Budget News #5

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    5/11/2009

    Budget News #5

    As expected, we continued to receive news almost daily through last week on additional state budgetchanges. On Friday, the Governor announced that there would be no special session which actuallymeant a bit of good news for our local budget.

    We have continued to refine the budget priorities and talk with each of the employee bargaininggroups about what the district is doing and what we might do together to best address budget issues.I am most appreciative that each employee group has expressed interest and willingness in working tohelp soften some of the budget impacts.

    At present, the reductions needed in basic education fall between $2.3 million and $2.7 million; in thesame range we have been discussing. Overall district cuts involving special programs as well as BEAwill total closer to $8 million.

    The current budget plan continues to be:

    May 11: Outline A, B, and C priorities for potential budget reductions (Board Work Study) May 12: RIF notices distributed to certificated staff May 13: Staff budget presentation, 3:00 pm/Cedarcrest Commons May 13: Community and staff budget presentation, 6:00 pm/Board Room May 18: Community and staff public forum, 6:30 pm/Board Room May 19: Staff budget presentation, 2:30 pm/M-PHS Library May 21: Staff budget presentation, 3:30 pm/Quil Ceda Library May 26: Board Work Study Session, 6:30 pm/Board Room June 1: Preliminary budget approval June 2: Limited recall of RIFd teachers begins June 16: Target date for notifying any classified staff that will be RIFd

    As noted above, there are multiple opportunities to become informed about the budget, and/or to giveinput. If you are unable to make any of the above meetings, public input can also be offered throughSuperintendents_Office @msvl.k12.wa.us.

    These are difficult times for all of us in education and throughout our State and Nation. I appreciatethe patience and the understanding by staff and parents as we seek to make the best of a difficultsituation; balancing the concerns of the adults with the needs of the students and assuring tax payersthat we are doing our best to present a sound educational plan that supports student learning.

    - L a r r y

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    5/11/2009

    Changes/clarifications:

    RIFs:Although the board approved up to 81 RIFs (Reductions in Force) for teaching staff, it is expectedthat the actual number of RIF notices will be closer to 50 FTE. The current information regardingRIFs is as follows:Administrative 3.2

    Elementary K-5 26.1Secondary (6-12) 23.1

    Art 1.0Block 1.5English/LA 5.0Health 4.0Music 0.0 (See below)P.E. 3.0Science 2.0Soc. Studies 5.0World Lang. 1.6 (1.0 German and 0.6 Japanese)

    The numbers above may be reduced to 45 or less following preliminary board approval on June 1st.Resignations and / or leaves of absence may further reduce that number. We currently have about adozen resignations/leaves.

    Music:The initial RIF Resolution identified up to four music positions for potential RIFs (one per secondarybuilding). There will be no reductions in music at the high school. Middle school music may bereduced by up to 0.4 FTE. There will be no RIFs or bumping due to music reductions.

    Electives:State funding cuts (728) together with reduced district wide enrollment, have had a major impact at

    the high school level. As the list above shows, nearly every area has been substantially reduced.Electives are (art, world languages) are being reduced as are core academics like Language Arts andSocial Studies.

    World Languages:World languages are still being reduced due to shrinking state funds, shrinking enrollment in allcourses, and decreased student interest in German and Japanese. German is being discontinued.Japanese is reduced to 0.4 FTE (two periods).

    Getchell Set Aside:The board has expressed interest in postponing (for one year) the amount of Getchell set aside for

    opening the new high school. This would come as a result of phasing in Getchell varsity sportsduring the 2011 year. This reduces the amount of funding for textbooks but still provides funding forthe Phase I replacement of high school math texts.

    SLC Crossovers:Changes will be implemented for next year (2009 2010) to allow for greater crossovers:a) Jazz band, symphonic band, and wind ensemble (by audition) will be open to all M-P students.b) Mens choir, womens choir and chamber choir (by audition) will be open to all M-P students.c) All AP classes in the smaller SLCs will be open to students in all of the smaller SLCs.