Chief school administrator announces salary freeze

PALMER -- Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District Chief School Administrator Bob Doyle has announced a voluntary salary freeze for all central office administrators, including himself, the two assistant superintendents and 14 directors. The freeze comes at a time when the district is facing a budget crisis similar to that in other parts of the state.

"There will be a draconian of cuts in this district, possibly the worst single round of cuts we've ever had in the past 20 years," said Kim Floyd, the district's public information specialist. "The school board has no real recourse; unless we get assistance from the state we have no choice."

The 2004-2005 school year budget is scheduled to be unveiled at the Feb. 18 Mat-Su Borough School Board meeting. Normally the district would already have announced the budget recommendations, but Doyle's final recommendations for the budget are being put on hold until the Matanuska-Susitna Education Association negotiations are over with, which is the "largest unknown" in the budget.

"We are faced with the greatest challenge we have had in many years," Floyd said. "We will have to cut good programs, good services and good personnel next year."

The Anchorage School District announced its purposed budget Tuesday. Its budget includes cutting 332 positions, eliminating community school funding and increases in class sizes in all grade levels in order to meet the district's $26.2 million deficit. The Mat-Su district is about one-third the size of Anchorage and districts across the state are faced with similar challenges. Increases in local contributions to the Public Employees Retirement System and the Teachers Retirement System have caused large deficits in many FY05 budgets. The Mat-Su district will have to pay around $3 million to PERS/TRS next year, a cost that comes directly out of the district's operating budget.

"The reality is that we are given a set amount of money from the borough and the state to operate, and we can no longer operate schools the way we have in the past with the funding we are given," Floyd said.

She said one of the problems is that while the district, like every other company, faces inflation costs and the funding formula has no inflation-proofing mechanism. And for those who may think that $3 million isn't that much, Floyd pointed out that all of central administration could be wiped out and would only scratch the surface of paying that bill. Three million dollars could hire 60 new teachers, she said.

"We have a high expectation of quality and level of service we provide, and we will not be able to meet those expectations," Floyd said.

While the district has always tried to make do with the funds provided, this year everyone is going to feel the cuts. Floyd stressed that it really is something that the state needs to address, adding that the Matanuska-Susitna Borough has fully funded education for the past three years.

"Locally, we are walking the walk," she said.

Doyle, who took an almost $10,000 pay cut and added on the responsibilities of the assistant superintendent of finance in 1999 while working as the director of operations and maintenance, will not receive the $3,000 merit raise the school board granted him earlier this school year. Also, all of the assistant superintendents and directors will freeze their pay for the following school year. Before the voluntary freeze they had the opportunity to ask for a pay increase for FY05. But the question begs, with the district possibly facing a budget deficit like Anchorage, will that be enough?

"In the grand scheme of things, it saves the district a modest amount of money, but every little bit counts," Floyd said, adding that the staff may still be faced with an increase in out-of-pocket expenses next year. "The sacrifice is that these people are stepping up to the plate and saying 'we don't want to compound the problem.'"