Economics affecting USD 223
This was posted on the USD 223 web site on April 29.
By USD 223 Superintendent of Schools Steve Joonas
I realize that everyone has heard about the economic situation of our state and the union. We sometimes remain shielded here in the middle of the country in our small towns, but that is simply not the case anymore with the current plight we find ourselves in. The latest consensus estimates came out last Friday with more drastic news that will impact us in some fashion or another. We can expect tax increases, more cuts or a combination of the two.
Our district has been working to deal with this for several months now and it seems that every time we feel like we have it managed, we get hit with more bad news. Currently we are dealing with declining enrollment and the budget cuts in the same year which is making it a very difficult process.
Our district was preparing to take a hit on our budget because of a big decline in our enrollment that would come about in the upcoming year due to the way the formula works. We knew that was occurring and were working to deal with that, and then the economic downturn initially hit. We again had to make adjustments to deal with this.
As more states began to have problems, the union became involved through the so-called stimulus. I realize that there is a tremendous amount of dollars being shipped out to states to help them out, but you need to understand that, in Kansas, these are being used as stabilization dollars rather than a stimulus. The legislature has chosen to use those dollars to replace a decrease in the state aid funds. Basically to this point, they are trying to use those funds to hold schools at a level rate.
Now I would like to put this in perspective for our district. We are currently preparing for next year with the idea that we will have about $220,000 less to work with. This is approximately a 5% decrease. We are doing this through supply cuts, cutting activities, staffing cuts (by not replacing some positions through retirements) reductions in transfers, and also through the use of our contingency reserve dollars. We are looking at the entire picture while still trying to provide the best education possible for our students.
Please understand that this plan has been looked at for the situation we were dealing with prior to the last consensus estimate. Now the state is another 328 million dollars down for next fiscal and that computes to about another 6.9 percent drop that will have to come from somewhere. These are serious economic times and I feel that you should all be aware of how it is impacting your local school district. If you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact me.
5% of which budget, the current year or the projected years?
Man we are going to miss Steve. Sure hope he look into help coaching at Linn. He’d be a great football caoch!!!
5% decrease in the 2009-2010 budget is my understanding.
So if they over budgeted by 2,3,4% knowing the cuts coming they really may not be cut as much as we think.
I agree that USD 223 will miss Steve. I don’t know anything much about the new guy and he may be just fine, but I do think Steve was much better than a lot of folks realized. The board should have fought to keep him there.