A Web-based newsletter for the staff of Everett Public Schools

April 20, 2010 Special Edition (NewsLinks articles are now archived on Docushare)

MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT – Budget information for staff.

Later this morning we will send the news release below to media and will publish it on our district website with other news releases.

I believe it is important that you hear fundamental district news from me or from your supervisors before you hear about it elsewhere. Therefore, I am sharing information with you before it goes to the media.

The news release below follows up on the information I sent last week about the board’s consideration tonight of a Reduced Educational Program which will authorize me to make program reductions in preparation for next year’s budget.

I appreciate hearing from so many of you that these notices are helpful. Please continue to send your comments or thoughts to the communications department or to budget@everettsd.org or to me.

Also for your information, complete board packets with details about agenda items are now available on the web the Monday before each board meeting. You can see the Reduced Educational Program resolution among the other items the board will be considering during their meeting this evening.

News Release

Everett Public Schools

April 20, 2010

For more information:

Jeff Moore, 425-385-4150

Mary Waggoner, 425-385-4049

Everett Public Schools to cut nearly $4 million for next school year

Since 2008, state budget shortfalls have eliminated $10.7 million for Everett’s schools

On April 20, Everett Public Schools Board of Directors will consider authorizing Superintendent Gary Cohn to cut almost $4 million from the school district budget for next year. The school board resolution, called Reduced Educational Program (REP), is becoming a familiar school board action for districts in the county and state faced with yet another year of diminished state funding for K-12 education.

According to Cohn, the $4 million cut was less than what the district expected, however no less difficult to enact. “When the governor released her first budget proposal back in December, we swallowed hard at the $7 million shortfall projected for our district classrooms. With the help of a newly formed citizen and staff Fiscal Advisory Council, we identified $7 million in potential cuts with the governor’s budget proposal as a starting point. Now that the legislature has finished its work, and it appears that the state’s cuts to Everett’s schools will be about $4 million, we are still faced with difficult budget choices for next year.”

Those choices, which have resulted from the Fiscal Advisory Council and public meeting process, are outlined in the Reduced Educational Program which the school board will consider on Tuesday. The REP includes the following ways for the district to cut costs or to generate more funding:

· Cut $461,000 by eliminating some central support, nonteaching positions, reducing hours for some district support staff and moving some support staff responsibilities to other funding categories.

· Cut $423,000 by revising school bus routes. State funding covers about 60 percent of what the district pays to transport students to and from school. The state only pays to transport students who catch a bus more than a mile from school as the crow flies. The Reduced Educational Program authorizes the superintendent to re-evaluate the existing transportation routes, the use of adult crossing guards and the relocation of bus stops to adhere more closely to the state funding formula to reduce costs. “Despite state budget cuts that affect school transportation, we will emphasize student safety as we make these transportation decisions,” Cohn stated.

· Cut $2.35 million or about 25 teaching positions through attrition, retirements and resignations. An estimated fifteen of those lost positions are slated for the district’s 17 elementary schools. The loss of an estimated five teachers would be absorbed among the district’s five middle schools, and an estimated three and a half teaching positions at the district’s four high schools would not be filled next year. The district also projects declining high school enrollment which will result in an additional loss of teaching positions at that level. Also to be missing next year are five of the remaining fifteen instructional facilitator positions. Instructional facilitators are school staff with teaching certificates and job responsibilities to support classroom teachers.

“We will continue to work very hard to honor the class size goals we set with our teachers, but this will be more difficult because we will again have fewer teachers for classrooms this coming year,” Cohn noted, referring to cuts made a year ago that eliminated 44 budgeted teaching positions, including 23 instructional facilitators, across the district.

The final number of teachers who will be in classrooms next school year will depend upon the actual student enrollment numbers, class by class and school by school, as well as by the staffing needs of specific departments. For example, special education teachers must be qualified to teach special education.

Last week, Cohn announced to staff that there would be no need for a major Reduction in Force (RIF) that would include involuntary layoff of teaching staff who have continuing contracts. In his message, he explained that because the state had preserved some class size enhancement funding for elementary grade levels, combined with the current pace of teacher retirements, leaves and resignations, “… we will not be forced into a RIF process for teachers for 2010-11.”

To date, the district has received 32 resignations, retirements and requests for leave for next school year. Some teachers are returning to work next school year from maternity or other various leaves of absence. Because the rate of staff members who have announced a retirement, resignation or leave of absence is ahead of last year’s rate, Executive Director of Human Resources Lynn Evans states, “We project that we can meet the budget shortfall without laying off teachers who have continuing contracts.”

· Cut $220,000 or five percent from school and department budgets.

· Cut $75,000 in energy costs. The district’s aggressive energy management system and facility upgrades have consistently reduced utility costs over several years. Increased computerized temperature management and automatically shutting down computers systemwide earlier in the day are slated to save even more money next year.

· Cut $150,000 in software licenses. Some of this savings is a result of installing a districtwide fiber optic network. Other savings are coming from eliminating software that is no longer widely used or necessary for curriculum or operations.

· Add $110,000 in additional participation fees for athletics and rental charges to organizations using schools and playfields for meetings and activities.

Next steps in building a school district budget

Board approval of a Reduced Educational Program initiates a series of steps. The finance department continues budget planning work to meet rigid state reporting requirements. Human resources staff continues working with schools and departments to staff programs and services. Schools finalize class schedules for next school year, and the process of ordering materials and supplies is based upon next year’s budget.

On May 11, the school board, during its regularly scheduled meeting, will review Associated Student Body budgets which are among the funds included in the district budget. On June 22, at another of its regular meetings, the board will hold a hearing on the budget which will then include the items authorized in the REP. On July 6, the board is scheduled to adopt the 2010-11 budget. Next fall, staffing will be adjusted based upon how many students enroll after school starts and upon specific program staffing needs and circumstances. Washington school districts are required by law to submit a budget before school starts.

School districts face more cuts in the years ahead

In his earlier message to staff, Superintendent Cohn said, “Unfortunately, the annual budget roller coaster of uncertainty is likely to be routine for school districts and other state agencies – at least until the state’s economy fully recovers, or until our state revises its tax structure and fully, consistently funds basic education in Washington.”

Of particular concern for school districts for 2011 and beyond is the end of federal stimulus dollars. In Washington, those dollars helped backfill for schools what the state cut in the last two legislative sessions. “In our conversations with the Fiscal Advisory Council and our public meetings about the budget, we’ve referred to the loss of stimulus dollars as a ‘funding cliff,’” says Jeff Moore, executive director, finance and operations. “We are increasingly concerned about the compounding effect of losing another $3.5 million in federal funding for Everett, the delayed economic recovery of the state and the state’s history of cutting funding for class size.”

Other state actions to save money are troubling school officials. Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) for state employees have been suspended for the last two years. The state has indicated plans to restore the COLA for state-funded positions at some point in the future. If COLA restoration were to happen, local districts would have to come up with the funding for federal and locally funded salaries. “The COLA catch up which might be ahead for districts is good news for employees, but it will be an expensive hit for districts,” said Moore.

Knowing that more lean years are ahead, Cohn believes the original $7 million list of cuts is a necessary thing for the district to have in hand. “It was a great relief not to have to cut as deeply as we expected. However, having done that very difficult work provides a solid foundation for making the additional cuts we expect next year.”

Some of the items in the $7 million cut list which were rejected include arranging for high school students to use public transit instead of yellow buses, eliminating more teaching positions, increasing school lunch prices, additional reduction of custodial services and cutting other support staff positions. “Those may have to be among future school district budget cut considerations,” Cohn said. “Our Fiscal Advisory Council and staff will begin studying the impact of implementing them in the future.”

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Everett Public Schools complies with all federal and state rules and regulations and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, veteran status, or disability. This holds true for all students who are interested in participating in educational programs and/or extracurricular school activities. Inquiries regarding compliance and/or grievance procedures may be directed to the school district's Affirmative Action Officer, Title IX Officer, ADA District Coordinator, or Section 504 Coordinator. Affirmative Action Officer, Carol Stolz, 3715 Oakes Ave., Everett WA 98201, 425-385-4106, Title IX Officer, Randi Seaberg, 3715 Oakes Ave., Everett WA 98201, 425-385-4104, ADA Coordinator, Kristine McDowell, 202 Alder St., Everett WA 98203, 425-385-5250, Section 504 Coordinator, Becky Ballbach, 4730 Colby Ave., Everett WA 98203, 425-385-4086.