- By Dan Veaner
- Around Town
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David Klemm
Klemm has overseen a difficult budget process that will result in over a million dollars worth of cuts to keep taxes to a level that voters will accept and also to pay for overspending in this year's budget. He worked first with Interim Superintendent Tom Helmer, and then with Superintendent Stephen Grimm to make sure the Board Of Education got the message that something drastic has to be done to restore Lansing to a healthy fiscal condition.
Klemm taught global studies at Fabius - Pompey School District for 21 years before getting his CAS in administration at SUNY Cortland. He returned to Fabius - Pompey as business administrator, where he remained for another four years. He became the business official for the Baldwinsville schools for two and a half years, and finished his career at East Syracuse - Minoa where he worked from 1995 until he retired in June of 2001.All the hard work as far as understanding the budget numbers is done.
Less than six months later he was hired by Helmer to take an interim transportation administration job in Solvay. That began a second career as an interim administrator that took him to Homer, Tully, Fabius - Pompey, Phoenix, and finally to Lansing when Helmer was Interim Superintendent here last September.
With a son graduating from Oswego State this year Klemm and his wife are looking forward to real retirement. With two grandchildren, the yougest born only ten days ago, they plan to spend time with family and to travel around the United States. We caught up with him in his office last Friday, where he talked about his stay in Lansing in a relaxed interview.
Lansing Star: You were supposed to be here just until January, so you have given the district three additional months. But it's an awkward time in the budget cycle to switch business administrators. That's not your fault or your problem, but are you leaving it in good shape?
David Klemm: I think this is an OK time to be leaving the school district. All the hard work as far as understanding the budget numbers is done. I started the budget in November when I gave the board an annualized budget of this yea's budget. Then I gave them a second draft of that annualized budget. Then I gave them a rollover budget, and last night I gave them the final draft, and I believe the draft I have given the board -- which is a 3.37% increase over last years, budget to budget -- is a solid one.
It's a budget that they can build on in the years to come. I have done one of the things that every business official does. I have tried my hardest to overestimate expenditures, and underestimate revenues. So we will be able to get to the state mandated unappropriated fund balance of 3% or 4% in two or three years down the road. I think that's key, and I'm hoping that in the '08-'09 budget you will have enough appropriations to meet the actual expenses.
LS: The state actually mandates a cap?This has been a rewarding interimship. There have definitely been some financial concerns. Nothing wasn't fixable.
DK: Yes, you cannot exceed 4% in your unreserved fund balance. 4% of the budget, which is about $880,000 for this school district. Right now we have less than $100,000 of unappropriated fund balance so we have some work to do there.
What that money is used for is to meet summer expenses, especially payroll and supplies and materials. School districts are cash rich in the fall, but you're cash poor in the summer. Because you haven't gotten your taxes in yet, but your fiscal year is over by June 30. So July, August, and the first part of September there is very little cash because your taxes are not in and your state aid is not in. So you need that 4% to get you through the summer.
LS: Of all the jobs you've had, has this been a tough one? It has certainly had its challenges.
DK: This has been a rewarding interimship. There have definitely been some financial concerns. Nothing wasn't fixable.
Every school district has its unique problems. Lansing had its unique problem. The advantage you have here at Lansing is that I've had an excellent community to work for. And I have an excellent, excellent staff. The business office staff we have here are excellent people. They're very good at what they do and they are good people.
I have been more than happy to work with and for the administrative staff. It's been a fun experience, but it has been trying at times. And by 'trying' I mean you can definitely see the lack of leadership. I'm the fifth or sixth business official in the last five years, you've had five or six superintendents... You see there is a hole in processes that need to be carried through. That's where consistent leadership will be so important in the future.
Klemm in his office in the District Office
LS: The superintendency is the rock star job. But in the business office I don't think the leadership issue is as obvious to the community until something bad happens. I've heard a lot of business officials give the bad news to the school board. We had Gary Alger, Larry Driscoll, Larry Lawrence, and you. All of them warned the board that there are serious issues. My take is that the board didn't listen until you came along. Why do you think that is?
DK: (Laughs) That's hard to explain. Hopefully I have developed trust with the board. I've tried to develop that trust by giving the board reports based on factual information. I've always had backup information to document these reports, and I think the board has appreciated that. I've been open with them in discussing the information. Honestly I can't take credit for a lot of that information. I have to give an awful lot of credit to (the last Interim Superintendent) Tom Helmer.
We were very fortunate that we drove from Tully to here, probably four days a week. So we had about an hour and a half of planning, one to one in the car. It really, really helped because he was listening to the board and could pass on information to me, and I could pass information to him. It was a very, very nice working relationship.
We really gelled. (Current Superintendent Steve Grimm) has done a wonderful job of coming in. In the short period of time he has had so far we have worked well together. And I can't emphasize enough, I really really cant -- this staff in this office has bent over backwards to help me do a good job. Without them I couldn't have done it. They have been the foundation with which I have tried to build a foundation to make this district fiscally sound. They have been a wonderful, wonderful group of people.
LS: What's been your favorite part about being in Lansing?
DK: I absolutely love the community. I think this is a great community. I think the school district can be the center of the community, and I think it is the center of the community. I have enjoyed coming to work, working with the administrators, the staff, the teachers. It seems to me that everybody appreciates what we've been doing. I guess that's the highlight, that the instructional staff, the non-instructional staff, the administrative staff, the Board of Education has appreciated the things we've done.I absolutely love the community. I think this is a great community.
LS: From what I'm hearing that is a matter of the way you have communicated with these groups.
DK: I hope that's true. It's been a collaborative team effort to try to pull things together.
LS: That's pretty significant given what's happening in the district right now. This is not a series of events that would normally enhance communication!
DK: I think Dr. Grimm has done a wonderful job with the focus forum groups that he has created. For example, two weeks ago we met at the middle school on a Friday afternoon. There must have been 20 teachers and other staff members there. Friday afternoon! We didn't leave until 5:30, quarter to six. Last Friday we were in the elementary school. We finished that meeting at 5:30, quarter to six. Teachers stayed, and were interested in what we had to say. And they gave a lot of very valuable information.
Steve has this idea that we're going to work together as a team in a collaborative fashion, and that's my style. I share as much information as I can with my staff. A wise man, one of the superintendents I worked with at Fabius - Pompey, once said to me, 'The best example that you can give is when you go away on vacation and you come back and everything has run smoothly because your staff knows what you're doing. If you keep them in isolation they won't be able to do that. So you bring them together and work together as a team.'
That was great wisdom, and I've always tried to share. There are certain things you can't share with staff, because they are confidential. But the other things I try to share. I had a secretary who used to come to me and say, 'David, just tell me what to do and I'll do it.' I said, 'Well this is a teaching moment. Let me teach you about this.' She said, 'I don't want to be taught that.'
About six months later she comes to me and says, 'David, I know why you have those teaching moments. Because now I can figure out what has to be done.' That's what counts.
 Klemm was presented with a certificate of excellence by the Board of Education at Monday's school board meeting. "You have tirelessly served our schools as Interim Business Administrator during a period of financial uncertainty and need, providing us with caring, thoughtful guidance and stability long beyond your original commitment," read Superintendent Stephen Grimm. "We appreciate the personal sacrifices you made to help us learn and grow into a place that positions our school district for success today and in the future." Board member Anne Drake wished Klemm a happy retirement, then added, "But please don't go!" Front Row (Left to right): Tom Keane, Bonita Lindberg, Dave Klemm, David Dittman, Sandi Dhimitri. Back Row: Mike Cheatham, Anne Drake, Glenn Swanson, Steve Grimm |
LS: I have to ask the mirror question: what's been your least favorite thing while you've been here?
DK: On a personal level, being away from my family. A lot of that has to do with the drive. It's a 50 minute drive. On a professional level my least favorite thing is that when I'm confronted with a problem or concern, when I open up the cover there are a lot of little things that need to be followed up. So it's not just correcting a situation -- it's making a solution for a major concern.
That's been the biggest thing. And I think that it's because with that lack of leadership in the past recent years these things haven't been attended to. And that's just process. And it's frustration. I feel that frustration and my staff feels it. Because when I give them guidance and I tell them how I want that process to be, sometimes they say to me, 'Yes, but the new person might not carry through that way. Or he'll change the process.'
That's what happened with the changing leadership -- there is not a succinct process.
LS: That makes sense -- I imagine they have had at least six or seven different processes in the past six years.I can say very truthfully that if I were 50 years old I wouldn't think twice about coming to this district. This is a great little school district with a tremendous future. It's got a lot of advantages, and in my opinion, very few negatives.
DK: Yes, one business official wants it done this way, the next wants it done that way, and I want to do it this way.
LS: I'm an optimist. My sense is that Steve Grimm will stay here for some time to come. I think that in part because of things he has said about what he was looking for in a superintendency, in part because this is his first superintendency and you always want to do well in your first job, and because he has a young family and is investing in being part of the community. So I think there are a lot of reasons why that chair is finally going to have the same person sitting in it for some time.
What do you think it will take to get the same thing in this office, to get somebody who will come and will stay.
DK: I'm an optimist, too. I can say very truthfully that if I were 50 years old I wouldn't think twice about coming to this district. This is a great little school district with a tremendous future. It's got a lot of advantages, and in my opinion, very few negatives.
I've talked to a lot of people about the Lansing School District. I think the next person who will sit here will stay, to a large degree because of what this community has to offer. I think Dr. Grimm is looking for a different type of candidate. I think his enthusiasm, his positive attitude, and his longevity will rub off on the new business official that comes here.
And I'll tell you if this community treats the new business official the same way they have treated me, they'll have a long-time person sitting in this chair. I am very optimistic. Sometimes I think I would love to go back 12 years and be 50 years old, because I would love to come here.
The changes that are necessary are going to mean a lot of hard work. But you know what? They are so positive in their outcome that you can see yourself grow. That's what every professional wants, to see growth. This district really shows this. And I think this community kind of radiates that type of environment.
LS: What advice would you give to future school boards and the community in general about the budget and the business side of the district?They have to ask the superintendent and the business official, 'Can we do this and be fiscally responsible?'
That sometimes means saying no.
DK: I mentioned to the board a couple of weeks ago that when they develop a budget they should make sure it includes their philosophy and ideas for the year. If you develop a budget in that way you can make small changes, but you can't make big changes. The budget has to represent what you want to do for the next year but you have to be very careful because the budget that you are presenting now is going to influence next year's budget, and the budgets thereafter.
For example last year's budget has a huge impact on this year's budget because of overspending by approximately 1.5%. So when you look at a 3.37% budget, the increase is really 2% or less. So you have go to be careful of that impact. The board has to be very careful when they want to increase something, add to a budget that's already in existance. They have to ask the superintendent and the business official, 'Can we do this and be fiscally responsible?'
That sometimes means saying no.
That is one word of advice I would give. The other is to begin to develop a plan -- whether it be a three year plan or a five year plan -- on equipment, purchasing of busses, purchasing of instructional equipment and so on. The other thing you've got to plan for are facilities. These facilities need work.
We have to be fiscally responsible in our budget. If we can show that then we need to work on a capital project. The board has to start looking forward five years and making their plans. Planning is going to be the key.
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