School district looking at major cutbacks

Kalispell school officials are looking for a “sacrificial lamb.”

Faced with a potential $1.5 million shortfall in its 2011-12 general fund budget, the district has few options beyond making major cuts — slices that could mean the loss of entire programs such as activities and athletics, alternative high schools or vo-ag.

“I would guess that every program should consider that it could be [eliminated]. Cut in some way at least,” trustee Alice Ritzman said. “Every program could potentially be on the list.”

Unless the district receives unexpected funding, budget cuts likely will include a big-ticket item. Determining which program is eliminated will be a gut-wrenching decision.

“What’s the sacrificial lamb going to be?” trustee Frank Miller asked.

Kalispell’s budget situation turned dire this week after voters rejected a $6 million building reserve levy request and state legislators failed to pass an education funding bill.

District officials have increased their budget shortfall projections from the minimum $500,000 deficit they’d been using. That figure was based on the budget Gov. Brian Schweitzer released in November.

The $1.5 million estimate is based on current education funding levels. As the Legislature acts, the number could change, but a decision at the state level is unlikely in the near future, and districts have to make some budget decisions soon.

Kalispell school officials must notify teachers by June 1 whether they have jobs next fall, which means the board will have to know by the time it meets May 10 where budget cuts could happen.

But school elections take place May 3, and with five trustee positions potentially on the ballot, the board could look drastically different than it does now.

Superintendent Darlene Schottle urged trustees to vote on budget cuts before the election, so people with the knowlege of the budget discussion to date would make the decision.

Schottle will present potential cuts totaling $1.5 million at the board’s next regular meeting, scheduled for April 12. Trustees will vote on cuts at a special meeting April 26.

Trustees said Wednesday that they expect to see major cuts proposed rather than smaller trims that have been suggested so far.

“There are a bunch of things that I would like to add back [into the budget] in order to support students as we responsibly should,” trustee Ivan Lorentzen said. “And then I would look for that million-and-a-half-dollar item to cover the expenses.”

Schottle agreed that it was time to take an ax to the budget.

“We can’t do this with a pair of scissors any more. We can’t cut two teachers and an office aide ... and get to a million dollars. [The deficit] is too deep,” she said.

Major cuts could eliminate extracurricular activities, including athletics; the vo-ag program or the district’s alternative high schools, trustee Tom Clark said.

But Clark cautioned against cutting sports.

Cuts to athletics and activities would punish many people who support the schools with favorable levy votes and volunteer efforts, he said. He also worried the decision could cost the district more money in the long run since so much of the budget is based on enrollment.

“There are other schools in this county, and kids will end up at them,” he said. “We may save a half-million, but we may lose three or four hundred thousand” in per-student funding.

Mark Dennehy, activities director at Glacier High School, also cautioned trustees about cutting sports. Because the board voted not to ask for an operational levy this spring, the onus of slashing the activities budget falls squarely on the district.

“When we start getting to activity cuts, we’re not going to have an opportunity for our public to say yes,” he said. “You need to know the enormity of some of these potential cuts.”

But there are similar problems with eliminating other programs.

Administrators at Bridge Academy and Laser, Kalispell’s alternative high schools, worry that students would drop out if those programs were eliminated or moved into the regular high schools.

Many students, particularly from rural elementary districts, would suffer from the loss of the vo-ag program — the only one in Flathead County.

Trustee Alice Ritzman suggested an alternative to eliminating high school sports.

“Why not field one varsity sports team from Kalispell?” she asked, adding that money saved from two schools’ travel and equipment budgets could be funneled into an intramural program for students who didn’t make the varsity squads.

The trouble with that suggestion, Clark said, is that when the community voted to build a second high school, people were planning on having twice the teams and twice the opportunities for students to participate.

Ritzman acknowledged that was true.

“There was a faction that wanted a second high school because of sports,” she said. “We also assumed we were going to fund it. That’s the thing: We don’t have the funds to do it.”

Some people have suggested a solution that Clark deemed unworkable.

“I have had people say shut Flathead down and run double duty at Glacier,” he said. “That’s the stupidest damn idea I’ve ever heard.”

There are still unknowns that could affect the budget, Assistant Superintendent Dan Zorn reminded trustees.

“I’m not convinced it’s going to take something catastrophic [to balance the budget]. We want to be careful of portraying that too strongly in case we get some help that we may not be anticipating at this point in time,” he said.

Some of that unexpected help could come from the city of Kalispell. Schottle plans to ask the Kalispell City Council for about $500,000 in 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 half a million dollars for Kalispell schools.

The district has another one-time funding source in its program retention fund, a rainy day account the school board established several years ago.

There isn’t enough money in the account to eliminate the shortfall, but the district could use some money to alleviate the deficit. Some trustees support using some retention dollars but are hesitant to drain the account.

“I do not think we should use all the retention funds this year because we’re not going to have a better year next year,” Miller said.

Schottle will bring to the next meeting budget-cut proposals based on the assumption that the board wants to save all its retention money. Trustees would be free to vote to use some of those dollars to save programs.

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