... Message from Dr. Cohn
Jan. 14, 2011
Dear colleagues:
This is another important and long message about state budget cuts and the importance of maintaining our program this year. I do hope that you will read it entirely; until you have a chance to read the full details, they can be summarized into five key messages:
1. The state has made midyear cuts for us of about $6.5 million.
2. It is likely the state will cut ANOTHER $6.5 million for next school year.
3. We continue to advocate against such cuts.
4. We will maintain the educational momentum this year WITHOUT slashing this year’s programs, thanks to voter approval of the August supplemental levy.
5. For next school year, state decisions will likely force us to must make choices about what to continue.
The details and background
Just before winter break, on Dec. 15, I shared with you the discouraging news about the Legislature’s Dec. 11 special session and legislative decisions to strip state K-12 funding this school year. The unprecedented moves of holding a special December legislative session AND cutting school funding midyear are signs of the state’s dire economic condition. As you have certainly been hearing and reading in media reports, the state is faced with reducing the state budget over the next two years by more than $4 billion. (That deficit number has been growing as budget projections are made over time.)
In March, the state will release an updated revenue forecast. The information in that forecast will tell legislators whether the state’s finances are improving or deteriorating further. We are being told by our legislators that much of the state’s budget-setting decisions for the 2011-13 biennium will take place after the March forecast. So, specific details about likely impacts to Everett Public Schools are at least two months away.
The legislative session cuts made on Dec. 11 include direct hits to this school year’s funding. Combined with the additional cuts the governor has proposed, the cuts total $6.5 million from Everett Public Schools funding this year.
In my judgment, we are able to maintain our educational momentum this year by NOT making substantial midyear budget cuts largely because our voters approved last fall’s supplemental levy. This is good news for our students and staff for the rest of this school year. For next school year and beyond, however, we face very difficult decisions about how to continue making student achievement gains when legislative decisions take direct aim at classrooms.
I invite you to become familiar with the information below – how this year we will use funds earlier than planned, although we had every assurance from the federal government these funds would be available for a future school year.
I invite you also to follow the budget process and information that will be on our district website and to send your comments, thoughts, and suggestions to us at budget@everettsd.org.
Budget status and outlook as reported to the school board, Tues. Jan. 11.
Midyear 2010-11 funding cuts made by the legislature on Dec. 11 and proposed by the governor:
· $3.9 million in reduced apportionment dollars from the state for 2010-11
· $2.1 million from retroactive elimination of all K-4 class size enhancements for 2010-11
· $48,000 because a funding formula entitled Levy Effort Assistance (LEA) was reduced
· $165,000 from retroactive elimination of all highly capable funding for 2010-11
· $300,000 in Medicaid reimbursements
The result: Unprecedented midyear state cuts total $6.5 million for Everett Public Schools. Districts across the state are being forced to consider major midyear cuts. Unlike most of these districts, we are able to withstand the midyear cuts and maintain the student learning momentum underway this year without reducing programs and staff between now and June 2011.
Some good news for the rest of this school year – revenue that may help offset midyear cuts made by the legislature
· $1.9 million from the supplemental levy. Our voters generously approved the supplemental levy we placed on the ballot in August 2010. Although we were not planning to use any of those funds until the 2011-12 school year, the state’s Dec. 11 decisions force us to dip into those funds before we planned to.
· $750,000 of formula-driven Levy Effort Assistance (LEA)
· $3.9 million in federal Edujobs funding coming to the district this year. Like the supplemental levy funds, Edujobs funding was being held for next school year. Dec. 11 special session budget cuts force us to use this funding a year early.
The result: We will use almost $6.5 million planned for next school year to offset the state’s midyear 2010-11 funding cuts.
Using the “offset” funds will enable us to maintain this year’s momentum for students. For that I am extremely grateful – particularly to our voters who supported students through the August levy. While it is important that we take steps to tighten the belt this school year, I also believe it is essential that we do all we can to maintain as much of the momentum of moving students toward graduation and toward higher levels of academic performance.
We face uncharted budget cutting territory, and we will wait longer to know the outcome of state budget decisions. It will be March before the next revenue projection is released and, therefore, March before the Legislature will likely make all of their budget decisions.
What’s ahead
It is also possible the legislative session will extend beyond its usual April conclusion because the decisions will take longer to make. While we will not have a full picture of budget challenges ahead, some of the “known” and “most likely” cuts for 2011-12 and 2012-13 are:
· $2.1 million for K-4 class size enhancements. The state has already cut that funding for all of this school year. Because that 20-year enhancement may not fall under the state definition of “basic education,” the governor’s budget proposes elimination of K-4 class size enhancement for the next two school years.
· $165,000 for highly capable programs. The state cut that funding for all of this school year. Highly capable may not fall under the state definition of “basic education;” therefore, it is being considered for elimination for the next two school years.
· $500,000 in Medicaid reimbursements
· $200,000 increased retirement rates for certificated staff
· $281,000 in adjustments to the LEA
· $395,000 in adjustments to a funding formula called “Per Pupil Inflator” that helped account for increased costs of good and services
· $3.3 million in Title funding and the “funding cliff” created when all of the federal stimulus dollars are used.
The result: We may need to reduce the budget for 2011-12 by as much as $6.5 million.
Some thoughts about “choices”
As we begin this budget season again, I’m reminded of the advice of Robert Simons. He is Professor of Business Administration for Harvard Business School and most wise in ways organizations can make positive change by asking the right questions and evaluating the right data.
In his book, Seven Strategy Questions, Simons points out human aversion to making difficult choices. He says, “We too often fall into the comfortable habit of avoiding choice in the mistaken belief that we can have it all … There is no magic bullet, no metric or scorecard that will tell you where the pitfalls of your business strategy are. There is only one path to success: you must engage in ongoing, face-to-face debate with the people around you about emerging data, unspoken assumptions, difficult choices, and, ultimately, action plans.”
The choices ahead for school districts across the state and country will be challenging. I am committed to the conversations and processes necessary to make those choices, and to do so by the timelines established by state law.
Please join me in the conversations; become knowledgeable about how school funding works, and share your advice to help make the necessary choices.