In the face of budget cutbacks, districts find innovative ways to stretch their dollars

5/20/03 -- Confronted by one of the worst budget crises in decades, local school boards are scrambling to cut costs any way they can -- and they're dreaming up some innovative, unorthodox, and downright clever ideas to stem the red ink.

Consider the folks down in South Carolina's Richland County School District 1. Wrestling with a potential loss of $6.1 million in state funding, officials took a hard look at their utility bill and had an epiphany: It's hot in the summer, and air-conditioning costs skyrocket.

So, this year's summer school will meet only four days a week, and school employees will switch to a 10-hour-a-day, four-day workweek. Closing school buildings on Fridays for the summer months will cut utility costs by an estimated $156,000.

Also taking note of the summer heat is the Putnam City (Okla.) School District, which hopes to save upwards of $100,000 in air-conditioning costs by delaying the beginning of school from Aug. 15 to Sept. 2.

"We saw this as a creative way to do things," says district spokesperson Steve Lindley. "It was one of those instant things we could do."

Promoting good health isn't usually associated with budget cutting. But in Kanawha County, W. Va., an employee safety and good health campaign has reduced worker's compensation payouts by $350,000 in just 18 months, says Superintendent Ron Duerring. A healthier staff also has reduced absenteeism and lowered costs for substitute teachers.

One of the more provocative cost-saving ideas to make the rounds comes from Orange County, Fla. There, a board member has suggested pushing back the start time of high schools until 10:30 or 11 a.m.

Fewer buses

The idea isn't yet a formal proposal, says Jackie Johnson, the director of community relations. Officials are researching the feasibility of the time change and polling students, parents, and teachers. Another option would be to begin high school 15 minutes earlier.

Either approach would trim about $1.3 million from the school transportation budget, Johnson says.

"Right now, we have a fairly narrow window of time to pick up and drop off our students," Johnson says. "With a wider window, it would allow us to use fewer buses."

In Hillsboro, Ore., where the school district is trying to cut $18 million from next year's budget, the board approved a plan to cut 15 instructional days. That means the school year will be shorter than the state limit, says district spokesperson Steve Callaway, but the state waived the minimum requirement because of the district's budget crisis.

In Norwalk, Iowa, school officials are looking to save a few dollars by putting practical needs above tradition. As they look to retire older school buses, officials hope to replace one traditional school bus with a "transit-style" bus that holds more students and has storage compartments beneath the passenger area.

According to Business Manager Kate Baldwin, the larger vehicle will allow sports teams and bands to ride to events in a single bus, instead of the two usually required.

A more dramatic budget-saving measure has been on the minds of officials in the Manistee Area Public Schools in northern Michigan. They wanted to merge with a nearby school system.

The school board was all set to take the proposal to voters, says Superintendent Joel Raddatz. But then Gov. Jennifer Granholm proposed a change in state funding laws that took away most of the financial incentives for the merger. Now, Raddatz says, the consolidation proposal is on hold until the state legislature decides whether to back the governor's plan.

Across the nation, school officials are making all kinds of small budget reductions -- cutting sports programs, delaying textbook sales, and boosting employee insurance contributions, for example. One school system has proposed delaying the opening of kindergarten until the late fall. Others are trimming days off the school year -- with corresponding pay cuts.

Most of these cost-saving measures are minimal in comparison to the savings that come from staff layoffs, officials say. But that's exactly why so many school boards are desperately looking at other avenues to cut funds. No one wants to make cuts that affect the classroom.

"We don't want staff reductions," Baldwin says. "We want to keep the instructional program intact, and we have been able to accomplish quite a bit in the short term."

Community input

Part of the secret in coming up with less-obvious cost savings has been to involve everyone -- parents, staff, and community -- in the brainstorming process, says Laura Calderon, spokesperson for the North East Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas.

Ideas have been pouring into North East's offices, including proposals to earn extra money by printing materials for smaller school districts, establishing an employee child-care facility, and raising rental fees on the use of school facilities.

One idea that has been given the green light calls for taking over an after-school child-care program that previously was operated by a local non-profit organization. Calderon says the district can run the program at a lower cost -- while creating a new revenue source.

School officials still are pondering some of the proposals they've received, she says.

"Some ideas that people are coming up with, for a variety of reasons, aren't feasible," she says. "They're just too hard to implement, or they're politically unpopular. But everything under the sun is under consideration."

Involving the community in the budget process has been a boon for the Orange County schools, Johnson says. One citizens committee, which reviews the school construction program, has helped the district save $60 million in recent years -- and earned the district an additional $16.5 million in state awards for cost cutting.

"I think the committee was instrumental in getting a recent sales tax passed," she says, noting that the half-cent sales tax will bring in $2.2 billion for the schools. "It provided the accountability that a lot of citizens were looking for."

A similar experience is reported by Norwalk officials, who report that bringing the community into the cost-cutting debate helped win voter approval for a one-time $650,000 local levy to shore up the district's beleaguered budget.

As the budget situation shows no sign of improving, other school districts are following North East's example and looking for ways to bring in extra money.

Corporate sponsors

In Richland County, officials are inviting businesses to become corporate sponsors in return for the right to post advertising around campuses.

The advertising plan was developed after school officials rejected an exclusive, multimillion-dollar contract with a soda company because of concerns about obesity and diabetes among young people, says district spokesperson Karen York.

The first corporate sponsor, a dental clinic, has paid $10,000 for the right to post educational and "booster-oriented" messages, she says. School officials have final approval over what can be posted.

Meanwhile, other districts are establishing or raising their fees for students who want to participate in sports, band, or other extracurricular activities.

Even getting to school is costing students money. In Norwalk, only students who live more than two miles away from school receive free transportation. Anyone wanting to take a shorter ride on the school bus now must pay $1 per ride.

By the end of this year, school systems like Norwalk will have scoured their budgets for cost-cutting opportunities -- but Baldwin worries that might not be enough.

"We've pulled all the rabbits out of the hat," she says. "If we see future stagnant growth or cuts in funding, it will mean cuts to the education program."