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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

Tough decisions now in districts' hands

By Tony Dondero
Enterprise reporter

The state budget is off the plate of the Legislature and in the hands of local school officials, who now have a better idea of what they face as the state remains mired in the worst economic crisis in decades.

Last weekend, the Legislature passed a state budget that includes $4 billion in spending cuts, leaving local school districts to decide what to cut from their own budgets with diminished resources from the sales-tax dependent state.

The Legislature's total K-12 education budget for 2009-2011 is $13.4 billion, a slight increase from the last biennium, but about $1.1 billion less than what was projected to maintain programs. Gov. Chris Gregorie still has to sign the budget bill.

When State Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, who has been chairwoman of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee for 12 years, was asked if the budget was the best the Legislature could come up with, facing a $9 billion shortfall, she said, "Yes, I do."

That budget includes a $600 million cut in I-728 money which is designed to help reduce class sizes and provide staff development. About $304 million in I-728 money is left to distribute, which includes an allocation of $131 per student in 2009-2010 and $99 in 2010-2011.

The entire I-732 budget for cost of living raises for teachers was also suspended.

The budget also eliminated a learning improvement day from the base teacher salaries. That means 181 teacher days are paid for by the state instead of 182.

The budget writers left K-4 class size reduction ratios in place, so some funding for smaller class sizes was preserved, a silver lining in what school officials see as a challenging situation.

School boards will likely pass layoff or reduction in force proposals at their first May meetings, so RIF notices can be sent to staff by May 15 as mandated by law.

The $1 billion federal stimulus money the state received could still help relieve some of the pressure, but how much is unknown, district officials said. About $650 million in stimulus money is being distributed through the state, the rest is earmarked for specific purposes such as special education.

"It helped us backfill some of the cuts we had to take," said McAuliffe, whose district includes the Northshore School District and parts of the Edmonds and Everett school districts.

Here's an early analysis of what local districts expect.

Shoreline

The Shoreline School District is expected to have to cut about $3 million out of its budget after it receives only $1.1 million in I-728 money next year, about a 75 percent reduction, deputy superintendent Marcia Harris said.

The district, which had an $88.3 million budget in 2008-2009, will see its I-728 money dip below $1 million in 2010-11. About 40 teachers are paid for by I-728 money and up to 30 positions could be lost based on that allocation, Harris said.

The district will carry over some I-728 money which will help. But as far as positions that will be lost through attrition, only a few resignations and retirements are expected since people are trying to hold onto their jobs as the recession continues, Harris said. The district also has 22 teachers on one-year contracts and how many of them will be retained remains to be seen, Shoreline Education Association president Elizabeth Beck said.

"Our best projection is at least some reduction in force will take place," Harris said.

The district's enrollment is also expected to decline by about 220 students next year which also means less money from the state.

The district plans to use 75 percent of the I-728 money to pay for teachers and 25 percent for staff development. A committee of parents, administrators, teachers and community members decided to divide up the money that way, believing that keeping some staff development funding was needed to support teachers that are still on staff, said committee member Geneva Norton.

The district collected public input on the budget through an online survey which asked people to rank district services by importance. The district received 2,200 responses, district spokesman Craig Degginger said. The survey, which was collected through April 27, was sent to a e-mail list that included staff and parents. Superintendent Sue Walker and her administrative staff developed the questions.

Some people didn't like how it was worded and questioned why some job classifications, such as librarians, were on it and not others.

"People felt it was very divisive," said Joanna Freeman, the librarian at Ridgecrest Elementary School. "It made you pick and choose between people who you love and work with."