In a letter February 18, 2007 my fellow board member stated that district expenditures have decreased 12.2 million from FY 05 to 06. What she failed to mention was most of that amount were one time unusual expenditures in '05 that gave the appearance of a savings in 06. When you do the prudent factual studies using 5 or more years data, you find a mere $500,000 in actual savings for the same period a 12.2 savings was claimed. This is an unbelievingly irresponsible claim at a time when people are struggling to keep their homes and put food on the table. $4.9 million of this can be attributed to the payment on principal for outstanding notes and $6.8 million was expended in "other" with the disclaimer that it was charged off to correct mistakes made by the former administration, both highly unusual occurrences. She called on the people to learn some facts, so there's some facts. Want more?
While we are prudent with our money in most of our buildings, we currently have one building that is the 6th highest per pupil expenditures in all of Summit County. And that buildings' performance index dropped 2.5 points over the last 5 years.
Our current administration is on the right track and deserves credit for making great strides in getting our finances back on track and district operations running smoothly. But I cannot sit back and say nothing when my hometown newspaper prints statements from an elected official that in my humble opinion should be used in the Merriam-Websters Dictionary to define spin.
Kellie Patterson
Board of Education
Cuyahoga Falls City SD