With their budgets slashed and the threat of more cuts on the horizon, local schools are finding it difficult to cut costs enough to offset the significant drop funding.
State aid per pupil, once at $4,433, is down to $4,218, and it’s possible that number could drop again before Thanksgiving. Gov. Mark Parkinson plans to announce soon how he'll make nearly $260 million in cuts and other budget adjustments. The changes are designed to prevent a deficit when the state's 2010 fiscal year ends June 30.
For public school districts, the cuts have meant finding ways to “do more with less.” While local districts have yet to cut staff, many positions that have been willingly vacated – resignations, retirements, etc. — are not being filled. But as labor is districts’ most expensive budget item, no one is promising anymore that layoffs won’t occur.
Meantime, however, steps are being taken to hold onto as much extra cash as possible. Many teachers are either buying their own supplies or simply going without. Annual field trips — the highlight of many students’ school year — are being reduced or canceled altogether. Rooms go dark as soon as possible. Computers, which many never thought twice about leaving on overnight, are shut down at the end of the day. Some schools – Northeast High School, for example – are either limiting or denying access to school facilities, such as a gymnasium, to non-school-related groups.
If there is a dollar to be saved somewhere, schools are trying to find it.
“We’re really getting creative in the way we do things,” said Courtney McCartney, principal at Lakeside Elementary School in Pittsburg.
McCartney said many of the changes being made at her school are not always noticeable by the students. That’s good, she said, because no school wants its students feeling like they are having things taken away from them. And in many instances, nothing is being taken away, but rather paid for differently than in years past.
“We have a reading celebration at the school each year, and usually we’ll have snacks and a book for all of the kids,” she said. “This year, with all of the cuts, there was no way we were going to be able to do all of the things we normally do. But we are fortunate that the PTO is really helping out and purchasing some of the snacks and other items for the kids.”
The PTO, McCartney said, is also helping with the costs of new lights for the school’s auditorium and has also bought rolls of paper for the school’s poster maker.
The trick to surviving financial times like these, said George Nettels Elementary School Principal Andrew Gottlob, is being able to change one’s mindset about what’s needed and what’s not. Prioritizing, perhaps now more than ever, is a must.
“Everyone knows that we need to be extra careful with the resources we have right now,” Gottlob said. “If there is something extra they want or need, they either get it themselves or go without. We’re not going to be able to get by and manage things like we maybe did in the past. It’s not like it used to be.”
Jeff Spangler, principal at Southeast High School, said his school is reducing the use of paper products, which can get somewhat expensive. The school is aided in that mission by its One-to-One program that provides a laptop computer to every student.
“It’s helped us cut back on paper supplies and even textbooks,” Spangler said. “Instead of buying a full shipment of textbooks, we may just buy 10 and have the students share.”
At Frontenac Junior High, Principal Ted Hessong said rather than “stockpile” certain supplies, teachers are buying only what’s immediately necessary.
“We have become more conscious about making sure what we have is what we really need,” he said. “We all realize the budget cuts and the staff here is willing to do whatever it takes to save money so we don’t have to cut jobs.”
If the good news is that all of these cost-saving measures have indeed helped save jobs, the bad news is that in the near future, it likely won’t be nearly enough.
“We know that if we get cut much more, there will be some serious decisions that have to be made,” McCartney said. “It will be more than just cuts to field trips and supplies.”
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With their budgets slashed and the threat of more cuts on the horizon, local schools are finding it difficult to cut costs enough to offset the significant drop funding.
State aid per pupil, once at $4,433, is down to $4,218, and it’s possible that number could drop again before Thanksgiving. Gov. Mark Parkinson plans to announce soon how he'll make nearly $260 million in cuts and other budget adjustments. The changes are designed to prevent a deficit when the state's 2010 fiscal year ends June 30.
For public school districts, the cuts have meant finding ways to “do more with less.” While local districts have yet to cut staff, many positions that have been willingly vacated – resignations, retirements, etc. — are not being filled. But as labor is districts’ most expensive budget item, no one is promising anymore that layoffs won’t occur.
Meantime, however, steps are being taken to hold onto as much extra cash as possible. Many teachers are either buying their own supplies or simply going without. Annual field trips — the highlight of many students’ school year — are being reduced or canceled altogether. Rooms go dark as soon as possible. Computers, which many never thought twice about leaving on overnight, are shut down at the end of the day. Some schools – Northeast High School, for example – are either limiting or denying access to school facilities, such as a gymnasium, to non-school-related groups.
If there is a dollar to be saved somewhere, schools are trying to find it.
“We’re really getting creative in the way we do things,” said Courtney McCartney, principal at Lakeside Elementary School in Pittsburg.
McCartney said many of the changes being made at her school are not always noticeable by the students. That’s good, she said, because no school wants its students feeling like they are having things taken away from them. And in many instances, nothing is being taken away, but rather paid for differently than in years past.
“We have a reading celebration at the school each year, and usually we’ll have snacks and a book for all of the kids,” she said. “This year, with all of the cuts, there was no way we were going to be able to do all of the things we normally do. But we are fortunate that the PTO is really helping out and purchasing some of the snacks and other items for the kids.”
The PTO, McCartney said, is also helping with the costs of new lights for the school’s auditorium and has also bought rolls of paper for the school’s poster maker.
The trick to surviving financial times like these, said George Nettels Elementary School Principal Andrew Gottlob, is being able to change one’s mindset about what’s needed and what’s not. Prioritizing, perhaps now more than ever, is a must.
“Everyone knows that we need to be extra careful with the resources we have right now,” Gottlob said. “If there is something extra they want or need, they either get it themselves or go without. We’re not going to be able to get by and manage things like we maybe did in the past. It’s not like it used to be.”
Jeff Spangler, principal at Southeast High School, said his school is reducing the use of paper products, which can get somewhat expensive. The school is aided in that mission by its One-to-One program that provides a laptop computer to every student.
“It’s helped us cut back on paper supplies and even textbooks,” Spangler said. “Instead of buying a full shipment of textbooks, we may just buy 10 and have the students share.”
At Frontenac Junior High, Principal Ted Hessong said rather than “stockpile” certain supplies, teachers are buying only what’s immediately necessary.
“We have become more conscious about making sure what we have is what we really need,” he said. “We all realize the budget cuts and the staff here is willing to do whatever it takes to save money so we don’t have to cut jobs.”
If the good news is that all of these cost-saving measures have indeed helped save jobs, the bad news is that in the near future, it likely won’t be nearly enough.
“We know that if we get cut much more, there will be some serious decisions that have to be made,” McCartney said. “It will be more than just cuts to field trips and supplies.”
