Mason schools
face shortfall
By CHRISTIE BLECK
Published April 29, 2007
in the Ingham County Community
News
MASON
— There's more than one reason why Mason Public Schools face a
financial shortfall for the 2007-08 school year. So, there needs to be
more than one way to make up for the lack of funds.
At
least that's what Mason Superintendent Jim Harvey believes.
One
way is to solicit public input how school officials can decide when to
make cuts should they be necessary — which it looks like they will. To
that end, the school district will hold a public forum in late May or
early June to hear public comments. The budget has to be in place by
June 30.
"The
more we wait, the more we'll know," said Harvey, who noted that the
state should notify the district soon how much money it will provide
Mason schools.
"We've
never known so little so late in planning the budget," Harvey
acknowledged.
The
school district is looking at reducing 2007-08 budget expenditures by
at least $1 million. The 2006-07 budget was slightly more than $26
million.
A
problem with several causes
Harvey
said the school district a "compound effect" of declining birth rates —
which are happening not only locally but in Ingham County and the state
— and high retirement costs, which are mandated by the state.
The
February head count showed a loss of 24 students, and 102 are expected
to be lost next school year. That means a loss of $618,639 in per-pupil
state aid for Mason, Harvey said. Add in a 2006-07 budget deficit of
about $420,000, retirement costs of almost $130,000 and other factors,
and the district is facing a hefty financial shortfall.
And
that's not including the possibility of the state, also experiencing a
huge budget crisis, not providing Mason what it promised when the
district made its budget last fiscal year. That's the reason, Harvey
explained, behind a fund balance, which is used to cover such
shortfalls.
It
also doesn't look like the district population problem will end anytime
soon. In 1996, Harvey said, 3,468
students
were enrolled in
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Mason Public Schools. It is forecast
that 2,750 will be enrolled in 2011.
Mason, according to Harvey, has cut $1.5
million from the budget over the last three years, and has taken
another $1 million out of the fund balance.
Adding another challenge to the school
district, Harvey said, is the schools-of-choice option, which puts
Mason at a disadvantage because of its geographic location and size
(110 square miles). Pointing to a map of Ingham County school
districts, Harvey noted at the compactness of districts such as Holt
and East Lansing compared with Mason.
In the Mason school district, he said, a
parent in Okemos wanting to send his or her child to nearby Alaiedon
Elementary School, for example, might have as the only option North
Aurelius Elementary — a much longer drive. Therefore, it might be
easier for the child to attend a closer school district.
Possible cuts listed on the Web
A list of potential General Fund
reductions for next school year is available on the Mason Public
Schools Web site at mason.k12.mi.us.
Harvey called planning the school budget
a "deliberate process," likening it to a circle, with core academic
programs being at the center because of their top priority. These
programs, he said, are the most protected, although they probably won't
be unaffected by the budget.
"When you're threatened with cutting $1
million to $1.5 million, it's pretty hard to avoid moving to the center
of the target, which is teaching and learning," Harvey said.
At the outer part of the circle are
subsidized services. Proposed reductions include increasing middle
school sports pay-to-play fees from $75 to $125, eliminating middle
school intramurals and football for seventh and eighth grades and
reducing high school athletic uniform purchases.
Target non-academic expenses include a
transportation route and buying a maintenance vehicle. The elimination
of two four-hour elementary custodial positions, a high school security
guard and a school resource officer are being looked at among
non-academic support services.
Several of the possible cuts among
academic expenses are
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Family Math Nights and the printing of the
annual report, with reductions considered for textbooks and elementary
art supplies.
Academic
support services on the chopping block include a high school at-risk
coordinator, an information technology technician and a high school
co-op coordinator.
So
far, the only proposed cut in the area of non-core academic programs is
reducing the middle school band teacher's position by half. In the
all-important arena of core academic programs, being considered are
replacing five retiring teachers with five new ones, eliminating one
section of kindergarten by half and reducing elementary music and
physical education staff by a quarter.
Harvey
acknowledged there is pain in all these proposed cuts.
"Anything
that affects student programming is of concern to me," Harvey said.
However,
Harvey is proud of the fact that although the district has seen a
shrinking staff, it is due to attrition instead of the more painful
layoffs.
"We've
been very fortunate to have not eliminated teaching jobs," he said.
Several
Mason educators, including Steele Elementary School Principal Kathy
Dean and North Aurelius Principal Gina Stanley, declined to comment yet
on the proposed cuts. Getting the public to understand the reasons
behind them and how they can best be achieved, though, is something
Harvey wants.
The
superintendent said he doesn't want to speculate publicly on potential
cuts, but community input is essential.
"I
think people need to know what we're struggling with," Harvey said.
Down
the road
Harvey
said the district lobbies the state to keep retirement costs down, plus
owns several parcels of land in the area that it can sell to raise
money. However, that might not be enough; Harvey said that in September
2008, the district might have to consider consolidating its four
elementary schools — Steele, Cedar, Alaiedon and North Aurelius — into
three.
In
the short term, though, are the proposed cuts listed on the Web site.
"There's
pain in all of this," Harvey said.
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