Community Meeting Notes, Questions & Answers

7.  3 Year Savings Plan: The 3 year plan next school year when savings have been amortized will be updated.  TSD may be able to eliminate or delay an elimination of some items as other savings can be found.  BT programs as well as other programs are still on the list of possible cuts.  The administrative team continues to work on ideas to reduce costs.  The team also is evaluating all open positions. Some positions are being vacated earlier than what was stated in the three year plan.  Every possible strategy is being looked at.

 

8. 2 Mile-No Transportation Zone:  The 2 mile no transportation zone is not a 2 mile walk zone, but a no transportation zone as established within ODE and Ohio laws.   TSD will first transport all students not in that 2 mile no transportation zone.  The district will have room (if the grade level band proposal and 1 tier busing is passed) to take elementary students from the TMS Latchkey Program back and forth.  Parents will be able to drop off earlier and pick up later at the Latchkey.  If there is room, TSD will allow students to be picked up from the babysitter's house.  If the buses are full to capacity from new students moving in (we have subdivisions being built now), the district may not be able to make this happen.  Families will have to sign up, and the Latchkey Program is expected to be available.

 

9.  School Start/Dismissal Times:  The times will be aligned for all schools if a 1 tier bus system is eliminated.  All staff will start around 7:30am and end around 3:30pm approximately.  THS is exploring an option called "zero bell" to open school earlier to students in need, and the schedule at this school could remain near the same.  TMS under a 1 tier bus system would start the school day second.  Time for bus transfers will be planned for.  Staff will be present to assist the students to the correct grade level banded building if the proposal is approved by the school board.  Kramer students would start about 10 minutes later.  Marshall and Bogan will start about 15 minutes later.  The mandated state requirement of hours will be surpassed for all grade levels.

 

10. Giving Medication: Health aides (like teachers, administrators, and other staff) can be trained and can administer medications.

 

11. Reductions/Cuts already made: Positions in the district, including administrators, have already been reduced or cut.  We continue to update our community at Board of Education Meetings. In our levy FQA 7, as well as at the Sept. 2022  BOE meeting, we have shared the cost savings and reductions.  FQA 7 stated in part that Talawanda has eliminated 12.5 teaching positions, 1 administrator, 1.5 central office staff, and 1 assistant food manager position.  The start and end times were also adjusted at all buildings resulting in a decrease of overtime for our bus drivers (approximately 30 drivers each day were 1-15 minutes over established routes resulting in excess charges of overtime to the district).  Building budgets have been frozen for the last three years.  Through negotiations with both associations and administrators, all staff have agreed to the following raises:  2% in 2021-22, 1% in 2022-23, and 0% in 2023-24 resulting in additional cost savings.  The levy failed in November of 2022, then a three year plan was approved at the December BOE agenda. In conjunction, 1 Nelson Morrow or PDC building secretary position has been eliminated, 2 Executive Assistants at the Central Office Building (Chestnut) have had their full time positions be reduced by 20%, and through attrition (hiring at lower costs or not replacing) we have saved the following amounts:

 

2019/2020- $133, 049

2020/2021- $517, 652

2021/2022- $350, 841

2022/2023- $500, 000

Kramer Community Meeting 3/6/23