Dear Parents and Patrons of the Iberia R-V School District,
There has been much news recently about the state of the economy and how it is impacting education. I would like to share with you how it is impacting the Iberia R-V School District and the decisions the Board of Education has made as a result.
We heard back in August 2009 that the state may not fund Career Ladder. This is a program that pays teachers for additional work that they do outside of the school day to help children for which they must write a plan and have it approved. Not all districts have Career Ladder and not all teachers participate in it even when it is available in their district. Depending on the level of Career Ladder a teacher is on they may earn an additional $1500, $3000, or $5000 per year. Career Ladder is always paid in the summer after the work has been completed. Teachers were encouraged by the state department to go ahead and complete their work this year on the chance that the program would be funded. This caused some concern on the part of the participating teachers as there was no guarantee that they would be paid for this extra work. We have heard Career Ladder would be funded, then it would not be funded, that it may be partially funded, and that this would be the last year it will be funded. Career Ladder is funded primarily by the state with local districts making up the difference. Iberia receives $95,000 from the state and contributes $66,000 locally to cover the total cost of our participating teachers.
In February we were told we would lose 2% of our state funding for this fiscal year. That equates to an amount of $65,701. We had to adjust our budget accordingly. Later in February, our Commissioner of Education, Dr. Chris Nicastro, met with area superintendents and recommended that districts plan on receiving 4% - 12% less in state funding next year. For Iberia, 4% equates to $131,404 and 12% equates to $394,212. School districts base their budgets on federal, state, county, and local revenue sources. Federal monies have specific spending requirements for which plans have to be developed and approved before any spending of this money can occur. State and county monies are allocated to districts based upon the collection of taxes, fees, fines, and forfeitures. Local monies are based upon the levy approved by the board of education. The largest piece of Iberia's revenue pie comes from state monies. The federal government has supplied stimulus dollars to our district to be used this school year and next, again with specific requirements for its use.
On Saturday, March 6, 2010, the board of education met with the specific purpose of looking at our budget in great detail to determine what areas could be reduced or cut until such time as our budget improves. Throughout this process, the board's focus has been on maintaining a high level of instruction for our students. With that in mind and after much discussion, the board decided to reduce our budget by 12%, the highest percentage of the range we were given by Dr. Nicastro. Keep in mind, we have received no specific information because no one really knows what is going to happen or what the outcome of the state budget recommendations will be from the legislature.
Summer school has always been a state reimbursable item for school districts based upon the number of students in attendance. If there is no reimbursement from the state, summer school is potentially a large expense. The board decided to suspend summer school for the summer of 2010. If we do not have summer school, the board felt that the contract of the transportation director needed to be reduced in the total number of days.
The board felt that the $66,000 set aside for Career Ladder should be used to pay the teachers a portion of their earned amount if the state did not pay their part this year, but for the following year could be eliminated as a cost savings in an effort to help obtain the 12% budget reduction. The Ag instructor had a 70 day extended summer contract that was reduced to 40 days. The nurse had a contract to work an additional 20 days through summer school that was eliminated. We had a midday preschool bus route that was eliminated due to adjustments that could be made in the ridership. Two teachers are retiring this year and we are not hiring replacements for them, instead we are making internal shifts in assignments. We have suspended golf this spring and soccer next fall, which saves the cost of transportation, entry fees and the coach's stipend. The curriculum director position was reduced from half time to quarter time. The flag program was eliminated, which included a stipend for the coach and assistant coaching positions were also eliminated for all sports except track because there is a large number of junior high and high school students participating which requires more supervision. Some custodial/maintenance positions have been reassigned duties which will create a reduction in some salaries. Budgetary decisions were made that would hopefully impact instruction the least as that is our top priority.
Discussion has been held on eliminating fall baseball as that was the recommendation of the Frisco League, but no decision has yet been made. Discussion has centered around the possibility of having a scaled back fall season with fewer away games scheduled. We are trying to determine who we might play if schools outside the Frisco League also cut their fall season.
Some teachers are being impacted threefold as they participate in Career Ladder, teach summer school, and receive an extra duty stipend for a coaching or sponsor position, all of which may have been reduced or cut altogether.
No decision has been made yet as to the salary schedule. Teachers received contracts indicating they would not receive a salary below what they made this school year. The board has scheduled an additional meeting for Monday, May 17, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. in order to discuss and finalize budgetary issues as we will know at that point what the governor has approved for the state budget. The next regularly scheduled board meeting is Thursday, May 27, 2010, at 7:00 p.m.
I encourage anyone interested in the above issues to attend a board meeting or call me at 793-6818 if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Tamara Kimball Dr. Tamara Kimball Superintendent Iberia R-V School District
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