Trial by fire: grim times for new superintendent

Brookings-Harbor School Superintendent John Garner reviews possible budget cuts during a January budget committee meeting. The Pilot/Arwyn Rice

Garner, who was hired in the summer of 2008 from the Kimberly School District in Kimberly, Idaho, arrived well aware of the pattern of declining enrollment and resulting decline in state funds, but then there was little urgency in the situation.

“The district already cut the fat,” Garner said at at one of the early district meetings.

Future cuts were expected to be relatively routine.  Layoffs at the high school were already in the works, due to fewer students. He also knew the district would have to trim some programs.

But, by the end of January, the situation was far different as the state withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars from the district due to declining tax revenue at the state level.

Then the state budget deficit soared, estimates for the district budget deficit climbed from $790,000 for the 2009-10 school year to projections of  a budget loss that could exceed $1.2 million.

It’s a problem he would have faced even if he had remained in Idaho.

“They’re having similar problems back there,” Garner said.

Garner is no stranger to tight school budgets, but never to the serious degree he sees today.

“When there were cuts there were teachers who were retiring or leaving for other reasons.” he said.

Even if a position could not be saved, he always managed to transfer teachers and other school employees into other positions within the district.

“For years education has been spared making wholesale cuts across the board,” Garner said.

Brookings-Harbor High School Principal Bryan Wood, who is also in his first year as a top administrator in the district, also entered the picture just as the economy tanked.

“The learning curve isn’t steep, but it’s not a comfortable or enjoyable situation to be in,” Wood said.

The worst part of the cuts, for Garner, is employee layoffs, especially telling employees they no longer have a job.

“I talked to every individual who was laid off,” Garner said. “It is not a meeting I look forward to.

“You’ve intruded into their personal life. They have bills and suddenly you’re shaking up their livelihood. We’re in a time now where it’s scary  (to lose your job),” he said.

Garner does not have the power to lay off employees on his own.

Principals at each school make a recommendation, based on their school’s needs; Garner passes that recommendation to the school board. The school board makes the final decision as to if, how many, and who is laid off.

Garner and other administrators often become lightning rods for criticism when layoffs and other cuts affect jobs and programs.

“”It’s the title that brings criticism,” said Wood. “He’s the superintendent. That position comes with its share of scrutiny. He’s the top executive in the district.”

One of the places where Garner has heard criticism is his salary and job perks.

Garner makes $105,000 per year, more than any previous superintendent at BHSD. However, he says, that salary is well below the Oregon state average for the position.

A $500 per month stipend to help the Garner family maintain two households, one in Brookings and one in Idaho, has been the target of many complaints.

His contract, including the stipend, was negotiated and agreed to by the board, Garner said.

“They could have said no,” he said.

Garner also pointed out that the stipend,which lasts one year and ends this summer, could have been made part of the base salary for the entirety of his three-year contract.

Aware of the situation, when Garner asked the district administrators to take two days off as part of an earlier budget cut, Garner took five.

No matter what Garner chooses to do, he will take criticism.

“There are two sides to every story. When it comes to education, there are three or four sides. You can’t make everyone happy,” said Wood.

As cuts get deeper, employees are scrambling to save their jobs.

Garner has received packets of papers from teachers who are convinced they are going to lose their jobs. The packets include documentation showing why they shouldn’t be the one, Garner said.

Most of the solutions to the budget deficit that have been offered for discussion, such as the four-day school week and the privatization of transportation, have protected teachers and student hours, but have fallen heavily on non-teaching (classified) employees.

In response, classified employees have also been lobbying Garner to for solutions that would protect their positions, such as bus drivers, custodians and groundskeepers, or at least reduce teaching and administrative positions equally, through budget shortfall days or some other method.

BHHS Assistant Principal Lenora Hall says she believes her position is one of those endangered, but also said she believes Garner is a good choice to make recommendations.

“He’s brand new, he doesn’t have relationships,” Hall said. “He doesn’t have favorites yet.”

Garner is making the right moves, following correct procedures, and forming a budget subcommittee to make sure everyone has a say in what is to come, Hall said.

In January Garner formed a budget subcommittee of administrators, school board members, parents and other local citizens to explore places where deep cuts could be made to meet worst-case scenario budget deficits.

Garner’s trial by fire as the new superintendent in Brookings is also accompanied by stresses of a physical family separation.

Garner had been planning to move to Brookings for a while.

Garner and his wife purchased property in Brookings eight years ago, planning to move after retiring.

“We were already committed to Brookings,” Garner said.

Then the BHSD position opened and he jumped at the chance to make the move earlier than planned.

His wife remained in Idaho with his son, a high school senior who is student body president and possible valedictorian of his class.

The separation has been rough, Garner said. He thanks their unlimited cell phone long-distance plan for maintaining contact and their relationship. The couple also “meet in the middle” as often as possible.

The family plans to be reunited in Brookings this summer when his son graduates.

Garner’s eldest daughter Elle is currently living in Southern California and was named Miss San Diego in 2006.

Garner’s youngest, Jenny, is a junior at Brookings-Harbor High School.