March 24, 2006

ESD board meeting approves budget and program adjustments

Progress made in decreasing the deficit means fewer changes for 2006-07

By Michelle Hecht
Staff Writer

A March 9 meeting of the Evergreen School District Board of Trustees signaled the closing of one school year and a look ahead at the next.

The board discussed the last of a series of updates for the 2005-06 operating budget. Since the last report, the main update to the budget figured in a settlement with a teachers and management group for salary increases for the current school year.

The board expects the 2005-06 ending balance – the amount of money at the close of the school year, which factors in inventory, expenses and reserves – to be $8.6 million.

According to Jim Crawford, ESD Assistant Superinten-dent for Business Services, the state requires the school district to maintain a three-percent reserve, which ESD exceeded.

The board also discussed the current operating deficit of about $2.3 million, which is down from $4 million at the start of the year. Since there is a deficit, and in order to meet the minimum reserve level for the next three years, program adjustments have to be implemented for the upcoming 2006-07 school session.

Crawford presented a list of seven adjustments to the board initially totaling almost $600,000. The board decided to approve all but one.

“It’s a very small list,” said Crawford. “In the past, it’s been larger. One year [it was] $4 million, this year it’s only $400,000.”

One item pulled from the list would have increased middle school class sizes from 28 to 29 students. The adjustment was expected to affect three staff positions and save the district $195,000. Because of budget cuts, class size has already increased from an average of 26.5 to 28 in recent years.

Only one item will actually involve a staff reduction. The restructuring of fourth through sixth-grade teacher prep-time will amount in the loss of half a position and save $32,500. Currently, teachers receive three one-hour prep periods a month. During this period, another teacher instructs in science, art or literature, while the class teacher can focus on preparing lessons, grading papers and so forth. In the new structure, they will be getting one prep period a week for 50 minutes.

According to Susan Hanna, ESD Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, with 50 minute blocks of time as opposed to 60, five prep lessons can be delivered a day, which is presently difficult because of the current structure of the prep period.

With more lessons a day, ESD was able to reduce the number of prep teachers from 6.8 to 6.3. One teacher will subsequently have to work 50 percent of a contract.

The board also decided to change the district’s security company. The same monitoring and patrol will occur, but by a company with lower fees, consequently saving $40,000.

The remaining program adjustments involve transferring money from one program to another. Crawford explained that there are two classifications of money within a general fund: restricted and unrestricted.

With a deficit occurring on the unrestricted side of the general funds, some expenses are being moved from the unrestricted to the restricted side. This will make available money in the general fund and reduce the deficit.

Four items involve transfers. First, a portion of the salary for an energy manager will be transferred over to the construction program, since that position is directly tied to the construction and installation of new equipment. This will free up $57,000.

To make $95,000 available, ESD is looking into moving some management position costs over to categorical grants as allowable. It will be equivalent to 1.3 full-time positions. Crawford said they are still working out the details to make sure it can work.

The next transfer will move money from a grant over to the special education transportation program, freeing $120,000. According to Crawford, the state allows the district to move certain grant money to other grants.

“The state does not give us enough money to pay for the busing of these students, so there’s about a $1 million shortfall a year,” said Crawford, explaining that the transfer will reduce the encroachment on the general fund.

The final program adjustment will transfer equipment rental and print shop costs, specifically the lease of a large Xerox machine, to the equipment fund, in order to free $53,000.

“We’re doing a variety of things to try to minimize the impact on the schools,” Crawford said. “During these tough budget times, we must make very difficult decisions that allow us to be fiscally prudent, yet allow us to continue with excellent programs for our students,” added Hanna.

The program adjustments will be built into next year’s budget and presented to the board in June, taking effect on July 1.