Fred Wilms was kind enough to forward over the list of 32 questions, (though actually through the magic of automated HTML lists turns out to be 33. And then I must add my own, which is Why isn’t the Board of Education Budget online, so that all interested parents, educators, taxpayers and bloggers can look at it?

For Corda and the BOE to raise alarms that they budget increase request will irreparably harm students is unconscionable considering the disregard they have for transparency in governance.

So without further commentary; the list:

1. Slide 9. Recommended new staffing. You indicate that some positions are required. Is this a legal requirement, which if not fulfilled would result in legal sanctions? If so, what would these sanctions be?
2. Slide 15. Total 2007/08 student enrollment is 10,689 - then surges to 11,734 in 2008/09 then drops back to 10,770 in 2009/10. This one year surge seems highly unusual. How do these students appear for just one year and then disappear the next year? Additionally this surge is completely at odds with the enrollment numbers for the past ten years.
3. Slide 18. I like the idea of the Principal’s Allocations. I know from my PTO experience how useful these are to the smooth running of a school. The Audit report identified this area as a weakness. Have the improved policies and procedures been implemented?
4. Slide 22. Study Hall. Please provide some context to this problem. How long has it existed? Please provide student study hall enrollment figures for the past five years for each high school. Finally, the Budget commentary for Norwalk High on page 23 seems to make a positive reference about Study Hall, “Norwalk High has an eight period day schedule. This schedule provides teachers time for collaboration and gives students the opportunity to attend tutorial sessions during study hall period.” Please reconcile that statement with the concerns expressed on Slide 22.
5. Slide 22. If students from study hall enroll in actual classes, does this free up study hall teachers to then teach in classrooms? If so, how many? If not, why not?
6. Slides 24 - 27. These slides are outstanding. They convincingly support the number of required elementary teachers, based on expected student population plus contractual class size requirements. However when adding up all the individual classes, I come up with 253 required teachers, which is slightly less than your 255 number. You also mention elsewhere budgeting for 3 reserve teachers. Does the budget account for 258 total elementary teachers?
7. Slides 24 - 27. While the number of elementary teachers is justified, there does not seem to be any comparable evidence for the required number of Middle and High school teachers. Could you please do that?
8. Superintendent’s Proposed Budget 2007-2008 Book.
9. Page 5. The 4th grade and 6th grade results do not break out sub-groups like the high school data. Could you provide that information?
10. Pages 6-7. How do our High School students compare with the rest of the State? We have that comparable information on page 5.
11. Page 9. One general question I hear a lot from the public is why the Board of Ed employee count keeps going up when student enrollment is slightly declining. For example, there were 11,080 total students in 2004/05 but only 10,770 are expected for 2009/10. How do you respond to that general question from the public?
12. Illegal students. How many students do you estimate are illegal (should go to another school system such as Bridgeport)? How bad of a problem is it? What steps are taken to promptly identify and evict illegal students? Does this category exist as a Budget Object?
13. Page 17. This slide seems to suggest a net increase of 2.0 positions, while the prior page 16 asks for 10.7 additional positions. Please explain this difference.
14. Page 60. Legal Fees of $200,000 are listed in the Superintendent budget. Please explain the nature of these fees and the rationale for their placement there?
15. Page 64. Object Code 540. Please explain the need for the $50,000 Advertising item.
16. Page 66. Object Codes 330 and 580. The amounts of $55,000 for staff development and $16,400 for travel seem large. Please justify.
17. Page 67. Object Codes 611 and 730. There are large increases for both Instructional Supplies and Instructional Equipment. Please elaborate.
18. Page 70. Object Code 112. I believe the Human Relations Officer has been elected to the State Legislature, yet there is no reduction in salary for that position. Please explain.
19. Pages 71 & 72. Special Education. What efforts are being made to contain these costs? More specifically, please explain who we are paying tuition to in Object Codes 563 and 564? Also please explain the large 2006-07 increase in Object Code 330?
20. Page 76. Please explain the spending levels for Communications (#530), Travel (#580) and Postage (#614)?
21. Pages 75 - 78. Has the Board of Ed studied a merger of its Finance and IT functions with those of the City to so as to eliminate duplicate costs?
22. Pages 81 - 82. Facilities. Has the Board of Ed considered outsourcing any of the listed positions as a possible way to cut costs?
23. Pages 87 - 88. Bilingual/ESOL. With its significant immigrant population, Norwalk clearly needs to provide significant Bilingual/ESOL services. However the spending requests in this area are not accompanied with sufficient supporting data. For example, how many students are in Bilingual/ESOL? What has been the enrollment trend over the past five years? How is performance effectiveness measured in this area? For example, how quickly does the average student become proficient in English and then graduates out of Bilingual/ESOL? What could be done to accelerate how quickly a student becomes proficient in English (thus benefiting the student plus reducing costs of this program?)
24. Page 92. Custodians. Please remind me of the key terms of the current contract. Has the Board of Ed studied outsourcing this function in the future as a possible way to cut costs?
25. Food Service. I did not see a separate break-out for Food Service costs. Is the new relationship with Whitsons saving us money? If so, please quantify? (As an aside, I hear from my children and their friends that they like the quality and selection of food with the new vendor!)
26. Page 95. Fringe benefits. Please remind me of the key terms of the existing contract regarding fringe benefits? I have been under the impression that the teachers contract calls for increased co-pays?
27. Page 100. Transportation. Please explain the $1 million increase in costs over the past three years? At first I thought it was higher gasoline prices, but that seems to be a separate object code (#626)?
28. Page 101. Travel. (#580) $169,950 for travel expense reimbursement seems very high. Please justify.
29. Page 102. Energy costs (#622 - 625). Great job actually reducing these costs since 2005-06! How was this achieved?
30. Page 104. Dues, Fees and Memberships. The $146,645 amount seems large. Please also justify the increase from $70,700 in 2005-06. Perhaps an itemized list would be helpful.
31. Page 105. Additional Revenues. Has the Board of Ed considered raising additional revenues beyond those listed? Are there perhaps sponsorship opportunities?
32. Overall Budget Contingency. Last year, you stated at the BET Open Item hearing the policy to build in a 2% contingency reserve into the overall budget. Is the 2% reserve built in again for this budget request? If so, in which Object Code(s) is it located?
33. Central Office. What is the total number of employees who work in the Central Office? What has been the trend for the past five years and how does this compare to other school systems?