Lower the school tax in Ft. Thomas

[tom]

I support public education, but since the district has plenty of money to spend on non educational luxuries, maybe it is time to lower the tax rate.

[TeeBee]

What non educational luxuries are you talking about?

[subway girl]

Educate me here, would the school tax be included in the city tax they take out of my paycheck? That amount is high and I wonder always where it goes.

[tax man]

subway girl wrote:

Educate me here, would the school tax be included in the city tax they take out of my paycheck? That amount is high and I wonder always where it goes.

The taxes that are taken out of your check , 7.5% is FICA , 1% county , 1.25 city , federal and state are income taxes based on the amount you make. As far as school taxes they come from tax bills based on the value of your home , car , boat , ect. There is also small amounts of school tax that come from services like phone , cable , electric , water , insurance all based on amount. Sorry you can't blame the school for taxes taken out of your paycheck.

[hhs is best]

The schools need all the funds they can get. They are the cornerstone of this community.With the decreasing funds we are getting from the state,lowering the tax rate is ludicrus.Also ,what are the luxuries that you speak of? Extra cirricular activities are vital for creating well rounded adults.a Also,don't forget an excellant school system has a direct bearing on your property value.

[Tom]

HHS, there is no correlation between how much money a school system spends and its' performance.
Cincinnati public schools spend more that $10,000 per child per year compared to our approx.$5000/yr. And look at their performance. Examples of this are evident all around this state and the country. More money does not equal better performance. I am not talking about cutting actual educational costs, just the wasted money.

Luxuries- How about $300,000 on 3 chefs for the middle/high school? Does school food really need to be that good? Most of the kids just leave to go to town for lunch anyway-

Luxury-a new elementary school for a part of town with a declining population, and enrollment that has been going down for years- Woodfill- when a single large elementary school would be more cost effecient. Once they finally get this thing built, they'll have to redistrict again just to get enough kids to fill it. That is ridiculous and wasteful. Pretty soon kids that live within sight of Moyer will be attending the new Woodfill.

Luxury- Far, far too many non-educational employees, just walk into the district office- who are all those people walking around in circles? Are they all necessary? How many of those jobs could be consolidated, or eliminated outright? How many of those jobs exist for the sole purpose of employing someone's relative?

[nky1993]

Tom--there is a correlation between how much money a school system spends and it's performance. Just because you are a teacher doesn't mean you know how to get the most out of your students.
I don't know about $300,000 on three chefs for the middle/high school, but the only students that are allowed to leave the school grounds are high school students.

Woodfill, this school does not have a declining enrollment. The 2008-2009 school year had so many new kindergarden students they had to have two all day kindergarden classes and two 1/2 day kindergarden classes. That doesn't sound like a declining enrollment to me. Also, can you imagine the nightmare it would be to have just one elementary school in the district? These students need to be taken to school and picked up after school, not all have the luxury of stay at home moms/dads to walk to school and get them. Moyer gets all the "tution" students as well. Just a few weeks ago there was an article in the newspaper talking about how enrollment was up at Moyer. Send the tuition students to Woodfill instead of Moyer or even split them between the two school. Woodfill gets the developmentally disabled children and it's been like that for decades. There is a need for a new school on the south end of town. I am sure if you lived on the southside and had to travel to the northside to get your child to school you may have a different opinion too.

As far as the non-educational employees...do you know what their rolls are? How do you know they aren't necessary? There are also may people that volunteer at that office as well as all the schools in the district.

Unfortunatly CPS does not have the intellegence to use that money wisely. Everytime you turn around you hear about someone on their school board or in their offices embezzeling money. Let's not compare apple to oranges here.

[FTT]

What about the money that the school uses to pay the superintendent's retirement and his education to finish his degree?

[nky1992]

Never heard that before

[Tom]

Seems to me that traveling 2,3 miles to a centrally located elementary school would not be a big deal.? Lots of people travel a lot longer than that to their kids to school?

Not sure about K enrollment, but the last redistrict was to prop up attendance at Woodfill.

And one of the reasons the Woodfill project was put off for so long is that the enrollment was so low, that the state did not consider it a vaible investment.

And 1. The superintendant should not have been hired if he was not qualified.
2. He should pay for his own education.

[nky1993]

Tom- Yes many of people travel a further to school, but you don't have 1000 people (or more) trying to get to one spot at the same time.(ie: centrally located elem. school) Have you driven up Grand Ave at 3:00 when Moyer lets out? It's a nightmare with all that traffic, how about when the high school and middle school dismisses? Again, another nightmare. Fort Thomas is more or less land locked and there isn't any space for such new buildings. I am sure they would have torn down the old schools to have one HUGE school, but again, it would have been a traffic nightmare...if not dangerous.

One reason the Woodfill project was put off was due to construction companies bidding on the project. The district wanted to go with the lowest bid and so you had a bidding war.

I agree...if the superintendant wasn't qualified he shouldn't have been hired. If he wants to further his education then good for him! Also there are programs call tuition reimbursement.

[Tom]

There is plenty of room behind Moyer. School owned room. And if that is not enough, eminent domain the swim club. Add some new roads, do it right, not the way we are doing it now.
Connect to Mayfield-
Connect to the back of the Newman dr. area through the park-

There are lots of options that do not include building a superflous elementary school in a dying area of town. Especially when 1 possibly both of the other elementary schools need to be replaced.

But that is off track- that is a fight that has been lost.

What needs to happen is this currnet un qualified, spend happy Superintendant needs to go, along with a few school board members, and we need to cut some of the silly spending.

[FTT]

He should have had his degree completed BEFORE he was hired. No other sup would be hired that way in any other school district. But in Fort Thomas, its who you know sometimes.

[mamaberl in fort thomas]

FTT wrote:

He should have had his degree completed BEFORE he was hired. No other sup would be hired that way in any other school district. But in Fort Thomas, its who you know sometimes.

sometimes?????

[nky1993]

FTT wrote:

He should have had his degree completed BEFORE he was hired. No other sup would be hired that way in any other school district. But in Fort Thomas, its who you know sometimes.

His degree was completed...this is what is called FURTHERING your education.

[FTT]

No, his degree is NOT completed. His PhD is NOT completed. Have you ever noticed how he is referred to? He is not a Doctor, which is required of most schools for a Sup.

You can further your education, obviously nky1993--but to a certified Sup, its a PhD. I know.

[Williamson is a rat]

FTT is absolutely correct on this issue! I was shocked when this occurred without uproar...guess it was because it was well hidden.
The requirements for the job were (and are) a PhD...the board wanted Williamson so the
"overlooked" his lack of qualifications.
Oh yeah....the also agreed to pay for his education so that he would eventually become qualified.
My question...why is Williamson SO much more valuable than every other teacher?(of course you know that teachers are required to continue their education on their own dime)
Williamson weazeled his way into the sup. job by backstabbing Stinson & poisoning the board against him.
He then went on to hire his former college roommate to principal @ Johnson and later hired his buddy to principal @ the highschool.
Sneaky. Shady. Deceptive. Unprofessional.

[Williamson is a rat]

Oh, forgot to mention...
The extra expenses that people are debating - how about Williamson re-doing the entire board office paint/furniture/ carpet etc.

Also paying hundreds to a prof. photographer to take pics of students and then hundreds to have them matted and framed.

I won't even start on his catering bill!

[nky1993]

Thanks to all for making me and others aware of the issues going on. I was no aware of the no PHD. You know there will always be expenses that everyone does not agree on.

I do know one think is the pricipal at the high school is qualified, but didn't know he was buds w/Williamson.

Also, there is always cover up issues in every town, large or small.

The taxes are high in the city, but I am proud of my city and the schools.

[FTT]

I am a graduate of the Fort Thomas school system and my children are presently in it. I am proud of my education at these schools, but I don't like what is going on with the superintendent. I don't like some of the changes he has made and there seems no one that can stop him, make him FINISH his degree, or curb some of the spending. Its quite sad and frustrating, but there appears little that can be done. Its not like you can vote out a Sup.

The principal at HHS is certified/qualified--but keep in mind he used to work at the Main office with Williamson, so its not surprising that Williamson hired him as the new principal at HHS. The principal at HHS a nice person and I believe quite competent and will probably do well, but I do not think they interviewed anyone else for the position--as they did for the Sup position.