Taxing district, stipend cuts, building closures suggested in school budget workshop

Last month, Superintendent Kline had the onerous task of presenting a Minimum Education Plan which called for the reduction of about 8 full time equivalent (FTE) staff in order to make up the near-$500,000 budget deficit in the Orcas Island School District (OISD) budget.

The OISD Board of Directors passed that plan – “with great reluctance,” said Board Chair Janet Brownell.

In an effort to re-instate staff and programs by cutting other areas of the budget, the Board has met previously with the Budget Advisory Committee  (BAC), examining cuts in items such as non-employee related costs (NERCs).  On June 3, they met in the school library to look at program reductions.

At a  meeting the day before, the BAC had prepared a process outline for the budget workshop, in order to “best provide the board with specific information regarding the financial impact of potential program reductions.”

The BAC’s prepared statement read, “After considerable discussion, six general areas were identified:

1)     Food service
2)     Library
3)     Transportation
4)     Co-curricular activities
5)     Grant funded programs
6)     Other Staffing (certificated staffing to be revisited, classified staffing not addressed except in programs noted.”

In the workshop, the Associated Student Body (ASB) fund, its management, accounting and relationship to the General Budget came under lengthy discussion. Another subject that provoked intense debate was co-curricular funding for athletics.

Early in the discussion, OISD Board Member, and BAC liaison Keith Whitaker said, “How do we share the pain equitably and with the least effect on the educational system. That’s our job.”

Bob Phalan noted that the ASB fund is “huge, and a huge responsibility.”  The ASB fund finances all school clubs, dances, ski bus, field trips and other items. By state law, the fund is kept separate from the General Fund, but in practice, ASB expenses have been charged to the General Fund without adjusting charges back to the ASB account.

The appropriate chargebacks to ASB for those expenses didn’t happen the last two years, Whitaker said, adding that the General Fund underwrites $97,000 in co-curricular staffing.

It was pointed out that salaries for athletics are not a part of the ASB budget, while the athletic program is. The General Fund budgets $22,000 in certificated salaries and $75,000 in classified salaries.

Whitaker suggested reducing the athletic program (part of the co-curricular budget) to a single sport per season.

Charlie Glasser said, “It’s a bad idea to cut sports – they’re critical to inspire kids to stay in school.” He questioned if there was another way sports could be funded.

Tony Ghazel suggested that perhaps students could be charged fees for every sport they participate in; currently the student participation fees are limited to two sports per family.

Ghazel also floated the idea that perhaps the service clubs may give scholarships for the athletic fees.

As the conversation stymied the board, Superintendent Barbara Kline said, “That leads us into finding other funding sources.

“This is as much a search for money as cutting. We’re really talking about analysis of the budgets here.”

The idea of school sports being funded by inclusion in a junior taxing district prompted Scott Lancaster to comment, “Taxing districts puts the burden on families – forever.”

Phalan responded, “But the burden is spread out over the entire community.”

Whitaker said, “The basic problem is a General Fund issue – the amount going in to the General Fund is not enough to do what we want to do.

“We’ve riffed (reduction in force) $500,000 worth of teaching – and produced a balanced budget. But as a parent and community member, I can’t leave it at that.”

Ghazel advocated for cuts “across the board” and objected to the sports program being singled out, and Brownell pointed out that the board is attempting to make cuts in all programs and not single out whole programs.

Lancaster proposed that Athletic Director Sandy Harris survey the athletic coaches who receive stipends from the district, asking them if they would continue to coach on a volunteer basis, if no stipends were offered.

Another alternative suggested was for students to pay fees directly to the coaches.

Kline explained the particular difficulty of balancing the budget in a small district such as the OISD, saying “A certain number of classes have to be offered, so that students can get the credits they need to graduate.”

Lancaster asked that the revenue and costs of ALE, the Alternative Learning Program, be analyzed.

Ghazel suggested that the closure of the middle school building (except for the cafeteria and kitchen) should be on the table, as a savings measure on utilities and maintenance. After it was pointed out that utilities can’t be shut off in one area of the building and not another area, Kline threw out the idea of closing the separate school library building, and placing the books into classrooms as another cost-reduction measure.

Ghazel offered that the 6,000 square foot library building could be modified to accommodate middle school classes.

At 7 p.m., Brownell noted that the board needed more information in order to proceed on finalizing the budget by the end of July, and suggested meeting again on June 22 and June 30, in addition to the regular Board meeting on Thursday, June 25.

Following the meeting, Whitaker said that the board had already reduced the original $475,000 deficit by about $225,000. “We already know we won’t have to maintain all the reductions [in the Minimum Education Plan]. I’m confident we can reduce the budget by another $200 – $250,000.  We’re looking at which $250,000 gets cut.

“That’s what all these discussions are about.”