March 1. D-Day. Better, Budget Day. March 1 will be the day that Kimball public school board members will have to either make some of the hardest decisions of their careers or, they hope, breathe the biggest sigh of relief possible.
On March 1 the state will certify the amount of state aid they will issue to public schools. What that means for Kimball is either the appropriate funds to run the school on the current budget, or a cut of an estimated $437,000. A cut they fear is coming.
School Superintendent Troy Unzicker put numbers to the cut expected in state school funding at a public information meeting of the school board on Wed., Jan. 27. He also presented ideas to offset the cuts and asked for ideas from the community.
About 80 people attended the meeting.
School Board members Steve Diemoz, Danielle Reader and Lynn Vogel were present. Members Clint Cornils, Rick Perry and Dianne Wallace were absent.
Unzicker spoke for about two hours on the subject, using a Power Point presentation and taking numerous questions from the audience.
Unzicker was detailed, straight forward and clearly identified his personal preferences in the situation.
He emphasized that the meeting was to present information only and that no actions would be taken during the meeting.
The state legislature has made cuts in school funding because of the current economic situation.
Unzicker outlined several courses of action possible to cut school expenses to meet the lower school income figures. He stressed that he is presenting these possible choices to inform the public of what could be done.
Unzicker stated several times that the school board has acted on none of these courses so far.
“The rumors you have heard about us closing West Elementary and RiFing (reduction in force) teachers are not true,” Unzicker said.
The amount of aid coming will be declared by the state on or about March 1 and the level of cutting necessary will then be known.
He said there would be another public meeting of the Jan. 27 type before any strong actions would be taken.
Unzicker pointed out that local taxes, mostly property tax, are 56.5 percent of Kimball school support. State support makes up 34.7 percent of funding and Federal support is only 5.5 percent.
On the expense side, Unzicker said that the cost of all instruction is $4.051 million, main operations cost $968,279, Special Ed is $524,196, Federal costs are $396,334, transportation is $388,774 Principal’s Office is $311,073, Executive (Superintendent’s) Office is $244,723, pupil support is $55,663, school board expense is $47,225, general administration is $38,500, staff support is $27,500, and debt service is $14,354.
All this adds up to about $7.1 million of expenses.
Unzicker also said that the school district has to keep a significant cash reserve because property tax monies from the county usually do not come through in significant amounts until about March, because of the timing of tax payments by property owners. He said some school districts have to borrow large amounts of money to keep going until the property tax revenues start coming in. Kimball has not had to do this.
Unzicker identified areas where cost cuts can be made.
He said the process of not filling every staff vacancy caused by normal attrition is already being followed.
He said the school board is aware of four vacancies that will definitely exist next term. One of the vacancies (school nurse) has to be filled by law and the other three will be evaluated.
Unzicker listed five more cost cutting possibilities. He identified them as emotional issues and said no decisions have been made to date on any of them.
The five possible actions are: go to a four day school week, cut bussing, have an official Reduction In Force, raise taxes, and, close West Elementary School.
He said none of these actions taken alone (except RIF) would solve a $437,000 shortfall.
“At this point I am against every option on the board,” he said.
Following his presentation and cons to the five ideas, Unzicker opened the floor to comments.
Q) Can the school share a nurse?
A) We will look at it.
Q) Which day would be cut in a four day school week?
A) Most four day schools have cut Monday or Friday.
Q) Could all West School students fit into Mary Lynch?
A) Yes.
Q) How many students at West?
A) About 109.
Unzicker said school enrollment has decreased by about 100 students in the past five years and that enrollment is dropping about 15 students a year now. He said five years ago there were space problems and there are no space problems now.
In answer to a question from the audience, he said getting rid of the modulors at Mary Lynch instead of closing West would equivocate to less savings . The exact number he did not know as he had not “penciled it out.”
Q) What about future growth of the school district?
A) Depends on growth of the community.
Unzicker said strength of the school system is a factor in recruiting physicians for the hospital.
“When people come to the community, they want to see the school,” he said.
He said if Hospital CEO Julie Schnell calls him about a new prospect wanting to see the school, he is very accommodating.
Other potential growth areas are in the possible rail spur project. Unzicker, trying to avoid any political statements, said the city is preparing a ballot issue for bond support of the rail spur project.
Q) What about sin taxes, like alcohol, tobacco and gambling?
A) Some lottery income goes to education but most of it goes to higher education.
Unzicker said he would consider a Reduction In Force only as a last resort.
He said a one cent increase in the tax levy means $40,000 to the school district.
Danielle Reader, President of the School Board, said the board members are elected and they are also taxpayers and parents. She asked the public to become more of the process. She said school board meetings are open to all but few attend.
Reader said that realistically the board would soon be making some hard decisions.
Next school board meeting will be held Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers.
