Substitute teachers

[mkr]

RidgeRunner,

"This is how a community should be involved in the school, not by speculating on forums such as this."

It is forums like this that help those who are not at the school daily to gather information and also encourage them to become proactive on issues they are passionate about.  I would not know about this if it wasn't for a closed Facebook group and this forum. 

Food for thought.... No one said it was a done deal.  You seem to have a ton of information except for the reason why they are looking into, but they are definitely doing it with the best intentions.  Like the Select Board for the town, getting information out to the community is important when big changes are occurring.  I suggest the School Board also provide similar information. Not everybody can attend their meetings. I for one am one of them.  It would be nice to have more information on these "BIG" topics on their web sites.  Is there an email where town's people can email them questions and they will respond in a timely fashion? These would be all good ways to eliminate speculation.  I suggest you help be part of the solution and help with getting answers.  I do my best to help when it comes to the Select Board. Maybe you can be the correspondence here for the School Board RidgeRunner.

I am glad to see they are recording the School Board Meetings now and can be watched. Has anyone watched them yet?  Are we able to hear people speak?
http://fairfax-school-board.fwsu.schoolfusion.us/modules/groups/integrated_home.phtml?&gid=2170710&sessionid=0624a746e2d361fa311c904d698de307&t=93383c7eba671fdce1df0e58bd7d885a


~MK

[RidgeRunner]

" I also believe that the administrators are a good group of people who really understand the ins and outs of running a school." Maybe you can explain why the High School principal is being replaced? Heaven forbid that in a free society, filled with technological means of communication,  anyone would dare to speak on a public forum, let alone to each other.

The High School Principal decided to move on by his own decision.  He wasn't replaced or relieved he decided he wanted to do something else. If you want the reasons on why he decided to move on you'll have to ask him. 

[RidgeRunner]

RidgeRunner,

"This is how a community should be involved in the school, not by speculating on forums such as this."

It is forums like this that help those who are not at the school daily to gather information and also encourage them to become proactive on issues they are passionate about.  I would not know about this if it wasn't for a closed Facebook group and this forum. 

Food for thought.... No one said it was a done deal.  You seem to have a ton of information except for the reason why they are looking into, but they are definitely doing it with the best intentions.  Like the Select Board for the town, getting information out to the community is important when big changes are occurring.  I suggest the School Board also provide similar information. Not everybody can attend their meetings. I for one am one of them.  It would be nice to have more information on these "BIG" topics on their web sites.  Is there an email where town's people can email them questions and they will respond in a timely fashion? These would be all good ways to eliminate speculation.  I suggest you help be part of the solution and help with getting answers.  I do my best to help when it comes to the Select Board. Maybe you can be the correspondence here for the School Board RidgeRunner.

I am glad to see they are recording the School Board Meetings now and can be watched. Has anyone watched them yet?  Are we able to hear people speak?
http://fairfax-school-board.fwsu.schoolfusion.us/modules/groups/integrated_home.phtml?&gid=2170710&sessionid=0624a746e2d361fa311c904d698de307&t=93383c7eba671fdce1df0e58bd7d885a


~MK

MK I agree with you these forums could be a great place to informed on what's going on, they can also be a great place to talk people down and push false information,  I have seen good information come through here but I have also seen people push personal agendas as well as speculation that is completly wrong.  I think the board is open to discussing anything with anyone and if you have a concern try emailing the board, the e-mail for the board is fxboard@fwsu.org.

[mkr]

With every form of communication Ridgerunner you have to take the good with the bad.  The good part is people are talking about and they care.  Those who are passionate may not always be able to express their views in the written form as well as others and if you can see thru that I think you will see most people have a common ground.  In this case, what is the best interest of the children and is affordable to the tax payer.

[mkr]

I sent an email. I will let you all know the results. ~MK

[mkr]

Email has been responded to and I will have a response next week to put out there for all to read.

[mkr]

First off, Thank you Jasen for responding so we could get this out to the public.
=========================
My Email to the School Board:
=========================
Good Morning,

I am emailing to ask if I could be provided with some details on the possibility of switching from our existing process for substitute teachers to going with a temp service.  I unfortunately am one who cannot attend your meetings but do care deeply about the children and how processes are modified for them.
 
There have been a lot of talks about it both on my father’s forum (Henry Raymond) and on Facebook.  I would love to be able to post so details as to the cause for the change and what we hope to accomplish.

I know many are concerned for the children with special needs and how the secretaries do a great job with fitting the sub with the appropriate class or student based on their personal knowledge being at the school.

 Another concern is the additional cost to using temp services.

 We have heard from some of the local subs that they would not want to go thru Kelly.

 Parents have also vocalized their desire to keep the local subs. They like keeping our dollars local as well as their chances of knowing the sub.

 Is there a possibility of having the local subs process continue and if additional subs were needed, on the rare occasion, to use the temp services sparingly.

 I appreciate your time and look forward to your responses to allow for the local forums to have information directly from you.

 Mary Kay Raymond

================================
Response From Jasen Boyd From the School Board
================================
Hi Mary Kay,
 
I was hoping to send this out to you last night but ended up running between practices for the boys and just ran out of time.  Sorry for the delay.
 
First off I want to make certain that everyone understands that at this point no decision has been made.  Options are just being explored and cost comparisons being done.
 
The major reason behind exploring this option is due to the American Care Act (ACA) regulations which are being or have been implemented as part of the act.  Under the ACA the BFA would be responsible for paying for health insurance for any sub that works 30 hours or more in one week. As I am sure you are aware the cost of insurance is a large cost and if a mistake in calculations was made this would have large impacts on the budget as well as day to day school operations.  For example we could have someone sub for 15 hours, coach for 10 and perform maintenance in the bus garage.  Currently all of this information is managed by the central office but one failure in communication from one of the sub managers would result a fine of $140,000 for the school due to fines from the government as well as the additional cost of insurance.
 
On top of this Kelly would be responsible for hiring training and tracking sub hours.  As the employer Kelly would be responsible for providing any benefits that may be earned.  Subs who are registered with Kelly would also be available to work in other schools should they desire as well as other companies that Kelly deals with should the sub be interested in more work than could be provided at the school.
 
If Kelly managed this service for the school it would free up some time for Val and Sally which could be utilized for further support to the full time staff within the school as well as parents.
 
Initial cost comparisons appear to show that the actual cost of the service will be break even or maybe slightly more utilizing Kelly Services but I want to see the actual numbers before saying that with any certainty.  However, utilizing the service removes all risk of fines.  If the decision is made to go with Kelly Services and it proves to be too expensive or inefficient, changing back is easy to do, so I see very little impact with trying this out.
 
I realize that there are many concerns within the community about this potential change.  Like all potential change there is always concern over moving to a new way of business.  I am certain that there will be some bumps in the road if we utilize Kelly but those will get worked out and in the end the Subs we have in the classrooms on the whole will be on par with what the subs we currently have.
 
If anyone wants to discuss this with me directly, I welcome them to contact me at this e-mail and I will get back to them with an answer as quickly as my schedule allows.
 
Jasen

[Julie & 6pt Dave]

Thank you, Jasen, for the response as to why it is being looked at. I'm a bit unclear as to the reason, however.  The school is required to offer health benefits under the Affordable Care Act to full time employees. A full time employee must work an average of 30 hours per week or 130 hours per month. Subs are not full time. I doubt any of our subs work over or even close to 30 hours in a week on a regular basis. I'm confused as to why the school would be required to offer health benefits to them or incur any penalty for not doing so.

The school currently has a system that works well.  If it's not broken, why are they trying to fix it?

[GreytJB]

If the concern is that subs can't work more than 30 hours in a week without having to pay healthcare costs, how would shifting the subs to Kelly save anything if subs have to work the same hours regardless of how they're hired? 

Or is the idea that the district moves its "dirty work" to someone else?  Is Kelly planning on paying healthcare costs, or will they just "manage" subs to keep everyone at 29.5 hours?

[trussell]

Actually it's not uncommon at all for a sub to work an entire week or more at a single school... And I've known people that have worked nearly every school day in the same district.

Whether I agree with the outcome or not, I think it's great that the school board is looking at options instead of keeping things the same just "because that's how we've always done it".  If you don't look at options you never know if something better (or that provides more value) might be available.  Bravo for not being close-minded as this tends to happen too much.

I happen to know that some subs would jump at the chance to [work with a temp agency] and have some sort of benefits available.

[7F24]

This still sounds like the bus issue.  If Kelly has to pay for health care...we will pay for it, and we will also pay Kelly so they can make a profit.

[mirjo]

Someone please clarify for me why the school will be penalized for subs working over 30hrs? Even if the ACA states health insurance must be offered by the employer, the employee can decline. Change for the  no reason other than to make a change is not often a great idea and the improvements garnered are often little or none. Microsoft never really improved much beyond its Windows 98 OS, yet moves people to a new OS every few years Paying a middle man is not about saving it's about convenience.

[nhibbard]

If subs are not offered benefits now but the ACA says they should be, then why would they decline. You're likely not working a benefited job if you can take 30 hours off. Then again, you could have other coverage from a spouse or other situation. But when you budget, you budget worst case on benefits so you don't get severe screwed if someone decides to take 10k+ in benefits you didn't plan on.

[trussell]

TMB- I've mentioned this before, but there is a difference between "cost" and "value".  While the upfront cost may be higher to go with a subcontractor, I can only assume that the school board has reviewed the value proposition and determined it to be the better option.  As Jasen explained in his email, the potential fine for miscalculating something could be very high and if a subcontractor is wiling to manage that risk then you need to put a value on that- which it appears they have done.

As far as the actual labor being provided, you're implying that Kelly won't utilize the existing substitute resources.  Do you know that to be true?

[logical]

Any subs working for Kelly services will have to have the same background checks and qualifications as those hired now.  As Trevor indicated many of them will in fact be the same people.  Is there really an issue with people we don't know instructing our children?  I honestly don't know all of the parents and grandparents of my children's classmates.  And for the most part these are the people who are currently working as subs in our schools.  I have no problem with that any more than I would with a Kelly services employee.  I commend the school board for looking into different possibilities for us.