Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Supt. Larry Horton presented a mixed budget message for 2008-09 on April 21 during the first meeting of the District 55 Budget Committee.
“On the plus side, enrollment has not decreased as much as projected and state funding is up a little from last year,” Horton said. “This means that the district’s funding should be somewhat better than the 2007-08 school year.
“On the down side, this will be countered from increasing costs in charter school costs, staffing, fuel, supplies and materials.
“Our overall purchasing power should remain somewhat neutral.”
The budget includes the addition of a half-time math teacher and a new math lab assistant at the high school to meet the new graduation requirements in math, which are increasing from two to three credits, Horton said. It also adds 2.5 full-time equivalent physical education teachers at the elementary level.
A total of $36,000 in funding from the Oregon Department of Education will cover the salary of the instructor at Crawfordsville and Holley schools.
This will provide all elementary students with about one hour of PE per week taught by a PE instructor, with regular classroom teachers providing remaining instruction, Horton said. Approximately $100,000 is budgeted for the remaining 1.5 FTE.
While enrollments are up throughout the district, Hawthorne has had a decrease of about 25 students, bringing its student population to the same levels as Oak Heights and Foster schools. To balance out staffing, Hawthorne will see a reduction of one teacher.
The budget proposes continuing the school resource police officer in partnership with the city of Sweet Home. The district’s half of the position is $42,000. Of that total, $25,000 comes from funds provided by the Linn-Benton-Lincoln Education Service District.
The budget provides 2.5-percent increases along with step increases in classified employee salaries, with an increase from $740 to $780 per month for insurance benefits.
Administrators and certified staff have just started negotiations, Horton said. Step increases for those groups are included in the budget.
Several budget issues remain unresolved, Horton said.
Among them, the budget is built based on March state funding forecasts, he said. The Sweet Home Charter School is projecting operating with 18 additional students, with its student population growing to 115 students. For those students, the district receives 20 percent of state funding, while the Charter School receives 80 percent.
The district has budgeted $583,000 for the operation of the school. The Public Employees Retirement System remains an unknown regarding the number of dollars required to meet future and current obligations, Horton said.
The School Board would like to return its elementary school early-release days to regular school days, Horton said. The early release days every Wednesday afternoon were established as part of the contract with the teachers union to provide prep time for elementary teachers.
The lost prep time can be offset by the new physical education program, Horton said, but the change must be negotiated with teachers this year before it can take effect.
The total school budget is $31.5 million, up from $29.1 million in 2007-08, with the general fund at $20.4 million, up from $19 million.
This year the district will receive $17.9 million from the state, up from $17 million.
Transportation fuel costs are up by 50 percent to $70,000.
Some $40,000 is included in the proposed budget to paint most schools.
The Budget Committee was scheduled to meet Monday night to possibly approve the budget, which would then go to the School Board for a public hearing and final approval prior to June 30.