|
|
 |
Many patrons have inquired about the 10% across the board cut announced by Governor Culver last week. The typical questions are, “How much did it cost us?” and “How will this impact our school?” The answer to the first question is the easiest. It will cost the district about $804,000. Over an eight month period the state will reduce our State Aid payment by about $100,000 per month.
The level of impact is a bit tougher to know yet. In February of 2008, we first recognized a dramatic slowdown in new students joining us. Over a seven year period we had been the fastest growing 3A school district in Iowa gaining an average of seventy new students each year. That trend stopped in early 2008, and then when Regency fell on hard times, nearly all building in the district stopped cold. So instead of growing by seventy students last year we actually lost 32.
We’ve tried over the last 18 months to carefully monitor our expenses and believe we have made some good cost-saving moves in that time. Each time we’ve had a job open up we’ve looked to determine need and in some cases have consolidated responsibilities. We’re constantly looking at all of our expenses to look for additional savings.
Another practice that has served us well is to always over-estimate expenses and under-estimate income. The board has built a healthy cash reserve doing just that. It is our cash reserves that will support us through lean times. Much like a family may need to dip into savings during tough economic times, we will too. We’ve said before and will say again, it is our hope that students will notice little if any change in the delivery of instruction.
But next year is another story. For months we’ve worried that the 2010-11 school year would be the big challenge. Last week’s Des Moines Register states again a belief that the state is short one billion dollars in meeting the needed costs of programs and services. We already knew we’d have a substantial budget hole to fill, and with the current 10% cut taking much of our cash reserves, we’ll look for ways to increase revenues, but will also need to make a number of cuts. We’ll be patient in making determinations. We’ve told our current staff to not worry about jobs for the remainder of this year. Our board will plan in the upcoming months, prioritizing needs over wants as we build a budget we can certify by April 15, 2010.
Like all of you, I heard the Governor pledge to not raise taxes. What he really should have said was that he was passing that burden on to local school districts. Almost all school districts in this state will have no choice. Not all districts have strong cash reserves. We will be there soon ourselves if the cuts keep coming and enrollment growth does not return. For now we’ll look to be frugal and as mindful of the taxpayer’s pocketbook as possible.
As always, thank you for the trust and support you give our district and children. We’re very optimistic we’ll weather this economic downturn and are happy we reacted months ago as we did. Give us a call or stop in any time should you have questions
Tom Lane
Superintendent, Carlisle Community Schools |
|
|
