Aviators will continue to soar despite turbluence, adversity
I am a quote guy, I love quotes. Especially those that deal with adversity. I often find wisdom and inspiration in these types of quotes. One of my favorites is attributed to the Wright brothers and it reads, “A bird does not soar in the calm.” I used this quote in one of my first messages to parents at the start of the pandemic when school districts were ordered to close buildings and deliver instruction online. The meaning behind that quote was to assure everyone that while we were facing incredible challenges and unknowns, we were going to rise above it and be better for it.
I have thought a lot about that quote this year as we have faced much adversity once again. Because of revenue issues, our district has been on the ballot twice, once in May 2023 and again in November 2023. Neither time was ideal with the economy and the inflation challenges we face. Consequently, both issues failed.
Great organizations must always plan and hope for the best yet prepare for the worst. There must be a plan for success and a contingency plan for failure. Through many planning sessions and dialogue with the board in public board meetings and in many staff meetings, we created those plans. With the two levy failures, our community spoke that it was not a good time, and they could not support a tax levy. So, we implemented the contingency plans and cost-savings plans of $3.5 million over the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years, all while continuing to advocate for fair funding for our district both at the state and local level. Four objectives guided us: 1) achieve cost savings; 2) maintain programming and staffing as much as possible; 3) address problems we are currently facing; 4) be forward thinking.
This was very hard work and was met with some resistance, but we worked through the issues publicly and created a public timeline and checklist detailing when decisions would be made and how they would be implemented. While this has been challenging and difficult, I believe we have met our four objectives. Creatively, we have found ways to save while still protecting classroom instruction and programs such as art, music, and extracurriculars for the benefit of our students. As we look ahead to the 2024-2025 school year, our district will be reconfiguring from a separate preschool program, two K-3 elementary buildings, a 4-5 building, a 6-8 building and a 9-12 building to a preschool-kindergarten building, a 1-2 building, a 3-5 building, while keeping our middle school and high school buildings as is. We will also be implementing a Labor Day to Memorial Day school calendar. These changes will help lower costs, keep programs intact and be more efficient with staffing as positions have been absorbed through attrition without having to do reductions in force. By adding a modular building at the soon to be 3-5 building, using a municipal lease to finance and maintain savings, we have created space to add full-day kindergarten. We are one of very few districts in the Miami Valley that does not have a full-day kindergarten program.
One thing I love about the Vandalia-Butler community is they tell us how they feel, ask good questions, and challenge us to be better. I appreciate our community’s and our stakeholders’ patience as we have worked through these major changes. While we still have work to do, we look ahead to our new building organization, new traditions, and new ways of doing things. While I know we will still face turbulence and adversity, I am confident we will soar through it. Thank you, Vandalia-Butler community, parents, students, and staff for working together through a challenging year. Birds soar in turbulence, and so do Aviators!