A mob of 100 parents and teachers flooded the auditorium at Rod Kelley Elementary School Tuesday demanding answers straight from the mouths of those in charge as to why Gilroy Unified School District is so deep in financial peril, and how they plan to emerge from it without jeopardizing the classroom.
“Sounds like not much is changing,” said Bill Mongar, parent of a third- and fifth-grader at Rod Kelley, when he stepped up to the microphone. “It all sounds like rhetoric and excuses.”
GUSD’s financial problems came to a crux in December when the Santa Clara County Office of Education swooped in and took control because of problems with fiscal oversight, administrative errors, missed payments and a remarkably high staff turnover coming from the district’s business office.
In a letter to GUSD dated Jan. 23, the SCCOE wrote they were “concerned about the district’s overall deficient fiscal oversight, state of turmoil in both managerial and staff-level positions, and a lack of accountability in the district’s ability to effectively manage its finances.”
Parents at Tuesday’s meeting carried copies of that letter and quoted from it in front of Superintendent Debbie Flores.
“I’m flabbergasted,” Mongar said. “Whoever is in charge, what were you doing when these people weren’t doing their jobs?”
Flores listened to the accusations from parents and took responsibility for the errors made by her staff, but insisted that the district plans to regain financial control by June and that in the meantime, upcoming cuts will have “very little impact” on the classroom.
“A lot of us are looking for accountability, and we feel frustrated because we don’t think anything is going to change,” said Christine West, parent of Rod Kelley third- and fifth-graders.
“You’ll just have to trust me for awhile,” Flores responded. “I’ve been literally micromanaging the business office, and I’ve never had to do that before. But I’m not going to take a chance.”
Flores said the district has cleaned house of those who were not doing their jobs and replaced them with competent, enthusiastic financial managers.
Not everyone at the meeting bought the idea that the financial crisis at GUSD hasn’t affected the classroom – including one third grade teacher, Jennifer Evans, who complained that she is in dire need of “basic supplies.”
“Please don’t tell them it doesn’t affect the classroom, it does affect the classroom,” Evans said to a thunder of applause.
The meeting was planned after members of Rod Kelley’s active Parent Club showed up at a recent school board meeting demanding answers. Flores and the Parent Club decided that a meeting held at the elementary school would be the best way to address the questions.
Flores, in a 20-minute slideshow, presented the basics of the district’s fiscal crisis, blaming much of it on the state’s own money problems.
California has, for several years now, continued to defer a certain amount of school funding by rolling it back to the next fiscal year. For GUSD, this equates to 30 percent of its operating funds.
Then there is the Proposition 30 fund debacle. When the ballot measure passed in November and GUSD believed they had $11 million in funds coming their way, the district – as previously agreed upon during June 2012 negotiations with the Gilroy Teacher’s Association – immediately reinstated the 10 furlough days approved by the Board of Education in the event Prop 30 didn’t pass.
What they didn’t know is that the funds from Prop 30 wouldn’t trickle in until June 2013.
To rectify the cash flow problem, the district received a $3.8 million loan from the county for operating expenses and borrowed internally against its capital facilities fund.
“This is not how you run a business,” said Terri Hendrix, parent to fifth- and second-graders.
GUSD board trustee Jaime Rosso grew vexed and responded to that statement, his voice thick with emotion.
“We are doing the best we can with the money we have,” he said.
Melissa Avila-Carroll, Treasurer of the Parent Club at Rod Kelley, said that despite what the district maintains, children have been directly affected by GUSD’s mismanagement. She used the example of the recent threats to cancel second- and fourth-grade field trips to Gilroy Gardens Theme Park, before the Gilroy Gardens board stepped in to pay for the transportation for one year to and from the park – a $3,000 expenditure, according to Park Manager Barbara-Lea Granter.
“If the Gilroy Gardens board hadn’t stepped up, it would have affected the classroom,” Avila-Carroll said.
Whenever the mood turned hostile, Flores reminded the crowd that the district is on the same team as parents and teachers.
“We are not enemies,” Flores said. “We are doing this together.”
Promising parents that the worst is over for Gilroy schools, Flores said “the ship has already turned.” She spoke of a brighter future come next school year when the district will regain control of its finances after making the cuts proposed by the SCCOE.
Nimrat Johal, the county’s fiscal advisor who took control of the district, said that she is working on a list of feasible cuts separately from the district. GUSD is also working on a list of potential cuts.
“We will then come together and see where the common ground is. It’s the proverbial two heads are better than one,” Johal said.
Johal would not offer any specifics of what those cuts might be.
After the almost two-hour meeting concluded, parent Christine West felt gratified with how it went.
“I think this opened communication and showed that they are taking this seriously,” West said. “It’s hard for us parents not to get riled up, but I hope that we have more of these get-togethers in the future. I know (the district’s) heart is in the right spot.”
Avila-Carroll piped in.
“Their heart might be right,” she said. “But it’s about getting the job done.”
