A New Budget Reality: D210 Board Will Talk Cuts, Added Revenue at Special Meeting

Belt-tightening has been an unfortunate reality for school districts across the Southland in the past years. Diminishing state aid and the reduced growth in the area have gone from temporary problems to the standard way of doing business.

As he's done in years past, Superintendent Lawrence Wyllie has taken the halfway point in the school year to look at the economic challenges that face the district, trying to figure out ways to cut back spending and develop new revenue streams. Over the past three years, the district has made about $8 million in cuts, much of it coming by eliminating personnel, Wyllie said.

"When I started monkeying around with (the budget) three years ago, I thought (the economic downturn) was going to be a temporary thing," Wyllie said. "I thought we'd have a lot of growth starting to come back again. Our economy is getting a little better, but I'm now thinking that we're going to have to come up with a lot of new ways to do a lot of things. I can't rely on the state (paying its aid)."

Wyllie will present some of the financial options he's considered to the district's school board at a public workshop at 8 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, at .

"How do you deal with a continual loss of revenue?" Wyllie said. "How do you deal with that in your personal lives? Well, you cut expenditures. Or you find more revenue. ... We look at how we can raise some more revenues. We look at raising prices in the cafeteria. We look at prices in the vending machines. ... We look at raising our textbook fees. We look at any kind of a fee that's going to give us money. We look at those things, and then we say usually, 'The economy is tough right now. (Parents) can't live with all these fee increases.' But we look at them."

Wyllie, however, is quick to point out that while he has been considering different possibilities, he has yet to present them to board members. And those members haven't discussed them, let alone made any decisions about adopting such measures.

"The way I look at it, they're tools to have," he said. "We have made no decisions on any of that. But they're things we want to have in our hip pocket because we want to make some decisions. ... We haven't gone anywhere with the board with this stuff. But have looked at this stuff? Of course, but it's all part of what we're looking at for the next school year."

Speculation on what proposals are on the table has been spreading throughout the district. Parents and other district residents have heard talk of adding fees for textbooks and student participation.

"Do you think I'm going to want to (add a student participation fee) when I've stood in front of thousands of people over the past several years and said, 'You know, one of the big reasons we want more high schools is to give kids the opportunity to participate in things.' We want to have four football teams and four mathletes and four chess clubs. Are we looking at it? Absolutely. that's part of my job," Wyllie said, adding that if the board wanted to do this, he wouldn't recommend it because of the negative effect it would have on student academic achievement.

Another option mentioned would be taking advantage of a state waiver that would allow freshman and sophomore student-athletes to opt out of physical education classes. , but it won't be part of Wyllie's presentation because the state hasn't ruled on it yet, he said.

While the district will be open to considering different options to weather this financial storm, there are definitely some ideas that he would be against, such as shortening the school day and lowering credit requirements, Wyllie said.

"I would never consider doing anything that would reduce the quality of our educational program," he said. "Now, I say that, people will probably argue that we've already done that, which we have. But if you talk about shortening the school day, I would not shorten the school day. No I would not do that."

"You want to nibble around the edges and take the stuff away that has the minimum amount of effect on the kids," he added. "It takes 22 credits to graduate from here. I don't want to monkey with that stuff if I can help it. ... I'd like to lengthen our school year is what I'd like to do."

Although these measures are being considered for dealing with the 2012-13 budget, the approach Wyllie and the district are taking is a long-term one. The lack of guaranteed state funding is a budgeting constant now, not simply a one- or two-year glitch, Wyllie said. For the past three yeas, the district has taken from its reserves to cover for unexpectedly late or reduced state aid payments--and it will do that again this year. But this is a practice that can't continue, and the district needs to adapt to the new reality, Wyllie said.

"At a certain point you can't take any more out," he said. "You still need a school where kids come to school and take classes, you got to have teachers. You've used up all your reserves. What's your alternative? You go to the community for a referendum. I'm not interested in doing that. I've always tried to live my life that you live within your means. And our board has, too. We've always tried to do that. What's the answer? I don't know."

The next step is talking with the board to figure out a financial game plan going forward, Wyllie said. Decisions will need to be made without knowing what the state General Assembly has on tap for educational funding, he said. The legislature returns to session Jan. 31 and probably won't reach any decisions until May, he said. If any staffing cuts are made in the district, personnel need to be notified by April 1.

"We've taken a terrific school district ... and we're starting to nickel-and-dime it to the point that you chip away at it-- Well, it's just discouraging," Wyllie said. "Breaks my heart to think about it."