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The School District of Holmen continues to look for ways to overcome looming reductions in state aid, despite not knowing how large those reductions will be.
Board members Monday took stock of potential cuts after a presentation before their regular meeting, which spelled out a number of cost-saving options.
District Administrator Dale Carlson’s most current estimate is for Holmen schools to take in as much as $700,000 less this year than in the previous budget. Definitive numbers from the state won’t likely come until after the June 30 budget deadline.
Board President Cheryl Hancock maintains that budget cutting should be done in a way that has little to no impact in the classroom and that increasing class sizes is an option of last resort.
Current per pupil aid is now being estimated at $200, making up about $266,000 of the projected state aid deficit. The remainder comes as an estimated general aid reduction of $429,000.
In attempting to balance its own budget, administrators are looking at a combined approach that could involve cutting spending, generating additional revenues and/or raiding the district fund balance. No decisions on what cuts, if any, have yet been made, and the board agreed to a special session in July to begin hammering out those details.
Carlson recently called upon principals and supervisors to reduce their individual budgets by as much as 10 percent, and identified other areas to save the district as much as $210,000 by reducing overtime and delaying the purchase of school buses.
New proposed cuts offered on Monday could include deeper budget allocation reductions, adjusting summer contracts, further staffing adjustments and/or targeting district facilities.
Hancock asked Carlson whether any undesignated federal stimulus dollars could be used to offset the gaps. Carlson said that a previously earmarked $300,000 could be used for that purpose.
Filling the remaining gap by charging for use of facilities or a possible referendum also were discussed.
“I see other schools use Fund 80, maybe that’s a possibility for us,” said board member Dardy Berge.
Fund 80 is provided by state statutes and allows districts to levy or charge fees for public services, training and programs that are outside of instructional time periods and cost the district money. Hancock pointed to possibly charging nonprofits for using district facilities instead of exempting them as is the current practice.
Board member Tim Medinger had a philosophical disagreement with charging the public for using facilities that already are publicly owned. If the district chooses to establish such a fund, it also will need to decide whether its expenditures should be done through direct user fees or through a separate tax levy that wouldn’t be subject to current revenue limits.
Student Services Director Jay Clark said that a lot of research and conversations with stakeholders would need to come before such information could be provided to the board.
“We’re at the point in the budget where we have to be serious about addressing these things,” Berge said. To which Clark responded, “If you are thinking about establishing a fee instead of a tax, then who is going to take care of that?”
Berge said the district isn’t necessarily looking to create another tax or a fee.
“We’re up against the wall here,” she said. Other expenses that could be covered under Fund 80 include custodial supplies, utilities costs, refuse, snow removal, district newsletter, broadcasts of district meetings, Web site, police liaison, security and municipal assessments.
Board member Gary Dunlap expressed doubts.
“Looking at Fund 80, I get the feeling that it’s going to be difficult to generate the kind of income we need,” he said. “It seems overly complex. It’s an option we should look at in deeper detail ... I don’t see a lot of potential either.”
According to information provided by the district, Onalaska, La Crosse and Sparta all used Fund 80 to the tune of $198,066, $918,871 and $74,227 for their 2007-08 budgets.
Another revenue-side option for the budget gap is using the fund balance. According to that same source, Onalaska, La Crosse, Sparta and Tomah respectively funded their 2007-08 budgets by 10 percent, 29.5 percent, 13.1 percent and 11.6 percent from their general fund balances. Medinger likened the general fund to a savings account that people, in tough times, might draw from to make ends meet.
However, he pointed out, that the state budget and its funding shortfalls are a two-year problem that won’t go away after the district hammers out its own one-year budget. Decreased state aid, Mediginer said, might be a long-term trend rather than just a short-term problem. Carlson added that many facilities’ budgets have been flat for years now, while costs have increased.
“One of the reasons our school district has done so well is that we’re a growing school district,” Dunlap said.
In other action, the board:
Approved bids for milk, fuel, bakery items and kitchen supplies. Swiss Valley Farms was awarded the milk contract with a bid of about $143,000. That total is 8 percent lower than Kemp’s bid. Milk prices for next year will rise an estimated 8.6 percent.
Sara Lee/Earth Grains was the only bakery items bidder. Unit prices were reduced over last year’s contract.
ARAMARK will provide kitchen supplies, beating out two other bidders. It will charge the district 4.5 cents for towels, 10 cents for aprons and 75 cents for mop heads.
Kwik Trip was given the fuel bid at 4 cents above cost. The contract is annually renewable through 2015. A
Approved administrators/supervisors/executive wages. The total package settlement was a 3.8 percent increase for the next two years in each group. That total did not include bonuses for those receiving their doctorate, and the agreement did included the district administrator. Board member Anita Jagodzinski questioned why there was such a gap between the compensation for elementary, middle school and high school principals, even though some had been in the district longer and receive less in wages. Carlson said that it is not uncommon for high school principals to earn more than middle school principals, and likewise for middle school principals to earn more than their elementary school counterparts. Although no wage data was supplied to the public or the press, Jagozinski referred to a difference of about $90,000 at the high end versus $80,000 at the low end for the principals.
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skolvik wrote on Jun 30, 2009 7:23 AM: