Cuts won't make up for budget shortfall
By MIKE CORN
WaKEENEY -- The numbers were staggering, not so much in total amounts but the depth of how it would affect schools in Trego County.
The nearly 250 people who turned out for the discussion last week paid close attention to the details provided by Mark Bejot, superintendent of WaKeeney USD 208.
Bejot said the crisis has its roots in 2006, when the state was "upside down in their budget."
Schools started bleeding red ink along with the state this year, when cuts were required.
Now, per pupil funding by the state has been cut $421, he said, down 9.5 percent.
Trego schools have responded to the cuts, reducing the number of buses that are sent to activities. Now, it's generally only one bus and an administrative vehicle to ferry a student in the event one gets sick or hurt.
Heating and air conditioning has been reduced during breaks to save, and the district locked in fuel prices for the second semester of school to take advantage of lower prices.
All told, Bejot said, the district has cut about $180,000, using its contingency fund and freezing textbook purchases, among the other cuts being made.
Those kind of cuts can be handled, he said.
What can't be handled are the cuts that might come next year, when aid to school might be cut another $300.
State school finance payments could drop more than $200,000, Bejot said, on top of the $125,000 that is expected to be lost from enrollment losses.
To replenish its contingency funds and cover the expected rise in health insurance coverage for staff, the losses could top $500,000.
"My general fund budget is $3.5 million," Bejot said.
Cuts amounting to about $171,000 have been identified, he said, but that falls well short of what is expected.
Even by cutting 2 mills from its capital outlay program and raising the local option budget by the same amount would add only another $67,556 to the budget.
"That still leaves us with a total budget shortfall of $262,098," he said.
To make that up, the district would have to raise property taxes by about 7.7 mills -- about $80 on a home valued at $100,000.
But, Bejot cautioned, it's dangerous to rely only on property taxes.
"What one mill generates in Trego County is vastly different from what can be raised in other areas," he said.
Not at all unlike what Quinter's board of education did in its public meeting, Bejot suggested WaKeeney residents call legislators Sen. Ralph Ostmeyer, R-Grinnell, and Rep. Don Hineman, R-Dighton, both of whom represent Trego County, and urge them to make school finance whole again.
Bejot said he has contacted them but has been told it's his role as superintendent to fight for the district.
"The real truth is they want to hear from you personally," he said, noting Hineman said he prefers e-mail. "I encourage you to go home and e-mail Don Hineman. Tell him what you think."