Proposed 2004 school budget tight, but balanced

PALMER -- The Mat-Su School Board got its first look at the proposed budget for next year (FY04) Wednesday evening. At this point, revenues and expenditures are the same … about $138.8 million. In other words, it's balanced.

But already, it's not popular.

Dozens of residents from the Trapper Creek area were at Wednesday's board meeting and had signed up to protest the possible closure of their elementary school -- one of several measures the administration had suggested in order to bring next year's budget into equilibrium. The school remains open under the proposed budget, but not at current staffing levels.

Next year's budget allocates $229,109 for operating Trapper Creek Elementary, down from the $446,336 the district estimates it will have spent this year on the school. That means the school will have one full-time teacher, a half-time principal, a part-time custodian and secretary and no paid teacher aides. No money is provided for textbooks, office supplies or equipment, however, the school would see a slight increase in funding for computer equipment, library books and teaching supplies.

District administrators have contended that the elementary school has long been a drain on district funding, costing about $200,000 more to run each year than it generates in revenues. Chief School Administrator Bob Doyle stated in the introduction to the proposed budget, "Trapper Creek Elementary will remain open as long as the expenditures and revenue are balanced."

Instead of protesting a possible school closure, Trapper Creek parents and staffers found themselves protesting the proposed cuts. One speaker called the plan "garbage," and said it would revert the school to the 1850s, when one teacher was often expected to teach all grade levels in a one-room school house. Several parents suggested the plan was unfair to rural school kids, asking the board whether all schools had to operate under a "balanced budget."

Trapper Creek was not the only area to feel cuts, however. The proposed budget increases lunch prices by a quarter, and class sizes in many schools by two students each. Funding for substitute teachers is cut almost in half, the "School-within-a-School" programs at all middle schools will end, and many of the staff reductions made this year are carried over.

However, in highlighting some areas of the proposal, Doyle said he would recommend rehiring non-tenured staff who began work before Oct. 15, 2002.

The proposed budget uses a conservative enrollment projection of 14,160 students. About $68.8 million of the revenues comes from the state's foundation formula, roughly $32.3 million is expected to come from the borough, and $21.5 million is coming from the federal government (the rest comes from various grants).

While the proposed budget is balanced and does not, as Doyle pointed out, carry a deficit, it could still be affected by several things. While planning for negotiated increases for some unions, Doyle points out, "Future negotiations with MSPA and MSEA will have an impact on this budget."

Furthermore, if implemented by the Legislature, the Alaska School District Cost Study could cost the district $1.4 million in revenues next year.

The board has until April 1 to listen to public testimony and possibly tweak the proposed budget before sending it on to the Assembly for approval. A school board work session is planned for Feb. 19, and special public hearings are planned for March 5, 12, and 19 at 5 p.m. where public testimony will be heard.