MSBSD facing staff cuts

PALMER — The process of balancing the budget in the Mat-Su Borough School District happens every March, is presented April 1 for review, and this year resulted in 44 personnel cuts across the district.

“We don’t think that’s how it’s going to end up,” MSBSD Superintendent Deena Paramo said. Increased contributions from the state or the borough could improve that number.

Where exactly those cuts will occur depends greatly on where the students are. The district assigns teachers based on its target ratio of students to teachers. In the Mat-Su Borough, the student-teacher ratio is 30:1 for high school and 31:1 for all other grade levels, the highest teaching ratio in the state.

Although the Mat-Su school district grew by 9 percent between 2007 and 2012, according to the Alaska Department of Education, the state’s other big districts — Anchorage, Kenai, Fairbanks and Juneau — saw decreases in enrollment.

Each school’s staffing is determined relative to the student-teacher ratio the school board approved. Paramo said the district is very accurate in predicting how many students will enroll and that final numbers are usually within 2 percent of the district’s forecast.

But when the forecasted numbers are off, it ultimately means a change in staffing levels at schools to bring the student-teacher ratio in line, she said.

The district’s announced staffing cuts hit Colony High School especially hard, with 5.5 staff to be cut there, Paramo said. Three of those were cut due to down enrollment — Colony High has seen a 100-student decrease the past two years — with the other 2.5 for budget reasons.

Because the numbers are tied to enrollment, cuts won’t be uniform across the district. Tanaina Elementary, for instance, has enough of an increase in enrollment that it is set to get a new teacher next year based on current numbers.

Those teachers and support staff won’t necessarily lose their jobs. But unless more money comes in from the state or borough, they won’t return next fall to jobs at Colony High.

After the school board approved its 2013-14 budget, which includes 44 fewer positions, district officials made school administrators with a surplus of positions that needed to be reduced aware of how many to cut by the end of March.

It was then left to each school to determine how cuts were made. In the case of Colony, to avoid taking teachers out of a subject students are required to take for multiple years such as English and math, it was the elective courses such as art, music, physical education and world languages that suffered losses.

While 44 appears to be a high number, it is likely to improve as the budgeting process continues through the state and borough, Paramo said.

“Nobody at this time has been given a pink slip,” she said.

On a state level, everyone in Juneau, from the governor on down, seems to be saying it’s unlikely the per-pupil allowance will increase this year. Paramo said the district is seeking to eke out other monies from the state, perhaps through increased transportation funding or technology funding. Money for both of those things would free up school dollars to be spent on teachers.

As for the local contributions, the district is asking for 3 percent more this year over last. The goal is to continue to get small bumps like that until Mat-Su school funding is closer to parity with Anchorage and Fairbanks.

“We want to do our part in creating a healthy borough, but we need funds to do it,” Paramo said.

As for why the budget calls for staffing cuts, Paramo said the cost of doing business has simply gone up. The district needs to spend about $2 million more to account for pay increases and insurance premiums are going up.

Meanwhile, enrollment here continues to grow. The Mat-Su Borough School District welcomed 180 new students this school year and projects an additional 100 new students for 2013-14.

“I foresee it’s going to be more than that, but all I have is a crystal ball,” Paramo said.

Freelance writer Casey Branch is a Valley resident, college student and recent high school graduate.