The November 19, 2009 Letters to the Editor section of the Lake Travis View contains a response by Patrick Watson to comments made by the LTISD Superintendent Rocky Kirk¹ and the LTISD Board of Trustees President Susan Tolles² in the November 5, 2009 issue of the Lake Travis View (“Voters nix 2 cent tax increase for LTISD”).

LTISD official wrong to blame voters

To the editor:

Following the crushing defeat of the LTISD attempt to raise taxes, board chair Susan ToIles said “As a result, our district is now faced with a budget deficit of more than $1.7 million.”

This is not correct. LTISD faces a budget deficit because the board approved a budget that was $1.7 million too high. The trustees knew full well that they were spending more money than they had available. That’s why we had an election. They assumed voters would’ rubber-stamp a tax increase to cover the shortfall — a bad assumption, obviously.

Maybe instead of blaming voters, Ms. Tolles and the other trustees should try listening to them. The message is clear: You don’t have a blank check. Stop whining about Robin Hood and stop spending money you don’t have. Will this mean tough .decisions? Of course, but you all asked for the job. If you don’t want to do it, you should resign.

Patrick W. Watson
Hamilton Pool Road

-Letters to the Editor, Lake Travis View, November 19, 2009

Patrick hits the nail on the head when he says:

“You don’t have a blank check. Stop whining about Robin Hood and stop spending money you don’t have.”

We are all sick and tired of hearing the whining of overpaid Superintendents such as Rocky Kirk telling us that we are tossing our money into into another black hole rather than into the local abyss, the local abyss that keeps on giving Rocky Kirk pay raises with little to show for it.

Rocky Kirk should spend more time telling us more about when we will start seeing some results from his boasts  of making “the LTISD the most exemplary school district in Texas.” I don’t think that’s working out to well for Rocky.

Of course, Patrick’s insight must be challenged and who better than Lisa Lawrence to counter with her Letter to the Editor on November 26, 2009:

Tolles comment on LTISD election taken out of context

To the editor:

In his letter to the Lake Travis View on Nov. 19, Mr. [Patrick] Watson made some assumptions that were incorrect.

Mrs. [Susan] Tolles never blamed the voters. Her words were that she was disappointed. Her statement was factual, and not for the reason he claims.

How can he claim that the board was spending more money than they had available? Did he look at last year’s budget figures? Did he note that administrative costs were practically flat in this year’s budget (the overall budget for expenditures rose just .33 percent over the 2008-09 budget)? Is he aware the district is making do with a fixed income allotted by the state that doesn’t take inflation, rising fuel and insurance costs, etc., into account? Is he aware that over 80 percent of the budget is for staffing?

Parents and prospective parents move to and remain in this district because of our schools, our teachers, our programs, our student-to-teacher ratios, our special programs, etc. People in our district expect a quality education and high performance for our kids.

The 2 cent referendum, had it passed, would have been used for maintenance and operation. Does Mr. Watson even know what that stands for? That money would NOT have been subject to recapture. It means 85 percent of it would have been used for teacher compensation, teacher raises, rising teacher insurance benefits, maintaining small class ratios… Seriously, Mr. Watson? You’ve heard the trustees whine? I’ve heard matter of fact information regarding Robin Hood presented, but never in a whining tone.

If the 2 cent referendum had passed, it would have helped us in maintaining our A++, bond rating at AA+, which depends on many things, including the state of our fund balances. This A++ rating enables LTISD to issue bonds on much more favorable terms, which — reduces the district’s costs!

“Blank check?”

It is mind numbing to try to comprehend how hard the board and Mr. [Bob] Hart worked to help us earn this superior rating that the District is now working to maintain.

It is disappointing that more people in our district didn’t take the time to educate themselves, read the information provided, attend the meetings that were held, and then get out and vote. And it is sad that so many do not understand the negative impact that not passing the 2 cents has upon our schools.

Lisa Lawrence
Lakeway

-Letters to the Editor, Lake Travis View, November 26, 2009

Lisa Lawrence urges Patrick Watson and the rest of the district’s tax payers to become better educated. Interesting to hear this from someone who is ignorant of the facts regarding the school district’s spending and revenue. I doubt that Lisa Lawrence posses anything more than anecdotal evidence based on quotes from the district’s administration and the Board.

First off, Lisa claims:

“Parents and prospective parents move to and remain in this district because of our schools, our teachers, our programs, our student-to-teacher ratios, our special programs, etc. People in our district expect a quality education and high performance for our kids.”

Then why was the LTISD rated “Academically Acceptable” by the TEA, again? The LTISD has been rated “Academically Acceptable” 3 of the last 4 years, far from the “most exemplary school district in the state of Texas!”

Secondly, Lisa also claims:

“It is disappointing that more people in our district didn’t take the time to educate themselves, read the information provided, attend the meetings that were held, and then get out and vote.”

Lisa should “take the time to educate” herself about the facts regarding the election turnout on November 2009:

Does Lisa know that 3,253 votes were cast in the recent Rollback Election?

Does Lisa know that this was a turnout of about 15% of the registered voters in the district?

Does Lisa know that this was one of the highest voter turnouts for an election in the LTISD?

Does Lisa know that the state wide turnout was only about 8% for the November 2009 election?

So, once the facts are sought out and not based on anecdotal quips from the likes of  Susan Tolles² who said: “we are disappointed with the overall lack of voter turnout in this important local election” we find that the voters actually did “take the time to educate themselves” and they did turn out to vote. Lisa Lawrence and Susan Tolles just don’t get it.

Perhaps Lisa’s arguments would be better served by providing references to the “facts” that she uses so that we can verify them?   I would suggest that Lisa start by looking at the great wealth of data available on line from the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

I have found some interesting data that anyone else can review and (here’s the important part) then VERIFY against published sources.

I will be updating some of my already published data, but readers can review just some of the interesting facts that I have extracted from published sources with references:

1. Did you realize the difference in the salary and pay increases between the LTISD Superintendent and teachers in the district?

2. Did you know that instructional spending has not kept pace with inflation?

3. Did you know that Rocky Kirk’s salary is now $252,799.00/year?

4. Did you know about “LTISD hopes to get 2 cents worth?”

5. Did you know how the “academically acceptable” LTISD spends tax payers money, per student, compared to “recognized” districts?

6. Did you wonder just how the LTISD compares to a “high growth” school district?

Finally, on December 3, 2009, Patrick Watson responds to Lisa Lawrence’s question: “Does Mr. Watson even know what that stands for?” Mr. Watson wrote:

Standing ground on LTISD

To the editor:

Regarding the response by Lisa Lawrence to my criticism of the LTISD board on this page: I stand by everything

I said. The full Nov. 3 quote by Susan Tolles was printed in that week’s Lake Travis View. People can read in context for themselves and decide whether she was blaming voters for the district’s financial woes. When she says the deficit came “as a result” of the election, I find it hard to reach any other conclusion.

I repeat: it was the school board, not the voters, who decided to spend more money than current tax rates would cover. If Ms. Tolles would like to dispute my interpretation or clarify her remarks, I’m sure the View will be glad to give her an opportunity.

The same issue of the View that carried the letter from Ms. Lawrence also reported that the trustees have now reduced the budget by $1.5 million. Apparently it wasn’t so hard after all. Why didn’t they cut this spending in the first place? That would have saved the expense of an election and we would be no worse off than we are now.

On the other points Ms. Lawrence raised:

1. The LTISD bond rating is relevant only to the extent the district needs to issue more bonds. Since the 2004 and 2006 bond proposals supposedly covered all necessary capital projects for the foreseeable future, there should be no such need.

2. Yes, the board should consider inflation when making its budget, but we are currently in a deflationary economy with the price of most goods and services going down rather than up. Inflation (as measured by the Consumer Price Index) fell -0.2% in the twelve months ending October 2009. This is why Social Security recipients won’t get a cost-of-living adjustment in January. If our senior citizens can get by on the same income or less, so can LTISD.

3. I am not at all surprised if the LTISD administrative budget rose only fractionally from the prior year, given that we already have some of the best-paid administrators in the state. There was no need to spend even more. Kudos to the board members if they have finally realized this. Your next step should be to spend less money on lawyers and lobbyists.

4. My definition of “whining” is “complaining about things that are not going to change.” I don’t like the Robin Hood situation either, but it is a fact of life. The legislature is obviously paralyzed on this issue. Anything they do might not survive court challenges anyway, so hoping for legislative relief is not a wise strategy. Far better to adapt to the new reality.

The voters obviously want the school district to balance its budget without raising taxes. This is not an unreasonable request. More than a few businesses in our area (bankruptcy lawyers being the main exception) are coping with sharply lower revenues. There is no reason LTISD can’t do likewise.

Patrick Watson
Hamilton Pool Road

-Letters to the Editor, Lake Travis View, December 3, 2009

You can verify the inflation rate information used by Patrick Watson from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Indexes.

1Rocky Kirk is paid $252,799/year for an “Academically Acceptable” school district of 6,536 students. The LTISD has been rated “Academically Acceptable” 3 of the last 4 years.

²Susan Tolles is also identified by Rocky Kirk as the individual for the district’s failure to “ensure the protection of confidentiality of any personally identifiable data, information, and records collected or maintained by the LEA in accordance with required procedures.”

I obtained the final campaign finance report for the “Two Penny PAC.”

The “Two Penny PAC” was formed by citizens who don’t believe that they already pay enough taxes and not only do they want to pay more taxes, but want you to pay more taxes as well.

“Salgo teamed up with six other parents over the last few months who called themselves the ‘Two Penny PAC.’”

-”Voters reject school district tax hike,” Erin Cargile, KXAN, November 4, 2009

The supporters of the “Two Penny PAC” want the rest of the district’s tax payers to continually dole out more money to the district’s outrageously overpaid Superintendent Rocky Kirk, squandering even more money than the $252,799/year he is given to manage an “Academically Acceptable” school district of only about 6,500 students. Let’s not forget to mention the $10,000 pay raise dolled out to the district’s General Counsel, Susan Bohn, who while being paid $140,000/year doesn’t seem to do anything other than farm out the district’s legal matters to outside law firms at tax payer expense.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post comparing tax rates, Superintendent salaries and dollars spent per pupil in LTISD and other district’s in Texas.

Fortunately the tax payers were outraged by the district’s request for even more money. Why can’t the school district tighten it’s belt in these economic times just like everyone else?

Makes you wonder why Robert Salgo wants to flush more of his and our money down drain at the LTISD. What’s his agenda?

“‘Right now people are just not willing to endure the tax increase,’ said Salgo.”

-”Voters reject school district tax hike,” Erin Cargile, KXAN, November 4, 2009

The Fordham University Center on Law and Information Policy recently released a report about how the privacy of educational records are at risk:

“Fordham Law’s Center on Law and Information Privacy released a study that found state educational databases across the country ignore key privacy protections for the nation’s K – 12 children.”

We already know that the LTISD violates the privacy of students.

Unfortunately it all starts at the top of the LTISD. Susan Tolles, the President of the LTISD Board of Trustees was blamed by Rocky in a letter responding to a TEA finding that the LTISD violated student privacy.

You can read about a just a few of them for yourself:

1. Did the LTISD violate confidentiality again?

2. Did you know that the TEA found that the LTISD violated student confidentiality? Yet Again!

3. Did you know what a recent LTISD purchased report says about the district?

4. Did you know that the LTISD violated confidentiality AGAIN?

5. Did you know that the LTISD violated student confidentiality on a GRAND scale?

6. Did she or didn’t she? She did! Did you know that Susan Tolles is the ONLY Board member to take confidentiality training and sign an oath of confidentiality?

7. Did she or didn’t she? She did! Did you know that Susan Tolles is the ONLY Board member to take confidentiality training and sign an oath of confidentiality?

8. Did you know that the attorneys for the LTISD sent out unredacted information, again?

9. Did you know that the district is supposed to remove any offensive, confidential, or proprietary information from computers before assigning them to students?

10. Did you know that the LTISD cannot maintain custody of confidential records?

11. Did you know that the LTISD was found to have violated student confidentiality?

How can you maintain privacy of educational records when you loose them?!

Just ask Susan Bohn, the district’s spectacular lawyer (she received a $10,000 pay raise this last year) once again deferred to an outside law firm to do her job. Susan wasted our tax dollars to have an outside law firm tell me why the district was not able to come up educational records in their custody and control.

The reason that the district was unable to provide a copy of my son’s educational records was: “… was not provided for the simple reason that the District cannot find his form.” Yes, you read it right, they lost it!

Oh how typical. Just look at the postings listed above.

Another question would be: Why couldn’t Susan Bohn do her job (she gets paid $140,000/year) rather than pay to have an outside law firm do it for her? Just what does Susan Bohn do for $140,000/year? Not much it seems.

Bottom line is that the district has a documented record of confidentiality and privacy screw ups.

The LTISD put out a press release about their final 2009 TEA rating of “Academically Acceptable.”

It was the usual pathetic attempt by Rocky Kirk to say that the ratings were “not reflective of the exceptionally-high academic performance which  speaks volumes about the achievement and commitment of our students, staff, and parents.”

OK, now all we need is for Rocky to tell us just how he, as “The Superintendent shall be the educational leader and chief executive
officer of the District.” [LTISD Written Board Policy BJA(LEGAL), Texas Education Code 11.201(a)], will direct the improvements?

What is Rocky Kirk’s plan for the improving the district? Rocky fails to address any plan in this press release because I would assume he has no clue.

Instead Rocky let Myra Pettit explain that the district really didn’t understand the TEA process?

“We now have a better understanding of the processes used by TEA to determine longitudinal completion rates and annual dropout rates.”

How can that be?

Why did it take the district this long to “have a better understanding of the process?”

Have you read the district’s appeal of their 2009 rating?

Have you read the district’s  second appeal of their 2009 rating? (Note that this second desperate appeal letter by Rocky was submitted to the TEA well after the appeals deadline).

Isn’t Rocky still responsible for the district?

Is this Rocky’s usual process of trying to distance and insulate himself from his lack of leadership and management skills? I guess this explains why Rocky let someone else speak about topics he should have addressed.

We already know that since 2003 Rocky Kirk’s pay has skyrocketed. Rocky Kirk’s pay has increased over 60% to the current $252,799/year.

But how has Rocky Kirk’s outrageous pay increases “improved” the district? You couldn’t tell by the district’s TEA ratings which were relaxed this year accounting for the number of districts who’s rating improved, excepting of course, the LTISD which slid backwards.

So much for Rocky Kirk’s boast about making the LTISD “the most exemplary school district in Texas.”

Finally, why didn’t the Board of Trustees comment on the rating?

Do you think they even know or care? Note how Susan Tolles, the Board President comments about the recent loss of the recent tax increase but she remains silent on the district’s mediocre rating in this press release?

“Academically Acceptable” is certainly a mediocre rating for the amount of money we are being taxed!

Joe Smith at the TexasISD.com web site wrote in his column “`Election Observations’ by Joe Smith – Good Morning – November 5, 2009:”

“Lake Travis ISD becomes the first chapter 41 district where voters denied a TRE request to add 2 additional pennies to the tax rate. The fact that the two pennies would not be recaptured makes this decision by the voters a difficult one to understand…Maybe they didn’t understand.”

- “Election Observations,” Joe F. Smith, TexasISD.com, November 5, 2009

Joe, we understand perfectly! That is why the district lost their audacious attempt to fleece the tax payers of more of our money.

Joe, and the district should know that “recaptured” or not, the tax payers are tired of paying more taxes to an “Academically Acceptable” school district of 6,536 students, an overpaid superintendent who makes $252,799/year, an overpaid General Counsel who makes $140,000/year who got a $10,000 raise this last year, and …

Hope that this helps Joe and the others who don’t understand that the tax payers are getting tired of doling out more money only to see it wasted!

The Texas Education Agency released their final 2009 ratings today.

“Accountability appeals changed the ratings of 19 school districts and 64 campuses, final results released today show.

After appeals, six campuses moved up to an Exemplary rating and 19 campuses and five districts moved up to a Recognized rating, while 18 campuses and 14 districts managed to upgrade their Academically Unacceptable rating. However, ratings remained unchanged for most districts and campuses. Overall, 81 of the 234 district or campus appeals were granted.”

- Texas Education Agency

Despite Rocky Kirk’s two appeals to the TEA regarding the LTISD’s 2009 “Academically Acceptable” rating, the TEA affirmed their determination that the district only met the standard of “Academically Acceptable.”

Just how did the LTISD slip back to “Academically Acceptable” again?

How can other districts achieve higher ratings?

The LTISD constantly complains about how unfair the rating system is, but how do other districts achieve higher ratings, even with less money?

The better question is: How do other larger districts with lower tax rates achieve “Recognized” and “Exemplary” ratings while the LTISD can only manage “Academically Acceptable?”

It doesn’t make sense that the LTISD with 6,536 students, one of the highest tax rates in the state and an outrageously overpaid superintendent can’t do better than “Academically Acceptable.”

And the district Board and administration wonder why the tax payers of the district said no more to their latest tax increase.

The answer is pretty obvious, the tax payers are not being served by the enormous amounts of our tax dollars that the district spends.

How can Rocky Kirk justify his $252,799/year salary?

How can Rocky Kirk  justify any more pay raises?

How can the LTISD Board of Trustees just keep doling out more money without demanding results proportional to the amount of our tax dollars spent?

The Blue Dot Blues recently published an article about the recent school rollback elections on the November 3rd ballot.

“Majority of ISD tax increases passed Tuesday” goes on to say:

“Oh, now, come on, people! At least Lake Travis ISD voters rejected their tax increase. 26 districts passed tax increases yesterday – roughly 63% of school district tax increases that were on Tuesday’s ballot. Which, admittedly, is down from a high of 93% in 2006. But with voter turnout so low everywhere, you have to think that apathy prevented more tax increase rejections.”

- “Majority of ISD tax increases passed Tuesday,” Blue Dot Blues, November 4, 2009

The article goes on to add:

“Until school districts learn to reign in their spending, voters should not approve tax increases, at least not without taking a hard look at where the money is going. I have to commend once again the voters in Lake Travis ISD and Canutillo ISD, and in the 13 other districts where people said “no” to tax increases during rough and uncertain economic times. At the same time, you have to wonder – if they had just said “no” a little earlier, to huge bonded debt, and demanded fiscal responsibility, would the districts have had to ask for tax increases now?”

- “Majority of ISD tax increases passed Tuesday,” Blue Dot Blues, November 4, 2009

Did you know that of the 24,751 eligible voters in the district, 3,693 people voted? That is a turn out of 15% which is very good for an LTISD election. So much for Susan Tolles statement: “we are disappointed with the overall lack of voter turnout in this important local election.”

Apparently 41 school districts sought a tax rollback on Tuesday’s ballot. Of those 41 districts, the LTISD was among the 15 districts who were denied their tax increase. At least there were tax payers in fourteen other districts who were also fed up with their spendthrift school districts.

I bet none of these 41 other districts have an outrageously paid superintendent who makes $252,799/year like Rocky Kirk.

The Lake Travis View published an article, “LTISD’s 2 cent tax hike nixed,” remarkably similar to the LTISD November 3, 2009 Quicknews.

In the article Susan Tolles blames the low turn out (15% turn out in fact) on the loss.

Unfortunately, a 15% is a good turn out for an LTISD election, but Susan Tolles has to blame the resounding defeat on something other than the tax payer contempt for the district’s administration and Board.

Considering the facts that the district is “academically acceptable” again, the district has an outrageously overpaid superintendent, Rocky Kirk, who makes $252,799/year, the district’s charity extends to a General Counsel Susan Bohn, who received a $10,000/year pay raise this last year making her current salary $140,000/year, and …

Yet Susan Tolles questions the district’s defeat?!

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A recent article in the Lake Travis View, “Bee Cave council signs off on school transportation center” confirms another article recently published in the Bee Cave Bee on October 28, 2009: “LTISD Transportation and Distribution Hub gets City go ahead.”

The district is planning to build a transportation and distribution facility on Highway 71:

“The new depot is located opposite the entrance to Falconhead West at Vale Divide in the far west of the City, and on the south side of 71. The land may also be the site of one of the three new schools proposed by the District in the next 10 years.”

- “LTISD Transportation and Distribution Hub gets City go ahead,” Bee Cave Bee, October 28, 2009

The Lake Travis View article goes on to confirm a recently published post on this site about another facility (leaked by the Canyons of Sweetwater development web page) to be located in the Sweetwater development.

“The second high school is proposed as the second phase of the project on the same tract of land in Sweetwater Ranch.”

- “Bee Cave council signs off on school transportation center,” Lake Travis View, November 4, 2009

The only question is do we believe the district’s growth projections?

You can read about the tax payer’s rejection of the district’s proposal to fleece us out of more money: “Early voters reject tax increase in Lake Travis ISD”

“Property tax rate hike rejected

Voters on Tuesday rejected a 2-cent property tax increase in the Lake Travis school district, with 59 percent voting against the measure and 41 percent voting for it.”

- “Early voters reject tax increase in Lake Travis ISD,” Austin American-Statesman, Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The election results are posted on the Travis County Clerk Elections Division web page.

The district even conceeded defeat in their “Quicknews” propoganda sent out last night at 11:02 PM.

Again the district is spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt. Rocky even talks about more lobbying.

That’s all we need, spending our tax dollars on lobbyists rather than the intended purpose of educating our children. And we wonder why our district is “academically acceptable.”

Could the Board pay another Superintendent any more to get so little in return?

Isn’t it about time for Rocky Kirk to leave before he “helps” the district any more? Surely, Rocky Kirk has made the LTISD the “most exemplary school district in Texas” or has he? Hmmh…

That’s right, Two cents makes NO sense!

• No matter how much the district’s faithful cadre party members spend to try and convince us otherwise.
• The tax payers of the LTISD have determined that they are no longer willing to pay for Rocky Kirk’s continued pay raises.
• The tax payers of the LTISD are no longer willing to spend pay more for an “academically acceptable” school district with one of the highest tax rates in the state.
• The tax payers of the LTISD no longer buy the doom and gloom projections of an overpaid Superintendent.
• The tax payers ponder Board member Mayo Davidson and the taxes he has not paid.