Yazoo City school district administrators have released figures demonstrating the high cost of hiring consultants to conduct staff (professional) development sessions during the year.
Following the Sept. 8 school board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Darron L. Edwards released records showing that the district had spent slightly more than $900,000 on consultants during the last two school years (2014-15 and 2015-2016).
In the past, there has been considerable concern and criticism expressed regarding the high cost of preparing first-year teachers, testing and ways to improve student achievement and teacher skills. Administrators countered criticism of the high cost by claiming that federal monies paid the tab.
During the 2014-2015 school year, consultants walked away with a total of $638,583.83. That figure was trimmed significantly during the 2015-2016 school year to a total of $271,470.47.
The highest fee during the 2014-2015 school year was the $268,683.83 which went to Generation Ready, followed by the $165,400 that went to Core Learning. The Kirkland Group was the only other six-figure consultant group with their fee of $148,800. Other consulting groups and their fees that year were Kim Kares, $3,600; Nannette Reed, $12,000; Williams Consulting, $2,400; CPH Training, $13,500; and Wilson Consulting, $24,200.
Last school year's consulting fees were from Chandlar Lewis, $5,700; Core Learning, $119,350; Generation Ready, $62,000; Greene Educational, $3,116.17; Nannette Reed, $28,504.30; Stephen Mason, $600; The Kirkland Group, $49,800; and Williams Consulting, $2,400.
In the Sept. 8 school board meeting, the trustees approved using the following consulting groups to be used during the current school year: Brown's Consultant, Team Genius, and The Kirkland Group. Asked how much the school district would be paying the newly approved consultant groups, Edwards said, “The daily rate for professional consultants range from $1,500 to $750 per day.”
Explaining the consultants' duties, he said, “The scope of the professional services range from testing through special education to providing training to first-year teachers or teachers who need more training and more support in specific areas to strengthen skills and knowledge to improve student achievement and teacher skills.”
In other school board business, the trustees:
• Heard Edwards report that the total enrollment so far this year is 2,435 students.
• Heard Edwards say that one of the district's goals is “to make sure that we have not just our students at school, but our employees, too. We want all our students at school every day and we want all our employees at school every day. That's the only way we're going to be successful as a district....” He concluded by saying that he wants an average daily attendance of 100 percent.
• Heard Edwards discuss the district's discipline stats. He pointed out that five of the six schools have different administrators. “We're going in and we're changing the culture. Some of our students who are coming in may think that this is the school they went to last year, but it's not. Based upon where we are academically, we're starting over.
• Heard Edwards report to the trustees that there had been a total of 4,573 “infractions” during the last school year. “This is astronomical, and I'm here to insure you that we're doing something about that.”
• Heard Edwards report that he would like to expand extracurricular offerings to include bowling. Asked where the students would bowl since there are no bowling alleys in Yazoo City, Edwards said that students could possibly use the bowling facilities in another city. The trustees recommended that he investigate the possibility of offering tennis and volleyball again.
• Heard Financial Director Latitia Johnson report that the district maintenance fund balance as of the end of August is $4.1 million. The activity fund balance at the end of August is $5,046.17. Ending cash balance at the end of August is $4.3 million. She reported that August claims totaled $332,931.45.
• Went into executive session to discuss personnel.
