More state funds eyed

School board hoping $12m is on the way

November 18, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - After a short discussion Wednesday about being more fiscally conservative, Mat-Su School Board members voted unanimously to work on their fiscal year 2007 budget under the assumption that they will receive nearly $12 million more in education funds from the state next year.

The vote took place as part of the district's effort to get an early jump on the annual budget cycle. The goal is to have a proposed budget ready shortly after the new year, which the district can then use as a starting point to urge the Legislature and Mat-Su Borough Assembly to provide funding.

New board members Cheryl Turner and Pat Purcell questioned whether the district needs $12 million more from the state.

District Superintendent of Business Jack Sherman, however, gave a presentation detailing why the district's budget needs to grow. Citing increases in retirement benefits, salaries, health insurance costs, student testing, utilities and additional costs for opening the new Wasilla elementary school, Sherman said overall costs would increase by nearly $14 million next year, meaning the district would still be $3.1 million short even with an increase of $12 million.

At issue was whether to use the state's current funding allotment of $4,919 per student or the recent proposed increase by Gov. Frank Murkowski of $5,347 per student.

&#8220I don't think it would be in our best interest to do our budget with projections that may not happen,” Turner said in arguing against a budget that assumes the governor's numbers.

Member Pat Purcell agreed, saying the district is better off creating a more fiscally conservative budget that can be added to later if state funding does increase.

Members Linda Menard, Larry DeVilbiss, Dan Contini and President Sarah Welton opposed using the smaller numbers.

&#8220Given the price of oil and revenue that we're experiencing, there will be money and, I believe, because it's an election year there will be money that is dumped into education,” Menard said. &#8220I think we are really going to dig ourselves a hole if we don't go for the additional money.”

The self-proclaimed conservative Larry DeVilbiss said he might surprise some board members, but he, too, supported using the governor's increased funding proposal.

&#8220When it's being offered, it's a little different than asking for something out of thin air,” DeVilbiss explained.

&#8220By the same token, I'm not going to do what we did last year when they started piling on and making it bigger. I stuck with the governor's proposal even though the Legislature came out with more.”

From the local funding side, board members debated whether to ask the Mat-Su Borough Assembly to increase their contribution from $38 million to $38.9 million to account for inflation.

With the unknown impact of the new borough tax-cap, however, board members agreed to not ask for a increase from the borough, despite Contini's urgings to do otherwise.

&#8220I realize we're all in a money bind, but if we don't ask for something, God is not going to send it down to you either, so you better ask for it,” Contini argued.

Turner, however, said the board needs to show it is willing to work for a more conservative budget.

&#8220It is what the communities are looking for, and I believe it will relieve the hatchet job that the assembly has to do to us in the spring,” she said.

With a projected enrollment of 16,025 students for next fall, the school district is considering a number of ways to save money. These include: privatizing housekeeping, maintenance and food services, restricting out of state travel, shutting down all facilities in July, reviewing copy machine usage, and continuing with efforts to reduce energy costs.

It was agreed that the overall goal of the budget is to focus resources on the board members' goals, which include getting all schools

to reach Adequate Yearly Progress under the No

Child Left Behind federal requirements.

Contact Joel Davidson at

352-2266 or joel.davidson@

frontiersman.com.