A second try: Colfax board eyes new levy figure;$950,000

Jeslyn Lemke | Mar 04, 20100

A tentative levy figure of $950,000 is on the table for the second Colfax levy proposal, after the public voted down a levy of $1.3 million proposal in the Feb. 9 special election.

The new levy figure comes in the wake of a three-week series of public meetings in which voters turned out to ask the district about the failed levy and voice opinions on a new figure.

The Colfax School board came to the $950,000 figure after more than six and a half hours of discussion Saturday, Feb. 27, in the high school cafeteria. Four hours were spent answering questions about school finance to the 20-strong crowd of voters who attended.

District officials said layoffs at the school are imminent. Cuts around $200,000 must be made to keep in step with the state cuts to the district - losses which will be felt by schools around Whitman County and the state.

“We’d like to have a choice in this, before something is pulled out from under us,” said the mother of a middle school student concerned sports would be cut.

The new levy figure is $350,000 lower than last month’s proposed levy of $1.3 million because the school district is now more certain the state will supply some levy equalization dollars. The $1.3 million was carrying the amount of the state’s levy equalization to the district, about $325,000 extra, in case the state didn’t pass out the equalization dollars.

More confident the district will be receiving the $325,000 of state money, administration opted to leave that out of this next levy proposal and dropped the figure to $950,000.

While it is still not certain levy equalization will be provided by the state, government, both house and senate budget proposals have bills in the works which leave levy equalization in.

The $950,000 proposal still means the district will have to cut programs by at least $200,000, said Supt. Michael Morgan.

“We knew we were going to have to make cuts, no matter what, even with our last proposal,” said Morgan.

Morgan said the house version is the kindest to schools, cutting state funding by just $85,349. The Senate budget would drain nearly $200,000 from the school’s coffers. Gov. Chris Gregoire’s cuts would amount to a nearly $400,000 cut to Colfax.

Most of those cuts come from funding intended to keep a low student-to-teacher ratio, and by decreasing the number of teacher improvement days.

“Our frustration is the state constitution says the state will fund education as a top priority,” said Morgan.

District administrators have been working on what to cut back all week. Cuts to staff and programs will be presented to the board at the March 8 meeting. At that meeting, the board will take a final vote on the levy figure, which may have changed by then.

Morgan said they are budgeting around the House budget, the best case scenario, knowing they may have to look for a new round of cuts before May 14, by which time teachers must be notified of their employment status for the next year.

“We’re still trying to make guesses as to what the legislature’s going to do,” said Morgan. “But that’s what we have to do.”

Included in the budget proposals going to the school board are possible new forms of revenue. Those include requiring students pay for extracurricular activities and possible cuts on sports participation, which would mean elimination of C squad teams.

However, Morgan cautioned, those sources of revenue would not cover the school’s funding gap. He said the school is faced with having to reduce administrative and teaching staff to cover the six-figure funding loss.

Compounding the problem is the district’s declining enrollment. For the past few years, Colfax school enrollment has fallen by about 10 students per year. Since state funding is largely based on enrollment, that equates to a loss of about $55,000 per year.

“The reality is we’re losing kids, and we should be cutting staff every two to three years to keep up,” said Morgan.

But the decline is not confined to one grade or one subject, he noted, meaning the need for teachers at each grade level does not drop along with enrollment.

He said the district would like to take advantage of retiring teachers to cut salary costs, but many tenured teachers would be left without medical insurance if they retired now. The school has eight staff members with more than 30 years experience, he said, but many of them are still too young to qualify for Medicare.

Morgan added the district was in an “unfortunate” position of wanting talented, experienced teachers to retire.

“These are all very talented teachers who have a lifetime of knowledge in teaching,” he said. “How could we want them to go?”

Programs in the red for the district are Driver’s Education and food service, two programs likely to see cuts in the upcoming year.

Colfax resident Kirby Dailey began a campaign after the failure of last month’s levy proposal to reach voters and carry their opinion on a levy back to the board.

Dailey formed a group, The Future of Colfax Education, to inform the public about the levy. The group conducted an information panel Feb. 22, where more than 130 voters came to ask questions.

At Saturday’s meeting, Dailey passed the board a letter which, based on his extensive talks with Colfax voters, asked for a $950,000 levy the first year and a $980,000 the next year.

The board is leaning toward putting the levy up to vote on the county’s April 27 ballot date.

Breakdown of actual 2009 levy spending

$910,000

Classified staff, such as aides $303,589 33.3 %

Extra-curricular programs $260,550 28.63 %

Technology $129,527 14.23

Grounds and facility maintenance $160, 236 17.6 %

Textbooks, classroom supplies, etc. $56,095 6 %

Top Seven 2008-2009 expenditures

$6,541,714 total

1 Certificated salaries $2,826,231 43%

2 Employee benefits $1,327,477 20%