School board discusses budget cuts

School districts everywhere are feeling the economic pinch and Wahkiakum School District is no exception. Superintendent Bob Garrett on Tuesday spoke to board members and teachers about the possible cuts for the 2009-10 school year.

What was once believed to be a statewide deficit of $6 billion is now $8 billion and could increase before the scheduled adjournment of legislature in late April. The deficit for WSD is an estimated $300,000, Garrett said.

A federal stimulus package signed by President Obama last week is expected to bring money to districts for construction projects, Title I, and Special Education programs. Garrett said he isn’t sure at this time how much the district will receive, but when he gets the numbers, he will forward the amount to the school board and staff via email.

In Governor Christine Gregoire’s budget, Garrett said, I-732, the cost of living allowance, or COLA, is going to be eliminated, while I-728, which reduces class size will be reduced by 25 percent.

Garrett stated he can’t predict what enrollment will look like for the coming year due to unforeseen events with local employment and fears the district could suffer a huge hit with declining enrollment.

District labor costs amount to around 70 percent of the budget. To come up with a reduction may mean that staff will be affected. The average teacher salary is $52,719; including benefits, it becomes $67,000.

Reducing working time for classified employees by 30 minutes a day would generate a savings of $40,000. Classified employees include bus drivers, paraeducators, secretarial and custodial staff.

Staff members submitted suggestions for district savings to Garrett. Those ideas include no more paid concession stand workers, cutting all staff supply budgets down to “need only” basics, eliminating FOSS science kits, and reducing the curriculum budget.

Areas where revenue could be increased include creating “a pay to play/participate” program charging high school athletes $50 for each sport, which would generate approximately $9,600 for the district.

By charging middle school athletes $25 per sport, the district could generate approximately $2,775.

Those figures are based on the assumption that athletes would not be forced to drop the sport due to the fee, Garrett said, adding it may not be an accurate assumption.

“Everything on the list has pros and cons to it, and everything that ends up getting reduced, we will have people have issue with it.” Garrett said. “We need to try to do something that is the fairest it can be and at the same time in the best interest of the students.”

No final decisions have been made, and the discussion will continue at the next school board meeting on March 18. The public is encouraged to attend.

In other business, the board discussed the need for new risers to be used for graduation and other activities. The least expensive bid for building new risers, Garrett reported, is $65,000.

The board agreed unanimously about it being the wrong time to make the purchase. Director Tony Boyce suggested the possibility of renting risers. Garrett said he would look into that and would have the information by the next meeting.

Wahkiakum High School Principal Loren Davis reported February students of the month are Freshman Blaine Land, Sophomore Jordan Fritsch, Junior Jordyn Wirkkala, and Senior Samantha Cress. This month’s Lion’s Club/KLOG Senior is Shelby Deaton.

On March 4, seven GEAR UP students will travel to Clatsop Community College to learn about the CCC Seamanship program.

“They will spend the rest of the morning donning fire suits to fight fires in their fire simulator,” Davis said.

The window for the reading and writing portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning will be March 16-19. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has cancelled the freshmen optional test this year which will save the state $500,000.

“This might be the last year of paper and pencil WASL testing,” Davis said. “The state is moving to computerized testing. The math and science testing is in April.”