District faces budget reductions
by Shelby Brokaw
November 24, 2009
For years, the United States had
been facing an increasing financial crisis and arguments about the
state of the economy have run rampant. No institution has been
shielded from this dialogue, especially not the educational system.
Throughout the past month, conversation about the education budget
in Kansas has climaxed.
The Kansas state government has seen a
gradual shortfall in it’s state tax revenue over the past couple
years. Despite this trend, Governor Mark Parkinson has made it
clear that there will be no tax increases to offset the shortfalls.
Rather, the governor plans on implementing a new round of budget
reductions.
The education fund, which consumes
approximately 50 percent of the general tax revenue, will see just
as many reductions as other state allocations. According to The
Topeka Capital Journal, Parkinson will reduce the base state aid
per pupil by $150 from its current $4,218. At the beginning of the
2008 school year, the base state aid was $4,433.
Unified School District 372 will be
one of 293 school districts experiencing drastic budget cuts for
the upcoming school year. In fact, the Silver Lake district will
have to decrease its $5.17 million budget by $377, 000, or
approximately seven percent, by the beginning of next year. Without
its remaining $218,617 in contingency reserve funds, the district
would be in a world of hurt. Superintendent Dr. Randy Freeman
explained the sort of impact increasing cuts would have on Silver
Lake.
“I just think it’s important for people to
realize that we’ve had some tough times, and I think the times are
going to get tougher before they get better. The thing that our
administrative team and our board are working really hard at is to
make cuts that effect students the least, and we really hope as we
continue to make those cuts, that the basic education that young
people are getting will still be rock solid…” said Freeman.
U.S.D. 372 has already begun taking actions
to decrease its budget. According to Freeman, none of the faculty
received a pay raise this year, multiple coaching vacancies were
left empty, two days were eliminated from the school year, and
Julie Ross filled the vacant librarian position at the grade school
while Sarah Johnson filled the resulting vacant second grade
teaching position, leaving her fifth grade teaching position
empty.
Other cuts have been made to programs in
the high school. Brad Womack, the high school assistant principle
and athletics director, noted that all of the coaches were
cooperating well in a time when expenditures are quickly sizing
down.
The board recently approved action to
indirectly decrease the amount of students participating in
athletics at the junior high and high school. The coaches will now
have the option of informing participants whether their time put
forth in the activity is worth the playing time. Since the school
has decided not to fund a third level for junior high athletics or
a fourth level for high school athletics, any student not expected
to play in the lowest division will be sent a letter informing him
or her of the fact.
These measures, however, may have
difficulty solving future financial woes. Possible measures could
include the elimination of field trips, closing off community
access to the schools facilities after school hours, decreasing the
amount of professional development conferences for teachers, or
reducing the number of school days. As of yet, these options are
nothing more than speculation. Other options include finding ways
to increase school revenue without the help of the government.
“We’re painting this bleak picture with the
gloom and doom of cuts, whether it be personnel cuts, student cuts,
there’s even been some chatter about participation fees. Those are
all things that I think myself, the coaching staff, and community
will hopefully rally with each other to figure out ways to generate
revenue…maybe somebody in our school, or somebody in our district
community would have ideas,” stated Womack.
In the face of such implications, many
people have criticized the state government. Freeman believes that
tax increases would be a more logical way to restock the state’s
funding supply.
“Some people would argue that education
hasn’t been cut as much as other state agencies or other funding
streams…my frustration lies in the fact that there are a lot of tax
breaks that different groups get,” said Freeman, “I don’t think our
state legislature has done a very good job of closing up funding
streams, so they’ve basically strangled us.”
He exerted his position on the state’s
priorities.
“Obviously, as a school superintendent, I
think education is kind of the backbone of our future…I think an
educated populace is very important. You guys are our future,”
stated Freeman.
District faces budget reductions
| Date | Subject | Posted by: |
|---|---|---|
| 12/11/2009 | I really like how your superintendent take's the time to write and post things like this. I wish our's would keep us informed this good. keep up the good work. |
Amy VandeVelde
Emmett
City office manager
|
| 12/11/2009 | Yes Amy, communication is important but actually a senior journalism student wrote this article. Although that doesn't mean that the administration and staff here and SLHS isn't of great help in writing these stories. Everyone is very accepting of our reports and provides the feedback needed to make great articles. Some staff members and administrators do write articles themselves and I'm sure that the community really appreciates it. |
Prism Glynn
SLHS
Journalism Sub
|
| 01/26/2010 | The time has come for real changes in the future of Education. First off lets cut the salaries five to ten per cent for the top leaders of USD 372. I see we could cut facility mx of the football field. We only use that field eight times a year. Lets stop the waste of supplies and teachers salaries they are already overpaid. Cut the meat and live on fish for a change. |
Peter Fox
Silver Lake
Labor
|
