Area schools could soon feel pain of state budget cuts
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
A school without extracurricular activities or a fulltime kindergarten and with faculty reductions seems improbable. Students in overcrowded classrooms with limited access to art and music programs, schools with no middle school sports, and teachers overburdened with larger classes also paint a bleak picture.
Those are just a few of the changes education may endure if the Montana Legislature goes through with the $90 million cut it’s considering. The Legislature will soon consider several options that would make such drastic measures a reality.
While students feel the pinch in the classroom, their parents are going to feel the crunch at the ballot box. Some districts are considering asking property taxpayers to fund sport and art programs to make up for the state’s cuts.
Unlike other states that can function on a deficit, every year Montana’s budget must balance with the predicted revenue of the state. Because of a decrease of income tax and corporate tax revenue brought on by the recession, the predicted revenue falls short this year and the legislature is faced with a $400 million budgeting gap to fill when it meets in the upcoming session.
And education is far from the only department to feel the budget crunch. The budget cutting options extend far and wide, touching almost every state agency.
“This isn’t going to be a one-time deal,” Charlo Superintendent Paul Jenkins said. “This is going to continue over several years.”
Jenkins and other school administrators and school boards are already facing budget cuts for the upcoming year, and they’re concerned that more cuts in the schools’ budgets may cripple schools further in future years.
“I can see it happening here that districts will say that we are just not meeting accreditations standards,” Jenkins said. “We are seeing a lot more of that statewide anyway just because of budget restraints.”
In Charlo, Jenkins specified art and music programs may be the first to be cut, as well as middle school sports. Other extracurricular activities will follow depending on the actual amount of the budget cut that will be decided on in January.
He mentioned that a school district near Kalispell is considering a mill levy on the ballot to fund district sports, placing the burden of funding school athletics completely at the discrepancy of local taxpayers.
Jenkins doesn’t believe that some of the more drastic options will be considered, such as cuts to the special education programs or the consolidation of high schools with 40 students or less, but notes that Charlo will have to function with fewer teachers or administrators, regardless
House Representative Janna Taylor and Jenkins both understand that Montana is losing students. Because of the economic recession and the gradual loss of local businesses, families are seeking employment elsewhere.
Taylor sees the issue as largely economic. Her solution to the problem is to give businesses and farmers a tax break, allowing them to employ more people, while enabling them to compete with businesses in other states with less stringent taxes.
“I wish (school districts) were ranting and raving” about losing students instead of losing funding, Taylor said.
Taylor, who serves on the state’s financial committee, is horrified at the number of students Montana is losing because of the economic recession and dropout rates.
In the past few years, Charlo Schools have echoed the trend in the state as 30 families have sought employment elsewhere, taking their students with them. Because of that declining enrollment, Charlo didn’t rehire after teacher Janet Duckmore retired. It also didn’t renew the contract of one non-tenured teacher. At an upcoming school board meeting, the board will consider more budget cuts that will affect Charlo’s school in the next year.
And the numbers don’t lie.
In 10 years, Ronan High School has lost 120 students, while Charlo’s High School enrollment has lost 18, falling from 117 students to 99.
From 1995 to 2008, Montana’s public school enrollment has decreased by 20,865 students, but state education budget has increased by $500 million more.
The increase in the state’s education budget is because of an increase of special services, Lake County Superintendent of Schools Gale Decker explained. Physical and speech therapists, school counselors, and special education teachers are now employed by the districts, making education’s price tag even more steep.
State and district officials agree: The recession is taking its toll on government spending and Montanans who rely on social services are going to pay the price, while property taxpayers will be forced to make tough decisions regarding their local schools.
