Solving the budget puzzle and balancing the 2010/11 numbers means hacking $10 million from Lake Orion Community Schools? current spending, administrators say.
So far, school officials are working with three large-scale puzzle pieces, which, they say, ? if placed carefully ? could do the trick: Cutting salaries and benefits, borrowing from fund balance and choosing options from 38 different analyses and studies (see page 8).
Figuring which puzzle piece goes where is the messy part, say administrators and boardmembers. And no matter what, not everyone will be happy.
‘Unfortunately it’s a guessing game because of the way the state is about handling finances and the current chaos in Lansing,? said School Board President Bill Walters. ‘It’s very difficult to please all sectors of the public these days, especially if you’re in cut mode.?
When it comes to borrowing from fund balance ? the district’s rainy day savings account ? boardmembers like Walters and Bob Gritzinger say they’ll proceed with caution.
‘I’m not somebody who wants to sit around on a pile of money,? said Gritzinger. ‘I’ve always advocated digging into the bank account to save programs. We could burn what we have left, we could get through one year and then we’re done. Then it’s literally time to close the doors.?
Walters says he expects one more cut in state funding before the year’s over ? a cut they’ll absorb using fund balance.
When projecting this year’s budget, the district estimated it would use $5 million from fund balance. If it uses the full amount, the fund will drop to $12,649,225 ? enough to cover 15.2 percent of the district’s yearly expenditures.
Administrators, boardmembers and community members alike are calling for cuts in staff salary and benefits to make up a large chuck of the $10 million. Salary and benefits take up a whopping 85 percent of the yearly budget, according to administrators.
Reducing them, however, is easier said than done.
According to Assistant Superintendent Jillynn Keppler, ?80 percent of employees have collective bargaining agreements so we can’t just say that we’re going to take a five percent cut. It doesn’t work that way in the school world.?
Walters says the district will continue with that part of the puzzle through the negotiation process. He says there hasn’t been an exact number set for cutting salaries and benefits, but it could be around five to seven percent.
As for budget-reduction options from the 38 analyses and studies, Gritzinger and Boardmember Jim Weidman say it isn’t enough.
‘In many cases, it seems like a lot of things that won’t amount to the kind of money that we need ? a lot of important things,? said Gritzinger. ‘It’s little detail work when you need the big, broad brush. We need big, major funding reform. Now.?
Weidman pointed out that, to make the $10 million in cuts based on those studies and analyses alone, the district would have to eliminate athletics, transportation, school cleaning and close several buildings among many other cuts.
Moving forward, Walters says the board will hear budget recommendations from administrative staff at the board’s next meeting, March 10, followed by feedback from the strategic planning committee. A public hearing will be held in May before the budget is approved.