Berkshire Advisors reports released

By John McDaid | Tuesday, 22 April 2008

The Berkshire Advisors performance audit of the Portsmouth School Department has just been posted on the PSD Web site.

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Localblogging, 02871

Comments

Portsmouth Citizen

Tue, 04/22/2008 - 3:37pm

Berkshire is presenting the performance audit report to the town council and the school committee tonight at 6:00 at the town hall. I'm hoping it will be a good show!

Portsmouth Sailor

Tue, 04/22/2008 - 6:32pm

Portsmouth Sailor

So what did we get for our $$$. A recommendation for reallocating some positions? A recommendation to assess whether or not outsourcing should be considered? A pat on that back that we are doing OK relevant to the schools benchmarked.

Is the school department managed irresponsibly or not? What does this report say that will put the PCC and like minded to rest? I didn't see any real reference at all to the criticisms of the department or comments on whether or not the school department and school committee were just stooges for the NEA.

The only part I liked was that the School Department handles enrollment and enrollment eligibility well. Take that Tailgunner! I think it is so weak that she continues to bring accusations. A leader bring solutions, they don't just throw stones.

You get what you pay for I guess.

My real concern is that these bozos from Providence don't have anyone's interest in mind but their own. The whole School Funding formula thing has gone by the wayside. How can we go to ZERO?!!!! They need to fund each regular kid equally, and then find a way to fund the rest on top of that. That should be the criteria.

I just don't think that this study disputes any of the factors that were the basis of the tent meeting and the real reason for the audit itself. Are our teachers paid too much? Are our class sizes too small? Do we accommodate special needs children in a way that costs the tax payer excessively? Do we have too many administrators that don't do anything? (that is a favorite of the PCC and camp.)

I hope that someone asks these questions at the public meeting.

Stormie

Wed, 04/23/2008 - 7:27am

with you Portsmouth Sailor. These results will make none of us happy who want to know the answers to all of your excellent questions. I can only hope also that these important questions are raised, ALL of them. I cannot attend the meetings, but watch them all on channel 18 TV.
I feel that given what we paid for this audit we the people of Portsmouth deserve to know the answers to all of the questions put forth,and for the very reasons they were asked to do this in the first place.
I have my doubts though that even if these questions(and others) are asked, the lawyers(and a few others) will skirt around the issues(what they do best) and we will not get direct answers, to our important(expensive) questions, once again.
By the way...I am not a PCC member. I am however a life long resident of Portsmouth.

John McDaid

Wed, 04/23/2008 - 8:42am

Hi, Stormie...
Even if you can't attend the meetings, you can at least download and read the report. Maybe not all your questions are answered, but many of them are.

Being a resident of Portsmouth entitles you to vote. Actually reading the report entitles you to an opinion.

Kind Regards.
-j

John McDaid

Wed, 04/23/2008 - 8:59am

Hi, Portsmouth Sailor...
Thanks for your comments, and welcome. Agree completely about the funding nightmare in Providence, and the difficult position that puts our schools in locally. But I'm not sure you're being completely fair to the work that Berkshire Advisors did.

I'm still working my way through the report, but I think it's fair to say that they have determined that the school department is not currently managed irresponsibly. Are there recommendations for improvement? Sure. Is there an implication that things were not as good before Dr. Lusi took over? You can read it that way.

About contracts. The NEA is clearly not going to be happy about some of the proposed changes. Berkshire recommends that high school department heads and middle school house leaders should be spending more time teaching. Given the analysis of the work teachers were doing, I think there would be some mention if Berkshire found other areas where pay and performance were out of whack. Or if there were administrators who didn't do anything. You will note in the report that they actually recommend redeploying resources to actually create two new "adminstrative" positions coordinating special education coordinator and literacy.

Class sizes were discussed at the meeting last night -- they are not as high as Berkshire has seen at some districts. Does that mean we should push for bigger classes? That's a discussion point to take up on May 6.

And the question you raise about special needs children was definitively answered -- regional special education is saving Portsmouth taxpayers $400K/year.

Thanks for taking the time to read the report and offering your thoughts. Look forward to hearing more from you.

Best Regards.
-j

John McDaid

Wed, 05/07/2008 - 3:21pm

Hi, Portsmouth Sailor...
Courtesy of a source with access to Berkshire are answers to some of the questions in this thread, provided by their consultant Maureen Costello-Shea.

Best
-j

1) Are our teachers paid too much for the service that they provide?
The issues identified with the teacher's contract are not related to salary. The salary scale is consistent with salaries in benchmark departments.

2) Are our class sizes too small?
Portsmouth class size maximum of 25 is consistent with what is best practice across the country and in fact near the top limits of benchmark departments.

3) Do we accommodate special needs children in a way that costs the tax payer excessively?
Portsmouth is providing services to special education students that is
consistent with and not in excess of requirements of state and federal law. However, Rhode Island rules and regulations are more prescriptive and provide for a high level of service than federal laws.

4) Do we have too many administrators? Are they over paid or under-tasked?
Portsmouth does not have too many administrators. The only administrative issue we found were the amount of time department heads and house leaders spend on administrative responsibilities versus teaching responsibilities. We have recommended this be renegotiated with the upcoming contract.

5) Is our curriculum stringent enough at all grade levels?
Portsmouth's curriculum is consistent with RI grade level and grade span expectations, which are among the strongest in the country. The new high school graduation requirements in place at the high school are rigorous.