Projecting a long-term decline in enrollment and a nearly $500,000 budget shortfall for next school year, Moscow School District officials are preparing to trim spending in a series of meetings that begin Monday.
Finding the money needed to balance the 1999-2000 school-year budget likely will mean layoffs, Edward Fisk, district superintendent told a board workshop meeting at Moscow Junior High School Tuesday.
The board Tuesday planned a rapid budget-trimming process. If any employees are to be dismissed, they must be informed by May.
Fisk will prepare a list of budget areas to be considered for cuts. On Monday, district administrators will consider Fisk's list and make desired changes. On Wednesday, the school board will consider the list together with a district budget committee that includes representation from the Moscow Education Association.
The teachers union does not have an official representative on the administrative council which, with the board, will make initial trims Monday, according to Steve Norton, MEA president. But Norton said he will ask for representation at the meeting and anticipated the request would be accepted.
At Wednesday's meeting the board will set a date for a public hearing on the proposed budget. The 7 p.m. meeting was tentatively set for the Moscow Junior High School Band Room.
Declining enrollment at the district, triggering declining state subsides, was pegged by district officials as the cause of the district budget woes at Tuesday's meeting attended by about 65 teachers and parents.
The district currently is down 83 students from last year's levels. That followed an enrollment decline of 101 students between 1996-97 and 1997-98.
The district projects enrollment to drop again next year by 29 students, as smaller classes move through high school, according to information presented by Fisk Tuesday. Compared to the 1996-97 school year, the district then would be down by 213 students.
While student numbers have declined, the numbers of teachers employed by the district hasn't fallen. Teaching levels grew slightly between 1996 and the current school year. The equivalent of 2.4 teachers were added during the period.
The upshot, according to budget information presented Tuesday, is that the district would fall $1 million short of meeting its budget next school year without changes. After budget adjustments from this year, the shortfall would be around $480,000.
The budget picture might not be so bleak by the end of the year, after state subsidy rates have been adjusted, Fisk said. However , he said, "we have to prepare for a future that is going to show a significant cut in funding."
Enrollment projections presented to the board Tuesday predict the school district will continue to lose students through the 2003-04 school year.
Between 1999 and 2004, the district is will lose an additional 203 students, according to the projections. Compared to 1996 student levels, the district would have 416 fewer students.
Fisk told the board the district had little choice but to examine staffing levels when making cuts. Half of the 14 percent of the district's current budget not spent on salaries or benefits was mandatory spending, he said.
"When you start talking about reductions of the magnitude we are facing E you aren't going to get it all out of that 14 percent," he said. "I see no options (but to cut positions)."
Norton said he didn't doubt the accuracy of the enrollment numbers presented Tuesday, but he urged the board to consider all options for balancing the budget, including a levy.
The district is trying to gauge what is causing the enrollment downturn. A study by a consultant suggested a population loss in Moscow may be part of the cause, board members said Tuesday.
An increase of students attending private schools also may be impacting district enrollment.
Board members said the district may undertake a future study to get a better picture of Moscow population trends.
