Schools start new year in face of funding cuts

A new school year has schools around the county living with the reality of budget cuts after the legislature sliced a hefty sum of education funding last session.

I-728 funding was reduced from $458 to $131 per student, and schools around the state and in the county have been forced to come up with ways to bridge the financial gap.

The I-728 funds are state monies given to schools to help keep classroom sizes down.

The five districts hit the hardest in the county this year are Colfax, St. John, Lamont, Pullman, and Rosalia. These districts either had to lay off classified staff or not fill positions that were vacated last year.

Most of the 13 districts in the county balanced their budget by cutting back financially across the board, drawing from their general reserve funds, and using federal stimulus funding.

The following is a quick look at how the biggest, the smallest and the most affected schools - Colfax, St. John/Endicott, Lamont, Pullman, and Rosalia - are dealing with the loss of funds.

Colfax

Colfax schools started the year with an enrollment of 635, up one from the budgeted estimate from last spring.

However, the district’s total budget is still $233,452 in the hole. That deficit will be balanced out of the school’s reserve account, which will leave about $50,000 in funds that are not dedicated to other purposes.

Supt. Michael Morgan said Tuesday that the drop in state funding means the school will be down one kindergarten teacher and three classified staffers from last year.

Colfax lost $264,341 in state funding from last year’s level.

Morgan said the school has chased several new grants to take up the slack in teacher training funds.

“We’ve applied for more grants, and have been turned down for more grants than ever before,” he said.

Morgan added the school has $168,000 in a reserve account for the future replacement of the elementary school roof. That money could be tapped by a school board resolution if absolutely needed, he said.

St. John/Endicott

State cuts dropped St. John’s budget $62,000 for the 2009-2010 school year, while Endicott’s budget dropped $28,000.

With more cushion in Endicott’s budget, the two school boards decided last year to begin middle school early and send St. John sixth graders to Endicott.

Endicott Principal Suzanne Schmick said the move has gone well in the first week of school.

“If this is an early indication of how this will go, it should be a very positive move,” said Schmick.

She said students have enjoyed having lockers and switching rooms for classes. Transportation costs have been minimal because the bus shuttle from St. John to Endicott typically had room for extra students before the switch.

“It’s been a very smooth transition for us. And I’ve had several parents call and tell me the same,” said Schmick.

The move helped lessen the blow by reducing staff costs, and the two school boards made up their deficits through cost-saving measures and reserves.

Lamont

Lamont middle school faces the year $30,000 in the hole. Changes made to compensate for that loss include former school principal Joe Whipple stepping in as superintendent and canceling their contract with the former superintendent from Sprague (who will continue working as superintendent there).

Lamont middle school, which has 28 students this year, canceled hours for their school nurse, librarian, and a para-educators.

They also discontinued their state contract for counseling.

Pullman

Pullman school district headed into the new school year with 40 new students and facing a net loss of $700,000 in revenue.

The biggest school district in the county initially stood to lose about $1.2 million, but brought that number down through various cutbacks.

The district saved funds by not replacing some of their temporary staff, cutting back on their teacher training and school travel. Each school principal was asked to cut their budget by 10 percent for the coming year.

Money they received in federal stimulus dollars also helped fill the gap for the school. They also drew $128,000 from the school’s general funding.

“Some of us picked up an additional workload to compensate for some of the staff that weren’t hired back,” said Dan Hornfelt, executive director of support services for the school.

Rosalia

After battling dropping revenues, the Rosalia School District caught a break this year, as enrollment to start the year was the same as last year’s ending number.

“It didn’t get any worse. The bleeding stopped this year,” said Superintendent Tom Crowley.

The school had been losing about 15 students a year for each of the last three years. Crowley figured each of those students cost the school $8,200 in state funding for teachers, transportation and food service.

Rosalia lost about $160,000 in state funding from last year’s budget, but because the student count held steady, the school was able to bring back a half-time art teacher and retain a para-educator position that had been on the chopping block.

The district had planned to cut 7.2 total teaching and support positions. The school eliminated the choir director position and the elementary music program is now spearheaded by the high school music teacher.

The school’s total budget is down more than $350,000 from last year.