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Waiting appears to be close to the hardest part of the 2010-11 budgeting process for Mesa County Valley School District 51.
“Here is the biggest stumbling point for us,” said Melissa Callahan deVita, the executive director of support services for the district. “(People) say we've done a nice job of setting everything up.
“What we are doing. Why we are doing it, and how we are doing it so everybody has that understanding (of the process). We just want the answers.”
The answers, to which she is referring, are some of the most eagerly anticipated in recent years for school districts around Colorado who are waiting to find out exactly how much money is going to be cut from their upcoming budgets.
Funding process
Lawmakers are in the process of determining state funding levels for each of the districts for the 2010-11 fiscal cycle, which begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2011.
While state public schools receive funding or money from a number of sources, the bulk is determined via the Public School Finance Act of 1994. Legislation is passed each year, which essentially determines funding levels for the state's 178 school districts.
The funding process accounts for a number of variables including inflation, according to Mark Stevens of the Colorado Department of Education.
“That is the process that walks through state and local share,” he said. “It takes property taxes into account and tries to establish a fair funding approach for all schools.”
More than $5.6 billion was doled out to school districts in the 2009-10 budget year, with about $3.5 billion coming from state taxes, education department figures found. But, the funding given to school districts for the upcoming cycle is projected to be roughly $260 million less because of state budget woes.
Projected shortfall
That has school districts, such as Mesa County Valley, maneuvering to account for the shortfall, which is likely to be upward of $8 million to them.
Complicating the budgeting process for School District 51 is the shortfall could be as high as $12 million, based on its estimates.
“I want the answer,” said Callahan deVita on district funding totals for 2010-11. “The problem is we don't know where we are going to end up. We can't give them (parents, teachers, students and others) the answer because we don't know.”
School District 51, along with the rest of the districts, is probably going to be waiting some time perhaps until mid-spring, key observers suggest.
“Every May is when the Legislature ends its session. Funding for K through 12 public education is almost always the last thing on their list,” said Jim Smyth, who serves as president of the Mesa Valley Education Association, which represents teachers within School District 51.
He added, “It is the most difficult decision. This year with less revenue coming into the state there is substantially less money to spend … we are anticipating a 5-8 percent cut from the Legislature.
“When we look at funding decreases for us we can't act on anything until the Legislature tells us how much money we will or will not have.”
Possible scenarios
In the meantime School District 51 is preparing for many possible budget scenarios, and has targeted four areas — operations and administration, programs, early retirement and salaries and benefits.
Of those four areas one, early retirement, has been completed. The district offered early retirement to hundreds of employees with 102 opting to take advantage of the program, officials said.
The program resulted in an annual savings of about $1.6 million. Employees who were thinking about retirement in the next two to three years were targeted for the voluntary program.
“I think for somebody who was able to take advantage of it — it was a bonus for them,” said Smyth on the early retirement option. “It was a win-win. The district was able to save some money by lowering some costs for teaching positions.”
Potential cuts
The district, through its board of education, has also identified another $2.8 million in savings for the 2010-11 spending cycle. That brings its total cuts to $4.4 million, as of late March.
The largest savings, based on information supplied by the school district, would come through reassigning and reducing teaching positions at elementary and high schools, a move dictated by declining enrollment.
The savings, which amounts to $750,000, would be realized through attrition, and also maintains existing teacher-to-student ratios.
A reduction in one-time costs for so-called “sustain and replace” level for projectors of the digital variety as well as textbooks and materials would save another $520,000. The administrative office budget for elementary and middle schools would also be reduced, resulting in a savings of about $63,000.
“These cuts are hurtful. Hurtful to the kids; hurtful to our community,” Callahan deVita said. “We don't want to go any farther than we have to go.”
Open process
To its credit School District 51 is being open about its budget issue providing teachers, students and parents with updates on its Web site, as well as a timeline of events that have led to this point.
District spokesman Jeff Kirtland said the idea is to keep people informed.
“This is a very transparent issue and we have to be very open about this project,” he said. “We have one of the largest budgets of any organization (in the community) … with the cuts we are facing we have to make some pretty tough decisions.”
Regardless of the outcome of the budgeting process for the 2010-11 school year in Mesa County the landscape is going to be different.
“Change is inevitable when you take 7.5 or 8 percent out of our budget,” said Callahan deVita. “We think we are making good decisions.”
“Here is the biggest stumbling point for us,” said Melissa Callahan deVita, the executive director of support services for the district. “(People) say we've done a nice job of setting everything up.
“What we are doing. Why we are doing it, and how we are doing it so everybody has that understanding (of the process). We just want the answers.”
The answers, to which she is referring, are some of the most eagerly anticipated in recent years for school districts around Colorado who are waiting to find out exactly how much money is going to be cut from their upcoming budgets.
Funding process
Lawmakers are in the process of determining state funding levels for each of the districts for the 2010-11 fiscal cycle, which begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2011.
While state public schools receive funding or money from a number of sources, the bulk is determined via the Public School Finance Act of 1994. Legislation is passed each year, which essentially determines funding levels for the state's 178 school districts.
The funding process accounts for a number of variables including inflation, according to Mark Stevens of the Colorado Department of Education.
“That is the process that walks through state and local share,” he said. “It takes property taxes into account and tries to establish a fair funding approach for all schools.”
More than $5.6 billion was doled out to school districts in the 2009-10 budget year, with about $3.5 billion coming from state taxes, education department figures found. But, the funding given to school districts for the upcoming cycle is projected to be roughly $260 million less because of state budget woes.
Projected shortfall
That has school districts, such as Mesa County Valley, maneuvering to account for the shortfall, which is likely to be upward of $8 million to them.
Complicating the budgeting process for School District 51 is the shortfall could be as high as $12 million, based on its estimates.
“I want the answer,” said Callahan deVita on district funding totals for 2010-11. “The problem is we don't know where we are going to end up. We can't give them (parents, teachers, students and others) the answer because we don't know.”
School District 51, along with the rest of the districts, is probably going to be waiting some time perhaps until mid-spring, key observers suggest.
“Every May is when the Legislature ends its session. Funding for K through 12 public education is almost always the last thing on their list,” said Jim Smyth, who serves as president of the Mesa Valley Education Association, which represents teachers within School District 51.
He added, “It is the most difficult decision. This year with less revenue coming into the state there is substantially less money to spend … we are anticipating a 5-8 percent cut from the Legislature.
“When we look at funding decreases for us we can't act on anything until the Legislature tells us how much money we will or will not have.”
Possible scenarios
In the meantime School District 51 is preparing for many possible budget scenarios, and has targeted four areas — operations and administration, programs, early retirement and salaries and benefits.
Of those four areas one, early retirement, has been completed. The district offered early retirement to hundreds of employees with 102 opting to take advantage of the program, officials said.
The program resulted in an annual savings of about $1.6 million. Employees who were thinking about retirement in the next two to three years were targeted for the voluntary program.
“I think for somebody who was able to take advantage of it — it was a bonus for them,” said Smyth on the early retirement option. “It was a win-win. The district was able to save some money by lowering some costs for teaching positions.”
Potential cuts
The district, through its board of education, has also identified another $2.8 million in savings for the 2010-11 spending cycle. That brings its total cuts to $4.4 million, as of late March.
The largest savings, based on information supplied by the school district, would come through reassigning and reducing teaching positions at elementary and high schools, a move dictated by declining enrollment.
The savings, which amounts to $750,000, would be realized through attrition, and also maintains existing teacher-to-student ratios.
A reduction in one-time costs for so-called “sustain and replace” level for projectors of the digital variety as well as textbooks and materials would save another $520,000. The administrative office budget for elementary and middle schools would also be reduced, resulting in a savings of about $63,000.
“These cuts are hurtful. Hurtful to the kids; hurtful to our community,” Callahan deVita said. “We don't want to go any farther than we have to go.”
Open process
To its credit School District 51 is being open about its budget issue providing teachers, students and parents with updates on its Web site, as well as a timeline of events that have led to this point.
District spokesman Jeff Kirtland said the idea is to keep people informed.
“This is a very transparent issue and we have to be very open about this project,” he said. “We have one of the largest budgets of any organization (in the community) … with the cuts we are facing we have to make some pretty tough decisions.”
Regardless of the outcome of the budgeting process for the 2010-11 school year in Mesa County the landscape is going to be different.
“Change is inevitable when you take 7.5 or 8 percent out of our budget,” said Callahan deVita. “We think we are making good decisions.”
