Kalispell schools working to cut $603,000

Kalispell Public Schools has proposed deeper cuts to next year’s elementary budget after voters denied the district’s levy request last week.

The district had hoped taxpayers would approve a $338,000 levy to alleviate the deficit it faces in the 2010-11 elementary general fund budget. But the levy failed by 226 votes, with about 18.6 percent of Kalispell’s registered voters casting ballots in the election.

Now the district has to cut the full $603,000 shortfall it faces next year.

Superintendent Darlene Schottle outlined those proposed cuts at the board’s regular meeting Tuesday. About 65 people packed the Kalispell Middle School library to hear the proposals and speak up for programs and positions on the chopping block.

The cuts aren’t yet final, but the school board had to give district officials some direction so officials can work on the second draft of its 2010-11 budget.

Schottle prefaced the proposed cuts by saying how little the district wanted to do without any of the items on the list.

“These cuts hurt. They’re going to change how we do school,” she said. “There is no way we can cut $603,000 without affecting students.”

The cuts are broken into three priority levels, or tiers.

The board already has heard about Tier One cuts, which include eliminating wage increases for administrators — including at the central office — and trimming the curriculum, substitute, and operations and maintenance budgets.

Tier One cuts would trim about $250,000 from the budget.

Tier Two cuts include reducing the number of grounds personnel from three to two, Schottle said. That wouldn’t necessarily mean firing someone; one person could be offered a different position.

Kalispell Middle School’s athletics and activities programs will take a hit in the proposed Tier Two cuts.

School officials recommend slashing the middle school

travel budget by $6,000, which will affect how many off-site contests athletes can compete in.

Officials also are proposing a pay-to-play program for middle school sports and activities. The details haven’t yet been fleshed out, Schottle cautioned, but with a $35 pay-to-play fee, the district estimates $15,000 in revenue.

One Tier Two proposal was pulled from the list after the board heard from Lori Spear, a speech-language pathologist at Edgerton Elementary.

The proposal suggested not filling a part-time speech-language pathologist position in the elementary district. This wouldn’t require firing anyone; it could happen through attrition. By leaving the position open, the district would return to the number of speech-language pathologists it had last year.

But not filling it would have a direct impact on students, Spear said. Speech-language pathologists work with up to 370 students across the district; reducing even a part-time position would place a larger burden on the remaining pathologists and affect their ability to offer services.

The reduction could also hurt the district’s ability to meet federal Special Education mandates, Spear said, which could open Kalispell Public Schools to litigation.

Making the cut could save about $15,000 a year, according to district estimates, but after hearing from Spear, trustees decided to pull the cut from the list — at least for now.

Without that reduction, the proposed Tier Two cuts would save about $144,000.

Those savings were bumped up to $244,000 after the board voted to use $100,000 in program retention funds.

That money was set aside several years ago and is intended as a sort of rainy day fund. There is about $315,000 available in the high school program retention fund and about $305,000 available at the elementary level, district clerk Todd Watkins said.

Some school officials and board members have been reluctant to use those funds. While the 2010-11 budget forecast is stormy, Watkins anticipates a monsoon in 2011-12.

He predicts a $2 million deficit in that budget.

Because of that shortfall, trustee Alice Ritzman has opposed using program retention funds in 2010-11. But she voiced a new opinion Tuesday after trustees discussed the Westside Tax Increment Financing District.

There is $1.8 million in the coffers of the Kalispell district, which ends in two years.

Kalispell City Manager Jane Howington and Finance Director Amy Robertson have proposed distributing $1.5 million. If the City Council agrees, Kalispell’s elementary district could receive $315,000; the high school district could get $206,000.

“I’ve changed my mind as we’ve moved through the process,” Ritzman said. “I’m a big proponent to plan ahead, but if there’s a chance we might get funds from the TIF that we didn’t expect, I could go along with using $100,000.”

Other trustees agreed; the vote to use program retention funds was unanimous.

Schottle included $342,700 worth of options in proposed Tier Three reductions. Most of Tuesday’s discussion focused on two cuts: Eliminating one certified teaching position through attrition and reducing elementary district library staff by 2.6 full-time equivalents.

The teaching position would be eliminated at Russell School and would be achieved by making one combined fourth- and fifth-grade classroom. That move could save about $40,000.

Little was said about the combination classroom.

The library proposal was more unpopular and drew several comments from librarians, teachers and library volunteers.

“This is the place where students learn to think independently through skills they have learned” in the library, Edgerton School librarian Sandy Streit said.

Edgerton third-grade teacher Melanie Crabtree teared up when she told the board that “the library is like the heart and lungs to the school.”

The proposal would leave a half-time librarian at each of the four elementary schools, which does not meet state accreditation standards. After hearing several pleas to reconsider, the board approved a revised proposal — not rehiring one full-time position — that would have a librarian at each school for four days a week.

The proposed cut wouldn’t have much impact on the 2010-11 budget, Watkins told the board. By not rehiring one full-time librarian, the district could save $40,000 to $45,000 — but that money will be used to help pay the early retirement incentives the district offered 25 employees retiring at the end of this year.

Savings from the early retirement incentive will begin to be apparent in the 2011-12 budget — which is when the district will really need it, Watkins said.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.