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Opportunity Deferred: A Report on the East Ramapo
Central School District
December 14, 2015
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Mission of the Monitoring Team
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"Suffering brings perseverance. Perseverance
brings hope. You have been persevering for years.
Our children are getting an education. We all knowthey can get a better education."
- Dennis Walcott, Lead Monitor
Source: The Journal News. “Walcott Preaches Perseverance for E. Ramapo.” November 2, 2015
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A District In Crisis
• Today, more than 32,000 children attend
school in East Ramapo. Approximately
8,500 of those children attend the EastRamapo public schools, and roughly
24,000 attend private schools – mainly
Orthodox Jewish Yeshivas.
• Since 2004-2005, the private school
population in East Ramapo has increased
by 43% and continued growth isprojected.
• Of current public school students, 39%
are African-American, 50% are Hispanic or
Latino, 84% are economically
disadvantaged, and 29% are English
language learners.
• Since 2004-2005, the District has seen a
164% increase in its English language
learner population, and a 40% increase in
the number of public school students
eligible for free and reduced price lunch.
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A District in Crisis
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"As a result of this confluence of factors, the
tensions in East Ramapo have grown into a chasm,
full of anger and mistrust, and the District’s students have continued to suffer the effects."
- Monitors’ Report to the Board of Regents
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6
Timeline of SED’s Actions in East Ramapo
Date Action
June 2014 Commissioner King appoints Henry M. Greenberg as fiscal
monitor for the district.
November 2014 Henry M. Greenberg issues comprehensive report with
findings and recommendations.
January – June 2015 SED works with East Ramapo legislative representatives to
draft legislation installing a permanent fiscal monitor in thedistrict. The legislation is passed by the Assembly in June
but is not allowed to come for a vote in the Senate.
July 2015 Almost immediately after her appointment, Commissioner
Elia announces her intentions to take action in East Ramapo.
August 13, 2015 Commissioner Elia announces the appointment of aMonitoring Team for the East Ramapo School District. The
team is led by former New York City schools Chancellor
Dennis Walcott and includes Monica George-Fields – a
school turnaround expert – and John Sipple – a school
finance expert.
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Charge Highlights of Action
Maintain a regular
presence in the District.
Announced and unannounced visits to every school in the District.
Attendance and participation at nearly all board meetings held since their appointment.
Community presence by at least one monitor at least two days every week since August.
Maintain a cooperative
and collaborative
relationship with the board
of education.
The Monitors maintained a working relationship with the board president, including regular formal and
informal communications throughout the appointment.
The Monitors were invited to join executive sessions of the board, except for discussions related to
personnel and litigation.
The Monitors worked closely with the board during the transition to the new Superintendent.
The Monitors have regularly met with the Superintendent and members of the Cabinet, as well as keyDistrict staff to discuss issues as they were brought to the Monitors’ attention.
Communicate extensively
with and be responsive to
the community.
The Monitors hosted a community forum in Spring Valley and heard and responded to public comment
from numerous members of the community.
The Monitors met formally and informally with a broad representation of stakeholders and advocate
groups from the public and private school community, including the local NAACP chapter, Rockland
County Clergy for Social Justice, representatives from the Orthodox community, Padres Unidos, the
Rockland County School Boards Association, Yeshiva Association of Rockland County, and other
organized groups and individuals.
The Monitors established a blog to update the community periodically about their activities. The Monitors met with and were in regular communication with elected state and federal representatives.
The Monitors published their email addresses in order to be more responsive to community members.
Provide regular updatesand reports on findings to
the Department, including
a final report in December.
The Commissioner provided staff support to the Monitors, including representatives from theCommissioner’s Office, Office of Counsel, and the Office of P-12 Education.
The Monitors made a public presentation to the Regents at the Board’s September 2015 meeting to
discuss their charge, strategies and actions to that point.
The Monitors identified and developed a plan for use of facility funding.
The Monitors reported to the Department concerns regarding the use of Title I funds.
Commissioner’s Charge to the Monitoring Team
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Recommendations – Governance &
Rebuilding Community Trust
1. Continue Monitors in the District and pursue legislation for increased
authority, including veto power.
2. Appoint an independent election monitor for school board elections.
3. Create a comprehensive and community inclusive process to develop a
new bond issue for purposes of making much needed capital
improvements.
4. Pursue legislation to ensure representation of public school concerns on
the board of education by providing that in each election cycle, all
candidates for at least one of the seats must be parents of children
attending public schools selected in a local process by other public
school parents.
5. Pursue legislation to expand required training for the District’s board
members.
6. Convene meetings with a Human Rights expert.
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Recommendations – Teaching & Learning
7. Rethink use of Title I resources.
8. Provide students with full-day kindergarten classes.
9. Continue investigating the feasibility of streamlining grade configurations
and start times.
10.Continue progress towards enrichment of academic options for all
students.
11.Reform and enhance professional development opportunities for staff.
12.Create a hiring protocol that includes specific departments in the hiring
process to ensure that there is a screening process of credentials and
appropriate placement for new hires.
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Next Steps
"Since August, there has been progress in theDistrict, but after years of challenges, including
fiscal distress and a failure of public confidence in
the public education system in the District, much
more time is needed for the District to overcome
years of mismanagement and decline."
- Monitors’ Report to the Board of Regents
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Thank You.
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Appendix
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Demographic Trends
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
N u m b e r o f C h i l d r e n
Enrollment Trends for Public School Children in ERCSD (1993/4-2014-15)
White
Black
Hispanic
Asian
Not proficient in English
Free or reduced lunch
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-$10,000,000
-$5,000,000
$-
$5,000,000
$10,000,000
$15,000,000
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Unreserved Fund Balance (1993/4 – 2014/15
17
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18
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Expenditures
$-
$10,000,000
$20,000,000
$30,000,000
$40,000,000
$50,000,000
$60,000,000
$70,000,000
$80,000,000
Expenditures by Type & Year (1993/4-2013/14)
Teacher Salaries
Operations and Maintainance
Transportation
Retirment and Health Benefit
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$-
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
$150,000,000
$200,000,000
$250,000,000
Revenue by Source 1993/4 - 2013/4
Local State Federal
ARRA Funds
Tax Cap
Recession Starts
State Aid Cuts
First Failed Budget
= Failed Budget
Big Picture – Revenues and Major Events
21
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0
5
10
15
20
25
$-
$20,000,000
$40,000,000
$60,000,000
$80,000,000
$100,000,000
$120,000,000
$140,000,000
T a
x R a t e ( D o l l a r s o f T a x p e r $ 1 0 0
0 A s s e s s e d V a l u e
L o c a l T a x R e v e n u e ( D o l l a r s )
Local Tax Levy vs. Tax Rate
Local Revenue Tax Rate
22
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-8%
-6%
-4%
-2%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
-$6,000,000
-$4,000,000
-$2,000,000
$-
$2,000,000
$4,000,000
$6,000,000
$8,000,000
$10,000,000
$12,000,000
$14,000,000
A x i s T i t l e
Axis Title
Per Anum Change in Local Tax Levy and Tax Rate
Annual Change in Levy
% Change in Levy
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2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Total Expenses $22,288,854 $24,020,557 $25,976,169 $27,094,186 $27,301,011 $26,798,468 $29,805,401 $30,564,130
Total Aidable Expenses $19,278,415 $19,969,746 $21,614,086 $22,494,590 $24,207,874 $23,846,336 $26,678,519 $27,440,582
Deductions for Non-Allowable Pupils $2,515,924 $3,501,993 $3,797,255 $3,951,902 $2,600,221 $2,577,062 $2,859,609 $3,001,869
$-
$5,000,000
$10,000,000
$15,000,000
$20,000,000
$25,000,000
$30,000,000
$35,000,000
E x p e n s e s ( D o l l a r s )
Transportation Expenses (Total & Aidable) and Deductions
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-5%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
A n n u a l i z e d P e r c e n t C h a n g e
E n r o l l m e n t
Enrollment Trends and Change (2001/2-2012/13)
Non-Public Enr Public Enrollment
% Annual Change of Pub & NP Enrollment % Annual Change of NP Enrollment
% Annual Change in Transportation
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2006/7 - 2013/14
Public Enrollment Change -2.5%
Non-Public Enrollment Change 41.9%
Total Enrollment Change 27.1%
Transportation Cost Change 43.9%
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0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
E x p e n d i t u r e s ( D o l l a r s )
Expenditures on Co- & Extra-Curricular Activities by Type & Year
Total Co-Curricular Activities - Regular School
Total Interscholastic Athletics - Regular School
Reduced Interscholastic
sports by $500,000/year
&Co-Curricular by
$270,000/year
Total = $770,000/year
38
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0
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
3,000,000
3,500,000
4,000,000
E x p e n d i t u r e s ( D o l l a r s )
Instruction - Tuition & Textbooks
Tuition Paid to Public Districts in NYS (excluding
Special Act Districts)
Textbooks
39
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0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
E x p e n d i t u r e s ( D o l l a r s )
Instructional Expenses by Program Type & Year
Total Occupational Education
Total Teaching - Special Schools
Reduced
Expenditures
By $1.5 Million($700,000 +
$800,000)
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$0
$500,000
$1,000,000
$1,500,000
$2,000,000
$2,500,000
$3,000,000
$3,500,000
$4,000,000
$4,500,000
$5,000,000
Total Legal Fees for ERCSD (2008/9-2015/16)
Additional Cost
of $4
Million/year for
2014/15
41
% Population Under 5 Years old
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% Population Under 5 Years old
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% P l ti S k E li h l th “ ll”
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% Population Speaks English less than “very well”
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Per Capita Income
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Per Capita Income
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% High School Graduate or Higher
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% High School Graduate or Higher