Winslow Citizens Turn Out In Force To Hear School Budget Problems, Options

By Sam Conner
   A large crowd estimated at more than 300 people met at Winslow High School last Thursday to hear Superintendent Robert Mansell and Assistant Superintendent Doug Watson describe the budget problems facing the Winslow School District as a result of the depressing economic conditions, cuts in state education funds and other related problems.
   A small number of attendees voiced their opinion on what they heard and offered suggestions. The rest of the audience was invited to submit written comments or e-mail them to the school administration at budget@wusd1.ortg. Mansell said that suggestions and comments would be welcomed.
   Mansell began the meeting by stating that he was frustrated that the district has some difficult problems, which do not have an easy solution. He said that whatever he and the district decide to do will affect personnel and students. He reported that the school’s budget has 90 percent devoted to employees and their benefits. If staff reduction becomes necessary, the persons affected will be neighbors, family, church members and friends of him and those in the audience. They are much more than just a statistic.
   He reported that the state’s budget for education for the 2008-09 school year was $9.9 billion and is required to be reduced by $1.6 billion, or two percent, this year. Winslow will be required to cut its budget two percent, or some $450,000, this school year. The figures project to be worse next school year with considerably less state funding expected. The state is expected to face a $3 billion deficit in its school budget and pass the problem on to local districts. He said that the deficit is a global or worldwide problem, as most of us hear on the news daily.
   The maintenance and operations portion of the budget gets the largest part of state funding, this for kindergarten through 12th grade education. The Winslow School District’s share of this budget was $13,200,000 this school year. The budget was broken into a revenue limit of $10,892,848, capital outlay of $250,000, override of $1,065,829, tuition of $100,000, Title 8 of $437,744, carry forward of $430,810 and other of $44,008 for a total of $13,221,239.
   The Winslow School District employs 375 persons, of whom 272 are full-time employees. Among the groups of employees are administrators, teachers, counselors, librarians, aides, clerical staff, custodians, maintenance staff, transportation staff, nurses and supervisors.
   Watson noted that any cut of an employee meant that some other person would have to perform the work that person had been responsible for doing.
   Some of the areas where cuts might be made to save some expense are utilities, transportation, where the district spends approximately $1,050 per day on average, electives, athletics, and travel for those activities and other extracurricular events.
   It was pointed out that the Winslow School District has declined in enrollment for each of the past seven years. There are currently 2,400 students enrolled in the district. There are 272 full-time employees of whom 150 are teachers.
   Charts were presented which showed a decline in state funding for a number of years, with a serious decline this year. It also depicts the likelihood of a continuation of the trend for the next three years and possibly longer.
   The state budget resolution for 2009 requires a cut of two percent in the K-12 education funding, or $260,000. This is the equivalent of 12 full-time employees. It was reported that the Blue Ridge School District is considering an eight percent salary reduction for each employee for the remainder of this year. It was later indicated that this will likely be avoided. Winslow used its emergency funds to avoid this possibility.
   Some other areas of state funding have already been cut. These include a reduction of the $162,000 building renewal fund for 2008 and a $365,000 reduction in that fund for 2009, a $51,000 reduction of soft capital funds for 2009 and reduction of funding for proposition 301 funds by nearly $480,000. There are several other reductions in the budget that are not yet determined.
   The school district is required by law to operate with a balanced budget. For 2010, the district faces a potential $2,280,000 deficit. That includes an estimated $200,000 for loss of 40 students, $260,000 to balance the 2008 budget, $560,000 for state revenue cuts and $260,000 to replenish the bank account. It does not estimate a probable insurance rate hike.
   These figures could equal the cut of 11 full-time employees, or $520,000, in 2008-09, loss of 40 students, or $200,000, in 2009-10 and a 12 percent reduction in 2009-10 for $1,580,000, or the equivalent of 32 full-time employees.
   If there are no reduction in the number of employees, every employee would have to share a salary reduction of an average of $8,382 per year. This would make it difficult for the district to obtain or retain high quality employees.
   The administrators set several guidelines for their decisions. The budget must be balanced. Changes should have the least possible impact on the quality of education. The impact upon the community as a whole must be recognized. The burden should be shared equally. The problem faced is long term one, requiring the solution to also be long term.
   The goal of adopting a plan in February was stated as one of the purposes for the meeting. The goal is further that a plan be adopted by the school board in March. Employees who are likely to be affected must be notified. Salaries will be finally adjusted when the state finalizes the budget.
   One of the first suggested changes by the administrators was changing the three elementary schools to grade level schools. This was anticipated to save approximately $500,000. Also noted was the inclusion of special education students in the regular classrooms for an estimated savings of $150,000 and savings of another $100,000 with other elementary school changes.
   At the high school and junior high school level, cuts of $100,000 in administration costs are expected. A reduction in electives is expected to save $150,000. Reduced graduation requirements are expected to save $200,000. A savings of $100,000 is expected in athletic and extracurricular activity.
   On a district level, savings of $100,000 for transportation and maintenance is expected. A savings of $80,000 is expected in administrative costs. Other areas are expected to save $100,000. Elimination of retirement insurance is expected to save $50,000 the first year and that amount should grow in the future.
   The administrators say that they did not cause this problem, but are working to resolve it. Even if all of the proposals worked as hoped, it is likely that would leave a possible cut of $2,400 per employee.
   It was mentioned that there might be some relief from the federal stimulus plan, but that is very uncertain at this time.
   Several people spoke near the end of the meeting. One woman said she saw an increased likelihood of bullying in a grade level school, and had problems with that part of the proposed solution. A man questioned whether the reduced graduation requirements would lessen the chances of students meeting college entrance requirements. One man suggested a bond issue to meet these needs, with control remaining in the district if that were legally possible.
   The likelihood is that some good suggestions will come in written form or to the district’s Web site written to budget@wusd1.org. Hopefully, persons who have ideas of possible solutions will think carefully and share those ideas.