Libby to close school

Parents voiced apprehension and school principals balked as the Libby School Board voted last week to expedite the consolidation of the school system into two campuses by closing Asa Wood Elementary School this summer.

Libby Superintendent of Schools Kirby Maki guaranteed the closure can be accomplished, and some residents pointed out that it makes fiscal sense given the district’s dire financial situation.

The board also looked over extensive budget cut proposals – generated by Maki and building administrators – that will be considered in the coming months once the district gets a better picture of the funding available for next school year.

The utility savings in fuel oil, electricity and garbage-collection costs by operating one less building will add up to about $200,000, Maki estimated. It will help close a projected shortfall conservatively estimated at $450,000, but Maki warned the shortfall realistically could turn out to be double in size.

Last September the board approved the eventual closure of Asa Wood Elementary as a solution to an aging building and the district’s shrinking enrollment and subsequently smaller budget. The board, however, originally had discussed keeping the building open for the 2011-12 school year in order to allow more time to plan for the move – seventh and eighth grades into the high school and kindergarten through third grade into the middle school.

Allowing a year for construction is no longer essential, some members of the board argued, because voters rejected a $12 million bond and consequently there is little money to make renovations or additions. Moreover, they said, teaching positions could be saved by closing the building.

Principals requested that the board wait a year. Parents asked for assurance that their children would not just be “stuffed in a classroom,” but that the consolidation would be well thought out.

“I’m asking you, realistically, can you get those things in place that our children need?” one parent asked Maki, who responded confidently.

Little construction work will be carried out for the consolidation, trustee Lee Disney said, and other plans – such as pickup and dropoff areas and which classrooms go where – have been discussed for months.

“This is not just a whim,” he said. “These things have been talked about in not just the last planning process.”

The only construction that will be done inside the middle school is renovating one set of bathrooms to accommodate small children.

Dissenting board members Bruce Sickler and Paula Darko-Hensler, however, believed more time would benefit both the children and staff.

“I just don’t think it’s appropriate,” Darko-Hensler said. “I hear reservations and I hear they (principals and teachers) are afraid of failing and not doing the job they are capable of doing because they don’t have enough time.”

The district eliminated the equivalent of 10 full-time teaching positions last year to save $400,000, but was only a little more than halfway to closing the 2010-11 budget gap. Maki and the board avoided deeper cuts by spending about $350,000 in one-time stimulus funding.

“That money was plugged in to maintain teachers’ jobs and that money isn’t there anymore,” Maki said.

In the best-case scenario the state and federal government will provide the same funding as the 2010-11 year. The shortfall would add up to roughly $450,000, which is last year’s deficit plus the cost of “steps and lanes” – automatic raises teachers receive for accruing additional experience and education.

However, enrollment has shrunk again and the district should probably expect the state to chip in $150,000 to $160,000 less, Maki said.

“If it turns out that it [the shortfall] is only $450,000, we can take a sigh of relief to a certain extent,” he said.

Another budget consideration is insurance. The district most likely will absorb a projected $80,000 to $85,000 in increased premiums for teachers.

On top of that, Maki said, federal lawmakers have discussed cutting federal Title I money by 7 percent. Title I supplements schools in economically depressed communities to ensure equal access to education.

“Many of our salaries are in Title I,” he said. “It would be a devastating factor for us.”

Cutbacks have become a part of life at Libby schools over the past few decades, but as the district gets smaller, the reductions have become more serious.

Maki presented proposals at last week’s meeting that potentially could shave $818,400 off the $7.9 million budget.

They are only considerations, Maki noted, and hopefully some positions and programs will be saved from the chopping block.

“Depending on what the shortfall turns out to be, hopefully they’ll not cut as much as I anticipated,” he said. “Then we can pick and choose what we’re going to keep and what we will sacrifice.”

The board began the job of cutting the deficit when it awarded administrator contracts. Contracts for principals and vice principals at the middle and high schools were renewed for another year, while elementary principal Scott Beagle was offered a teaching position. Special services supervisor Kari Lewinsohn’s contract – worth $102,000 in salary and benefits – was not renewed.

Maki and curriculum director Jael Prezeau plan to take on Lewinsohn’s responsibilities, which include coordinating the district’s special education program and providing opportunities for gifted and talented students.

Additional full-time positions on the list of possible cuts included three teachers, activities director, three paraprofessionals, a secretary, a maintenance person and a custodial aide, as well as a part-time library paraprofessional and a part-time secretary.

The district will be able to absorb positions without laying people off if staff can be shuffled into the right vacancies, Maki said. So far, two longtime teachers have announced their retirement and a few paraprofessionals have resigned.