Community conversations

Mondays community conversation meeting was attended by just six citizens. This format allows for some good discussions and I think we should take this show on the road. If we get it out of the administration building and into the community I think more people would attend. This week the focus was on finances and Lisa and Randy were present to deflect any hard hitting questions. When the topic of Jay Youngs remuneration for his foundation work came up it was discovered he is getting paid his old per Diem rate. Although Randy would not voice the actual number I believe it's 440 dollars per day. This is an awful lot of money to be paid to someone without a specific, definable task to be accomplished. I do not support the revolving door policy that allows former administrators to come back and feed from the public trough. If they want to give back for all that this district has given to them they can volunteer like so many parents do.There was in attendance a new parent to LPS with a ninth grader from a home school background and when he asked about saving money by looking at alternative means of providing ancillary services Randy went into full employment mode explaining how the safety of the students would be compromised if we should do anything other than what we our doing. This is just absurd! How do you explain the fact that 60% of districts in MI have privatized one or more ancillary services with a 90% percent satisfaction rate. To be unwilling to even have a discussion, or compare what other districts are doing illustrates the focus of this district is employment not education. There is no doubt in my mind that we will have to look at the future of food service if they continue to burn through the programs fund equity and start draining money from the general fund. In the glory days of that department we were providing food service for the Garden City schools and making a healthy profit. Those days are gone, as that district has privatized food and custodial service saving millions of dollars and getting better service in return. We need to at least have some information on alternatives if it ever becomes necessary to move in a different direction.