FPS Board Looks at Support Service Proposals

We're live blogging tonight's Farmington Public Schools Board of Education meeting from , where officials will get a look at request for proposals (RFPs) to provide the district's support services. We'll  be updated throughout the evening.

10:32 p.m. Public comment is complete. The board's taking a 5-minute break, and somebody put a recording of "We Shall Not Be Moved" on the speakers. Officials won't make a decision tonight, so for us, that's a wrap. Look for Carol Lundberg's continuing coverage Wednesday on Farmington-Farmington Hills Patch.

Now it's your turn. Tell us what you think in the comments or send a letter to the editor to joni.hubred-golden@patch.com

10:27 p.m. Farmington Education Association president Dave Workman said what is most alarming about the fund balance numbers is that there have been $15 million mistakes in the past two years. In previous years, the gap was less. "I am astounded at how close the guesses can be when we're not negotiating," he said. "In years when we're negotiating, the sky is falling." Neighboring districts, he added, are not making those kinds of bad guesses.

Wallach again defended the district's budgeting. He said the district was faced with four items last year that resulted in millions of dollars in changes after the budget was passed and the union contract was settled.

"If there's anyone in this room who could have predicted these things, please raise your hands, we could use the help," he said. Wallach expressed frustration at the implication that district employees or elected officials are lying to the community and pointed out union members sit on the district's budget committee.

Referring to crowd support for Amshay's comment that the district should squeeze out every concession possible in order to keep employees, Wallach said "Amen. Let's do it."

10:12 p.m. Richard Green, who chairs the Farmington Coordinating Council, said the RFPs are a polished presentation, designed to make outsourcing look like the best option. "You can replace custodians in this building with janitors, but then you will get the work of janitors who work for $10," Green added.

Mike Amshay came to the meeting after watching the presentation on cable TV (tune in to TV-10 if you're a Brighthouse cable customer). He has seen privatization in Oakland County government and has seen a definite decline in how offices and courthouse is cleaned. He thinks privatization is a huge mistake and said he would hate to see the district in a "race to the bottom."

9:45 p.m. Laurie Moore, executive director for Farmington Coordinating Council, said despite the unions have been given false and misleading information, or no information at all. She said the district's projected fund balance and actual fund balance have been far apart – in one case, by $14.6 million – since 2004-05. This year, the projected fund balance is $13.8 million; it stands at more than $29 million, she said.

Moore's calculations show there is no real savings from outsourcing transportation, when taking health care costs into consideration. She's sharing information about Durham's health insurance plan, which she said is far inferior to what employees have now. "We're not comparing apples to apples," she said.

Wallach said Moore's document takes a forecast done early on in the process, and the district has been working with a moving target. He said officials today compared projected with actual budgets; the variance averages 3.9 percent on a $150 million budget. "I, for one, am not going to apologize for the way the district has managed its fund balance," he said. Every year, up until last year, he said the district's efforts to balance its budget using the fund balance has allowed officials to avoid significant layoffs. "Last year," he said, "the bubble burst."

Wallach warned the murmuring crowd to remain quiet, so officials can focus on the speakers.

9:27 p.m. Lauren Reeves' mom has been a bus driver for 15 years and she attended Hartland Schools. She said after the district privatized transportation, she found the outsourced bus drivers didn't care about students as much as those who had been employed by the district.

Former student and current resident Clifton Hicks is reading a letter on behalf of Don and Alice Nichols, who reside in Tennessee but were longtime residents and former teachers. They are opposed to outsourcing and suggest the district find savings in a line item examination of the budget.

9:21 p.m. Student Justin Roe talks about how much students depend on the district's support staff. "We love these people and they are part of our lives, past, present and future," he said.

The next comments are coming from those who support outsourcing, as a way to keep costs and taxes down. Farmington Hills resident Mary Ann Pilsak said her tax bill continues to go up, with no real benefit to her. "In order to pay reasonable taxes, we are going to have to have something like this done," Pilsak said.

9:09 p.m. Jack Inch, former school board member, received a warm welcome and a round of applause when he pointed out the problem was not with the district, but in Lansing. Admittedly a "union person," he asked how loyal first-year teachers will be when they see the district replacing support staff. He urged school boards to band together and push state lawmakers to "get it right."

The next speaker is Farmington resident Hank Borgman, who favors outsourcing. His four children graduated from Farmington Public Schools, and he speaks highly of the district. But he thinks millions of dollars is important enough to go ahead with what has been proposed.

9 p.m. Howard Wallach is asking questions submitted by Annie Campbell about specific retention rates. For both companies, it's in the mid-90 percent rate for both companies, Ruhland said. She also asked questions about whether data is available for bullying and other incidents on buses. Ruhland said it is not, but the company trains drivers and the company will follow the district's procedures for reporting.

Campbell clarified that when she has concerns, she was able to call up Bill Tousley, the district's transportation supervisor, and talk about them. "More than the cost, I'm concerned about my son having a safe ride, a consistent ride," Campbell said.

Ruhland said the process of evaluating vendors has been more about the service than the lowest cost. But he said he doesn't have a way to compare the district's statistics with Durham's. Ruhland said the expectation is that Tousley will be staying.

8:50 p.m. Board member Debby Brauer asked whether the private vendors had the chance to look at each other's bids and revise them, the way the unions did. Ruhland said no, that is an anomaly allowed under the law. The law says it is illegal to bargain about outsourcing and the district is not doing that.

Public comment is about to begin; there are 18 cards on the outsourcing topic. The report on outsourcing RFPs will be on the district's website tomorrow.

8:48 p.m. Sheilah Clay arrived late, but her husband helped out by holding his cell phone up to the television set, so she could listen to the entire presentation on her way in.

8:42 p.m. Ruhland explained that private custodial company has the flexibility to more quickly move people around and so can be more efficient. He said the district will be discussing how to improve efficiency with current employees as well. When it comes to transportation, Durham is committed to not allowing drivers to interrupt their day with field trips, which is allowed under the current FPS contract.

Board member Tim Devine wants to be sure the savings is not being accomplished by cutting services. Ruhland said this isn't something where a company can come in, milk the job for a year and then move on. The company wants to keep the contract and so will look to provide services more efficiently, he said.

8:21 p.m. SODEXO is recommended for janitorial services. With both companies, the district would still be responsible for unemployment insurance and determining which health care coverage plan will be offered to employees, Ruhland said. He also stressed both would be required to do the same criminal background checks the district requires.

SODEXO has proposed a lower staffing level. Ruhland said he's convinced the company can do the job with fewer people; the company has developed a high level of efficiency. Both companies also have high retention rates, Ruhland said. Durham School Services would be using the district's buses; he said the company's drivers maintain a high safety rating. The company is also expected to hire the district's mechanics.

With the SODEXO contract, Ruhland said the district required that any FPS employees hired would get $4 an hour more than their entry-level employees, about a $16 an hour rate. That's still a 25 percent wage cut for FPS employees. First-year savings for custodial is $3.2 million, not including the health care package.

Ruhland recommends moving forward with SODEXO for custodial and Durham for transportation.

8:07 p.m. Ruhland said the district is running out of time, and the unions were advised the district needs a proposal by May 2 in order to be ready for May 10. Their target is to come up with a proposal that saves at least 75 percent of potential savings that would come from going with a vendor.

Durham School Services is recommended for transportation. It is in 50 school districts including Birmingham, Southfield and Royal Oak. The proposal was a three-year contract; the first year savings is a little more than $1.8 million. Ruhland said if Durham is given the work, it wants  to hire current drivers at their current rate of pay. The savings comes in health and pension costs.

7:59 p.m. After the initial review, bids were narrowed down to three transportation vendors and the union, and three custodial bids and the union. There were face-to-face interviews with all, which narrowed the field to two each, plus the unions. The RFP documents were specifically drafted to give the unions the opportunity to come forward with a proposal to reduce costs, Ruhland said. This was a decision about finances, not about the unions. Bids came in March 22, and the district gave the unions the proposals March 25, and have continued to meet with them to work through the numbers to lower their costs. "They have been nothing but professional," Ruhland said. "It has never been confrontational."

7:51 p.m. Ruhland is talking about the request for proposals. Maintenance RFPs have not been processed; nutrition RFPs are still out. There were five bids for transportation and seven for custodial, including both unions. He said RFP responses were comprehensive; he had boxes of documents to work through with his administrative team.

7:40 p.m. Assistant Superintendent Dave Ruhland is introducing the new North Farmington High School principal, Joseph Greene. The district listened to parents, students and staff for input on the new leader. "We got a good pool of candidates," Ruhland said. Some candidates were interviewed using Skype. "Joe continued to be up there from the beginning,"Ruhland said.

Greene, who was a social studies teacher and administrator in the Chicago area, met with students and parents in the Media Center prior to the board meeting. Greene and his wife, Ariel, have roots in Ann Arbor. "He's got Michigan roots, he's thrilled to be here and we're thrilled to have him," Ruhland said before asking the board to appoint him. 

Wallach raised a couple of issues. Greene is from Illinois, which is Big Ten country, and Greene's wife is a University of Michigan graduate. Wallach is a Michigan State Spartan, through and through. The vote, however, was unanimous in Greene's favor.

Greene said the administration has done a tremendous job of making the transition easier. "When I looked at North Farmington," he said, "it really spoke to me. The mission, the vision and the values the school has ... really spoke out to me."

"The dirty little secret," Greene said, is that when he considered his move to Michigan, "I only applied ot one school. I put all my eggs in one basket."

7:30 p.m. School board president Howard Wallach called the meeting to order. He said the board met prior to its  regular meeting in a closed session to discuss contract negotiations and will discuss that topic in another closed session May 11.

Board member Karen Bolsen said the House and Senate version of the tax bill are very similar to Gov. Rick Snyder's, which would result in significant revenue reductions. "Both are dire numbers," she said. The governor is to present his education enhancement program tomorrow, and the district hopes it will include the dollars that school districts need, she said.