Preliminary school tax levy increases more than 10%

Posted on September 1, 2010, 9:03 pm, by Douglas Armstrong and received No Comments ».

The annual meeting of the School District of Whitefish Bay approved a tax levy of $22.3 million Wednesday night, a 10.8% increase over last year.

The levy, which is subject to change based on the amount of state aid the district will receive (which will not be known until Oct., 15),  reflects a 3% increase in general fund expenditures (primarily for teacher salaries and benefits) and a 187% jump in debt service, to account for the first payments on the money borrowed to improve school facilities following last year’s referendum.

Shawn Yde, the district’s business manager, said debt service will cost far less than what was projected prior to the referendum vote in November. The blended interest rate of all borrowing should come in between 1.2% and 2% as opposed to the 5.5% projected, saving $13 million in interest over the life of the loan.

In adddition, the loss of state aid for the additional spending on facilities will be closer to $3 million rather than the $8.3 million projected prior to the referendum. Lastly, with bids on the work coming in under estimates, the district has borrowed $20 million to pay contractors, which is $2 million less than authorized by the referendum

“This year will be the high water mark as far as the tax levy goes (for debt service),” Yde said. “I expect it will go down next year a moderate amount and then stay stable for 10 years. There will be a big drop after that.”

Enrollment in the district’s schools is estimated to be up 11 pupils this year.

In answer to questions, Yde said the amount of state aid Whitefish Bay Schools will receive had been conservatively projected, and could come in higher, thus reducing the tax levy.

“The estimate we are using is the most conservative among district’s I have contacted,” he said.

About 25 residents appeared at the meeting to discuss and vote on the levy and other items.

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T -4 (days) and counting

Posted on August 28, 2010, 4:28 pm, by Douglas Armstrong and received No Comments ».

School starts on Wednesday, September 1, and several crucial school and village construction projects have been completed, including the repaving of Fairmount Ave. directly in front of the High School and west.

The relocated staff parking lot at Richards Elementary has been paved

The relocated staff parking lot at Richards Elementary has been paved

At Richards Elementary School, the new staff parking lot is now paved between the back of the gymnasium and the tennis courts, a location chosen by the School Board following a public outcry against the elimination of the Richards’ tennis courts, which was the new parking lot’s one-time location.

A temporary wooden access ramp has been built in connection with the lot to allow handicap access while the new cafeteria is being constructed. The elevator for access to all floors of the building will be located in the new addition, which has ground-level access.

Fencing around the construction site of the Richards cafeteria has been moved back, and the sidewalk that leads to Door 2 of the building on northwest corner has been reopened.

New main entrance door configuration at Richards Elementary

New main entrance door configuration at Richards Elementary

Secure lobby doors were installed last week at all schools in a redesign that will force visitors into school offices for access once school begins each day.

Construction on school additions will continue on as school begins. The cafeteria additions to the two elementary schools are projected to be completed in early 2011, with the new music wing to the High School expected to be done a month or two later.

Addendum Monday, August 30 (T -2)

Some staff are moving into the reconfigured offices at the schools today as the painting and final cleanup work is finished.

Cabinets and doors continue to go into basement classrooms and corridors to replace flood-damaged equipment from the July 22 storm. Numerous portable air scrubbers are working to cleanse the air of construction dust at Cumberland, where the only classroom that will not be ready for the start of school is the art room.

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Bond rating downgrade: What is the implication?

Posted on August 27, 2010, 4:08 pm, by Douglas Armstrong and received No Comments ».

Moody’s Investors Service recently reduced the Whitefish Bay School District’s bond rating from Aa2 to Aa3 for its refusal to settle a $10 million debt with a European bank, which was part of a failed retirement trust investment scheme.

Shawn Yde

Shawn Yde - (c) NY Times

We asked the district’s business manager, Shawn Yde, how the downgrade would affect the upcoming placement of $8 million in general obligation bonds that will complete the funding for $20 million in school improvements and building expansions. The district has obtained the other $12 million in Build America Bonds and Qualified School Construction Bonds at an average interest rate of less than 1.91%. (See correction below.)

“I don’t really know that the downgrade will affect the cost of borrowing,” Yde said, “or if it does what the difference would be in the interest cost.”

The reason is the district’s previous rating was accompanied by a negative outlook from Moody’s, forecasting the recent downgrade. The district previously estimated in the interest rate on the $8 million in remaining bonds at 3.68%.

In general, a downgrade from Aa2 to Aa3 has meant an increase of 10 to 15 basis points (0.10% to 0.15%) in the cost of borrowing, according to Yde. However, he does not believe it will apply in the case of Whitefish Bay Schools when they go to the market soon. The reason?

“The fact that we have reduced the duration of the borrowing from 20 to 10 years will more than offset any potential increase,” he said.

Correction:

The current cost of borrowing, prior to placing the general obligations bonds, is actually less than 1%, according to Yde. ($10 million was obtained interest free.) The 1.91% quoted is a blended interest cost of all borrowing, which was estimated in July. The actual rate, which will be affected by the duration and timing of bond issuance, will not be known until next month.

Repairs to storm damaged schools advance

Posted on August 22, 2010, 3:11 pm, by Douglas Armstrong and received No Comments ».

With the September 1 deadline for the start of schools now approaching, school custodians and others are working seven-day weeks to finish repairing the damage done by flooding on July 22 and prepare schools for classes as usual.

The High School cafeteria has a new tile floor

The High School cafeteria has a new, brighter tile floor

“You should have seen this just a few weeks ago,” the district’s business manager, Shawn Yde, said in guiding a visitor around the lower level of the high school amidst the work on Sunday. The  lower level was damaged by water that poured in through window wells during the record downpour.

Musty carpeting has been removed and replaced by new floor tile. Damaged drywall has been ripped out, replaced and painted, and new desks, cabinets, chairs, and other furnishings have been delivered and set up.

As the work ends, custodians are washing and waxing floors and stairs that would have been spoiled by workmen in the dusty environment of repairs in preceding weeks.

Rather that viewing the insured $2 million in damage as a disadvantage to the district, Yde says it has extended the remodeling reach of the $20 million in referendum-backed improvements, allowed the district to replace older school boilers and such that were damaged by storm water.

He said the insurance work fixed up and improved many lower level rooms at the high school and two elementary schools that were not due to be touched by the referendum remodeling.

Storm damage to WFB schools could reach $2 million

Posted on August 4, 2010, 9:22 pm, by Douglas Armstrong and received No Comments ».
Service crew trucks on the Cumberland playground

Service crew trucks on the Cumberland playground

The lower levels of three Whitefish Bay Schools suffered significant flooding damage last month – between $1 million and $2 million, according to an estimate given to the School Board tonight - but the schools are expected to open on time September 1.

“The cleanup and remediation are going very well,” said Shawn Yde, the district’s business manager. “We think we are on a pretty good timeline right now [toward the resumption of school] if things continue to go well.”

Pianos were among the items spoiled by flood waters at Cumberland

Pianos were among the items spoiled by flood waters

Water from the record rainfall July 22 coursed into the first floors and basement areas of the High School and the two elementary schools, destroying floors, walls, cabinets, lockers, instructional materials and the boilers that supply heat and hot water to the two elementary schools. Hardest hit was Cumberland Elementary, Yde said.

“The good news was there was no sewer backup,” Yde said.

The other good news is all but a $5,000 deductible is covered by the district’s insurance.  “In comparison to many homeowners,” Yde said, “we are quite fortunate.”

Richards and Cumberland will need new main floor lockers

Richards and Cumberland will need new first floor lockers

The damage would have been worse if school custodians had not immediately intervened to protect what they could. Their fast work probably saved the floor of the High School field house, Yde said, adding that the storm damage should not alter the schedule of building improvements, which began last month at the schools. Yde added that CD Smith, the construction management firm on the building improvements, contributed help in the form of pumps and other equipment to rescue flooded areas.

Clean-up and sanitzation efforts are continuing, contaminated objects disposed of and repairs begun, Yde said. Floor tile ripped loose by the flood, which required asbestos remediation in some areas, is about complete. New cabinets are to be ordered tomorrow.

“Mill work and painting are our two biggest concerns,” Yde said, though the district hopes to have everything 100% complete for the scheduled start of school. The district has posted a page of Frequently Asked Questions on its Website.

Teachers with classrooms on the lower levels of the schools will not be able to begin setting up their classrooms until later in August when drywall and tile work are done, Yde said. “We ask the teachers to be patient.”

In other business:

The School Board gave final approval for a wood gymnasium floor at the Middle School after questions arose in the bid approval process about using a new composite floor instead.

Architect Matt Wolfert, of Bray Associates, who reviewed the records of the Facilities Study Committee and the District listening sessions, told the board it was the intention of the committee as conveyed to the public, to have the new gymnasium floor be wood.

A progress report on construction indicated the the new High School field house bleachers have been installed and construction begun on the new corridor connecting the main school building with the field house. Construction should begin on the music wing addition to the school in about 10 days.

See construction photos on our Website.

Lobby remodeling underway at four schools

Posted on July 20, 2010, 1:09 pm, by Douglas Armstrong and received No Comments ».

Creating secure entrances at the elementary, middle and high school buildings was part of the plan approved by referendum last November.

Lobby remodeling is underway at Richards Elementary

Lobby remodeling is underway at Richards Elementary

At each school, a security system will lock the front doors once the children have arrived. Visitors will be forced to use a second entrance in the vestibule that directs them through the school office. They will have to sign in before being buzzed through.

Work on the new lobby configurations is expected to be completed in time for the start of school this fall, although construction supervisors say the timetable is tight.

There are more construction photos on our Website, and they are updated periodically.

More bids approved, construction begins

Posted on July 14, 2010, 8:28 pm, by Douglas Armstrong and received No Comments ».

The Whitefish Bay School Board approved additional construction bids Wednesday night that are $350,000 under the original budget, but it left undecided several issues involved in the improvement and expansion work to the district’s five schools.

“The bids came in very well,” Greg Sabel, construction manager for C.D. Smith Construction Services, told the board. Bids approved Wednesday totaled $5,533,146. “We are very comfortable with the low bidders after speaking to each one.”

Workers demolish a driveway where the cafeteria addition will go at Cumberland.

Workers demolish a driveway where the cafeteria addition will go at Cumberland.

Sabel made an exception on the roofing bids, in which some contractors may not have bid on exactly the same work and materials. The board held back approval of a roofing contract, pending further study. They also bypassed the low bidder for sprinkler work after Sabel said his construction firm was more comfortable with the second lowest bidder.

Work has begun at the elementary schools on demolition and foundations, Sabel said. Concrete is being poured at Richards for footings.

“In two weeks, we’ll begin work at the high school,” he said.

Demolition on the entrances and office spaces at Richards, Cumberland, the Middle School and the High School has begun to prepare for the construction of new security features at those schools. The  work is expected to be completed by September.

Wood forms are built in trenches at Richards for pouring concrete footings.

Wood forms are built in trenches at Richards for pouring concrete footings.

“It will be extremely tight,” Sabel said of the schedule.

The board deliberated longest on the replacement floor for the Middle School gymnasium, which is currently asphalt tile on a concrete slab. The floor sweats and is hard on the students’ knees and ankles. A maple wood floor is in the plan to replace it at a bid cost of $125,000.

“”What is the life expectancy of that building?” asked board president Marie Greco. “Why put in a top quality floor?”

Board member Cheryl Maranto agreed. “We should at least take a look at it. I don’t recall we came to a consensus on a wood floor in a building of that age. It is clearly the first academic building we are going to replace.”

The board discussed the alternative of a “sports floor” of man-made  material, which would be less expensive. However, several board members, including Kathy Rogers and Gerry Steele, said they favored the wood floor, pimarily for its effect on the quality of physical education  instruction. It was also the choice of all but one of the teachers consulted.

In the end, the bid for a wood floor was accepted as part of a larger wood floor bid encompassing work at the grade schools and High School. But the board indicated it would revisit the question at a later meeting.

“We’ll just hold off on the purchase order [for the flooring] and the [contract] award, even though we have approval from the board to do so,” said Shawn Yde, the district’s business manager.

See more photos on our Website

Construction bids coming in under budget

Posted on July 2, 2010, 9:27 am, by Douglas Armstrong and received No Comments ».

The Whitefish Bay School Board approved 19 construction bids and purchase orders totaling $10,874,866 at a special meeting Friday morning in the district superintendent’s office.

Distric Business Manager Shawn Yde explains bids to the School Board

District Business Manager Shawn Yde explains construction bids to the School Board

 

“There will be an additional 20 bids coming for approval on July 14,” district business director Shawn Yde told the board. “These contractors are hungry. Bids are coming in under what was originally budgeted and the numbers are only going to get better.”

Yde said the project was already $258,000 below the original budget with about half of the work bid. In addition, the district will be able to complete a far larger percentage of the repair and replacement work for which money was allocated in the referendum funds (rather than bid as specific projects).

“We estimate that we will be able to do almost 100% of the plumbing supply side work we identified as needing replacement,” Yde said. “Previously, we thought we’d be able to do 60% to 65% on the funds approved.” The plan targeted approximately 90% of all supply side plumbing at all schools.

“That’s important,” said Board member James Phillips, “because the more we do, the more we take pressure off of our operating budget.”

In addition to the plan-specific construction funds for additions at Whitefish Bay High School and at the two elementary schools, money was approved at last November’s referendum for allocations to repair and replace outdated plumbing, electrical, galvanized piping, heating and ventilating equipment and controls as well as outlets in classrooms, door hardware and asbestos abatement.

“Things are going to start happening fast,” Yde said, following the bid approvals. The sites for the work are already behind construction fences at the three schools where additions will be built.

Purchase orders will be issued by the district rather than the contractors for materials used in the projects to obtain them sales tax free, providing 5% more purchasing power, Yde said.

“I’m going to try to reduce costs wherever we can,” Yde said.

The district is handling $2.6 million of contracting work itself on roofing and building exteriors, which it has done in the past. This will save the cost of a percentage of those costs going to the construction management firm, C.D. Smith.

All the bids approved were the lowest bids for the work.

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School Board tables “moral obligation” payment

Posted on June 24, 2010, 12:46 pm, by Douglas Armstrong and received No Comments ».

The Whitefish Bay School Board on Wednesday approved for publication a tentative $22.4 million budget for the 2010-2011 school year that does not include an allocation to meet the “moral obligation” payment associated with a failed trust investment.

“Why would we when they’re not cooperating?” asked board member Michael Mosner, referring to Depfa Bank, which previously requested an interest payment on the loan.

A representative of Depfa Bank, which has declared the district’s loan in default, was present but not allowed to speak since public comment and questions are not permitted at special meetings of the school board.

Superintendent Jim Rickabaugh advised the board not to allocate the money.

“I cannot, in good conscience, recommend that the board appropriate further payments to Depfa at this time,” he said.

The board along with four other school districts has sued to recover the money lost in the investment, which was backed by a loan by Depfa Bank. If the lawsuit is successful, the bank would recover some or all of the money it loaned the districts for the investment.

Rickabaugh cited several reasons for his recommendation not allocate funds:

  • Depfa declined to contribute legal fees to help prosecute the districts’ lawsuit.
  • Depfa refused to provide documents in its possession pertaining to the transaction.
  • When the documents were subpoenaed, Depfa objected in filings to every one of the 32 separate requests.

“This regrettable behavior violates Depfa’s own obligation of good faith and fair dealing under Wisconsin law that governs contracts and does not allow us to understand the extent and nature of Depfa’s involvement in the transaction,” Rickabaugh said.

Even worse, perhaps, Depfa hired a lobbyist who “engaged in a campaign to discredit the districts and their boards in the media and generate fear that our districts’ credit rating would be ruined,” Rickabaugh said.

According to Rickabaugh, the lobbyist went so far as to approach the Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, attempting to block approval of the district’s facilities improvement loan application.

Because of the pending lawsuit, the board has previously withheld comment about the bank’s claims. Rickabaugh cited several paragraphs of the agreement regarding the district’s obligations on its loan from Depfa:

WHEREAS, this Agreement will constitute only a “moral obligation” of the District and shall not constitute a legal obligation or an indebtedness of the District within the meaning of any state constitutional provision or statutory limitation.

Further, the agreement states:

Notwithstanding anything else contained in this Agreement, the District shall have no obligation with respect to the payment of the Notes or other amounts under the Indenture except to the extent that the Board has duly appropriated funds for the payment of deficiency in the Asset Ratio as described herein.

The district’s business manager, Shawn Yde, said the only thing certain about the tentative budget was that it would change. The district has until late October to approve a budget. [View the tentative budget.]

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Celebrating Jim Rickabaugh’s service

Posted on June 22, 2010, 9:25 pm, by Douglas Armstrong and received No Comments ».

This tribute to Jim was developed as a presentation that was given at two retirement events in his honor.

By Bruce Kestelman

It’s been said that it’s easier to write a long speech than a shorter one.  It wasn’t easy to write that shorter one about Jim.

I was a member of the school board that included: Pam Woodard, Nancy LeGrand, David Kern, Dan Kaminski, Tim Somers and Tom Scrivner that had the wisdom, good fortune, LUCK to hire Jim Rickabaugh, a Level 5 Leader (more about that later) as the District Administrator for Whitefish Bay Schools.  I was pleased to be asked to recognize Jim’s service at this time of his retirement.  Thank you all for being here to be part of this tribute.  According to William Arthur Ward, “feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

There have already been words spoken and written about Jim’s service and there will be more as time goes on.  Each tribute to Jim will be like one of the six proverbial blind men and the elephant, seeing aspects of Jim through their own experiences with him and through the context they bring.  I’ll add my comments to the mix.  And NO Jim, I’m not calling you an elephant!

Jim helped the Whitefish Bay School Community to accomplish a great deal during his tenure.  Others have and will talk about those outcomes.  While almost everyone will agree that Jim’s leadership helped us to achieve those outcomes; because of Jim’s leadership style we also say, “we did it ourselves.”  Attributed to Lao Tzu is the comment, “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

I remember a conversation with Betts O’Toole, Jim’s former secretary who retired last year.  We were talking about Jim and she shared that when Jim started, everyone waited for him to tell him or her what to do.  Eventually, she and the others realized that he wasn’t going to do that.  He would mentor, develop, coach and expect them to work it through by themselves and with the support of the team he was building.  It was in their good hands.  That was a change for the district and one that made a difference.

One of my recollections of Jim at School Board meetings is one that is ongoing.  It is Jim opening his notebook and taking a few notes indicating what actions he needed to take.  It was his and his team’s follow-up; it was his quiet accountability. 

Another recollection for me is of the work related to creating and implementing the Focus Plan for the district. For me, it wasn’t so much the plan itself, but rather the way Jim used the plan to engage everyone in the school community in a dialogue about educational quality and how to achieve it for all students.

David Kern, a friend and former school board colleague shared with me one of his recollections in working with Jim.  It was as Jim came onboard and he talked with David about David’s hopes and dreams for the district.  His was simply that he wanted to do all things that invoked seeing students and teachers with smiles on their faces walking briskly to school in the morning eager to grasp the day. This became a criterion for Jim and David.  Ten years later there are more smiles and the briskness of the morning has increased.

There’s a popular discussion among group members for one of the groups I belong to on LinkedIn.  Dr. Richard Norris started the discussion two months ago asking members to indicate their purpose in one word. There are now 1,912 responses and counting.  How would you describe your own purpose?  What would we say about Jim’s purpose?  What would he say?  Is it husband, father, educator, leader, transformation, service, inspiration, passion, mentor, coach, partnership?  For me, a key purpose I think of Jim’s, and what I found in our relationship over time was partnership. Partnership is hard because it requires folks to give up total control and learn how to work together in interdependent ways.  It requires a great deal of trust.  And indeed it was partnership that Jim created with me and I believe our board, the administration, teachers, staff, parents and guardians, students and other members of the greater school community.  And by the way, could you really even think about winnowing down your purpose to only one word?

And now, about Level 5 Leadership.  Jim Rickabaugh is what Jim Collins, in his business book bestseller – Good to Great – would call a Level 5 Executive. 

“A Level 5 Executive builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.  Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company.  It’s not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest.  Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious – but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves.  All the great companies in Collins’ research had level 5 leaders.  Level 5 leaders are a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless.”  And so is Jim Rickabaugh.

Let me end by saying that Jim will be known for the trees he planted in Whitefish Bay.  For according to Paul Wesselmann, “We advance toward our destiny when we encourage others to reach theirs.”  Jim knows that we cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails and he did that as he tacked to the political, financial and educational forces that blew down on Whitefish Bay.  Jim also knew that there is no one that cannot be taught something, and no one from whom he couldn’t learn something.  According to The Talmud, “Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, ‘Grow, grow.’” And of course, according to David Viscott, “The purpose of life is to discover your gift.  The meaning of life is giving your gift away,” and so you did, Jim Rickabaugh.  You gave of your gift to us all, and we are the greater for it, and I think, so are you.  To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world!

So Jim, many thanks.  You will be missed.  Enjoy and all the best to you in your next act of service and leadership.  Be well, take care, and go in peace.

Sincerely with our love and appreciation,

Bruce Kestelman

Bruce Kestelman was a three-term member of the Whitefish Bay School Board from 1994 – 2003.  He was a member of the school board that hired Jim Rickabaugh.  Bruce was an advisory board member and a canvasser for Yes Yes Nov 3.

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