Falls School District to Battle Budget Deficit on Four Fronts

The plan to tackle a $5.1 million budget deficit in the Menomonee Falls School District contains as many prongs as a typical dinner fork. But sticking these prongs into a meaty deficit may leave some without an appetite.

For the first time this year, the School Board on Monday gave a formal public presentation regarding the 2011-12 budget. Usually this presentation is given in January or February, but with the budget cycle flipped on its head this year, administrators were stalled until April.

Even on Monday, much remained unknown regarding the state biennial budget and the future of the budget repair bill. However, Superintendent Keith Marty outlined a four-pronged approach to trim costs and balance the budget. Administrators said they have prepared for a variety of scenarios depending on developments in Madison.

“This the plan as of April 11 to balance the budget in these four ways,” Marty said. “This is certainly a significant deficit, and we are pushed this year like we never have before."

A battle on four fronts

The first key to generate savings in the district is to reorganize and trim staffing levels. Marty said the district plans to cut no more 15 full-time equivalent employees. Salary and benefits for each FTE amounts to $70,000, Marty said. The reductions would save the district approximately $1 million.

Marty said this number could change if more staff comes forward with retirements. The district extended the deadline to submit retirement papers this year.

Marty said the district would trim administrative positions from Menomonee Falls High School, North Middle School and Ben Franklin Elementary.  It would also reduce levels of special education assistants.

A second prong on the budget-balancing fork is reorganization of the district health care plan. The district has to examine ways to trim health care costs. The district could reap savings of $1 million by switching carriers or altering the health plan.

A third budget-balancing revenue stream could flow from the required 5.8 percent employee contribution to retirement pensions included in the budget repair bill. Marty said this would result in a spending reduction of $1.5 million for the district.

“That piece is not complete, and we aren’t sure when that will occur, but that’s in the hands of a Dane County judge now,” Marty said.

To account for the remaining $1.6 million, Marty outlined a variety of operational changes to save that money. First, the district approved 46 open enrollment seats to generate $312,000 in revenue. The additional students still fall within board-mandated class sizes.

Marty said the district will also reduce the building operating budgets by 10 percent once again this year. It will also reorganize staffing for the buildings and grounds department.

“This is painful for our buildings because we have been reducing these every year,” Marty said. “But we’ll have to do that again this year and some tough decisions will have to be made in those operational budgets.”

Marty proposed changing substitute teacher payments to a flat rate rather than paying additional costs for added duties these teachers take on. Marty also said the district would reduce high school and middle school homeroom flex-pay.

However, operational changes like substitute pay and flex-pay are part of a collective bargaining agreement already in place. Implementing these changes will be more difficult if collective bargaining remains as is under current law.

“Collective bargaining is a major piece. We have contracts with our three major bargaining groups that expire June 30,” Marty said. “Because we are in limbo, that collective bargaining agreement would continue if we don’t have any change in collective bargaining law.”

To minimize the number of employees affected by layoffs, the district will also secure its $942,000 share of the Federal Jobs Act funding it received last year. This money will help prevent layoffs next year and for the next couple years.

Balancing on the backs of teachers

After the budget presentation, Menomonee Falls High School math teacher Jeff Thompson spoke during public comments to the School Board. Thompson was the first person to speak before the board during the public comment period in several months.

Thompson is a teacher, Menomonee Falls resident and a parent of a student in the school district. He is also a representative of the Menomonee Falls Education Association, or the teacher’s union.

Thompson said the climate and working environment in the school district has been damaged with the budget battle this year.

“It’s a hard time and I know you are doing your best, and we are too,” Thompson said. “But we are being sucked dry. Morale at the high school is at an all time low.”

Thompson said key leaders in the district have been lost through retirements or layoffs. Seeing their colleagues leave the district has taken a toll on teachers, and that toll will impact the students.

“It’s only going to affect our kids. I’ve been teaching for 25 years and I don’t know if I can continue to be asked to do more with less.” Thompson said. “I just ask (the board) to please, as you try to balance a $5.1 million deficit, to not do it on our backs because you weigh a lot.”

School Board President Kathy Shurilla said the School Board highly values all their teachers, and has been doing its best to treat them well during this difficult time for the district.