NEWS

Eastern Scott School Corporation attacks the budget crisis head on

            By Bernie Peterson, THG staff writer

Every state has suffered from the downturn in the economy the past couple of years.  Many people have been laid off from their jobs as companies cutback to increase profits during the recession.  As a result, there is less tax revenue taken in to pay for programs funded by the state.  The largest proportion of state budgets go to their public education systems, so it is these systems that have been hit the hardest by budget cutbacks.

Education in Indiana has been affected more than any other state by the recent recession due to cutbacks in manufacturing, one of the staples of our state’s economy.  This has forced local school superintendents to stretch a dollar further than ever before. 

No school corporation has met this challenge better than Eastern Scott School Corporation, headquartered in Lexington, Indiana.  Second-year superintendent Ray Clements and his staff have not only been able to keep Eastern Scott in the black, they have lowered insurance rates for teachers while giving them a 6% raise and have begun an extensive renovation of all school buildings in the district.

How has Eastern Scott succeeded where others have failed?  “Priorities,” says Clements, “The administration realizes that the majority of bitching and complaining we have to hear on a daily basis does not come from the state department of education or the parents in our community, it comes from the teachers.  We do everything we can to keep our teachers happy so our stress level is minimized.  This has made us all a happier bunch.”

A happier bunch they are.  Aside from benefits listed above, teachers at Eastern Scott also have a recliner in their rooms so they can relax during their planning period, valet parking, catered lunches, and the best classroom technology money can buy. 

Clements cites the most recent annual faculty survey as proof of the success of his programs.  “Staff moral has increased five fold, 97% said they love teaching as a profession, and 98% were ‘extremely happy’ with the administration.  I would put these numbers up against anyone’s not only in the state but in the nation as well.” 

There is some controversy in how Eastern Scott has paid for the raise in teacher pay and benefits.  The first thing Clements did when hired was fire the entire custodial staff.  “You wouldn’t believe the thousands of dollars we saved making that move while at the same time decreasing the number of discipline problems in classrooms by 84%.  We have replaced the janitors with students on in-school suspension.  You don’t get too many repeat offenders the first time they have to go unclog a toilet loaded to the brim with diarrhea or wipe puke off a classroom floor.”

Another requirement for every student in the system Clements instituted upon his arrival at Eastern Scott was his “Paying with Plasma (P.W.P.)” program, a way of making money he learned about from his 21 year-old son.  “Tommy told me he was making $50 a week giving plasma at college so he would have some drinking money on the weekend.  I just did the math; 800 students times $50 equals an extra $40,000 a week in our budget.  That is a lot of money for a small system like ours.”

Clements’s actions have angered many parents in the community.  “Education should be student centered!  What Eastern is doing is a fiasco.  They are failing the children of our community by taking advantage of them to pay for staff perks,” says concerned mother Misty Mooney, “It is a travesty of the worst kind!  These kids are our future.  We will have our day in court!”

When confronted with the thoughts of Mrs. Mooney, Dr. Clements took it all in stride.  “If these kids are our future as Mrs. Mooney says, then I sure as hell am going to live in the present.  Have you seen most of them?  You got a few winners and a ton of losers.  Why not give our resources to people like our teachers who have made something of themselves?  Why spend it all on a bunch of bottom feeders?  Anyway, I dare them to sue me—with the extra money our system has been saving I can get Johnnie Cochran to represent me!”

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