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Phoenix-Talent braces for $2 million shortfall Friday Mar 31, 2017 at 12:11 PM Mar 31, 2017 at 3:02 PM Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune @teresathomas_MT The Phoenix-Talent School District has started eliminating positions and reducing hours for some staff as it braces for an estimated $2 million budget shortfall in 2017-18. Although the school board isn’t scheduled to adopt the 2017-18 budget until June 1, district administrators and board members knew enough of the state’s proposed budget to anticipate cuts were coming. Under the $7.8 billion K-12 education budget proposed by the co-chairs of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, the district would see a deficit of about $2 million next year. And Gov. Kate Brown’s projected K-12 budget of $8.16 billion would mean a shortfall of about $1.6 million for the district, said Superintendent Teresa Sayre. “The reason we are doing this prior (to the budget being approved) is because in every scenario, we are coming up short,” Sayre said. “We wanted to give the certified teaching staff that might be reduced the opportunity to apply for other positions,” she added. Prior to spring break, the district notified one teacher at Talent Middle School and three teachers at Phoenix High School that it would not be renewing their contracts. District officials also decided not to fill five positions to be vacated by retiring staff and will cut a handful of teachers’ hours from full-time to three-quarter-time for a total savings of about $750,000 per year, Sayre estimated. District officials followed rules outlined in the teachers’ contract and state laws to determine who would be laid off. In one case, two teachers were hired the same day, so the principal and district officials had to make the decision using a card draw, Sayre said. “To my knowledge, in 19 years, we’ve only had to use the (lottery) method one other time,” she said. The cuts will mean the district’s average class size will increase from about 23 students to about 28 students. However, it was important to the board and administrators to maintain the current level of programming for students, Sayre said, adding that the district still hasn’t been able to bring back elementary music since it was cut during the recession. One of the teachers retiring is the middle school music teacher, who will not be replaced, Sayre said. Rather than cut band and choir entirely, high school band and choir teachers will teach part-time at the middle school. “We’ll try to keep our programs as stable as possible until such time as we receive more funding and can restore the programs to full capacity,” Sayre said. About $350,000 of the projected shortfall is due to declining enrollment, which Sayre attributed to a lack of affordable, available housing and the district’s high mobility rate. The district’s enrollment, not including Armadillo Technical Institute, was 2,755 in 2014, 2,660 in 2015 and about 2,540 in 2016. “This year, at the high school alone, we’ve had about 110 student leave (transfer out of the district), and we’ve had 85 move in,” Sayre said. The Budget Committee most likely will make up the remainder of the shortfall by reducing curriculum and technology purchases and, if absolutely necessary, eliminating days in the school year. “I’m just sad that we have to continue to fight for K-12 funding like this,” Sayre said. — Reach education reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected]. Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt.