School District Budget Picture Brightens (Colorado)

April 22, 2010

While it’s still in the proposal stage, and the Thompson School District Board of Education won’t actually vote on it until at least the middle of May, Chief Financial Officer Steve Towne delivered the news Wednesday night that what was originally thought to be a $6.6 million deficit could actually turn out to be somewhat of a surplus.
“In April, we received word that House Bill 1369 looked like it was going to yield revenue cuts that weren’t quite as big as we were anticipating,” Towne told the board.

Towne noted the Budget Proposal Team had been busily working to find the necessary cuts to deal with what was now looking like a $5.9 million deficit, and he said he believes the team now has the right recommendations to make to the board.

The newest round of recommendations include reinstating earlier cuts to instructional and non-instructional budgets, which includes giving money back to those with operating budgets, like principals looking to buy school supplies or finance field trips.

The recommendations also call for using money from the General Fund reverses, as well as finding an additional $700,000 in budget cuts. Things like professional development and instructional materials were still cut back.

“Identify further budget reductions, yet to be determined, in the form of $700,000 and recommend the use of $2 million of General Fund reserves,” Towne said. “Those two items together, totaling $2.7 million, would eliminate the deficit entirely for the 2010-11 budget year.”

Towne said that one of the reasons the budget could actually end up in a surplus, with as much as $900,000 going back to the district, but more likely in the amount of $200,000, was because it was recently discovered that, due to declining enrollment, it would cost just about nine fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) to keep class sizes and schools running at the same ratios they currently are.

“Those nine FTE represent about $400,000 in savings as well,” Towne said.

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Towne w as sure to note that this is only a proposal and nothing is formal or guaranteed and that the proposal team still has a little bit of work to do before the proposal reaches the desks of board members.

“There’s still some uncertainty in this proposal. There’s still some further work to be done,” he said. “Certainly the School Finance Act looks like maybe it’s 99 percent done, not 100 percent done.”

The budget proposal team also is looking at what to do with the surplus, including possibly putting it back into reserves or adding it to budgets that have been cut.

While the complicated proposal would help alleviate the budget deficit for the 2010-11 school year, Towne wasn’t so optimistic about the 2011-12 year.

“(We could have) a $3.2 million budget deficit at minimum as we begin the 2011-12 budget cycle,” he said, adding that he expects to see another drop in per-pupil funding which would create the deficit.
“We’re trying to predict the future here,” he said.

Board of Education President Lucille Steiner also made sure to let the audience, as well as the community, know that this was a proposal and didn’t necessarily mean this is what the board would go with.

“Just to let everyone know the board will be having continued discussions in terms of what we are going to do,” she said. “I would also say it’s not like we’re necessarily limited to these options. The board may decide differently but it gives us a place to start.”

The board also had an extenstive talk about the proposed school-based health care center at Ferguson High School during Wednesday’s meeting.

The proposal was on the action item agenda, awaiting approval from the board, but that was before several residents in the area of Ferguson High School proclaimed they hadn’t been informed about the issue and that they would like more information.

A handful of residents attended Wednesday’s meeting to protest the health care clinic, saying they feared heavier traffic, and questioned why the center was chosen for Ferguson.

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“One of the biggest concerns is the traffic coming into the neighborhood now,” said Loveland resident Mary Williams.

Many of the residents were worried the health center would draw new traffic, although the center is designed to only service Ferguson students and their children, as well as siblings with potentially harmful illnesses.

Mark Wallace, chairman of the board of directors of Sunrise Community Health, the organization partnering with the district for the school-based health center, said the residents just misunderstood some of the aspects of the proposed health care center.

“This is proposed part-time clinic. Four hours over five days. If you look at the scheduling that typically goes in school based health center, it visits around eight and half a day,” Wallace said.

With all of the concerns from the residents, the board decided to table the vote on the school-based health care center until residents could be informed and further studies could be conducted.

The board voted 5-1 in favor of tabling the proposal for now, with member Karen Stockley voting no and member Dennis Breitbarth being absent.

In other action:
• The board discussed the Head Start Self Assessment, the Early Childhood Policy Council Bylaws, District Calendar Variances and proposed revisions to board policies.
• The board also discussed the district financial report from February.

Towne was sure to note that this is only a proposal and not hing is formal or guaranteed and that the proposal team still has a little bit of work to do before the proposal reaches the desks of board members.

“There’s still some uncertainty in this proposal. There’s still some further work to be done,” he said. “Certainly the School Finance Act looks like maybe it’s 99 percent done, not 100 percent done.”

The budget proposal team also is looking at what to do with the surplus, including possibly putting it back into reserves or adding it to budgets that have been cut.

While the complicated proposal would help alleviate the budget deficit for the 2010-11 school year, Towne wasn’t so optimistic about the 2011-12 year.

“(We could have) a $3.2 million budget deficit at minimum as we begin the 2011-12 budget cycle,” he said, adding that he expects to see another drop in per-pupil funding which would create the deficit.
“We’re trying to predict the future here,” he said.

Board of Education President Lucille Steiner also made sure to let the audience, as well as the community, know that this was a proposal and didn’t necessarily mean this is what the board would go with.

“Just to let everyone know the board will be having continued discussions in terms of what we are going to do,” she said. “I would also say it’s not like we’re necessarily limited to these options. The board may decide differently but it gives us a place to start.”

The board also had an extenstive talk about the proposed school-based health care center at Ferguson High School during Wednesday’s meeting.

The proposal was on the action item agenda, awai ting approval from the board, but that was before several residents in the area of Ferguson High School proclaimed they hadn’t been informed about the issue and that they would like more information.

A handful of residents attended Wednesday’s meeting to protest the health care clinic, saying they feared heavier traffic, and questioned why the center was chosen for Ferguson.

(3 of 3)

“One of the biggest concerns is the traffic coming into the neighborhood now,” said Loveland resident Mary Williams.

Many of the residents were worried the health center would draw new traffic, although the center is designed to only service Ferguson students and their children, as well as siblings with potentially harmful illnesses.

Mark Wallace, chairman of the board of directors of Sunrise Community Health, the organization partnering with the district for the school-based health center, said the residents just misunderstood some of the aspects of the proposed health care center.

“This is proposed part-time clinic. Four hours over five days. If you look at the scheduling that typically goes in school based health center, it visits around eight and half a day,” Wallace said.

With all of the concerns from the residents, the board decided to table the vote on the school-based health care center until residents could be informed and further studies could be conducted.

The board voted 5-1 in favor of tabling the proposal for now, with member Karen Stockley voting no and member Dennis Breitbarth being absent.

In other action:
• The board discussed the Head Start Self Assessment, the Early Childhood Policy Council Bylaws, District Calendar Variances and proposed revisions to board policies.
&#x 0A;• The board also discussed the district financial report from February.

“One of the biggest concerns is the traffic coming into the neighborhood now,” said Loveland resident Mary Williams.

Many of the residents were worried the health center would draw new traffic, although the center is designed to only service Ferguson students and their children, as well as siblings with potentially harmful illnesses.

Mark Wallace, chairman of the board of directors of Sunrise Community Health, the organization partnering with the district for the school-based health center, said the residents just misunderstood some of the aspects of the proposed health care center.

“This is proposed part-time clinic. Four hours over five days. If you look at the scheduling that typically goes in school based health center, it visits around eight and half a day,” Wallace said.

With all of the concerns from the residents, the board decided to table the vote on the school-based health care center until residents could be informed and further studies could be conducted.

The board voted 5-1 in favor of tabling the proposal for now, with member Karen Stockley voting no and member Dennis Breitbarth being absent.

In other action:
• The board discussed the Head Start Self Assessment, the Early Childhood Policy Council Bylaws, District Calendar Variances and proposed revisions to board policies.
• The board also discussed the district financial report from February.