ANDERSON, Ind. — The school district will face a state takeover within two years if school officials cannot get some cooperation from the teachers union, according to Anderson Community School Corp. Superintendent Felix Chow.

In a memo to his staff, Chow explained recently that the school corporation is at risk for experiencing a “financial meltdown” by December 2012.

Chow has put the onus on the teachers union to keep the school district safe from a state takeover.

“Without AFT’s (Anderson Federation of Teachers) collaboration, a state takeover would be the only solution — known as ‘receivership.’ Under state receivership, ACS will be directly under state control,” Chow wrote.

Chow told The Herald Bulletin the school corporation’s 2010 deficit is $5 million.

He said he could not explain, without violating the union contract, what concessions he expects from the union.

Rick Muir, president of the Indiana Federation of Teachers and the former president of AFT, helped to pass the teachers contract the school corporation is currently operating under.

Muir said he received a copy of the memo and said it “bothered” him.

“It’s like saying there’s only one way out of this and that’s for you to pay for it,” Muir said.

Muir said the school corporation should not place the entire burden of saving the district on the backs of teachers, especially when there are unnecessary expenses in administration.

According to Muir, Chow receives a $1,000 car allowance each month.

During the most recent teachers contract negotiation in June, the AFT asked Chow to sacrifice the stipend but he refused.

“I have countered by saying that’s part of my total salary compensation. I will offer to take that off, which is 8 percent (of my total salary), if every one of you will take an 8 percent pay cut,” Chow said.

Muir argues that a teacher should not be expected to take the same percentage pay cut that an administrator does because of the differences in salary.

In the most recent contract, he explained, teachers took a 2 percent pay cut that saved the district $1.2 million. Non-teaching staff was given a 1 percent pay cut because it was understood that they make less than teachers and couldn’t afford such a loss, he said.

Muir also argued that ACS administrators don’t necessarily need take-home vehicles on the school district’s dime.

Other expenses remain as well, he said. “If money’s tight, why are we paying for cell phones for every administrator?”

In the past year, ACS closed four school buildings and laid off more than 200 staff members, Chow wrote.

This included 31 percent of the administrative staff and 22 percent of the total work force.

In the event that the district is placed in receivership, the state will send a finance emergency manager to the district, Chow said.

Under receivership, the finance emergency manager has “unilateral authority to change the entire structure in order to eliminate the structural deficit over a shortest-possible period of time,” Chow said.

Chow told The Herald Bulletin the state-appointed representative would have the authority to fire the school board and all administrators in addition to breaking any existing union contract.

AFT President Tom Forkner said the union had no comment about Chow’s memo.

Muir believes administrators aren’t doing enough to attract students.

The state pays each school $6,660 per student. ACS lost 930 students this school year.

Muir said the administration has done nothing to promote the district, attracting new students. “I don’t see this administration or school board trying to sell our district at all. I do see billboards, yard signs, and advertisements for other schools.”

Muir also criticized ACS’ handling of the failed tax hike referendum.

ACS officials did not campaign for the referendum’s passage, according to Chow, due to the board’s wish to be sensitive to community members along with not wanting to spend money on a referendum that might fail.

“It’s like entering a contest and laying down saying ‘You win, beat me,’” Muir said.

The receivership will certainly affect the district’s priorities, Chow said. “While academic achievement is the mission of all school corporations, financial considerations will drive all structural realignment decisions under receivership.”

Cynthia Granger of the Anderson Education Foundation responded to Chow’s memo with an offer of help. “As ACSC faces the critical financial situation before us, please include the Anderson Education Foundation in the discussion. ACSC is among only a few in Indiana to be served by a Foundation. In Monroe County, the district asked its Foundation to work with the district and other stakeholders on a campaign to raise funds for vital curriculum areas, including literacy, in an effort to allow the district to redirect some budgeted dollars into other curriculum areas,” Granger said in an e-mail to Chow.

If the district falls into receivership, it won’t be permanent, Chow wrote.

“Once the financial crisis is taken care of, control will be returned to the local board of education with the new structural alignment that balances the budget,” the memo notes.

ACS By the Numbers

• 2010 deficit: $5 million
• Schools closed: 4
• Laid-off workers: 200+
• “Financial meltdown” projected date: December 2012

Source: Superintendent Felix Chow

 

Contact Brandi Watters: brandi.watters@heraldbulletin.com, 640-4847