Districts face possible state funding cuts as fiscal year begins

Gov. Mark Parkinson said he will make an announcement Thursday that will outline his plan to deal with the state’s $126 million deficit.

With public K-12 schools making up about 50 percent of the state’s budget, Blue Valley, Shawnee Mission and Olathe officials are keeping close watch to see if funding will be reduced again. Earlier this year, Kansas school funding was reduced in legislative session by about $82 million.

The Blue Valley School District expects to lose about $4.5 million in state funding next year. The district will also lose about $4 million due to Johnson County sales tax funds going to public safety, officials say. So far, the district has implemented about $4.8 million in reductions for next year and has decided to use reserve funds to help deal with the loss, Superintendent Tom Trigg said.

Any further action will depend on the magnitude of cuts from the state, Trigg said.

“If it’s several hundred thousand in a $170 million budget we could probably reduce our reserves by that amount and probably not have to make major adjustments in terms of expenditures,” he said. “If it is several million dollars we will look for ways right out of the gate to have to cut expenditures.”

In the case of reductions in the million-dollar range, Trigg said the district might have to go back into a strong hiring freeze mode and pay closer attention to supply and overtime spending.

“It would be the same kinds of things we had to do in the winter of last year to help us get through,” Trigg said. “In terms of teacher contracts and those kinds of things – they are all done and settled. Those kinds of things we would not be able to touch.”

The district finalized teacher contracts in May.

Shawnee Mission School District officials have said reductions will be dealt with by implementing $10.6 million in cuts for the 2009-10 school year. Budget and Finance Director Tim Rooney said a year ago the district had planned on a $59 increase in state funding instead of a more than $100 reduction, and had planned on deficit spending.

“That’s why we are making cuts going into the next year,” Rooney aid. “We’ll still have a deficit but it won’t be as large so it won’t (draw) down on our fund balances as fast.”

But if  further cuts come from the state “it’s going to erode fund balances quicker,” Rooney said.

“We’ll have to get through another cut list quicker if that happens,” Rooney said. “We’re not sure yet. It depends on the size of the reduction as to whether we’d have to do any mid-year reductions or how we would respond to that.”

Olathe district officials will look to contingency reserves, Cost of Living Adjustment funds or any further internal budgetary adjustments if further cuts are made, Assistant Superintendent Gary George said. The district anticipated about $9.5 million in the reserve budget by June 30, he said. Earlier this year, the district announced it had cut about $8.7 million from next year’s budget and reduced staff by 251 people through resignation and retirement.

“If it is just a temporary delay in a part of a state aid payment, that is one thing,” George said. “If it is an additional budget reduction and it is not going to be recoverable, that’s a more severe issue we’d have to take a look at.”

Across Kansas, school districts have reported that $167.2 million in personnel and programs have been cut for the 2009-10 school year, according to a report by Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis. The cuts have included 1,160 teachers, 583 coaches, 133 administrators and 225 other licensed school jobs.

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