Answer for your Actions, Sir
Recently the Board of Education made a decision to opt-out of House Bill 581.
[For more information on this bill and its potential implications to public education, click on one of the links where we discuss the bill ad nauseam in three public hearings: First Hearing, Second Hearing, Third Hearing.]
I realize not everyone has time to attend these hearings or watch them live. But I did want to include them here so that you have an easy place to click and watch to see the presentation by our CFO and the public comments…along with some of our (individual board members) commentary and perspective.
Transparency is key in effective governance. Trust is built and maintained by open communication. Real dialogue. And continued accountability. I hope to provide as much of that as I possibly can in person, through phone calls and emails, here on this blog, and on social media where I interact as much as possible.
And when we, as a board, make a decision, especially a potentially controversial one, it is right and appropriate for constituents to ask, “Why, did you vote like that?”
So, with our decision to “opt-out” of House Bill 581 now final, many are calling us to account. And rightfully so. Rather than try and answer every single tweet and Facebook post, I have tried to capture as much in this blog post as possible, and with a link to a previous post from months ago outlining my thought process for this incredibly difficult decision.
The best worded comment from a Facebook page called Citizens for a Better Newton was from Shane Johnson. So, I’ve copied and pasted that digital dialogue here.
Trey Bailey Help us understand why the BOE went against what the citizens of Newton County voted for!!
Hey Shane Johnson. Thanks for the question. And it’s certainly a fair one to ask. I tried to encapsulate my thoughts in this article (click the link to read the blog post What Good is it to Save Our Homes, Yet Lose Our Children: the Quandary of House Bill 581.)
I’ll just add here that this decision was one of the most difficult ones I’ve been a part of (and I was there during the COVID mess). Lost sleep over this decision. Dug into the bill, dug into our school data, spoke with constituents, spoke with our legislative delegation…
There just wasn’t a win-win anywhere. And when I felt the conviction to opt-out, based on all the information, I knew it wouldn’t be popular with many.
The projected loss in revenue was going to be much higher than the projected increasing costs in health insurance premiums, teacher salaries, school safety additions, busses, diesel, etc. There was no way, in my opinion, that we could sustain the immediate hit, and I felt like it would drastically affect our students and teachers.
Also HB581 would change the funding mechanism forever. Not just a year or two, so we could see the effects and adjust. No, this changed funding forever. And that sounded extremely permanent when talking about funding the public education of our community.
Lastly, we can’t just say “no” to tax relief and keep on our merry way, we must offer alternatives to our state legislative delegates. So, I want to continue offering different solutions.
I’m not happy with the brunt of public education costs landing on property owners. That seems unsustainable. And I realize this bill would’ve helped that, but I believe there are some better solutions that will help level the playing field.
For instance, the State Government is sitting on over $15Billion in reserves. I believe that’s over 50% of their budget. So, the state is collecting more tax than it needs, maybe this would be a good time to adjust the 40-year old funding formula for public schools. Send more state dollars to local schools systems and thus relive the tax burden levied by BOEs.
That is the first and best solution, to me. There are others. I’d love to see a sales tax rather than a property tax for schools that can be used for operational costs.
A sales tax puts the tax burden on everyone who spends money in our community, not just landowners.
There’s more to discuss. This bill was complex. And again, a terribly difficult and impossible position to be in.
I’ll do my best to answer any other questions if I can.
We aren’t a perfect board but I can promise you we are doing our best to provide a quality basic education for every student that walks through our doors while also being mindful of the tax-payers of this community in which we serve.
[In response to the original post: NCS tries to keep 15-20% in our ending fund balance which is recommended by the state. That’s about 3 months of operating expenses. Most businesses would tell you that’s not enough. But we are trying to run lean AND not hoard tax-payer dollars. Again, a delicate balance. And again, much lower than the state’s current rainy-day fund.]
Lastly, here is another response I gave to an online comment with the implication that “we made up our mind early” and were persuaded by insider information from our staff and therefore wouldn’t listen to reason at the public hearings…
We had some good conversation and compared data. I also read thoroughly several emails and discussed the points with staff. We looked at all the options presented. There are plenty of good points on both sides. And either decision had plenty of future unknowns.
And we made the decision we felt best supported the students. In the event of a tie, I guess, the tie goes to the students. That was the pledge and oath I took when sworn in.
This decision was not “right” and “wrong” as you present. It is not binary. There is much subjectivity if we are being honest. And that’s why it was such a difficult one to make.
My mind was not made up early and thus unable to be dissuaded. In the early stages I was not going to vote to opt-out. I couldn’t do it. Ask the board. I fought it. For philosophical and ideological purity. My stance was, “The voters said…and thus…we do.”
It was only after digging in and looking at as many scenarios as possible, and realizing the pragmatic side of it all, did I finally lay down my ideological stance and do what I felt “right” to do for the students and teachers.
And I know we may not agree on the data and certainly the outcome, but I do want you to hear that this wasn’t some flippant decision made without careful consideration.
As always, I appreciate your perspective and input, it does impact my thoughts and reasoning, whether you know it or not. I’ve got mad respect, my friend.
I know all of this may not persuade anyone, I simply want everyone to hear the reasoning behind the controversial decision that was made. We won’t get every single one of them perfect, but we can work together to make the best decision we can with the information we have, and move forward together. That is my hope. We work together for the betterment of our children, our teachers, our staff, and our whole community.
Education is a WE thing.
