Letter from Superintendent Rainwater

6 November 2001

Dear Staff,

As I am sure most of you know we face serious budget shortfalls over the next 3-5 years. The revenue cap will not provide enough money to fund all of the services that we currently offer. There is no question that all of the services we provide are good for children. The issue becomes what services are the most essential to operate the District and provide the best quality education possible. To that end, we are beginning an extensive analysis of the functions performed by staff throughout the district. This analysis will give us the best possible data for budget decision-making over the next few years. You will hear this process referred to as a "functional analysis".

As further cost savings are required, the functional analysis will provide us with an objective view of our organization. This will allow us to prioritize the functions and make informed recommendations for budget reductions.

To lead us through this process we have hired the consulting firm of Virchow, Krause of Madison who has extensive experience working with other school districts analyzing functions within available resources. The role of the consultants is to provide us the data and the methodology for analysis so that the administration and Board of Education can make these critical decisions. They will very likely be working with you or your colleagues during the data collection phase. My hope is that any disruption to your office or program will be minimal, but I do ask for your cooperation with this important project.

We have designed a very open process, which you will be able to see in detail on this Web site. The site will provide monthly updates on the progress. Roger Price is overseeing this project. Feel free to contact either Roger or myself if you have questions or concerns. Our hope is to finish the data collection and analysis and have a preliminary report for the Board in mid-February.

More information is available in the form of a Q&A document. If you are a staff member and have any immediate questions or concerns, take them to your Principal or department head. We will be communicating in detail with them over the next few weeks.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding during this important process.

Art Rainwater

Superintendent of Schools

Functional Analysis Home Page