retreats", Camp St. Croix, and the like from the budget - a completely unnecessary expense that does not accomplish anything. You cannot teach kindness in one day.
If parents really want foreign language taught in elementary school, I would put forth the suggestion that it be taught as a before or after school class, at the expense of the parents. It would be the same model as the K+ program, where parents pay for the extended day of kindergarten, as an enrichment.
Consider obtaining quotations to outsource janitorial services (and possibly administrative assistants) to see if this would significantly reduce labor and benefit expenses.
Maximize the rental to outside groups of school facilities & property when they are not being used by students. Swimming pool rental, tennis court time, theater rental, track & field events, soccer, football, basketball tournaments.
Increase the rental fee on large instruments that the district provides (baritones, etc.) for those parents who have the means. I know this is peanuts, but it all adds up."
Increase high school sports fees. The sports do not benefit all children and exclude many.
Maybe cut some of the extracurricular activities, clubs, sports or charge a fee for them? Start charging fees for whatever you can legally charge a fee for... whether it be during the school day or before/after school. Can you legally ask for voluntary donations? Do not cut teachers! I'm a very involved parent at Normandale Elementary (PTO, Site Council, etc.) and Normandale is so lean already!
Have each school (elementary, middle school, high school) do two parent volunteer driven fundraising events per year (i.e adult gala, student carnival). 2 scenarios: 1) The monies raised by these events would be combined and redistributed to each school according to numbers of students 2) Each school would keep the monies raised and use them as part of the following year's budget.
Eliminate paid positions that could be filled by volunteers. i.e playground supervision, lunchroom supervision, ? custodial work, ? lunch preparation work, library restocking, etc. Have a paid volunteer coordinator position to arrange a volunteer schedule with back up/float volunteers to cover emergency absences/illnesses/etc.
Cut staffing for special needs students. They often have 1:1 staffing with them, while the rest of our students have 30:1 staffing. This is an extremely inefficient use of school resources, and patently unfair and inequitable to those who don't "qualify" for such services. Group special needs students together so that one staff can supervise 4 or 5 of them, or create entire special needs classes for them. Based on the para staffing levels for special needs, such a change could save over $1,000,000 per year. Such a change is legal, necessary, and appropriate.
Charge higher fees for participation in expensive sports, like football, where equipment and uniforms cost so much more than other sports.
Bring back graduation ceremony to the football field!! Forget about the complaints and lawsuits over having it outside in case of tornados!! Be brave and do it the way we all graduated and have lived to see our children graduate !! Even if we have to go into the gym (which we did at West 76) we made it!!!! WHAT a SUPER idea--and then we don't have to fight the traffic!!! SAVE< SAVE< SAVE
Reduce the amount paid to ticket takers and game workers for athletic events. I haven’t seen the worksheet that would show how the amount is calculated, but it is substantial per hour according to the timesheets. These positions should really be volunteered for by the booster club/parents. Employees were paid $19,925 w/o benefits, for the 2009-2010 year. I don’t have the amount paid for the non-employees.
Athletic Fees – increase the amount per sport, based on actual related costs. Set a maximum per student for the school year, rather than a family maximum.
Increase class sizes in the High School. The class size should be more preparatory for the college level.
Eliminate or reduce stipend significantly for the Insurance Coach. Current cost is $10,463, plus FICA & TRA equals $11,839. The stipend divided by the teacher’s hourly rate of $42.561 = 246 hours. This is an average of 1.34 hours for every school day all year long.
Eliminate or reduce stipend for Wellness. This $1800 equates to approximately 5 hours per month.
Reduce Clerical Support at the High School by 1 or 2 FTEs. HS = 10.75 fte, SV = 6.0 fte, VV = 6.0 fte.
Consider asking parents for a voluntary co-pay to offset specialized services their child may receive such as speech therapy or predicating in Success Center programs. erg. $25.00/semester. Obviously families in financial need should not be asked but there are plenty of middle class to affluent families who are grateful for these special services that cost money or provide and are essentially "free" to them. Position it as a voluntary donation in light of the economy.
Do away with block time at VVMS and SVMS. Although it allows teachers time to prepare and "Team" it does not really seem to benefit the students. They are not getting instruction during these long blocks and are often doing their homework. Or do a blend of block and 6 period days.
Also, follow the sports team's examples, sell apparel, food, coffee and other, in stores. People want Edina apparel and some times the only way the kids get it is through sports. My son wears his football hat ALL THE TIME and I would like to get another. Also, we would only drink Edina coffee if it would benefit the school. Other food items that could work?
Is there a credit card that would give a percentage to the school? My guess is there is and the school lunch, activities and sports could go on that card. Make some money off of that!
Reduce the amount and frequency of substitute teachers by just using prescheduled staff development time for training. Additional staff training is removing teachers from classrooms more and more.
Charge to families the total cost of the AP program through the test fees to cover costs that come from the general fund, since the cost-benefit to individual families is substantial.
No more zero hours at the high school.
Non-load bearing positions can be cut or reduced. At the high school, the NUA coaches and cohorts could certainly be suspended until better financial times.
Reduce the number of administrators
Start turning off the TV/monitors that run 24 hours a day
Electronic Marquis could be set on timers for 6am to 10pm each day
Early retirement incentives
Set the thermostats at 67 degrees in the winter
Pilot an online/blended learning school within a school. Kids could take mostly online classes with a few face-to-face meetings at off-hours (so no facilities crunch). This would allow us to open enroll more students who would specifically enroll in this program.Pilot the program with a group who would all take the same core courses to alleviate the burden of implementation.
Consider a district-wide push to recruit classroom volunteers. Parents, retired teachers, adults committed to maintaining the quality of our system. Once you have real numbers, decide if a class-size increase would be prudent. More kids=more revenue.
Monetize the district website. You already take advertising dollars for the calendar, why not our Web presence?
Charge enough for AP tests to cover all of the costs of the program
Run elementary school band and orchestra as community end programs like some other districts do so those who want their kids in those programs can pay for them
Reduce school days to 4 per week. I would think this would cut expenses for transportation and food. Also making Kids Club available that day would increase income. Possibly have the 4 days a bit longer 8-4? Not sure how popular this would be but I would prefer this than teachers losing their jobs.
I think a combination of revenue and reduction over time will even the district out. Ask the staff members of Edina Public Schools to put together a presentation (volunteer basis) of how they think the district could bring in more revenue... you might have some creative solutions!
Sell ads in football stadium.
Sell ads on website, publications, school newsletters, anything you can sell. Good and clean way to generate revenue.
Eliminate 5th grade band and orchestra.
Offer classes like phy ed. in summer for a fee at high school.
Too many secretaries in your district office. With all of the incredible advances in technology that you talk about, how is it that you still have so many dollars going to secretaries.
Eliminate the field trip to Camp Friendship for 6th grade. Do some type of group orientation at VV with paid facilitators but skip renting the camp facility, insurance and buses to transport. The gym day spent skiing at Afton Alps also seems more like a boondoggle than anything else.
I'm concerned with how many times during the school year my elementary age child has a "sub" in the classroom because the teacher is "in meetings" all day. The teachers are in the building but not in the classroom. Seriously, why can't the District and Unions agree to have some of this training/staff development done over the summer (paid of course) but avoiding the hiring of subs and keeping the teacher in the classroom TEACHING during the school year. This idea of "entire summers off" for teachers is really obsolete in this economy. even a 6-8 week break is better than what most of the corporate world gets. We need to rethink this model 9/3 in the 21st century of education.
Edina Schools should reevaluate the gifted program for the middle and high school levels. In my opinion this is a duplication of efforts on our part. We provide many challenging areas of coursework through the AP classes. I think that the "gifted students" choose to take AP classes and shouldn't need another teacher or program to enhance their education as long as we provide challenging and thought provoking curriculum in the AP programs. Gifted students could still be identified to help counseling staff in recommending class placement. We could also take this a step further at the elementary level. Maybe gifted students could be grouped together in a classroom per grade level therefore eliminating the need for a gifted teacher at each elementary.
Increase the class size at the high school level for all AP classrooms. AP Classes would then be more of a college prep classroom and would help transition our juniors and seniors to college classes. If you speak to graduates their biggest comment about adjusting to college is that they were not prepared for the large class size lecture halls. Increasing our class size helps move them in the right direction.
Ask parents to volunteer at sporting events instead of paying for employees or others to take tickets etc.
Eliminate disaster leave.
Sell as much advertising as possible. All revenue coming in.
Charge students to park at the high school. Most of them should be riding buses anyway. What happened to the whole go green thing with kids. Go green as long as it doesn't impact them.
Custodial staff. Found out their are two administrators for your buildings? One has to go. Nothing out of classroom if possible.
Raise class sizes. Doesn't this save a lot of money?
Explore offering early retirement incentives to faculty. Could this be configured such that it would reduce district expenses?
Consider having the TOSA's return at least part-time to the classroom. Could some of their administrative duties be eliminated?
Reduce the amount of electives available at the middle schools. Keep only the most popular and the others could be offered through community ed for a fee based service.
I am not sure which category this would fall under. But is there a way to join forces with the other West Metro School Districts to combine services? Consider combining special education services, administrative positions, gifted education, testing etc, There are many districts across the nation that have many more schools and students then each individual West Metro district and have only one superintendent, and one set of administrators to cover all schools and students.
Would it be cheaper for the district to contract out janitorial services instead of having these people employed by EPS?
Offer fee based tutoring services - you would be amazed at how many students/families use tutoring services throughout the academic year and the summer. Also, consider creating your own ACT/SAT/AP test prep classes. Offer these throughout the school year and the summer.
Explore Federal credit or other bonding options to use more renewable energy for energy cost reduction. This idea may sound crazy at a time of budget crunch. However, it may also be a time of opportunity for lower cost. Moreover, it demonstrates to the students how we can live greener.
Solicit volunteer help from parents and students for facility maintenance efforts (lawn care, snow removal, cleaning, etc).
Does Edina receive funding for A Better Choice Students and The Choice is Yours Students? If so consider increasing the admission rate of students from both these programs.
Dome Kuhlman Stadium and rent fields at a profit during winter months.
Strongly encourage community members to contact Keith Downey, Geoff Michel, and Pat Mazorol and insist on continued, increased funding for public schools to ensure that cuts in education are unnecessary.
Reduce the number of standardized tests given to students. Students would gain by more learning hours in the classroom and the district would save money.
Eliminate field trips. Field trips take students away from learning in the classroom and are not a necessary component of education.
We would endorse raising taxes to support our schools. Education is our number one priority and is the reason for us living in Edina. We specifically moved to Edina for the school system. Children are our future, if we don't invest in our future we won't be Competitive.

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Edina Public Schools Budget Feedback 2011-2012

Suggestions

EDINA SCHOOL
DISTRICT

CONTACT US

Edina Public Schools Budget Feedback 2011-2012

Suggestions

EDINA SCHOOL DISTRICT

CONTACT US

EDINA SCHOOL
DISTRICT