2010-11 Budget Prep: What Others are Doing But SPASD is NOT

Last November, citizen representative to the Finance Committee Rick Mealy requested that the district immediately begin planning--and share with the public-- budget information for the 2010-11 school year. Of course, that request was ignored.

We've all heard bits and pieces of clandestine conversations. And none of the news is good. No wonder why the board doesn't want to discuss it: talk is that the tax levy increase will be between 15-18%. Rumors about the size of the pool? Sheeeah! People aren't talking about the pool being short a few inches (which it is not). People want to know HOW BAD IS THE BUDGET ?

Of course, maybe the board isn't worried. After all...SPEA has declared that they will attend the electors meeting in force to ensure that whatever levy is needed to keep their jobs and salary increases will be voted in.

Good luck with that. A significant percentage of SPEA members don't even live in the district---and thus cannot vote. And if SPEA doesn't think the community heard the gauntlet being thrown down last week....tsk tsk! Sure is nice that the new high school auditorium seats 2100!

What has Sun Prairie done so far? NOTHING...at least that its willing to share. In fact, the Finance Committee didn't even have time at its meeting this week to "review" (not COMMENT ON, mind you) the budget calendar. It does seem a tad odd that after all the grandstanding about personnel costs representing nearly 85% of the budget, and knowing that we have the SPEA contract settled already...shouldn't the budget be 85% complete??? And isn't that enough to share as a DRAFT proposed budget?


Just so you get a flavor for what OTHER similar size districts are doing already--and sharing with the public, we offer these capsule summaries. As always...don't believe us...believe the facts. Read for yourselves. Then YOU decide if the school board should be doing more...NOW!

Stevens Point
Stevens Point Journal article, 1-26-10.

Stevens Point School Board additional $917,000 cut from 2010-11 budget.
Jan. 26, 2010. The Stevens Point Area Public School District School Board on Monday cut an additional $917,500 from next year's budget.
The board unanimously approved the cuts, which include transferring some administrative salary costs to federal money used for special education students, delaying its technology equipment replacement plan and reducing the amount of money the district pays into the post-employment benefits.

Wisconsin Rapids
WI Rapids Tribune article, 1-26-10

Jan. 26, 2010. Superintendent Bob Crist delivered nearly $2 million worth of proposed cuts to the school district's 2010-11 budget Monday night during a board workshop.
The list included proposals to move grade levels to new buildings and reduce staff, services and programs in the district, which has a total budget of about $60 million. Like many school districts in the state, Wisconsin Rapids has faced annual budget deficits as staff costs increase at a faster rate than state aid.
For the second straight year, board members will consider moving some or all Pitsch Elementary students to Howe Elementary next fall.

Appleton
Letter to public from Appleton "Superintendent"

The Appleton Area School District (AASD) has begun budget preparation for the 2010-11 school year…. In order to balance the budget and account for projected increases in expenditures, it will be necessary to reduce the EXPENDITURE side of the budget by $2.4 million. While the budget will not be finalized and approved by the Appleton Board of Education until October of 2010, it is necessary to make initial staffing plans at this time in order to meet course scheduling and contractual timelines.
To balance the budget for the current 2009-10 school year, the district reduced non-personnel related expenditures by $1.2 million and reduced a total of 31.5 positions across all employee groups.
At this point, we have identified $2.82 million dollars in INITIAL REDUCTION RECOMMENDATIONS (Non-Personnel & Personnel). Community and staff feedback regarding proposed budget reductions as well as suggestions for other budget areas to consider for reduction will be sought at FOCUS GROUP sessions throughout the month of January

Tomah
Tomah Journal; article 1-22-10

Tomah Journal. Friday, January 22, 2010
School district faces $1.2 million structural deficit

The board established a timeline for hammering out the 2010-11 budget. The tentative calendar is as follows:
*Feb. 16. Special board meeting to review the proposed budget repair recommendations.
*March 16 - Special board meeting with possible action on budget repair recommendations.
*April 15 - Regular board meeting with budget repair on the agenda.
*May 20 - Draft of 2010-11 budget completed.
*June 30 - Special board meeting for preliminary budget presentation.
The school district’s annual meeting is Monday, Aug. 9. The final budget must be approved by Oct. 31.


Middleton-Cross Plains
MCPASD News
Future Projections:The financial picture for our school district will be challenging over the next several years. A recent budget forecast projects structural budget deficits of approximately $1.2 million in 2010-11 and $1.7 million in 2011-12. In addition, the budget forecast projects a 15% reduction in state general aid each year for the foreseeable future. The anticipated reduction in state aid will definitely impact future school tax levies in our District which are estimated to increase from 4 to 6 percent annually over the next five years