District Administration - January 2007 - (Page 58)
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/mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php on line 10 FINANCE
MANAGEMENT emergency grant to help the school district pay some of its
bills. By then, however, it was too little, too late. Already some $14.5
million in the red, the district was forced to relinquish board control of
its fi nances to the Illinois School Finance Authority, or SFA, an agency
mandated to save troubled school boards from bankrupting themselves.
Today, Round Lake is one of two Illinois school districts currently
operating under an SFA. staff members want to come and get answers to
their questions.’” Stonewa ll came from Danville School District 118,
where he was business manager. He had gained notoriety by helping turn $9
million in red ink to double-digit black. Instead of agreeing with board
members to issue more bonds, he convinced them to tighten its spending to
control spiraling debt. Most school districts make decisions that benefit
people without thinking of the financial outcomes, Stonewall says. “To
me, that’s the biggest mistake that most school districts make.” T he
fi nal piece of the SFA puzzle fell into place in 2004 when it found
Elenbogen, who at the time was director of compliance reporting at Chicago
Public Schools. Her credent ia ls were impressive: a state-certified
teacher, a former superintendent , and special education program
administrator. Elenbogen had been relatively unknown in the school system
until she discovered a halfbi ll ion dollars in untapped federal funding.
It was this kind of entrepreneu r ia l effort, the SFA agreed, that was
needed in Round Lake. Reclaiming Magee School In 2003, John T. Magee
Middle School closed due to electrical, roofing and traffic concerns.
Several architectural firms made recommendations, but one specializing in
school design—Gilfillan Callahan Architects—stood out. Meeting with
Round Lake district CEO Dennis Stonewall and CFO Walter Korpan the firm
assembled three scenarios for Magee: 1. Make minimal repairs to re-open
the school $5 million 2. Demolish parts of the school and build an
addition around its best features—the gymnasium and cafeteria $14
million 3. Completely level the school and build a new one $22 million
Understanding that the community was vital to the decision-making process,
the firm created bilingual brochures and invited the public to a Saturday
forum, which attracted more than 100 residents. Firm founder Mike
Gilfillan and architect Alejandro Lopez also joined Stonewall in a local
radio call-in program. Due to the community’s positive attitude toward
the district, a $17 million referendum passed a year ago. This allowed the
district to earmark funds to rebuild Magee School, using the second
scenario of demolishing parts of the building and erecting an addition
around the gym and cafeteria. Magee is scheduled to re-open in August
2008. THE NEW CHIEFS Seek i ng a solution in 2001, the agency replaced
Round Lake’s tradit iona l superintendent structure with “The Three
C’s”—a Chief Execut ive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief
Educational Officer. This emergency measure would force the school
district to operate more like a for-profit business and hopefully end the
district’s slide into bankruptcy. T he SFA hired Korpan as CFO in July
2001, Stonewall as CEO in 2003 and Elenbogen as Chief Educat ion Officer
in 2004. She replaced another education officer, Stanley Mims, who was
only on the job for a year. “There were people in this dist r ic t
hungry for leadership,” recalls Stonewall, who is retiring this summer
after four years on the job. “We knew we’d eventually have to ask the
community for their fi nancial help down the line, so it was importa nt
for us to take this fi rst step.” And Korpan saw the district’s
accounts and payroll riddled with errors due to poor accounting and lack
of protocol. “The business office didn’t function, which was disturbi
ng because our business is educat ion,” Korpan says. “There were no
procedures in place, no support, and no training. At my fi rst staff
meeting, I said, ‘We have to work together to resolve these issues that
are faili ng. We need to make our business office a place where parents
and BUSINESS MODEL Deem i ng themselves more as businessmen instead of
administrators, Korpan and Stonewall view a school as a business, and
insist it should be managed as so. “Our employees are the
stakeholders,” says Stonewall. “The parents are our shareholders. The
taxpayers are the investors. We have 6,000 individuals here called
‘products’.” With the public in mind, they made themselves more
accessible. “This building is open 65 hours a week, and usually until 6
or 7 at night,” Stonewall says. “People need to know that they can
come here seven days a week and find an administrator who can make a
decision. We invite parents to have coffee with our CFO every day at 6
am.” 58 January 2007 District Administration duoJP.indd 58 12/13/06
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - January 2007
Contents
Editor's Letter
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Overheard on the Pulse...
Teaching Techniques for Supervisors
Why Buy New When Used Might Do?
Past Becomes Future
Financial Rescue
Speaking Out
The Online Edge
Research Corner
Problem/Solution
Computer Literature
New Products
Calendar of Events
Understanding the Times
District Administration - January 2007
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