2009-10 District Budget Process
Central Valley approves plan for budget reductions
5/12/2009
The Central Valley School District Board of Directors has approved a plan to trim $3.4 million from the 2009/10 budget.
The plan includes the elimination of 20 teaching positions, four central office administrators and a reduction in hours for classified employees. The reductions are necessary due to a corresponding shortfall in state funding for the upcoming school year, including a 79 percent cut in I-728 funding.
Although implementation details are not yet finalized, the district is not anticipating teacher layoffs. Instead, the teaching positions will be eliminated through attrition and non-renewal of one-year teaching contracts. One district administrator will be laid off, two will return to classroom teaching positions and one position will be left unfilled. The impact on classified employee positions is not yet known.
In addition to staffing reductions, the budget reduction plan includes a number of program reduction measures, operating efficiencies and the elimination of a portion of student transportation services. The approved plan includes $2.2 million in cuts to I-728 funded programs and positions.
“These are very sobering and difficult decisions for the board,” said Cindy McMullen, school board president. “I sincerely wish these reductions weren’t required.”
The budget reduction plan approved by the School Board on May 11 is the culmination of a three-month process involving community and staff input using a structured prioritization model, careful analysis of this stakeholder input, development of program and financial impacts if specific educational programs were to be reduced or eliminated, and identification of operational efficiencies. Click on the link below to read the plan, approved during the Board's regularly-scheduled meeting.
The planning effort was led by Superintendent Ben Small and his 35-member Budget Leadership Team.
“This has been an intensive, deliberate, difficult process,” superintendent Small said. “We’ve worked diligently to protect the learning environment for children in classrooms and have put forward reductions which largely accomplish this primary objective. We have also worked hard to be precise in staffing numbers to avoid layoffs and unnecessary reduction-in force notices. The reality of the situation is that every bit of this hurts the quality of education for Central Valley students.”
The Budget Reduction Plan is organized into three prioritized tiers totaling $3.4 million.
Among the 18 reductions outlined in the plan:
- Reduce district office administrative staff by four positions ($435,000)
- Eliminate busing within one mile radius of school – impacts six routes ($51,800)
- Remove small appliances from classrooms/offices to cut utility costs ($25,000)
- Eliminate activity buses ($52,400)
- Reduce district-wide extra/co-curricular expenses by 5% ($100,600) Click here for details (pdf)
- Reduce school building/department budgets by 5% ($169,250)
- Reduce K-12 media assistant time by 25% ($68,000)
- Reduce paraeducator time for Kindergarten programs by 21% ($349,000)
- Reduce I-728 funded instructional coaches/academic support staffing allocations by 50% ($1,380,000 or 20 Full Time Equivalent positions)
The Board also reviewed an additional $445,000 in proposed “tier 4” reductions which may be necessary if state revenues continue to decline in the coming months. The proposal includes a reduction in custodial time spread evenly across the district and an additional reduction in extra/co-curricular expenses.
An action plan is in place and administrators are working within each category to implement the reductions for the upcoming school year. The $3.4 million in reductions follow $1.5 million in cuts to the current 2008/09 budget taken last year to close a funding gap created by legislative action.
Legislators finalized this 2009/2010 budget on April 26. Click here for Washington State Legislature budget information.
The Board will adopt the final 2009/10 budget in August.
Public Input Process: Gathering Spending Priorities
District officials began preparing for the difficult decisions in March by holding a series of community and staff forums to share budget information ("Budget 101") and gather stakeholder input about spending priorities. These forums were held from March 16 - 26 and were attended by 369 participants. Those who attended were asked to share what they valued most about Central Valley Schools by prioritizing a set of 12 spending categories. Individuals without the time to attend a fourm were offered the option to complete an online feedback form, which was posted through April 6. More than 100 additional online comments were received.
Steps Taken: School Board Decisions
Working in partnership with the Superintendent, the School Board is responsible for governing the district through prudent financial planning and oversight, which includes approval and adoption of annual budgets.
- April 13 - All input collected through the public input process was delivered to the School Board during their regularly scheduled meeting. An overview and analysis of the results of the spending priorities was also presented (see document above). Superintendent Small outlined his plan to eliminate four administrative positions from the district office for the 2009/10 school year.
- April 27 - The regularly-scheduled School Board meeting included an overview of the state budget and anticipated impacts to Central Valley School District for the 2009-10 school year. The School Board also held a scheduled work session during the Board meeting to discuss potential budget reductions in greater detail. A set of recommendations for prioritized budget reductions were delivered to the Board.
- May 11 - The School Board approves Budget Reduction Plan for 2009-2010 school year during the board's regularly-scheduled meeting.
- News Release (May 12, 2009) - Central Valley School Board Adopts Budget Reduction Plan (pdf)
All School Board meetings are held in the Board Room at 19307 E. Cataldo, beginning at 6:30 p.m. and are open to the public. Each meeting includes a "Hearing of Individuals" agenda item to allow citizens from the community to present their thoughts to the Board. Each presenter is limited to three minutes. A cumulative total of 30 minutes is set aside at each meeting for this agenda item.
For more information, call 228-5405.
» Visit our news archive
|
