Letter to the Editor: Board member looks at discussion to come

I knew something was wrong the moment I answered the phone.  His voice was quivering. The superintendent had just left with the news.  The state cut the budget and layoffs were the only choice. The conversation had been a blur with a few memorable snippets–talk of how great of an employee he was and how this was the hardest decision the superintendent had to make as he left quickly before more tears came.  But the outcome was as clear as day—his position was being eliminated and he wouldn’t have a job come the end of the school year.  

It was, in a word, devastating.   

The recession had begun almost two years earlier (with those really paying attention knowing it was coming even two years before that.)  There was the subprime mortgage crisis, the stock market crash, the 700 billion dollar bank bailout followed by the 787 billion dollar stimulus package.  After all of that he still had his job. He went back to work for the whole next school year.  

And then the state budgets caught up.  

States are unable to run a deficit like the federal government can, or to print money. When they don’t have the revenue, their only choice is to cut their budgets.  The other shoe drops long after the Dow does.  

New jobs are hard to come by in a recession.  Rainy day funds last for a while, but not for three years.  And it’s not just financially difficult, but emotionally difficult as well.  I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.  

[Today, years later, the Lord has provided him with a job he loves and where he is thriving.]

Until this past month, those days haven’t been at the forefront of my mind.  But now I’m in a position on the other side.  

Last year I was elected to the school board here in Mahomet-Seymour.  I took a vow (as did the other six board members) to serve “as a faithful protector of the school district’s assets.” We also vowed to “assist in establishing a structure and an environment designed to ensure all students have the opportunity to attain their maximum potential through a sound organizational framework”.  The law gives us many responsibilities including to appoint and employ all the teachers as well as “to adopt and enforce all necessary rules for the management and government of the public schools of their district.” 

In addition to the vows I took and the responsibilities given to me under the law, I have made a personal commitment that I will do everything in my power to not have any other family experience what my family did in 2010.  Protecting the jobs of our current employees from budget driven layoffs rises to near the top of my list of priorities in these uncertain times.  

***

Fear is caused by many things but a primary driver of fear is uncertainty.  And we have a lot of that in our world today. Many wonder– will I get sick?  Will those I love get sick? If we do, will we recover? Will I still have my job?  How will I provide for my family? How bad will things get?  

Fear can cause panic.  But panic isn’t helpful.  

Fear can lead to appropriate concern.  That can improve situations.  

Would it be prudent to build a bunker in my backyard and horde two years worth of food and water?  No. Would it be prudent to follow the direction of the experts at the CDC and have two weeks of food on hand?  It would. The first is a result of panic and the second is a result of appropriate concern.  

We are all changing our behavior in these pandemic times.  Until a month ago, I would regularly take a walk with a neighbor and friend.  Now I walk alone and if I see my friend I make sure to say at least 6-10 feet away while saying and waving hello.  I used to have friends over for dinner but now we settle for phone calls and an occasional facetime chat.  

Things that were good choices a few months ago, aren’t the norm today.  It is prudent to respond to the situation around us with appropriate concern.  

Uncertainty drives the fear about COVID-19 and uncertainty also drives fear about the economy.

The Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA) has a task force in place to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the Illinois economy.  I have been fortunate to personally know and work with many economists serving at the IGPA. I have found them to be smart, rational, realistic, and really good at what they do.  While I know many of the people who wrote this report to be top notch economists, two of them in particular are among the handful of people I hold in the highest regard as economists and would trust them without wavering for financial and economic advice.   

The task force fully acknowledges the uncertainty of these times “The COVID-19 pandemic has caused upheaval in the U.S. economy but there is great uncertainty about the depth and duration of the disruption. This report forecasts that tax revenue will plummet.” Yet they go on to say ”The COVID-19 crisis is likely to have negative implications for the finances of all local governments: counties, municipalities, school districts, transit agencies, and special districts. How local governments are impacted will depend on what revenue sources they are reliant on, their financial condition prior to the COVID-19 emergency, and the amount of rainy day funds they had saved. “

The uncertainty we’re facing is not if we will have a downturn, but rather how deep will it go.  And what position are we in to weather the impending storm. No one knows how deep it will go, but most economists I’ve talked to say this is certainly expected to be worse than the Great Recession of 2008.  

***

But sometimes experience teaches you more than all the academic learning put together.  I’ve seen first hand what happens when state budgets get cut. And I don’t want any of us to go there.  

***

Effective leaders respond to the changing circumstances before them. In January, the infectious disease specialists in our country saw nothing wrong with a concert or a dinner party.  Now, they recommend against both. Not because their advice before was faulty, but because circumstances have changed.  

The Task force notes that the legitimacy of the actions taken “require a transparent account of the constraints and reasons for the choices that are made.”

Public bodies, like a school board, exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business and the people have a right to be informed as to the conduct of their business.  This means that the actions and deliberations of the public bodies should be conducted openly.  

In a community where deliberations have not been regularly conducted openly, it’s understandable that fear is the result when that begins to happen.  People are used to not hearing anything until it’s in its final this-has-actually-already-been-decided-we-just-need-the-formality-of-a-vote state. This leads some people to mistake a request to have a discussion, for a pronouncement of something written in stone.  The problem comes when before the discussion has even occurred, some people get whipped up into panic. A calm rational discussion of the issues at hand is always more productive and efficient than a witch-hunt style outrage at something that hasn’t even been decided.  

And it makes me sad: sad that control mongering is stopping real progress; sad that there are people who divide when we should be coming together as a community; sad that there are those with such sour grapes that they can’t step back from their own losses and failures to stop harming others with their frenzy of made-up so-called facts.  

And there are lots of made-up facts swirling around these days.

But made-up facts can be combated with truth.  

***

It’s hard to balance multiple priorities all at once.  The vow to be a faithful protector of our financial assets and the vow to establish a structure and environment where students thrive can seem to pull in opposite directions.  But the job of a school board is to balance both.  

I know it’s been said before.  We have no money. There just aren’t the resources to do this or that.  

I’ve never been in on those conversations but I believe our current situation has the very likely potential to be more extreme than any of us have experienced before.  And it calls for appropriate concern. And discussion. And action.  

It is reasonable to conclude at this time that we are almost certainly going to have a reduction in revenue in the years to come.  

I, personally, want to ensure that we do everything we can possibly do to make sure that every employee of the district continues to get paid.  This is why I advocate for a conservative strategy of evaluating and allocating our resources in ways that will increase the district’s ability to weather the upcoming storm.  

This is why we, at our last meeting, asked the superintendent to freeze hiring until the board could have a discussion of these issues.  One of the things I said last Monday was—”I guess what I’m saying is that today we can just say we’re freezing for the moment and then we could come back even on April 20 to have a discussion.”  When the board has that discussion at our upcoming meeting, I plan to start from a position of advocating to hire for some of our positions and to fill internally/temporarily pause on some other of our positions.  But that doesn’t mean that’s what we will do. We should be having a discussion, not an edict. We will discuss together and work towards a solution. That’s how boards are supposed to work.  

It’s prudent and appropriate to stop moving until the Board has an opportunity to discuss the situation. 

What was never proposed by any board member was a plan or a request to increase class sizes.  The discussion was about temporarily freezing the hiring of new people, not eliminating positions to be filled.  I do not speak for the board or any other member, but I am not aware of any board member who is suggesting we take actions to increase class sizes.  

Equally important to being good fiscal stewards is providing an environment where students can learn and thrive.  This means our goal is to lower class sizes, not to raise them. Will we be able to lower class sizes during this crisis?  Maybe, or maybe not. I can’t tell you. It’s for the Board to discuss whether we will instruct the Superintendent to do so, that’s not a decision for me to make alone. You have the right to see those deliberations—in public, not behind closed doors.  They would start with a suggestion that moves into a discussion that develops into a plan that will eventually lead to a vote. That’s how boards are supposed to work.  

Stay tuned!  But please don’t jump to the conclusion that every suggestion mentioned for discussion is a final plan written in stone and ready to be executed.  Please don’t fall for the mistruths being spread as supposed ‘summaries’ of meetings lying about the intentions and motivations of our elected leaders.  I suggest you not do this at any level–local, state, or federal. This is how we become divided. These are times we need to come together, now more than ever.    

It would be easy for us to put our heads in the sand and to ignore what we see looming before us.  We could solely focus on our situation today, essentially hiding from tomorrow. But good leaders, effective leaders don’t do that. We move ahead making the best decisions we know how as we strive to make our district strong and healthy now and well into the future.  

Note:  The above comments are my own.  I am not speaking on behalf of the school board as a whole or any other individual.

-Colleen Schultz, Mahomet-Seymour School Board Member