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Messages - Scott Lang
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« on: April 02, 2009, 11:40:37 AM »
Hi Everyone,
I heard that this discussion was taking place and would like at least to fill you in on BFA's protocols so you have accurate information. First, it is possible for something like this to happen anywhere. Schools and others can minimize the opportunities and should. The security system at BFA gives us an edge. Our conversations with kids and staff focus on two things. One is that any one of us or them can disable the entire system simply by letting someone in. We spend alot of time talking to kids about that and there are some, who are no longer allowed to be in the building after school because they could not change their behavior regarding letting people in. The other thing we talk about is that it is more likely going to be a parent who is angry or intoxicated or a noncustodial parent that we want to deal with OUTSIDE of the building than any shooter or random perpetrator. Both remote entrances to the middle high school are monitored by camera. When folks are buzzed in, they identify themselves to an administrative assistant and they tell us where they are going, or we direct them to the office. Between the several cameras we can see immediately if they head in a different direction than they said or which we had asked them to go. We also have a response team which will intervene when something is amiss. We communicate with the same equipment that police and fire personnel use and response is just seconds away. Finally, part of our protocol is that classroom doors are supposed to remain locked when students are in the room. We actually did have outsiders assault a student some years back, before the system. We also often dealt with people coming into the building who did not have a good purpose here. Since the implementation of our security system, those situations have virtually been eliminated. We still depend on common sense, communication and prevention.
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« on: January 23, 2009, 03:53:23 PM »
A little more clarification from BFA. The board will hold a special meeting Wednesday night. The administrators have put together a scoffolded and prioritized list of where more cuts could come and what the result will be for the board's consideration - thanks Chris for posting the agenda. At this point, any cuts begin to infringe on what progress we have been trying to make - that is, we will go into a "put off to next year" mode. Since we are in better shape than some other schools, we can probably do that. Someone asked about the impact of budget increases and decreases on the tax rate. Without conducting a workshop on that topic here is a simplified version. The property tax is a statewide tax based on a statewide grand list and the sums of budgets across the state. This is to level the playing field in terms of school funding. The kicker in Fairfax ( and some other places as well) is the Common Level of Appraisal which values similar homes in various parts of the state the same. The CLA will have probably more impact than any budget increase. So, there is not a one to one correspondence between budgets and taxes. Also, the revenue generated by the property tax is only one of the revenue sources for schools. There are federal and state grants, tuition for students from sending towns, special education funds and so forth. One example of how a budget might go up significantly with not much if any effect on tax rates would be a student who needs residential support moving into a small town. The student's tuition for that residential setting might be $100,000. That cost will be offset for the most part be a revenue through special education funding. The school spending plan has to include the cost for the student, so it looks like the local budget is going up a great deal, when in fact, there is a fair amount of flow through revenue. I hope that helps. Feel free to call me if you'd like a more thorough explanation. I think I can say with the confidence of being part of this community in one way or another for over twenty years, that we are all working toward the best possible education at the most reasonable costs. I believe you will find in per pupil costs that we have delivered on that.
Scott Lang, BFA High School Principal
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« on: January 21, 2009, 12:50:26 PM »
Henry, I didn't mean to ignore the Kindergarten question. I think we posted at about the same time and my Tech savvy wasn't good enough to wait for yours. The schoolboard held three meetings when the kindergarten question was on the agenda, and a few other meetings when it came up but was not on the agenda. There was high interest - it really brought people out to the meetings. Ultimately, the board decided to go with the full day model. This isn't something by statute that they would ask the citizens to vote on because it is a curriculum and instruction issue. The three principals gave up some other things in the budget process to support the idea. It is based on good educational practice. The board was aware of the challenge of the timing of this because there is a cost attached. They discussed that angle. We were able to reduce the net cost to approximately $40,000. That is less than we would budget for a new teacher - and this increase is one full time equivalent. There is also another 1FTE addition to the budget. That is in the high school to return the tech ed position we eliminated last year. We all feel the uncertainty of taxes and programs this year. Given the Governor proposals, it really doesn't look any better next year. My piece in the Fairfax News for January explains the program parts of the budget, including Kindergarten.
Scott Lang, BFA High School Principal
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« on: January 20, 2009, 09:37:54 AM »
Here is some factual information about the school budget. I am only posting it so that those who read this space - and thank you Henry for providing this opportunity for the community - will have the facts to make their decision. The phone calling system, called Alert Now - is paid for with a federal grant which supports this kind of service. It can be used to notify by grade level, staff only, by bus route, and it may be used to send reminders about parent conferences, and other important events at school. The cost is $2.50/student and there are about 980 students - so the cost is about $2500. As part of the service, emails, cellphones, etc are contacted. It also saves manpower. The repointing project was done because water was beginning to get into the walls. We did not want to wait until there was mold or there were structural issues to deal with. The project came in at or a little under budget of $150,000. The parking lot was paved - actually it was dug up, a new bed (much needed) was put down followed by the paving. As part of the budget process, the school leaders were guided by the school board wish that any increase be as small as we could make it, while still moving the school forward and being responsive to state and federal mandate. The principals cut $500,000 before the budget even got to the board. Then we went back and cut some more. It is a difficult time economically for our community, state and nation. We all know that and want to be respectful of that. Finally, the governor's plan has many challenges including but not limited to contracts that are in place, town and city charters across Vermont that specify when budgets must be presented and voted, and a state tax rate that still has not been solidly set even though by statute, the administration was supposed to notify communities by December 15 so that school boards would have accurate information in building their budgets. Last word. BFA enrollment is not declining.
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« on: December 19, 2008, 03:50:10 PM »
I would like to add that Seth is as outstanding a human being as he is a remarkable athlete - I wish him luck and will be rooting for 1000.
Scott Lang
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« on: May 01, 2008, 11:58:32 AM »
A quick clarification for the posting - kshmidt - which called the tests "easy" and said that the "school chose it." No on both accounts. The test is very challenging - and may be among the most difficult in the nation. It is built on the standards and grade level expectations in the Vermont Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities. Kids in grades 3 - 8 + eleven spend six days testing in the fall and three more in the spring taking this assessment. The test was designed based on high performance. Three states participate in the NECAP program. The truth is, if we wanted an "easy test" we would have gone to a version of a normed exam the the National Assessment of Educational Progress which lists Vermont Schools as the highest scoring in the nation, instead of a criterion referenced test which demands that all kids achieve the standard. I strongly agree that the school should be accountable to students, parents, taxpayers and community members and we are glad to be so. Finally, under NCLB, states are charged with coming up with the accountability measure. I am glad to live in Vermont where we are not afraid to use a challenging assessment and where we are always about getting better each day and each year. I would be embarrassed to work in states that have chosen less challenging assessments, and still do poorly.
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« on: April 28, 2008, 10:48:17 AM »
Hello Henry and Community Members
I wish there was really a simple way to describe this "Accountability Piece" of No Child Left Behind. I'll give you my simplest take, with a commitment to write in more detail for the June edition of the Fairfax News. First, the results from the statewide test were embargoed until this morning as they were being checked by local schools. There were some issues about counting students who should not have been counted and some other challenges. Here is the short version about what it all means. Schools must meet a target score for their students on this test to achieve Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). They must meet it as a whole and as any identified subgroups that are larger than forty students (the forty number is to preserve confiidentiality within sub groups) and within subtests on the test. Those groups include students from minorities, students who receive free or reduced lunch, students with disabilities, students for whom English isn't their native tongue, and so on. BFA is divided into two schools for this report - k - 8 and high school. The K - 8 part of our school is in the second year of not meeting AYP. The high school was just identified for the first time based on tests given in the fall. Again - the short version is that schools who do not make AYP must put together a plan - we have done that - to address the issues. There is technical assistance provided. After several years in that category, if the school doesn't make sufficient progress, then a higher level sof support and constraints are imposed - locally, we have seen some of that at MVU. But the bottom line is that schools are required to help students perform at higher levels than they are and that they must have plans in place to do so. There is a great deal mopre to it than that but again in the short version, one test given in the fall to all students in grade 3 - 8 and 11 determines whether the school makes AYP. A final note on this attempt, most if not all Vermont Schools with populations over 40 in those sub groups will be on the list for not making AYP within a couple of years. Feel free to call me, Dave buckingham, Tom Walsh or Lisa Delorme for further explanation.
Scott Lang
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« on: November 30, 2005, 10:51:19 AM »
Hi Henry and All,
The website for the Department of Education lists the high school as one unit and the elementary and middle schools as another unit. This is because we receive funding through the federal government called Title 1 funds which we use at the elementary and middle school level, but not at this high school. That is important because one of the sanctions for schools that do not make AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) includes restricting how that money can be used. We are only judged on overall scores, not any of the subgroups that also are indicators. Our sub groups are too small for a reliable sample. We have been working hard on our math and literacy performance for kids and our action plan shows this. The optimist in me says that the acceptable progress is evidence of that work. I also know that it is a fragile slope for all schools. Essentially our target is for all students to achieve or exceed the Vermont Standards which themselves are a very high level target, within ten years. That is the goal of NCLB and AYP. The best and clearest example of that progress is that five years ago, only about 25% of our high school students achieved or exceeded the standards in math. Our latest scores show more than half achieve or exceed the standard - quite an improvement and right on track for AYP. Unfortunately many states (Texas, Florida) have chosen to lower their standards so that more of their students achieve them. In Vermont, we would rather have challenging standards and live with the results of the measures used to judge schools Sorry this is a long answer but the whole thing is pretty complex. I also think you should know that at BFA we know we are accountable (and want to be) for AYP, but we are really working at creating the best possible learning experience for our students. Test scores will take care of themselves if we can do that.
Scott Lang, High School Principal
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« on: February 17, 2005, 07:40:57 AM »
I want to confirm Jackie's observation about the account balance carried forward. In an effort to simplify to a few sentences, I did not include that amount. I can say however that the amount put into revenue from anything that was surplus is then applied against the amount needed to raise taxes. Another interesting math problem we looked at revealed that one way to look at the projected tax rate would be to say that without the increase in the CLA, the tax rate would look very nearly level with last year's rate. I also need to note that there are many ways to slice this complex revenue piece and it would be oversimplifying to say the tax increase is soley the result of CLA. Thanks again Jackie for clarifying my earlier contribution. I hope this is helpful to some voters.
Scott Lang, BFA
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« on: January 28, 2005, 07:48:38 AM »
I hope I can clarify a few things about the budget request. First, the surplus came from unanticipated revenue. The biggest hunk, about half the surplus was from special education reimbursement. That one is hard to predict because it depends on things out of our control, like who might move into the district with a special ed plan that we have to support. We did increase the amount we believe we will get in the budget under consideration. Another big piece came from more students than we projected choosing BFA from sending school districts without high schools. That's a good thing. We were losing students for awhile, but we turned that around the last few years. We added a few in our projections there too. Thirdly, you absolutely could use the surplus to reduce your tax amount. The budget qwould still be up 4.84 percent, but the surplus money would be counted as a revenue and the amount to be raised by taxes would be less. If you want a rough calculation, approximately 90,000 = 1penny on the tax rate. The board decided to give the voters some options on the surplus after holding a hearing to get input on the surplus. Any article that does not get supported by the voters, the amount of surplus will automatically be applied on the taxrate. Last, The school board and the administrators try to be very responsible with taxpayer money. You will notice that our increas is less, in some cases far less than other school districts in the area. We really value the support we have received over the years and will continue to meet the needs of our students while respecting the burden on taxpayers.
Scott Lang, BFA
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