Activities cutbacks reduced

Cuts to high school activities won’t be as deep as Kalispell Public Schools officials had feared, after direction from trustees this week.

At a special meeting Tuesday, school board members directed officials to look for ways to reduce the $100,000 worth of cuts they’d braced for in the Flathead and Glacier high school activities budget.

The board directed officials to “put approximately half the money back into athletics and activities,” Superintendent Darlene Schottle said in an interview Thursday.

The cuts, which include eliminating two overnight speech and debate trips and reducing the athletic supply budget by 20 percent, had been proposed as a way to help balance the 2011-12 general fund budget. School officials anticipate a $913,000 deficit next year.

About $667,000 of that shortfall is due to the budget state lawmakers have approved. That plan actually gives schools a 1 percent smaller budget than they had this year, Schottle said

The funding plan leaves Kalispell’s high school district with about a $512,000 deficit next year. But the district also has about $188,000 in technology-related expenses that must be addressed.

Officials had hoped those needs would be covered by a building reserve and technology levy. But voters in March rejected a request that would have levied $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.

There is still some money left from the last high school building reserve levy, which expired in 2010. That money will be used for emergency building needs as they arise; no general fund dollars will be set aside for building maintenance.

But technology needs are more difficult to dismiss. Bills such as Internet access and phone service can’t be ignored and will be paid for out of the general fund.

To make up the shortfall, trustees approved first- and second-tier cuts officials proposed earlier this month.

First-tier reductions include savings for energy efficiency and retiring employees, consolidating positions in the central office and eliminating “additional days” — pay for the district’s three ag teachers, who work extra days in the summer to run the school farm.

Trimming the activities budget also is included in tier one cuts.

Second-tier proposals include not filling one noncertified position and reducing special education and Title I positions that would have been eliminated two years ago if the district hadn’t received one-time-only federal stimulus money.

Tier two cuts likely won’t need to be as deep as officials had feared, because the board has decided to use one-time-only money of its own to eliminate the deficit.

Several years ago trustees established high school and elementary program retention accounts to use when the district’s budget situation was dire.

There is about $373,000 in the elementary account and $309,000 in the high school account. Trustees voted Tuesday to use all the high school program retention dollars in 2011-12.

“We spent the last three years talking about a rainy day. That’s what the money’s there for,” trustee Tom Clark said in an interview Wednesday. “We’re there; it’s raining.”

One major issue still is undecided in the high school budget: whether the district will purchase a new student information system.

The existing system, Schoolmaster, has few fans in the district. It is supposed to help teachers report data like grades and attendance, but school officials have said the 15-year-old system is inadequate.

Money for a new system is readily available in the elementary district, largely because that budget’s expenses do not include building or technology needs. Voters in 2009 approved a $2.8 million elementary building reserve levy.

But because money is so tight in the high school district, not everyone is convinced the system is a necessary expense. Purchasing an elementary-only system isn’t an option; the district would have to buy a K-12 system, Schottle said.

Officials are willing to spend about $160,000 on a new system, about $67,000 of which would come from high school coffers, if they get a green light from trustees. But they could also purchase a more basic program that would only provide a new grading and report-card system, Schottle said.

A committee will bring a recommendation on the system to the school board in May, she said.

Kalispell’s elementary district will be short about $213,000 in 2011-12, primarily because of the state budget situation, Schottle said. About $58,000 of the deficit will be used to replace technology mentors eliminated two years ago and to pay the equivalent of one full-time employee’s salary.

To make up the shortfall, trustees approved the first tier of cuts school officials had proposed earlier this month. Those adjustments, which total about $137,000, include savings from retiring staff members and more energy-efficient buildings, and reductions and consolidations in central office staff.

To eliminate the rest of the deficit, the board approved using about $76,000 in program retention money. Trustees also approved using program retention dollars to avoid a pay-to-play fee for Kalispell Middle School activities.

Officials had proposed adding the fee to cover the cost of travel. The middle school sports travel budget was slashed last year in an effort to save money, but because so many students participated and the school hosted so many games and practices, the district didn’t actually save any money.

Schottle said the board also directed district officials to use elementary program retention dollars for projects that might not otherwise have funding.

“I am encouraging those to be one-time needs, since the program retention funds are one-time monies,” she said.

Staff members at school sites will bring their proposals to her by the end of next week. Schottle she anticipates requests like purchasing additional curricular materials that haven’t had funding for the last two years, or looking at ways to improve schools’ response to intervention and recognizing students who need extra help.

The proposals will be brought back to the board by its regular May meeting, Schottle said. A second draft of the district’s budget will be presented at that meeting.

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