School board also votes to put $900,000 levy before the voters in November
The numbers have been crunched and the excel sheets filled: Orcas School District’s 2011-12 budget is bleak.
“We are in a progressive reduction of (state) revenue that’s been going on for several years,” said business manager Keith Whitaker at last week’s school board meeting. “I’m going to continue to monitor fund balance and to look for cost savings.”
The school board approved a budget that reduces programs district-wide, lays off four full-time equivalent teachers, and implements a 1.9 percent state-mandated reduction in salaries for all certificated teaching staff and similar reductions to administrative salaries.
“We need to acknowledge that 2011-12 is going to be a year of austerity,” Whitaker said. “This is different than the previous times we’ve had financial problems. What we’ve done before is uncover all the little hidden piles of money here and there, and use them. But now they’re gone. The bottom line is the bottom line now – it’s not fiction.”
Towards the end of every school year, the board has to approve a Minimum Education Plan, which outlines the budget for the coming year. Because enrollment is not set in stone at that point, a handful of teachers receive a Reduction in Force (RIF) notice. It means their job is put on hold until final enrollment and budget numbers are known.
This spring, 14 teachers (9.44 full-time equivalent), predominately in the OASIS program, were RIF’d. The school has brought back fewer than half – or $237,000 worth. The remaining teachers, who are all in the OASIS program, will not be returning this fall, unless the district can identify an additional revenue source, like higher enrollment.
“The biggest reduction is the cut in funding to alternative learning education programs,” Whitaker told the Sounder. “Although the details of this cut have still not been finalized by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, we are working with a preliminary figure of $189,000 in reduced apportionment for our OASIS students. It is expected that the funding reductions from the state will continue through this year and next.”
The budge was based on an assumed full-time enrollment of 624, considerably lower than the 2010-11 school year enrollment of 667.
“This was done to protect against potential losses of enrollment from continued economic strain and from the impact that the major rule changes for ALE programs (still in process) could have,” Whitaker said. “We are confident that the enrollment will be above 624, and are hopeful that it will be at or above current levels. The additional apportionment from any added enrollment would be used to bring back staff that has been reduced, or to reduce the cuts that have been made to other spending.”
The approved budget in its entirety is available here.
Levy to go before the voters
The school board has voted to put a capital levy on the November ballot to pay back debt the district has taken on to pay for improvements to the elementary building.
The $900,000 levy would be for one year. Based on the current assessment, this translates into approximately 30 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, payable only in 2012.
The improvements are part of a state energy grant awarded to the school district to upgrade the air and water handling systems in the building. Funding has been provided by the grant and a $900,000 loan from Cashmere Bank. The work will be completed by Sept. 1. At this stage, air and water handling systems have been removed and are in the process of being replaced.
A special meeting will held on Aug. 11 at 4:30 p.m. in the school library to discuss the levy.
