Under a hypothetical worst-case budget scenario in which the Kent School District is required to find nearly $15 million in its budget, nearly 90 teachers, 14 administrators and 35 classified staff members could lose their jobs, according to recommendations made Tuesday to the Kent School Board.
In addition, 10th grade athletics, fifth-grade instrumental music-activity buses, professional development money and even summer school could face the chopping block.
“There isn’t anything on this list that isn’t in some way related to student achievement,” Superintendent Barbara Grohe said during the workshop, adding with a touch of gallows humor, “We tried to spread the cuts around so there’d be something for everyone.”
The reductions were among three pages of budget-cutting recommendations delivered to the board at a special workshop session in preparation for the regular March 25 board meeting.
Many of the reductions that would cause layoffs, however, come at the very bottom of the recommended cut list, meaning many of the layoffs would only come after all other options have been exhausted.
The potential layoff numbers also do not factor in attrition, or normal rates of retirement and leave, at the district.
The budget reductions may be necessary to deal with a gap between spending and revenue that could reach as high as $16 million, according to district figures. The district last year spent $4.7 million more than it took in and is expecting cuts in state funding this year, as well as additional costs expected in creating competitive salaries for teachers and supporting underfunded programs.
The recommended cuts to programs and teaching staff would come only after nearly $3.4 million in reductions to administration, including $2.3 million to the central office and an additional $1.1 million in building administration.
At the top of the list of recommendations is the closure of one of the district’s middle schools. Board members, however, were not in favor of such a proposal because of a one-time use of fund-balance money that would be needed to keep the school open next year in preparation of being closed before the start of the 2010-2011 school year.
The board has stated they do not wish to draw down the fund balance below the 5 percent threshold set by board policy.
The recommendations were prepared by an administration team that was led by Assistant Superintendent Merri Rieger. Rieger said the team used the board’s budget parameters, approved during the last board meeting, as well as the input from the two public work sessions to create the list.
For example, according to Rieger, the board’s top parameter was the health and safety of students and one of the top concerns of the public was the possible reduction in nurses and health techs at the schools, so no cuts to nursing staffs are recommended.
Among the considerations was the strong desire of the public to not cut athletic programs or elementary physical education and music. Of the 17 recommended cuts, eliminating the 10th grade sports teams, commonly referred to as the “C” teams, falls eighth on the list.
Rieger said the district considered cutting sports, as well as adding a “pay to play” option, but decided that “pay to play” would unfairly affect nearly half of the district’s population.
“Because our district us 47 percent free and reduced lunch, it would be an equity issue,” Rieger said, adding that it would save $200,000, “but we’ve now disrupted and impacted our most needy kids.”
Rieger also said athletics was another way to keep kids involved and at school.
Rieger also said though fifth-grade band may be cut, sixth-grade band would remain to get kids started at the elementary level.
“If you don’t have a feeder program,” she said, “when you get to seventh and eighth grade, you’ve lost some key, valuable time.”
Among the other recommended cuts deal with facility services, professional development spending and transportation, such as the activity bus, and nearly $2 million in cuts to I-728 grant services including training, supplemental materials and summer school.
The final three items on the list, meaning all other items would have been cut first, would all increase class sizes and are the largest hits in staffing.
Eliminating I-728 money, item no. 15 on the list, would eliminate 8.5 full time equivalency positions. Item 16 should increase secondary class size by one, eliminating an estimated 17.3 FTE, while increasing elementary class size by one, item 17, would eliminate an additional 18.7 FTE.
“We’re preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best,” Board Vice-president Chris Davies said.
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