School cuts studied amid funding uncertainty

Kalispell Public Schools officials still don’t know what their 2011-12 budget will look like.

The shortfall could be anywhere from $617,575 and almost $1.4 million. The actual deficit is likely somewhere in between, but until state lawmakers decide how to fund education, the numbers are fuzzy.

Despite the uncertainty, school officials and trustees are proceeding with proposed budget cuts to balance the still-unknown shortfall.

School board members heard the district’s recommended money-saving options at their regular meeting Tuesday night.

Superintendent Darlene Schottle presented school officials’ recommendations. Trustees discussed the information but haven’t yet voted on it. They may do so at a special meeting April 26.

If a funding plan similar to the proposal Gov. Brian Schweitzer made in November is approved, the elementary district would be short about $43,160. If legislators make no changes to funding and schools base their budgets on current law, the deficit would climb to $280,770.

The actual shortfall likely will be somewhere between the two, Schottle said.

The district will save $50,000 through retirements. Energy savings will bring in another $20,000. Reductions and consolidations at the central office will save about $67,000.

The latter proposal includes reducing three central office positions through attrition, Schottle said.

Reintroducing travel for middle school sports also is included among the tier one proposals. The district eliminated travel last year, hoping to save around $15,000. But because so many students participated in sports and the school hosted so many home games and practices, “it was pretty much a wash,” Schottle said.

By instituting a pay-to-play fee at the middle school, the district could reinstate travel without affecting the general fund budget, according to the district’s estimates. Trustees also have the option of using some money from the district’s program retention fund, an account past board members set aside for use when the district’s budget situation was dire.

That money could be used to offset cuts proposed in second-tier reductions, should the district need to make cuts that deep. Those proposals include reducing the middle school’s activities programs by $35,000 and reducing a certified staff position that had been funded with federal stimulus money.

The high school deficit could be as high as $1.1 million. That includes a $653,000 deficit if school funding laws do not change and an additional $432,000 to cover expenses that would have been covered by the building reserve and technology levy.

Voters in March rejected the building reserve request, which would have raised $6 million over five years. At the time, school officials estimated necessary building maintenance and technology needs would put an additional $432,000 burden on the general fund budget.

But if the district didn’t set aside money for building needs and only allotted money for necessary technology expenses, such as keeping the phone system operable and paying for the district’s Internet access, the high school deficit would only be about $841,020. If the district received funding close to the governor’s original proposal, the shortfall would drop to about $574,415.

The district does have some money it could use for emergency building projects. The district has $235,000 in a contingency fund, money the schools set aside from the previous building reserve levy.

That levy expired in 2010 after voters in 2009 rejected the district’s request to renew it. Taxpayers approved an elementary building reserve levy at the same time, which is part of the reason the elementary deficit is not as large as the high school’s.

In addition to the approximately $244,000 the district would save by not putting general fund money into building upkeep, the high schools can save about $40,000 through retirements, $50,000 from energy savings and $39,000 from central office reductions and consolidations.

Those are the same consolidations outlined in the elementary cuts, Schottle said. Because one of the positions is elementary only, the reductions will have a greater impact on the elementary budget.

School officials estimate they can save an additional $10,000 by not paying for days some employees work beyond their contracts. This would affect the district’s three agriculture teachers who work extra days in the summer to run the school farm.

Officials also hope to save $100,000 through reductions in the high school athletic and activities budget.

All told, those first-tier cuts make up about $239,000.

Second-tier reductions include not filling nine positions and reducing jobs that would have been eliminated two years ago if the district hadn’t received federal stimulus money. Those options do not require layoffs.

The high school district also has $309,000 in program retention money available if trustees decide to use that money to help this year’s shortfall. Some school board members have been hesitant to use that money, which is not recurring, in case the district finds itself in an even worse budget situation next year.

The elementary and high school districts have another one-time-only source of money: dollars that were set aside to replace the schools’ student information system. The existing system, Schoolmaster, which is supposed to help teachers report data like grades and attendance, has few fans in the district.

“There is a strong feeling from staff and administrators that the current Schoolmaster system is inadequate. There’s not a lot of real-time reporting,” said Todd Watkins, director of operations and business services.

The money is more readily available in the elementary district, because the elementary building reserve levy is in place, he said. But the board could use money set aside for a new system as a one-time-only budget boost.

Some trustees were hesitant to use that money. Brad Eldredge said there was a need for more data-driven decision making. If Kalispell schools had more data at their disposal, they could make more informed budget decisions, he said.

“I haven’t heard in any of this discussion, we’re not going to cut this because it doesn’t have as big an effect on graduation rates as that. I haven’t heard data-driven facts,” he said.

Alice Ritzman, the acting board chairwoman, said she, too, was reluctant to take those dollars.

“The system that we have is not working well,” she said.

The school district is hopeful it might receive some money from the city of Kalispell. Schottle plans to ask the City Council for tax-increment financing revenue.

The Westside Tax Increment Financing District was founded in 1997 for urban renewal projects. The district sunsets March 11, 2012.

The council could opt to distribute that money to economic development projects. It could also give the money back to the taxing jurisdictions it came from — a decision that could net up to $500,000 for Kalispell schools.

A copy of the proposed budget cuts is available at www.dailyinterlake.com.

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