Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Spring chinook release to emulate historic Rogue run ... UPDATED: Wounded Idaho pastor regains consciousness; suspect arrested in D.C. ... Hearts With a Mission expanding to Grants Pass ... Spring chinook release to emulate historic Rogue run ... UPDATED: Wounded Idaho pastor regains consciousness; suspect arrested in D.C. ... Hearts With a Mission expanding to Grants Pass ... EDUCATION Medford schools need to cut up to $3 million Move is needed to balance the budget Comment Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT MailTribune.com Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT Posted Mar. 4, 2016 at 3:13 PM Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT Posted Mar. 4, 2016 at 3:13 PM » Social News The Medford School District will need to cut spending by $3 million in order to maintain a balanced budget in 2016-17, district officials announced this week. This year, the district chose to spend down its general fund reserves to cover the costs of full-day kindergarten, the Medford After School (MAS) program, Project Lead the Way and other “strategic initiatives” and to hire additional teachers to reduce elementary class sizes, said Medford schools Superintendent Brian Shumate. “Our goal was to increase enrollment, which would offset some of the costs,” Shumate said. “(Enrollment) was up but not enough to continue to sustain all the initiatives we embarked on.” Earlier this year, the district had to set aside another $2.3 million from its reserves for a special revenue fund to mitigate the impact of forthcoming Public Employees Retirement System rate increases, beginning in July 2017. Now, with less than $5 million in reserves, the district is forced to make cuts to achieve a balanced budget, Shumate said. The superintendent will recommend specific cuts in his budget message to the Budget Committee in April. In the meantime, the district will hold a town hall meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, March 7, in the district boardroom at 815 S. Oakdale Ave., Medford. “The purpose of the meeting is really to get to what people value most,” Shumate said. “Do they value small class sizes? Do they value physical education? Do they value technological education? This is very preliminary and is helping me design my budget message.” In past years, the district has received additional money from the state because of higher-than-anticipated tax collections and/or enrollment. And because enrollment statewide increased by about 6,000 students, the district’s per-student allocation dropped from about $7,000 per student to about $6,900 per student. “This year, we deficit-spent strategically with the hope that our increased enrollment and additional state funding would sustain it over a number of years,” Shumate said. “However, at this point, we’re not projecting that we will get additional funding from the state. Therefore, to be prudent, we want to present a balanced budget to the board this year without any anticipation of any additional revenue.” The district’s Budget Committee will begin meeting in April, and the school board will adopt the 2016-17 budget no later than June 30. The district’s largest investment this year was hiring more than 17 elementary teachers to reduce class sizes and eliminate several blended classrooms. Nine of those positions had been included in this year’s adopted budget. Each teacher costs the district about $90,000, including benefits, so the total investment was about $1.5 million, Shumate said, adding that staffing makes up about 85 percent of the district’s total budget. Cuts could come anywhere from reducing some of the new positions to undoing other strategic investments or forgoing new curriculum or facilities improvements. "I’ve been on the board seven years, and we’ve had to make strategic cuts six of those years," said board Chairman Jeff Thomas. "My hope is that we could continue to sustain our strategic investments, because I strongly believe that those investments in smaller class sizes, the after-school program and high school pathways are a big part of the success we are going to have in increasing graduation rates.” There will not be an open mic at Monday’s town hall meeting, but rather there will be facilitated small group discussions so district officials can ascertain what parents’ priorities are, Shumate said. “No matter what we do, cuts are painful, but we’re trying do what is least disruptive to the classroom and student achievement,” he said. Reach education reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected] . Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt . Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT MailTribune.com Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT Posted Mar. 4, 2016 at 3:13 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2016 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501