Marion school board hears budget-cutting suggestions
Staff writer
Cut administrators. Sell the district office. Eliminate the bus fleet. Raise taxes. Chop supply budgets. Have more kids.
One person even suggested staff take an across-the-board pay cut in order to save other staff members.
Those were some of the suggestions made March 16 at a public comment session during a special meeting of the Marion-Florence USD 408 Board of Education. The meeting was held in the Marion High School/Marion Middle School commons area to handle the crowd.
When all was said and done, the board still was facing a $300,000 budget shortfall and voted to eliminate staff.
Support staff positions cut were Calvin Seadeek, custodian; Cathy Whitaker and Carole Sklenar, aides at Marion Elementary School, and Richard Pracht, bus driver.
The board also voted 7-0 to non-renew the teaching contracts of Carolyn Moore, Marion High School language arts, and Matt Robert, industrial education/computer applications instructor at MHS.
And the possibility exists there could be even more cuts.
More than 100 people, (approximately 90 percent of whom were school-related individuals — teachers, aides, volunteers, spouses) attended the public comment session which was adversarial at times.
The public comment session lasted three hours and 15 minutes.
After a short recess, the board talked with principals regarding the role the media specialist plays in their respective buildings, moving the sixth grade to the middle school (see separate story), and listened to more comments from audience members.
With the huge budget shortfall, the board stated it has nowhere left to cut except staff. More than 80 percent of the district budget involves staff — salaries and benefits.
The shortfall is due almost entirely to declining enrollment. Since 1998, the district has lost 106 students. The corresponding loss in state school funding amounts to approximately $7,000 per child.
The district took it's hardest hit at the beginning of this school year when it lost approximately 70 children.
The board indicated they planned to cover two-thirds of the $300,000 shortfall by making staff reductions. The remaining one-third will be covered by not replacing a bus and several other vehicles.
"If anyone has any ideas we haven't heard before we're here to listen," said board president Rex Savage.
Beth Watson, parent and school volunteer, asked if the district had too many administrators and wondered why administrative cuts had not been made.
"Because that wasn't on the table at the time," Savage replied.
A woman school aide told the board they could save money by selling the central office and relocating to the old stone building at the middle/high school complex. Not only would there be money from selling or leasing the building, but ongoing insurance and utility bills would be eliminated.
"If we have 106 less kids then there must be some room available somewhere," a school aide commented.
"The space is unavailable in the high school for what we're doing at central office," Tice explained.
Tice then came under fire. Shawn Voth said she understood Tice would be retiring soon and wondered why incoming superintendent Lee Leiker couldn't just take over his job.
"When Martin retires we'll probably hire a board clerk, not a business manager," Savage said.
She questioned why Leiker couldn't just take over Tice's duties now.
Savage said that would not be "good stewardship" on the part of the board.
"A first year superintendent could make some mistakes that could end up costing more in the long run," Savage said.
"You mean the new superintendent doesn't have a clue?" piped up a man in the audience, wondering why the board hired him.
Board member Gene Bowers said the new superintendent understood the budget process and was in charge of creating the budget in his current district.
"He will be doing that here in the future," Savage explained. "But he wanted Martin (Tice) to stay on a year."
A woman in the audience commented that everyone would like to have a "year of training," but indicated she had never had a job where anyone trained her.
Board member Keith Collett said that if both Superintendent Gerry Henderson and Tice leave at the same time, the "institutional memory goes out the door.
"It would be hard for a new superintendent to get some of those questions answered," Collett said.
Henderson is retiring in June after six years with the district.
A man in the audience asked if the board could cut staff and still fulfill it's mission statement.
Savage said the board was doing its best to minimize damage to students with any staff cuts. "We're trying to cushion the blow, but all the easy cuts were used up in years past."
Several Marion Elementary School personnel expressed support for Elaine Shannon, the school's media specialist.
Local attorney Dan Baldwin questioned why the media specialist was on the cut list.
Superintendent Henderson said he was challenged by the board to look at school administrators, classroom teachers, art, support staff, anywhere where cuts could be made that would have the "least impact on children."
"We felt one media specialist could serve both libraries (at MES and MHS)," Henderson said.
Baldwin asked the board if they would have a "change of heart" about keeping Shannon or maybe making minor cuts in order to keep her position viable.
"The teachers want a full-time media specialist," Baldwin said.
"This is not about not valuing Elaine," Savage replied. "It's how to cause the least damage."
Watson said she felt the media specialists at both schools were "invaluable," and said she had a hard time buying into the idea that one person could cover both libraries.
"Especially after we cut the (elementary) counselor last year," she said. "We don't have a counselor now at the elementary."
MES teacher Linda Allison, whose retirement after 30 years in the district was accepted during the meeting, said theoretically tax cuts had been made federally. She questioned the board's reluctance to increase the local option budget (LOB).
"I think the current tax climate is horrible for business," Savage said. "And I think increasing the LOB every time we hit a bump is irresponsible."
"But if you lose these people (staff), it will be even more irresponsible to the business climate," Allison replied.
Carolyn Moore, language arts teacher at Marion High School, indicated she was a half-time teacher and her position was one of those on the cutting block.
"This (job) was my last excuse to live in Marion," Moore said. She commented that many families had bought homes in Marion with the promise that the district would provide a quality education for their children, but now the district was "watering the soup."
"We've paid our taxes here long enough. We'll be leaving," Moore said. "Don't let it go the way of other ghost towns. I think it's time we raised taxes!"
At that comment, the crowd burst into applause.
Board member Kathy Meierhoff asked how many people in the audience who weren't teachers or school-related wanted their taxes raised.
"What if the cities, the state raise taxes? We're always saying 'let's tax.' I need to have more people tell me they want to be taxed before I'll go that way," Meierhoff said.
A male audience member noted that many in Marion were elderly and retired individuals who could not support increased taxes.
Former school board member Don Kraus defended Tice and told the audience "you don't want to get rid of him. I once saw Martin save $3,000 on one purchase."
He said the district needed to bring in more kids and laughingly suggested women in the crowd have more children. Kraus noted he did not favor additional taxes, but would pay them if he had to.
He suggested the district look at eliminating the bus fleet and local drivers and hire a professional bus company out of Wichita or El Dorado to serve the district's transportation needs.
Kraus also said the district needs to look into bringing home schooled students back into the classroom.
Watson asked the board if they had seen the suggestions on cuts made by the Marion Elementary School Building Improvement Team (MESBIT) and asked why they weren't being considered.
Board member Chris Sprowls, who was an active member of MESBIT, said the basic premise of each building improvement team was to advise and counsel.
"I appreciated every time I got a call that wasn't anonymous or a letter that was signed. I liked the input, but not the way it was delivered," Sprowls said.
"I think suggestions from building teams should be on how they could make cuts within their own four walls, not how to make cuts in other buildings," Sprowls continued.
"I think we've run into a situation where people are saying, 'Here's how you cut district-wide, but don't cut here.' We're pointing fingers and it's only going to get worse. We can't go through this every year."
MES teachers Lana Fahey and Laura Baldwin, along with media specialist Shannon, said it was not MESBIT's intent to point fingers.
"We felt we were making suggestions which affect the QPA (Quality Performance Accreditation) process and other standards," Fahey said.
Savage said Sprowls raised a valid concern. "We're trying not to foster a cannibalistic attitude among our staff. It's not that we don't want input, but we have to be very careful at how we look at this," Savage said.
"I'd be very uncomfortable with building improvement teams coming up with district-wide cuts. We are trying to find what would damage kids the least."
One woman noted her husband had to take a pay cut in order to help the company he worked for keep the doors open.
"Is everybody willing to take a five percent cut to keep all programs in all buildings open for business?" she questioned.
The board indicated they were considering instituting an activity fee — something like the $30 fee the district used to charge several decades ago — for students involved in activities.
Marion Middle School principal and athletic director Tod Gordon said there was a difference in the "pay to play" concept and "pay to participate."
"In 'pay to play' you're guaranteeing the student will see play time," Gordon said.
"I suggest we just use an activity fee and stay away from that entire concept," Savage said.
Other topics were debated before the board entered the first of several executive sessions. Upon emerging they voted on the staff cuts.
As the five and one-half hour meeting concluded, the board indicated other options or possible cuts still would need to be considered at the next meeting.
