Brendan P. Walsh

I delivered the comments below at the Grosse Pointe Public Schools’ Board of Education meeting last night preceding their vote to approve some building and site upgrades out of the Sinking Fund.

The South field upgrades were approved, unanimously and without meaningful comment, despite previous public posturing that induced anxiety among the community. This continues a recent pattern where, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, district officials want to perpetuate the myth that the district is in financial crisis.

That myth was particularly promoted, quite disingenuously, during the tech bond campaign and the pattern continues now. The taxpaying community wisely disregarded the claim as does unbiased data. It’s time for district officials to get a clue.

I hate to break it to them, but as The Who said, “This is no crisis, just another tricky day.”

I encourage the Board to approve the proposed expenditures for the South athletic field and roof repairs. I also encourage the community to pay attention to publicly available data to evaluate the district’s capacity to make these and other necessary investments:

• The district will run a General Fund surplus exceeding $2 million this year and $2.5 million surpluses over each of the next two years.
• General Fund revenues are on the rise – up $2.5 million annually from just 2 years ago and projected to increase an additional $2 million annually within two years.
• Revenue is increasing despite declining enrollment, a trend exacerbated by politically motivated claims that the district is in financial crisis.
• Salary reductions governed by contracts, while painful, will render Grosse Pointe teacher salaries equal to the average of our benchmark districts, themselves 15% higher than the state average.
• After these salary reductions, teacher salaries in Grosse Pointe will remain, at worst, in the top 5% in the state despite the fact that our revenue per pupil is only in the top 12%.
• Proportionally we employ 40 more teachers than our benchmark districts and 60 more in comparison to state averages. Our student to teacher ratio is incredibly favorable.

We pay a premium wage and provide a tremendous working environment. We run multi-million dollar budget surpluses. We have uniquely fair employee agreements that are tied directly to our largest expense and revenue sources, reducing our reliance on an inflated Fund Equity at the taxpayers’ expense.

We have small class sizes. We don’t outsource custodians. We don’t rely on school of choice. We fund the most expensive schedule a high school can run for optimal student course selection. We have elementary schools in walking distance in every neighborhood. We offer a wide array of high quality athletic, academic, and performing arts extracurriculars.

No other school district in this state can make these claims!

It’s time to cease the scare tactics, passive aggressive politics, and exaggerated public hand-wringing that drive current and prospective families away and make taxpayers question their past generosity.

As disappointing as this is to some, the district is on incredibly firm financial and operational footing. It’s time to recognize that, quit holding the students hostage, be thankful for the taxpayers generosity, and make the improvements we’re fully capable of making.