Budget Updates from the Superintendent
May 20, 2009
May 15, 2009
To: All District Employees
From: Mark A. Evans
Re: Budget Updates
As you know, this year has been extremely challenging, with the largest cuts in education funding in the state’s history. Not only did we have a cut of $66 (including $33 this year) in the base state aid per pupil, but last Saturday the legislative session ended with an additional cut of $120 per pupil. These combined reductions will impact our budget by approximately $1.25 million. Additionally, we also lost funding in our capitol outlay state aid. Throughout this legislative session I have tried to keep the staff informed, as we knew these changes would provide a difficult challenge for our district.
This week Business Manager Jim Freeman and I finished meeting with all faculty and employee groups in our district. In each of the meetings we reviewed the work of our Budget Advisory Committee and also the additional prioritization list created by all of the district’s administrators and directors. Both lists contain many difficult cuts and clearly any individual committee member or any staff member would have prioritized differently. This is not my list, it is a collaboratively created list that no one wanted to create, but unfortunately we are in historic times. Though they have unfairly suffered criticism at times, I greatly appreciate the work of the Budget Advisory Committee. It is important to remember that they did not want to make any of these recommendations. They spent countless hours studying every line of our district budget and attempted to make recommendations that limit the impact on student learning and also protect the jobs of all of our employees. They also attempted to “share the pain” with the reductions list, e.g. they recommended a salary reduction for all employees (from classified employees to the superintendent) of 1.25%. This is an item that will be addressed through the Interest Based Bargaining process (teacher negotiations). I have attached the priority cut lists that includes cuts approved by the board on Monday night.
As you can see from the two spread sheets, the approved cuts do not yet meet the identified budget reductions. The Board of Education will continue reviewing the prioritized cut lists at their next meeting. As volunteers who donate time to support our students it is particularly difficult to reduce programs and positions that have made a tremendous difference in the education of our young people. It is fair to say that across Kansas students will be receiving less support due to these dramatic cuts.
I have also seen these challenges and misinformation create issues among staff and community. In some cases turf issues have caused an occasional attack, which is understandable when you see the impact of the cuts. As we now move toward the end of this budget process it is imperative that we regroup together. These are difficult times and many of you have seen family and friends lose jobs. My own daughter was laid off two months ago and I see the pain personally that many in our community and district are suffering. Our state and nation will eventually recover from this economic crisis, and we will again be able to add the programs and support that our students deserve. I continue to be thankful for your work with our students and I appreciate the words of encouragement that many of you have provided.
As always, thanks for your continued dedication to our students and district.
Final Prioritization with Board Action
Administrative Prioritization with Board Action
“Great public schools are a basic right of every child. That right can only be guaranteed when communities’ partner with educators to assure that each student has the resources needed to succeed.” -- Reg Weaver, President, NEA
