To put things into perspective, consider that over the course of this school year:

• C-A Food Service employees provided 809,797 meals to our children district-wide;

• C-A Bus Drivers safely transported students over 560,000 miles;

• C-A Support Staff successfully transitioned to an entirely new Student Records System which included updating over 4,500 student records (including residence, emergency contacts, medical information, and student schedules, just to name a few); and

• C-A teachers, tutors, paraprofessionals and administrators took ownership for ensuring that all students made a year’s worth of growth, regardless of what level they entered our classrooms.

Furthermore, C-A students demonstrated marked academic improvement in many areas. Beyond grades and test scores, just a few highlights of C-A student success this school year included:

• The C-A Class of 2013 earned $2.8 million in scholarship offers;

• Two Robotics Teams (FRC and  FTC) from C-A High School earned the right to compete in the World Robotics Championships in St. Louis, MO;

• C-A High School Junior, Erick VanDuyne was a National Merit Qualifier;

• 207 C-A Middle School students earned high school credits before even entering 9th grade;

• C-A elementary students placed 3rd in the Genesee County Book Bowl Competition; and

• Randels Elementary Odyssey of the Mind Team qualified for the State Finals.

Then, beyond the classroom, C-A gave back to the community by:

• Providing Thanksgiving dinner for needy families; adopting families to support with gifts during the holiday season; donating  to those in need during the winter months, and holding various fundraisers to support Genesee County Habitat for Humanity, Heavenly Hats and Pennies for Patients (supporting cancer patients), The Whaley Children’s Center, tornado victims in Oklahoma and disaster cleanup from local tornados.

To be certain, our students learn so much more than “the basics” and represent our school and community well!

Sacrifice

While each of these positive things were taking place, significant financial challenges were being addressed. As you may have read in various recent news reports, one in ten traditional school districts are in a budget deficit (55 out of 549). Carman-Ainsworth is NOT in a deficit, despite six straight years of declining revenue (enrollment and foundation allowance) and increasing costs (retirement and health insurance). However, we are only able to maintain fiscal solvency as a result of tough decisions and significant personal sacrifice from our employees. For a bit of perspective consider that since 2006 we have repurposed two elementary school buildings (Carman Park and Woodland) and have reduced our teaching staff by 20% and our number of administrators by 32%…all in an effort to keep deep cuts away from programs for our students.

We take great pride in the fact that we have been able to maintain top-notch programming, quality instruction, excellent facilities and current instructional technology/materials for our students during these challenging times. Furthermore, I am grateful that our employees have maintained their focus and energy on serving our students and community…but make no mistake…just as our community has taken cuts, so have your community school employees.

In addition to all C-A employees paying 20% of their healthcare costs as required by law, the following unprecedented concessionary agreements have been ratified. In each contract, the concessions begin in 2013-14 and wages are frozen for the subsequent two years of the contracts:

Teachers (May 21)-9.92% cut in total costs to the district.

Food Service (June 17)-9.94% cut in total costs to the district.

Administrators (June 17)-10.0% cut in total costs to the district.

Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent (April 26)-11% cut in total costs to the district.

These agreements will save the district over $2.9 million in 2013-14 alone. Through no fault of their own, but simply as a matter of timing and other contract negotiations, we are still negotiating with our CMOPP (Support Staff) and Transportation Units.

These agreements are a testament to the fact that our employee groups have put the district, our community and our students ahead of themselves. Members have recognized the need for our district to become fiscally stable and offered their support. In many districts across the State of Michigan, negotiations such as these result in everything but collaboration and mutual respect. Make note, C-A has yet again emerged as a leader as a result of this process. Not in the sense that our employees have “led in taking cuts” but in that they have led in terms of truly working together to maintain excellent programs for students at the expense of personal sacrifice! I cannot express in words my appreciation to our teachers, administrators and food service employees for their sacrifice. I thank all of our employees for putting these significant distractions in the background, while keeping their respective roles of service to our students in the forefront.

Moving Forward

As we plan for another successful year in 2013-14, please remember that learning cannot be put on hold over the summer months. Whether your child is attending our summer school programs, Community Education’s Camp Adventure, or by simply reading with them each day, we can help ensure that our children keep learning.

I wish you all a very relaxing, rejuvenating and safe summer break! Enjoy friends, family and (hopefully) beautiful weather!

Steve Tunnicliff, Ph.D.

Superintendent, Carman-Ainsworth Community Schools