Click on image above to read letter accompanying "above and beyond the call of duty" checks in USD 473
Members of the Unified School School District 473 Board of Education are likely to hear many questions from patrons at the next USD 473 Board meeting in Chapman on August 10.
Chapman USD 473 patrons will have questions about recent bonus checks that total $167,000 and the increases in next year’s budget at a time other schools are reducing expenditures.
While the economy of the nation and Kansas is suffering, and while many Kansas schools are looking at reduced budgets, and some school districts may sue over reduced state funding for schools, a very different story is being told in Chapman USD 473.
On June 30 USD 473 Superintendent Tony Frieze sent “returning USD 473 2009-2010 staff” a letter: “We would like to recognize your ‘above and beyond the call of duty’ attitude with this enclose check. We want you to know that we sincerely appreciate the extra effort that you have given. The aftermath of the tornado has required immense patience and flexibility from all of us. This next school year will continue to test our persistence and perseverance.”
After learning about this letter, on July 21 I sent an open records request to Superintendent Frieze to learn four specific numbers:
- Number of staff members receiving this letter
- Total amount of checks accompanying this letter to “returning USD 473 2009-2010 Staff”
- Smallest amount of any check
- Largest amount of any check
I received the response on July 25: 156 checks, a total amount of $167,703. The smallest was $139 and the largest was $1500.
Click above to see list of recipients of "above and beyond call of duty" checks in USD 473 that total $168,783
I called the offices of two other USD Superintendents and could not get anyone to give me a comment on the record, but no one had heard of such bonus checks in Kansas. One superintendent said he had heard of hiring bonuses for some hard-to-fill teaching positions, but that practice was more widespread in other states.
After my open records request on July 21, I learned from a source in USD 473, Debbie Geelen from Carlton, that she had a separate open records request for far more information than I had requested. Yesterday Ms. Geelen provided me with a few pages from her open records request.
Click on the graphic to the left to view the table of checks given to 157 “returning staff” that total $168,783. [I cannot explain the single check discrepancy of $1080 between the numbers I was given and those in this table.]
Ms. Geelen said that she cannot find any action of the board that permitted these payments and does not understand what authority Superintendent Frieze had to send out these checks.
Three checks (highlighted in red in the table) may raise eyebrows and result in many questions at the next board meeting, such as:
- Why did Superintendent Frieze AND his wife both receive $1500 checks, which was the maximum amount that anyone received?
- Why did Bill Chamberlin, former Buildings and Grounds Supervisor, receive a check for $1080 when Freize’s letter was to “returning USD 473 2009-2010 staff, and the board had accepted Chamberlin’s resignation at their Feb. 2009 meeting? Or is this $1080 check the discrepancy between the two open record requests?
- How was “above and beyond the call of duty” measured and who made the measurement?
- What specific board action approved these checks?
Once the questions about these checks are answered, there may also be questions about the 2009-2010 budget at the next board meeting. Click on the graphic below to view this budget chart.
Click above to see Proposed Budget 2009-2010 in USD 473
The notice with the chart says: “The governing body of Unified School District 473 will meet on the 10th day of August, 2009 at 6:50 p.m … for the purpose of hearing and answering objections of taxpayers relating to the proposed use of all funds and the amount of tax to be levied.”
The huge $33.5 million capital outlay expense is not surprising given the bond issue that was passed in April and the new schools that will be built to replace those damaged by the tornado in 2007. But what about the other increases?
- Why is bilingual education increasing from $20,664 to $37,000, a 79% increase?
- Why is driver training increasing from $13,030 to $21,000, a 61% increase?
- Why is “At Risk (K-12)” increasing from $245,337 to $385,000, a 57% increase?
- Why is Food Service increasing by $55,933, an increase of 11.8%?
How will USD 473 taxpayers react to another tax increase in economically depressed times, at a time when other schools are cutting their budgets?
Is an audit of all state and FEMA money spent in USD 473 needed?
Related:
- Tornado ravaged Chapman to spend as much as $90,000 per student to rebuild schools?, Kansas Meadowlark, March 25, 2009.
Earl F Glynn
Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity
Overland Park, KS
Tags: Chapman Kansas, government transparency, School Budget, Tony Frieze, USD 473
I wonder how many more bonuses will have to be paid before the school gets built? Mr C