Saline schools looks at budget cuts that don't impact the classroom
The Saline Area Schools Board of Education is examining seven proposals to trim an estimated $325,000 from its budget.
The district is aiming to make $2 million in cuts from its budget this school year and an additional $3.4 million next year as it contends with a shortfall.
Proposed Mid-year Adjustments$120,000 $25,000 $13,000 $16,000 $16,000 $15,000 $40,000 NWEA reduction (eliminate springÂ
assessment - 9th & 10 grade)$10,000 $10,000 $20,000 $35,000 $5,000 $325,000
He noted the cuts will have minimal impact on classroom activity.
“It was a collective effort to come to this number,” Laatsch said. “We’re looking at $5.5 million we have to trim out of the budget, and this is the first step toward that, but obviously we’re still a long way away.”
The district has already imposed a freeze on supplies spending as it tries to figure out whether a 20 percent cut in the buildings budget is the ideal figure.
The money is designated for “small items” like copy paper, running the copy machines, staplers and individual classroom budgets for teachers.
The reduction will snip roughly $125,000 from the budget, and Laatsch said teachers will have to begin sharing their resources.
“That does have the potential to impact some instructional areas if you don’t have supplies,” he said. “But a 20-percent reduction is very manageable. We don’t think that’s going to paralyze the schools.”
He added hub printing could also help the district save on supplies. The change would centralize printing instead of having schools maintaining numerous printers scattered throughout the buildings.
The district is also looking to reduce two contracted services for a savings of $29,000. The alternative education program uses several online credit recovery courses, but will now only use one. And the in-house tech support will take care of computer-related issues so the district can end its service contracts with Dell and Apple.
“We’ve gotten to the point where our tech staff is streamlined enough that we can handle this stuff,” Laatsch said.
The transportation department signed a better long-term contract for fuel which, combined with cutbacks on bus maintenance equipment purchases, will save the district $40,000.
Budgets for maintenance equipment across the district and technology equipment will also see combined cuts of $30,000.
“In other words, we are going to get by with what we have now,” Laatsch said.
The district will stop giving the NWEA test to 9th and 10th grade students in the spring semesters, which will cut $10,000 from the budget.
Laatsch said the cut wasn’t a big concern because kids at that grade are taking other similar tests during the spring.
One change that will increase revenue is in the community education department, which will bump up its annual payment to the district by $25,000. The state caps how much the community education program can pay districts for using their facilities, but Laatsch said Saline’s program is well below that figure.
While the cuts are the first in many to come, Laatsch said parents have been understanding of the proposed cuts so far.
“Our community expected that stuff like this was coming, so I don’t think the reaction is too negative,” he said. “I think people want us to be responsible and we’re doing our best to be responsible.”
Laatsch added staff cuts are likely after Jan. 1. The Saline school board is asking its teachers’ union and three other employee groups to re-open their contracts to review wages and benefits.
“With a large percentage of our money tied up in staff salary and benefits in the end, we are going to have to look at that category,” he said.
The district is holding another community meeting to discuss budget issues on Dec. 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the Liberty School auditorium.
Tom Perkins is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.
Comments
stunhsif
Wed, Dec 16, 2009 : 6:54 a.m.
Right off the Saline Area Schools website is the following: Saline Schools pay $4,968,000 dollars for health care benefits for 416 people. That is $11,944.00 dollars per person. That is FISCAL insanity. Time to recall several of the Saline School Board members folks!!!
Salinedad
Mon, Dec 14, 2009 : 10:14 p.m.
I attended tonights community conversation. It talked about the same things that have been discussed in depth 5 years ago. Class reconfiguration, pay to play, alternative revenue streams etc...with the same untouchable...premium sharing by staff. One parent talked about the $5,000 per year in premium sharing her family pays. (this is about the same most families pay today for premium sharing if not in k-12 setting.) She also mentioned that premium sharing was part of the Long Range Planning Committee recommendation from 2004 that were ignored by past administrations and School Boards. As a point of reference if we charged $5000 per employee of the district for family coverage we would reduce cost by (423 staff x $5000 per year in premium sharing)$2.1 million per year...$4.2 million for two years which would reduce the budget problem to $1.2 million over 2 years....so what is stopping us from having a straight forward solution...Board politics and a long term culture of giving the SEA everything they want...even if it results in loss of programs, services and teachers. Lisa Slawson (a long time Board member who is hated by the SEA) has asked people to attend Board meetings and write the Board and the Supt. with your thoughts. Be engaged and active, for only through direct engagement will the Board be so inclined to support the interests of the community over the interests of the SEA. The Board meetings are every other Tuesday from 6:30p.m. at Liberty Media Center.
stunhsif
Mon, Dec 14, 2009 : 9:13 p.m.
@ SalineDad-PaperTiger-InsideTheHall, Good comments gentlemen! I hope you all are attending the school board meetings and community meetings? I couldn't go tonight as I was watching my young son. Why on earth does a Saline teacher with 21 years of service get 20 sick days plus 2 personal days off a year? That is 12.2% of their total work time off if so desired. If they don't use them they can cash them in or bankroll them for the next year. How many of you guys even get sick days, I get ZERO. Keep in mind that your Saline School Board President ( David Friese) and your Vice President (David Medley) are both retired public school teachers, Friese from Westland John Glenn and Medley from Belleville. Do you really think they want to play hard ball with the SEA and the MEA? Of course not, it only benefits them to give away the farm.
PaperTiger
Sat, Dec 12, 2009 : 5:27 p.m.
SalinDad: You're absolutely right about administrators (both past and present) wanting to just "keep the peace" in Saline. Look where it got them. It's so full of nepotism, if someone on the Board disagreed with anyone, it was sure to hurt someone's wife, or husband, or sister, etc.'s feelings and we can't have THAT, now, can we? It used to be one, big, happy "family" and that was a good thing while it lasted, but it's time to get down to business and do what is best for the kids, and the community and that means EVERYONE contributing something, i.e., pay cut, benefit cut, or whatever it takes to get out of the red. It CAN be done, but not without sacrifice by all concerned and coming to the table in an adult manner. What ever happened to SBSDM (Site-Based Shared Decision Making)? The Superintendent has his work cut out for him but, fortunately, he doesn't have an "agenda" and can look at it from the proper perspective. Let's give him a chance, SEA, to do what he does best and that is make decisions without fear of offending someone.
Salinedad
Sat, Dec 12, 2009 : 5:13 p.m.
SpamBot1, the comments about "little if any negotiations" are what the AnnArbor.com reported and what Board members, current and past supts. have said. I'm just the repeating their words. Maybe you should ask AnnArbor.com why they reported their story that way? I would encourage you to actually read the contract. AnnArbor.com has it available via weblink. You will find the reading very interesting...for example why does the contract provide for the District to purchase annual annuities for its teachers? Don't these teachers already get a very generous pension? Why does the district not charge anything for health benefits (only 4% of all district in the state have this...and those disticts have foundation rates that are about 40% higher than Salines) and similar details. If one does some simple costing of the various provisions of the contract, getting a 10% reduction in the cost of the contract per year can get done, without reducing the quality of life for our highly qualified teaching staff. As past Supt's have said (and past businsess managers of the District have said) to me and many others over the years,"if the Board had just let us negotiate rather than tell us to keep the peace, we would have reduced our cost of our SEA contracts years ago." Otherwise, the community will see the closing of schools (can you say Houghton?), elimination of great teachers (who will join the growing ranks of the community), increased class size by about 3 kids per class per grade and the elimination of programs and services. So what makes the most sense to you?
sasquatch
Sat, Dec 12, 2009 : 10:51 a.m.
PaperTiger- Are there any other options for public school teachers besides a union? Would a school board negotiate with non-union members? You are right that without a vote the SEA's position is based on a few opinions...I'd be curious to see what the vote would look like from the members of the union
PaperTiger
Sat, Dec 12, 2009 : 9 a.m.
InsideTheHall: Yes, you are definitely right about the heydays of the unions are gone - LONG gone. It's all about working together for a solution. People in Saline are tired of paying and paying and paying without any thought of a concession from the SEA. Why anyone would want to belong to a union and have someone else do the talking for them is beyond me. And the union dues. What a joke. Just padding the pockets of the union reps. Graden is on the right track and the people of Saline are definitely supporting him in his effort. Time to clear the road and move on.
InsideTheHall
Sat, Dec 12, 2009 : 7:09 a.m.
Spambot1: Written like a true union lemming. You are about to see the citizens of Saline take back their District. The day of the SEA is over, finished. "Road Grader" Graden has the vast backing of the community to bring this back into line. Yes. Everyday hard working people are about to take back the District and the union minions are about to see some shock and awe.
BobbyJohn
Fri, Dec 11, 2009 : 11:16 p.m.
Spambot1, Please do not denigrate people who care about the community and are working hard to come up with reasonable solutions. Try being a mensch, you might enjoy it,
SpamBot1
Fri, Dec 11, 2009 : 7:31 p.m.
SalineDad --- You arm-chair superintendents are so cute. You think you have all the solutions, you think you know how the schools and unions operate, you think because you have a kid in school, and perhaps your wife volunteers in the classroom, that you are now an expert on efficiency and education and labor law and teaching. You think that your business or accounting or financial or management background qualify you to operate a school. --- And then you say something like "the Board has repeatedly approved contracts with little or no negotiation" and reveal just how elementary your understanding is. --- Go back to your office. You might know what you are talking about over there.
PaperTiger
Fri, Dec 11, 2009 : 6:23 p.m.
SalineDad: You hit the nail right on the head and you are absolutely correct. I don't understand why the SEA at Saline just doesn't "get it". I agree with you. Tim, Scot - GET IT DONE and move on.
goodthoughts
Fri, Dec 11, 2009 : 3:05 p.m.
If what you say is correct, and I have no reason not to think it is, why can't they just charge employees $125.00 for benefits a month? Wouldn't that extra $75.00 from every employee help with the budget shortfall?
GoblueBeatOSU
Fri, Dec 11, 2009 : 12:46 p.m.
Major corporations charge their employees $450+/month for medical benefits, yet Saline Schools only charges a few employees $50/month. If Saline Schools charged just 200 employees what corporations charge their employees Saline Schools would reduce their budget short-fall by half. Saline Schools continue to want to give their employees golden benefits. The times have changed. Taxpayers were very clear at the polls that the schools need to bring their expenses in-line with the rest of the country. It starts with eliminating the golden benefits. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge support of Saline Schools. The teachers are top notch. Unfortunately,times have changed and the schools can't afford these benefit programs.
tracyann
Fri, Dec 11, 2009 : 12:45 p.m.
So, they're trying to come up with ways to cut costs and people are still complaining it's not enough. Maybe salaries being cut and benefits reduced are the only answers to see substantial savings, but the way that people are demanding this is kind of discomfitting. As a former auto worker, I remember a time when many thought that auto workers made too much money and received better benefits than many and, by gosh, that just wasn't fair! So overtime was cut, pay was frozen, co-pays for insurance were increased, and still, how many lost their jobs? I understand the frustration and anger that come when districts overspend, do not budget their money wisely, and then expect the public to pay more out-of-pocket to compensate for it. I get upset, too. What I don't understand is the mentality of, "If I have to struggle, then so should everybody else." Especially when it's just other people trying to get by, like you and me.
Salinedad
Fri, Dec 11, 2009 : 11:06 a.m.
This whole story is so sad. In 1999 the District had a reserve of $25 million and were told by Plante Moran (their auditor) that they should look at premium sharing and set aside monies for the increases in pension rates the District should expect to receive by the 2005 period. They should also be sensitive to the double digit rate increase for both benefits in the forward looking years. Instead the Board has repeatedly approved contracts with little or no negotiation over the years that has moved the percent of general funds for salary and benefits moving from 79% of the budget to now close to 91%. With step increases the average teacher has received a annual pay increase of over 7% per year over the past 10 years. Meanwhile most people not in education got 2.5 - 3.5 percent pay increases and their premium sharing has moved from 5% premium sharing to today most companies have employees pay 25% of the premium. In addition, the co-pay for medical is higher and the prescription drug plan is inferior to most employees of the district today. Today Saline teachers at in the top 1% of total reward in the nation at the k-12 level. In 2004 the Long Range Planning Committee recommended a 5 year phase in for premium sharing so that by 2009 15% of the cost of premium would be shared by all staff (not just teachers). This recommendation has been ignored. As a result the district has drawn down it's reserve by an average of $2.5 million per year since 1999. So why did this happen? Because the Saline School Board has been controlled (and is currently controlled) by the MEA. Hopefully the Board and the SEA have come to understand that everyone knows what the problem is, not that we need less teachers, we need more, but at a price we can afford. With a 10% pay cut (between base wage change, no merit and premium sharing) the district would reduce is cost of operations by $5.3 million in annual expense. This is greater than the 2 year budget shortfall and would allow for adequate reserves when the state funding is cut again in 2011 and the student count goes down due to projected reductions in student headcount beginning next year. All that needs to happen is for our combined leaders to actually lead rather than blame someone else for the problem. The problem is not a poorly developed Proposition A program, but excessive demands from local leaders and poor oversight by the Saline School Board for many years. Tim, Scot, David and your peers, get it done and quit passing the buck to others.
Greg S
Fri, Dec 11, 2009 : 9:24 a.m.
I hope the union can learn to see how un-green the grass on their own side of the fence can become if they fail to acknowledge the full extent of our new economy before the kids suffer more than needed. I believe we are seeing the dawning of a new global age and sacrifices must be made.
SMAIVE
Fri, Dec 11, 2009 : 9:16 a.m.
With a large percentage of our money tied up in staff salary and benefits in the end, we are going to have to look at that category, I believe that is stating the most obvious solution.
Flanigann
Fri, Dec 11, 2009 : 9:04 a.m.
The SEA leadership is not working in the best interest of their entire membership. Many teachers in the district would be willing to work with administration. The 'Fat Cat' leadership is only interested in protecting their benefit level and retirement at the expense of the newer members of the SEA. It's a sad story that will ultimately end with staff reductions (teaching and non-teaching), school closings, and privatization of busing, custodial,and food service.
InsideTheHall
Fri, Dec 11, 2009 : 8:44 a.m.
This is peanuts and shows that the real solution is salaries and bennies. The teacher union has refused to open their contract with the district. The union has turned a blind eye to the students and parents in a time of need. The head in the sand approach by the union will hurt the students with reduce educational programs. It will also hurt the teachers as we can expect and will demand a 10% headcount reduction in faculty to balance the budget. Wonder how the young teachers with little tenure feel now that their union has thrown them under the bus??????? "It's beyond freeze time boys." Lee Iacocca today
sellers
Fri, Dec 11, 2009 : 8:23 a.m.
I wonder how much would be saved if they took every other light bulb out in not critical areas. I realize reading requires good lighting, but in hallways, or auxiliary gymnasiums, or offices.