The opinions expressed on the Rants and Raves of Mac McIntyre are solely those of its author and are shared for the purpose of encouraging dialogue about life and issues in DeKalb County, Illinois.

Hello to you too,
New DeKalb School Superintendent!

Comments: 4                                                          Addendums: 1

It was a bad day for me yesterday. I read lots of news from lots of sources on lots of topics.  The news coming from Iraq and Afghanistan was not good. It got worse when I read the Daily Chronicle.

Paul Beilfuss, apparently held his first press conference as the new superintendent of DeKalb School District #428.

Here was the news:

DAILY CHRONICLE: Talking to reporters on his first visit to DeKalb after his Monday night appointment, Beilfuss said there would be broad public input before the referendum. He said surveys were conducted in Wayzata to determine just how much the district would be willing to pay. He promised a vigorous effort to convince voters of the need to renovate schools.

Here are a few of his quotes (source: Daily Chronicle):

"We will try to get people together so they can agree on the numbers, then we will work hard to get out the vote."

"We will have a campaign, and it is a campaign, to get out the vote," he added. Efforts would be made to target voters in neighborhoods and age groups likely to support the plan.

"The hardest group [to convince] is the 50-65 age group." he said.

DAILY CHRONICLE: Those people are sending their children to college and don't always have money to spare.

"They also are planning for their retirement."

And here was the news to Mr. Beilfuss:

DAILY CHRONICLE: Voters in DeKalb have rejected referendums three times in the last two and a half years.

So what am I griping about?

Beilfuss was superintendent of the Wayzata School District near Minneapolis, before coming to DeKalb. During his tenure the school district asked tax payers three times, with success, to approve referendums to increase taxes for their schools.

Isn't it painfully obvious that the DeKalb School District paid the executive search firm of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates who knows what to find them the best referendum-passer money could buy?

Wayzata's enrollment is 9,500 while DeKalb's is 5,500. According to School Board President, Tom Teresinski, Beilfuss will be paid "slightly more" than he was at Wayzata, because "he had the experience we were looking for." 

Beilfuss will be paid a base salary of $150,000. Full details of his contract have not yet been made public. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, if Beilfuss left the Wayzata School District in 2003 he could collect $198,869 in severance and unused vacation and sick leave. That's pretty good incentive for finding a better paying job.

Referendums pass. Referendums fail. Superintendents move on. Watch those exit clauses.

Am I too cynical?

I'm not against paying a great superintendent $150,000 or more. But the message clearly conveyed at his first press conference was, "I'm going to sell you a referendum."

A good superintendent, it would seem to me, would want to get to know the community and his staff a little better before asking for a tax increase. A week would have been nice.

So yes, I am cynical of the actions of the Board and Administration at School District #428.

The students, teachers and tax payers of District #428 deserve better. They pay for more.

A great superintendent would roll up his sleeves and earn his $150,000 paycheck. He would conduct personal research of conditions and circumstances of the schools. He would interview varying views of the problems, needs and solutions facing the district. He would demand more from his administrative staff in gaining accurate information.

THEN he would make a recommendation to the community.

Mr. Beilfuss, welcome to DeKalb.  I wish we could have met in a friendlier manner. But I took a little offense to your hello.

Your 3-0 referendum record might get blemished if you follow the same strategy as the three failed efforts.  They also targeted neighborhoods and age groups with voters likely to support a referendum.  They got out those votes. The problem is that there are far more voters in those other neighborhoods and age groups that are likely to oppose another tax increase.  And its not the money.  We support our children.  Its the lack of a financial plan based on real research and not on marketing strategies.

Perhaps, just perhaps, it is that marketing strategy that is to blame... for higher taxes.

--Mac McIntyre

Comments

Date: Saturday June 26, 2004
Time: 08:42 AM -0400
Comment:

I am truly confused as to what our school board is truly thinking of, or really, a lack of thinking. There is no way that this new superintendent can even know what this district is truly about. There is no way that he can know where the problems are in this district, and how can anyone know, with all of the current construction going on, what is truly needed to move on. I would be more impressed if this man came in and rolled his sleeves up and used his experience to see what can be done with what we already have. Does he even have a desk with his name on it yet? It is evident that this man has been brought in to win a referendum for those who dearly want to feel the taste of a victory after 3 defeats. These people still do not get it. We need to think about the children, not just today, but tomorrow. We need the right plan, not just a plan. We need a plan that truly answers the futures questions and not just a plan so we can say we did something, but instead, what we have today is a superintendent hired to win a referendum and a school board that will rubber stamp anything he desires. This is not a plan, this is TROUBLE and this is exactly how we got into trouble before, remember? Here we go again.

Ivan Krpan
DeKalb

Yeah, I think you've pretty much figured it out. Although, on the surface it seems as simple as supply and demand. We don't have enough room in the schools for the current enrollment let alone for the already committed increase from current developments underway. And I'm not creative enough to figure out how to generate the funds to build the schools without somehow affecting my own wallet. Something needs to be done and obviously, this (referendum) is the vehicle the school board is currently riding on.

Anonymous

Editor's Note: The chosen vehicle needs to be recalled by the manufacturer because its defective. The flaw seems to be an uncontrollable appetite for money. This vehicle has been running amok for more than three years and real opportunities to build new schools were missed.

Example 1: Rochelle and Genoa both applied for and received new school construction grant money. Genoa students are now enjoying their new high school and Rochelle students will start classes this fall at their new high school.  DeKalb School District applied for this grant money but chose to apply at the end of the grant cycle as opposed to at its beginning, like Genoa and Rochelle did.  The administration at #428 was too consumed in their efforts in planning and campaigning for the first referendum attempt.

Example 2: The school district turned down a west side elementary school at the urging of then DeKalb Plan Commission member, Dr. Herb Rubin, that would have been completely (including material and construction) donated to the residents of DeKalb. The implied threat was that if the school board "voted no to growth" the residents would vote "yes to schools." The voters overwhelmingly rejected the referendum (and would have regardless of whether or not the school district would have accepted the donation) and now parents living on the west side of DeKalb are complaining about have to drive their children to Malta.

Current development underway should have been planned for back when the tollway was brought through DeKalb. Water and sewage capacities were planned for.  Parks were planned for. Roads were planned for. Schools were not. In fact, schools were mothballed and sold.  Growth in administration's need for physical space requirements was met at the expense of existing classroom space.

A successful referendum will require a long-term financial plan that does not allow operating expenses to consume the entire budget.  The county has a comprehensive plan. The city has a comprehensive plan. So does the park district.  Why not the schools?

Its not about the money. Its the plan. The current school plan runs from budget to budget. It needs guidance from a long term financial plan.

ADDENDUM:  FROM THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

Wayzata schools chief takes Illinois job