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40 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, December 16, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend June 5, 2004 School budget: a triple dilemma for Medford By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune The Medford School District slashed more than $4 million this week in a budget that matches 1999 spending levels, setting the stage for higher class sizes next year and the loss of 8 percent of its teaching staff. At the same time, the district has offered a reduced salary package to teachers that would put $817,131 back into the budget to help deal with larger class sizes. "We are in a negative perfect storm," said school board member Larry Nicholson, referring to the triple dilemma of a reduction in school funding statewide, declining enrollment and salary negotiations. Despite these problems, Nicholson said the new budget strives to provide a good education for students. The district hopes this will be the last year of deep budget cuts that have created unease among teachers and has contributed to the departure recently of some highly qualified staff, said Nicholson. Advertisement District officials earlier discussed cutting days from the school year, but they managed to avoid that under the new $75 million budget. While many of the staff reductions will be accomplished through attrition, there could be four layoffs at the secondary schools. It is unknown whether layoffs will be required in the elementary schools, said Dan Zaklan, district personnel director. The district will lose two administrative employees, 42 teaching positions and 40 support staff. Zaklan said Medford schools face a number of challenges in the coming years that will be even more difficult to meet because of bigger class sizes and reduced staff. These include creating a new K-12 curriculum to match current state standards in education as well as the No Child Left Behind Act. The last time the district adopted a new curriculum was about 15 years ago, he said. The district also plans to expand a program in which elementary students with behavior problems are taken out of the classroom and placed in a special six-week program, said Zaklan. This will take some of the pressure off teachers distracted by these students, he said. To further offset some of these cutbacks, the district this week gave the teachers’ union a proposal that affects anticipated salary increases and insurance premiums. It would limit raises to a straight 3 percent and require teachers to pay $50 a month for health insurance. In addition, the district wants to suspend that portion of the teacher contract that limits class size. The district also wants to change the contract to conform to state law, which permits using competence as a factor in making a layoff decision. Under this change, a high school calculus teacher with two years’ experience could potentially beat out a seventh-grade math teacher who’s worked for five years but had no calculus experience. Nicholson said this will give the district more flexibility so it doesn’t have to get rid of key employees. However, he said the change won’t be used to retaliate against employees. "I don’t even think we’ll have to use it," he said. "We’re going to try to get everyone placed." The next bargaining session between the district and the union will be Friday. Jim Bond, a union representative with the Oregon Education Association, said teachers plan to rally at district headquarters Friday to show support for the bargaining team. He said the district proposal will be particularly difficult for teachers to swallow after they didn’t get paid for 10 days last school year, which amounted to a 5 percent salary reduction. The higher class sizes will be a hardship, particularly with the reduction in education assistants. Even though average class sizes at the high school will be 35 students, some rooms could have 40 or more. "Jokingly, it will be up to the fire marshal to say how many kids can fit in a room," said Bond. He said it would be difficult for teachers to accept a 3 percent raise but no increases based on years of education and service. While teachers want to work with the district to solve the budget problem, Bond said bargaining will be difficult this year. "This bargaining is about the lack of money, and is brought about by the state of Oregon and the inability to fund education at levels to get the job done with the right kind of people," he said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities