Bethel budget looks brighter.

Byline: ANNE WILLIAMS The Register-Guard

Normally, a recommendation to trim $671,000 from the Bethel School District's proposed budget would be reason to fret.

But this year is anything but normal.

As school districts in Lane County and all across Oregon prepare to slash programs, lay off teachers and close schools to deal with gaping budget deficits in 2002-03, Bethel expects to emerge comparatively unscathed.

The reason? In a nutshell, growth.

Earlier this year, Superintendent Kent Hunsaker had worried that the district's shortfall - the difference between the amount it thought it would have to spend next year and what it really will have - might approach $1.3 million.

But in an address to the Budget Committee on Monday, Hunsaker explained that the district will see an unexpected windfall - both this year and in 2002-03 - because student enrollment is exceeding projections.

The state doles out funds to school districts based on enrollment, and Bethel expects to get an additional $1 million both this year and next because it underestimated its student count. The district currently has about 5,300 students, and now expects another 135 or so next year.

"It basically comes down to that fact that I just kind of fouled up on the enrollment, at a good time," Hunsaker said.

The recommended general operating fund for next year is about $36.2 million - 6.5 percent bigger than the current year's. By contrast, the Eugene School District's $119.9 million general fund budget for 2002-03 is down 2.5 percent from this year's.

The biggest reason for Bethel's budget growth is the scheduled September opening of two new schools - Prairie Mountain School, a combined elementary and middle school, and Kalapuya High School, a small alternative high school. The schools, part of a $27.5 million bond measure voters approved two years ago, are under construction at the intersection of Royal Avenue and Terry Street.

With staff, custodial services, utilities and other costs, those openings will add another $700,000 to the budget, Hunsaker said. The district has about $900,000 set aside to cover that - half of it from savings left over from the startup of four-year-old Meadow View School and the rest from a state grant fund for new construction.

The $671,000 cuts list includes seven teaching positions, although all but one of those are on paper - budgeted for next year but not yet filled. The district's net loss of teaching positions would be just one, Hunsaker said, and that may not even occur. The district will have money on hand in its ending fund balance to hire more teachers if needed, depending on how enrollment shakes out among the new and existing schools.

While a more fiscally daring superintendent might have been able to forward a budget with no cuts at all, Hunsaker said he opted for a more cautious approach.

Bethel might have to cut another $2 million from the 2002-03 budget should voters reject Measure 13 on the May 21 ballot. Referred by the state Legislature, which met earlier this year to deal with an $830 million state budget shortfall, Measure 13 would take $220 million from the lottery-fed Education Endowment Fund to lessen cuts to schools next year. The remainder - about $50 million - would be converted to a "rainy day" fund for schools.

Should Measure 13 pass, the cut to schools will be $112 million. If it fails, the cut could be $332 million.

Among Hunsaker's other recommended cuts:

$55,000 for a maintenance contract for Meadow View and the two new schools. Instead, the district's own maintenance team will take on those duties.

$50,000 in supplies, about a 5 percent reduction across the district.

$50,000 in technology equipment, training and maintenance.

$45,000 in Talented and Gifted (TAG) training for teachers.

$33,500 for substitutes.

$20,000 for the equity coordinator position. The district had intended to make it a full-time post, but it has been and will continue to be half-time.

$17,000 for outdoor programs at the middle schools.

WHAT'S NEXT

Thursday and May 23: Budget Committee discussions, 7:30 p.m., district office, 4640 Barger Drive.

May 30: Budget Committee approves budget, 7:30 p.m., district office.

June 24: School Board holds public hearing, approves budget, 7:30 p.m., district office.

CAPTION(S):

Ray Bradshaw (right) leads Bethel School Board members and administrators through the new Prairie Mountain School. Work goes on at west Eugene's Prairie Mountain School.