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While state legislators in Olympia discuss ways of dealing with a record-setting deficit, administrators in the Central Valley School District are holding a few budget talks of their own.
The district sponsored the second of four community gatherings on Tuesday night at Horizon Middle School with the potential loss of between $2 million to $4 million in state funds at the top of the agenda. Similar meetings have been held earlier this month to gauge feedback from district staff.
“We want to hear from the community about what they value most about our schools,” said Ben Small, CVSD superintendent.
A final draft of the state budget for the 2009-11 biennium is expected sometime in early April. State general purpose and special purpose funds account for $83 million, or 75 percent, of CVSD’s annual budget.
The forums – similar to the meetings held prior to the district’s most recent capital facilities bond vote – gather input from district staff and parents regarding priorities to be submitted before the board of directors. The board will likely make a decision on the budget plan by the end of April with the actual budget approved sometime in August. Notice of any staff or program cuts must be submitted by May 15.
“We’re not asking the people who go to these meetings to put together our budget,” said Melanie Rose, district spokeswoman. “We’re just asking what their priorities are and involve them in this process.”
Rose added that the projected shortfall doesn’t take into account the potential of federal stimulus funding toward education.
Around 30 people attended Tuesday night’s meeting – about one-third of whom came from the district’s Budget Leadership Team, a group of administrators and staff who have been helping to facilitate the discussions.
Small spoke briefly at the start of the evening, describing how “none of the things we’re talking about are deserving of being cut.”
Jan Hutton, executive director of finance for CVSD, described how enrollment in each district determines the level of funding from the state in areas like staff, supplies, transportation and utilities.
The district budget, supporting a total of 22 schools and three learning centers in an 80-square-mile radius, currently stands at $111.4 million.
While three-quarters of the budget comes from the state, another $17 million – or 15 percent – is drawn from the levy paid by taxpayers within district boundaries. Last February, voters approved a three-year replacement maintenance and operations tax by a margin of over 62 percent.
The board of directors voted to place the levy rate at a level that would make up for the potential loss of equalization funds from the state. Gregoire announced an initial reduction of 3.4-percent last November. If the state does provide matching dollars – the total this year was just over $4 million – the district would roll back the tax rate.
The majority of levy funds – $9.6 million – go toward basic education. Another $2.2 million supports special education with $2.2 million sustaining extracurricular programs like sports and music. Transportation accounts for another $2.2 million.
On Tuesday, attendees divided into groups of half-a-dozen and mulled over a list of budget spending categories ranging from technology to support staff to the maintenance and operations of facilities. A ranking system determined the overall importance of each category to the academic environment.
Survey results will be reviewed by the Budget Leadership Team and presented to the board at its April 13 meeting. The board will discuss the data at a work session at its following meeting on April 27.
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By
Craig Howard
