Is District 60 Broke?

[Loren Swelk]

Interesting articles lately in the Chieftain. Supt, Bales continues to receive glowing recommendations and my property tax is skyrocketing. Supposed;y there was a million plus pad in the last bond issue (that we the property owners did not know about, but are paying for) and now the District is looking at a 3 million plus deficit for next year with no light at the end of the tunnel? To bad Lindammod-Bell isn't a math progrpm, the District could use a refresher.

[large]

Point well made . . .

One has to wonder . . . we throw money at a system . . and the end result . . we threw money at the system . . and they want more!

Now if this was a car manufacturer, and we continued to invest this heavily, and they kept making cars that nobody would buy . . Quite like Ken Lay and Bernie Ebbers, we'd be trying to throw their asses in Jail! Wouldn't we?

I don't think Basic Accounting is a High School Subject anymore . . After all, You need to practice what you "Teach" . . Bad play on words, but I couldn't resist it!

[aguila]

D-60 broke? Gonna be there soon? According to the Chieftain's story, D-60 is having financial issues. The amazing thing is that officials are failing to take responsibility for the problem. The follow up story a day or two later said that d-60 is not broke, but that spending is out pacing income. Now the finger pointing....officials blame it on charter schools? Every dime spent on the charter schools would have to have been spent anyway....to pay teachers, admin, etc. Money used for buildings, additions, etc. was a bond that the citizens voted for to be used for the benefit of ALL students.
So now d-60 officials want to lay the fault of their problem on the charter schools?
Before you believe everything that is printed in the newspaper, do your own investigation and follow the money. I am confident you will find some interesting things your tax money has paid for that has nothing to do with education and the operation of d-60. You might even find "teacher's pet" projects being paid for. Don't believe it? Dig into it....d-60 soph going to college on your dime instead of high school? Spann elementary was re-opened with bond money even though enrolment did not support it? Now after money was used on the Spann building, the school may be closed? Things that make you go "hhmmmnnn.

[Loren Swelk]

Two things have always stuck in my craw on this subject; One, why has the District allowed Dr. Bales to visit a middle school 60 miles from her hometown multiple times on the taxpayewr dollar? It seems that we are paying for her vacations under the guise of research. Two, why does it take nearly 30 certified teachers at Title I schools to teach one class each of K-6. Too many highly paid "resource persons".

[large]

I'm not gonna get into the innards of their Budget and how it's handled . . we could go on forever there.

But the way they have handled the Bond issue is at best foolish. The idea of bidding out ALL of the school construction projects in the same time frame in a community the size of ours is just asking for trouble. Even if ONE general contractor was to get all of the work, where are we going to get quality Sub-contractors? the first few jobs ate all of the capable and quality Subs up. There are neither the skilled labor, nor qualified supervisors to go around.

Then they hired the Middleman, who is no more than an Engineering/Construction Management Company, and they skim a little off the top everytime something is done. They wouldv'e been far better off with an In-House Construction Co-Ordinator/Supervisor. It has always worked well in the past. That way there was a kind of "Chain of Command" where degrees of responsibility rested. Now, with the "Middleman" . . Nobody's responsible . .

And the Contractors . . and Sub-contractors . . And the Suppliers . . are now complaining that the District is neither paying their progress payments on time nor are they paying out the retainage upon final Inspection. I have been told by reliable sources that the District is as much as 90 days in arrears on progress payments and in one case 90 days on a retainage payment. Why is this?

There's far more detail to the above, but rest assured, there's not many looking at it or there'd be more hell being raised than the Alligator did when the pond went dry!

[Loren Swelk]

Thanks for an excellent insight into the problem. I have been involved in several large construction projects over the years both as a property owner and also a a person appointed by a company's BOD as their representative ro project meetings. I found that in all instances when a request was made for a progress payment and that payment was made promptly, the project progressed smoothly. When payments became an issue or were held up over petty things, the meetings became contentious and the relationship between the parties deteriorated rapidly. Do you know if the amount of the bond or proof of insurance requirement was so high as to eliminate some quality local contractors?

[large]

No, as far as I know No local contractors that were capable of doing the jobs that were bid out were eliminated from bidding. Most of them have chosen not to bid more of the work as it's put in the pipeline. However, several Generals are saying that the main reason for that is the District's method of paying (or not paying, to be more accurate) They do not wish to be in the "Finance" Business!

I won't name any names but at least two of the bigger Construction Companies have stated publicly that they will not bid any more of the District's work as long as they continue the process they have now.

Can't blame them either!

[Steve]

I work for a sub and have been on several of the construction projects recently...Baca, Bessemer Academy and Spann mostly. It is pretty obvious to us that the bureaucracy is too heavy and cumbersome. Maybe I should just hold most of my opinions though...

:)

[Loren Swelk]

Steve,
Your comments mirror the comments I have heard from other subs. Some workin as sub contractors on the D60 project project are actually GC's in Pueblo. Thanks for the input.
Loren