$2 million budget gap threatens sports teams
• Sports activities for middle schools and high schools in peril
• Olympia School District weighs numerous spending cuts
By Venice Buhain | The Olympian
• Published April 29, 2008
OLYMPIA – The Olympia School District has put nearly 60 items on a list of possible cuts as district leaders consider how to trim more than $2 million from the 2008-09 budget.
HAVE YOUR SAY
The district will have two meetings next week on setting budget priorities. The first will be at 6:30 p.m. May 6 at the Knox Administrative Center, 1113 Legion Way S.E., Olympia. The second will be at 6:30 p.m. May 7 at Marshall Middle School, 3939 20th Ave. N.W., Olympia.
What's on the table?
Here are the biggest potential cuts the Olympia School District could consider to trim more than $2 million from its 2008-09 budget. The list includes about 60 potential cuts.
• $1 million: Elimination of busing for everyone except special education students
• $429,000: Elimination of five-and-a-half staff positions at the elementary school level, because of decreased student enrollment
• $409,500: Elimination of seven teaching positions by reducing high school electives and increasing class sizes by an average of 2 students
• $270,000: Elimination of assistant principal/dean of student positions at Jefferson, Marshall, and Reeves middle schools
• $250,000: Shrinking or eliminating of the budget for curriculum upgrades
• $409,500: Elimination of four teaching positions by reducing middle school electives and increasing class sizes by an average of two students
• $193,000: Elimination of middle school interscholastic sports, or replacing it with intramural programs
• $174,000: Discontinuation of bus service to students living within one-mile radius of school, and changing Washington Middle School start time to 8:30 a.m.
• $160,000: Elimination of all middle and high school transportation to and from school, with the exception of special education, and staggering elementary school times by up to one hour
• $150,000: Shrinking the curriculum base budget to $500,000
The list of budget options, released Monday afternoon, includes eliminating or cutting middle school sports, eliminating or cutting busing options, cutting high school C teams and eliminating the Cispus portion of the Outdoor Education Program.
The public is invited to meetings May 6 at Knox Administrative Center and May 7 at Marshall Middle School to set priorities for the cuts. District officials expect to have a plan for possible layoffs, which could include teachers, by May 12.
Revenue is expected to be $83.2 million in 2008-09, said Jim Crawford, district assistant superintendent of fiscal and operations. If nothing were cut, expenses would climb to $86 million, a 6 percent increase from about $81 million this year.
District officials have said that the rising cost of benefits for locally and federally funded employees has outpaced state funding for schools, and that the district's smaller schools and classes contribute to expenses that are increasing faster than local and state revenue. The district's transportation budget is $1 million more than what the state provides.
Though voters approved the district's levy in February, the cuts still are necessary, district officials say. During the election campaign, district leaders said cuts would be necessary even if the levy passed.
Voters approved collecting as much as $19 million in 2009 for the district, which would be $2.27 per $1,000 of assessed property value, or $681 on a $300,000 home.
The entire busing program is on the list of budget cut options. The district would save $1 million if all transportation, except for special education, were cut. Other busing cuts, such as eliminating buses for those who live within one mile of a child's school, also are on the table.
Crawford said transportation, which is mostly paid for with state money, was included among the budget cut options to show how much of the district's general fund is used for that purpose.
Board members had not seen the list Monday night when The Olympian called, but Bob Shirley said at first blush, the list was "sobering."
"I read this to be a long list of possibilities," he said. "I hope the public will make recommendations."
Board member Frank Wilson said he hopes the public lets the board know what programs should remain.
"I'm hoping to hear some consistency about what programs are really important and what (programs) have more impact," he said.
Last year, Shirley and board member Russ Lehman voted against the district's budget, saying systemic changes were needed to prevent cuts year after year.
"The way education is funded right now is totally unsustainable," Lehman said Monday. "We need to get the budget on a sustainable path."
Venice Buhain covers education for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5445 or vbuhain@theolympian.com.
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