Three Bs

Every school superintendent brings something to the table. And every one leaves something behind. One can but hope that both of these things are positive.
It seems every day brings news of yet more layoffs and cutbacks. Businesses are adjusting to decreasing demand in nearly every corner. The layoffs are a natural result and to be expected.
There is little sense keeping extra employees and processes when there is no demand for the products they can produce in the immediate future. It makes sense to curb expenses to stretch critical resources hopefully until markets regain their footing.
Never an easy decision because real people and real lives are in the balance. But to survive at all, overhead must be trimmed.
Such was the case in Marietta City Schools several years ago when Mr. Backus arrived. He was faced with a system that had seen its student body shrink nearly in half with expenses continuing to grow each year and little recent adjustment for the declining enrollment.
The system continued to operate as it had when there were nearly twice as many students but having not trimmed expenses or closed any buildings in several years. There were nearly as many employees though some in different categories owing to changes in mandates and regulations. The writing was on the wall. Belt tightening was needed for survival.
What we are witnessing in the private sector now is what should have gone on in the public sector gradually over time as the student body dwindled. Reduce expenses to accommodate decreased attendance.
One of the things Mr. Backus left behind was the observation that education is the only business where you can go to bed Monday feeling good about your budget and wake up Tuesday to discover someone stole your money. Of course he was referring primarily to the state and federal governments, funding and regulations.
They have a way of changing the rules of the game in the middle of the game and schools are often the losers.
The other observation Mr. Backus left us is that there are three primary issues essential to operating schools. The B’s is what he called them. Beans, balls and buses.
Beans of course refers to food. And here we are fortunate. Or at least we have been since meals were put back in our schools after a 26-year diet.
Balls, of course refers to sports. We all can cite our list of stories of problems of one sort or another real or perceived by parents or athletes. Here too, we seem to be on firm footing. Recent changes have been a great step forward.
Buses have their own set of surprises from time to time. Long routes, crowding, or lack of riders, stops too far from homes, or changes from previous years. All those and more are reasons that concern parents and students, and by extension sometimes, board members. The bus business is difficult.
To this list I would add a fourth B. Buildings. Though parents and students don’t seem to have the same challenges with buildings as the other 3 B areas, teachers do. Custodians do. Information technology people do. Maintenance people do. And finance people do.
As our buildings age they serve us less well and cost more to maintain and operate. As population centers move or shrink it makes less sense to continue to operate some buildings. Can you imagine how many students Stanleyville school would serve were it open today? And at what cost per student?
Even in the best of times operating schools is not for the faint of heart.