School District Stretches Dollars

April 19, 2010

John F. Kennedy once said, "Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education."

Williamston School District’s employees understand the importance of education, but a decreasing, unpredictable budget challenges their ability to educate the students.

"I like to think as a teaching staff we are competent enough to keep [the budget problems] from the students," said Marcia Austreng, a Williamston High School special education teacher.

Austreng has worked with the Williamston school district for 17 years – seeing the gradual changes within the budget, she believes that a little of everything has been receiving fewer funds.

"There is just a feeling around the school that there isn’t money," Austreng said.

Williamston Community Schools Superintendent Joel Raddatz feels the pressure of the school budget. Over the course of his career with Williamston, he’s seen $3 million saved.

Cuts have included bus routes, teacher benefits, administrators and teachers adding jobs to their workload, librarians being cut and a school closing.

Students pay more for athletics, which saves the school $85,000, according to Raddatz.

Along with athletics, Williamston changed the structure of its school d ays to allow the same buses to pick up all the school levels while accommodating more students per bus.

Raddatz said that even though that has made the bus rides longer, it also saved the district about $250,000.

"We’ve cut back on virtually everything," Raddatz said.

Personal funds affected as well

As a teacher, Austreng’s personal budget is affected by cuts at school.

"You still need supplies. Many teachers have to pay more out of their pocket for things like paper towel and tissues for their classroom," Austreng said.

Keeping up her classroom up isn’t her only concern; Austreng has to keep up her certification.

"I don’t think a lot of people think about all the things teachers have to do to keep their certification up to date," she said. "Many teachers have to go to school over the summer, and that takes a lot of money."

Raddatz knows that teachers are being stretched thin because not only does Austreng have to pay to keep her degree up to date, teacher contracts have been negotiated so benefits are cut – and there won’t be anymore pay increases.

Without a pay increase, many teachers still have to take on jobs of their retiring co-workers.

"For some teachers, it seems to almost be to the point ‘enough already,’ " Raddatz said.

It’s agreed that the safety and education of the students are the most important factors. The school system has tried hard to keep cutbacks out of the classroom.
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"I don’t think most of the community realizes quite how much the budget has decreased," Raddatz said.

While planning for the next year’s budget, the board is also running blind with how much money will be allotted for schools. Board members must make a rough estimate on how much funds will go where, but won’t know until December how much money they really have.

"By that time, there isn’t really much we can do," Raddatz pointed out. "What would be our option: decide to not have kindergarten the next year? That isn’t an option."

The option they do end up taking is giving people more responsibility that indirectly hurts students. Austreng said that the hardest part of the diminishing budget in her classroom is the special education director is also the principal for another building.

"She is dedicated and hard working, but it is difficult to have her time," Austreng said.

Williamston started the cuts from the top, making administrators perform more tasks, then teachers — and now it’s trickling into the classroom.