Schools

Rodney (Rod) Armstrong: School Board Candidate

As part of our election coverage, Stow Patch will provide profiles of each of the city's eight school board candidates.

Age: 59

Lives in Stow: 26 Years

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Family: Married to Kathy for 38 years with two sons, graduates of (and both completed Eagle Scout Service Projects at ).

Occupation: Retired senior financial analyst for Ford Motor Co. with 35 years of service. Currently working on special assignment at Ford Motor Co., Brookpark.

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Education: MBA from Baldwin-Wallace College, BBA (Accounting) from Kent State University.

Political Affiliation: Republican, according to the Summit County Board of Elections.

(Board members serve the district on a non-partisan basis)

Position Sought

Other Elected Positions: None.

What is the biggest problem facing the district? 

  • "My major focus will be to balance the budget, while maintaining services to the students.My plan is to reduce attorney fees, eliminate IB at Indian Trial and and maintain 2010 spending levels for capital outlays and purchased services. This plan would more than offset recently proposed BOE cuts of $400,000. I would ask for a performance audit and propose reinstating the Citizen’s Finance Committee. 
  • "The State Auditor has saved millions of dollars completing performance audits onlocal political units. The district disbanded the Citizen’s Finance Committee in 2008. I attended several meetings and found that the committee contributed excellent ideas and questioned expenditures, aiding in transparency. Fiscal transparency is a big issue. If the latest levy appeal is unsuccessful, 5- and 6-year old children that live 1.9 miles from their school will walk to save the district $40,000, while more than that amount was wasted having a special election in August. If not for the persistence of the Stow Sentry, voters would never have known the amount of savings for discontinuing bussing under the 2 mile limit. 
  • "The district has spent ESC (Educational Service Center) funds of over $50,000 a year for attorney fees. These expenditures do not show up on the check register. Board meeting minutes are another area lacking transparency. Compare the minutes of Stow City Council to those of the school board. I would put forth a Board resolution to enhance Boardminutes with audio or video support. I would have all ESC expenditures presented with themonthly check register. Additionally, I would ask that analysis for future cuts or programs becompleted and made public before the board voted on them."

Are you in favor of the ?

  • "I do not believe that a levy is needed at this time. Student population has decreased by approximately 10 percent. In my opinion, the prior cuts claimed are not even keeping pace with this decrease and there have been additions to the staff that offset some of the stated reductions. Considering a $50 million plus school budget and an enrollment drop of 10 percent, I would expect an approximate 10 percent reduction in costs. 
  • "The reason for this is that at least 80 to 85 percent of the expenses are variable as wages and benefits. A key metric is the student/teacher ratio published by the state. In the 2007 fiscal school year the ratio was 17.9:1. In the 2010 fiscal school year the ratio was 17.5:1. Had all of the cuts been real efficiencies, as claimed by the present BOE, you would expect the ratio to be more like 20:1. The fact that some classes are over-crowded is a management issue due to inefficient allocation of resources. As I stated in the prior question, I am convinced that there are other areas to investigate before proposing a 10-year levy. The treasurer’s rationale for recommending a 10-year levy to avoid 'voter fatigue' does not make sense, since she proposed the ballot issue in an off-election. Most regular voters go to the polls at least every two years and almost all every four years. The fatigue results from trying to keep up with special election issues when little information is generated by the district. 
  • "I have contacted the Summit County Auditor’s office and asked what the millage will be with the recent re-evaluation of property. I was told that they could not supply the new rate yet, but the millage will be adjusted to make the school district whole. That means that if the levy is for $6.5 millon and the tax is 6.5-mills, the rate could go to approximately 7.1-mills if all the property values dropped by 10 percent."

What are your goals if elected?

  • "My goal is to give the best education available to the students in the Stow-Munroe Falls School District. Our students and their families are our best assets. We need to cultivate anatmosphere of learning, not just for nine months of the year, but for a lifetime. Another goal is to change the mantra that 'the more you spend, the better the education.' Many have been lead to believe that if you hesitate to give the district additional funds, you don’t support the students.
    Those questioning administrative decisions have supported student success for many years,through active involvement, strong community values and a continuing financial commitment.Transparency and building a relationship of trust will be  two of my immediate goals.Today's technology gives us the ability communicate and report quickly and accurately. Usingthis technology, I would like to get to the point where record requests will be a thing of the past. Records will be readily available to the citizens."

What qualifies you to be on the board?

  • "My education, work experience and past volunteerism with the schools and the Scouting Program qualify me to be an active participant in the Stow-Munroe Falls School Board. During 40 years of work experience I have developed budgets of over $300 million, five-year business plans, completed financial forecasts, evaluated and controlled multimillion dollar investments,worked with unions and management to develop cost savings, and developed and presentedfinancial and business presentations to top level management. I feel that these management skills translate well and are a necessary component to school board operations. I also becamevery well acquainted with the operations and finances of the district while my wife was amember of the school board. I am familiar with the 5-year forecast and the process forcompleting it. I am knowledgeable of board policy and procedure. Overall, I believe I can do an excellent job for an 'Excellent' district."

.Where do you stand on the  Program?

  • "I feel that the IB Programme is expensive and that the district already offers our students many specialized opportunities — Advanced Placement and Honors courses, OASIS and training through local universities. After researching the program, the prior board turned down the superintendent when he wanted to institute IB at the high school level. However, it was later introduced to the district at the elementary level. In my opinion, the program was implemented with a lack of public discussion and little planning for sustainability.The superintendent and treasurer claim that they used ARRA funds and Title I funds for the program; what they neglect to say is that the ARRA funds are not designated for sustaining programs and not all costs, if any, may be continued to be paid through Title l. This is evident in the management letter from the last audit report. When Title l funds are used for IB at select schools it may take away from students in other schools. While the superintendent claims that IB will be available to all students through open enrollment, he could offer no reply when asked at a recent board meeting what safeguards were in place to protect against overcrowding if demand for the program was higher than anticipated."


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