Principal Thoughts

I spent the evening of October 31st watching television amidst the ringing of the doorbell by spookily clad youth making their way around our neighborhood.  Though we had nearly 100 trick-or-treaters, my TV viewing was interrupted more by political advertisements than it was by candy-seeking youngsters.  More interesting perhaps is the fact that the ads were more frightening than the ghouls and goblins in the street.

Of course this type of thing seems to happen every year during election season.  Sadly, if all of the things claimed in the advertisements were true, then none of the candidates could be considered worthy of our vote or of the office they seek.  Can this possibly be true of all these people who seek to be public servants?  I certainly think not, but it does leave a voter wondering where the truth lies.

Which brings me to the topic of the operational referendum in front of the Zionsville community.  The numbers being bandied about on each side can be mind boggling.  A logical person could leave a debate about this referendum wondering what the truth is, but knowing that the people on both sides cannot possibly be right.  For those of us who are not accountants, the contents and contributing factors of a budget well over 100 pages long are unintelligible.  So how do we know what’s really going on?

The view from the principal’s chair is much more comprehendable to the general public.  ZMS has a slightly higher student population than we had two years ago (950 students).  Despite the slight growth, we have 7 fewer teachers than we had (a 13% reduction!).  Of course the other losses incurred (athletic director/student services administrator, 2 secretaries, 3 instructional assistants) were important, but none impacts the daily student experience more than the loss of classroom teachers.

During this same time, the school’s annual staff development budget (provided by the state) has gone from several thousand to zero.  Our school’s annual equipment budget is now zero.  Our supply budget has nearly been cut in half.

Most staggering in all of this is that approving the operational referendum will not change any of the above to our level two years ago.  If the proposal does not pass, however, we will be making significant cuts to add to the ones listed above.  When I consider future cuts and the impact that would have on our school, I find it difficult to imagine where it might leave us.  Certainly, our class sizes, which now average around 30 with some core-academic classes at 35 or above, would grow significantly.  Undoubtedly, programs would be cut.  Directly in the cross hairs would be courses in the arts (both visual and performing arts), and foreign language.  Certainly our extra-curricular programs would be slashed or cut altogether.  In short, and I say this as a father of two ZCS students, it does not sound like the school that I would wish for my own children.

The office of the principal is not an elected one. I am not campaigning.  I am asking you to vote — a civic duty that we all share — and to cast a vote that favors your own beliefs and philosophy.  Thank you for reading.

My first job in Zionsville schools was as the assistant principal of ZCHS.  One of my duties was to report our “membership” to the state.  The year was 1996, and my recollection tells me that we had approximately 850 students at the time, or roughly half of the population of today’s ZCHS.  There was quite a bit of tension in the air back then, particularly between what was termed “Old Zionsville” vs. “New Zionsville.”  “Old Zionsville” residents counted their citizenship in generations, while “New Zionsville” residents counted the months or years of their tenure.  Both of these groups appreciated the quaintness of the town and feared what massive growth might mean to the community.  I frequently heard the “oldtimers” point out the irony of the “newcomers” who wanted to come into town, and then close the doors to future residents.  Everyone, it seemed, wanted to be the last one in.

 I became principal of ZMS in 1999.  In the first several years in that appointment, our school grew by approximately 100 students per year.  The building that we inhabited in 2001 was designed to never fill up.  However, our faculty learned during the fall of our initial year that we would be at capacity one year later.  We opened at 1,240 students, and reached 1,480 students in no time at all. An additional facility was required.

We learned, however, that the quaint little town was not the only draw.  It was during this time of rapid growth that I received the flyer pictured above in the mail.  I had always known that Zionsville Community Schools were a draw to potential homeowners.  What I hadn’t known was that our schools were being overtly sold.  Unfortunately, we were not the ones reaping the benefit of those sales.  Casual conversations with families who have moved here over the years reveal that they have, in fact, chosen to live here specifically and, at times, solely because of the schools.

I believe, then, in ZCS’s time of need, it is imperative that we who moved here because of the schools must support the very entity that drew us here in the first place.  In this difficult economy the schools are at times criticized for wastefulness of tax dollars and our opponents point to our debt.  Interestingly, when I arrived in town, multiple schools had portable classrooms — and buildings at each level were overcrowded.  Our biggest challenge was to catch up with the growth and to hope we could stay up with it!  When the recession hit, and with plans for 800+ homes in Anson alone, we were caught on the front end of the growth curve.  What had been prime (and wise) positioning for managing our community’s growth, turned into excess seats until the growth returns to its previous level.  But the growth has not stopped.  Stonegate is now at capacity.  Pleasant View Elementary has nearly 800 students.  Boone Meadow is now open to 200 students, and this number will be growing very soon.

Misunderstood, however, is that our current financial crisis has nothing to do with the building projects.  The state’s change from largely supporting schools through property tax to a system based on sales tax — at the same time as our largest recession of my lifetime — coupled with tax caps and the state’s mid-cycle budget slash all create a time of dire need in the schools.  It’s not about managing growth or supporting largesse, it’s about keeping programs that are essential to children’s educational experiences.  It’s about keeping foreign language.  It’s about keeping art.  It’s about keeping music.  It’s about keeping health, PE and industrial technology.  It’s about keeping class sizes below 40.  It’s about providing our students (your children and my children) the well-rounded education they need and deserve, and to do it in an environment conducive to them receiving it well.

I fear that the prevailing thought is that the situation is not as dire as it is made out to be.  This is a game of chicken that no one wins.  The schools that we have come to know cannot survive without an operating referendum win.  It is that simple. 

I know that my family was drawn to Zionsville because of the schools.  I suspect that your family may have been, too.  As I’ve proven through the image above, the schools were used to sell homes in a time of rapid growth.  Here’s hoping they’re not sold out on election day.  Please vote YES for the ZCS operating referendum on November 2.

I sometimes find myself feeling conflicted about issues within the educational realm, and such is the case as we begin the 2010-2011 cycle.  You see, Zionsville Community Schools have made news as one of the fortunate corporations that has not cut teachers as it navigates the waters of economic downsizing.  Truth be told, ZCS faculty, Zionsville residents and our students’ parents are proud of that fact.  Unfortunately, this fact only reveals part of the story.  Whether to reveal the other part is where my internal conflict begins.

You see, I happen to believe that we employees are given a job to do, that we should do it well, and, frankly, we should do it with a smile on our faces.  After all, students are watching!  I prefer schools to function like ducks swimming on a lake.  Though we’re paddling furiously under the water, onlookers should just see us gliding across the top.

I also believe in full disclosure and in telling the whole, unvarnished truth.  I feel that if schools expect parents to be valuable partners, then they must be clear about the school’s situation at all times.

Therein lies the dilemma.  ZCS should be proud that no teachers have lost their jobs as the result of our financial limitations.  Parents should be happy about this situation, as well.  But they should also know that the same size school population at ZMS currently has seven fewer teachers than it had two years ago (’08-’09).  

Our reduction in grades 5 and 6 has required us to change the way we are structured, and we no longer have a “homeroom” teacher for each section of students.  Our structure in the past has been similar to that of an elementary school, a fact that made it easier for students to transition to our environment.  While it is incumbent upon us to make this change for students a smooth one, the combination of this structural change and class size averages of 30 make creating a warm, personable environment much more challenging.  Where students once were able to refer to “my teacher,” they are now relegated to “my team.”

The impact has ripples in every aspect of the school.  As silly as it sounds, the change in staffing even restricts our ability to have indoor recess because we must have PE each period in order to have a place for each 5/6 section.  Our librarian now teaches 5th and 6th grade classes making her largely unavailable to 7th and 8th graders.  Our director of student services and athletics will no longer work at ZMS, and the two middle schools will share an athletic director — a move that will suitably cover both athletic programs, but leaves us without significant support in managing student behavior and our facility.  ZMS has two fewer secretaries and 3 fewer instructional assistants since 2008.  It is fair to say that we have pinched in nearly every area.

Having said all of that, it is my hope that the children of ZMS and their parents don’t even notice that these things have happened.  It is our job to make certain that every deficit is covered, that personal care trumps structural deficiencies, and that larger class sizes do not impact our interest in open-ended, higher-order assessments despite their time-consuming nature.

I want this school to glide on the top of the water.  I want you to think, “What’s the big deal?” but I want you to know that there is one.