Budget

Click here to view full Budget Document

The December State General Fund and Lottery Forecast was released this morning and was down $106.8 million from the September forecast and $306 million from the close-of-session forecast. Although this is negative news, it still leaves the state with $169 million in ending fund balance. The ending fund balance was originally $446 million and was created by the legislature as a first-line-of defense to buffer potential downturns such as we've experienced in the September and now December forecasts.

This decline was termed a "marginal downgrade" by State economist Mark McMullen. Based on this forecast, there does not appear to be a likelihood of mid-year or mid-biennium cuts to K-12 at the state level. The decline in this forecast was attributed largely to instability in Europe, rather than performance of the Oregon economy.

In addition, South Lane School District is closely monitoring our enrollment decline. Currently we have 70 fewer students in the district than we had at this same time last year. Fewer students results in loss of revenue. A 70 student loss equates to approximately $433,000 in lost revenue. The School Board has been informed of the enrollment loss and will monitor and receive periodic enrollment updates as we move into the development of the 2012-13 budget.

We will make every attempt to keep you informed about all phases of the budget development process.

Sincerely,
Krista Parent, Superintendent

On Monday, February 28th at Cottage Grove High School, the South Lane School District Board of Directors will conduct a Budget Work Session to discuss budget projections for the 2011-12 school year and to take public input about budget priorities.

The district is headed into one of the most difficult budget cycles ever - due to declining enrollment, loss of short-term or one-time funding such as stimulus dollars, and a significant shortfall in State School Fund revenue. Current projections estimate next year's deficit for South Lane SD to be somewhere between $3.5 and $4.7 million dollars. The district has drafted a "proposed" cut list which includes reducing nearly 50 staff positions, cutting 10 days from the school year, closing both Latham School and the Daugherty Aquatics Center, and reducing salary and benefits for its nearly 375 staff members.

The Budget Work Session will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the high school Cafetorium.

Who: South Lane School District Board of Directors
What: Budget Work Session -  Budget Projections for 2011-12 School Year
Where: Cottage Grove HS, Cafetorium
When: Monday, Februay 28, 2011 (6:00-8:00 PM)
Handouts: Superintendent Parent's Budget Presentation [PDF, 2.1 MB]

As I shared in my budget presentations over the past few weeks - I have been working on a survey to send out to staff to help further prioritize the possible budget cuts. This has proven difficult to do in a way that really provides useful feedback. If you ask the importance of each item, responses tend to be that everything is important (which they are), but does little good when trying to make difficult choices and to get at the level of reductions we need to balance the budget.

We are also somewhat limited by the survey applications and how we can structure the questions.

Having said that - the link below will take you to a budget survey thats asks you to prioritize two lists of 10 items each. They are clustered in groups of 10 because that is what the program will allow. The first set of 10 includes mostly compensation and benefit items and the second group of 10 includes program and staffing.

Online Survey is now CLOSED

I know I am asking you to prioritize items that no one wants to see cut, but I am trying to get a sense of which items are more or less desirable - from a list of all undesirable budget cuts.

Thanks for your time and input.

Krista Parent
Superintendent

South Lane School District is seeking applicants for the following three budget committee positions:

1.  Zone 4 - Blue Mountain/Mountain View area

April 9, 2010

In order to keep everyone in the loop regarding the development of the 2010-11 budget I am sending out this update to inform you of the current budget status as we know it today. Many of you have asked about the Governor's letter sent to all superintendents and printed in the media warning us not to spend the additional $200 million allocated in the special session of the legislature. You may also wish to visit the district's website and go to "About South Lane" and then click on the "Budget" tab for more detailed information.

Here are some important pieces of information as I continue working to balance a budget that will go before the SLSD budget committee on May 10, 2010.

March 5, 2010

Much of the past three months has been focused on projecting a budget for the 2010-11 school year. The status and details of that work is described below. HOWEVER, this morning the district received additional bad news regarding revenue for the remainder of this year. Our State School Fund estimate for the current year (2009-10) dropped by approximately $460,000. This decrease is mainly due to our rapidly declining enrollment. We have nearly 100 students less than what was projected for this school year.

With great regret, I am implementing another spending freeze on materials and supplies starting now and going through the remainder of the school year. There will be some grant funds that will need to be expended or we forfeit the funds, but all expenditures will need district authorization. Certainly, purchases related to health and safety of students will continue to be authorized.

Budget Shortfall

Superintendent Parent and staff have been working the past several months on budget projections for the 2010-11 school year. Although the budget outlook is still not "rosy," two recent events have decreased the projected shortfall. Voters passed both Ballot Measures 66 & 67, which will allow us to keep $1.5 million already allocated in the 2009-11 biennium. In their special session of the Oregon Legislature, legislators guaranteed $6.0 billion for the biennium by tapping necessary reserve funds. With these two positive events, South Lane School District's shortfall has been decreased to $1-1.2 million for the 2010-11 school year.

Declining Enrollment and Increasing PERS

Another significant factor affecting the district's budget is declining enrollment. Since 2004 the district has lost more than 150 students. This results in a nearly $1 million shortfall in State School Fund revenue. Beginning with the 2011-12 school year, the district will have the additional burden of a large increase to the percentage of PERS paid by the employer.  

Ideas for Balancing Budget

School district staff and the South Lane School Board have been discussing options for balancing the 2010-11 budget. These discussions have included the possibility of closing one or more small schools. At the school board meeting on March 1, 2010 the school board directed Superintendent Parent to prepare a cut list without closing a small school and present that list for their review at the April 5, 2010 board meeting. Superintendent Parent met with all principals and supervisors this past week to get input on possible cuts at each school site and department within the district. That "draft" list will be made public at the April board meeting.  

What's Next?

The official budget committee meeting will be held on Monday, May 10th. The budget committee is responsible for approving a budget that is then sent back to the board for final adoption on June 7, 2010. Additional meetings may be scheduled if needed. As usual, if you have input regarding the budget cuts please feel free to submit your ideas to Superintendent Parent or the school board.

The State of Oregon and the United States are in the midst of a recession that is unlike anything seen since the depression. Unemployment in Lane County is over 14% and rising. The State of Oregon is currently $3 billion short of the needed revenue for the 2009-2011 biennium and many believe that number will grow to $5 billion before the close of the biennium. South Lane School District was forced to make mid-year reductions in December 2008 of nearly $1 million due to the decrease in State School Fund support. These mid-year reductions included cutting six days from the 2008-2009 school year. Early projections suggest the State School Fund allocation for 2009-2011 will be more than $800 million less than the 2007-2009 biennium.

Co-Chairs of the Ways and Means Committee - Proposed Budget

The Co-Chairs of the Ways and Means Committee of the Legislature released their proposed budget for the 2009-2011 biennium at 3:00 p.m. on Monday.