School system narrows 2015 budget gap

School board members and officials reviewed a second draft of the 2015 budget at Monday night's regular school board meeting.

The second draft cuts projected shortfalls by $192,168, or almost 88 percent. A first-draft version of the budget circulated among city officials, board members, and the public had projected a $219,461 gap between revenue and spending. The second draft circulated Monday night shows a gap of only $27,293.

Officials expect additional drafts as the school system revises figures and moves toward a final draft ahead of the 2014-15 school year.

School system figures show an increase in expected revenue of $127,240.

The state contribution to the Teacher Retirement system increased by $78,391. However, while state accounting policy requires those figures be listed as revenue, they won't fund school operations directly. The second biggest increase in revenue is an estimated $53,000 increase in foundation support, the line item for the state's per-pupil contribution plus any one-time contributions made in the budget cycle. Funds for eRate, a program focused on technology plans for schools and libraries, show an increase of $11,000, system figures show.

In addition, projected total expenditures have decreased $64,928 from the previous draft.

The largest decrease in expenditure was the elimination of $74,712 from the Professional and Technical line item.

"We didn't have a special ed person on staff that was able to do those services," said School Board President Susan Eagle.

That money had been allotted for a full-time contract for special education consulting. School officials now anticipate being able to offer those services without a consulting contract – recent personnel changes have brought a qualified special education teacher onto the staff – though about $5,850 will remain in place for hourly consulting as needed.

School officials also trimmed $50,711 from support staff and aide positions by cutting roughly 12.5 hours per day from the cumulative aide hours, and moving support staff to between seven and seven and one half hours per day instead of eight. They trimmed $10,000 from the staff travel budget, eliminated $15,686 originally allotted to hire a part-time activities director, and saved $9,880 by cutting custodial staff to 7.5 hours per day.

Some cuts are more intense than others, said school system Business Manager Pam Roope.

"The one that's probably most disturbing to me is cutting the secretary" and the aide hours, Roope said.

A budget compromise reached on the federal level could mean an influx of federal dollars to alleviate some of the crunch arising from the aide cuts, Superintendent Rich Rhodes told the school board.

"The federal agreement showed an increase coming into some of the programs this year on the lifting of the debt ceiling," he said. "It allows some of those federal dollars coming into special education as well as Title 1. We should see a few additional federal dollars, not a lot."

Fiscal unknowns remain. Roope gave a possible increase in insurance rates as an example.

"We have insurance budgeted at a 10 percent increase," she said. An insurance representative told her it would be a single digit increase.

"I said 'Which single digit?'" she said.

A new superintendent and new secondary principal could also bring additional skill sets with them, allowing further cuts to services currently provided under contract. Both positions are slated to turnover this year.

Board members saw evidence of the malleable nature of budgets later that evening, when they voted 4-0 to approve a revision to the 2014 budget based on increases to the superintendent and principal line items resulting from recent votes to hire a principal through the end of the current school year. The revision also contained a $1,300 item related to service fees from Wells Fargo Bank, and board members briefly discussed the possibility of relocating the system's account to another bank.

During the public comments section, parents who attended the school board meeting expressed concern about two items.

A poster in the hallways of the high school advertising the homecoming dance offered a discount for "boy-girl couples," said Beth Comstock.

The poster emphasized boy-girl couples at the possible risk of alienating or intimidating gay couples, Comstock said. The posters could serve as fuel for a lawsuit by activist-minded community groups, Comstock added.

"I just worry it could be taken as bullying," she said.

Comstock urged the board to recommend prior administrative approval for all posters at the high school and urged the board to consider sensitivity training for staff.

School board members said sensitivity training may be in order, and said the poster was originally intended to prevent pairs of friends from obtaining a discount intended for couples, not to discourage same-sex dating.

Penny Allen said she was concerned about the quality of food a potential contract with the NANA Management Corporation could provide, and that the district might not see a measurable improvement in student satisfaction if they agreed to the contract.

In other business, the school board also voted 4-0 to allot up to $50,000 to provide for painting and landscaping outside Evergreen Elementary School.

Members also voted 4-0 to approve contracts for Stikine Middle School Volleyball Head Coach Britany Lindley and Wrangell High School Head Baseball Coach Scott McAuliffe.