May 2006: GAT Position: Melissa Speaks

May 8, 2006

To: Evansville School Board
From: Melissa Hammann
Subject: GAT Position

Yes, I’m back again to petition you for yet another “special interest.” This time it’s the gifted and talented program on the line. As weary as you are to see me here again, I am even wearier to be here again, feeling antagonism for the entity entrusted with our children’s education as their first priority. The source of this feeling is the nature of many of the superintendent’s proposed cuts to meet the imposed revenue caps combined with the administration’s defense against community suggested cuts as “unacceptable” with no further discussion.

As with any battle, I had to first arm myself. An excellent source of monetary flow data is available at the DPI School Finance Data webpage (www2.dpi.state.wi.us/sfsdw/). This shows comparative cost and revenue data for the 2003-2004 budget year. Then I went to the 2004-2005 spreadsheets (dpi.wi.gov/sfs/cmprvcst.html), and performed the necessary calculations to arrive at the per capita data as summarized in the first webpage. According to the website, the formulas used for the calculations changed between the two fiscal years and may account for some fluctuations. However, several interesting items stood out during my brief survey of the information. Please refer to the attached table for clarity.

First let’s discuss revenue. While our 2004-2005 State Revenue per child exceeded the state average by 16% and our property tax allocation per child was 17.5% lower than the state average; our Federal Revenue was less than half of the state average Federal Revenue. This is a good place to begin a build up of revenue, I think. For fiscal year 2004-2005, revenue from all sources for Evansville is 1.5% lower than the state average, for a total of $10,879 per Full Time Equivalent student in 2004-2005.

For the same fiscal year, on the cost side, we were 3% below the state average Educational costs, 16% lower on Transportation and 26% lower on Food Services costs. However, Evansville’s facility costs per student exceeded the state average by 53%, or in concrete terms, $378.00 per student, for a total of $637,686.00. This would have a big red target on it if it were my personal budget being scrutinized. That was a revelation to me. The bigger revelation to me was the direct comparison of revenue and cost totals. In both budget years for which I did the calculations, total revenue exceeded total costs. In fiscal year 2004-2005, this was $345.00 per student, or $572,015.00. WOW! All this time, I thought the school district was flat broke. Granted, this is only 3.1% of the total budget, and I admit that I am steeply immersed in the learning curve of school finance lore. However, I didn’t think schools were supposed to make any profit, and no matter how you cut it, over half a million dollars is a lot of extra money. This baffles me in the extreme and leads me to a largely cynical “harumph” when such incredible programs as the half-day kindergarten program and the gifted and talented coordinator position are even considered for elimination.

Our daughters have each qualified for, and participated in, accelerated learning programs offered in Evansville. We hope the program lasts long enough for our son to participate as well, should he demonstrate the need. Maybe our dedication to providing the best kindergarten choice for their needs, the half-day kindergarten class, has something to do with their thirst for knowledge.

Our older daughter was “discovered” for the program when her 4th grade WKCE results identified high verbal/reading scores. I was pretty sure all along that a 2nd grader reading Harry Potter was a little unusual. But once she was identified, all the doors have been opened for her and she has flourished in the program. Our 3rd grade daughter has followed in her sister’s footsteps. She was identified earlier due to earlier testing protocols (probably due to the No Child Left Behind Act). She had the privilege of working with Mrs. Kress in Elementary School and now meets in literature circle twice a week with Mrs. Ellison. I am so pleased that these literature circles are available for the Intermediate School students now. This can only further improve the reading scores in our district, which according to the DPI website have been improving continually over the last few years.

The identification and placement of our children into the GAT program was a direct result of the well-designed program run by a dedicated program coordinator in our district. Our family has always modeled a love for learning in general and reading in particular. However, we are unprepared to effectively challenge our children to expand their horizons. The program coordinators guide our way and explain how to best engineer their education to help them meet their goals. This help will be crucial as they grow older and more challenges are available to them.

Evansville is ahead of the curve in providing a haven for our special needs students. Gifted students are often perceived as the best students who will thrive regardless of the environment. I’m here to tell you that they too have special needs. Along with accelerated intellect comes a host of challenges that students and parents are unequipped to face alone. The Gifted and Talented program coordinator provides this interface. These are the students who will use their gifts to solve the overwhelming problems our world will face in the years to come. But we must first provide for them the appropriate incentive to nurture those gifts to fruition. The Gifted and Talented Program provides that setting and the coordinator makes sure the program is run effectively and efficiently. Please maintain this wonderful program for Evansville youth and fill Mrs. Kress’s position when she retires.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,



Melissa M. Hammann