Sisters schools adopt tight budget

The Sisters schools got a look at struggles to come as the school board adopted next year's budget at their June 22 meeting.

The $6.5 million general fund budget reflects $400,000 in cuts to staffing and programs needed to make up for a large shortfall caused when state support fell off due to declining enrollment.

But the school board's budget hearing was dominated by an issue that was bypassed in the budget - the extended school calendar for the elementary and middle schools.

The budget committee had voted against cutting $10,000 from transportation funds, which would have forced a return to a single traditional calendar for all the schools.

Several parents and staff members urged the board to return to the traditional calendar, testifying of the hardships for parents with children on separate calendars. Others urged the board to stick to its two year commitment to the alternative calendar, to allow its purported academic benefits to manifest themselves.

The school board will likely take up the issue in its July 27 meeting. If the calendar is changed, the board can authorize committing the transportation funds elsewhere.

Acting chair Harold Gott noted wryly that "we were going to spend a little more next year than just on this calendar," and requested input on other areas of the budget.

Counselor Charlie Kanzig requested that the board restore $2,000 worth of extended contract days for the counseling staff. He said the staff needs the student-free days at the beginning of the year to do scheduling and other paperwork.

Parent and bus driver Angie Gardenier expressed concern about how $22,500 in co-curricular cuts would be made equitable. Gardenier opposes targeting specific sports for elimination.

"I would just like to ask you folks to figure out some real even, fair way to do this," she said.

The board and school staff will work this summer on implementing the cuts, a process that, as Gott indicated, is unlikely to make anybody happy.

"I occasionally think I smell tar and feathers," he said.

Gott expressed confidence that the schools and the community will "rise to the occasion" and weather this budget crisis.

"The process of the budget this year has been arduous," he said. "But Sisters is blessed with a lot of good folks who will do us right by our kids with what we've got."

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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