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Tough decisions loom
Published 2/24/2010 in Local News
By MONICA SPRINGERmspringer@gctelegram.com
There’s a $400 million question that school districts across the state are waiting to hear the answer to.
How is the Kansas Legislature going to make up its more than $400 million budget shortfall? Will they increase revenue, like Gov. Mark Parkinson has suggested, or will public education face more funding cuts?
No one knows.
“People are always afraid of the unknown,” said Rick Atha, Garden City USD 457 superintendent. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
USD 457, which has about 7,000 students, is in the process of deciding where to trim its budget to cope with current and future cuts in state aid.
At next week’s program budgeting meeting, each of the 15 programs in the district will present a budget with a 2 percent cut.
Kathleen Whitley, USD 457’s financial officer, said this is the first time the programs have only been asked to present one budget.
Traditionally the programs present three budgets — last year it was at 100 percent, 98 percent and 96 percent.
The cuts in state aid were outlined in a financial memo that Atha sent to school district employees in January.
“The budget cuts to schools have been huge,” Atha said in the memo.
Garden City USD 457 has lost about 9.5 percent of its budget, or about $4.2 million through state budget cuts.
Districts were expecting an increase in state aid and instead received a total cut of $421 per student. The base state aid per pupil is now $4,012, down from $4,433 a year ago.
Atha said he hesitated to write the memo because of the pressures teachers already are facing in helping students prepare for state assessments.
“You want teachers to do what they do best, and that’s teach kids. The pressure on the classroom teacher to teach our kids and the pressure that they’re feeling to do well on the state assessments is overwhelming,” Atha said. “They’ve got a tough job.”
And on top of those pressures, he said, letting teachers know that some positions likely will be cut increases anxiety and creates insecurities among staff.
“When I go out into buildings now and meet with teachers, that’s the No. 1 question that comes up: ‘Will I have a job?’” Atha said.
And he doesn’t know the answer to that question.
Atha and Whitley said 85 percent of the school district’s budget is salaries, and 15 percent is supplies, equipment, textbooks, utilities and non-people related expenses.
About $1 million will be cut through program budgeting, Whitley said. She added that most programs will reduce both staff and supplies. The program budgeting meeting is scheduled for Monday.
And to cope with any future cuts in state aid, the district has assembled a different budget committee that will look into where to cut more if need be. That group will meet Tuesday.
Atha said in his memo that 24 jobs could be cut through program budgeting. If the state cuts more aid to schools, Atha said in his memo, the projected number of positions cut could rise to 48.
“It would be devastating to Garden City Public Schools as well as all districts in the state. Our kids would be the true losers. They already are, with $4.2 million in cuts,” Atha said in the memo.
For the next fiscal year, the district will ask the board of education for another raise in the local option budget. And a combination of cutting expenses and raising revenue is something that Atha thinks the state legislature should do.
“I think USD 457 and the board of education has demonstrated that. That’s what we have done, that’s what we are doing. To continue to go down the road of cutting and cutting I believe is irresponsible, not only to the kids but to all other public entities experiencing these cuts,” Atha said.
Impact on students
Nearly everyone has a teacher who made an impact on their life.
And when those role models either lose their jobs or don’t have adequate support in the classroom, the students suffer, said Dale Dennis, deputy commissioner of the Kansas Department of Education.
Dennis said teachers make an impact, especially in low-income areas.
“When you start cutting, it becomes extremely difficult to maintain that support system for kids,” Dennis said.
Dennis said a legislative report speaks to the point of how money relates to student achievement.
The report shows the legislative division “found a strong association between the amounts districts spend and the outcomes they achieve.”
The report also states that, “A 1 percent increase in district performance outcomes was associated with a 0.83 percent increase in spending — almost a one-to-one relationship.
This means that, all other things being equal, districts that spent more had better student performance.”
In Garden City, Atha said students already are being affected by USD 457’s budget cuts.
Students didn’t participate in summer school last year. They aren’t able to go on as many field trips this year. And their teachers aren’t receiving as much staff development because of a moratorium on out-of-district travel for staff.
Dennis said cuts in state aid affect more than a student’s test scores. It also affects dropout rates and graduation rates.
“Teachers work unbelievable hours to help kids,” Dennis said, adding that some children have to endure difficult situations at home. “Challenges teachers face are unbelievable.”
Related content to download:
- Superintendent Atha's memo to district staff regarding the financial status of Garden City Public Schools
- Text of Gov. Parkinon's State of the State address.
- LPA statement showing correlation between spending and outcomes.
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Brad Nading/Telegram USD 457 and other Kansas school districts are facing deeping budget cuts to deal with fewer state and federal tax dollars.
Found 1 comment(s)!
Not Teachers
I hope teachers are the last place where cuts are made in this district. Teachers will affect students' learning more than any other line item in the budget. As a former teacher, I can tell you that there are other personnel who could be eliminated that will not jeopardize student outcomes in ways that teacher shortages would. There are many people in the district offices and support services that should be cut before even thinking of eliminating teachers' jobs. There is waste at every level of our educational system but teachers are not waste - they are critical.
Posted by: Concerned on 2/25/2010