july/august 2009 msba journal magazine

MINNESOTA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION

July-August 2009 Volume 62, No. 1

Community-Driven Boundary ChangesMotivating Others Will Help You on the Board

MSBA Student Scholarship Winners

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2 MSBA JOURNAL

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Property, Inland Marine, and CrimeWorkers’ Compensation

School Leaders’ Legal LiabilityAutomobile

Group Term LifeLong-Term Disability

General LiabilityExcess Liability

The purpose of MSBA Insurance Trust(MSBAIT) is “to provide for its membersand their employees and officials various formsof insurance, including any forms of permittedgroup insurance, for the benefit of school districts which are members of the MSBA andto effectuate cost savings in the procurementand administration of such programs.”

To learn more about MSBAIT, visitwww.msbait.org.

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Denise [email protected]

Amy Fullenkamp-Taylor [email protected]

John Sylvester [email protected]

Contact:

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JULY/AUGUST 2009 3

CONTENTS JU

LY/AUGUST

2009 VOLUME 62, NUMBER 1

Calendar

Articles

Divisions

COMMUNITY-DRIVEN BOUNDARY CHANGES

Barbara Brown, Dave Bernhardson, and Mike Vogel

BOUNDARY CHANGE THE WOODSTOCK WAY

Bruce Lombard

STUDENTS GO ABOVE AND BEYOND WITHBOARD WORK TO WIN MSBA SCHOLARSHIP

Greg Abbott and Bruce Lombard

16MOTIVATING OTHERS WILL HELP YOU GETTHINGS DONE ON YOUR BOARD

Dr. Alan Zimmerman

20TRANSFORMING WHITE LIGHT INTORAINBOWS: SEGMENTATION STRATEGIES FORSUCCESSFUL SCHOOL TAX ELECTIONS

J. Bradford Senden, Ph.D., and Don E. Lifto, Ph.D.

22

COLORING REFERENDUM FUNDS FORACCOUNTABILITY

Michael Bauman

26

12

8

STRAIGHT TALK

Bob Meeks, MSBA Executive Director

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Jackie Magnuson, MSBA President

ASK MSBA

Amy Taylor, Associate Director of Management Services,3065

J U LY 2 0 0 93 .............Independence Day Observed

(no meetings)4 .............Independence Day (no meetings)

AU G U S T 2 0 0 912 ...........MSBA Board of Directors’ Meeting12 ...........Minnesota School District Liquid Asset

Fund Plus Meeting12 ...........MSBA Insurance Trust Meeting12 ...........MSBA Phase I & II Combination12 ...........MSBA Summer Seminar Early Birds13–14 .....MSBA Summer Seminar

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 97 .............Labor Day (no meetings)9 .............MSBA Fall Area Meetings10 ...........MSBA Fall Area Meetings11 ...........MSBA Fall Area Meetings15 ...........Primary Election (if required – no

meetings or activities 6 p.m.–8 p.m.)16 ...........MSBA Fall Area Meetings17 ...........MSBA Fall Area Meetings18 ...........MSBA Fall Area Meetings27–29 .....MASA Fall Conference30 ...........Last Day for Submitting Legislative

Resolutions

O C T O B E R 2 0 0 91–2 .........MAEOP Conference4–5 .........MSBA Board of Directors’ Meeting5 .............MSBA Insurance Trust Annual Meeting12 ...........Columbus Day Observed (no meetings

unless declared not a holiday)15–16 .....Education Minnesota Conference

C O R R E C T I O N SThe article “Passing a Referendum Against AllOdds” in the May/June Journal was written byJennifer Griffin-Wiesner of Yes281 RobbinsdaleArea Schools.

The MSBA Journal thanksthe students of Seven HillsClassical Academy and theHouston School District forsharing their art with us inthis issue.

COVER ART: Isabel Stokes ofSeven Hills Classical Academy.

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4 MSBA JOURNAL

Quotes of Note captures some of the more interesting statements MSBA staff have read in local, state and national publications.

The idea of everyoneneeding to pass theGRAD test“The idea thateveryone in societyhas to be a rocketscientist is ridiculous.If everybody is arocket scientist, whois going to build therockets?” St. Louis County School

Counselor Joan Kjorsvig

Dealing with H1N1flu outbreak“We have aresponsibility not onlykeep to our kids safe,but to keep our kidscalm.” Sauk Rapids-Rice

Superintendent

Greg Vandal

Setting funding priorities“Education is about planning for the future andfor the future of our state. If education of ourkids is a top priority like the constitution says,then maybe it is more important than someother areas.”Minnetonka Superintendent Dennis Peterson

Mayoral appointments to the school board“What if the next guy is a mayor you don’t like?What if it’s somebody that’s not supportive, andwhat does that really do for kids?” Chairman of the Minneapolis school board Tom Madden

Cuts to school police liaisons“They’re not just here when we have a crisis.They’re here every day. They’re not just the law,either. They’re a mentor and a friend, sostudents can go to them when they have aproblem.”Mankato East Principal Shane Beier

Trying to heal divisions on a split board“The only difference in our case is that we haveabsolutely no choice but to put Humpty Dumptyback together again. Because if we don't, ourstudents will pay the consequence."Rochester Superintendent Romain Dallemand

OFFICERS

President: Jackie Magnuson, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan

DISTRICT DIRECTORS

District 1: Mary Kleis, AustinDistrict 2: Kent Thiesse,

Lake Crystal Wellcome MemorialDistrict 3: Daniel Zimansky, Tracy AreaDistrict 4: Carol Bomben, Eden PrairieDistrict 5: Marilynn Forsberg, Spring Lake ParkDistrict 6: Rolf Parsons, White Bear LakeDistrict 7: Roz Peterson, LakevilleDistrict 8: Elona Street-Stewart, St. PaulDistrict 9: Karen Kirschner, MoraDistrict 10: Nancy Dashner, Frazee-VergasDistrict 11: Walter Hautala, Mesabi EastDistrict 12: Gary Lee, Fertile-Beltrami

STAFF

Bob Meeks:Executive DirectorBarbara Lynn:Executive Assistant/Director of Board OperationsJohn Sylvester:Deputy Executive Director/Membership ServicesTiffany Rodning:Deputy Executive Director/Association ServicesBob Lowe:Associate Deputy Director/Membership ServicesGreg Abbott:Director of CommunicationsDenise Drill:Director of Financial/MSBAIT ServicesAmy Fullenkamp-Taylor:Associate Director of Management ServicesSandy Gundlach:Director of Management ServicesBill Kautt:Associate Director of Management ServicesGrace Keliher:Director of Governmental RelationsKatie Klanderud:Director of Board DevelopmentBruce Lombard:Associate Director of CommunicationsKelly Martell:Director of TechnologyCathy Miller:Director of Legal and Policy ServicesSue Munsterman:MSBA AdvertisingKirk Schneidawind:Associate Director of Governmental RelationsMike Torkelson:Elections/Management Services Specialist

The MSBA Journal (USPS 352-220) is publishedbimonthly by the Minnesota School BoardsAssociation, 1900 West Jefferson Avenue, St.Peter, Minnesota 56082. Telephone 507-934-2450.Entered as Third Class matter at St. Peter,Minnesota, permit No. 6. Call MSBA office forsubscription rates. (Opinions expressed in theJournal are those of the writers and do notnecessarily represent MSBA policy.)

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SBob Meeks

MSBA Executive Director

A school boardthat receives up-to-dateinformation oneducation issues, a school boardthat visits withmembers fromother schoolboards, and aschool board thatlooks beyond thedistrict boundariesfor answers tocompelling issuesis the school boardyou all should doyour best to copy.

Summertime means the officetelephones and computers are on aslower pace than during the school year,and this gives me a chance to reflect andthink about various issues. Let me sharesome of that thinking with you on thiswarm summer day.

In times of tight budgets, trainingbecomes even more important. First ofall, with all due respect, when you lookat your district’s budget and schoolboard training requirements, don’t beshort-sighted! A school board thatreceives up-to-date information oneducation issues, a school board thatvisits with members from other schoolboards, and a school board that looksbeyond the district boundaries foranswers to compelling issues is theschool board you all should do your bestto copy.

A friend of mine who serves on a schoolboard told me that their board haddecided that they needed to trim theirbudget for school board memberattendance at training sessions andother school board-related meetings. Saywhat? During hard times some believe itis advantageous to stop you and othermembers on your board from learningall you can about issues facing yourboard? Don’t be foolish! Now is the timeyou should be making sure EVERYboard member on your board attendsrelated training offered by your MSBA.

The old adage of penny wise and poundfoolish fits in this case. Spend therevenue necessary to learn how best toaddress tough financial times so that youcontinue to be able to offer the bestpossible education to your students—our future—given the demands of doingmore with less.

A new way for you to help set MSBA’sagenda. Along the same line, MSBA’sBoard of Directors asked themembership to change the process forselection of MSBA Delegate Assemblymembers. At the business session of the2009 MSBA Leadership Conference, the

membership voted to approve the MSBABoard-recommended process. So nowour work is cut out for us. We need youto seriously consider becoming amember of the MSBA DelegateAssembly. MSBA GovernmentalRelations staff Grace and Kirk will soonbe communicating with each of you,asking you to submit your name as afuture member of the DelegateAssembly. We will elect DelegateAssembly members by mail for the firsttime in our history. This should open upDelegate Assembly membership to manyof you who found it difficult—due totiming, distance, and/or conflicts—toattend your Fall Area Meeting.

Once you are a Delegate Assemblymember, I assure you that you will quicklydecide that it is something you will want tocontinue to be. Take a chance and submityour name or have another member ofyour board submit your name. Trust me,as your former chief lobbyist and yourcurrent executive director; it is a decisionyou will not regret.

MSBA shares the pain of memberdistricts with staff, pay freeze. Anotherissue to share with you is the recentaction by your MSBA Board of Directors.As with you and your school districtbudget, the MSBA Board is watchingevery dollar in our budget. This year theMSBA Board voted to freeze MSBA staffcompensation at last year’s level and tonot fill two vacancies on the staff. I lookat this as strong leadership by the Board.I have a saying that I have usednumerous times (some say way toonumerous): “You can only spend a dollaronce;” and the MSBA Board chose tospend the dollars the Associationreceives to strengthen our programs andservices at a time when you need themrather than put the current dollars intostaffing. I agree and so do the othermembers of your MSBA staff.

It’s summertime and the living is easy,but your work/our work continues as weall strive to make the decisions necessaryto prepare Minnesota’s public schoolstudents for the rest of their lives. Keepup the good work. I look forward toseeing you soon at the various MSBAtraining/board education opportunities,and I hope you get some time to reflectand think about issues important to youon these hot summer days and nights.

JULY/AUGUST 2009 5

STRAIGHTTALKSUMMER IS A GOOD TIME

TO GET INVOLVEDWITH YOUR MSBA

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6 MSBA JOURNAL

PRESIDENT’S COLUMNSTUDENT SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS GETFIRST-HAND LOOK AT COMPLEXITY OF

BEING ON THE BOARD

TThe ultimate test of any school board isto find out if your work is really helpingstudents. And who better to give youthat feedback than students themselves?About 80 of Minnesota’s 340 schooldistricts want that student input at theboard table and have a designatedstudent school board member.

It’s a trend that is catching on indistricts, and it is something yourMSBA wants to encourage. That’s whywe started the MSBA School BoardMember Scholarship this year torecognize students who participate asex-officio members of their board.

Cambridge-Isanti High School studentKendra Lynn and Hopkins HighSchool student Ethan Lang were thewinners of a $3,000 scholarship each. Acommittee of five from the MSBABoard of Directors had the dauntingtask of poring over 35 applications topick two students.

And it wasn’t easy. These students hadschool activity lists pages long—notcounting all the community servicethey do. Getting to see the applicationsfrom these students made me feel veryhappy for the future of our state. Thesekids are going to make a hugedifference in this state, just as theycontributed to the success of their localschool districts.

The wonderful thing about having astudent school board member is that itgives these students an appreciation ofboard work and what it means to servein any public capacity at the locallevel—city, school or county. It alsobenefits boards to have that directfeedback with their most importantcustomer—the student.

As the committee of board membersfrom around the state found out,boards use student members in variousways. Some pick one student per yearto sit at the table and be the liaison tothe Student Council. Some largerdistricts have a student member fromeach of two or three high schools.Some districts rotate students eachsemester. But what all of them had incommon was that by the time studentsleft the job as ex-officio members, theyhad a huge appreciation of thecomplex issues facing all boards acrossthe state.

Ethan Lang talked about how hard itwas to sit in on discussions aboutgetting Hopkins out of StatutoryOperating Debt by closing a school andmaking other drastic cuts. It was aprocess that was a significant learningexperience for him.

Kendra Lynn got involved on the issueof block scheduling being proposed atthe Cambridge-Isanti board. Shesurveyed 90 percent of the students atthe school to get their input for thenext board meeting—information thatwas vital for the board’s decision.

Their stories are featured in this issueof the Journal. But all of the otherstudents should also be recognized fortheir dedication and work as studentschool board members. We hope tocontinue our scholarship program formany years, and we also hope toencourage other boards to give thestudent board member model a try. Ifcustomer service is No. 1, there’s nobetter way to get feedback than havinga customer at the table.

If customerservice is No. 1, there’sno better wayto getfeedback thanhaving acustomer atthe table.

Jackie MagnusonMSBA President

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A8 MSBA JOURNAL

Attendance Boundary Changes with apositive end result? Impossible? Not for adistrict that took the time to work through alengthy, community-driven process thatincluded community members on task forcegroups, while providing unique and frequentinput opportunities prior to final boarddecision.

The South Washington County SchoolDistrict, a suburban school district with16,600 students and 22 schools, carried out acomplete attendance boundary change—witha highly positive outcome. The SouthWashington County School District is still intransition stages to the fall of 2009 when athird high school will open, gradeconfigurations will change, and new

Barbara Brown,Dave Bernhardson,and Mike Vogel

Seven Hills Classical Academy

COMMUNITY-DRIVENBOUNDARY CHANGES

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JULY/AUGUST 2009 9

attendance boundary changes and a major change inschool start times will take effect.

The process which began with preliminary conversations inMay of 2007 concluded with a board decision in April of2008. The year since the decision has provided ampleopportunity for a fair appeals process and family awarenessof where their students will attend school in the fall of2009. Ongoing opportunities, communication andcommunity involvement are helping to ensure a successfultransition for approximately 3,000 students.

The district has continued to use the process—in varyingdegrees—to work through school start times and other keydistrict issues.

RESEARCHThe South Washington County School District, under newleadership, in the summer of 2005 began a strategicplanning process that included how best to deal with thegrowth of the student population and also the capacityissues on the east side of the district, while working toprovide new and enhanced learning opportunities forstudents.

The result of the plan and study was a successful bond issue(the largest ever in the State of Minnesota) that wouldconstruct a third high school for the district, among anumber of other improvements at existing high schools.The high schools would become schools that serve studentsin grades 9-12 (currently 10-12), the middle schools wouldbecome schools for students in grades 6-8 (currently 7-9),and the elementary schools would serve K-5 (currently K-6).

It was time for the shift in attendance boundaries to begin.Historically, and common to most school districts,attendance boundary adjustments do not make peoplehappy with their school district. Because the districtrecognizes the importance of full confidence of the public, itwas decided that a change in the process, along withincreased communications, was the key to success. The effortto change boundaries began in the spring of 2007. A detailedreport of the research conducted is outlined in the nextsection.

PLANNING/ANALYSISThroughout the transition of district leadership, strategicplanning and conducting a referendum, communicationvenues and opportunities increased. People were payingclose attention to a district that was beginning to makechanges that many in the community were waiting for. As aresult, frequent opportunities for the public to hear aboutattendance boundaries were planned and carried out.

In addition to the development of a charge statement,objectives and guiding principles, an attendance boundarychange process was developed and became the focus of everyconversation about how the decision was going to be made.

Once the process was in place, the recruitment of abalanced team for each level—elementary, middle and highschool—took place. The high level of interest expressed bycommunity members led to the need for an applicationprocess with final selection of school representatives madeby each school’s site team.

To ensure that anyone who wanted the opportunity toparticipate could, the district formed an “Oversight”Committee for widespread involvement. The committee wasin place to provide checks and balances on each of themaps as they were proposed. As many as 200 peopleattended the “Oversight” Committee meetings. This groupwas also well apprised of the process as they were invited (aswere all community members) to track the process throughupdates via an “Attendance Boundary Update” listserv andthrough the updates on the district’s Web site.

Communication was a priority throughout the process.Every channel known to the community was usedextensively—internally and externally. The immediateaccess to the district facilitators was key for building trustand ensuring accurate, consistent responses. People wereappreciative of direct contact with district leaders asconcerns and changes were proposed.

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10 MSBA JOURNAL

COMMUNITY-DRIVEN

BOUNDARY CHANGES

IMPLEMENTATION/COMMUNICATIONKnowing that one of the major transition issues,district-wide boundary changes, needed to occur in atimely way for students and families to adjust, theprocess of involving the community began inNovember of 2007 and concluded in the spring of2008, more than a full year prior to implementation setfor the first day of school in the fall of 2009.

The process included an intense meeting schedule—with all meetings being open to the public. The openmeetings were carried out in a very professional,open manner for the task force members and for theattendees. The work of the group went on as usualwith those nonmembers listening to conversations. Atthe conclusion of all meetings, those attending wereasked if they wanted to make any comments to thework groups. Frequently, questions were asked andconcerns were shared directly with those drawing theboundaries.

As with other engagement opportunities, includingindividuals who had an agenda allowed for moreadvocates of the decision, as they were quickly able tounderstand the “big picture” needs for the districtand ALL of its students.

As drafts of each of the elementary, middle and highschool plans were brought forward to the community,it became critical to develop a process for communitymembers to share their thoughts about what wasbeing proposed through the Oversight Committee.Past history allowed for an “open microphone”session that didn’t always prove to be productive forthe district. As a result, a team of administratorsdeveloped “input forms” to be filled out by groupsrather than individuals. These forms included therequest to provide “three positive aspects” and also“three concerns raised” with the plan presented.

People were seated at cafeteria-style tables and askedto work in groups of no more than six people tocomplete one form per group. This process wasdifferent for community members, but wasappreciated, as everyone could then provide theirreaction to the plans. Unlike the past whereindividuals may not have chosen to present theirconcerns in front of a group, all individuals were ableto express their thoughts. The district representativesin attendance witnessed a productive dialoguebetween participants that allowed for a heightenedawareness of community-wide challenges associatedwith issues of this magnitude. At the end of theOversight Committee meetings, individual formswere also available should community members wantto add to their group comments.

These Oversight Committee meetings (where arange of 120 to 200 people attended) were organizedwith a full group presentation and then the sharingin small groups. The input forms with the communitymember’s reactions were copied and sharedimmediately with the task force work group to keepthe process on the tight time schedule. Before theend of the same week, the comments were compiledand shared with those who signed up for theOversight Committee, all task force groups, alladministrators, and the School Board.

Between the levels of the task force groups, the“passing of the torch” occurred. Four members fromthe elementary group worked with the middle schoolgroup, two elementary members who served on boththe elementary and middle moved on to the highschool and two middle school members also movedon to the high school. The members continuing atthe next level were able to explain the decision-making on the plans that were forwarded to the nextworking level. This helped the groups to have somecontinuity with the decisions and understanding ofearlier decisions.

Communication in the district has been enhancedand increased since the summer of 2005, under newleadership. As a result, the community was alreadybecoming acclimated to new and more frequentmethods of communication. Full details ofcommunication techniques are included in awardmaterials. The techniques used were key to theprocess and consistently updated as meetings werepublicized, options became available to share,feedback was being requested, and final decisionsand opportunities to react were shared.

EVALUATIONIn January of 2009, final letters of attendanceboundary building assignment were sent to allstudents in the district. This was the ultimate test ofunderstanding, and of the district’s measure of successin having accurate records for where all of thosestudents would be going to school in the fall of 2009.

While members of the Student InformationDepartment felt somewhat inundated with calls, thecount of those calls didn’t exceed 100. In the end,fewer than 100 students (of 16,600) were placedincorrectly, or parents were not satisfied with theoutcome and wanted to know what change could be made.

That low number of calls was truly indicative of a jobwell done for a district that spent many, many hoursplanning and preparing for as painless an outcome aspossible for its students and their families.

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JULY/AUGUST 2009 11

AFTERWARDThrough intensive community engagement and a processthat works hard to manage communication while providingopportunities for involvement, the district has built acommunity that wants and expects to be involved in keydecisions.

As the district moves forward with the attendance boundarychange, a change to a middle school model, school starttime changes and other significantchanges, the process used in attendanceboundaries is used in a similar fashion.If people are paying attention todistrict communications, they areaware of the changes being made andthe reasons for them.

Barbara Brown is the Director ofCommunications, Dave Bernhardson is aPrincipal on Special Assignment andMike Vogel is Assistant to theSuperintendent for Operations. All workfor South Washington County Schools.

Hayley Swartz of Seven Hills Classical Academy

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12 MSBA JOURNAL

Back in 2003, the Woodstock CommunityUnit School District 200 in Illinois wasfaced with an enormous problem: Everyschool in the district was either at or overcapacity, even with the use of 10 mobilebuildings as temporary classrooms.

Woodstock school leaders knew theobvious, practical solution: build moreschools. However, a history of voternegativity and failed school referendumsstood as potential obstacles to fundingany future construction.

School leaders decided to alter the waythey sought input from the community—by making the community part of theprocess.

“We faced significant problems withovercrowding,” said Barbara Banker,Woodstock’s Director of Community

Services. “Traditional problem-solvingmethods were not enough.”

From there, Woodstock moved forwardwith a long, intensive communityengagement process. The boardappointed 60 people to its FacilitiesStudy Task Force. The task force wasdivided into four subgroups. Eachsubgroup would develop its ownproposals and ideas, which would thenbe shared among the other subgroups en route to producing a universalconsensus.

The task force met 19 times during thenext nine months. SchoolTalk200, Part 2of Woodstock’s community engagementplan, was an interactive process designednot only to help the community learnabout the task force’s recommendations,but to allow community input as well.

Bruce Lombard

BOUNDARY CHANGE the Woodstock wayHow an intensivecommunityengagementstrategy helpedone Illinois schooldistrict pass a levyand redistrict 60 percent of itsstudents —without alienatingthe public

Kasha Bryant

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JULY/AUGUST 2009 13

A series of open houses scheduled during the next 10weeks was aggressively promoted through the media, innewspaper letters to the editor, brochures, flyers, postcards,in the district newsletter, and on schools’ marquees. Eachopen house featured a 10-minute video presentation—featuring six members of the task force—explaining therecommendations. In total, 15 open houses were held withmore than 1,800 public participants. The district receivedmore than 11,000 hits on its specially createdSchoolTalk200 Web site.

SchoolTalk2Action was a close cousin to the informativeand successful SchoolTalk200 format. SchoolTalk2Actionincluded another round of open houses, complete with newinformational display boards, and new feedback forms andquestion cards.

An additional 12 open houses and 12 staff meetings wereheld under SchoolTalk2Action. More than 2,400 peopleparticipated and provided feedback in the form of morethan 400 comment forms.

On March 21, 2006, 58 percent of the voters approved the$105 million construction proposal. There was noorganized opposition against the referendum. The victorymarked only the third time in 29 attempts that the schooldistrict passed a referendum on its first attempt.

Though school leaders were thrilled with the referendum’spassage, they knew there was another difficult problem onthe horizon. Boundary changes would be necessary, whichwould require moving more than half of the district’sstudents into different schools.

“Boundary changes are one of the most contentious issuesschool districts and communities face,” Banker said.

Boundary Realignment CommitteeWoodstock continued to utilize the methods it used for itsSchoolTalk200 and SchoolTalk2Action campaigns. Theprimary strategy for disseminating information to thepublic involved more open house meetings, or specificallyin this case, Boundary Feedback Forums.

Woodstock used this new round of forums—five werescheduled over a two-week period—as a way to celebratethe start of new school constructions, explain the boundaryrealignment process, present the proposed planningcriteria, and solicit additional feedback from thecommunity.

The school district also developed yet another new set ofdisplay boards that recapped the entire referendum processand showed what the current district map looked like. Alarge number of students—including all of the studentsfrom the school that closed—had to be reassigned to thenew and existing schools.

One board highlighted the two key components of the

proposed planning criteria—capacity and stability. Underthis plan, no school could exceed its maximum capacity forfour to five years. The district also wanted stability in itsschools in terms of ethnic, income-level and specialprogramming (i.e. special education and bilingualeducation) balance.

“We wanted each school to reflect the diversity in ourcommunity,” Banker said.

But before acting on any of its boundary proposals, theboard once again turned to a community group. This time,it was an appointed 64-member Boundary RealignmentCommittee.

The committee eventually took a formal vote on a proposalthat would redistribute a large percentage of its students.Everyone in the group—including a large number ofparents—voted “yes,” except for one member whoabstained.

The committee took these results back to the communityvia the Boundary Feedback 200 campaign. This led to yetanother round of open houses at each school, where thecommittee’s parent volunteers proved to be extremelyvaluable.

“Having parents advocate our plan in front of other parentswas strong for us,” said Banker.

Along with providing its patented informational displayboards and feedback forms, the district made computersavailable for parents to type in their address to ascertaintheir children’s new school location.

The committee gathered public feedback on the boundarychange issue and took it to the board. The board thenapproved the redistricting plan.

New high school questionsThe school district also had a variety of big decisions tomake over the new high school:

1. How do we fill the school? With one grade at a time (i.e.just freshmen in Year 1, freshmen and sophomores inYear 2, etc.) or use all four grade levels?

2. What do we do about athletic teams? Do we have onecombined team (with the existing high school)? Do wehave two teams? If so, can we be competitive apart?

3. Extracurriculars? Should they be the same at bothschools?

4. Mascot and colors? Who decides?

The district developed a planning committee of 52 people(from 90 applicants) to answer those questions. The districtused ongoing press releases to keep staff, parents and theremainder of the community informed of what was beingdecided.

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The board’s roleThe school board did more than just appointcommittees to do their work for them. The boardmembers were the ones who originally identified theneed for more schools in the face of overcrowding.

Two board members were always present on eachlarge committee. Simply and most importantly, theboard members listened to the community at thesemeetings. Board members listened to everyone, fromstaff to parents, students and beyond—and thenreviewed all of this public comment.

“It was only right to keep (the public) informed; thiswas not the case of just a school board dictating,” saidPaul Meyer, president of the Woodstock SchoolBoard. “(The entire process) was labor-intensive andtime-consuming but very rewarding. This addscredibility to the board and gives us a higher level oftrust within the community.”

Lessons learnedSuperintendent Ellyn A. Wrzeski said their model ofcommunity engagement was “a great process for us.”

Wrzeski said the collaborative process, whilesuccessful, can be challenging for school leaders.

“You have to learn a new way of dealing with yourselfbecause superintendents and board members like tobe in charge,” Wrzeski said.

Wrzeski also noted that parents and other communityvolunteers have to remain objective. “You have to stepback and take yourself out of your own personalsituation.”

Wrzeski preferred the direct approach with thepublic. “I’d rather have the community take potshotsto my face (in a group meeting) rather than outside,”she said.

“We moved 60 percent of our students without anypublic outcry,” Wrzeski added. “The days of asuperintendent and school board making unilateraldecisions are over. Today we have a more informed,questioning and interested public.”

Bruce Lombard is the Associate Director of Communicationsfor MSBA. He attended the Woodstock Community UnitSchool District presentation at the National School BoardsAssociation Leadership Conference. Woodstock is locatedapproximately 60 miles northwest of Chicago and has 6,800prekindergarten through 12th-grade students. For moreinformation about Woodstock, visit their Web site atwww.woodstockschools.org.

14 MSBA JOURNAL

Key “must-haves” for community engagement:1. Large representation.2. A clear mission: First meeting was to define what we are doing;

no special interest; just good for all students.3. Well-defined expectations and operating procedures.4. True dialogue and meaningful discussion.5. A focus on finding common ground.6. Decisions by consensus.

Lessons learned from public engagement1. Public engagement is time-consuming

(from start to finish, the entire campaign conducted 209 public meetings).2. You need a strong commitment from everyone.3. It can’t occur overnight; it is not an easy fix.4. A comprehensive timeline is “absolutely critical.”

BOUN

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382860_JulAug_09:_ 6/18/09 9:26 AM

JULY/AUGUST 2009 15

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CCambridge-Isanti’s student school board member, Kendra Lynn, came on tothe board right as the district was looking at changes to classroom scheduling.Board member Dan Fosse wanted student input on a block scheduling plan,and he thought Kendra was the best person to gather the input.

She took the assignment and ran. In one week, she gathered input from 90 percent of the students (1,200 students) in the high school, worked withthe school principal to pull the information together in a summary andpresented the comments to the board the next week.

“I realized I wasn’t the only student concerned with the education in ourbuilding, and it was uplifting to know that students desire to use their voice topromote better education for our community,” she said.

Greg Abbott and Bruce Lombard

Students go above andbeyond with board work to

win MSBA Scholarship

“Being on the school board has inspired me to be a politicalscience teacher or an education administrator…as either aprincipal or superintendent.”

382860_JulAug_09:_ 6/18/09 9:30 AM

JULY/AUGUST 2009 17

Ethan Lang has always made a big impression on theHopkins School Board—even prior to his three-year run as astudent school board member.

Hopkins School Board member Sandy Forster recallsmeeting Lang at a school function when he was a ninth-grader. While most ninth-graders are just trying toacademically and socially survive their freshman year in highschool, Forster said Lang was already showing great interestin the intricacies of how a school board operates. Forsterwas immediately impressed with Lang’s self-confidence andmaturity.

Lang’s interest in the school board didn’t wane as asophomore, when he took his place as the one of theboard’s student representatives.

Asked why he chose to serve on the school board, Langanswered: “The school board has a lot of responsibility. Itwas truly something special for me. I wanted to be that voice(for students) and felt I could do it and contribute.”

Lynn and Lang were named the MSBA Student SchoolBoard Member scholarship winners this year. Each willreceive a $3,000 scholarship to pay for college costs this fall.

Lang said he was amazed about the variety and breadth ofissues—ranging from equity issues to transportation andcurriculum—that school board members had to know.

“There are just so many things to cover,” Lang said. “Youhave to be an expert on all those different fields. Our school

board members know so much. They really are experts in somany fields of education…it’s a huge job with a lot ofresponsibilities.”

Lang was seated with the board members as an equal andgiven a say on everything. He presided over a lot of toughissues and situations during his three years of service. Langnoted the most difficult challenge the board faced duringhis tenure: recovering from statutory operating debt, whichled to closing an elementary school and the redistricting ofstudents.

“It was a very emotionally charged issue that affected somany families,” he said.

The student representative saw firsthand how toughdecisions are made by a school board in the face of adevastated community. Lang said this situation provided asignificant learning opportunity for him.

“The right decision is not always the popular one,” Langwrote in his MSBA scholarship application essay. “Butdiligent analysis and genuine intent to come up with thebest possible result is the only way to make a difficultdecision.”

Lang had high praise for the board’s conduct in the face ofadversity.

“Each board member takes their job seriously and they lookfor the best in every situation,” Lang said. “They look forwhat is best for the entire community.”

“Wherever I end up, I’ll be there to help outin my community in some way. If it’s being onthe local school board, I’ll be all the happier.”

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18 MSBA JOURNAL

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ipLynn tackled changes in policy toward prom,attended several committee meetings and did workoutside the board room. In the process, she gained awhole new perspective on what school boards do andhow they reach decisions.

Growing up, she said, she had negative feelings andbiases about why the board cut certain things anddidn’t fund other areas. But after being on the boardand finding out how the complex system of fundingfor schools works, she now knows where thosenegative feelings should be directed.

“I tell my classmates that those feelings should bedirected at the state, not the board,” she said. “Forfunding, there’s limits on what funds they can use andhow much money the state puts in each fund.”

Like many of the student school board applicants,Lynn is involved in many extracurricular activities—speech, band, choir, math league, honor society andmore. Those are the programs that are usually first ona school district’s chopping block when cuts comedown from the state.

But Lynn defends extracurriculars as some of the bestprograms a school could offer to students. She saidthat when you look at success, studies have been doneto try to link high grade point average to success ortest scores to success. None of those are goodpredictors. “But studies that track kids who areinvolved in co-curriculars show a pattern of success.Part of the reason these kids have high GPAs isbecause they are involved.”

Lang singled out the influence of Hopkinssuperintendent Dr. John Schultz on his school days.“Dr. Schultz has been a huge mentor and inspirationto me. I only hope to be half the man that he is.”

Lang’s laundry list of accomplishments is impressive.While too long to list in its entirety, here are somehighlights: president of the student government,student commissioner of the City of MinnetonkaBoards & Commissions for Economic DevelopmentAuthority, a delegate to the 2008 DFL State SenateNominating Convention, a member of the highschool choir, captain of the boys varsity swim team, ayouth mentor, and a homecoming king candidate.

Lang will attend Boston University this fall. He has acouple of career options in mind.

“Being on the school board has inspired me to be apolitical science teacher or an educationadministrator…as either a principal orsuperintendent,” he said.

MSBA Executive Director Bob Meeks said Lang was“very deserving” of MSBA’s Student School BoardMember Scholarship. Carol Bomben, an MSBA boarddirector, said “Ethan is a wonderful example of what astudent school board member can do.”

Lang said he would “definitely” like to return to theschool board table some day, preferably “after collegeand when I have kids.”

But Forster, who spoke glowingly of Lang in a farewellsendoff during his final school board meeting on May21, has even higher expectations for him. “Some day Iexpect to hear him addressed as ‘Chair Lang’…then‘Senator Lang’ and then ‘President Lang.’”

Lynn is involved in a group called the Link Crew,which links upperclassmen to 10 freshman students asa mentor. She keeps in contact with them throughoutthe year, invites them to movies or social events. “It’smore of a way to give freshman students a sense ofbelonging.”

She likes the idea of helping other students, just asthe outgoing student board member helped her andinspired her to run for the position. “He did a lot ofwork organizing students at the capital about funding.He gave me a notebook with tips and pointers foraddressing the board. I had big shoes to fill.”

MSBA Board President Jackie Magnuson said Lynnwill also leave big shoes to fill. “I expect to GoogleKendra’s name in a few years and see a long list of heraccomplishments. She really is an outstanding studentand board member.”

Lynn said she does have big dreams. “But wherever Iend up, I’ll be there to help out in my community insome way. If it’s being on the local school board, I’llbe all the happier.”

Lang reflects on his time on the Hopkins SchoolBoard with immense satisfaction.

“I had a voice on the school board,” he said. “I was anoutlet for students and the community. I also servedon the strategic planning committee that will helpshape the course of the district for years to come.”

“I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.”

Greg Abbott and Bruce Lombard work for MSBA’sCommunications department. You can reach them [email protected] or [email protected].

382860_JulAug_09:_ 6/18/09 9:33 AM

JULY/AUGUST 2009 19

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CComedian Rodney Dangerfield always said he “got norespect.” In fact, it was so bad that his wife wouldn’tlet him be in their wedding photographs.

Now that’s bad. But it’s nothing new. About ahundred years ago, one of the founding fathers ofpsychology, Dr. William James, wrote, “The deepestcraving in human nature is to be appreciated.”

How true! And I would even say this craving is sodeep and so broad, that very few of us ever getenough. The need for appreciation, recognition, andrespect is almost always there—waiting to be satisfied.

The reason is quite simple. People are usually moreconcerned with getting their recognition needs metthan meeting the recognition needs of others.

However, if you take the time to extend appreciation,to help others satisfy this deepest of all psychologicalcravings, you will have power. You will have the powerto positively influence them.

So how do you extend appreciation? I’ll talk about allthe details at MSBA’s Summer Seminar. But in themeantime, here are a few tips to get you started:

BE CREDIBLE. If you’ve seldom had a kindword for anyone, sudden lavish expressions ofappreciation will cause suspicion. People doubtdramatic conversions.

Start with a single compliment. Then share anotherone a few days later. If you slowly increase thefrequency of your praise, your friends and colleaguesare more likely to believe and accept yourappreciation.

BE SPECIFIC. General statements such as“You’re wonderful...super...neat...great” are too vagueto be fully effective. People will wonder if you’re “justsaying it” or if you really mean it. And they’ll neverknow for sure what you are referring to.

I can remember back to my days of being a collegestudent. I would work and work and work on a paperfor a professor. But when I got it back, if it only had a

Motivating others will help you get thingsdone on your board

Dr. Alan Zimmerman

Emily Hegland

Jacob Hongerholt

382860_JulAug_09:_ 6/18/09 9:34 AM

general comment like “Good job,” even if I got an “A” I feltcheated. There was nothing specific to hold on to or build from.

Your appreciation is much more effective when it’s specific.Tell the other board member exactly what you like abouthim. Or tell her precisely what was so good about herdecision-making. Your specificity tells the other personyou’ve taken the time to think about what you’re saying,and he or she is much more likely to internalize the praise.

COMMENT ONIMPROVEMENT.Nothing is more demoralizing thanto have others ignore theimprovements we have made. Weneed to know that they have noticed.

Let’s say, for example, that after yougive the superintendent aperformance review, you ask him orher to make some improvements,and he or she agrees to do so.

As soon as he makes a step in thatdirection, you’ve got to comment. Ifyou wait until the next formaldiscussion, which may be six weeksor six months, you both lose. Hefigures you didn’t notice so whyshould he bother to improve. You’vegot to comment on improvement assoon as you see it.

GIVE PUBLICCOMMENDATIONS.One-on-one private praisings are notnearly as effective as those done inpublic. As a superintendent orboard member, you could sharesome appreciation at an employeemeeting, or allow an employee to bepresent when you are telling yourboard about the employee’s success.

PUT IT IN WRITING.Even though face-to-faceappreciation is wonderful, sometimesit can be even more powerful to putyour comments on paper. Take threeminutes from your schedule. Write out four or fivesentences—handwritten, not e-mail—and send them to theperson.

I find that employees and co-workers keep those notes for along, long time. Somehow they know it takes a bit moretime and effort to compose a note than make a comment,and that makes your appreciation all the more special.

I’ll never forget the impact one of my notes had. Toencourage one of my college students years ago, I wrotehim a note that said: “I enjoy having you in class. I like yourjokes and stories. You make class more fun.”

Then I went on to write the following, because he seemedto be struggling a bit in my class. I wrote, “I think you’ll beokay in college. Don’t give up. You have my support.”

Seventeen years later, a man hollered out to me at LoganAirport in Boston. He said, “Dr. Zimmerman, I want tothank you for your note. It changed my life.”

Of course I wondered, “What note?” I had forgotten.

He pulled out of his wallet a ragged piece of paper, my notefrom 17 years before. He said, “Youdon’t know this, but my parentstold me I was too stupid for college.And I was scared when I startedbecause I had never done well inschool. Then you wrote me thenote. Whenever I’ve felt insecurethe last number of years, I’ve takenout your note and read it again. I’llbet I’ve read your note a thousandtimes.”

I thought, “Wow! A single notemotivated someone to achieve hisgoals for years and years.” So I hopeyou’re putting your praise inwriting once in a while.

USE RELAYEDPOSITIVES. When you hear someone compliment anotherindividual, pass on the compliment.Give it to the appropriateindividual. It always feels good toknow that others are talking aboutyou in a positive way.

TURN NEGATIVESINTO POSITIVES.You can almost always find a way toturn destructive criticism intoconstructive praise. Instead of saying,“It took you 5 years to graduate.What was your problem?” -- Youcould say, “You stuck it out. Noteveryone would have done that.”

When you take the time and makethe effort to extend sincere, timely

appreciation, you create the perfect win-win situation. Theother person feels great receiving your appreciation, andyou feel great for giving it. And the atmosphere is positivelycharged for greater amounts of cooperation andproductivity.

Dr. Alan Zimmerman is an educator, trainer and consultant whohas done extensive work with companies on how to motivate staff.He is one of the keynote speakers for MSBA’s Summer SeminarAug. 13-14 at the Northland Inn in Brooklyn Park.

JULY/AUGUST 2009 21

When you take thetime and make the

effort to extendsincere, timely

appreciation, youcreate the perfectwin-win situation.

Jacob Hongerholt

382860_JulAug_09:_ 6/18/09 9:34 AM

22 MSBA JOURNAL

Transforming WhiteLight into Rainbows:

Segmentation Strategiesfor Successful School Tax Elections

Carlie Von Arx Emily Tschumper Krista Himlie

IIn the late 1600s, British physicist Sir IsaacNewton first demonstrated refraction anddispersion in a triangular prism. Hediscovered that a prism could decomposewhite light into a spectrum. Translation?Hold a prism up to the light at the correctangle and white light magically splits intovivid colors of the rainbow!

So what do prisms and rainbows have to dowith winning school tax elections? More thanyou think.

The science of preparing for a school taxelection begins with the development of anannotated voter file, which is the rawmaterial that serves as the campaign’sfoundation. In the context of elections, theindividual registered voter is the white lightof Newton’s experiment. File annotation isthe process of merging other public andpurchased databases and electronically

“marking” segments or characteristics of theunderlying registered voter file. Once thisprocess has been completed, the fullcomplement of annotations serves as anelectoral prism, allowing the campaign toachieve a rainbow of segmentation coding.

In a well-planned and well-executed taxelection, these resulting data are thecampaign’s most important resource in votersurveys, canvassing, communications, andget-out-the-vote efforts. How far to probe thecolors of the rainbow in segmentation codingand microtargeting is a strategy decision withcost and precision implications.

Colors of the RainbowThe amount of information in a voter filevaries significantly from state to state. At aminimum, a voter file includes the name and

J. Bradford Senden, Ph.D.,and Don E. Lifto, Ph.D.

382860_JulAug_09:_ 6/18/09 9:34 AM

JULY/AUGUST 2009 23

Miriam Pleye Torie Ask Will McManimon

residential address of the voters in the school district, aswell as some information about how often each has voted inthe past. In most states, the voter file also includesinformation about voters’ ages and when they firstregistered to vote.

Building on this foundation, we identify gender accordingto the first name of each voter (which works well except forgender-neutral names like Pat), and ethnicity, if relevant,based on his or her last name. Finally, in most schoolreferenda, the name and residential address are matchedwith school district data to identify parents.

Residential addresses can also be used to gather a greatdeal more information for the voter file by matchingaddresses in the registered voter file with commerciallyavailable databases. These can include homeowner status(renters vs. owners), length at residence, individual andhousehold income, and education level. Depending on theballot issue, files can be annotated according tocharacteristics, such as hunting or fishing licenses, donationhistory, or membership in community groups.

The most sophisticated level of final annotation is thecoding of each household by its demographic and lifestylecharacteristics. A number of these file segmentation systemsare available. The one we have applied to the art andscience of winning school finance elections assigns eachhousehold to 1 of 66 different demographic groups. Itallows us to code a file so that voters can be assigned to 1 of14 social groups and to 1 of 11 life stage groups.

All this may sound Orwellian, but it serves a very simplepurpose as a school district prepares for an operating orfacility referendum. When combined with the results of ascientific random sample survey, all the annotations addedto a voter file allow for the development of moresophisticated data analyses with regard to measuring publicopinion of subgroups and more precise targeting within thevoting population.

More importantly, microtargets can be developed withinthose voter target groups, allowing for very focusedcommunications and voter contact in support of the ballotproposal.

A Case StudyAn example will help illustrate how we can apply thesetools. Recently, one of our school district clients waspreparing to place a general obligation bond on the ballot.Because it was a California client, the proposal had to winat least a 55 percent majority on election day.

The district presented two specific challenges: (1) it was alarge district with a voting population of 88,000 and (2) itwas a high school district, serving only the families ofstudents in grades 9 through 12. As such, it had no way toidentify elementary and middle school parents in the voterfile even though those parents would vote in thereferendum.

To address these challenges, we had the file annotated withconsumer information and information from the filesegmentation system. As part of the effort to develop aninitial target structure for a bond campaign, we also hadthe voter files of three other districts fully annotated. Thosedistricts had been on the ballot previously. Each had wonvoter approval for a general obligation bond. For each, theresults of an extensive telephone canvass of the votingpopulation by the citizens’ campaign launched in supportof the district’s proposal were available, as was informationconcerning who actually participated in the election.

Each of those previous elections allowed us to drill downinto the annotations added to the file to identify thedemographic characteristics that most successfullypredicted participation and support for the school proposalon election day. Within the file segmentation system

382860_JulAug_09:_ 6/18/09 9:34 AM

24 MSBA JOURNAL

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s:annotation, we were able to identify three veryimportant groups: (1) the parent population, (2) thepopulation of voters whose children had allgraduated but were still apparently very willing tosupport a school tax proposal, and, most importantly,(3) the segment of this population that seemedunwilling to support any proposal the district mightplace on the ballot.

By deconstructing these earlier elections, the citizens’committee could build a target structure for the highschool district’s bond campaign. Using the results oftwo scientific surveys, these targets were tested andrefined.

Finally, the citizens campaigning in support of thebond were ready to send out their first piece of directmail. Instead of facing the prospect of a mailing to88,000 voters, they prepared to contact 27,000targeted households. After this mailing, they began atelephone canvass of these voters. The results of thefirst two nights of calling allowed us to use thecommercial annotations in the file to further refinethe target population and reduce the size and cost ofcampaign mailings. The end result? A resounding 68percent win.

Research to PracticeThe opening stanza in Lagaya Evans’s poem “TheRainbow” is,

The rainbow of colors So merry and bright Eachcolor has a purpose Even black and white.

It is the third line—“Each color has a purpose”—thatreinforces the vital importance of effective voter filedevelopment at the foundation of school tax electionplanning.

In the context of school tax elections, having apurpose is manifested through the process ofexpanding and annotating the registered voter file.The data can later be separated into a rainbow ofsegmentation coding to support the key functions ofthe campaign: surveying, canvassing, communicating,and getting out the vote.

Going forward, conducting these campaign activitiesat a high level will be essential as baby boomers getolder and the percentage of registered voters withschool-age children continues to shrink.

Like Sir Isaac Newton, school leaders will need to usecampaign prisms to separate voters into demographicgroups. Once that has been accomplished, supportfor the proposal can be measured and the likelihoodof different demographic groups participating in the

referendum can be determined. These essential stepsprovide the foundation for effective microtargeting,communications, getting out the vote, and a winningcampaign.

J. Bradford Senden, Ph.D., is the managing partner of theCenter for Community Opinion based in San Ramon,California. For the past 19 years, he has been directlyinvolved in hundreds of school bond and tax campaignsthroughout California and across the country. E-mail:[email protected].

Don E. Lifto, Ph.D., is a senior vice president withSpringsted, Inc., a St. Paul–based independent financialadvisory firm for school districts, cities, colleges, andcounties. He previously served as a public schoolsuperintendent in rural, suburban, and intermediatedistricts in Minnesota. E-mail: [email protected].

This article originally appeared in the May 2009 SchoolBusiness Affairs magazine and is reprinted withpermission of the Association of School Business OfficialsInternational (ASBO). The text herein does not necessarilyrepresent the views or policies of ASBO International, anduse of this imprint does not imply any endorsement orrecognition by ASBO International and its officers oraffiliates.

Ya-Chih Cheng

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“Coloring Referendum Fundsfor Accountability”

EEnsuring continued goodwill among taxpayers towardpublic schools means being accountable for the moneywith which the district is entrusted. In 2006, St. Paul PublicSchools told residents that if they supported theirreferendum the district would in turn spend the money aspromised, hold itself accountable, and report the district’sprogress on a regular basis. The goal was to institutionalizetransparency in order to uphold the community’sconfidence and support.

Add to this that a few years earlier St. Paul moved to a site-based management system that allows its 70 schools todetermine a large part of their budgets. With suchdecentralization, it was critical that the district respectedthe schools’ autonomy, but still assisted them in makingsound budget decisions that fell in line with state andfederal mandates, and the referendum promise.

With the successful passage of the referendum and thefunds a reality, our business office set about developing abudget tool to hold schools accountable for their use ofreferendum dollars. After conducting several exploratorymeetings with principals, a system was devised that onlyallows schools to budget within the constraints of thereferendum-approved programs: continuing dollars fromthe 2002 referendum; four-year-old kindergarten program;all-day kindergarten; and secondary math and science.The schools were not allowed to reallocate these fundsoutside of any of these four programs.

“The process came to be known as coloring the money, inreference to the budget spreadsheet’s color-coding foraccountability: green designates a valid code and opencell, while red indicates an invalid code and blocked cell,”explains Lois Rockney, the retired chief budget officerwho helped devise the system. At a glance, principalscould tell how and where they could spend theirreferendum dollars.

Before being sent to the principals, the spreadsheets areautomatically loaded with the schools’ individual totalbudget dollars. Within the spreadsheet, separateworksheet tabs are devoted to the referendum and Title Ifunding respectively. So that principals do not need to re-enter these numbers, the sums are automatically appliedto the main worksheet, which also contains the school’sbudget overview that includes general, compensatory andintegration funds. At the top of the worksheet theamounts budgeted in these various pots are automaticallysubtracted from the allocation and a running total is

prominently displayed to ensure a balanced budget. Inother words, any time principals put money in one fundthe spreadsheet shows how much money is left, allowingthem to redistribute resources among the categories untilthey are balanced.

To minimize confusion and questions, mandatory trainingon the new budget spreadsheet was provided to principals,staff and site councils. Within nine weeks of receiving theirbudgets, principals were able to meet with their sitecouncils and complete the budget spreadsheet, thensubmit it electronically to the business office. Businessoffice staff were amazed at how quickly the principals tookto the new system and are happy to report that theprincipals have loved having such a clear and easybudgeting tool.

The spreadsheet is especially useful in engenderingtransparency at the school level. Its simplicity helps sitecouncils (composed of school staff, parents andcommunity members) more easily understand theconstraints that principals face when they have to maketough budgeting decisions.

“The budget worksheet dazzles them because it’s sosimple,” says Melissa McCollor, veteran principal ofNokomis Montessori Magnet School. “It’s a big gift to beable to be that transparent as you’re making changes inthe school’s programs.” Principals like McCollor see thebudget spreadsheet as an opportunity to inform thecommunity what restrictions they have to juggle as theywork to stretch the budget to meet program needs andparents’ wishes. In turn, regular outreach efforts like thishelp principals build and maintain credibility in theirschool community.

By understanding that the budget spreadsheet can alsofunction as a communication tool, along with other effortslike the annual report and state of the district address, thedistrict stands to benefit in the long run. Inevitably thedistrict will have to again turn to the voters for theirsupport, but by keeping their constituency well informedabout how their taxes are being spent, the nextreferendum campaign may not be so daunting.

Michael Baumann is chief financial officer of Saint Paul PublicSchools, 360 Colborne St., St. Paul, MN 55102. E-mail:[email protected]

Michael Bauman

382860_JulAug_09:_ 6/18/09 9:34 AM

JULY/AUGUST 2009 27

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ActuaryHildi Incorporated(Jill Urdahl)11800 Singletree Lane, Suite 305 Minneapolis, MN 55344952-934--5554, Fax [email protected]

Van Iwaarden Associates(Jim Van Iwaarden)10 South Fifth Street, Suite 840Minneapolis, MN 55402-1010612-596-5960, Fax [email protected]

Architects/Engineers/Facility PlannersArchitects Rego & Youngquist, Inc.(Paul Youngquist)7601 Wayzata Blvd., Suite 200St. Louis Park, MN 55426952-544-8941, Fax [email protected]

ATS&RPlanners/Architects/Engineers(Paul W. Erickson)8501 Golden Valley Rd., Suite 300Minneapolis, MN 55427763-545-3731, 800-545-3731Fax [email protected]

Cuningham Group Architecture, P.A.(Judith Hoskens)201 Main Street SE, Suite 325Minneapolis, MN 55414612-379-3400, Fax [email protected]

DLR Group(Troy W. Miller)520 Nicollet Mall, Suite 200Minneapolis, MN 55402612-977-3500, Fax [email protected]

Foss Architecture & Interiors, Inc. (Robert Ames)PO Box 306Moorhead, MN 56560218-236-1202, Fax [email protected]

INSPEC, INC.(Fred King)5801 Duluth St.Minneapolis, MN 55422763-546-3434, Fax [email protected]

Perkins + Will(Ted Rozeboom)84 10th Street S., Suite 200Minneapolis, MN 55403612-851-5000, Fax [email protected]

TSP, Inc.(Rick Wessling)18707 Old Excelsior Blvd.Minnetonka, MN 55345952-474-3291, Fax [email protected]

Wold Architects and Engineers(Scott McQueen)305 St. Peter StreetSt. Paul, MN 55102651-227-7773, Fax [email protected]

AttorneysAdams, Rizzi & Sween, P.A.(Steven T. Rizzi, Jr.)300 First Street NWAustin, MN 55912507-433-7394, 877-443-2914Fax: [email protected]

Kennedy & Graven Chartered(Gloria Blaine Olsen)200 South Sixth Street, Suite 470Minneapolis, MN 55402612-337-9300, Fax [email protected]

Knutson, Flynn & Deans, P.A.(Thomas S. Deans)1155 Centre Pointe Dr., Suite 10Mendota Heights, MN 55120651-222-2811, Fax [email protected]

Pemberton, Sorlie, Rufer & Kershner, PLLP(Mike Rengel)110 N. MillFergus Falls, MN 56537218-736-5493, Fax [email protected]

Ratwik, Roszak & Maloney, P.A.(Robin D. Paterni)730 Second Ave. S.300 U.S. Trust Bldg.Minneapolis, MN 55402612-339-0060, Fax [email protected]

Construction Mgmt. & ProductsBossardt Corporation(John Bossardt)8300 Norman Center Drive, Suite 770Minneapolis, MN 55437952-831-5408 or 800-290-0119Fax [email protected]

Donlar Construction Company(Jon Kainz)2277 W. Highway 36, Suite 210WRoseville, MN 55113651-227-0631, Fax [email protected]

Kraus-Anderson Construction Co.(Mark Kotten)PO Box 158Circle Pines, MN 55014763-786-7711, Fax [email protected]

National Safe Surfacing Initiative, LLC(Shannon Godwin/Tim Mahoney)PO Box 506Carlisle, IA 50047866-345-6774, Fax: [email protected]@nssi-usa.com

R. A. Morton and Associates(Becky Fulton)3315 Roosevelt Road, Suite 100St. Cloud, MN 56301320-251-0262, Fax [email protected]

Wells Concrete Products Company(Spencer Kubat)835 Highway 109 NEWells, MN 56097800-658-7049, Fax [email protected]

Educational Programs/Services Minnesota State Academies for the Deaf and Blind(Linda Mitchell)615 Olof Hanson Dr.PO Box 308Faribault, MN 55021-0308800-657-3996/507-384-6602Fax [email protected]

Electrical & Communications, Service & Construction Peoples Electric Company(Dean Larson)277 East Fillmore AvenueSt. Paul, MN [email protected]

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)The Sand Creek Group, Ltd.(Joan Sirotiak)610 N. Main Street, #200Stillwater, MN 55082651-430-3383, Fax [email protected]

Energy SolutionsJohnson Controls, Inc.(Arif Quraishi)2605 Fernbrook Lane N.Plymouth, MN 55447763-585-5148, Fax [email protected]

28 MSBA JOURNAL

MSBA’s Vendor Directory helps connect school districts with the products and services they need. The directory is always at yourfingertips. You’ll find it printed in the back of every Journal magazine as well as on the MSBA Web site at www.mnmsba.org.Most listings in the Web version of this directory include a link so you can head instantly to a Web site or e-mail address. Thedirectory includes everything you need to know to contact a company quickly—phone numbers, fax numbers and addresses—inan easy-to-read format. If you have a service or product you would like included in this directory, please contact SueMunsterman at 507-934-2450 or [email protected].

MSBA’s VENDOR DIRECTORY

382860_JulAug_09:_ 6/18/09 9:34 AM

Environmental ConsultantsMississippi Headwaters Chapter,USGBC(Sheri Brezinka/Jennifer Tuttle)5353 Wayzata Boulevard, Suite 207Minneapolis, MN 55416Brezinka: 952-564-3068Tuttle: [email protected]@kke.com

Financial ManagementPaySchools(Patrick Ricci)6000 Grand Ave.Des Moines, IA 50312281-545-1957, Fax: [email protected]

PFM Asset Management, LLC -MSDLAF+(Donn Hanson)45 South 7th Street, Suite 2800Minneapolis, MN 55402612-371-3720, Fax [email protected]

Sunergi, Inc.(Jodie Zesbaugh)900 Long Lake Road, Suite 220St. Paul, MN 55112651-633-2223, Fax 651-633-2229www.sunergi.com [email protected]

Fire and SecurityPeoples Electric Company(Sheldon Crabtree)277 East Fillmore AvenueSt. Paul, MN [email protected]

Food Service Products & ServicesLunchtime Solutions, Inc.(Chris Goeb)PO Box 2022North Sioux City, SD 57049605-235-0939, Fax 605-235-0942www.lunchtimesolutions.com [email protected]

InsuranceMinnesota School BoardsAssociation Insurance Trust(MSBAIT)(Denise Drill, John Sylvester)1900 West Jefferson AvenueSt. Peter, MN 56082-3015800-324-4459, Fax 507-931-1515www.mnmsba.org [email protected]@mnmsba.org

Playground EquipmentNational Safe Surfacing Initiative, LLC(Shannon Godwin/Tim Mahoney)PO Box 506Carlisle, IA 50047866-345-6774, Fax: [email protected]@nssi-usa.com

Public FinanceWells Fargo Public Finance(Pam Lang and Mary Webster) 608 Second Ave. S. - 10th Floor;MAC: N9303-105Minneapolis, MN 55479Lang: 605-341-9945/800-267-1262Webster: 612-667-3110Fax 605-341-7696www.wellsfargo.com/publicfinance [email protected]@wellsfargo.com

RoofingFour Seasons Energy EfficientRoofing, Inc.(Darrell Schaapveld) 410 Quant Ave. NorthMarine on St.Croix, MN 55047651-433-2443, Fax [email protected]

School Supplies/FurnitureCorporate Express, a Staples Company(Michael Teetzel)1233 W. County Road EArden Hills, MN 55112651-234-4036, Fax [email protected]

Software SystemsSkyward, Inc.868 3rd Street South, Suite 101Waite Park, MN 56387800-236-7274www.skyward.com

Sunergi, Inc.(Jodie Zesbaugh)900 Long Lake Road, Suite 220St. Paul, MN 55112651-633-2223, Fax 651-633-2229www.sunergi.com [email protected]

TechnologySunergi, Inc.(Jodie Zesbaugh)900 Long Lake Road, Suite 220St. Paul, MN 55112651-633-2223, Fax [email protected]

Technology EducationPaySchools(Patrick Ricci)6000 Grand Ave.Des Moines, IA 50312281-545-1957, Fax: [email protected]

Temperature Control & Building AutomationSystem One Control/Peoples Electric Company(Bill Gausman)277 East Fillmore AvenueSt. Paul, MN [email protected]

TransportationHoglund Bus Co., Inc.(Jason Anderson)116 East Oakwood DrivePO Box 249Monticello, MN 55362763-295-5119, Fax [email protected]

Minnesota School Bus OperatorsAssociation(Shelly Jonas)10606 Hemlock St. NWAnnandale, MN 55302320-274-8313, Fax [email protected]

Superior Transit Sales, LLC(Todd Telin)14995 Industry AvenuePO Box 10Becker, MN 55308763-262-3328, Fax [email protected]

JULY/AUGUST 2009 29

MINNESOTA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION

July-August 2008 Volume 61, No. 1

Named

2009 Best PrintPublication

by the Minnesota SchoolPublic Relations Association

Cited for“Comprehensive Coverage”“Impressive Student Artwork”

Brought to you byYOUR MSBA

382860_JulAug_09:_ 6/18/09 9:35 AM

DAmy Taylor

Associate Director ofManagement Services

30 MSBA JOURNAL

ASKMSBAUnrequested Leave of Absence

Due to great financial limitations, manyschool districts have gone through theprocess of placing teachers onunrequested leave of absence (ULA).Now that the end of the school year hascome and gone and the legislative dusthas settled, MSBA is starting to receiveinquiries about the process of“recalling/reinstating” teachers on ULA.

Q. The district currently has teacherson ULA for 1.0 FTE, and, due to aresignation, retirement, etc., a vacancyfor 1.0 FTE now exists for theupcoming school year. What should thedistrict do?

Below is a list of steps that districtadministrators should take:

• review the “realignment” and“reinstatement” language in theirteachers’ Master Agreements;*

• review and update the “ReinstatementList” as needed—a model list can befound in the MSBA Service Manual,Chapter 13, page N-44;

• have their school boards take actionon the “Resolution AnnouncingAvailability of Positions”—a copy ofthis resolution can be found in theMSBA Service Manual, Chapter 13,page N-45;

• prepare and send the “Notice ofAvailability of Positions” to theteacher who is qualified, properlylicensed, and has reinstatementrights to the identified position, perthe requirements identified in theteachers’ Master Agreement—a copyof this notice can be found in theMSBA Service Manual, Chapter 13,page N-46;

• prepare and send the “Notice ofProposed Reinstatement” to allteachers currently on ULA—a copyof this notice can be found in theMSBA Service Manual, Chapter 13,page N-47;

• prepare and present the reinstatedteacher with a new individual teachercontract—a model contract can befound in the MSBA Service Manual,Chapter 3, page 58.

*If seniority tie-breaker language hasnot been negotiated and included inthe teachers’ Master Agreement, theschool board should take action on the“Resolution Providing Basis forDifferentiation in Cases of EqualSeniority for Purposes of Reinstatementfrom Unrequested Leave”—a copy ofthis resolution can be found in theMSBA Service Manual, Chapter 13, pageN-48. As an aside, M.S. 122A.40, Subd.11, states that tie-breaker language is“negotiable;” therefore, MSBArecommends that districts try tonegotiate the language from the MSBAModel Agreement (ARTICLE XIV, Section3., Subd. 5.). This language providesdistricts with the discretion to establishtie-breaker criteria that are beneficialto the districts (i.e. performance,training, skills in special assignments,etc.). In addition, absent negotiatedlanguage that limits teachers’ bumpingrights, districts are required to “realign”senior teachers holding multiplelicenses to save less senior teachersboth at the time of lay-off and also inorder to recall them from ULA.Therefore, MSBA recommends thatdistricts negotiate the language fromthe MSBA Model Agreement (ARTICLEXIV, Section 4). Doing so will benefit 1)management by limiting “bumpingrights” and by eliminating theobligation to realign teachers both atthe time of lay-off and also in order torecall them from ULA; 2) seniorteachers because they will not have toworry about being realigned into asubject area in which they have nottaught for years (or their entirecareers); and 3) students because theywill have the most qualified teacherpossible in the classroom.

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JULY/AUGUST 2009 31

AdvertisersWells Fargo Public Finance ...........................................Page 2

MSBAIT...........................................................................Page 2

Mississippi Headwaters Chapter, USGBC ....................Page 7

Knutson, Flynn & Deans, P.A. .......................................Page 7

BoardBook....................................................................Page 15

Skyward, Inc..................................................................Page 15

Ratwik, Roszak & Maloney, P.A. .................................Page 19

DLR Group ...................................................................Page 25

Kennedy & Graven Chartered ....................................Page 25

ATS&R ..........................................................................Page 27

MSDLAF+ .....................................................................Page 27

MSBA Board Training..................................................Page 32

Eric and Elizabeth Een of Seven Hills Classical Academy

Q. The district currently has a teacher on ULA for 1.0 FTE, and due to increased student enrollment, a.5 FTE vacancy now exists for the upcoming schoolyear. What should the district do?

The district should follow the steps listed above. Inaddition, in this scenario, the reinstated teacherwould remain on ULA for .5 FTE. As an aside, MSBArecommends that districts place teachers on ULA foronly those portions of their positions that are beingeliminated versus placing them on ULA for 100 percent of their positions. By doing so, districtsgain some control over the ULA process, and teacherscontinue to receive some pay and benefits. Forexample, if a teacher’s 1.0 FTE position was reducedby .5 FTE and he/she was placed on ULA for 100 percent of his/her position, he/she could refusethe remaining .5 FTE position and still have recallrights up to a full 1.0 FTE position for which he/sheis qualified and licensed. However, if a teacher isplaced on ULA for .5 FTE of his/her position, he/shewould retain .5 FTE of his/her position. Then, if theteacher did not want the remaining .5 FTE position,he/she would have to resign from it, and, byresigning, the teacher would now only be entitled torecall from ULA for up to a .5 FTE position for whichhe/she is qualified and licensed. In addition, by theteacher resigning his/her position, he/she hascreated a vacancy for which he/she is qualified andlicensed. Depending on the language in the MasterAgreement, if the teacher is offered and declines the.5 FTE vacancy he/she created, he/she may no longerhave any recall rights.

Q. A teacher on ULA did not accept the availableposition the district offered him/her. Does theteacher’s action mean he/she has resigned and nolonger has recall/reinstatement rights?

Unfortunately, many districts do not have language intheir teachers’ Master Agreements that specificallyaddresses this issue. If the Master Agreement is silentregarding this issue, the teacher would remain onULA and maintain his/her recall rights for up to fiveyears. Therefore, MSBA recommends that districts tryto negotiate the language from the MSBA ModelAgreement (ARTICLE XIV, Section 6., Subd. 3.). Thislanguage is beneficial because it clearly states that ateacher who fails to accept the position in writingwithin the specified period of time shall forfeithis/her future reinstatement and employment rights,thus eliminating the district’s obligation.

382860_JulAug_09:_ 6/18/09 9:35 AM

1900 West Jefferson Avenue, St. Peter, MN 56082-3015

NON-PROFIT ORGN.

U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 47

MANKATO, MN 56001

MSBA is here to serve YOU...

CUSTOMIZED TRAINING PROGRAMSIN YOUR BOARD ROOM

Customized trainings that are designed to build strong leadership teams with clearly established roles and expectations:

Contact: Katie Klanderud, Director of Board Development

• Goal Setting,• Building Mutual Expectations,• School Board Self Evaluations,• 16 Tenets of Effective Board-Superintendent Relationships, and more.

Minnesota School Boards Association1900 West Jefferson Avenue

St. Peter, MN 56082800-324-4459; fax 507-931-1515

www.mnmsba.org

Katie Klanderud

MSBA’s mission is to support, promote, and enhance the work of public school boards.

382860_JulAug_09:_ 6/18/09 9:35 AM

july/august 2009 msba journal magazine

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