By Diana Whittle
Spring is always budget time for the Kyrene school district, but this year school administrators must plan for a $5.2 million shortfall in the 2015-16 fiscal budget, due to cuts recommended by the governor’s office. According to the Executive Budget Summary, the reason the governor chose to reduce non-classroom spending is to re-focus on students and teachers. Superintendent David Schauer questions the rationale behind the diminished funding, however, and posted his comments on the district’s website. “The Governor’s proposed budget impacts school districts negatively and is clearly a reduction in funding. “For many years, Kyrene has been the top district in its peer group in classroom spending. We do not need to be told this should be our priority, as it always has been,” said Schauer. Staff recently developed several scenarios to reduce spending, which were presented to the Governing Board by the district’s chief financial officer, Jeremy Calles. New this year is the involvement of the leadership team, at each of the district’s 25 schools, members of which actively participated in a decision-making exercise to identify potential cuts. Some of the recommendations involve reductions in force for several positions, as well as reduced hours for others. The specials, such as music, art and physical education, also could face sharp reductions. At the district level, Calles says a withdrawal of $2 million from the benefits trust might be a possible solution, due to positive management of the fund. “The district made an investment into employee wellness practices and into communicating better behaviors on health management,” he said.
The Kyrene Employee Benefit Trust board also developed multiple plans over the years so employees can choose health options that meet their needs, while being both cost effective for them and the district, Calles noted. “The result was a multi-year reduction in claims expenses when the industry standard is to continually escalate from year to year.” District-wide salaries would adjust minimally with a 0.5 percent increase for all employees being recommended, which is not quite as dire as years when the district had complete a pay freeze, explained Calles. “We also are continuing the Performance Based Retention Plan, which allows for a possible 2.5 percent increase to employees when they enter their seventh year with the district, if they have met all of the performance measures during their time of service,” said Calles. “The pay plan was introduced last year and is an employee retention strategy aimed at decreasing employee training costs and keeping teachers in our district.” Calles anticipates that in addition to the cuts for the upcoming fiscal year, there will be more down the road. “We can anticipate the governor and the legislature will continue their approach to balancing the state budget by reducing expenditures.” He says that there is some good news to be found, though. “Kyrene’s administration, in coordination with the Governing Board, has been very efficient and strategic in managing the budget over the past several years, in spite of diminishing funding support from the state.” Calles outlined the timeline for finalizing the budget, which by law must be balanced by June 30. “We may still need to make a few more cuts over the next few years, but we will be surgical with our approach,” he said. “We are prepared to review the budget each year, carefully, to maximize our limited resources with the least possible impact on student achievement or their experience in the classroom. “Kyrene will remain strong due to dedicated local support and a proven track record that makes Kyrene a popular choice with parents.” For additional information about the proposed budget, visit the district’s website at www.kyrene.org and select the Financial Transparency link on the left side of the home page.
Optimism remains as Kyrene schools ponder Ducey budget cuts
