Uncertainties Abound Among Board Members on Proposed Ankeny Schools Staffing Plan

members struggled during a special meeting Monday night with the possibility of using the district’s savings to pay for new teachers.

While a few board members want to look for other avenues to pay for , others worried about putting off classroom overcrowding at the secondary level for another year.

“In my opinion, if you continue to dip into your savings to meet the needs of everyday life, that would get to be a concern as we head into our third year of doing so,” said board member Brad Huss. “Knowing our needs three years in advance, I think we should explore as many different avenues as we can.”

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The board met Monday after members decided at their March 5 meeting that they wanted more time to ask questions on a recommended staffing plan before approving it. The recommendation was brought to members at the same meeting.

Plan Seen as a Way to Relieve Classroom Overcrowding

The plan being reviewed by the board will meet all staffing needs at the elementary and fifth- through sixth-grade level, including full staffing of Prairie Trail Elementary School when it opens in August 2012.

The plan also will come close to relieving overcrowding at the eighth- and ninth-grade level, but classrooms at the high school level likely will still see overcrowding for another year.

At the beginning of the meeting from which board president George Tracy was absent, Superintendent Matthew Wendt said so long as Ankeny continues to grow, the board will always have more staffing requests than the district can afford.

“There are items we’re funding this year that were requested a couple years ago,” he said. “This plan in front of you certainly is weighted more toward the elementary level, but that’s going to happen when you open a new school.”

“Is the plan perfect? No. Could it get better? Absolutely,” Wendt said, “but next year, don’t be surprised. You should anticipate twice – if not three times – as many secondary positions and half the elementary.”

The staffing plan as it stands now includes close to 35.5 new positions at the elementary level for a cost of $2.6 million, which includes benefits and salary for each staff member. 

The plan also calls for just over 16 positions at the secondary level for a total of almost $1.3 million. It also includes 15 coaching positions for just over $50,000.

The positions will be paid for through revenue generated by increased enrollment.

Concerns Raised About Tapping Reserves

Board member Todd Shafer also expressed his concern with using district cash reserves to fund the plan.

“What if we were to take off that $1.6 million?” Shafer said following Wendt’s remarks. “With the economy the way it is, we might not want to dip into that.”

Wendt responded by telling board members there is a responsible level at which the district should keep its cash reserves, money that legally cannot be used to reduce district debt or finance building projects.

“There is a point where the community could say that by letting the unspent balance build up, we’re not providing the educational programming or resources we could be,” Wendt said.

Shafer also wanted reassurance that was locked in and would not be affected by using money from the district’s cash reserves. 

“It won’t get touched,” Wendt said about the tax rate decrease for fiscal year 2013. “Consider that a done deal.”

Board Urged to Set Policy on Class Sizes

Wendt also encouraged board members to visit the creation of a policy enforcing a class size limit at the secondary level. There currently is none, he said.

“We would love to have less students in secondary,” Wendt said. “But whatever decision the board makes, please make it within the confines of your own policy."

Board member Mike Rooney said he was frustrated with the planning process.

“It is my understanding we all want to lower class sizes and take it further to make it more efficient,” he said. “I’d rather have 22 kids in each class and if we can afford it, that’s great. But right now, we’re just trying to take and figure out if we have more latitude in lowering our cost structure.”

Board member Pat Cahill said each board member should make his or her priorities clear before the board makes a final decision on the staffing plan at its March 26 meeting.

“If we feel it’s important to lower class sizes now, that’s what we need to convey to President Tracy,” Cahill said. “If we’re fine with mending them out over the next three years, we need to make it clear we’re OK with this plan.”