June 3,
2009
Dear
Colleagues:
The purpose of this communication is
to provide an update regarding the ongoing work to prepare for our 2009-2010
school year budget. The Board will have its first reading of the budget in
July and its final reading and adoption in
August.
As you know and as part of the
process, we held a series of four public input sessions in the month of
May; these were very well attended with over 1,000 people coming to learn, ask
questions, and share their interests. We presented the
Reduced Education Plan (REP) and sought input from our
community. People have been very understanding about the overall need to
reduce due to the state funding shortfall to districts; still, each wanted to
advocate for their particular interests. We all understand
this deeply and wish that we did not have to reduce the nearly $11.5
million we have to for next year. The input from the public
meetings was not a vote, we did review and carefully consider the
views shared in this process. A
summary of the input from these meeting is available on our
website.
We have been continuing to research the rules around the federal stimulus funds for special education and Title 1. We will receive funds, however, they have to be used for new expenditures and are restricted to certain activities within those categories; under the present rules, these funds do not provide relief or assistance to our "general fund" challenges for 2009-2010. We will be working with a representative group to develop a plan for the best use of these funds and sharing that out in the next few weeks.
We are still working on a number of
fronts to help for next year. One example in transportation will
likely result in replacing the Community Transit passes/service at
EWHS with our own bus service. This will save approx. $100,000
and preserve jobs/hours for some of our drivers. The work of
trying to gain more efficiencies in other areas will continue. The
collective bargaining process is still happening; we are hopeful it will
enhance our ability to add back more vital programs, services, and staff later
this month.
Based on
community/staff input, many variables including the 2010 replacement levy, the
possible uses of the federal stimulus funds, and student or
school needs not represented by advocacy groups, I developed a recommendation to
restore some of the items that have been on the REP. I sincerely wish it
were possible to have included more items on the list; it will
be painful on many levels to have to make the reductions that remain.
At last night's regular meeting, the Board of Directors approved the
recommendation for restorations to the 2009-2010 REP. The
items are grouped into Phase 1 and Phase 2 which has to do with the
timing of the work. Phase 1 is based on the complexity
of planning and time necessary at this late stage of the school year to put
these back into place for next year, the methods being used to create the
capacity to make the restoration, and the overall dollar amount that
could be included at this time. Also, the
general funds necessary for Phase 1 have already been identified; however, the funds for Phase 2 will only
be available as a result of ongoing collective bargaining and some other work we
are doing, thus, those need to wait to ensure funds are
available before they can happen. We hope to provide an update on that
phase later this month.
I realize
that for some, the items you most highly value may still be on the REP for
reduction; I am truly sorry we have to reduce and are not able to restore
more. For others, you may be pleased or relieved that something is or may
be restored; we share that sentiment, however are tempered with the
prospect of the 2010-2011 school year and whatever fiscal challenges persist in
the state's economy. Regardless of the things we cannot control and
knowing we will keep working together to face those things we can, I
have a deep respect and profound appreciation for the courage
and compassion that so many are showing as we work through these
challenges.
Sincerely,
Nick