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Rogue River schools face cuts By DAMIAN MANN ROGUE RIVER � For the past five years, tiny Rogue River School District has been getting tinier. This coming year will be no exception. With an anticipated shortfall next year of more than $200,000, the district plans to cut 2.5 teaching positions and half a custodial position and reduce the hours of an administrative secretary, said Superintendent Charles Hellman. The positions will be eliminated through attrition, not layoffs, Hellman said. Enrollment continues to decline at this district made up of four schools and more than 1,200 students. That, along with rising expenses and insufficient state funding, to force the district to pare its budget year after year, Hellman said. During 2000-2001, the district faced a shortfall of $755,000, about 10 percent of its $7.7 million budget, he said. "This is the fifth consecutive year that we have had to reduce our expenses to balance our budget," said Hellman. During the past three years, the number of teachers has been reduced about 13 percent. Rogue River joins a growing number of school districts facing cutbacks next year. Ashland, Phoenix-Talent, Medford, Eagle Point and others are under pressure to cut their budgets as expenses outpace revenues. Rogue River has little to trim, Hellman said. The district has no curriculum director (Hellman performs that role), no music specialist or physical education specialist. It has no counselors and just one music teacher who divides his time between the high school and middle school. "For the last 10 years, our district has made do without many of the positions other districts are just now getting rid of," he said. "This makes our predicament even more difficult." Like many other districts, Rogue River has seen salaries and benefits increase, retirement costs soar, energy prices escalate. At the same time, it has received insufficient funding to make up the difference. Hellman said special education costs will increase as districts take on more responsibility for this expensive program run by the Jackson Education Service District. How much longer the district will be able to continue cutting back is open to debate. "That�s the magic question," said Hellman. If cutbacks continue, Hellman predicts significant increases in class sizes. Despite years of reducing programs, the district has made strides in improving state academic test scores, he said. "We are still managing an excellent program here," he said. But Hellman warned that the district is fast approaching a point where it will have little left to cut without a significant impact on the classroom. Like other Jackson County administrators, Hellman hopes Gov. John Kitzhaber�s budget won�t change after revenue projections are released in May. He also hopes that the $5.2 billion education plan doesn�t get whittled away by special interests, leaving less to be distributed among all the state�s school districts. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.