District approves big spending cuts.

Byline: ANNE WILLIAMS The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - Saying they couldn't ignore the failure of a statewide school bailout measure on the May ballot, members of the Springfield School District Budget Committee approved a 2002-03 spending plan that trims $3.6 million more than the $3 million the district administration already had recommended.

"My personal feeling was we needed to recognize that Measure 13 occurred, and the voters have said no to it," said school board Chairwoman Jennifer Heiss, who made the final motion Wednesday night.

The motion passed 6-3, with school board members Marty Lenk and Tom Atkinson and citizen member Neal Forrester dissenting. The 10-member budget committee consists of the five board members and five citizens.

Measure 13, referred by the Legislature, would have used $220 million from the lottery-fed Education Endowment Fund to avert deeper cuts to schools in 2002-03. The Legislature and governor already had trimmed the $5.2 billion biennial budget for schools by $112 million.

The remainder of the endowment fund, about $58 million, would have been converted into a "rainy-day" fund for schools. Critics worried that depleting the fund was a short-term solution that would have left schools in even worse shape the following year.

While the administration had come up with a list of additional potential cuts, Superintendent Jamon Kent had hoped that the Budget Committee would approve the original budget, which was based on March state revenue forecasts and assumed passage of Measure 13. Most other school districts, including Eugene and Bethel, have taken that course. The approved budgets can be revised later if revenue doesn't meet projections.

Kent said the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators predicts that the Legislature will find more money for schools when it meets in a special session next month.

Without knowing more, Kent said, "I was also trying to avoid I guess what I would consider a panic mode that I believe many of our teachers and maybe some of our students might fall into."

The bulk of the additional $3.6 million cut for Springfield could spell doom for some high school sports and other extracurricular programs. The $877,796 budget for extracurricular programs was already slated to be cut by $176,000 as part of $3 million in recommended cuts. The Budget Committee proposes cutting it by another $365,000, although it made no suggestions about specifics.

Mike Fisher, head of the drama program at Thurston High School, said the initial cut alone would have meant the loss of an orchestra director and, as a consequence, the annual musical.

Students and parents already were planning to raise the approximately $4,000 needed to save that position.

"If we're talking one director's position, that's one thing," he said. "But if we're talking three directors' positions, I think we're down and out. ... I seriously can't imagine that there won't be a lot of drama kids looking for other things to do after school."

Fisher said about 22 program performances per year are considered part of the curriculum, but another 15 are outside of school. He and other teachers earn a stipend for the extracurricular work.

The extracurricular fund also pays for stipends for band directors, athletic coaches and athletic trainers, as well as some supplies and equipment, membership dues for tournaments and some travel expenses.

Kent said he and staff members hadn't begun to sort out where the ax would fall but that one option might be eliminating some sports, perhaps swimming and tennis.

About $1 million of the $3.6 million is actually new revenue - carryover funds the district didn't realize it would have until recently, finance director Brett Yancey said. Primarily by cutting costs this year, the district was able to save those dollars, he said.

Another $1.2 million amounts to a delay in a transfer from the general fund into the retirement fund.

The Public Employees Retirement System Board is expected to raise the PERS rate for public employers by about four percentage points in 2003 to help ease a widening shortfall in the system.

The district had planned to transfer that money in 2002-03 but could delay it a year, Yancey said.

The remaining cuts include $95,000 that was to have launched a new, district-run program offering courses to home-schooled children; $480,000 in yet-to-be-determined administrative cuts; and $500,000 for eight reserve teaching positions.

The district had budgeted for 10 such positions, which give the district staffing flexibility in the fall if enrollment does not match projections at individual schools.

Among the $3 million in cuts already proposed are reducing spending on supplies; eliminating three administrative positions, 8.4 teaching positions and 18.25 classified positions; cutting utility costs; eliminating middle-school extracurricular activities and sports; and eliminating elementary school orchestra.

The recommended budget will be up for a public hearing and final approval by the school board on June 24.