Community Meetings for District 197 Budget Details Pushed to May

Community meetings to discuss a more detailed budget plan will likely happen after the May 2 school board meeting, rather than the last week of April.

District 197 building administrators recently submitted their plans to meet budget reductions through staffing and program cuts. Now, human resources is reviewing those plans for feasibility at the district level, said Superintendent Jay Haugen.

Budget information presented Tuesday includes only general numbers and few of the details about staffing and specific program impacts that parents and staff will find meaningful.

Those details are scheduled to be formalized over the next week and presented to the board May 2.

The schedule of the community meetings will be somewhat affected by the schedules of school principals, who the board wants to be available to answer questions from parents said Haugen.

The board has incorporated more opportunities for public feedback this year, said chair Robin Rainford, because last year’s budget cuts made in a less inclusive manner “took our community by surprise.”

However, layoffs to tenured and probationary teachers must follow a strict timeline, and once the plan is made public May 2, there will be little room for moving parts of the budget around further.

 “At this point in the process its not about making changes. It’s about how do we come together to make the best of the situation,” said board member Pat Barnum. “There are other things that could come of those conversations.” She cited an example from her own experiences when a community member stepped forward to volunteer for a cut program.

Board member Christina Gillette said it was important to clarify that this late in the process, these meetings are more about educating the public.

Also on Tuesday's agenda:

• The district’s cabinet has received proposals for $400,000 of innovation dollars offered up to address any disparate budget impacts between the schools and to promote innovation that will lower the cost of education. There were roughly $2 million worth of proposals, many of which addressed staff development, technology use and differentiation skills said Haugen. He said the next step is to sit down with the school principals and discuss the projects. Ideally, Haugen said he would like to have the programs that will receive the money chosen by the start of May.
• The district’s magnet grant coordinator, Marilynn Smith, and the site-level magnet coordinators for Pilot Knob Elementary, Moreland Elementary and Heritage Middle School presented an update on the roll-out of their new programs thus far.  
• In a business portion of the meeting, the board approved a budget for integration revenue. Integration revenue from the state funds programs such as ALMAS, Building Bridges, AVID and Spanish language classes. Integration funding has been targeted for elimination at the state level, but thus far remains intact.
• The board also approved an early retirement incentive for secretarial staff. The district will offer to pay the single insurance rate until age 65 if four or more staffers take the deal. The move has no impact on the general fund, but would reduce disruption from administrative cuts.