Mat-Su Borough School District hasn't share entire school budget story, yet

A Spectrum, by Billy Ray Smith

Here we go again. According to the recent Spectrum article, Bob Doyle wants the public to think that all of the problems with the school district's finances are solely the teachers' fault because of their greed and the huge salary raise they received. Bob Doyle is not giving us all of the facts and there are a few facts that the public needs to know.

Bob Doyle has been the director of the finance department for 10-plus years. He knows exactly what he is doing financially or should know since he has been the finance director for a really long time. He recommended to the school board the offer of a $3,000 raise for the teachers. He knew (or should have known) that there would be a deficit of $2.5 million when he recommended the offer. If he knew this offer was going to put the district so far in debt, why did he continue to hire many new people at the beginning of the school year? I can tell you why -- Bob Doyle wanted to be a hero and keep the teachers from striking. He was interested in becoming the superintendent on a permanent basis and wanted everyone to be happy so that he would get the job as superintendent. He wants us to think that he was unaware of all of the financial situations mentioned above, but he was very aware.

Has Bob Doyle stopped to ask himself why all of the teachers are making the column movements on the salary schedule? Could it be that every time the district comes to the negotiating table, the district threatens to not allow those column movements anymore and that teachers are scared that this is their last chance to move on the salary schedule? He fails to mention that teachers pay for their own classes that they take to make those column movements and that some classes are required to keep a teaching certificate! Is Bob Doyle asking teachers to stop taking classes and not seek additional training in their profession?

The enrollment problem has been a factor for years. In the past the district has accounted for the increased enrollment figures, but this year it is a total shock! I don't believe that either -- Bob Doyle once again has been in charge of these areas of the budget for more than a decade. He knows exactly how these budget items work and supposedly watches the budget closely each and every month.

About the home school program mistake -- oops -- someone should have seen that coming! Who wouldn't transfer from a program that doesn't pay money and gives no computer to one that does pay money and gives families a computer? Duh!

Ninety-one percent of the budget goes to salaries -- who's salaries? What percentage of the budget goes to teacher salaries, classified salaries and to the pals at the district office? I am still wondering if those director positions have been cut at the district office.

While I am at it, I must mention the brilliant move of shutting down the warehouse. Many people may not be aware of the fact that the school district had a warehouse where schools could order supplies. Schools often requested construction paper, markers, tape, etc. from the warehouse. The warehouse purchased supplies in bulk and supplied them to each school as needed through a purchase order system. The warehouse was also responsible for delivering mail within the district from school to school. With one swipe of Bob Doyle's pen, the warehouse is gone. He blames the elimination of the warehouse on the principals, but who supervises the principals and ultimately makes a decision? The superintendent. How does Bob Doyle propose that schools send mail? He proposes that the schools send their mail through the United States Postal Service. Where does he propose schools get their supplies? Each school is to order the supplies individually and pay for shipping. How much extra money or time is Mr. Doyle proposing to allow for these extra jobs that he is asking school employees to complete? Absolutely none. In fact, Mr. Doyle froze school money accounts. Schools are quickly running out of supplies (like tape and copy paper) that are needed daily in our classrooms and schools. They are not allowed to order more because their budgets have been frozen.

Bob Doyle may soon be the superintendent, chief administrating officer, or whatever you want to call him. I have one question for the school board. If Bob Doyle is the director of the finance department and the superintendent, who does Mr. Doyle have to go to and ask for approval of the decisions he is making? I think that Mr. Doyle makes the decisions and approves the decisions and the school board is just a group of followers. Mr. Doyle is taking the lead and he is leading this district right into a crisis. The district employee moral is low and gets lower by the hour. We need someone who can pull people together as a district and not tear people apart -- pitting us one against the other.

The public needs to become involved in the budget process and start asking some serious questions. Mr. Doyle will receive his contract on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at the school board meeting unless the school board members hear from the public. Have you contacted your school board member yet?

Billy Ray Smith is a Wasilla

resident.