Town hall meetings seek input on school district’s budget

Feel strongly about preserving arts and music education in the schools? Think student athletes should not have to pay to play sports? Want to keep innovative programs such as block scheduling and empowerment schools in place?

Now is the time to have your say.

The Clark County School District will host two town hall meetings to discuss the impact of anticipated budget cuts of 14 percent, or $120 million a year, for the next two years.

The first meeting will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Western High School, 4601 W. Bonanza Road, and an additional meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Chaparral High School, 3850 Annie Oakley Drive.

The district is looking for guidance because of the hard choices that must be made for next year's budget.

"We want an open and honest discussion," said Jeff Weiler, the district's chief financial officer.

As example of the hard choices under consideration, the district could increase the walking distance to high school from two miles to three miles and save about $3 million in bus transportation costs. But district officials also worry this could worsen the dropout rate by making it harder for students to get to school.

Although the Legislature and governor won't approve the 2009-2011 budget until June, the district has to move forward with its planning. The bleak economic outlook adds to the sense of urgency.

"If there are changes in staffing, HR (human resources) needs to know now," Weiler said.

The school district already put a freeze on filling vacant administrative positions, and it is considering deeper cuts in personnel.

Some proposals include eliminating computer support staff, librarians, special education support staff, literacy specialists and humanities teachers.

As unpopular as it sounds, the district also could cut its teaching staff by increasing class sizes.

Elementary schools, for example, could eliminate 231 teachers and save $15.6 million if they added one student to each class in the first, second and third grades. Currently, class sizes for the first through third grades are funded at 19 students per teacher.

Clark County high schools already have some of the biggest class sizes in the nation. Although they're funded at 35 students per teacher, some class sizes are much bigger than that. And it's not unusual for classes to have 50 students.

Nonetheless, the district anticipates saving $12.3 million next year by increasing high school class sizes by one student. Superintendent Walt Rulffes said the district must consider these options because it has to "cut where the money is spent."

The district also could face more immediate cuts to its current school year budget as state revenues decline. To help balance the books this year, the School Board is considering tapping into a contingency reserve fund for $5 million.

For the next school year, the district also might cut the amount of money it stashes in another reserve fund to free up $22 million for more immediate expenses.

Weiler said cutting the 2 percent contribution in half would be a temporary policy change. The district could go back to saving the full amount once the economy improves.

Jim McIntosh, the deputy finance officer, acknowledged the consequences of drawing down its reserves at a Nov. 5 workshop.

"We are quickly getting to the point where we are removing all safety nets from the district," he said.

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug @reviewjournal.com or 702-799-2922.