News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
After months of speculation on where the budget ax will fall on the Sisters School District, Superintendent Elaine Drakulich laid out a budget at the opening budget committee meeting last Wednesday night that calls for $1,688,500 in cuts.
A large portion of the shortfall will be made up through federal stimulus money ($155,000) and by not replacing some seven teachers and three other employees who are departing the district at the end of this year ($906,600).
The budget proposes cutting the positions of three media managers (librarians) to reduce salary and benefit costs by $152,500, and proposes to make up $726,800 through rearranging lunch services at Sisters Middle School, energy efficiencies, fuel savings and central purchasing of supplies.
Drakulich proposes cutting two non-instructional days at the end of this year and is asking teachers and other staff to agree to either a reduction in force, cutting days or a salary and benefit freeze or cut - or some combination of these actions.
Drakulich told the committee that informal discussions have been underway, but that any cut to days or salaries must be negotiated with the associations that represent certified and classified employees.
The district can initiate a reduction in force without negotiations.
Drakulich noted that any cut would be shared by administrators from the superintendent down through the chain of command.
"The idea is that everyone would share the pain," she told the budget committee.
Cuts to staff salaries - however they are achieved, must reach a target of $168,600.
The budget also calls for reductions in travel for sports teams, and cuts out funding for middle school clubs.
"It still leaves intact every athletic activity program," Drakulich said.
Preserving co-curricular programs, including sports, is a high priority for budget committee members.
"It isn't really athletics," said committee member and assistant lacrosse coach Andrew Gorayeb, who argued that lessons learned on the playing field are critical to students success in school. "It's civics. Those civics lessons are very important. I think it would be a tremendous mistake to eliminate that aspect of the school budget."
Budget committee members and parents insisted that the budget prioritize keeping kids in the classroom.
"There's no substitute for what happens in the classroom with the teacher and the student, and we should do our utmost to retain instructional days," said school board chair Christine Jones.
Board candidate Cheryl Stewart concurred.
"I want to keep kids in the classroom, working with their teachers, at all costs," she said.
Parent Tamra Dumolt, wife of school board member Tom Dumolt, said that she was "appalled" that a citizen advisory group placed a high recommendation on cutting school days as a cost-saving measure.
"If you could look for any options for cutting back, that's the one to stay away from, because if the kids aren't in the classroom they're not learning anything," she said.
Sisters Elementary School media manager Marie Phillips, whose position is on the chopping block, reminded the board that the district's policy and philosophy acknowledges that work in the media center is an integral part of quality education and that there is a link between library usage and student achievement.
Her plea for consideration of the value of the media centers was a reminder of the painful nature of the choices facing the school board and the budget committee.
"It's a personnel issue, not a personal issue," said committee member Darren Layne. "When (salary) is that large a part of your budget (83 percent), it sometimes leaves you with no choice."
Choices may get considerably tougher if the state education budget shrinks any more. The current budget is based on a $5.9 billion education budget for the biennium, but the state has instructed districts to look conceptually at how they would budget if that figure slides to $5.4 billion.
According to Drakulich, that would mean cutting an additional $600,000 from Sisters' budget, most of which would have to come from salaries and the potential cut to extended learning programs, athletics and activities.
The district got a glimmer of hope on Friday when Senator Chris Telfer told a gathering in Sisters that she planned to roll out a proposal this week that would set the education budget at $6.25 billion. However, she acknowledged that she does not know if there are enough votes to give such a proposal any life.
Treasurer Ben Westlund told The Nugget he has no idea where education will end up, but that the picture should become more clear with the next state revenue forecast, due at the end of this week. (See related story, page 1).
Budget committee chair Gene Carlson will take public opinion in a session at the Sisters School District Administrative Offices conference room at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 13.
For budget information visit http://www.sisters.k12.or.us
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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