LTISD Info

The LTISD will be presenting information on the TRE (Tax Ratification Election) on November 18, from 9:00 A.M. until 11:00 A.M. at the Lake Travis ISD Administration Building. They will be making their presentation during a Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) Central Texas Regional Meeting which they are hosting on November 18.

What Tax Ratification Election?

Is the district going to discuss their last unsuccessful TRE or are they going to discuss their plans for a future TRE?

Shouldn’t we, the tax payers and parents of the district be made fully aware that a Tax Ratification Election was going to take place now?

So far we have only seen the early propaganda put out by the district, but they failed to mention a Tax Ratification Election.

The LTISD should be reminded of the current sentiment summarized by these words:

“In this economy, we all have to tighten our belts, and the state should not be exempt from that either”

Yes, on the heels of the defeat of the  Eanes bond election, and about a year since the defeat of the LTISD’s proposed two cent tax increase (Two Cents Makes NO Sense!) the LTISD is launching a publicity campaign to sell us on the idea that they need more tax dollars. Their next step is to form a “Bond Advisory Committee” of hand selected drones who will serve in the district’s ongoing Jihad to spend more of our money. Oh the doom and gloom if we don’t approve the money!

Is the district aware of the voter and tax payer dissatisfaction with spiraling out of control government spending ? Is the district aware that we recently elected a new State Representative who says:

“In this economy, we all have to tighten our belts, and the state should not be exempt from that either”

They just don’t get it. Nevertheless, the district kicked off their publicity efforts in the October 2009 “School Matters” publication, also carried by the Lake Travis View and the Bee Cave Bee.

District officials begin discussing long-range finance and facilities plan

As local and state funding sources near capacity, and with student enrollment on a steady climb, the Lake Travis Independent School District (LTISD) administration is taking the initial steps toward developing a long-range plan that will allow the District to remain financially solvent.

“Despite our sound financial management and healthy budget, we anticipate continued growth in student enrollment, and consequently, a need for additional facilities and the funds to operate those facilities,” said LTISD Superintendent Dr. Rocky Kirk.  “Without significant intervention from the state, we must begin to look at other alternatives that will allow us to maintain optimal balance regarding program, facility, operational and financial integrity.”

The article points to another document describing more “financial details” from the district’s perspective.

How interesting that the Superintendent, Rocky Kirk, who managed to get a 7.8% pay raise this  year, says that the district must look to maintain their “financial integrity.” Just who’s financial integrity is Rocky looking to maintain? I guess divorce is expensive, especially after 28 years.

Strange, but the detailed document failed to mention Rocky Kirk’s history of outrageous pay raises, or the scandalous pay raises of the immensely “popular” Susan Bohn.

Compare the enrollment of the LTISD since 2002 to the pay of Rocky Kirk and Susan Bohn.

Talk about maintaining someone’s financial integrity!

I still want to know exactly what it is that Susan Bohn does to earn such outrageous pay increases? Really makes you wonder …

Let’s see, Rocky Kirk started working for the district on July 1, 2002 for $154,600/year and a mere 8 years has seen his annual salary increase by $117,827 to $272,427/year, a 76.2% pay raise!

In the meantime the district only grew from 4,652 students to 6,552 students, an increase of only 41%!

Who else has seen the incredible salary windfall like the one Rocky Kirk has seen in just 8 years?

Perhaps Susan Bohn? Susan Bohn started working for the district in 2006 at $96,124/year and now she is being paid $168,090/year, a 75% increase in only 4 years! Makes you wonder just what it is Susan does for all that money?

I have obtained the 2010/2011 LTISD salaries for ALL the district’s employees^TPIA.

You can see the 2010/2011 LTISD salaries in more detail following the links below:

Well no surprises for the highest paid LTISD employees:

Rocky Kirk got yet another pay raise! I guess that divorce is expensive. It should be after 28 years.

Even Susan Bohn, our dance and social studies certified “Deputy Superintendent” (Susan Bohn’s current contract is for a “non-certified” employee) got herself another undeserved pay increase. The LTISD has an attorney, not a certified or qualified administrator as the second highest paid employee in the district. Makes you wonder just how Susan Bohn does it?

It was recently brought to my attention that if you add up the salaries of the top ten LTISD employees, you get $1,306,584.00/year! That’s a lot of money for a school district of a little more than 6500 students. But the LTISD did manipulate their way to an “exemplary” rating only after taking several exemptions in their favor.

I added up all of the salaries and got a total payroll for this year of $37,309,126.00 compared to $35,819,377.00 last year. This year there are 939 employees on the district’s roster and 911 employees last year.

The 2009/2010 average salary was $39,732.82 per employee and in 2010/2011 the average salary was $39,318.75 per employee, a decrease of $414.08 or about 1%.

Just how does that work? More employees, less money per employee yet Rocky Kirk gets a 7.8% pay raise and Susan Bohn gets a 20.1% pay raise? (We need to remove Becky Burnett inclusion in this list of absurdities since she was promoted to a position this year. Unlike Rocky Kirk and Susan Bohn, Becky Burnett can show meaningful results to show for her labor.)

Last year with only 6139 students, Rocky Kirk was paid at a rate of $41.18/student and this year Rocky Kirk is getting $41.58/student! Compare Rocky’s pay per student to the salaries of other superintendents in the state. Then compare the other superintendents salaries to their district’s TEA rating. We can do much better for less.

Is Rocky’s house on the market?

Update, September 6, 2010: The house is now listed as “Active Contingent” which means:

“When sellers and buyers get into a written contract with an agreed price and terms and escrow has been opened, the status of the active listing will be changed into contingent.  At this point, there are still at least one condition that allow the buyer or seller to cancel the contract without paying any penalty.”

Looks like Rocky on can cross this “to do” off his list and finalize the petition for divorce that he filed for in June 2010. Then what?

Update, August 21, 2010: The listing price has gone down by $10,500 since the first post! When the story was initially posted, August 10, the listing price of the house was $449,500, now the listing price is $439,000. According to one of the real estate web sites, the property was first listed on July 26th. Interestingly, the Travis Central Appraisal District (TDAD) valued the property at $422,553 in 2009 but the “preliminary” 2010 valuation is only $381,119?!

According to the Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD):

Recently I discovered that this property located in The Hills has been listed on the market (MLS #4729797):

4 Windwood Court, The Hills, Texas 78738

4 Bed, 3 Baths Single Family in The Hills, TX 78738

What does this mean?

According to the LTISD, the “Lake Travis ISD Board approves $81.9M budget” and according to the district’s press release, they have done it without incurring a deficit.

Now isn’t that amazing! The district can make cuts and still remain in the black.

Remember it was not more than a year or so ago that they district was predicting a budget deficit, doom and gloom unless we all approved another tax increase?

“Kirk made reference to a chart [above] that showed the district that without the 2 cents, the district will be in the red with no fund balance whatsoever by 2013. With the 2 cents, the district could stave off the problem for a bit longer.”

“Kirk said 86 percent of the school district’s budget is tied up in payroll — teachers, administrators and support staff. He said that under the circumstances, without help from voters, the district would be forced to cut its staff — including teachers.”

“We all know that property tax increases are unpleasant, but we missed an opportunity to secure additional funding for our District that would have provided some short-term relief. As a result, our District is now faced with a budget deficit of more than $1.7 million.” -Susan Tolles

“`With projected deficit funding of approximately $1.8 million, coupled with a steady increase in student enrollment and operating expenses, the board believes asking voters for additional revenue through a tax ratification election is a prudent and fiscally responsible option,’ said Susan Tolles, President of the LTISD board.”

Finally, and this from the LTISD’s own propaganda, created on September 11, 2009 by Marco Alvarado:

“Future budget projections for the District indicate that at the current tax rate of $1.04, the District would deplete 81 percent of its fund balance or savings account by Fiscal Year 2012-2013.”

Let’s just see if Rocky Kirk get’s another pay raise. Rocky probably will probably convince all his friends on the Board that he needs a salary bump to pay for the cost of his divorce.

Recently I reported that our Superintendent Rocky Kirk’s house has recently been placed on the market.

Unfortunately it looks like the LTISD Superintendent, Rocky Kirk is not selling his house as a precursor to his departure from the district, rather it appears to be the result of a Petition for Divorce that Rocky filed in Travis County on June 10, 2010 (Case: D-1-FM-10-003126)?

Does anyone know who Katerine is?

Recently I have been told that Holly Morris-Kuentz the LTISD Director of Educational Support Services will be taking on the position of Executive Director for Human Resource Services previously held by Susanna Russell.

Well, it’s been officially announced by the district. Rocky is even quoted as saying:

“While Holly has been with Lake Travis ISD only a short time, she has excelled in her work, and her talents, work ethic, and commitment have impressed those who have had the opportunity to work with her”

Hopefully Holly will remember what happens to those who don’t strictly adhere to the party line.

Recently the Americans for Posperity (AFP) Texas Blog wrote “Texas school districts claim shortfalls while holding millions in reserve.”

The blog references another excellent article “Texas school districts maintain billions in reserve funds” from the Texas Budget Source.

“Chairman Eissler [House Public Education Chairman Rob Eissler] says every business, including school districts, need reserve funds for unexpected occurrences. According to Eissler, public school districts in Texas have more than $7.1 billion in reserve funds. In the last five years, Eissler says reserve fund balances per student have risen from $1,000 to $1,500.

“When times get tough, or you find you really need something, you can dip into the reserve fund,” said Eissler. “School districts are no different.” However, Eissler remembers last legislative session hearing a particular school district tell legislators if districts keep spending the money at the rate their going, they’ll be broke within five years.

“We’ve taught school districts, the state has, how to spend money. When they run out, they ask for more.” And with dozens of school districts across the state reporting budget shortfalls, the time to ask for more money is once again here. But with the state facing an estimated $18 billion budget shortfall and 29 percent of that going to public education, Eissler says it is time districts learn better spending practices.

“Most say spending more will give you better results,” said Eissler. “We’re working on that.” Eissler adds every year the state spends more on education but districts have trouble getting performance to rise accordingly.

“What that tells us is we’re probably spending money on the wrong thing. The only way we’ll be able to get a handle on that is to reallocate spending on things that work and less on things that don’t work,” said Eissler. “Rarely do we eliminate a program. We usually add them on. At some point in the financial future, we’re going to have to start replacing things more than we add things. We have to get this under control. Our future depends on it.””

- “Texas school districts maintain billions in reserve funds,” Sara Talbert, Texas Budget Source, July 27, 2010

Agreed!

Since when did extra taxes collected during “financial hardships” get reduced later when the difficult funding times went away?

The Bee Cave Bee reports “LTISD in land deals for up to six new schools” on August 6, 2010.

“LTISD has purchased four lots of land and accepted donations of two other parcels in preparation for future school district growth. The money came from the 2006 bond.”

What’s next, another bond election? Another run at increasing our taxes as they did in November 2009?