Please read below for a 'conversation' between the Chief operational officer of OCPS and a member of the public who has researched for answers.........
Mr. Gledich,
Please review email chain below. I have not received any contact from Mr. Merriam to date, but that is ok because I am trying to find some time to study some of the information I am finding on the OCPS website. In your email you mentioned that the information I received was not clear and concise. Straight off your website I found the information on the furniture in the official transportation budget.
#4641 non-capitalized furniture in the 07-08 budget was $51,955 and in the 08-09 budget (where you would think there would be a 7% reduction) it showed $169,400. That is an increase of over $117,000 or well over 300%.
#4642 is non-capitalized furniture which in 07-08 was $68,495 and in 08-09 was $275,000 which is an increase of over $206,000 or 401%.
Now if you add the $275,000 to the $117,000 that would equal $392,000 increase in budget from one year to the next.
If I am correct the extra amount in 08-09 spent on furniture could save middle school sports. I am sure you are going to come back with a good reason why the furniture budget was higher from one year to the next. The problem is that it just does not bode well with the public when we see community kids on the street, not participating in a sport, for the price of new furniture.
If your numbers are correct from the OCPS site then the transportation budget total went from $55,550,4564.00 in 07-08 to $56,241,784 which mathematically would be about 1% over from last year. That hardly seems like the 7% cut that was asked for by the County Commission. (Actually, in your 2008-2009 Budget Reduction Report that is on the site on page one it was mentioned "in order to meet the 7% reduction, Transportation Services revised its student delivery schedule".) Looking at the numbers at the beginning of this paragraph I can't seem to find the 7% reduction mentioned in that Budget Reduction Report. Again, I am sure you will offer some explanation but it sure looks unfavorable to those of us who are all making sacrifices in these difficult times.
The report on the OCPS site titled "2008-2009 Budget Reduction Report" mentioned the district eliminated 37 buses as a result of the flip. Another report on the OCPS site mentions that we would need over 100 buses to flip back (to the normal high school and middle school times that are consistent with most of the rest of the state, and what we used to go by). I am just a concerned citizen who is trying to look at numbers and make sense of them but this does not add up. We cut 37 to save and now need over 100 buses to switch back, only a year later??? There are several other items that I am reviewing in terms of the flip savings which are not adding up and those I will address later once I can get a handle on them.
I am happy that the Board has a special committee looking into these and other matters concerning the transportation budget. My hope is that they will select other committees to look into maintenance, the capital improvements, and other areas where I am sure there are wastes and inefficiencies. We all need to work together to find these areas and to use that money so that our students don't suffer any more than they already are.
I am looking forward to Mr. Merriam providing me with additional detailed information that would help make sense of this.
Best Regards,
Paul Hamel
Subject: Transporation Budget
Mr. Hamel,
A school board member forwarded your email regarding the Transportation budget to me. I am asking Mr. Rye Merriam, Senior Director, Transportation and Support Services to contact you. In your email, you requested that the board look into various areas. As I read the email, I noticed several statements that concerned me because it appears to me that you may not have received clear concise information. I have asked Mr. Merriam to provide you the details and address your need.
I am not sure who you spoke to representing the Transportation Task Force. It would help me and Mr. Merriam if you could share specifically what you were told. Responding with factual data is our goal. Thank you.
Nick Gledich
Chief Operations Officer
Orange County Public Schools
Board Members and Superintendent,
I have been talking recently with a member of the Transportation Committee, assigned by the board, and I am hearing some incredible information about the budget in that area. Being an Orange County Employee myself, I know that our department was asked to make across the board budget cuts and I believe it was done. The Transportation Committee member I talked to informed me of many, many areas of the transportation budget that were not cut, and instead increased dramatically. One example is a huge increase for furniture, an increase large enough to almost fund the junior high sports that were cut. I hope I am wrong about this and other information I am getting. I am also being told that it is very obvious that at least one board member that voted originally to flip the times is trying very hard to influence other Transportation Committee Members to reverse the most recent action of the board to go back to the original high school and junior high times.
I knew there would be tremendous waste in the transportation budget and I am looking forward to checking into this more and sharing it with other parents (and press) who are concerned about waste and inefficiencies in our school budget. I ask that you please look into these areas where real cuts can be made and leave our teachers, athletics and school schedules alone. If you continue to turn over these stones, and ACTUALLY LOOK under them, you will find many of the cuts you are looking for.
Respectfully,
Paul Hamel