Interim Superintendent Dr. Martha Liddell gave a no-holds-barred speech at Thursday’s Exchange Club meeting at the Columbus Country Club. Holding nothing back, she addressed what could be a pending emergency situation regarding the Columbus Municipal School District (CMSD). Instead of the usual flowery speeches given by most department heads and politicians, she dove into the water with both feet and did not stop until everyone in the audience understood that the CMSD was in a dire circumstance.
Stripping away the shiny veneer of the everyday bureaucrat, Dr. Liddell explained in detail that CMSD had to do a better job in educating the children of the community and that technology was the key to keeping children in school. Explaining in cold, scary facts, she reported that of the 330-340 children entering Columbus High School in the 
9th grade, less than 200 will graduate.
Dr. Liddell explained, unapologetically, that each child represented $6,000 to the school system and honestly admitted, “If a hundred children drop out of high school, that is $600,000 taken away from our school system.”
She then went on to explain that the problem did not stop there. Her facts stated that 70% of the people who are in prison today are high school dropouts. “And, who pays for that?,” she asked. “We do. The tax payers.”
Looking back on her younger days as an educator, she reflected on the idea that she was told that education was not a business. However, now she was clear that it had to be viewed that way. With state and federal funding declining and the money shortage reflected in the CMSD budget, she was aware that discussions have to be made with a businessperson’s heart. She stated, “Education is not free. It has to be run like a business.”
She clearly stated her decision to relieve people of their jobs was tough. Knowingly looking at School Board President Glenn Lautzenhiser, she lamented, “It breaks our heart to tell a teacher we are not hiring them back to teach”
Dr. Liddell tackled the tough truth that for the last eight or nine years, the CMSD has been dipping into the reserves to keep their employees and programs funded and that this policy had put the school system at the brink of disaster. With the reserves down to three million dollars, it is quite possible that the Federal Government could step in and take over the operations of the CMSD if they dig deeper into their own pockets to cover expenses. ”In cases where school districts have been taken over for finances, conservators cut the district’s expenses down to the minimum program and teachers and administrators are wholesale released out of their contracts, sometime mid-year, and many have no opportunity for re-hire.”
Dr. Liddell did not shy away from this possibility. Underscoring that if the Federal Government took over the school system, very important programs, such as magnet schools and the AP program could be eliminated, immediately.
During the program, Dr. Liddell handed out the latest budget proposal for the CMSD date February 14, 2012.
Some of the highlights included:
Reduction in Force – What It Means for Columbus Schools
“Although Columbus School District recently had to implement the emergency measure of Reduction in Force (RIF) policy by treating all employees with less than two years of continuous service the same. I want to assure everyone that every certified employee who was included in the RIF process was treated fairly and consistently. Only certified staff members including teachers, counselors, coaches and administrators, who have less than two years continuous service in Columbus School District or who had not completed a continuous period of two years of employment in a Mississippi Public School District and one full year of employment with the school district were a part of this emergency cost savings measure. No employees who met the criteria was treated differently or exempted from the district’s RIF policy because that would not have been fair or legally defensible.”
Dr. Liddell spoke clearly that the school district could not “cherry pick” who they wanted to dismiss and, with less than five teachers on disciplinary improvement plans, the RIF policy they used was the fairest option available.
She also reiterated that if anything changed financially, the CMSD would rehire the teachers who were terminated. Unfortunately for all involved, the affected employees had to be given their termination notices in a timely manner or the school district would have to pick up the salaries for next year. This was not an option the CMSD felt they could afford to allow to occur.
Follow-Up Personnel Information Following Board Meeting
“A question asked at Monday’s School Board Meeting was why the number of RIF of qualified certified employees increased from 59 to 69 from the original list submitted by the personnel department. Dr. Myra Gillis, CMSD’s Personnel Coordinator, explained the changes were due to how employees were coded when they were first hired and later became a certified employee. However to be absolutely sure the RIF list was an accurate representation for affected employees, the Board did not take action on the personnel roster to give the Personnel Coordinator time to re-verify the list and Dr. Gillis has completed verifying and cross checking the list today. We all realize that our educators’ livelihoods are being affected by the emergency RIF. It’s important to be 100% accurate. Dr. Gillis has taken the time to double-check and confirm that the district’s RIF do include 69 certified staff members. The RIF distribution for certified staff by school/location is as follows: (RIF Criteria implemented fairly across the board)
- Central Office (1)
- CMSD Alternative School (1)
- Cook (9)
- Fairview (3)
- Franklin (8)
- Sale (3)
- Stokes-Beard (5)
- Columbus Middle School (10)
- Columbus High School (27) – CHS has a larger number of new teachers than the norm for FY 2011-2012.
- McKellar Technology Center (2)
Total: 69
Dr. Liddell briefly touched on the possibility of Charter Schools, with the hope of drawing more students to the district and creating a more successful environment.
However, she focused on the bigger issue at hand in during her talk, at closing.
“Schools have to be different.” She said. “We have to move forward and be a lot smarter.”
The Entire Budget Update for Columbus Schools Family has been posted in its entirety.
Mr. MoJo Rising
Odd note of the day: Robert Smith and Del Phillips were MIA!
February 17, 2012 at 11:47 am
Where is Del Phillips when you need him? Can you say NEW SCHOOL ! 22 Million dollars and counting. Could you not see this coming?
February 17, 2012 at 2:02 pm
Where are all the people who were on the Court House steps cheering on the new school bond? What a waste. Now we have to lay off teachers. Thanks alot Dale. Oh and you too Mayor. Glad I live in the county.
February 19, 2012 at 10:11 pm
It sure looks like we need to have a house cleaning of the school board. Most of them were on the board while all of this was taking place they must be accountable. We can try to place the blame on Del Phillips as much as we want but we had other public officials that have stated Dr. Phillips was told the millage rate being requested would not cover the school board. Why were they not on the court house steps or city hall steps crying to the public the problem that was looming.