Shrinking budgets mean school boards must make tough decisions
01/09—The nation’s struggling economy -- leading to rising unemployment, less consumer spending, and reduced tax receipts -- is taking a toll on school district budgets. While districts hope to avoid cuts affecting the classroom, many are considering teacher layoffs, larger class sizes, and reductions in education programs.
According to a joint report by the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures issued Dec. 1, 20 states have already cut $7.6 billion from their fiscal year 2009 budgets. Thirty states have identified additional shortfalls totaling more than $30 billion for 2009, and 25 states are expecting to have shortfalls totaling $60 billion for 2010.
Districts from all regions are affected:
• The Alabama Department of Education, reeling from falling tax receipts, delayed portions of its October and November allotments to school districts, causing some districts to borrow funds to meet their payroll obligations.
If things don’t improve, “2010 looks particularly bleak,” and across-the-board cuts in state funding are possible, says Ken Roberts, chief operating officer for the Alabama Association of School Boards.
• Several school and city leaders are seeking a piece of the $700 million in federal bailout money approved for banks. The Broward County, Fla., school board voted Dec. 9 to seek up to $500 million in federal loans to help the district meet its financial obligations.
• Todd Hoadley, superintendent of Ohio’s Olmsed Falls City School Dsitrict, has requested $50 million in federal bailout funds to cover ongoing operating costs associated with unfunded federal mandates related to special education and the No Child Left Behind Act and $50 million for school facility projects.
• The Miami-Dade school district, already reeling from a $289 million cut in its 2008-09 budget is planning a $36 million reduction and might have to trim another $65 million, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho reported Dec. 10.
• Economic pressures, along with declining enrollment, have led the Indianapolis school district to approve a plan to close six more schools this year and lay off 400 teachers. The district has already closed eight schools.
Indianapolis lost 1,200 of its 34,000 students this year. Most have transferred to charter schools or suburban districts, says board President Mary E. Busch. The district must trim $25 million from its $330 million budget and is looking at downsizing its administrative staff and other cuts.
• The Clark County, Nev., school district is considering cutting as much as $120 million from next year’s budget, due to an expected 14 percent reduction in state funds.
Administrators, teachers, professional development, early retirement incentives, athletic programs, block scheduling, extracurricular programs, literacy specialists, librarians, and special education facilitators are all potentially on the chopping block.
A survey by the American Association of School Administrators released in October found 48 percent of superintendents already have cut back on hiring and 36 percent increased class sizes.
AASA warns the cutbacks could threaten gains in student achievement and progress in narrowing the achievement gap.
That’s a concern in Hartford, Conn., where school officials are worried that a shortfall of as much as $25 million next year will jeopardize an initiative to redesign the entire school system. The district is in the first year of a five-year plan to convert to an all-choice system and grant increased autonomy to high-performing schools. Eleven new theme-based academies opened this year.
And in Ohio, the Kettering City School District is reeling from the closure of a General Motors’ truck and SUV manufacturing plant in December, reports Superintendent Robert Mengerink. The plant employed about 2,000 people, but several other auto supply plants in the area also will be affected.
The district has cut about 60 positions over the past three or four years through attrition. This year, the district pledged not to lay off anyone but won’t fill most positions as they come open.
A bigger concern for the district is the rise in unemployment and its impact on families and the community, Mengerink says. While the former GM employees received a generous buyout, “that will only last so long.”
Over the past six years, the number of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch has grown about 2 to 3 percent a year, and now stands at about 34 percent. “It will likely get worse, and that affects test scores and everything else. People are worried,” Mengerink says.
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