School survey helps SD5 plan for the future

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I would like to thank our community for the excellent response to the recent budget survey presented by Kalispell Public Schools. We had 855 responses by individuals that chose to express their interest by commenting on the budget alternatives that we presented. 

The input and recommendations had a diversity of responses but some common trends were also apparent as potential areas of reduction. This input is being considered as we learn of our revenue amounts form the Legislature and the district is able to determine the actual budget shortfall for next year.

Some initial superintendent recommendations were made that considered input from the school sites, the survey results, education research on best practices, accreditation standards, and comparative information from similar size districts. Those recommended reductions may not offset the budget shortfall dependent on the decisions made by the Legislature on educational funding and the amount of program retention funds that the district decides to use. We have retained a small percentage of carryover funds to try to alleviate program and staff reductions in tight financial times and the board will consider if they want to utilize them all at once or retain a portion of them to safeguard against future shortfalls.

It is important to note that the school district has never developed or operated on a budget that did not balance. We are required by law to match our revenues and expenditures, and have always done so. In order to maintain a balanced budget we have had to make some significant cuts over the past two years. We have cut personnel, reduced positions and program offerings in the amount of over $1 million.

This year as we enter into the third round of reductions, we took the opportunity to proactively seek public input prior to making further reductions that will probably need to occur. Some of the items under consideration include further staff reductions to administrative and classified positions, elimination of some certified positions hired through stimulus funds, implementation of Pay to Play for Kalispell Middle School activities, and high school activity reductions.

As you are aware, a significant portion of our general fund budget is salaries and benefits. We are pleased that we were able to work collaboratively with our teachers to agree to a historical rollover contract for next year, which means there is zero percent raise in their base salaries. The president of the Kalispell Education Association indicated that the staff overwhelming supported this contract, given the knowledge of the difficult economic times in our community.

It is true that a percentage of staff will receive an increase for the number of years worked, but these are newer staff members that are reimbursed at the lower end of the salary schedule. It is also the second year in a row that our administrative staff will not receive a salary increase.

Our district staff numbers will be maintained or reduced for next year even though the district continues to expand with an increase of 171 pupils in elementary and 66 pupils at the high school level. Teacher ratio to students has remained fairly steady over the past five years, but has started to trend upward with increases to class sizes as a result of rising enrollment numbers.

The Kalispell School District is in the top 10 percent in the state in math and reading scores for 2009 and 2010 and we continue to see positive upward trends at every grade level. Last year Flathead High School participated in the national PISA exam. When we recently received the results, assistant superintendent Dan Zorn told the Chamber of Commerce at their March luncheon that we are proud to be able to say that, "If Flathead High School were a country, the only nation in the world that outscored us was China - specifically the city of Shanghai."

Maintaining instructional services is our priority. We are appreciative of the collaborative process that resulted in this outcome and we will continue to focus our resources on what is in the best interest of students.

A summary of the survey data and more information on district test scores is available at www.sd5.k12.mt.us.

Schottle is the superintendent of schools in District 5.