Ann Arbor elementary schools to see fewer lunchtime supervisors
Fewer supervisors will be watching over lunchtime activities in elementary schools in Ann Arbor this year as a result of budget cuts.
About $71,000 was cut from the district’s allocation for lunchtime supervisors during the Ann Arbor Public School’s budget deliberations. The Board of Education was tasked with eliminating $8.7 million from the district’s operations by this June for the 2013-14 school year.
Students joke around while eating a meal at Mitchell Elementary School. Budget cuts in the Ann Arbor Public Schools will reduce the ratio of noon hour supervisors to students this school year.
AnnArbor.com file photo
“We are confident that this level of lunchroom supervision is safe and adequate for our schools,” said district spokeswoman Liz Margolis in a statement. “The lunchroom supervisors will continue to be vigilant on the playgrounds and lunchrooms to ensure student safety during the lunch hours.”
About 250 to 300 noon hour supervisors are employed by AAPS. They’re responsible for supervising students at playtime and lunchtime, peacefully resolving conflicts, organizing games and activities, moving children to and from the playground, lunchroom and classrooms and helping students to clean up after lunch.
Noon hour supervisors are non-union, hourly workers and are paid through the budget of each of the district’s 20 elementary schools. Pay ranges from $8.60 and $11.67 per hour as a supervisor and between $8.86 and $14.16 per hour as a coordinator.
Typically, the supervisors work one to two hours during the school day and most of them don’t qualify for retirement or health insurance benefits.
AAPS has not yet cut any lunchroom supervisors, officials said.
However, adjusting staffing levels to fit the new one-to-50 ratio has been left up to each of the elementary schools to decide, Margolis said.
Adjustments could mean a reduction in hours for some of the workers — which could result in some workers declining to take those positions, Margolis said.
Additionally, several schools may decide that they need less noon hour staff, Margolis said, noting those decisions have not yet been made.
AAPS has attempted previously to find savings through the noon hour supervisor program.
The district’s 2012-13 budget assumed $75,000 in savings through a future switch of the noon hour supervisor employees to a private contract—a move that never happened.
By privatizing those employees, the district would no longer have to pay into their pension plans.
After a September request-for-proposals process, the district considered signing a contract with Professional Contract Management, Inc. at the cost of 24.83 percent of gross wages of the employees.
During the deliberation of the contract Oct. 10, school board members stated that the savings from privatizing would be more in the range of $61,000, according to meeting minutes.
The switch to privatize was voted down in a 3-4 vote, in which board President Deb Mexicotte, Vice President Christine Stead and trustees Susan Baskett and Simone Lightfoot voted against the measure.
In previous discussions of the contract, school board members took issue with the nearly 25 percent markup the company would charge.
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
DDOT1962
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 8:03 p.m.
Expect to see more gang related activity in the playground of these elementary schools and drive-by shootings in the bus pick-up loop. Heavens!
mady
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 8 p.m.
absolutely ridiculous. ONE adult for every 50 students? I'm a noon hour supervisor, and I promise the BOE that we do not have eyes in the backs of our heads. with this ratio, our children will NOT be adequately supervised. Does something catastrophic have to happen before the BOE wakes up? Probably.
klatte
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:05 p.m.
My little kid got help from the lunchroom supervisors on her meal. They give 4 and 5 year-olds 15 minutes to eat, and even packing for ease the younger ones require occasional assistance. Those supervisors make sure that milk gets opened just as much as they keep an eye on rowdies. Their help will be a real loss to the early elementary kids.
Goober
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 8:14 p.m.
The AA BOE really does not care at all about issues such as these.
harry b
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 5:28 p.m.
Why dont they make the teachers do it? Stagger lunches and schedules.
Carole
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 4:43 p.m.
Having been a former noon hour supervisor I'm concerned about the safety of the children with the increased ratio of staff to children. Several years ago, when the millage did not pass, many noon hour employees took a cut in hours -- now they will be cut again and having more responsibilities what with the number of children to tend to. It will be difficult I believe to get individuals who will only wish to work one to one and a half hours. I surely wished administrators and others would spend their lunch hour with the children to get a "real" perspective of how it really operate. What is best for the children is what should be occurring.
Doug
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 2:51 p.m.
Unless your an educator, you have no idea how valuable these low paid lunchtime supervisors are. The board of Education has a daunting job. This was not one of their better decisions.
Doug
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 1:50 a.m.
You're correct, AMOC. My error!
AMOC
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 7:18 p.m.
I certainly hope any educators posting to Annarbor.com can tell the difference between your and you're. In a number of cases I've encountered as a parent, the lunch room supervisors routinely allowed their own kids and their friends to break the rules. In others, the supervisors stood around gossiping just outside the doors to the school rather than patrolling playgrounds.
lesdar
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 2:18 p.m.
50 to 1 do you really know how that looks that's 100 kids to just two adults my question is could you do it or would you want to do it?
Solitude
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:29 p.m.
My daughter's school has at least one adult per class out on the playground at recess. Usually the teacher or the assistant teacher from each room goes out with his or her class, and kids eat in their classrooms with their teachers at lunch. Teachers have separate break times. The biggest threat to our public schools right now comes from clueless school boards and school administration.
Solitude
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 6:41 a.m.
TryingToBeObjective, yes. Approx. $11,500 for the coming year. It varies by a few hundred dollars, depending on how many payments you break it into. Also, it is not a religious school.
TryingToBeObjective
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:44 p.m.
Solitude, do you pay tuition, and if so, how much?
Gretchen Ridenour
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 5:46 p.m.
Granted it was a long time ago, but my school always had volunteers. And because it was a parent, usually a mom in the 70's, we knew if we misbehaved at lunch or recess that their mom would call our mom. We didn't want to come home to find out that our mom knew we didn't respect the school rules, our classmates, or the volunteer mom.
ThinkingOne
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 2:49 p.m.
I am assuming also that it is not AAPS. Actually, which public school systems around here have the students routinely eat in the classroom? And at what age levels? Sounds very... different. The concept of teachers supervising recess is seemingly common. Recess time is often optional and the timing can be at the discretion of the teacher.
Solitude
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 2:46 p.m.
Aamom, you are correct. Her school is 40+ years old, has, I think, around 300 kids in one Toddler/PreK/K thru 8th grade building, plus two separate PreK-K facilities/programs in two other buildings in nearby communities. There is one head of school, one assistant head of school, an admissions person and a secretary. I think there is also a building maintenance guy, but he's part-time. Every admin job that needs doing -- including the extensive and often onerous work that goes with maintaining multiple accreditations and complying with a mountain of state regulations -- is done by these few people with help from other staff and parent volunteers, as needed. No class has fewer than 1 certified teacher and 1 certified assistant, including the middle school classes, and the Toddler, PreK and K rooms have two full teachers and one, sometimes two assistants each. If the money the AA schools spends on administrative overhead was examined line-by-line, person-by-person, I suspect millions could be saved. The problem is almost completely due to an entrenched, "this is the way it's always been done" mentality.
aamom
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:49 p.m.
Given the fact that the classes have an assistant teacher, I'm assuming this is not AAPS?
Solitude
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:22 p.m.
This school board just can't get out of its own way, can it. Of course; let's reduce the number of people interacting with elementary kids instead of reducing the number of useless and redundant administrators and administrative functionaries. What's wrong with these people? Why are they so resistant to simple common sense?
Goober
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:48 p.m.
The AA BOE has no common sense. They have proved this time and time again. They are inept, clueless, lost and arrogant.
Great Idea
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:19 p.m.
In addition to the paid supervisors, I believe one teacher per day gets an hourly teacher rate to also supervise during their 48 minute lunch. Is this correct? And of course, the principal should be visible.
harry b
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 5:30 p.m.
No put it in there contract. If they don't like it there will be another one along that will. They make plenty of money only working 8 months out of the year.
JRW
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:17 p.m.
Schools in other states have an hourly staff that supervises playgrounds during recess and lunchrooms as well as playgrounds during lunch. These people are trained and do an excellent job. They develop good relationships with students and can resolve conflicts as well as supervise crowded lunchrooms. These positions are necessary and should not be relegated to parent-volunteers (who sometimes don't show up) and teachers should not be asked to do these tasks on top of all the teaching. They need a break at lunch and prep time during their very busy day.
JRW
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:13 p.m.
These supervisors provide a much needed role, and the kids in some schools at lunchtime are loud, boisterous and sometimes out of control. In some schools, the lunchroom staff already have their hands full with rowdy students. I can't imagine cutting these positions. Someone mentioned volunteers. They are nice when they show up, but they are not reliable and having a parent try to be neutral in the conflicts that arise is difficult. Many parents are also not available in the middle of the day for a couple hours on a regular basis. Libraries have had volunteers for years but when they are a "no show" it's a problem. These regular hourly positions are not the place to make cuts. Cut the salaries at Balas for starters. Fire the poorly performing principals instead of expensive "paid leave."
Kyle Mattson
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:08 p.m.
I'm sure many would be interested in doing so Gretchen, unfortunately that is probably an unrealistic option for a majority of those individuals due to their employment situation.
Gretchen Ridenour
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 5:35 p.m.
What if the parents that work outside the home each (moms and dads) took 1/2 day off or flexed their work schedule once a year to volunteer at lunch time. What a possitive impact that would make. Parental involvement is crucial and sets an example of community service for the students.
AMOC
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:59 p.m.
JRW - Unfortunately in many AAPS schools, the paid lunchroom supervisors ARE parents or grandparents of students at the school and are not particularly neutral in settling disputes. When the parent has been trained and is properly supervised, this problem does not manifest. Most of the coordinators (supervisor of lunch room supervisors) need some training or guidance in 1) getting the employees to actually interact with students during lunch recess and 2) recruiting, guiding and retaining parent volunteers. A few of these individuals do a great job, but some are being paid to stand around and gossip with the other adults.
Momma G
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:10 p.m.
How about the BOE going to the elementary schools and watching what goes on with students during the lunch hour? Do they really think 50 students to 1 supervisor is sufficient. How STUPID they are. They are waiting for, yet, another lawsuit when a student goes missing or is injured to the extent no one sees this child. Cut the assistant superintendent (cabinet) to 10+ months, close the administration building during the summer, etc.
mady
Tue, Aug 20, 2013 : 4:26 p.m.
momma, I TOTALLY agree. I am a noon-hour supervisor and ONE adult for every FIFTY kids is a recipe for disaster! the BOE needs to come down out of their oh-so-carefully-constructed ivory tower, visit the schools, and see firsthand what we do out here every day!!
Mike
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 2:19 p.m.
Momma - still doesn't address the real problem that we've promised too much to the teachers............that's where the real money is. I wish it wasn't so but it is. Until that is addressed, work rules changed, pensions addressed, health care plans dumped into Obamacare, etc. we'll be having this discussion next year.
Goober
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:46 p.m.
They might need maps to get to the schools.
TheDiagSquirrel
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:04 p.m.
SOLUTION: Get rid of Margolis' position, and have other adminstrators give public statements/FOIA denials. Money saved will finance the lunchroom supervisors.
Kyle Mattson
Wed, Aug 21, 2013 : 4:08 p.m.
Hi a2edu- Maybe 'extremely' was too strong, all i was trying to point out is that AAPS is not the only district in the state or country with this position.
a2edu
Wed, Aug 21, 2013 : 3:01 p.m.
Wrong, Kyle . . . most districts do not have a Communications director. In the vast majority of districts in the State of Michigan, the Superintendent is responsible for media communications.
TheDiagSquirrel
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 2:38 p.m.
Kyle: one of the superintendents could be tasked with issuing press releases. It would have the added benefit of keeping them more attuned to the community, and the community hearing more from the superintendent that gives the releases. Having a dedicated PR position makes absolutely no sense when students (the most important part of ANY school district) have to go without due to lack of funding.
Solitude
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 2:30 p.m.
Kyle, "a drastic change in operations" is EXACTLY what is called for here. The fact that it is common for Michigan school districts to pad their admin staffs with any number of extra positions that divert money from the classrooms doesn't make it right, or even desirable. Yes, w/o a "Communications Director" someone else would have to issue press releases to the media. So what? Districts in other states laugh at Michigan districts, the majority of which would rather go bankrupt than focus the money on the classrooms.
Mike
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 2:16 p.m.
People are saying that the $71,000 being saved is .05% of the budget so cutting Margolis only gets you about the same amount...........
Kyle Mattson
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 2:11 p.m.
TDS- The Communications Director title or one similar to it is extremely common for most school districts and education organizations of AAPS size. Also, her salary is on par with others in that field here in Michigan. While I understand the desire to find funding solutions for the lunchroom supervisors, cutting such a position would be a drastic change in operations for the district. So with that in mind can you provide a little more explanation as to why you think that would be the one best solution vs others being considered by the district or mentioned here by other commenters?
justcurious
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1 p.m.
When I was in elemenary school in Ann Arbor the teachers did it. But I guess we didn't require the amount of supervision that todays kids require. And maybe the teacher's union had not been invented yet.
Boston20
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 12:29 p.m.
J.A.P, Yes, some teachers may put in some hours during lunch, but most do not. I know you are not saying this, but please try not to indicate that most teachers do this. However, I am not saying that teachers should do this either.
J. A. Pieper
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 1:24 a.m.
Justcurious, many teachers work through lunch time on a regular basis. It is a great time to get things done in the classroom when students are not there, or collaborate with other teachers. We use this time to make copies if needed, set up PM lessons, meet with the special ed team, help students finish assignments. There were many days I missed eating lunch, or ate while I worked with kids during lunch time.
Mike
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 2:15 p.m.
Rob - teachers are paid a salary; anyone in the private sector that is salaried does whatever is needed. Nobody said we would cut the salaries of teaches to $14/hr, not sure where you came up with that............
Rob Pollard
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 2:03 p.m.
Let's examine that comment for a moment: - These jobs pay between "$8.86 and $14.16" according to the story. Do you think that's all a teacher's time is worth? - This is during lunch time. When would you propose teachers eat?
aamom
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:56 p.m.
I'm guessing teachers had fewer responsibilities back then as well. The sheer number of meetings these teachers are required to go to today is mind boggling. Actually, the number of IEP meetings by themselves is huge as more and more kids are identified, and then add in equity meetings, etc. I know most older teachers tell me that teaching is no longer a job they recommend to young people.
Ann E.
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 12:59 p.m.
It was already a challenge for a supervisor to watch over 45 energetic students scattered on the playground (not confined to desks) in search of much needed physical activity. Important learning takes place on the playground with students testing and learning limits both socially and physically. Schools have been seeking volunteer supervisors for years and few parents are available mid day to help.
jcj
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 12:45 p.m.
What about using volunteer parents?
Mike
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 4:25 a.m.
J.A. - I have a job to pay for all of the promises our elected officials made on our behalf, might as well get something for the money...............
J. A. Pieper
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 1:21 a.m.
Mike, I think you should come on in and do this job as your civic duty!
Mike
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 12:25 a.m.
Have the retired teachers do it as a civic duty..............
jcj
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:12 p.m.
Valid points. I used to volunteer in the 70's. I think ti could work if you could have one paid supervisor and 3-4 volunteers.If someone does not show you still have it covered. But I understand that some schools could not get 1-2 volunteers lets alone 3-4.
aamom
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:06 p.m.
Some schools have problems getting parents to volunteer to work a book fair let alone every lunch hour. The other problem with volunteers is reliability. They can just not show up and there is nothing you can do about it. I think it's great to supplement with volunteers, but you can't depend on them.
thinker
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 12:02 p.m.
I'm still reeling from the middle school pool closures! Do they realize the pools will be ruined and not usable if they ever decide to try to re-open them? What about the kids not learning how to swim?
Mike
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 2:12 p.m.
Thinker - this is only the beginning; you will be asked to pay more in taxes very soon which will buy a few more years. Until the structural deficit is addressed (more benefits promised than we can afford) there will be no end to the cuts. Private schools can do it for less; give us all our tax dollars and use the money from those without kids in school to pay for the special needs kids.
A2isNuts
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 1:07 p.m.
Why is it the job of the school to teach your kids how to swim. Take them to a lake or river and teach them yourself.
Goober
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 11:08 a.m.
The AA BOE could have easily trimmed the fat out of overhead to keep positions like these in the budget. These are not living wages and are very low. I wonder when the voters are going to say enough and replace the school board before more damage is done?
Itchy
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 12:19 p.m.
The Ann Arbor voters tend to be quite apathetic. I have no faith that they will wake up anytime soon to realize that their elected board of education is mismanaging their school system and ruining it beyond repair. The teachers are suffering. The students and parents are suffering. Damage is being done, hut community leaders, parents in total, etc. seem to be quite apathetic to the antics of the board. Hard to believe this continues to happen.
Mike
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 12:06 p.m.
The voters will be saying enough is enough in one of the next two budget cycles, the cuts are only going to be come more painful until the real problem is addressed. But like most government entities this will only happen when it is out of control. We have not solved the structural issues that are causing our deficits. If you don't know what they are you are in denial; study Detroit and learn from their mistakes. If you add up all of the unfunded promises made in social security, medicare, medicaid, and social security disability it adds up to an estimated 70 to 100 trillion dollars which is twice the gross domestic product of every country in the world combined. Bottom line is we're paying enough money to educate our children just not enough for all of the benefits we have promised...................