Athletics or art? Small classes or shorter walks to school?
These are some of the options facing the Bellevue School Board as it looks for ways to cut between $4 million and $6 million from its budget for next year.
The choices aren’t pretty but the school district, like other organizations, is facing a future with less revenue. Parents, and others in the community, need to get involved to come up with the best options.
First some background.
Bellevue is going to have less money to spend in the 2010-11 school year than it did this year. The governor’s budget proposes cuts of $4.29 million. Federal stimulus money is expected to decline $3.97 million in the next school year.
At the same time, some costs are going up. Education assistants, custodians, warehouse and maintenance workers are due a 1 percent boost next year, or about $200,000. Teachers are due salary increases totaling $700,000.
Bellevue already has been cutting expenses in order to rebuild its balance sheet after years of spending more than the district received in revenue. For example, the district had a $2.1 million loss in the 2007-07 school year; a $2.2 million loss in the 2007-08 school year and a $2.5 million loss in the 2008-09 school year.
We know Bellevue voters support their schools. They recently approved two levies – for school operations and technology – in February. Unfortunately, that money won’t make up the shortages from the state or federal government.
That’s where you come in.
The district has a web site, http://www.bsd405.org/Default.aspx?tabid=3817=, that offers a Power Point presentation of its finances, a guide to what options would help close the gap and – most important – a survey you can take in which you can list your priorities.
Items in the district’s reference guide come with points attached to give each a cost value. The district needs people to come up with 60 points worth of cuts, an amount equal to a worst-case scenario of a $6 million shortfall. It isn’t easy.
You get a point if you want the district to reduce the maximum temperature in winter in all buildings by one degree to 71 degrees Fahrenheit.
Save another point by having the district increase the annual student fee for parking at high schools to $100 to cover storm and surface water charges, administration, and security on parking lots.
Increasing the meal prices at schools by 25-cents will get you two points. (By the way, low-income students receiving free and reduced price lunches will not be affected.)
There’s still a long way to go.
You can eliminate the elementary enrichment program. That gets you 3 points.
How about cutting 21.5 classroom teachers in grades K-5? That gets you 17 points, but it will increase the average class size by two students.
How about athletics?
If you eliminate the district’s swimming program, you get .5 points. Eliminate swimming, golf, wrestling, and gymnastics and you get 1.5 points.
Eliminating all the elementary art teachers will get you 9 points. Cut all the elementary music teachers saves you 7.5 points. Eliminate all elementary librarians and you save 9.5 points.
No cut is easy; no cut comes without a cost.
The School Board will decide in April what stays and what goes. The budget likely will upset everyone.
Log on and help make the decision.
– Craig Groshart, for the Bellevue Reporter
