District Likely to Face Largest Deficit in its History

Menomonee Falls School Superintendent Keith Marty has served the district for 22 years, and has addressed budget deficits during his tenure.

However, he said the deficit facing the district for the 2011-12 school year will likely be the largest in the district's history.

District administrators were expecting a minimum deficit of $1.7 million with a ceiling of about $3.3 million. However, after receiving preliminary details about the budget, Marty said the deficit could exceed $5 million.

“It’s certainly the biggest deficit we’ve ever faced,” Marty said.

Although hard numbers aren’t yet available, Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday proposed a 5.5 percent cut to per-pupil revenue limits as compared to the 2011-12 school year. Marty said they were anticipating a drop of $500 in per-pupil revenue, but based on Walker’s proposal, per-pupil revenue would drop by $640.

Marty said the $640 figure was based on preliminary number crunching by the district, and much could change as the state budget solidifies.

“Districts around the state are down to the bone already. I don’t know how some larger districts are going to make it,” Marty said. “There are difficult decisions that school districts are going to make, this could change how we have educated young people. But there are still a lot of unknowns here yet.”

To soften the blow from reduced revenue limits, Walker proposed increasing the hold harmless provision in state aid. This guarantees districts will receive at least 90 percent of their state aid from the previous year. In 2010-11, Falls received approximately $11.6 million in state aid. The current hold harmless mandate is 85 percent.

Something that remains unknown is whether the budget repair bill will pass. The bill increases teaching staff contributions to their pension and health benefits, and removes most bargaining rights. It's also crucial to securing needed revenue in the district.

According to Walker’s proposal, requiring teachers to pay into their pension and insurance would offset the $834 million in statewide cuts to education. Removing most bargaining rights would also give districts flexibility with planning class sizes, overtime and number of classes taught, which can increase cost savings.

The repair bill would free up roughly $2.7 million tied to pensions and health benefits in the district.

“As the law stands, it’s going to be pretty tough for us without the repair bill,” Marty said.

However, Marty said it is unlikely that the repair bill will completely offset the total reduction in revenue. Although collective bargaining gives districts flexibility to alter staffing procedures, Marty said there’s a limit to what they can do.

“With collective bargaining going away, you can change teaching procedures, but we will still have to maintain a working relationship with our employees and maintain their morale,” Marty said. “It’s early in the process, and yes, we would have the tools, but we need to ensure we are making the right decisions for our employees.”

Marty Supports Lifting 180 School Day Mandate

Walker also proposed lifting a mandate that requires schools to schedule 180 days of instruction each year. Districts could schedule class fewer than 180 days, but schools would still need to meet current hours of instruction requirements.

Marty said he supports the flexibility this offers school districts in terms of innovative scheduling and instruction.

“I support lifting the 180 day mandate. I think that’s a way to increase flexibility with school districts,” Marty said. “It gives districts the flexibility to determine their structure and day. You begin to look at new ways to instruct students.”

Marty said readjusting the schedule without the mandate could create savings in transportation and utility costs as well as other conservation costs. Marty went further and thought lifting the requirement to start school on Sept. 1 would also be beneficial to districts.

“It opens some interesting discussions on how to be more flexible rather than counting days,” Marty said. “It gives us the freedom to have discussions at a local level, which is healthy.”